FoodB

Look at that, a genuine inflatable matzah ball. Man there are some weird pictures on the internet. Can't imagine why I don't already own a genuine inflatable matzah ball.

Speaking of which, this entry covers (as you might have guessed) matzah ball soup. Jenn and I watched a special on the customs of Passover feasts from around New York, and it got me interested more in kosher food and various Jewish meals. One of the main meals that I know of from Jewish culture is matzah ball soup.

So, once again I came across a recipe in our big soup book and asked Jenn if she could make it sometime. Here is what the recipe looked like:

Matzah Ball Soup

4 large Eggs
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
7 Tbsn. of Water
1 cup matzo meal
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
2 Quarts Chicken Stock
3 small Carrots, peeled and cut into round 1/8 inch thick
2 Tbsn. finely chopped fresh dill or parsley

1. Lightly beat the eggs with a whisk in a medium bowl. Whisk in the fat, then the water. In a separate bowl, mix together the matzo meal, salt and pepper. Stir the matzo mixture into the liquids. The consistency will initially be like pancake batter, but it will immediately begin to thicken. After 2 to 3 minutes the batter will be like soft mashed potatoes or soft polenta. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
2. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large stockpot of Dutch oven over medium high heat. With moistened hands, form 1 level tablespoon of matzo mixture into balls about 1 inch diameter. Drop the balls into the boiling water so that each falls into the pot in a different place. When all of the balls are added, reduce to a simmer over medium low heat and cook covered for 20 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove one matzo ball, cut in half and check for doneness and seasoning. The matzo ball is done when the inside is not dark or wet. If more seasoning is desired add 2 teaspoons salt to the water. If necessary cook 5 to 10 additional minutes, or until the color is uniform throughout and the texture is light and fluffy.
3. While the matzo balls are cooking bring the stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the carrots, reduce the heat to medium low and cook until tender, about 6 minutes. Use slotted spoons to transfer the matzo balls to the soup. Stir in the dill or parsley and serve immediately.

Man was I impressed. I helped Jenn a little in the making of the soup and I thought it was going to be horrible. It was basically dough balls that consist of flour, eggs, water and some spices for the matzah itself. Just sounded bland. Then the broth was just chicken broth and carrots. Again, nothing earth shattering there. I was happily surprised that the matzah balls themselves have a lot of flavor and made for a really good soup. It was still good the next day as leftovers.

This week we are making it again (this recipe should have been posted about a month ago). This time Jenn says she wants to add some celery to the broth. Either way, I think this one is going to be a staple for us.

Posted by Gordon at 10:20 AM | Permalink

Soup and more soup.

The latest batch of soup is a popular post-Christmas soup because most families have a leftover ham hock lying around and what better way to use it than to throw it in a pot and boil the crap out of it. Since we didn't make a ham in recent weeks, we ended up buying ours pre-smoked. BTW, this is one big pot of soup so you better have some extra Tupperware lying around for leftovers.

Navy Bean Soup

1 pound navy beans, picked over, rinsed and drained
10 sprigs parsley
2 sprigs fresh thyme or rosemary
1 bay leaf
2 large smoked ham hocks, about 1 1/2 pounds
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
8 cups of cold water
1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Butter for garnish

1. Place the beans in a large saucepan and cover with cold water by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes; remove from the heat, cover, and let sit for one hour. Drain and reserve. Tie the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf together with kitchen twine.
2. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven combine the beans, herb bundle, hocks, onions, and garlic with the water. Bring to a boil, cover, and adjust the heat so the soup cooks at a gentle simmer. Cook until the beans and hock are completely tender, about 1-1/2 hours.
3. Turn off the heat and remove the hocks. Cool slightly. Remove the meat from the hocks, discarding the bones, fat, and skin. Cut the meat into small cubes. Remove the herb bundle and discard.
4. Puree about 3 cups of the beans with a some of the liquid in a blender. (For a smoother soup puree all the beans.) Stir the puree and diced meat into the soup. Heat the soup and adjust the seasoning as needed with salt and pepper.

