FoodB

What I know about Syria could probably fit into a very small pamphlet. Basically it's in the Middle East and our esteemed leader thinks that they are evil. So the real question is, if I eat the food from an evil country does that make me evil too? We delved into this philosophical quandary with this latest meal:

Syrian Lamb with Green Beans

4 to 6 shoulder Lamb Chops, fat removed and bones in for flavor
3 Tbsp. Butter
2 medium Onions chopped
2 large cloves Garlic
1 Bay Leaf
1 small Red Bell Pepper
1 tsp. Oregano
1/4 cup Water
2 pounds fresh Green Beans, snapped and cut into bite size pieces
1 (28-ounce) can crushed Tomatoes
Salt and Pepper, to taste

1. Sauté the chops in butter so they are brown on both sides. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, red pepper and seasoning and cook for 5 minutes.
2. Add 1/4 cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add the green beans and tomatoes. Cover and cook for 1 hour on a medium fire checking occasionally to be sure the lamb mixture is not boiling too rapidly.

I was very surprised by this recipe. The cuts of lamb were very fatty and didn't really appear to have too much quality meat on them. Also there were a lot of tomatoes for the sauce and I am not really a fan of cooking red peppers and tomatoes in the same recipe. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy both, just in separate meals. And throwing green beans into the mix seemed odd as well. Somehow it all worked. The lamb was really tender and the beans tasted really good.

And do I feel any "eviler" after the meal? I am going to have go with no. Proving once again that Guttermouth's song "Can't we all just get along (at the dinner table)" is true and real peace can only be achieved though food.

Posted by Gordon at 09:41 AM | Permalink

I have had lentils only once in my life and really enjoyed them. So I have tried to get Jenn to cook them for about 2-3 years now with no results to show for it. With her new resolve to cook one new soup recipe a week, I was very pleased to see that lentil soup would be on the menu for the week.

Lentil Soup Recipe
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 medium Onion, chopped
2 Carrots, peeled and chopped
2 Celery Stalks, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced Tomatoes
1-pound Lentils (approximately 1 1/4 cups)
11 cups low-salt Chicken Broth
4 to 6 fresh Thyme sprigs
2/3 cup dried Elbow Pasta
1 cup shredded Parmesan

1. Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper and sauté until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Simmer until the juices evaporate a little and the tomatoes break down, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add the lentils and mix to coat. Add the broth and stir. Add the thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer over low heat until the lentils are almost tender, about 30 minutes.
2. Stir in the pasta. Simmer until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan, drizzle with olive oil, and serve.

Good stuff. We have yet to make a soup that I don't like yet. I guess I have had a very limited view of what soups can be. When you order one at a restaurant, your options are limited to a tomato based soup, a chicken broth based soup, or a cream based soup. I don't like cream based anything and am very leery of the tomato-based soups as well, so that leaves me with chicken broth soups only. It's too bad that most restaurants are so limited on what they will make as far as soups go because I am finding that the options are wide open.

Posted by Gordon at 09:40 AM | Permalink

Happy Birthday to me! One year, 83 posts and what do I have to show for it so far? Well, I must say that we are eating a lot better than when I started this site. We have about 20 new favorites that we have added to our rotation of meals, we have tried using different ingredients than the normal fare that we are used to, and we have a real appreciation of what goes into a good meal. So here's looking forward to the next year and hitting that elusive mark of 100 posts.

One Saturday night, after imbibing a few beers, I decided to watch an America's Test Kitchen that I had recorded earlier while Jenn was preparing dinner. They were doing the whole show on apple desserts and the lead off recipe was brown betty. In my "enlightened" state, I decided that we needed to make this recipe. Unfortunately, I was in no shape to drive and Jenn was busy, so this one had to be shelved until a later date. Well that date came when I went to the supermarket by myself on the weekend.

Skillet Apple Brown Betty

Bread Crumbs
4 large slices White Sandwich Bread (about 4 ounces), each slice torn into quarters
2 Tbsp. packed light Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, cut into 4 pieces

Apples
1/4-cup light Brown Sugar (1 3/4 ounces)
1/4 tsp. ground Ginger
1/4 tsp. ground Cinnamon
Pinch table Salt
3 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 pounds Granny Smith Apples (about 3 medium), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
1 1/2 pounds Golden Delicious Apples (about 3 medium), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
1 1/4 cups Apple Cider
1-3 tsp. Lemon Juice from 1 lemon

