Soups, stock, and oxtails

Class this past week was on "sexy soups." I do happen to think that soups can be very sexy when they are full of flavor. I think Dave does, too, because he really pays attention when I make soup. This week I had roasted chicken frames so I made chicken stock. And, since I had kale in the fridge, and dried beans in the pantry, and homemade garlic sausage in the freezer, well, that means soup. Yummy soup, with lots of garlic since I cooked the cranberry beans first with lots of fresh sage, garlic, and parsley and then added the chicken stock, kale, and sausage. And of course some habanero chile sauce for a kick. Went over pretty well, and the leftovers will make Dave's lunches this next week far more interesting. One thing we learned this week was doing a raft to clarify consomme. So I am now trying to recreate one of the most memorable soups I've ever had, an oxtail consomme with an oxtail patty wrapped in savoy cabbage. So today we are making the basic oxtail stock -- interesting in that the recipe I am using also includes some fresh cranberries and orange peel. Tomorrow we will tackle making a raft to get a crystal clear consomme. Will let you know how that goes. Right now, it's time to go make shrimp dumplings for dinner :-)