Good soup. I thought the ham hocks that we bought were probably a lot better than if we had used a post meal ham hock. The smoky flavor coming off of them to just made the soup smell amazing. I don't imagine you can smoke soup but if you could it would have smelled like what we were eating. The only complaint I have was that I wish that I had bought some bread before hand because this was a perfect soup to dip bread in. Next time for sure.

Site note: I added a soup category since we have been rocking the soup bells a lot lately. Hopefully I will get around to updating all of the previous soup recipes to make it easier to find.

Posted by Gordon at 11:17 AM | Permalink

A few weeks back we had a soup recipe that backfired on us. We had been making soups on a weekly basis and that bad soup was enough to stop us from making any soup for the last couple of weeks. But we can't live in fear. When the horse throws you off, you need to get right back on.

So when Jenn was trying to find a good soup recipe to make this week she read me off about 12 different recipe that she had found. Just from the titles alone, they all sounded great. We were able to narrow it down to two finalists and the consensus was a soup I really enjoy at most Italian restaurants that I go to:

Minestrone with Crisp Parmesan Crumbs Recipe

1 pound borlotti beans
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1/2 cup divided, plus more for garnish
1/2 pound pancetta, finely chopped
2 medium onion, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
4 carrots, finely chopped
4 parsnips, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
6 fresh sage leaves, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 (28-ounce) cans whole, peeled tomatoes, drained and hand crushed
6 quarts chicken stock
3 cups fresh white bread crumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Soak the beans: Put the beans in a large pot and cover them with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and cook the beans for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 1 hour. (Or cover the beans with cold water and let them soak overnight.)
2. Start the soup: In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, add 3 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is hot add the pancetta, onion, celery, carrots, and parsnips and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons thyme, 2 tablespoons rosemary, the sage, and bay leaves. Drain the beans and add them to the pot along with the tomatoes and 1/4 cup olive oil. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, adding water if you need more liquid. The soup should be thick: to thicken the soup, break up some of the beans with the back of a spoon. Remove the bay leaves and discard before serving.
3. Toast the bread crumbs: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the bread crumbs, remaining thyme and rosemary, and cheese on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over about 1/4 cup olive oil; combine well. Bake until the crumbs are golden brown and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. To serve, ladle the soup into small glasses, cups or mugs. Drizzle on a little olive oil, top with the crispy crumbs, and serve.

Chefs Notes: We didn't use dried beans for this recipe, instead we just added canned beans. We have been finding that for soups that canned beans are more than ok as a replacement. Also we cut the recipe in half once we realized that it would have been enough soup to feed all the homeless people in Orange County. And lastly, Jenn added some tomato sauce from crushed tomatoes to the broth to add some flavor. I didn't taste it without the tomato sauce but she said it really helped the flavor of the broth.

Really good stuff. The parmesan crumbs are a great addition and I think they can go in just about any soup we make from now on. For the bread, instead of running to Albertsons to pick up what is most likely a few days old baguette, I headed over to Lee's Sandwich and bought 2 baguettes for a dollar. Man they make some good bread there and its cheaper than the regular store. If you have one near you that makes bread I implore you to buy all of you French bread from their instead of the leftover crap they are selling at your grocer.

Posted by Gordon at 02:05 PM | 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

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

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

Jenn and I are big fans of Iron Chef: America. Our favorite chefs on the show are Masaharu Morimoto and Mario Batali. Morimoto is just amazing to watch because he does things that I don't see anyone else do on the show and Batali is just a character. We have never made anything from either chef and Jenn decided to take on a Batali recipe. Oddly enough she found this chickpea recipe a few weeks after we watched "Battle Chickpeas" on the afore mentioned Iron Chef. Batali kept referring to them as ceci beans which made me chuckle and when Jenn was making this soup, I must have repeated it about 756 times.

