WHB: Fideos, Mexican Dry Soup

It's that time again, Weekend Herb Blogging, devised by the ever busy Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen.  This week The Inadvertent Gardener is guest hosting WHB, so if you want to see different herby recipes, go over to her site. My dish this week is fideos, a wonderful recipe from my favorite chef, Deborah Madison.  Fideos is somewhat like risotto in preparation. You add stock to pasta and cook until the pasta absorbs all the liquid.  However, you don't need to constantly stir this like you would with risotto, and it cooks much faster. But, like risotto, the pasta is infused with the liquid it cooks in, giving it a luscious, almost creamy taste.  This recipe uses a stock that I "created" one day, following Deborah Madison's suggestions in her cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone.  I used caramelized onions, which gave a sweet, rich taste to the stock.   I love caramelized onions and add them to stews and soups whenever I have a batch stashed in the freezer.  This dish has three herbs, bay leaf, thyme, and my favorite herb, cilantro. All of them are essential for the taste, but I think todays leading player should be bay leaf.

Here in Davis, bay laurel trees are a common sight. The campus has many of these beautiful trees, which provide excellent shade. However, when I cook with bay leaves, I use Penzeys sweet bay leaves, laurus nobilis, which come from Turkey.  A different variety than the laurel bay here, they have a much better taste and lend an subtle flavor to any cooked dish. Have you ever run out of bay leaves and made a dish without them? I have and it's always noticeable when they're absent.   

I used one lone bay leaf in my stock for the fideos, but it makes a huge difference in the taste. The stock also contains fresh thyme, garlic, anchos chilis, and the caramelized onions  This cooks for about 20 minutes and is then pureed and strained.

After straining it, the sauce has a rich, dark flavor and color.  You don't have to use my recipe, you can make your stock any way you want, keeping in mind the Mexican origins of the dish. 

After the stock is done, cook the noodles in a few tablespoons of oil until they brown.

Once the noodles have browned, you add some of the stock to them and cook until they have absorbed the liquid and are no longer crunchy. 

Scatter the cheese  on the noodles and broil for a few minutes until the cheese melts, then top with cilantro and sour cream and serve.

This is one of the comfort foods that I often crave. It's delicious and easy to make. For another yummy version fideos, and a Deborah Madison recipe as well, go to A Mingling Of Tastes.

Fideos, Mexican Dry Soup  (Adapted from Deborah Madison, Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone)

Make stock or use a commercial vegetable stock. This is my stock that I used:

5 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock if you wish)
1 cup caramelized onions
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 large cloves garlic, minced
2 ancho chilies, stem and seed removed

Heat oil in heavy saucepan.  Add garlic and saute until softened.  Add stock, herbs, onion and the ancho chilies and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Puree in a blender or food processor.  Strain liquid through a mesh strainer.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

The noodles

4 to 5 cups vegetable stock
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
8 ounces cappellini, spaghetti, or thin egg noodles, broken into 2 to 4 inch lengths
salt and freshly milled black pepper
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 to 2/3 cup grated Monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup chopped parsley or cilantro

Add the oil to a wide skillet and heat over medium heat.  Add the noodles and cook, stirring and lifting constantly until the noodles are browned--about 3 to 6 minutes.   Remove to paper towels.

Add 3 1/2 cups of the stock to the skillet and bring to a boil. Add the noodles and and simmer until most of the liquid has absorbed, and the noodles are no longer crunchy and cooked through, about 10 minutes.  If they are still crunchy or the liquid boils away before they are cooked, begin adding more of the stock.  Preheat broiler.

Season noodles with salt and pepper and sprinkle cheese on top.  Broil until the cheese has melted.  Stir sour cream and drizzle over the top and scatter cilantro or parsley and serve.

Comments

[Genie]

Sher, this looks fantastic, and sounds like a pretty easily adaptable recipe, too. I've never tried anything quite like this, but now it's on my list!

