{"id":885,"date":"2014-12-21T14:51:17","date_gmt":"2014-12-21T20:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pcandres.com\/?p=885"},"modified":"2015-11-06T11:12:39","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T17:12:39","slug":"an-unbalanced-impulse-ginger-beef-soup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/?p=885","title":{"rendered":"An Unbalanced Impulse: Ginger Beef Soup"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0;float:none\"><iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fthesoupblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D885&amp;layout=button_count&amp;show_faces=true&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;width=450&amp;height=30\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width: 450px; height: 30px;\"><\/iframe><\/div><p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_886\" style=\"width: 452px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Wrong-Ginger.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-886\" class=\"size-full wp-image-886\" title=\"Wrong Ginger\" src=\"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Wrong-Ginger.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"442\" height=\"447\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Wrong-Ginger.jpg 442w, https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Wrong-Ginger-98x100.jpg 98w, https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Wrong-Ginger-296x300.jpg 296w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 442px) 100vw, 442px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-886\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wrong Ginger, but still spicier than Mary Anne<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I think of myself as a logical person.\u00a0 I consider numerous solutions to a problem, weigh them against each other on the scale of reason, and choose the best alternative.<\/p>\n<p>At least I used to.<\/p>\n<p>As I get older (and lazier) I find myself turning my back on rational thought in favor of gut feelings, impulses, and the occasional wild guess.<\/p>\n<p>This is especially true with my parenting as I grasp for the threads of arguments that will change my daughters\u2019 minds, moods or, the holy grail, both at the same time. The children who arrived \u00a0home from the hospital all those years ago never came with operating instructions and although I have a better handle on what makes them tick, their bodies and brains keep changing, \u00a0making my old techniques ineffective.<\/p>\n<p>The result is that I lunge for promising solutions and hope that my love and commitment for them will nudge the girls in the direction I want them to go.\u00a0 And because my daughters have an emotional attachment to me, I often get away with it.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to cooking, however, despite all the love I put into it, the ingredients remain indifferent to my efforts. \u00a0No matter what outlandish combination of flavors or cooking technique I employ, they behave rationally.<\/p>\n<p>This would have been great for the old me, but it gets the new (aka older) me into a lot of trouble.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what happened this past week.<\/p>\n<p>I began the week with the intention of making a classic beef stew with celery, carrots, onions, potatoes and thyme.\u00a0 It\u2019s what\u2019s known as \u201cCamp Stew\u201d in my family because it originated (minus the thyme) over a Coleman stove in the wilds of upstate California.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s simple and delicious.<\/p>\n<p>But when I got to the grocery store, I walked past the fresh ginger display and crazy old man Phil took over.<\/p>\n<p>Goodbye Camp Stew. \u00a0Hello Ginger Beef Soup.<\/p>\n<p>I started peeling and mincing the ginger when I got home, and when I was done, I had about four ounces worth.\u00a0 That ought to have been enough, right?<\/p>\n<p>Next I proceeded to brown the meat along with the onions and, after a few minutes, half of the ginger.\u00a0 Yes, on impulse, I decided to not use all the ginger.\u00a0 I figured I could add more later as necessary.\u00a0 Then I added the remaining vegetables, potatoes, stock and seasonings and simmered them together for about an hour.<\/p>\n<p>The first taste was way too gingery.\u00a0 My youngest daughter actually recoiled from the strength.<\/p>\n<p>Salvage time.<\/p>\n<p>I started emptying the pantry and the refrigerator into the pot in the hope of diluting the ginger flavor and balancing out the stew.\u00a0 First came mushrooms, then garlic, then coconut milk, and finally sour cream.<\/p>\n<p>Second taste.\u00a0 Much better.\u00a0 More balanced, fuller and, due to the additional liquids, a lot less like a stew and a lot more like a soup.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, the beef flavor was almost lost in the process.\u00a0 It was still part of the balance, but I think the soup would work with just about any protein\u2014chicken, shrimp, even tofu.<\/p>\n<p>Call it the price of impetuousness.<\/p>\n<p>As always, the real test came at the dinner table\u2026<\/p>\n<p>My wife loved it, calling it one of the best soups I\u2019d made to date. My eldest daughter wouldn\u2019t eat hers because it tasted \u201cbad.\u201d My youngest thought there was still too much ginger.<\/p>\n<p>So who\u2019s right?<\/p>\n<p>My wife, of course.<\/p>\n<p>As I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll agree, pre-adolescent brains and tastes aren\u2019t fully developed like ours are.\u00a0 Childish palates are a lot less adventurous too. But perhaps I am biased.<\/p>\n<p>Whose recommendation would you follow?<\/p>\n<p>And please, be reasonable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ginger Beef Soup<br \/>\n<\/strong>(serves 6-8)<br \/>\n1 T canola oil<br \/>\n1 \u00bd lb beef, cut into big chunks<br \/>\n\u00bd lb onions, chopped<br \/>\n2 ounces fresh ginger, peeled and minced<br \/>\n\u00bd lb celery, sliced<br \/>\n\u00bd lb carrots, peeled and sliced<br \/>\n1 lb potatoes, peeled and chopped<br \/>\n4 cups stock<br \/>\n\u00bc mushrooms, sliced<br \/>\n4 cloves garlic, minced<br \/>\n1 14 \u00bd oz. can coconut milk<br \/>\n1 cup sour cream<br \/>\nsalt &amp; pepper to taste<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Heat the oil in a \u00a0medium (3 quart) soup pot, add the beef      and saut\u00e9 for 5-7 minutes before adding the onions, and saut\u00e9ing for      another 5-7 minutes.\u00a0 Then add the      ginger and cook for 3-5 minutes more.<\/li>\n<li>Add the celery, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, garlic,      stock, coconut milk, sour cream and seasonings, bring to a boil, then      reduce to a simmer for about an hour.<\/li>\n<li>Serve warm over rice.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>Image Credit:\u00a0 Spicier than Mary Anne <\/em>composed of an old \u201cGilligan\u2019s Island\u201d photo and MS Paint.\u00a0 <strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Does anyone know why Ginger is a nickname for someone with red hair?\u00a0 Fresh ginger is at best an off white and candied ginger gets its color from red syrup.\u00a0 What gives?\u00a0 If you know the answer, let me know.\u00a0 Leave a comment. <\/strong><strong>I\u2019ll be reading <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">and<\/span> responding.<\/strong><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I think of myself as a logical person.\u00a0 I consider numerous solutions to a problem, weigh them against each other on the scale of reason, and choose the best alternative. At least I used to. As I get older (and lazier) I find myself turning my back on rational thought in favor of gut feelings, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113,48,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beef","category-dairy","category-ginger"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=885"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1145,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885\/revisions\/1145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoupblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}