Hey everyone! Damn good to see you all again!
Sunday Gravy coming into the home stretch!
We’re midway through preseason week 2. As excited as I thought I was last week I was barely able to stomach a couple of series of plays watching my team. You can only get so excited to see your back-ups in the road uniforms. At least this week most teams should show off the majority of their starters, and some will probably play most of the first half. It’s the week three games that will fucking suck with no starters playing.
Shit has been fucking hot outside lately and it doesn’t actually inspire me to drag my ass into the kitchen if I’m being honest. I had a couple of menu ideas that just fell by the wayside since they both involved slow roasting in the oven. The weather later today is actually supposed to be cooler with a nice marine layer giving us our cool grey blanket effect and if that is indeed the case I will get something in the oven.
I’ve got a pretty good idea what I want to do for the season finale of Sunday Gravy – just 2 weeks away – but it involves the oven.
/fingers crossed
The menu today was actually pretty friendly for cooking since it’s a quick soup that involves a low simmer on the stove top.
At first I was intending to make some fresh bread but motherfuck that! I had some of my weekly bread on hand and toast would be just fucking fine.
Our inspiration for the menu today comes once again from the fine folks at Universal Yums!
Take a look.
We’ve used them in the past too.
Each snack box also comes with a booklet containing fun facts, trivia and such but the first page inside the cover always features a recipe for a food that represents the featured country. Like so.
Although they did fuck up the name of the soup. It’s “Kulajda” not Kulajada.
Actually Kulajada sounds like a Muay Thai blaxploitation film.
Still confused by the title of this episode? Don’t be. We are basically making a Czech style cream of mushroom soup.
While the idea may have come from the Yums book up there, the actual recipe I used was a combination using the guidebook as well as from “Cooklikeczechs.com.”
I’ll let them give you some additional details about our soup.
“Kulajda is a Czech mushroom soup containing dill and potatoes, softened with cream. It’s characterized by a typical sweet and sour taste.”
“Kulajda originates in southern Bohemia (jižní Čechy), a forested region where mushrooms grow in abundance. That’s why this soup is sometimes called “jihočeská kulajda.”
Simple prep and delicious results. The fuck is wrong with that?
It’s damn well worth the effort too.
This has a very interesting mix of salty, sweet, creamy and sour along with the funk of the mushrooms. It is extremely tasty and pretty damn simple to make too.
Kulajda!
1 lb potatoes – peeled and cubed
1 container of fresh mushrooms – ours were shiitake, oyster and crimini – cut into bits
1/3 stick unsalted butter
4 tbsp all purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp vinegar
3 tbsp chopped fresh dill
3 cups beef stock
Salt & pepper
A poached egg for each bowl of soup.
Start by getting some mushrooms.
A nice blend of mushrooms works really well here. I like the different textures and mouth feel of the different mushrooms.
In addition to just using the fresh mushrooms we also soaked a handful of the mushrooms in a bowl of water. The original recipes called for dried mushrooms that were reconstituted in water. The water was then added into the soup. I figured we could experiment a little with that.
Give ’em a bit of a chop.
Since we have just a handful of ingredients today it’s important to use the best ingredients you can find.
Remember the olive oil that I purchased for our Pasta Amatriciana a couple of weeks ago?
Let’s use that to sauté the mushrooms in.
Reduce down.
This should only take a few minutes. We just want to sauté for flavor and to cook out some of the water.
Next we will start the base of the soup by building the roux.
That’s what the butter and flour in the recipe was for after all.
Begin gradually adding in the beef stock. Put in about half a cup at a time and slowly build the soup stock. Stir constantly. This is the important part, making the soup base.
For this soup we will need small cubed potatoes. Don’t want them too large here.
Thinking about the combination of the savory mushrooms and the cubed potatoes? That got your fucking attention, didn’t it?
Let the potatoes soak in some clean water for a bit to remove some of the starch.
Bring the stock up to a simmer.
