Reward, Thy Name Is Bagel

I awoke yesterday evening to a body in protest. I was, for some unknown reason, sore all over. I believe I may be getting a cold or something. On top of that, I worked out fairly enthusiastically yesterday morning and my right knee is letting me know I'm pushing it. I feel like someone stuck a half filled water balloon behind my patella. And because I spent a large majority of my time yesterday not sleeping, which seems to be recurring today, I was also exhausted. Well, very sluggish at the least. So as you can imagine, I really, really didn't want to work out this morning. But I did...mostly because it was bagel day. I'd love to say I felt an overpowering drive to stick to my commitment,  but alas I cannot. I can say I knew I should go and the bagel provided me that extra little nudge. I admit, I took it easy, but I honestly felt that was best with my knee acting up. And of course I made myself a complimentary bagel on the way out. It, surprisingly, made it worth fighting my original inclination and going to the gym. What can I say? I'm easy.

And, as promised, the results of my fish head soup. It was really yummy! I was pleased with the outcome. Here is the recipe, kind of.

You will need:

1 or 2 large fish heads

one pint of half and half

chopped leeks

chopped carrots

chunked potatoes or rice noodles(I had both but have decided it would probably be better with just one or the other)

a few cloves of garlic, diced

a little ginger root, diced

salt and pepper

-First take your fish heads and bake them in the oven at about 300 degrees for around 30 minutes.

-Remove the flesh from the fish heads once they are cool enough to handle and set aside. 

-Put the bones and everything that is left in a large pot, just cover with water and bring to a boil. You may boil this as long as necessary to create a nice broth. 

-While the broth is getting ready you want to put your potatoes on to boil.

-While your potatoes are boiling, sautee your garlic and ginger and add in your veggies. 

-Now it is time to bring it all together! Strain your broth so you don't get bones or fat globs in your soup, because that's gross. 

-Add your potatoes(water and all) and your veggies to the broth. 

-Add in that meat you set aside earlier and your half and half and let it all simmer for 15 to 20 minutes to really mesh all those flavors together. 

Note: If you chose to go with the rice noodle option, forget about the boiling potatoes and add your rice noodle in here. When the noodles are tender, it's done.

And that's it! Just salt and pepper to taste. If you're feeling daring you can add other spices or veggies as you see fit. I find a mushroom or a pea would not be entirely out of place, but then I think mushrooms and peas can go in just about anything so I'm partial. 

A word of warning, this makes a lot and I don't think there's any way to get around that without wasting your broth so be prepared to either share, freeze(although I don't know how well it will hold in the freezer), or

eat a lot of soup in the days after making this. But whatever you do, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!