Chickpea Soup: Minestra se Ceci

4 1/2 cups chickpeas
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 Spanish onions
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin, plus 1 clove
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
12 (1-inch thick) slices Italian peasant bread
1 can anchovies in salt, deboned and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves

1. Place the chickpeas in a heavy-bottomed pot and just cover with cold water. Add the baking soda and cover. Leave the chickpeas to soak overnight.
2. When they are ready to be used, transfer the chickpeas and the soaking water to a large saucepan. Salt, to taste, and cook over a medium flame until tender.
3. Cut the onion in 1/2 through the root and slice them into half moons, each 1/8-inch thick.
4. In a second large saucepan, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and golden brown.
5. Add the garlic, tomatoes, chili flakes, and salt and pepper, to taste.
6. Add the chickpeas and water and leave to simmer until the flavors have melded, for at least 30 minutes and up to 60 minutes.
7. Before serving, chop the anchovies and add the parsley. Toast the bread slices, rub surface with the remaining garlic clove and spread on the anchovy paste. Drizzle them with olive oil and serve with the soup.

Pretty decent soup. I have to say that it was a lot better the next day for lunch. The first time I had it, I had to add some pepper to the broth to give it some more flavor. The next day though, it was really rich and the beans seemed to give up a lot of flavor. Maybe this was what was lost by using canned beans.

On another note, the recipe called for bread with an anchovy paste spread. Jenn made this and she tried it out. She said it was pretty nasty so unless you really enjoy anchovies, I would just do plain bread slices. It smelled pretty bad to me so I waited on Jenn's reaction before taking that plunge myself. Glad I did because she looked like someone spat on her food after trying it.

I just can't help it Jenn.

Ceci beans.

757

Posted by Gordon at 09:05 AM | Permalink

Saturday is the day for me and PBS. With our cable provider we end up receiving three different PBS stations. One from LA, one from OC and another mystery one. The great thing is that they all have different programming. Even better is on Saturday they all play different cooking shows. When I wake up I generally go through the guide and see what they are cooking on each of the shows and record what sounds interesting. This is how I have found shows that I really enjoy such as America's Test Kitchen and BBQU.

One Saturday a couple of weeks back, Jenn and I were watching an Italian cooking show (sorry forgot the name of it), and the lady on it was making soups and salads. All of them sounded really good and Jenn decided she wanted to try making a zucchini based soup. Here is the recipe:

Zucchini Soup with Cheese and Eggs

2 Tbsp. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
5 small Zucchini, ends trimmed, washed and diced
4 cups hot Chicken Broth
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Eggs
1/3 cup grated Pecorino or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Small bunch of Basil leaves, torn into small pieces
Sliced Baguette

1. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot and cook the zucchini until lightly browned.
2. Pour in the broth or water. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Whisk together the eggs and the cheese in a bowl and pour it into the soup. Stir well. Stir in the basil. Serve the soup as is or ladled over fried bread slices.

We really liked the soup. I think zucchini is the perfect soup vegetable because it has a lot of flavor when boiled and doesn't get to mushy. Also this recipe would not have been half as good if it did not have the slices of bread on the bottom. Jenn toasted the bread and I think that helped out also. The bread was able to keep its form longer and cooked bread tends to have a better flavor anyways. Word of advice if you do try this one, make sure to finish it off. We checked out the leftovers a day after and the fridge was not kind to it.

Posted by Gordon at 10:18 AM | Permalink

Why is buckwheat such a fun word to say. I can't imagine it is just because of Our Gang. Maybe it's Eddie Murphy's fault.

We bought an enormous cookbook at Costco about 3 years ago and this recipe was buried somewhere inside of it. The cookbook itself has a few recipes that we like, but for the most part it is geared more towards British taste as far as we can tell. Most of the recipes are kind of bland and there is way to much boiling of meat going on in the book. It also doesn't help that the whole thing is metric and pretty much a pain in the ass when the ingredient list hits about 15 different items and I spend 10 minutes just converting metric to whatever the hell we use. (By the way if you ever need to convert something, use Google. For instance just type in 5 liters to cups in the search bar and it will do all the messy math for you.)

This recipe is a great soup recipe. There is a lot of flavor in the broth and the noodles are not the typical egg noodles we get in most of our soups here in the States. It may be tricky finding some of the items (soba noodles and mirin) in a regular supermarket so you may want to try going to any asian market. I would also suggest that you get your vegetables their as well because I find that the veggies at the asian markets we go to are far superior to the neighborhood supermarket.

