Putting Your Mark On Classic Recipes

I love my family's recipes. They've been handed down to me from generations and centuries of good cooks. yesterday ,as you may recall I wrote about having a slight case of food poisoning from eating at my favorite buffet. It was pompeist ,the Piedmontese version of egg drop soup that came to my rescue .I made a pot of it to satisfy what hunger I had and to soothe a still troubled tummy.

Pompeist, taken from the Italian zuppa di pane pesto or breadcrumb soup is a relative simple affair. It;s just chicken, beef or vegetable broth as a base with a half cup of plain bread crumbs and two beaten eggs tossed in. Cook it until it resembles Chinese egg drop soup (it's kind of a variation really). Sometimes the ingredients work against you. The crumbs turn into sodden lumps with powdery dry interiors while the cooked eggs form floss like strings that get stuck between the teeth. That has happened to me for most of the times I've made it. Not yesterday. The texture was perfect and creamy. I added a cup of breadcrumbs to four and a half cups of vegetable broth. Instead of two eggs I increased to three. My pompeist has a reputation for being bland so I added freshly ground sea salt and pepper .Again this was a great idea It has the right amount of saltiness and bite.

It was also good reheated today. My stomach is still recovering and I just wanted something bland for it. Reheated the pompeist was still perfect.its' texture still was thick and creamy as if I had added milk. The taste was even better, as all reheated dishes usually are.

I' m proud of myself for putting my own spin on this family classic. I can't wait to start on other family recipes. Have I got plans for them!!!!