Adam's Tortilla Thrilla: Big Flavor, Missing Chunkage, and the SpudBowl™ Saga!
Jeff
11/3/20265 min read
Soup Clubbers have really been on a roll lately, and this week we kept that forward momentum going! Adam was up, and not only did he show up, he showed up BIG!
Now, there was a little drama leading up to this week's meeting. As we left last week's gathering, Adam was looking a little stressed. Apparently, he had way too much stuff going on at home and was trying to trade weeks with Josephene. But then he couldn't really trade because of something happening on the 10th. Then I heard a rumor that Tam was going to fill in for Adam. Wait, what? Is filling in the same as trading? And how the hell do you trade when you just went? I was completely lost, but that's nothing new around here.
Personally, I wasn't too concerned about who was bringing soup, or even if there was soup. I had just wrapped up a souper clean, whole-food, plant-based October and was planning to make some green juice and pulp broth for this week. Yes, that's why you're seeing pictures of my green juice instead of soup-building pictures. Of course, I wanted Soup Club to happen, but my biggest fear was that someone would dangle some delicious soup in front of me and the next thing you know, I'd be three bowls deep! I've worked too hard to let that happen!
Well, wouldn't you know it, Adam showed up with a soup leaning HARD into my favorite food category...Mexican! He created a masterpiece he's calling "Tortilla Thrilla!" Black beans, corn, Mexican spices, and all kinds of goodness. YUM-O! Seriously, Adam?
On a side note, literally, we have some breaking SpudBowl™ news! Hunter has finally produced his first SpudBowl™ prototype! According to Hunter, it was a huge success. Of course, none of us actually saw it, but we're going to take his word for it. He's now working on the complicated science of scheduling and time management. Apparently, the plan is to bake the potatoes Sunday, refrigerate them, finish them Monday, and bring them in Tuesday. Stay tuned, folks, we may actually see a SpudBowl™ before 2027!
Back to the soup. I couldn't help but notice Adam's famous avocado oil listed on the recipe card. Yes, the same avocado oil that apparently sent Nathan to the ER! With Nathan officially out of Soup Club, Adam must have figured it was safe to bring the avocado oil back into circulation. Not so fast! Hunter suddenly announces that HE'S allergic to avocados too! Oh, and bananas? What? Of course, we had questions. Has he been tested? Nope. Apparently, he gets a "scratchy throat." You read that right. Not an "itchy throat," but a "scratchy throat." I have no idea what the difference is, but Hunter was pretty confident in his diagnosis. The good news? He ate the soup anyway. That's dedication, folks! Although, given his symptoms, maybe we should keep an EpiPen next to the SpudBowls™.
Soup Club Feedback:
Kevin: "Where's the chicken, man?" He gave the soup an 8.0 as served, soggy tortilla chips and all, but bumped it up to an 8.5 after adding his hot sauce. There's always gotta be meat or hot sauce with this guy!
Conlan: Loved the flavor but thought the soup could have used a little more "chunkage." Chunkage? Apparently, too many of the ingredients had been blended, leaving him wanting a little more substance. Well, congratulations, Conlan! You've officially invented a new Soup Club term. "Chunkage" will be added to our homepage immediately! Despite the chunkage shortage, Conlan rewarded Adam with a very respectable 9.0!
Josephene: "Absolutely perfect! 10.0! Then I seen a piece of corn! A solid 9.99!" Wait, what? Apparently, Josephene has a problem with corn in soup. This makes absolutely no sense. None. Zero. But hey, a 9.99 is still a pretty impressive score, even with the offensive piece of corn floating around.
Tam: Loved the consistency, loved the flavor, loved everything about it! A perfect 10.0! Short, sweet, and to the point. Thanks, Tam!
Jeff: I only had a spit hit of the broth, but that's all a seasoned souper like me needs to accurately evaluate a masterpiece! I agree with Conlan that a little more chunkage would have been nice, but, but, but...the flavor was outstanding! And the ingredients? So healthy that I could eat this soup every day and probably get healthier doing it! That's my kind of soup! An easy 10.0!
Soup Club Average: 9.498!
Campbell's Crew™
Hunter: First, we're happy to report that Hunter survived the avocado oil incident without a scratchy throat! "I liked the consistency, the tortillas got soggy, but I loved this soup!" A very solid 9.5! But then things got interesting. Hunter launched into a full-blown soliloquy about how he makes chili and potato leek soup. Blah, blah, blah...wait a damn minute, you make soup? WTF, Hunter? Apparently, this guy has been holding out on us! He claims his potato leek soup even has sausage in it. Naturally, we asked the obvious question. When you say you "make soup," are you talking about opening a can of Progresso and heating it up? Nope! According to Hunter, he actually chops vegetables and cooks stuff! Hmmm. The guy can't figure out how to get a baked potato to work, but he's making homemade potato leek soup? I'm not buying it. Yet.
Felton: First things first, Felton was very impressed with my plating technique. Or should we call it "bowling"? Either way, he awarded me a 9.5 for presentation! Thank you, Felton! Finally, someone appreciates the artistic side of soup service. Unfortunately, the actual soup didn't fare quite as well. Felton gave it an 8.0. Why? No meat, duh! I swear, we could serve this guy the greatest soup ever created and they'd still be looking around for a chicken wing.
Campbell's Crew™ Average: 8.75!
Another excellent Soup Club meeting in the books! Great soup, great conversation, plenty of laughs, a new vocabulary word, another questionable Hunter allergy, and the possibility of an actual SpudBowl™ sometime in our lifetime. What more could you ask for?
And seriously, a huge shout-out to Adam! He's come a long way in his soup-making adventures, and this week's Tortilla Thrilla was proof of that. He went from trying to trade away his week to delivering one hell of a soup! We all appreciated the effort, and the results speak for themselves. Well done, Adam!
Next week…Josephene! Apparently, someone mentioned that Josephene dressed up as Olive Oyl from Popeye for Halloween. How fitting! If you recall, Josephene has become somewhat famous around here for using what appeared to be an entire bottle of oil as her soup broth. Or something close to that. I'm still recovering from the memory.
But I'm predicting something completely different from Josephene next week. Will she surprise us? Will there be another oil slick? Will she finally accept corn as a legitimate soup ingredient? And most importantly, will Hunter ever bring us a freakin SpudBowl™?
Stay tuned, Soup Clubbers! Things are getting souper interesting around here!
