Roasted Poblano Soup

I made some Roasted Poblano Chile soup last night, based on Rick Bayless' recipe from this book:
It is the 3rd or 4th time I've made that soup since I bought the book a few years ago, and it is scrumptious! (Who really uses that word anymore?! Apparently I do....) It is the only recipe I have ever made from that cookbook, and just that recipe alone is worth the price of the book!

Maybe it's the nip in the air, the bright colors of the foliage against the crisp baby blue sky while I walked my black doggie yesterday....but I needed that soup and the warmth that the chiles lend to it. Oh, yum :)

Roasting the poblanos was a new technique I'd never tried before this recipe--wowee does that ever change the flavor of the peppers: it deepens the intensity, and adds a smokiness that's indescribably good.

You don't even have to chop anything, as it will all be pureed after cooking, and then strained....

Here's my version of it:

• 5 roasted poblano chiles, with the skins rubbed off and stems removed (mine had been grilled til black about 1 month ago, and frozen until now--be sure to add the juice from them, too.)
• soup stock (I used the juice left from my homemade tomato salsa I made this weekend)
• package of frozen spinach
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 spanish onion
• some water
• gray salt
• milk
• flour & water roux
  
  Heat the soup stock/tomato juice, throw the peppers in with the garlic and salt, and water if necessary to keep the fluid level sufficient; heat to boiling. Add the package of spinach (no need to pre-thaw) and heat til all the spinach is thawed and has been cooked 3-4 minutes. Let cool slightly and run through blender or food processor til smooth-ish. Strain out the solids, back into a pan.
  
  Now, heat again, adding salt to taste, and stir in some milk (cream is better, sour cream even better yet!), about 1/2-1 cup. Heat. When boiling, add the flour-water roux, then stir continuously until it boils again for 1 minute. If your are using sour cream, or cream, you can skip this step, as the soup will be thick enough without roux.
  
  To serve this, crumble some delicious corn tortilla chips onto the soup, and sprinkle with shredded cheese (I used brick cheese, but any cheddar or jack would be good)

Oooooh, yeaaaaaaah. The warmth of this permeates to your bones on a cool night! Just like a shot of hard liquor!

Knitting has stalled on my scarves: don't seem to have the scarf mojo all of a sudden. I think Ravelry is to blame--there are so many awesome patterns I want to make for ME, that I'm having a hard time continuing my knitting for others :| But the next scarf, scarf #9 I believe, will be Wavy from knitty. I may want to use a more luxurious yarn than Lion Wool for that pattern, I think it would drape better and feel better on necks. So, I'm stuck while I hunt around for the yarn.

I started swatching for a scarf based on stitches from a dictionary and a square from The Great American Aran Afghan, but stopped b/c I wanted to change some things. Here's a pic of my progress:

Stalled at this point, but I will keep the swatch and the notes for future possible project :) Maybe if I find another yarn I'll want to keep going with this. Lion Wool is just not luxurious. I figure, if you're going to put such effort into something, at least make it out of a fabulous yarn so it's a keeper!