April 7, 2007
A favorite meal that Ken and I make is what we refer to as "Run Down Soup." It is a variation of a very typical Caribbean meal referred to here in Costa Rica as "Rondon". The idea is the same; you put into a pot to cook, whatever you can "run down" that day.
Ken is good about keeping lots of fresh vegetables on hand since they are readily available and inexpensive. We enjoy running them through our "power juicer" a few mornings a week. The veggies we most often use are: carrots, tomatoes, cauliflower, celery, broccoli, hot peppers and garlic. The pulp from these items is thrown into a large pot to start our soup. We have found that the pulp from cucumbers and lime make the soup bitter, so we run them through the juicer separately, just to add it to our beverage.
Into the pot of pulp we add chopped onions, potatoes and a can of corn then fill it with water. We've tried lots of varieties using beans, rice, mushrooms and whatever else we can "run down". Often we add a nice cut of beef, but have experimented with chicken and pork as well.
Ken has two of his sons visiting us right now, and we have made the soup a few times to share with them. The batch I made the other day, seasoned with thyme, bay leaves, tarragon, turmeric, salt, pepper and tomato paste, turned out really yummy! Ken and his sons filled their bowls, and came back for more.
While they were chowing down I was busy doing other things. We had a large bunch of bananas that had ripened all at once and that means breads and cakes had to be made. We also had a pineapple ready to eat and carrots that needed used up. We don't like to waste food so I was busy baking. I whipped up a banana/carrot bread and two pineapple upside down cakes. My bowl of soup would have to wait to be eaten until I had the baking under control.
An hour later I was finally at a point where I could take a break. I spooned up just a small bowl of soup knowing that we'd be having it again in a few hours for dinner. It was really good. One of my best batches yet! I almost couldn't wait for it to be time to eat again. I controlled my desire for another bowl and put the rest away until later.
When supper time rolled around, we were all hungry again. Knowing there wasn't a lot of soup left over, I wasn't sure it would feed us all again. I decided to cook up some pork steaks in a skillet with onions. As the soup was simmering on the back burner, I was seasoning the steaks.
Ken's son had come into the kitchen to see if the food was ready to eat. With a ladle in the pot, I stirred up the soup to see if it had warmed up enough to serve. As I was about to empty the ladle into a bowl for testing something in it caught my eye. It was after sunset and the kitchen wasn't fully lit so I wasn't able to focus on the item very well. I couldn't tell if it was a bay leaf or an odd shaped potato. Bringing it close for inspection I realized what it wasn't either. It was a tree frog!!
At this point, as I almost always do when startled by something, I screamed, yelling out, "OH MY GOSH!!!" The guys all came to see what I was freaking me out ... THIS time. I had put the spoon full of frog back in the pot, stepped away from the stove and told them each to check out the soup ladle. By doing so, they discovered for themselves what my anxiety was over.
The frog had evidently leaped from an over head beam directly into the pot on the stove. It seemed to have expired upon landing as it was still in a fully extended position.
Ken and his sons have always abided by the "three second rule". That is where if something drops on the floor, if they can snatch it up within three seconds, it is okay to go into their mouths. This practice is just gross to me. Their reasoning now was that the only part of the soup NOT fit to eat, was the part the frog was currently in, which was in the ladle. They had no qualms about eating the rest of the soup even though I had just thoroughly stirred the frog throughout the stew. Thinking I would be okay with eating it if he just removed the problem, Ken took the ladle outdoors. He pitched it into the yard assuming our dog Taza, who eats just about anything, would devour it. She didn't.
I almost gagged as I watched Ken and his sons eat their bowls of soup. As great as it tasted earlier in the day, and as badly as I had earlier wanted another bowl, there was no way I could eat it after seeing a frog among the veggies. I could only imagine what it had expelled from it's orifices upon its landing, so I settled for just a pork chop. I wasn't surprised to have realized that just the visual of the simmered frog had ruined my appetite. Even the pork chop made me gag. I ended up having a simple, safe, and reptile free, bowl of cold cereal for my dinner that night.
I was disappointed that I wasn't able to enjoy another bowl of our best run down soup ever. But I was grateful I had spotted the intruder before I had eaten any of it. Our soup is made with what we can run down, NOT with what can jump in. I know for a fact that I have eaten many critters at meal times, but NEVER on purpose. Since this cooking experience, when simmering a pot on the stove I always keep it covered with a lid. It keeps the surprises in my food to a minimum.
So, even when it comes to the daily routine task of cooking a meal, I've found that indeed ...
It's a Jungle Down Here.
Comments
ronnasmom (anonymous) says...
Oh my goodness, i laughted out LOUD !!!
Loved the story of your "frog soup". I think the LID will be a great idea.
Have a happy Easter ..
April 7, 2007 at 1:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ljohnson (Lisa Johnson) says...
Wow! I was so not ready for the frog leaping into the soup! But then again, neither were you! ; )
April 7, 2007 at 1:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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