It’s what submarine crews do. One shift rolls out of the bunks, gets dressed, goes to work: the other shift goes off work, undresses, falls into bunks still warm from crewmates’ bodies.
Around here “hot-bunking” means both of us working on the same project, in shifts, more or less 24 hours a day. We’ve done it before (for example, while I was story-editing “Dinosaucers” and finishing work on The Romulan Way with Peter). We’re doing it now on The Ring, while I also work on Wizard’s Holiday.
The problem with this kind of schedule is that, with both of us so intent on the work, local nutrition tends to suffer. Which is bad, because in such cases work suffers too. However, we have a standard household solution for this problem. It’s the justly famous “Mitternachtsuppe” or “Midnight Soup” recipe from the Department of Nuclear Chemistry of the University of Mainz. It’s fast; it’s easy to make; the pot can be more or less constantly replenished with the same ingredients as the soup level falls (or with different ones, so that the soup changes subtly from day to day or even hour to hour); it can be kept simmering on the stove for long periods without damaging the quality of the soup (in fact it just gets better the longer it goes on); and it freezes well, so if when you finish a project you also find you’re tired of the damn stuff, you can just sock it into the freezer and come back to it another time.
Our take on it appears below momentarily (as soon as I find where I’ve hidden it from myself. Trouble is, I know the recipe so well by now that I rarely bother referring to it).
ETA, 18 September 2024: The recipe’s normal home at EuropeanCuisines.com is down for refurbishment at the moment. Nonetheless, here’s that recipe.
The ingredients:
- 1 – 2 kabanossi or similar mildly spicy sausage (and any other sausages you favor: frankfurters, pepperoni, you name it…)
- 100 grams bacon, the smokier, the better
- 2 onions
- 400 grams ground beef (or you can substitute ground turkey or chicken if you prefer, but the soup works better with beef)
- 1 can cannellini or similar white beans
- 2 cans red kidney beans
- 750 ml beef stock or bouillon
- 1 or 2 cans chopped tomatoes, according to your preference
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- To taste: regular chili powder (maybe a teaspoon)
- To taste: Paprika (hot paprika if you like, but don’t overdo it. Smoked paprika also works well)
- To taste: Hot chili flakes
- To taste: a shake or two of Tabasco sauce
- To taste: a shake or two of Worcestershire sauce
- To finish: 200 ml yogurt or creme fraiche
Find a large heavy soup pot. Chop up the bacon and sauté it until the fat runs. Chop up the onions and sauté them with the bacon: then add the sausages, also chopped, sauté them briefly, add the garlic and do the same. Finally add the ground beef and sauté it until it colors. Season this mixture with the spices and seasonings and continue to sauté. Meanwhile heat the beef stock to near boiling: add it to the mixture in the pot and stir well. Add the beans and tomatoes. Allow the whole business to boil for a few minutes: then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for at least an hour.
When serving, ladle out the soup and stir a spoonful of yogurt or créme fraiche into each serving.
This recipe doubles well. It can also be extended over several days by adding more beans, more stock, more sauteed sausages, etc., as necessary.
