To Kill a Cold, Awaken the Taste Buds

posted January 21, 2007

by Amy Powell

http://cooking.cdkitchen.com/RealMealsInMinutes/445.html

‘Tis the season: of sneezing, coughing, congestion, flu, and curling up for the weekend bemoaning the illness that has interfered with your social schedule. Behind the nasal-y voice, or total lack of voice for that matter, few foods sound remotely appealing as chances are you won’t even be able to taste them. But if you had listened to your mother, then you should remember that old axiom: starve a fever, feed a cold. And with Airborne and Echinacea clearly letting you down in the sickness prevention department, mom’s solution to recovery sounds as good as any.

After a lifetime of touting my own immune system as being “strong, like ox” (with good reason as I rarely have been sick with so much as a cold), even I couldn’t avoid this year’s cold and flu outbreak. The annoyance was not so much with the post-nasal drip that started the night before I ran a road race, or the voice that escaped me for a good four days thereafter. Even the stomach flu that I contracted the next weekend I was determined to blame on food poisoning, no matter how unlikely that my morning oatmeal had poisoned me. No, the real annoyance was that the nasal drip interfered with my ability to appreciate the subtle nuances of a good cabernet; that the stomach flu made me cancel dinner plans at my favorite Greek restaurant where I had been breathlessly awaiting its grilled octopus and shrimp saganaki.

As I waited for my ox-like immune system to fight off this rebellion in my body, I did what any sick person should do: dreamed up my first recovery meal. Okay, my first meal on the mend was pancakes from a local hash house. But my second meal, that was all my kitchen and me. Mama said there is nothing like chicken soup to cure the sick, and with modern medicine failing to protect me, I was all over that solution.

So I was set to make a serious meal of a rich and hearty chicken noodle soup when in comes the voice of my father. He sagely suggested that I stick to a “bland” diet until I was back to 100%. Darn fathers, they usually do know best. So much for my rich soup idea.

I needed to eat something and there had to be a way to combine the wisdom of both parents, satisfy my palate, however dulled, and make amends with my belly. So I was thinking, a bland diet has you eating rice, bread, applesauce--everything about as plain and harmless as it comes. And one doesn’t really need the hearty chunks of meat, as delightful as they are, to reproduce the healing properties of chicken soup. If you were to take bread, add it to chicken stock along with some easy protein and veggies to replenish vitamins, you could make a pretty tasty soup that would satisfy a whole family of advice.

A bread soup with a chicken stock base is just the ticket to bring body and taste buds back from the dead. Bread is a natural thickener for soup as it starts to break down about 15 minutes into a simmer. I like a sourdough as it adds a tanginess that plain French bread misses. A base of chicken stock will make mom happy, while a little ale for some depth of flavor and some hoppy spiciness adds another level so that this isn’t just your mom’s chicken soup. You need a little protein, so I’d go with some white beans or chickpeas, just a little easier out of the can than taking a risk on real meat. And with the body on the up and up, you are going to need some greens--kale, spinach, or chard will do--to give your system the vitamins to get that sickness out and make sure it stays gone.

Despite my best intentions and the immune system of a large farm animal, the flu season got to me in the end. It may have taken away a few days of realizing my food and dinner plans with a friend, but it didn’t get my spirit. With a little advice from the parents and a bowl of not-so-chicken chicken soup, I am back to 100%, body, soul and taste buds alike.

White Bean and Sourdough Bread Soup Recipe
http://www.cdkitchen.com/

Serves/Makes: 6
Ready in: < 30 minutes

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 clove garlic
* 1 medium onion
* 8 cups chicken stock
* 2 cups sourdough bread in 1 inch cubes
* 2 sprigs thyme
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 can (15 oz. size) white beans such as Great Northern
* 1 bottle (12 oz size) pale ale
* 8 ounces baby spinach
* salt and pepper
* parmesan
* good quality extra virgin olive oil

In a large soup pot, heat 2 T. olive oil over medium heat. Peel garlic and onion. Mince garlic and slice onion in half then thinly slice crosswise. Add both to soup pot. Stir and sweat for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare bread, drain and rinse beans. Add chicken stock to pot with bread, thyme, bay leaf, and drained beans. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add beer and spinach. Bring to a boil again and simmer for an additional five minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, ladle soup into bowl. Top with grated parmesan and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.