Texas Week Post 2...Kristi's Incredible Harvest Soup

Kristi

         My friend Kristi is something else.  She lives in Dallas where she runs her own business finding "real people" for clients in Advertising and Marketing. She's the best in the business so she's in perpetual motion.  She travels all over the place for her job but when she gets home, she loves to cook.  One day last week, an email arrived from Kristi, heralding the arrival of Fall.  As near as I can understand it, Fall is when the temperature in Dallas drops below 80 degrees for the first time since the previous April.   But Kristi insists that when autumn’s in the air, she makes soup.   And that’s what I did when her recipe hit my in-box.  Kristi’s own invention, Harvest soup is a warming puree of carrots and leeks and onions and sweet potatoes. But what really sets it apart is Kristi’s use of Indian inflected spices—Cardamon, turmeric and cinnamon.  There’s a little chili powder too –how could it come from Texas without it? 

It's Texas Week on Chewing the Fat! First Up, Lauren's Roast Pork Tenderloin with Honeyed Apples and Pecans courtesy of James Villas and a Wild Rice Pilaf. And on Thursday, Kristi's own recipe for Harvest Soup.

         It was quite a coincidence when Andrew came back from his trip to Dallas with not one but two dishes his sister Lauren served him while he was there.  And that same day, my dear friend Kristi, sent along an original recipe of her own.  So I thought this week we’d salute our Texas friends and family with these great dishes, which are just perfect for any fall table. Lauren is a superb cook and her recipes have appeared here before...her Roast Chicken is the best I've ever eaten http://www.chewingthefat.us.com/2011/03/laurens-roast-chicken-and-side-of.html  and talk about Texan...her Blueberry Jalapeno sauce has hundreds of hits. http://www.chewingthefat.us.com/2010/06/lauren-readys-pork-loin-with-blueberry.html. So when Lauren writes "We love this!" on a recipe, I sit up and take notice.

Country Gardens last weekend

         Pork seems to lend itself to cooking with fruit of all kinds. How many times have you seen applesauce served on the side with a grilled pork chop?   This is a far more sophisticated pairing, a stuffing made of apples and pecans and scallions soaked in honey and stuffed into pork tenderloin.  And it couldn’t be more seasonal.  It’s high Apple season in Bridgehampton where the Farm Stand was loaded with local varieties that have just been harvested.  In this dish, the tart and tangy Granny Smith is used, a perfect counterbalance to the crunch of the pecans and sweetness of the honey.   I confess to having been intimidated with the task of carefully carving a pocket for the stuffing. But I managed with the use of a sharp 10-inch knife, which I carefully slipped into the meat and ran down the length of the tenderloin stopping at one inch from the end.  I needn’t have been so anxious: I prepped this dinner out in Bridgehampton, brought it into town and asked Andrew if it looked like his sister’s.  Hers, he informed me, was butterflied, the stuffing laid into the crease of the meat and then tied with twine in multiple places.  The stuffing oozed out the top and, he said, looked perfectly fine.  She’d also made an ideal side dish with the pork—a Wild Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms.  An old Texas favorite?  Quite the contrary, it’s a Minnesota specialty that highlights their locally grown rice.  Given our recent “Arsenic in Rice” and that Texas rice is high on that list, the Minnesota connection came as a relief.