1. For the bread crumbs: Pulse the bread, sugar, and butter in a food processor until coarsely ground, about four 1-second pulses. Transfer the crumbs to a 12-inch skillet; toast over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the crumbs are deep golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; wipe out the skillet.
2. For the apples: Combine the sugar, spices, and salt in a small bowl. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter in the now-empty skillet over high heat; when the foaming subsides, stir in 4 cups of the apples and half of the sugar mixture. Distribute the apples in an even layer and cook, stirring two or three times, until medium brown, about 5 minutes; transfer to a medium bowl. Repeat with the remaining butter, apples, and sugar mixture, returning the first batch of apples to the skillet when second batch is done.
3. Add the apple cider and scrape the bottom and sides of the skillet with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits; cook until the apples are tender but not mushy and the liquid has reduced and is just beginning to thicken, 2 to 4 minutes.
4. Remove the skillet from the heat; stir in the lemon juice, if using, and 1/3 cup of the toasted bread crumbs. Using a wooden spoon, lightly flatten the apples into an even layer in the skillet and evenly sprinkle with the remaining toasted bread crumbs. Spoon the warm betty into individual bowls and serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

We liked this recipe but it needed a little more. I think that the next time we try this one that I will double up on the sugar mix for the apples and reserve that extra half for the end when the bread crumbs are added. I think that addition would make it feel a little more like dessert. Also, I couldn't find good cider so I had to by what was basically apple juice. If anybody knows where you can find real unfiltered cider, please please send me a line. All in all though, a pretty easy recipe and it only took about 20 minutes to make.

Posted by Gordon at 08:46 AM | Permalink

Almost caught up. Jenn noted that on Wednesday this little site will be a year old. Pretty impressive for a guy that gets distracted easily.

Jenn now has a method to creating new menus for the week. She will find three new recipes, including one soup recipe, and then fall back on three things that we have already made. I have a little input, which is probably for the best. If I have my heart set on something she will go ahead and make it, but if I have to fill up meals for a whole week I usually end up just finding stuff to fill open days. Those filler recipes usually end up being pretty bad and then we get into a funk. It's probably best that Jenn picks the meals out as well just because it's a lot easier to get geeked up for something that you decided on.

That in mind, Jenn found this Emeril recipe last week:

Beef Braised in Barolo

1/4 cup olive oil
1 (3-pound) boneless beef chuck roast, patted dry
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped pancetta or bacon
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 bottles Barolo, or other dry Piedmont red wine, such as Dolcetto or Barbera
2 to 4 cups beef stock
4 whole cloves
2 sprigs rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Add the beef and cook, turning, to brown on all sides. Remove from the pan. To the fat in the pan, add the pancetta and cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Return the beef to the pan and add the wine, 2 cups of the stock, whole cloves, rosemary, bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the meat is tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours, occasionally turning the meat and skimming any foam that forms on the surface. Add the remaining 2 cups of stock, as needed, to keep the meat covered with liquid.
2. Remove the meat from the pan and tent with foil to keep warm.
3. Strain the sauce into a saucepan and place over high heat. Cook until the sauce is reduced to a consistency thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
4. Thinly slice the beef across the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices. Serve the beef ladled with the sauce. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Good stuff. We are not wine people so we have no idea what Barolo is so we just used the wine that we had on hand for cooking. The meat itself was very tender and even though we brought knives to eat with, they remained clean for the night. Unfortunately we are going on a diet next week and this meal is not the most healthy of dishes, so it may be awhile before we revisit this one.

Posted by Gordon at 08:09 AM | Permalink

For Christmas we got a pasta machine. We have used it a few times and we must say that the first few times we used it, we were very outmatched. Making your own pasta sheets for raviolis is very difficult because they end up around 4-5 feet long. We are definitely going to keep trying until we get the hang of it.

Jenn was watching Giada on Everyday Italian and she had a recipe for raviolis that used wanton wrappers. Jenn found this very novel and decided to try for herself. Here's the recipe:

Prosciutto Ravioli

1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
2 large egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
48 wonton wrappers
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
Freshly grated pecorino

1. Whisk the ricotta, spinach, prosciutto, egg yolks, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.
2. Place 1 tablespoon of the ricotta filling in the center of a wonton wrapper. Brush the edge of the wrapper lightly with water. Fold the wrapper in half, enclosing the filling completely and forming a triangle. Pinch the edges to seal. Transfer the ravioli to baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining filling and wrappers. (Can be prepared up to 2 hours ahead; cover and refrigerate.)
3. Melt the butter in a heavy small skillet over medium heat. Add the oregano and stir 1 minute. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.
4. Working in batches, cook the ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes per batch. Transfer the ravioli to a large shallow bowl.
5. Pour the oregano butter over the ravioli and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle the pecorino over the ravioli and serve.

