From Yucky To Yummy In One Easy Step

OK, it's officially winter, 'cause I have a bad cold. There's nothing like a head cold to make you feel yucky, and what do you eat when you feel yucky? Soup!

I got home from work last night, and for some reason the only thing that was going through my head was "Sooooooup....you want some soooooup....". I didn't have any instant soup mix in the cupboard, but I did have some chicken stock, so I decided to wing it and try to concoct something resembling soup from ingredients on hand. I'd never done this before, but I figured that if I screwed it up too badly, I'd just throw in a couple of eggs and call it Scrambled Egg Surprise. That turned out not to be necessary this time, but I'll have you know that I am the master at making Scrambled Egg Surprise.

I started by chopping up two large shallots and frying them in a little oil. After they had been frying for a couple of minutes, I chopped up a portobello mushroom and a plum tomato and threw those in, too. For seasoning I added some freshly ground pepper, about a teaspoon of dried rosemary, some basil, some paprika and some garlic powder. Gotta have the garlic powder. When this mixture looked like it had been cooked enough, I poured in about half of a cup of cream and two cups of chicken stock. These measurements are approximate, as I didn't really measure anything, but it sounds better than "I put in some cream and then I put in some chicken stock." I brought it to a boil, then lowered the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for a while. I tasted it, and decided that it still needed something, so I added more fresh ground pepper, and some oregano. At this point I was unsure as to how long to let it simmer, but upon tasting again, I decided that it was fine and declared it done. This was mostly because I just wanted to eat it. A little grated parmesan mixed in and some oatbran toast completed the picture.

And what a picture. Me sitting on the couch, wrapped in a large comforter, gleefully dunking the toast in the soup and watching CSI. Joy.