Kitchen is open for business

 Not bad L, Not bad. Tomato, Leek, and Parsley Soup with Squid.

 Here's a side by side comparison of the recipe photo from Self Magazine and our final result. Pretty darn good if you ask me! If you read the post before you'd know that I was cooking with squid for the first time last Friday and I was nervous. For good reason, here's what it looked like when we opened the packaging from the fish market:

Yuck. Looks like brain. 

My husband did the cutting. He was worried about my little fingers! I did do some of the cutting just to say I did..and to share with you the results. Squid has the consistency of umbilical cord. In fact, cutting through it was much the same. I'm not sure what percentage of the population knows what umbilical cord feels like to cut through but I'm pretty sure a good percentage of my blog readers know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. I'm thinking maybe scissors would have been easier than a knife. It was hard to get a clean cut. 

  This recipe is not one for someone in a rush! It took awhile to make but was totally worth it! Much easier if you have a kitchen helper (husband willing to cut and chop). First step was to dice 4 large tomatoes and roast them in the oven for 40 minutes (not photographed). Meanwhile, we cut up the leaks, onion, and garlic and let that cook over a little olive oil for 10 minutes. Then we added red wine. Brought that to a boil and then reduced heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Then we added the roasted tomatoes, lima beans (I used frozen), fresh parsley, and fresh oregano. Let that simmer for 25 minutes. Then we added Romano flat-beans (again, I used frozen) and some cayenne pepper. If using fresh you'd let them cook for 30 minutes. Instead we felt they were tender after only about 10- 15 minutes.

Toasted bread.

The last step is to sautee the calamari. Finished product looks like this: 

Much enjoyed meal! I will probably leave out the cayenne next time and make more calamari to accompany it. Was said to serve four. I had one bowl. Steve had 2 or 3. We still have plenty of soup left over! Good news because we love left overs at the Handyman's Grandaughter's! We might cut up some of last night's steak to put into it and have it for lunch today! 

Now I need to find another recipe that includes leeks. Not something I often cook with and I have a few stalks left in my refrigerator.  Any ideas?