Good stuff, and much better than store bought. It takes very little time to make these ahead of time and we even made extra to freeze. The possibilities for filling are pretty much up to what ingredients you have. So instead of buying your raviolis pre-made, try using wanton wrappers.

Posted by Gordon at 08:54 PM | Permalink

We got a bit of a backlog on things to post to this here site. It's funny to think that we now have too many things to post and about 5 months ago I was wondering if we had maybe hit the limit on recipes that I could post. The reason I thought there wouldn't be anymore recipes is because we had a pretty diverse rotation of different recipes and we weren't really trying anything new. Guess that was just a fad.

As I mentioned previously, when Jenn is planning a menu for the week now, she will now include at least one soup to the mix. Since she has started this, all of the soups that she has picked have been really good. This weeks soup is courtesy of Giada from Everyday Italian.

Italian Wedding Soup

Meatballs:
1 small onion, grated
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 large egg
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 slice fresh white bread, crust trimmed, bread torn into small pieces
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
8 ounces ground beef
8 ounces ground pork
Freshly ground black pepper

Soup:
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound curly endive, coarsely chopped (1 pound of escarole would be a good substitution)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. To make the meatballs: Stir the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese, beef and pork. Using 1 1/2 teaspoons for each, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a baking sheet.
2. To make the soup: Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and curly endive and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the curly endive is tender, about 8 minutes. Whisk the eggs and cheese in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Gradually drizzle the egg mixture into the moving broth, stirring gently with a fork to form thin stands of egg, about 1 minute. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve. Finish soup with parmesan cheese if desired.

When I saw what ingredients that were going to be in the soup, I imagined that the soup would be a lot different than what the end result was. It was actually a lot better than I imagined it would be. We get our chicken broth canned and it has a pretty distinct flavor that is not always the best base for a soup. The great thing about this soup is that you add egg and parmesan cheese to the broth and it completely changes the flavor. Good stuff. I even mentioned to Jenn that back when we catered her sisters wedding, this would have been a perfect addition to the menu.

Posted by Gordon at 07:27 AM | Permalink

From everything I hear, it seems like people either love or hate sweet potatoes. I definitely fall into the later category. Mashed sweet potatoes is a favorite of mine and very simple to make.

So with that in mind, I asked Jenn to make up a batch of this here recipe that I saw Tyler Florence make on one of his many programs. They seemed simple enough and if successful, we would have another side dish to add to the ol' rolodex.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Honey Butter

4 yams, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling potatoes after cooked
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Lay the sweet potatoes out in a single layer on a roasting tray. Drizzle the oil, honey, cinnamon, salt and pepper over the potatoes. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes in oven or until tender.
3. Take sweet potatoes out of the oven and transfer them to a serving platter. Drizzle with more extra-virgin olive oil.

Jenn and I agree that this recipe is just missing something. The flavor was okay, it just didn't really add much. I think we are going to have to stick to just mashing our yams until we come across another recipe to try.

Posted by Gordon at 09:37 AM | Permalink

I found this article through Fark.com and found it very intersting. It has pictures of families across the globe and what they will eat for an entire week. It also details the costs to each of these families. It's amazing to think that a family of 13 in Bhutan can feed themselves for a week off of only $5. I know they probably farm their own food, but still $5!

Also intersting to see how many families buy massive amounts of soda. I enjoy a soda from time to time but I have always thought of soda as something that is a treat and not a staple. The mexican family pictured must have had a dozen 2-liters with 3 young kids. That is just way to much sugar to give to a growing kid.

Check it out if you get a chance:

Time Magazine "What the World Eats"

Posted by Gordon at 11:08 AM | Permalink

I think that's a record. 5 posts in a week. Call out the marching bands.

Jenn seems to be on a tear lately finding recipes that I have never had before. On Wednesday it was short ribs. Both Jennifer an I really enjoy Korean BBQ. We live right next to Korea town in Garden Grove and we are just surrounded by really good Korean restaurants. One of the great things about getting Korean is that it is one of the few places that I can spicy food (kimchi) without having to worry about Jenn getting an upset stomach. With Korean food, if anything is red, it's probably spicy.

