Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Cooking with Little Lord Fauntleroy

Welcome to "Cooking with Jack", the cooking show that, quite frankly, makes other cooking shows look like crap on a stick. Today we're getting extra fancy by making Vichyssoise, which is French for "fancy soup". If you're unsure of how to pronounce it, remember this little rhyme: "The squishy squaw served Vichyssoise to Yo-Yo Ma."

Since we're getting all fancy in here, I'm bringing in my chef-in-training Fauntleroy to assist in my fancy soup-making efforts.


It's a good idea to wash your paws before assembling the ingredients of this creamy potato-leek soup.



Oh my freakin' god! I accidentally bought super mutant green onions! (I'm joshing... those are leeks, dumbass).

Next you need one medium-sized funnel.

"Excuse me, Mister Jack. I believe the recipe calls for fennel, not funnel, dumbass."

 
Right you are, my good dog-sir. So take one fennel bulb.

"Y'know, Jack... ancient roman texts mention the value of fennel for its aromatic seeds and succulent edible stalks. The ruler Charlemagne promoted its use during medieval times, cultivating the herb on his imperial farms. Fennel root was one of the flavorings used in Sack, an alcoholic drink featuring mead that was popular during Shakespearian times."

Enough interesting facts about fennel, Fauntleroy. Let's get to choppin'!

Slice up the leeks, mostly using the white ends.

Then chop the fennel bulb up, pausing to reflect that your first two ingredients have made your cooking 75% fancier than what you normally cook. 

"Haven't you forgotten something, Jack?"

 
Oh yeah, we're also going to slice up a clove or two of garlic (do NOT make the mistake of slicing up a garlic or two of cloves!)

 
I also forgot to mention that you really need to wear a tie or fancy sweater when making (or even saying) Vichyssoise.

Next we take a spoontable of butter and melt it in a big soup pan over medium high-low heat.

Don't scorch the butter, even though "scorch" is a really fun word to say. SCORCH! SCORCH!


Now add the leeks, fennel bulb and garlic. It's a good idea to recite French poetry during this step.


Cook that mess for 10-12 minutes; by then it should look a little something like this...

Now stop what you're doing and peel three Yukon Gold potatoes. You can use regular baking potatoes if you want, but have you checked out the price of gold these days?

Dice those mothers up!


Now open a bottle of white wine and drink all but a fourth of a cup or so.

Pour the remaining fourth cup in with the leek-fennel-garlic mix.

Add five cups of water along with the diced potatoes.

Add a sprig of fresh thyme if you have it, or a little diced thyme if your wife isn't home and you don't know which one of the herbs in the garden are thyme and which ones are poison ivy.

Cover and cook on low heat for 40 minutes. It should look like this...


 
Let us take a moment and admire my color-coordinated kitchenware.


Wow! That was a fast 40 minutes!


When the potatoes get soft, scoop everything up in batches and blend until smooth.

If you lost the top of your blender like I did, use a small plate and don't put setting on "turbo". And make certain that you're assistant doesn't fall in!

Turn off heat, and whisk in a half cup or so of reduced fat sour cream.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Top with freshly cut chives and... HEY, GET AWAY FROM THERE!

Serve with a nice glass of... what the? WHO DRANK UP ALL MY WINE?!?

Oh, well. Anyway, now you've got a dish that's fancy enough to serve when you have company over.

"Mmmmmmmmmm! Very vishy!"

"Thanks, Jack!"


19 comments:

  1. Hilarious! This post really went to the dogs....in a fantastic way.

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  2. Love the puppies...although I am not sure how much they loved making the soup. Mr. F looks happy to be carried around in the adorable sweater.

    Thanks for the laugh this morning!

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  3. Jack, you and your assistants are looking SKINNY! Yay you!

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  4. I want a tour of your house. If you have a post of one let me know I would love to see it. If you don't you really should make one :) So many interesting fun things I just love it! Now onto the important stuff. You both look dashing in your fancy french attire!

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    Replies
    1. Been there, blogged that: http://jackfit.blogspot.com/2010/05/jack-sht-home-tour.html

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  5. I am with Barb & Miz!!!!!!!! Hilarious & fun & actually had to go back just to look at the dog cuteness!!!!

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  6. Watch out Guy Fieri, I see a new Food Network roadshow coming up - Sh*t Places to Eat!

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  7. Love the red fridge and the cute assistant!

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  8. It was me. I drank your wine!!

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  9. I need a cute cooking assistant!

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  10. Wait, did that soup just turn that puppy black? What was the secret ingredient you failed to mention?????

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  11. Excellent! I'm jealous. Wish I could hold my puppies while I cook. Instead I have to make sure to step over them as I chop, grab ingredients, etc.
    Funny surpirse at the end. What happened to the little blondie? All of a sudden there's a black pup at the table! Is that the friend who came to dinner?

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  12. Was Fauntleroy compensated for his fancy appearance in your post? gimme dat puppy.

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