Some of you may not know this, but I’m married to Batman. Ok fine, a Batman cosplayer. I first saw my spouse-to-be on DragonConTV, competing in the Dragon Con 2011 Masquerade Costume Contest as The Dark Knight. What can I say? I’m a woman who likes a man in 40 lbs of shining armor.
Costume aside, my partner-in-crime-fighting first drew me in with his intelligence and creativity. He won my heart with his kindness. He may not be a billionaire, but he has a sense of nobility very fitting to the caped-crusader. And this is why I made a Batman-themed menu for his birthday a few weeks ago.
Bat-shaped food? You might be thinking. Nope (though if you find a mini bat-shaped fondant cutter, let me know). This menu was a three-course culinary tour of Bruce Wayne/Batman’s reported favorite dishes fitting to this vigilante’s refined palate. We start off our bat-menu with a first-course that references Batman Vol 1. #701 in a recipe for Alfred Pennyworth’s Mulligatawny Soup.
Click here to skip to the recipe for Pennyworth’s Curry Powder.
Click here to skip to the recipe for Alfred Pennyworth’s Mulligatawny Soup.
Beeton’s to Butlers
Mulliga-what soup? You might be thinking. Mulligatawny Soup is the delicious British bastardization of an East Indian soup of a similar name, meaning “pepper-water.” No single, known and recorded, original recipe exists. However, references to it in English history go as far back to 1784. Probably originally a curried tamarind broth thickened with fried onions and crushed almonds, the chicken-and-ham-laden version we know now is likely a result of what the Brits do best — adding meat to everything.
I bring this up knowing Alfred’s Pennyworth’s occupation as a Butler would undoubtedly put a copy of Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management in his possession. Yes, I know, another obscure reference, but follow along with me here. Mrs. Beeton’s Book was the go-to guide for middle-class housekeepers yearning to imitate high-society. A compilation of household rules and practices, food preservation techniques, and structured recipes popular among the upper class, this 1860’s best-seller remains in print today.
Also one of the most extensive compilations of plagiarism in the culinary world, though, Beeton’s advice may not be all that well-founded. That’s why I had to take some modern sensibilities in adapting the book’s recipe for Mulligatawny Soup. I figure Alfred would view the recipe as a guideline than a formula.
Curry it Up to Good Luck
When I saw Beeton’s recipe for Mulligatawny Soup, I was a bit dumbfounded by the whopping two tablespoons of curry powder it called for. Perhaps this measurement was likely due to long shipping times from India to Britain reducing the spices’ potency. I then discovered a recipe specifically for curry powder in an earlier chapter — “founded on Dr. Kitchiner’s recipe.”
Digging through my spice arsenal, I found it lacking one ingredient: fenugreek. Fenugreek tastes like mustard and the recipe also called for mustard….my husband hates mustard. My husband is Batman. This is supposed to be Batman’s favorite soup. Hence, I chose to swap the offending, missing spice with fennel seed — an herb commonly found in Italian sausage. I regret nothing.
So I mixed up a batch of curry powder, thinking I can add it bit by bit as an experiment. Crazy thing, though? It was surprisingly mild. I ended up using all of the two tablespoons. Accounting for the author’s other disparaging remarks about unfamiliar ingredients, I figure the blend wasn’t meant to be that spicy. I later learned that Dr. William Kitchiner‘s version was only “mildly” like the one presented in Mrs. Beeton.
Screw it. I’m naming this version for Batman’s Butler.
recipe1
Pennyworth's Curry Powder
Ingredients:
- 4 teaspoons ground coriander seed
- 4 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 teaspoons fennel seed
Instructions:
Place all ingredients in a small bowl then stir with a fork until thoroughly combined. Pour curry powder into a seal-able container or ziplock bag. Store in a cool, dark place until ready for use.
Note:
This produces a very mild curry powder. For a spicier blend, add more cayenne in 1/4 teaspoon increments until it is to your liking.
Alfred Pennyworth ‘s Potage
The next step in recipe development was modernizing a very bare-bones recipe — literally. The original called for either a whole rabbit or fowl “cut into small joints.” Since I don’t think either one of us likes picking bones out of our teeth, I simplified the process by buying a cooked rotisserie chicken and cut up all the meat.
The first step in cooking the soup is frying up some onions of “a good color.” I chose vidalia for their inherent sweetness. Like last week’s’ Adventure Zone recipe, I decided to slow-cook them in a buttered cast-iron skillet. One of the vital parts of cooking a good curry is to let some of the spice “bloom” in butter or coconut milk to toast and release their flavor. That’s why I added a quarter of the curry powder to the mix.
I also took another liberty to the recipe by then adding crushed tomatoes to the broth. Mrs. Beeton’s book has a “vegetarian” version of this soup (which curiously uses veal broth…hmm) underneath this one. The version uses crushed “vegetable marrow” and tomatoes. For me, the only soup more comforting than chicken soup is tomato soup. I still regret nothing.
To thicken this soup up, you’ll also need crushed almonds. You can use a food processor, slap-chop, or my favorite: ziplock bag with a mallet and cork trivet. Take out your frustrations on those nuts, Harley Quinn-style, folks!
So here it is, a comforting, slow-simmered soup to brighten even the darkest Gotham Knights. Tune in next week for the second course: Steak a la Bruce Wayne!
recipe2
Holy Mulligatawny, Batman!
Alfred Pennyworth's Mulligatawny Soup
Equipment: Large cast-iron skillet, saucepan, soup ladle, and stove-top.
Ingredients:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 large sweet onions, julienne
- The meat of 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 4 cloves of garlic, mashed
- 4 slices Canadian bacon, chopped
- 3 cups beef or chicken stock
- 1/2 cup mango nectar
- 2 tablespoons Dr. Kitchener’s or mild curry powder
- 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup almonds, pulverized
- sliced almonds for garnish (optional)
- kosher salt
Instructions:
- Melt the butter in the skillet over medium-high heat. When it starts foaming, add the onions and 1/2 tablespoon of curry powder. Stir to coat then let cook for 8 minutes, occasionally stirring, until softened.
- Turn the heat to low then cook the onions for an hour, stirring frequently. After 45 minutes, bring the stock to a boil in a saucepan, on a separate burner.
- Stir in the chicken, ham, and two large pinches of kosher salt. Raise the heat to medium and pour in the mango nectar and crushed tomatoes. Simmer for three minutes.
- Pour in the boiling stock, a ladleful at a time. Raise the heat to medium-high and simmer 20 minutes. Occasionally skim the surface for excess fat and stir the broth to prevent a skin from forming.
- Turn off the heat and then stir in the crushed almonds and remaining curry powder. Add kosher salt to taste then serve garnished with sliced almonds.
