snapshot: polenta and spinach soup

i've known for almost two weeks that

that i would have today off.

the whole time, i've thought about

three things:

1) peace

2) no alarm

3) cooking (and taking pictures)

in the daylight.

see, i need some peace (and quiet)

right now. i need a day of waking up

naturally without that horrible beeping

starting at 5 in the morning. and, you

already know, i need a kitchen that lets

in good light. or alternatively, i need to

be home in the middle of the day to take

pictures with natural light.

and, i knew exactly which recipe i had

my eye on: lidia bastianich's

rustic spinach and cornmeal soup

featured in last month's bon appetit.

luckily, i fell asleep to a storm

and woke up - blissfully at 8:30 - to crazy

wind. it was a soup day.

first, i changed the recipe.

instead of tossing raw garlic into the pot

with butter, i sauteed

4 cloves finely chopped garlic

in 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter over medium heat

until it was lightly golden, stirring most of the time.

while that was happening,

i brought 6 cups low-sodium chicken stock to a simmer.

when both of those were good and ready,

i pulled out a larger pot and stirred together

3/4 cups polenta with 3 tablespoons

all-purpose flour. i ladled in a cup of the

warm broth and whisked like crazy. next,

i added in the garlic,

2 more tablespoons of butter and

a sprinkling of kosher salt.

then, the mixture

seized up and i considered stopping.

see, i'm pretty tired lately.

although up until that point, everything

had been going along swimmingly, that was

almost enough for me to throw in the towel.

but, i didn't. i came to my senses.

i really didn't want to throw it out -

there were four cloves of gorgeously sauteed garlic

in there for goodness sake.

instead, i ladled in more and more stock,

whisking and whisking all the while until it

thinned out. when most of the liquid was in,

i brought the mixture to a gentle simmer and

continued to stir occasionally for the

next 25 minutes. at one point,

it got a little thick and i was glad to have

that extra stock to drizzle in. when the soup

was nicely thickened, but the cornmeal still

had a bit of texture, i added 6 ounces cleaned

baby spinach and 1/4 cup grated pecorino

romano cheese. i seasoned it well with salt

and cracked black pepper and

simmered the soup for just a

couple minutes more, until the spinach

was wilted.

and then, i spooned myself a bowl of this

soup that was somewhat a porridge,

somewhat very soft and runny polenta,

and in my head, the perfect soup for

the perfect quiet day.

*the key to this soup is seasoning. salt and pepper it to your heart's content, tasting along the way. i added the pecorino romano, and sprinkled a bit on top, because that's what i always do with polenta - i'm glad i did. still, even though, i am always about big flavor, this recipe is all about simple comfort. i would imagine that the soup would get a great boost from a squeeze of lemon, blue cheese crumbles or a bit of chipotle in adobo.

one last thing: make sure that you have extra stock on hand for leftovers - the polenta continues to soak up the liquid, thickening as it cools. reheated with a bit of stock would do wonders for the soup-like consistency.