Marinated Beef Short Ribs

3 3/4 pounds Beef Short Ribs, cut in 1/2-inch slices with bones
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. fresh Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon dried Red Pepper flakes

Marinade:
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
3 Tbsp. Plum sauce
2 Tbsp. Oyster sauce
2 Tbsp. Soy sauce
1 Tbsp. Peanut oil
1 Tbsp. Sesame oil
1 Tbsp. Honey
1 Tbsp. Chili Paste
1 Tbsp. pureed Garlic
1 Tbsp. freshly grated Ginger
1 bunch Cilantro, stems trimmed and roughly chopped
1 bunch Scallions, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Lay across a rack in a roasting pan or baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine water, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Brush over top side of ribs and bake an additional 10 minutes. Turn, brush again, and bake 10 minutes more. Set aside to cool.
3. Combine marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add roasted ribs and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours or as long as 24.
4. Preheat grill or broiler. Grill ribs for 2 minutes per side and serve immediately.

Wow was this a good one. I thought that oven roasting such a thin piece of meat would really dry it out, but the basting with water every 10 minutes must have stopped that pretty well. We cooked the ribs the night before we were going to eat them and let them marinate for 24 hours. I would suggest doing that if you decide on making this because I think they had a lot more flavor than if they had just marinated for 4 hours. I would also recommend finishing them off on the grill and not the broiler. The grill added a little bit of smoke flavor which is always welcome in my house.

After re-reading the recipe I noticed that it calls for ribs that are 1/2 an inch think and I think that the ones we purchase were about 1/8 of an inch. That didn't really affect anything and made the griling pretty easy. Thinking back I don't believe we needed to oven roast them for so long, but again, the basting with water and lemon juice probably counter acted anything that could have gone bad.

As usual we omitted the spicy stuff in this recipe (red pepper and chili paste) and I didn't really miss them all that much. Good stuff and I could imagine using the marinade for making jerky as well.

Posted by Gordon at 08:00 AM | Permalink

I had my first lamb shank about 6 months ago when we tried Catal Restaurant in Downtown Disney. Since then I have noticed they had shanks at Plowboys, but for some reason we never got around to trying to make them ourselves.

So Jenn set out last week and ended up finding a shank recipe and I was more than down with that. Here is the recipe she found:

North African-influenced Lamb Shanks

4 (1 pound) lamb shanks
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons olive oil plus 1 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
1 cup large diced carrots
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 cups dry red wine
1 cup peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes
4 cups lamb stock, or chicken stock
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange peel

1. Season the shanks generously on all sides with the salt and black pepper, and lightly with the turmeric. Place the flour on a large plate. Dredge the shanks in the flour and shake to remove any excess.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven or large, heavy sauté pan over high heat. Add the shanks and sear until well-browned on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the shanks. Add the remaining teaspoon of oil, then the cinnamon, cumin, ginger, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the onions and carrots and cook, stirring, until the onions are starting to color, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 minutes.
3. Add the potatoes and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and stir to deglaze the pan, cook until reduced slightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Return the shanks to the pot, add the stock, cilantro, parsley, orange juice, and orange peel, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with the lid slightly ajar, and simmer until the shanks are tender and the meat starts to fall from the bones, 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours, skimming occasionally to remove any scum that forms on the surface.
4. Remove from the heat. Plate them and drizzle with the sauce and serve immediately.

This recipe take a good while to cook so you really need to prepare for making this. When it was done cooking the meat was just falling off the bones. The lamb was very tender and very tasty as well. I think if we try this one in the future I might have Jenn play with the sauce recipe a little. Not that it was bad, just the opposite in fact, I just think that it could be perfected with a little experimentation. Maybe adding some spices at the end could just boost it to the next level.

Posted by Gordon at 08:00 AM | Permalink

We were very saddened to find out that one of our favorite Italian restaurant's closed recently. Rombi's in Huntington Beach was a very unique place because it was in the middle of a strip mall that you wouldn't expect to find great food in. Once you got past the door though it was a different world. All of their pasta's were homemade and the food was just amazing. We found out later that the owner/chef also had a daytime job and he was getting burned out. Can't blame him for wanting time off, yet this left a pretty big void for us because we didn't have a suitable replacement.

On a hunch, Jenn decided she wanted to drive by another Italian place that she noticed one day. It was called Mangia Mangia and was also in an unusual location. As we were driving by we noticed it was packed and that is about all the recommendation I need to stop at a place.