We’re going to bring the temperature down to low, then we add in the mushrooms. Also add in the soaked mushrooms along with the water they soaked in.
Simmer for about 10 minutes then we drain the cubed potatoes and get them in the pot.
Now let’s get a look at the underappreciated secret ingredient of this soup.
Dill has always been an intriguing fucking herb to me. When used in it’s proper place it is fucking fantastic. But it doesn’t always play well with others. I’ve never used it in a slow roast or braise and it rarely finds itself in a gravy but have you had fresh dill with a deviled egg? Or minced fine and served with fish? Or in tzatziki?
That’s the shit I’m going on about.
Chop the dill up. Just the fluffy leafy part not the stems.
Nearing completion the soup begins to smell delicious. You can smell that shit, can’t you?
Turn the heat off on the soup. We finish the soup with the addition of the heavy cream.
Once the cream is incorporated we begin the prep of the finishing ingredient.
What will we do with this lovely orb?
That’s right! We’re gonna poach it’s ass!
Poaching is a tricky technique but once you’ve mastered it? It produces a fantastic product. I love the silky texture of a perfectly poached egg and the nice runny yolk it produces is fucking mind blowing.
For my preferred technique use a medium sauce pan and fill it about halfway with water, then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and add in one tablespoon of white vinegar. Now using a wooden spoon start stirring the water in a circle briskly. We’re trying to create a vortex here. The idea being it will help keep the yolk and white compact while poaching.
See how we cracked that egg up there into a small bowl? That make it that much easier to slide it into the water perfectly thus keeping all of the whites from just floating all over the goddamn pot.
Here’s an overhead angle.
I find that a three minute poach is just right. You can go for four minutes if you’re afraid of a runny yolk but you all just KNOW my ass loves a nice runny yolk.
Now back to the soup real quick. Just before serving the soup add the vinegar, salt and pepper, the sugar and the dill and mix together thoroughly.
Ladle the soup into a bowl and place the freshly poached egg right on top.
Season as desired with some additional salt and pepper. Here’s a closer view.
The egg is cooked perfectly.
Here’s another shot using a different bowl of soup.
Go ahead and grab a taste.
This motherfucker hits every goddamn flavor note simultaneously. Your tongue will basically say “The fuck?”
Then? Then you start noticing the delicate flavors and the perfect balance of the salt, sweet, savory, sour and the funk of the mushrooms.
It’s a goddamn flavor tsunami!
You were right when you thought that those mushrooms and potatoes would make sweet, sweet love together. Why the fuck isn’t all cream of mushroom soup made with potatoes? Somebody dropped the goddamn ball on that shit!
Of course you already know the big time player in this bastard.
The dill.
Fuck yes it does.
This shit is magical! How did I live this long without this motherfucking soup?
Yet another thing I’m angry about not trying until I’m an old-ass bastard. Not really angry but it just feels like I’ve missed too many opportunities to eat this delightful dish.
Next time though, I’m serving this shit in the winter time. Eating a bowl of hot soup during a hot fucking day in August was kind of idiotic. Did that stop me from enjoying a second bowl?
Reader? It did not.
Once again this is why I love doing Sunday Gravy and trying new dishes. Because of days like today. I’ve got a regular goddamn keeper of a winter soup recipe. It’s quick, simple, inexpensive and perfectly fucking delicious.
Motherfucking touchdown.
Speaking of which, just a little over two weeks left in the offseason and the finish line approaches.
We got this shit.
Thanks to all of you for being the dedicated Gravy heads that you are. I couldn’t do it without you.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and we’ll do this shit again next week, alright?
Be well and stay safe folks.
PEACE!
[…] Remember last year when we made Kulajda! […]
Simple things FedEx doesn’t know how to do:
1) Send an email
2) Open a PDF
Joey Gallo having a very solid game for the Dungeon Masters today. 2-2, a diving catch, and threw somebody out at home.
Eastern Europe is the spot for mushrooms, so good and so many options for what to do with them. Good stuff!
