Wednesday, February 9, 2011

It's good!


I'm gonna catch a lot of crap over this one. I just know it.

Canned soup. With meatballs no less.

The hell is this guy thinking?

In my defense (I didn't hear any of you coming to it!), you will witness some important doctoring going on here. Doctoring which, I believe, takes an acceptable mass-market (i.e., el cheapo) foodstuff and moves it toward a legitimate, even crave-worthy lunch item. Besides, I'm away on a shamefully gluttonous food-and-drink ramble at the moment, and therefore cannot prepare for you all a proper meal this week. 

What? I'm your meatball, not your mother.

I have long been a Chickarina fan; in fact, it's the only can of soup I bring into the house. In winter, I open at least one of them a week. (If you are unfamiliar, Chickarina is similar to an Italian Wedding Soup, comprised mainly of broth and meatballs, pasta and vegetables, like that.)

But I am incapable of simply cracking open a can and doing what the experts at Progresso Foods tell me to do. After all, in the not terribly detailed stove-top cooking instructions on the label, I am advised simply to "Heat in saucepan." I am also told, in no uncertain terms, to "refrigerate leftovers." But I have never followed that instruction before either. It's a can of soup. Not a vatful.

I can tell I'm losing you here, so what say we get on with it.


See these pieces of bread? They're stale. Cannot possibly get any harder. I keep stale bread around the house like other people keep crackers in the cupboard or milk in the fridge. I am never without it. Not ever.


The bread, if you hadn't already guessed, is a principal ingredient in the Chickarina soup that I eat. So is a very good bit of freshly grated cheese (Romano here), a healthy pour of extra virgin olive oil, and some freshly ground black pepper.

Go ahead, mock me. It's good, I tell you. 

Oh, boy!

2HPHEZX7BES2

16 comments:

Thomas Henry Strenk said...

Looks good. I've got a tuna casserole recipe that uses cream of mushroom soup. I'll send to to you.

Fred said...

I've got nothing against shortcuts. And if someone--vast commercial combine though they may be--can do it better, sign me up. But, pray tell: what is the list of ingredients in this can of "soup", and which of those are not found in nature?

Anonymous said...

L-o-v-e love this post! Does that officially count for coming to your defense? And now Thomas Henry Strenk has me craving good ol tuna casserole at 6:30 in the a.m.

Mister Meatball said...

THS: No thanks on that recipe. But many thanks for not ripping me a new one!

Fred: You're not really gonna make me read the ingredients list, are you? Please reconsider this request and check back. If you insist (there's a nice hunk of my homemade pancetta w/ your name on it if you do not) I will do as you ask.

Highland... Thanks for your support. But watch out for THS's recipes; they are sometimes laced with cynicism and, dare I say, peril!

Claudia said...

I doctor soups all the time for lunch. I put canned beans in everything during the winter. Dinner is from scratch. I figure these lunches are still a few steps us from getting your meals through a window.

Karen @ Mignardise said...

This is my daughter's favorite soup, right out of the can. Thanks for the suggestions, so if I'm ever forced to eat it with her I'll now know how to fix it up.

Fred said...

Hey, I'm just saying, y'know? What's a preservative here and there, even one that is known to be toxic. Heck, Vitamin C can be toxic in certain doses. So, moving on with da love, I ask this instead: How do you store your stale bread? Do you ever freeze it? If not, how long can you keep "day old" bread before the green stuff starts agrowin'?

Mister Meatball said...

Claudia and Karen: Try it, you'll like it.

Fred: I don't freeze the bread, no. And the bread I get up here (from bakers who are more skilled than those I used to know back home) never seems to go bad. The bread in this post is, no lie, two weeks old at least, maybe more.

Oh, and I read the ingredients and they ain't all that bad.

bakedinmaine.com said...

I LOVE this soup and it looks delicious too!!!
Just found your blog and will look forward to your posts. I write www.bakedinmaine.com
PS. I love all soup!!!

Jennifer Galatioto said...

i love: "i'm a meatball, not your mom!"

my nonna makes chickarina, which if i remember correctly were like little weird gray meatballs in chicken soup, and were beef. could that possibly be possible?

basically the looked just like that can. but were tiny. weird. i ate them no less.

Dante Inferno said...

Canned Soup? Say it ain't so Meatball!! I'll be in a black dress for the next two weeks with Rosary Beads saying prayers for you.

Mister Meatball said...

Dante: Wish you hadn't put the image of you in a dress in my head. Though I guess I could use a few of them prayers. (Oh, think there's a run in your stocking. Better fix that.)

jerseypaulie said...

I have enjoyed your blog for some time. You have a wondeful way with words. I can't remember the last time I opened a can of soup, but i will try this. Stale bread is a kitchen staple which has many uses. Check my blog out, and you will see my meatball recipe, which can not be made with it.
http://jerseypaulie.blogspot.com/
I was very surprised to you list Seabra Mariqueira on you restaurant list. It is a very unique place, and also appears on my blog. Keep up the great work.

Jeannie said...

I am laughing to myself here just reading your banters...you guys are so funny!rotfl! oh and Happy Valentine's Day, if you celebrate this day:)But do not feed your valentine canned food please, I don't think it's very romantic, even if you are the one heating it up with tlc!

Unknown said...

Looks good. My favorite way to doctor a soup -- learned from my nonna -- is to sheer an egg into it. Takes away some of the extreme saltiness of canned soups, like the bread.
Peter

Mister Meatball said...

Jeannie: No, we don't open cans on V-Day, we rip open packages of freeze-dried junk and wash it down with 7-Up. Happy V-Day to you too.

Peter: Welcome

MM