Peanut Butter Soup

As I said, soup was and still is a huge tradition in my family. This recipe goes back at least 4 generations. The problem I have is that in this generation, my eldest child hates soup. At the very mention of soup he cringes and screws up his face as if it were some despised potion used to turn him into a spider. The best part is, he loves this soup! Imagine that! But then again, my grandmother wrote in the composition book, "Really very good. If the children like Peanut Butter, they'd love this!"

Enjoy - with love from all the women in my lineage!

Peanut Butter Soup
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon minced onion
1 Tablespoon butter
3 Tablespoons peanut butter
2 Tablespoons flour
3 Cups scalded milk
salt and pepper
and in my mothers own handwriting is written, Sherry and parsley or coriander to garnish. The only problem is she didn't write the Sherry into the directions. But my guess is you cook the onion in it with the butter.

Process:

• In a soup/stock pot, cook onion in butter.
  
• Add peanut butter and cook 5 minutes.
  
• Add flour and stir until smooth
• Add milk slowly, cook 20 minutes in a double boiler.
  
• Season to taste
• Ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley or coriander.
  

Now some of you might wonder about scalded milk. Others may wonder about a double boiler (which I finally have now that Dad sold the house and dismantled Mom's immaculate kitchen).
Let me start with the scalded milk. Never fear - Google is here and I got me some Wikipedia!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalded_milk

And now onto what to do if you do not have a double boiler. The simplest remedy is to ignore that part of the directions - just continue cooking it in what ever stock or soup pot you were using to being with. But if you are "epicurious" like we are, you would want to know why it calls for a double boiler and how to make do when you lack such a kitchen tool.

This is what a double boiler looks like:



For info about what a double boiler is:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-double-boiler.htm
And let me quote from that site about how to improvise:

"If a recipe calls for a double boiler, there is rarely an alternative method. Cooks without an official double boiler can improvise one with two sauce pans or a large pot of boiling water and a Pyrex bowl. Most double boiler models have a single lid, but many sauce recipes require constant stirring. If a cook is using an improvised double boiler, he or she needs to be careful around the steam. The two elements should be kept separated -- if the inner pan touches the bottom of the outer pan, the result could be a counterproductive direct heat."

I can not stress the importance of caution. Please, when improvising, be careful of steam and or imbalance. My makeshift double boiler was not a perfect fit once and things cascaded on me. Be careful please!!!

Enjoy with love from my Mothers mother!