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Sunday, January 30, 2011

Leftover Texas Caviar Creation: Soup!

As I mentioned yesterday, I made a TON of Texas caviar. Then--through a series of blunders--we got to the festivities late. Everyone must have been starving because, as we walked in, we felt the vibe of nearly 40 people pigging out. It was hard to get to the food.

We missed Mark's famous beef dish. And a couple of other things. There were many, many choices. Someone made moussaka, which was great. There was some spinach salad left. And we got a bit of Brigitte's genuine French King Cake (as opposed to New Orleans Mardi Gras King Cake). Since Brigitte is a genuine French person, this is as it should be.

Even though some of the food trays were decimated by the time we showed up, our offering made quite a respectable showing and received several compliments. We only had a few cups left.

I am quite sure that the key to frugal eating is based on honoring one's leftovers. I like to turn leftovers into new dishes. I searched Texas Caviar Soup to no avail. Then I tried Cowboy Caviar Soup.

Bingo! I came upon the blog of a Hollywood private chef, who made this soup.


Cowboy Caviar Soup-
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups fresh black eyed peas
6 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon ground cumin
salt to taste

“Croutons”-
3 spicy chicken sausages, preferably jalapeno chicken (Trader Joe’s makes a great one), diced
1 green jalapeno, diced (optional, omit if you prefer less heat)

Cowboy Caviar Relish-
1 cup fresh black eyed peas
½ red bell pepper, finely diced
½ yellow bell pepper, finely diced
1 green jalapeno, finely diced
½ red onion, finely diced
¼ cup cilantro, finely diced
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste


This is basically a pureed black-eyed pea soup topped with Texas caviar relish. She adds some sausage, but I think that might be overkill. I'll be trying this tonight. Thanks, Chef Sasha.

This is my one opportunity to eat as the genuine movie stars do.

2 comments:

Shelley said...

'Honouring leftovers' is absolutely key, I agree. Never heard of either Texas or Cowboy Caviar, but I'm definitely adding it to my list to try, along with 'dirty rice'. I may not tell Bill what's in the latter, however. Is that awful?

Frugal Scholar said...

@Shelley--Not really awful. Isn't that a time-honored strategy?