The first time we stopped we waited awhile for a table and noticed that the kitchen was right next to the serving area. I was able to watch the cooks for awhile and got a good feeling that this was a good place to eat. They were hand cooking everything and I saw that they were using a lot of fresh ingredients. Our first dinner there I had ravioli's and Jenn had gnocchi. She really enjoyed her's and I thought mine was good. The problem I had with the ravioli's was that I was comparing them to Rombi's and that is just not fair.

We went back another week and this time I had the gnocchi and Jenn tried their cannelloni. I enjoyed the gnocchi a lot and the only thing I would have done differently was to order it with meat sauce. The marinara sauce they used was basically crushed tomatoes and I prefer a thick sauce on my pasta.

So I think we found our new Italian haunt. It's not far from our place and the prices are reasonable. Good stuff.

Posted by Gordon at 08:00 AM | Permalink

Jenn has really been exploring different types of soups. She has made it her mission to try one new soup recipe a week. Works for me because there are always plenty of leftovers when soup is made and all of the varieties that she has made so far have been really good.

The latest soup that she found was and italian meatball soup. Here is the recipe that she found from Emeril's collection:

Simple Italian Meatball Soup

3/4 pound ground beef
1/4 pound ground pork
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus more for garnishing soup if desired
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon Italian Essence
1 teaspoon salt
2 pinches crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14.5-ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed with your hands, with their juice
3 1/2 cups beef stock or two 14 ounce cans low sodium beef broth
1/2 cup ditalini or other small pasta shape for soups
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

1. In a medium mixing bowl combine the ground beef, ground pork, eggs, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, 2 teaspoons of the garlic, 3/4 teaspoon of the Italian Essence, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, 1 pinch of crushed red pepper and mix until thoroughly combined.
2. Divide the meat mixture into tablespoons and roll into smooth balls in your hands. Set rolled meatballs aside on a plate or other flat surface.
3. In a 4 1/2 quart soup pot or large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat until hot. Add half of the rolled meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 4 minutes. Transfer the browned meatballs to a plate and set aside. Brown the remaining meatballs in the same manner and set aside.
4. Add the chopped onion and celery to the pot and cook, stirring, until vegetables are soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the remaining teaspoon of minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste, tomatoes and their juices, beef broth, 3 cups water, remaining 1/4 teaspoon of Italian Essence, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, remaining pinch of crushed red pepper and stir to combine. Return the meatballs to the soup pot and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat so that the soup just simmers and cook for 30 minutes.
5. Using a spoon, carefully skim any fat that has accumulated on the top of the soup and discard. Add the ditalini to the hot soup, stir well, and cook for 15 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked through. Stir in the chopped basil and serve the soup in wide bowls, garnished with additional grated Parmesan, if desired.

Chef's note: Instead of 1 teaspoon Italian Essence, I used italian seasoning (a mix of Oregano, Basil, Thyme and Marjoram).

The broth on this was very tasty and the meatballs were no slouches themselves. With the amount of meat in this soup it turns out to be a little heavier in your stomach than a typical soup, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. Good stuff!

Posted by Gordon at 08:00 AM | Permalink

We had some sad news last week. Jenn's uncle, Dick, passed away in his sleep. I only met the guy a few times but he was one of those people that you can just tell loves life.

One thing that Dick loved to do was to participate in Chili cookoff's. He died a week before he was set to cook in this years Tustin Chili Cookoff and one of his sons, Bill, decided to compete in his place. So Jenn and I decided to head over to offer help and support as well as celebrating her uncles memory.

Personally, I have never eaten chili. I watched a lot of cartoons as a child and always associated chili with smoke coming out of your ears about 5 seconds before your head explodes. That's a pretty lasting memory and since it wasn't really on my families dinner rotation, I just never had it. When I started to expand the foods that I would eat, chili still remained one of those things that I just tended to avoid because I really needed to try good chili and I just didn't have any good recommendations on what to try.

What better place to try that a chili cookoff? You only get a sample and if you don't like it, you can always just move on to the next booth. Of all the chili that I tasted, I really enjoyed the sample from Roderick's restaurant in Tustin. They made theirs with black beans and tri-tip and the flavor was really good. We are going to have to try out the rest of the restaurant one of these days.

On a happy note, Billy's chili ended up winning the main event. That's a pretty impressive feat considering that it was his first cookoff and the beer was flowing pretty heavily. They also took second place in the fan's choice which you would win by getting the most people to sample your chili. All in all we had a great time and I'm sure that Dick would have been proud of the outcome.

Posted by Gordon at 09:10 AM | Permalink