Genie
http://www.theinadvertentgardener.com

[Julie]

Hi,
This is my first time on your site. Your fideos look amazing. Thanks for linking to my version of this delicious dish!
Julie

[Kalyn]

I wish Penzeys would start paying us commissions or referral fees, don't you? I have Penzeys bay leaves too and also Penzeys ancho chile powder. The stock sounds just sublime. I haven't heard of this dish before. Very interesting idea. I think I need to get a Deborah Madison cookbook. Somehow I missed her.

The photos are awesome, especially the stock photo with the chiles in it.

[Christine]

Wow Sher! This looks fabulous to say the least. Great post. I especially like the photo of the strained stock. Yum! Do you think the dish could be made with whole wheat pasta?

I have a real laurus nobilis that I got from a nursery a number of years ago in a 20 gallon pot. It's now growing through the pot and into the soil and is at least 6 feet tall. I mostly dry the leaves but sometimes just go out and pick a few fresh ones and throw them into a stew pot.

[Jeff]

Never heard of "Dry Soup" before...very cool!

[Glenna]

As I was reading that I was thinking that every single ingredient was something I love from the noodles to stock to onions....what's not to love? Big fingersnaps, girl!

[sher]

Genie,

It is very easy and like risotto it can be fixed in many different ways. Thanks for hosting WHB!

Julie,

I enjoyed looking at your fideos. The garnishes you used looked so yummy!

Kalyn,

You're so right about Penzeys. They should give us a discount at the very least. :):)

Christine,

I've never made fideos with whole wheat pasta, but I can't see why it wouldn't work. I envy you having a laurus nobilis. You probably remember all the bay laurels here. They can make a bit of a mess on the sidewalks at certain times of the year.

Jeff,

I love that term, "dry soup". It sort of captures the dish perfectly.

Glenna,

Thanks! I think Gene might like this dish!

[gattina]

oh thanks for the info about bay leaves. I got to threw away mine (bought from an Asian store) as it gave me a funny (sort of minty) after-taste. Btw, how can I tell the types of bay leaves (think of McCormick brand not saying anything...), or do I need to go to speciality store?
Sher, I really love this trinity...cheese, chilantro and sour cream!

[Lisa]

This is weird -- only this morning I was rooting through recipes I've printed out over the years, looking for one for -- Sopa de Fideos! Isn't that a coincidence. And then I see this (not that I wasn't concentrating on Upsie). I love how you did the photos of the process. It has always scared me a little, and again today, I ended up making something else. I think your description might give me the guts to actually try this soup! It sounds like something I would go nuts for.

[sher]

Gattina,

I really recommend going to www.Penzeys.com. Their spices and herbs are so much better than the stuff in the store. Plus, they will describe the different types of products very well. They are just wonderful.

Lisa,

This is one of those fun coincidences! I think the universe is telling you to make fideos! It's such an easy recipe too. Much easier than risotto. I think you'll love it! Next time I'm going to put some avocado on it.

[gattina]

thanks for the web site. ah-ha, now I can relate what you and Kalyn talked about; as before I misundertood Penzeys was just another brand like McCormick, hehee... Ok, just browsed the site, already picked a few things! Sher, you're such a good help!

[sher]

Gattina,

Yes, Penzeys is the best. But, be careful, I always wind up going crazy and buy so many things! :)

[Pookah]

Great post! looks different and interesting enough to try! and your other commenters are so right. Pensey's is great! p

[Boston Chef]

wow, this is a very interesting recipe - and seems pretty easy. never really heard of "dry soup" before - we are intrigued and we will definitely be giving this a shot! thanks!

[ann]

whoa... a pasta dish I've never heard of?? i think my head just imploded with possibilities!! this looks SO good and SO intriguing... i MUST try!
thanks sher!

[coffeepot]

Sher, I can't wait to try this. I have never heard of it before and it looks so good.

That stock looks like heaven and I love cilantro.

I'm having trouble this week reading all the WHB posts because I am busy. I'm glad I didn't miss this one.