All right, I did my yard work for the day and now it’s time for some pulled pork and Fresca.
Did mine yesterday as its rained on and off today and an electric lawnmower and water don’t mix well.
Adds scary pic of electricity stabbing the kid
Trimmed the tree and didn’t a bunch of weeding. Not the good kind of weeding. Now have 2 brown bags of stuff to throw out
Also is there Fresca in the pulled pork as part of the marinade?
No, the porks is pretty flavorless on its own. Easily remedied with a little barbecue sauce.
Lyndon Johnson enjoyed Fresca. He had a special button at his desk in the Oval Office so that he could enjoy a cold delicious Fresca while ordering B-52 carpet bombing raids on the North Vietnamese. Ho Chi Minh, just like his idol Stalin, did not enjoy Fresca but instead drank a poor substitute beverage made of a thin diluted rice paste and ground up bugs. Even the carbonation was terrible and contained sulfur compounds. This is why we won the Vietnam War.
Mushroom soup is right up Gumby’s ethnic alley. He’s Slovak, not Czech, but close enough! I had a very bad food poisoning incident at Panera with ‘shroom soup, but if I make it myself I’m sure it will be ok. It sounds really good. I love me a poached egg too!
I was hoping to get across the poached egg concept if nothing else.
Thanks!
Philly! Cleveland! It’s the battle of two failed cities!*
*”Hey, I wanted to play in this game.”
-Detroit
De Bruyne to Haaland is going to be a problem for the rest of the league
I kind of want to bet on y’all winning the League now.
You shut your elongated mouthhole!
This is The Broom’s best chance to break the assist record that is held by Thierry Henry and himself.
It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t give a shit about where your blood-soaked oil money comes from.
Reporter: “Here we are just outside Man City’s locker room at halftime. Let’s listen in.”
[shouted words such as Estupidio, Hijo de Perra, Apestar, Culo, Malparido are heard]
Producer: “CUT THAT MIC! CUT THE FUCKING MIC!”
Reporter: “Well, Pep appears to be a wee bit upset…”
Halftime Host: “This is the worst ‘Bring Your Daughter To Work Day’ ever.”
Well, her tactics have been very effective this half.
Wtf, Newcastle?
Oh my! A full weekend of upsets.
I do like my tv listings today-“WNBA Basketball”, “Gymnastics”, “2022 Little League World Series”, “NHRA Drag Racing” and then, out of blue, “Cornhole”. It’s like the tv is calling me names.
No mixed doubles axe or knife throwing?
You had me at Little League Cornhole! – Marc T., Parts Unknown
/ mournful toot, etc., etc.
I’m waiting for NHRA Drag Queen Story Hour.
I must be fully senile now, just teared up with pride/love looking at my cats. Grandson Noodles sitting by my feet, son Kruger sprawled out on the bed (his hips bother him to where he climbs up the duvet rather than jump now). They really are the best part of every day.
I have a dill hot sauce. I totally didn’t expect it to taste good or work but put on a roast beef sammie it does wonders for the whole thing
What kind of peppers did you put into it?
Hot ones
Oh, you! [tilts head, puts hands on hips, audience laughs]
It’s a place from Thunder Bay, I’m not that brave in the kitchen. The pepper is jalapeño, so not too hot
HUZZAH CIUDAD DE LOS HOMBRES!!
goddamnit, TV going off now
Oh, please let a Non-Gendered Cowperson cripple MRSA Dreamboat. Imam Santa, I promise that is all I want for 9/11 this year!
i feel good about putting Arsenal in the Top 4 ahead of Chelski, fo sho (in the preview post)
Arsenal hasn’t played anyone of note yet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m waving my (obtained under completely reasonable if perhaps not exactly legal means) flag proudly, but let’s see how the Water Pistols do when they face the big guns.
I didn’t intend to make that ‘water pistols’ ‘guns’ pun, but here we are. I regret nothing.
Right now, I am wishing I had the bollocks to list y’all 2nd. You will at least give City a match where they break a sweat.
fuck. this is embarrassing.
