Onions, Carrots, Celery, the Holy Trinity

One of the things I'm using this trip for is an opportunity to cook as often as I like, and whatever I like. Having all my time as my own affords more experimentation and patience in the kitchen, both wonderful gifts.

I read recently about the holy trinity in cuisine. I was familiar with mirepoix, the french combination of onions, carrots, and celery, but in reading on wikipedia I found that different cuisines across the world have their own versions of the holy trinity, and that they are the cornerstones of their own respective libraries of recipes.

I'm going to try a number of these different flavors and report back.

so, Mirepoix.

Mirepoix is a mixture of onions:carrots:celery at a 2:1:1 ratio that is used for its aromatic qualities. They can be prepared in a number of different ways, typically first sauteing them in oil and then adding ingredients to make a sauce or soup, and the vegetables can be strained out or left, depending on the purpose.

I decided to make Chicken soup. There are countless varieties, but the most stereotypical begins with mirepoix.






I cooked these for about 7 minutes, putting the onions in first, then carrots, then celery. I just put them in as i chopped them up and let them soften in a little hot olive oil.

I skinned and boned 4 tiny chicken thighs, cut the meat up, then threw the meat and the bones into the soup.



Once this was all in the pot I added a couple quarts of chicken broth and a couple cups of water.  If I had cooked down an entire chicken the chicken broth would have been unnecessary.  Looking online there was a laundry list of herbs and spices to use.

Salt and Pepper

Parsley
Thyme
Bay Leaves
(these three are another trinity, known as the bouquet garni, another set of aromatics used in a tied bunch in a sauce and then removed before serving)

Oregano
Basil
Cayenne Pepper

I shook some of these into the pot and then cooked them for an hour at a slow simmer.  I wanted a little more carbohydrates in the soup so the last few minutes I added minature penne and boiled them to soft. 



There's a fair amount of oil on the top of the soup, i ladled some of that off before I served it.

The soup was delicious. It was quite thin broth, with very distinct separate chunks in the soup, and the flavor of the broth was wonderful. Each of the three vegetables has its own smell that colors the chicken broth in its own way. I particularly liked the soup with cayenne pepper, just a little tingle on the lips in between spoonfuls.