Soba Noodle Soup

8 ounce packet Soba noodles
2 Shitake mushrooms, sliced
64 fluid ounces (8 cups) of Vegetable stock
1/4 pound Snow Peas, sliced into thin strips
2 small Carrots, cut into julienne strips
2 cloves of Garlic, minced
6 Green Onions, sliced lengthwise
1 small piece of Ginger, cut into julienne strips
1/3 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Mirin (rice wine)
1 cup Bean Sprouts

1. Cook noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain and set aside.
2. Combine the vegetable stock, mushrooms, snow peas, carrot, garlic, green onion & ginger in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the veggies are tender.
3. Add soy sauce, mirin and bean sprouts. Cook for another 3 minutes.
4. Divide the noodles among four large serving bowls. Ladle the hot liquid & veggies of the top.

Addition to the note on yesterdays post, the comments are now gone. 2 hours after I set the spam filter to maximum, I received 4 more messages. Sorry that I am taking out the interactive portion of the site but if you feel like adding something to any of the posts, just shoot me an e-mail and I will add it somehow.

Posted by Gordon at 02:07 PM | Permalink

What's up party people. 2 weeks ago I had 4 posts and last week none. The reason. Got busy at work and started school. Those two things have pretty much blanked my brain when it comes to this here site.

So for the price of one posting I am putting up two recipes today. Both are soup recipes and both are really easy to make. The first, Moroccan-Style Chickpea Soup, I found in a book my mother gave us from America's Test Kitchen and it has all of their meals that can be made in 30 minutes or less. I trust them more than that big mouthed lady on Food Network so I went to this book before hers. Glad I did because the flavor of this soup was awesome. We did have to buy saffron for it though and if you don't know about saffron, it is pretty expensive. It comes from a flower grown in Europe and Asia and they can only harvest 3 threads of it per flower grown. Hence the price is pretty high because of the limited supply of it.

The other soup was one that Jenn found in an Italian book that she has. I was really surprised to find that she didn't use any stock for this recipe because the broth had a lot of flavor. I guess the pureed beans can substitute as stock in soups. Who knew. Good stuff as well and if you're on a budget, this is more for you.

Moroccan-Style Chickpea Soup

3 cups low sodium Chicken Broth
2 (15.5 oz) cans of Chickpeas (aka Garbanzo Beans)
1 (14.5 oz) can Diced Tomatoes
1/4 tsp. Saffron threads, crumbled
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. unsalted Butter
1 Red Onion, minced
4 Garlic cloves, minced
1/2 Tbsp. Ground Ginger
1/2 Tbsp. Ground Cumin
2 Zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 Tbsp. minced fresh Cilantro
2 Lemons (for serving)

1. Heat Broth Mixture – Bring broth, chickpeas, tomatoes, saffron and 1/2 tablespoon of salt to boil, covered in large saucepan and set aside.
2. Sauté Onion – Meanwhile melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in onion and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cook until softened and slightly browned, 3-5 minutes.
3. Sauté Aromatics: Add Broth Mixture and Zucchini – Stir garlic, ginger and cumin into pan and cook until fragrant about 30 seconds. Add to the broth mixture, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to a simmer and cook until zucchini is tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Season – Stir in cilantro. Off heat, season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with lemon wedges.

White Bean Soup

1 1/2 cups Cannellini beans (or other white beans)
5 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 medium Onion, finely chopped
1 Carrot, finely chopped or julienned
1 rib Celery, finely chopped
3 medium Tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp. fresh Thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp. dried Thyme
3 1/2 cups boiling Water
Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper

1. Drain and rinse the canned cannellini beans. Puree about 1/4 of the beans in a food processor adding a little olive oil if necessary.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Stir in onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are soft. Add the carrot and celery and cook for 5 more minutes.
3. Stir in the tomatoes, garlic and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 6-8 minutes more, stirring often.
4. Pour in boiling water. Stir in the beans and the bean puree. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Serve in individual soup bowls, sprinkled with a little extra-virgin olive oil.