This feels like watching the jets and I just threw up in my mouth
Why? Did Pulisic bang someone’s Mom and then blow out his knee?
Pulisic is Chelski, yo. GET YOUR HATE STRAIGHT!!
Sorry, I was watching Leeds push Chelsea’s shit in and got confused.
So it seems that not having access to an oligarch willing to lose $1 million a week is having an adverse affect on Chelsea.
Funny how that happens.
They still have money, but it’s an idiot American spending it now. That uber-MILF Marina G-sommet was apparently well deserving of all her accolades.
THREE? Holy cats. Have a word, Chelski.
Can any of you soccerheads recommend a half-decent site that features the Prem?
What are you looking for? Info, or illegal streams?
A little from column A, a little from column B.
I’ve been using this for baseball: https://sportsurge.club/
gives the gaffer a pat on the belly on his way out. love it.
Major Leeds Soccer
Race to Kubiak! Tuchel v. Fronk. WHO YA GOT??
nah im cool. didn’t expect a result against trash birds. probbo looking at a 14-16 finish this season. something im learning as a relatively new footy fan is the heartbreak of supporting a club no decent players want to play for. also, EPL needs a salary cap. either that or let that super lig happen because fighting the likes of Liverpool and man city is just stupid.
This is why I love the C’ship.
But y’all are the Man City of the Ship!
God damn right! That being said only one of our promotions was auto. Playoff losers, and playoff winners.
“boy if only we had a 6’5″ Italian superstar in the box for that corner”
Nice composure there by rice
How long before this human powdered wig changes his philosophy? Stay tuned!
can’t remember if there’s any Zappaphiles here, but the family just released another trove of live material. It’s called “Erie”. Seems to be the same year and same band as the last release which was the Roxy set from 1973. Quality is amazing, as you would imagine. It’s 72 songs, and I’m only through a quarter of it, but I just listened to a three-fer of Inca Roads, Montana, and Dupree’s Paradise that fucked me up. Bottom end power and funky as fuck. Also, the xylophone player doesn’t seem to be part of the ensemble. Check it out. Quality 70s rock & roll. Now to watch the rest of the wheels fall off the Hammers.
Zappa File sounds like something J. Edgar Hoover would have had.
Lady BFC hates dill.
That will be all.
Neither Cornet nor Scamacca in the XI is just stupid.
Yeah, Moyes needs to take the handbrake off.
and yet he plays the defender who showed up fucking Thursday afternoon and he gives up the penno. madness
Ted Lasso’s Leeds aren’t supposed to be good. The path to 17th is getting trickier. Tuchel is going to have a Kubiak at the half.
I always love seeing Chelsea lose. Did you know that their stadi….
Mendy, not a fine girl there.
Isn’t he in jail?
There are many, many Mendys. Must be the French-speaking Afrikan version of “Smith.”
Welp. The premier league has been nice.
Oh you and teh Hippo have nothing to worry about. Take it from someone with many relegation scars. Sit back and enjoy the white knuckle ride. The Cherries, us and Leeds will be there shortly.
(I also think Foxy Footy will be bottom half this year)
Foxes are in waaaayyyyy deeper trouble than that. Very Disappointing Everton look 1 position worse than the 19th I done predicted.
I think I’ll make this, but I might leave out the poached egg.
[immediately books airline ticket]
[flies across country]
[drives to Fronkenshteen’s home]
[knocks on door]
[punches him in goddamn face]
– DJ Taj
Good one Buddy. I like all of the soups from that region. They know how to do a savory soup.
*SavoUry
We follow the Queen’s english around here sir…
But my Czech “technical source” here told me it’s Savory. I’m goin with her friend.
Hammers v Trash birds. Have the same feeling as teh Hippo. WHo could get in the relegation battle? I see the trashbirds falling this year.
I should be against Rum Ham here, keep Everton in 16th. But I just can’t do, let’s BLOW SUM BUBBLES