Kosher-Style Pork Cracklins

Cook up a pot any time of the year, hot, cold or mild weather. It's warm, spicy and satisfying like chili -- without the beans -- so it's lighter and fresher in taste and texture.

Now that I think about it, Francie's right about it being like chili without the beans. I figured I'd make another soup since I loved the last one so much. I mistakenly bought two spice jars of cumin. The store was out of cayene pepper everywhere except bulk, so I bought some bulk. I guess it's a good thing, because in the corner of my cabinet was a GIGANTIC bottle of the stuff. The recipe called for "crushed peeled tomatoes in puree". It sounds like a simple request. It was soooo difficult to find in the store, though! So many choices, but nothing sounded quite right. I ended up with a can twice as big as I needed called "ground peeled tomatoes". It worked perfectly.

Getting the kernels off the corn was a little messy! I had bought some frozen corn just in case I didn't have enough fresh, but I had plenty. It called for 2 cups, which I think took 4 ears of corn.

This time when I was sautéing the vegetables, I wasn't afraid to turn up the heat. Last time it seemed like the veggies were barely cooking, and they were a bit crunchy. This time, I could hear it cooking if I let it sit a little. Also when it came time to simmer, it definitely did... even with the burner on low! I also have to say that my 100% silicone spatula is a dream tool for this job! I love love love love love it. If only the spatula chopped veggies and moved soup from the pot to the bowl, I wouldn't need another utensil.

The chower tastes great! I'd definitely make it again. The corn has some crunch to it, but I think it's perfect. The other veggies, like the carrots and celery seem to have just the right consistency. Definitely have a nice glass of something cool with this, because it is a little spicy (with the chili powder, tobasco sauce and jalapeno, this is not suprising).

Since I had some time (Jay's plane is hours and hours late), I decided to make some cornbread to go with it. I should have tried the Café Cornbread recipe, but I didn't realize there was one til it was too late. I got a recipe off of epicurious. It's good cornbread, but nothing special. If I had more time to buy all the ingredients, I'd have made the green onion-jalapeno cornbread that people seemed to rave about. For this recipe, I ended up calling my neighbor to see if she had cornmeal. She did! So I borrowed some. Unfortunately, neither of us had any baking soda, so I still had to go to the store.

Kosher tip: Kosher salt boxes are wonderful for keeping the recipe book open.

• Mexi-Corn Chowder (Cooking at the Café, p. 56)
• Stone-Ground Cornbread (epicurious.com)