Posted by Gordon at 08:06 AM | Permalink

This being sick business made me long for some soup. My usual destination for sickness fighting soup is Sam Woo's out in Irvine, but Jenn and I had already visited there once when we first started getting symptoms so I decided to ask my mother-in-law for her Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe instead. She found the recipe somewhere online and it's a fairly healthy fix for easy meals.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 or 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
Shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped Onion
2 Cloves minced Garlic
3 chopped Green Onions
2(12oz.) cans Diced Tomatoes
4 cups Chicken Broth
1/3 cup Salsa
1/2 Red Pepper, chopped
1/2 Green Pepper, chopped
4 Celery Stalks, chopped
1/3 cup Cilantro
1/2 tsp. Cumin
1/2 tsp. Chill Powder
1/2 tsp. Basil

• Boil the chicken breasts in water. Once cooked, cut it up and set aside.
• Add all ingredients in a pot until the vegetables are tender.
• In a bowl, break some tortilla chips at the bottom of the bowl and sprinkle the desired amount of cheese in. Pour the soup over the tortilla chips and cheese and serve.

I guess I still have to work on this one because it wasn't near as good as when she makes it. The soup was pretty good but seemed to be missing something. I'll have to make it once with her help sometime and see what I was doing wrong. Speaking of which, she is going to help me make an apple pie for Thanksgiving. Now that's good stuff!

Posted by Gordon at 02:48 PM | Permalink

I've been sick for 6 straight days now and have successfully gotten my wife sick. So with that in mind I had to make a menu for the week that included food that was: 1) easy to make and 2) comfort food. I figured that soup was a good bet but I'm really sick of the same old chicken/vegetable type soups that you find in a can. In comes Alton Brown to save us.

Squash Soup

6 cups (about 2 large squash) seeded 2-inch wide chunks butternut squash
Melted butter, for brushing
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus 1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, plus 1/2 teaspoon
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
4 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon minced ginger
4 ounces heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Brush the flesh of the squash with a little butter and season with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper. On a sheet pan lay the squash flesh side up. Roast for about 30 to 35 minutes or until the flesh is nice and soft.
3. Scoop the flesh from the skin into a pot and add the stock, honey, and ginger. Bring to a simmer and puree using a stick blender. Stir in the heavy cream and return to a low simmer. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

I have to advise that if you make this recipe use a stick blender. If you don't have one, go out and buy one! I thought that I could replace the stick blender with my regular blender (which is usually true) and found out otherwise. I had to use the food processor to mush it up and then put it in the blender to puree it but the consistency of the squash doesn't work well with a blender. The results were still good but I now have a crap load of dirty dishes (that I don't want to do because I'm sick) and it added about a half an hour to the whole process.

That being said though the soup was really good and made up for all the extra work. I added a lot more nutmeg than what was asked for and I think it really helped. Jenn wished there were some pine nuts to go with it but since I'm allergic to nuts, I didn't miss them much.

Posted by Gordon at 08:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

After watching it done on TV I got the grand notion in my head that I should make Chicken Noodle soup. Man was I way out of my league on this one.

First thing was I had to make the broth. Cutting up the chicken was pretty fun. I've never used our meat cleaver for what it was intended and I have to say that it's somwhat theraputic to take your agressions out on a piece of meat. Broth usually takes about 6-8 hours to create but the recipe I had sped that up by frying the chicken parts first to help them release their juices quicker. I saved the breast because that was going to be the meat in the soup. After about boiling the chicken for about an hour we had a hefty amount of broth.

After straining out the spent pieces and removing the fat after it settled, I added some vegetable and the chicken breasts that I had reserved. Last thing was adding egg noodles and spicing it to taste. The entire process took about 3 hours and we had a really late dinner on Tuesday.

I'm not posting the recipe because I was very underwhelmed (yes, I'm on a Sloan kick at work). The broth was okay and needed a lot of salt to help the flavor. After all of that work I think I was expecting to much because once I ate the first bite I tought that I could have saved 3 hours by just opening a can. Next time I plan on trying the old tried and true method of cooking the broth for 6 hours instead of trying to shortcut it.

Posted by Gordon at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)