Here are the tastingspoons players. I’m in the middle (Carolyn). Daughter Sara on the right, and daughter-in-law Karen on the left. I started the blog in 2007, as a way to share recipes with my family. I’m still doing 99% of the blogging and holding out hope that these two lovely and excellent cooks will participate. They both lead very busy lives, so we’ll see.
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BOOK READING (from Carolyn):
Music of Bees, Eileen Garvin. Absolutely charming book about a woman in midlife, lonely, who raises bees, also makes unlikely friends. Heart-warming and very interesting about beekeeping.
A Postcard from Paris, Alex Brown. Really cute story. Dual time line, 1940s and present day about renovating an old apartment in Paris, things discovered.
Time of the Child, Niall Williams. Oh such a good book. Very small village in Ireland, 1960s. A baby is left on the doorstep. The town all whispers and helps. I listened to an interview of the author, which made me like him and his books even more.
Sipsworth, Simon Van Booy. If you like animals you’ll swoon. An old woman who really wants to die finds a tiny mouse in her house and befriends it and finds a reason to live. Utterly charming book.
The Forger’s Spell, Edward Dolnick. True story. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of Johannes Vermeer.
If You Lived Here, You’d be Home by Now, Christopher Ingraham. Could hardly put it down – about a journalist who takes on a challenge to move to small town in Minnesota and write about it. He expects to hate it and the people and place, but he doesn’t. Absolutely wonderful true story.
The River We Remember, William Kent Kreuger. 1950s, Minnesota. A murder and the aftermath. Could hardly put it down. Kreuger has such a vivid imagination and writing style.
How the Lights Gets In, Joyce Maynard. An older woman returns to New Hampshire to help care for her brain-injured son. Siblings and family, lots of angst and resentments.
The Filling Station, Vanessa Miller. Every American should read this book. A novelized retelling of the Tulsa massacre in 1921. Absolutely riveting.
The Story She Left Behind, Patti Callahan Henry. Love this author. Based on a true story. A famous author simply vanishes, leaving her husband and daughter behind. She had invented a mystical language no one could translate. Present day, someone thinks he’s solved the riddle, contacts the family. Really interesting read.
The Girl from Berlin, Ronald Balson. Love anything about Tuscany. An elderly woman is being evicted from a villa there, with odd deed provenance. Two young folks go there to help unravel the mystery. Loved it.
The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks, M.D. Nonfiction. The dr is intrigued by a remote Pacific island where most of the inhabitants are colorblind. He also unravels a mystery on Guam of people born with a strange neurological problem. Medical mysteries unveiled. Very interesting.
The Bookbinder, Pip Williams. Post 1914 London. Two sisters work at a bookbindery. They’re told to not read the books. One does and one doesn’t. One has visions beyond her narrow world; the other does not. Eventually the one gets into Oxford. Lovely story.
The Paris Express, Emma Donoghue. 1895 on a train to Paris, a disaster happens. You’ll delve into the lives of many people who survived and died in the crash.
A Race to the Bottom of Crazy, Richard Grant. This is about Arizona. Author, wife and child move back to Arizona where they once lived. Part memoir, research, and reporting in a quest to understand what makes Arizona such a confounding and irresistible place.
The Scarlet Thread, Francine Rivers. A woman’s life turned upside down when she discovers the handcrafted quilt and journal of her ancestor Mary Kathryn McMurray, a young woman who was uprooted from her home only to endure harsh frontier conditions on the Oregon Trail.
A Place to Hide, Ronald Balson. 1939 Amsterdam, an ambassador has the ability to save the lives of many Jewish children. Heartwarming.
Homeseeking, Karissa Chen. Two young Chinese teens are deeply in love, but in China. Then their families are separated. Jump to current day and the two meet again in Los Angeles.
North River, Pete Hammill. He always writes such a good story. A doctor works diligently healing people from all walks of life. His wife and daughter left him years before. One day his 3-yr old grandson arrives on his doorstep.
A Very Typical Family, Sierra Godfrey. A very messed-up family. Three adult children are given a home in Santa Cruz, Calif, but only if the siblings meet up and live in the house together. A very untypical scenario but makes for lots of messes.
Three Days in June, Anne Tyler. The usual Anne Tyler grit. Family angst. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but it was entertaining and very short.
Saved, Benjamin Hall. Author is a veteran war reporter. Ukraine, 2022, he nearly loses his life to a Russian strike. Riveting story – he survives, barely.
Grey Wolf, Louise Penny. Another Inspector Gamache mystery in Quebec. She is such an incredible mystery writer.
All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each. Could hardly put it down.
Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Winner of 2024 Booker Prize. I don’t usually like those, but I heard the author interviewed and she hooked me. This is not a normal book with a beginning, a story and an end. It’s several chapters of the day in the life of various astronauts at the ISS (Int’l Space Station). All fictional. She’s been praised by several real astronauts for “getting it” about space station everyday life.
The Blue Hour, Paula Hawkins. An island off Scotland. Inaccessible except when the tide is out. Weird goings on. An artist. A present day mystery too.
Iron Lake, William Kent Krueger. A judge is murdered and a boy is missing. Riveting mystery.
Tell the Wolves I’m Home, