KITCHEN SINK SOUP (1863) and NO YEAST BREAD

 "Soup is the song of the hearth.....and the home..." -Louis P. De Gouy

 KITCHEN SINK SOUP ( that's what I call it) or MINESTRONE
                 ( 1863) a bit of this and a bit of that......

 In Civil war times you would take a mess of bones, lay them in a pot, add root or herbs and boil for about 6 hours till it all collapsed  into stock. At this point you were supposed to rake the meat off the bones and dig out the grittier roots from the pot boiling over the open fire.   INSTEAD, I grabbed a couple of cartons of Veggie broth from the pantry. A little easier.

 Drain your two cartons of Veggie broth into a large pot on the stove. ( See, easier already) Leftovers work well at this point.

 A can of beans ( any  you like). Or you can soak beans overnight and boil them up, but that takes too long. And you want this for lunch. Or dinner. Again, takes too long. Black beans will make the broth murky, so go with lighter beans.

 Chop up some lettuce ( yes lettuce...it's very good in soup and used again and again in earlier soup recipes ), Combine with everything else in pot.

 Cube up potatoes, raw or cooked, parsley, celery, if you have it, carrots, any veggie  you can find that is available and toss in pot.Don't worry about what you put in the pot. It's all good.  Then toss in a few handfuls of macaroni or dry noodles.  Boil up . Serve hot with  the No Yeast bread that follows....

 NO YEAST BREAD  This kind of reminded me of Johnny cake. It's more of a soda bread...but this one has baking powder. Soda muffins were  pretty common in this era, but I'm not a fan of those , and this works great. Rises well, and you can make it  easily  to eat at  dinner. No yeast required. Add in pretty much whatever you like, like raisins, or apple, or cranberries. I chose CHEESE.

 Cheese was known in Europe with the more regal cultures. Usually in the form of macaroni and cheese.Suffice it to say that Thomas Jefferson first had the dish in France, around 1780, and stole a macaroni maker so he could have it at home.....but that's for another blog.

  Yummy grated cheese. I also doubled the recipe and froze the second loaf. Double yummy.

  3 cups flour, 4 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 2 cups grated cheese, 1 1/2 cups milk or almond milk, 2 tbsp melted butter.

  Combine four, baking powder, salt and cheese in big old bowl.

 Add milk of your choice, and melted butter. I found it needed extra liquid or was too dry. Just guesstimate till doughs feels soft and pliable. Don't add too much either.

 Stir to form soft dough. Put in greased and parchment paper lined loaf tin ( Important,or the dough will stick).

 Bake in 400 degree oven for about 50 minutes. Add time if you need to. TEST with sharp knife to make sure no sticky dough ends up on knife. Should be dry.Remove from pan to cool. Serve with butter. I make two loaves cause it's really really nice. SERVE with  KITCHEN SINK SOUP.....

 "The smell of good bread baking like the sound of lightly flowing water, in its evocation of innocence and delight...."
                    -M.K.F. Fisher (The Art of Eating)

 Photographs 2019