Everybody loves it so I thought I'd make a double batch.
Chopped up the onions, celery, and carrots to get them ready to saute in the melted butter.
Some of you may remember me mentioning I grew two new (to me) varieties of heirloom purple carrots this past gardening season. I've served them chopped and grated in salads and they've inevitably been mistaken for raw beets. This should have been a warning to me. Shoulda', but wasn't. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
I put a couple of regular Scarlet Nantes carrots in my soup fixings and a couple of the purple ones.
Can you guess what happened? Yep, the purple carrots "bled" just the same as beets do when cooked. This did baaaad things to my should-have-been beautiful chicken soup made with rich, golden turkey broth and deep yellow dumplings.
The chunks of chicken in the soup turned an unappetizing gray along with the dumplings and . . . well, virtually everything else.
The eager eaters around my table were very kind. They said the soup tasted just as good as always. Bah.
Lesson learned: The appearance of food plays a big part in its perceived flavor. Also, don't cook with purple carrots unless you're striving for an unusual, and perhaps startling, appearance.
Hey, don't fault me for this. I've only been cooking for 50+ years. I evidently have a lot to learn yet.
OMG-that is the most un-appetizing thing I've seen in awhile. I'm sure it was tasty, but gosh, I don't know if I could it eat. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteAnd funny timing as I was just checking out a neat new (to me) catalog and they had some cauliflower that turns brilliant fushia when cooked. Um. I dont know if I could eat that either. Cauliflower is white, ya know?
And fushia SOUP? Again, not sure on that.
Guess I pass.............
(but wow, was it beautiful!)
Sue - And I can assure you, it looked worse in person! If the purple carrot was going to bleed, wouldn't ya think it would have just tinted the soup a nice rosy red? Oh nooooo, we had to go yucky-blucky dark gray!
DeleteThanks for the morning giggle!
ReplyDeleteMichelle - You're welcome. I cook to please! ;o}
DeleteMama Pea,
ReplyDeleteYou've been cooking for 50+ years but you haven't been using the purple colored carrots when cooking. So no worries, if everyone's hungry they'll eat :-)
Sandy - You are, again, so sweet to try to bail me out of my latest faux pas! (We did eat more of it today for lunch . . . only a small serving yet to get rid of. I mean eat.)
DeleteEven the pretty bowl couldn't cover up the ughness. It took 50 years to learn this, at least you've proven that you can always learn something new.
ReplyDeleteDFW - That fact that you can always learn something new usually results in a bit more satisfaction than this learning experience did! ;o}
DeleteI am not sure I could eat a purple carrot, so will probably not grow them! I can't eat tomatoes that are not red and round either!
ReplyDeleteVera - I'll admit I've never been a fan of other than red tomatoes either. Those "black" or streaky orange/yellow ones have never appealed to me. (We must not be very adventuresome.)
DeleteGood thing to be aware of... I do like eating my purple potatoes though. I love Chicken and Dumplings.
ReplyDeleteRuth - Hubby was recently reading that the purple or blue potatoes have some good stuff in them that other taters don't. But are they gray when cooked?
DeleteNope they aren't gray. I was delighted to find purple potatoes when my grand girls were a bit younger. Bet your gray Chicken and Dumplings would have been a hit at a local preschool or elementary lunch room. Especially with the boys.
DeleteOh Mama Pea...I think it looks delicious, but then I'm a huge fan of Coq Au Vin...the red wine turns the chicken a greyish colour too and the carrots turn purple. Couldn't be yummier! But I understand what you mean. When you cook something with the expectation of how it's going to look...then it doesn't, it could affect your perception of the dish, and of course your enjoyment of it. I've noticed that when I bake garlic slices in certain dishes, they turn green and my bf is always iffy about eating them. They still taste yummy but weirdly turn that colour!
ReplyDeleteRain - Just goes to prove that it's all in our perception of how we "think" something should look! Then there are those folks who won't eat ANYTHING green. I've never understood that one. :o}
DeleteLol!!! You crack me up. Still, I'm sure it tasted delicious.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, love your header picture!
DeleteLaurie - It did taste good. If you didn't look at it!
DeleteThe new header picture is by my daughter again. It's another Currier & Ives print she found.
I just saw some purple carrots in a seed catalog and thought, Hmmm, should I?" Maybe not! Probably best for carrot and raisin salad. Great post!
ReplyDeleteLeigh - Of course, it could have just been the year last season, but we have found both of the heirloom purple carrot varieties I tried to be a titch on the tasteless side. Not much of a carrot flavor. I have left over seeds so I'll probably plant those once more this year to see if we get a better outcome.
DeleteHa! I would have never thought they would bleed. Thanks for the heads up on this.
ReplyDeleteKristina - I doubt I'll ever make a mistake like that with them again!
DeleteHa, ha! We never get too old to learn or to make mistakes. I made biscuits a while ago and they were less than fluffy....don
ReplyDelete't know what I did wrong.
The color depends on the food. Mom used to make a delicious and appealing cobbler using canned purple plums that were that color and I loved them. That is one of her foods that I have never made....need to look for the plums.
Glenda - Back in Illinois we had a prolific plum tree, I would can them in a light syrup and use them in a cobbler I made, but I don't remember them turning the dough "plum colored." Maybe it depends on the variety of plums?
DeleteOh THAT's funny.
ReplyDeleteIt sort of reminds me of the time I made goulash with green-when-ripe tomatoes.
SmartAlex - Now that must have been some unusual looking goulash! (If those tomatoes were green when ripe, how the heck could you tell when they were . . . well, ripe?!
DeleteI don't care what color it is - it sounds delicious! I once made a rice and pistachio stuffing for Cornish hens and used the pink-shelled nuts. Needless to say, it was a colorful dinner....
ReplyDeleteSusan - Oh, what we "creative" (snort) cooks don't come up with!
Delete:) Oh well........ I bet it still tasted fine!
ReplyDeleteSandy - Yes, what can you say but, "Oh, well!" But I do have to admit, whether it illustrates my weak mind or not, the color was off-putting!
DeleteIt did look a little scary - but when I scrolled to the photo of the purple soup it ade me laugh out loud - just surprised at the color. And I agree - looks do affect the taste - but now I want some chicken soup - but not with purple carrots please.
ReplyDeleteJoAnn - Funny thing, I still want some chicken soup. Some how it feels like I didn't get it!
DeleteHa! I bet it was delicious, though! Similar thing happened to me when I was young and new to cocktail mixing - I was so proud of myself, bought fresh mangoes and fruit to mix a blender of daiquiris... but I put dark rum in the blender. Result, delicious, BROWN daiquiris .....! Live and learn :)
ReplyDeleteMake my wonderful chicken soup for a special rainy day. Did everything the same. Chopped all the veggies. Sauté some. Decided to use the beautiful organic colored carrots. Well!!! My beautiful chicken soup is now purple!! Oh well learned a lesson. But the soup is still delicious and the carrots look beautiful floating in my purple soup. Great for tomorrow night for Halloween!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing I was about to use a couple of purple carrots that I got from the store in my chicke noodle soup. Glad you had posted this!!!!
ReplyDelete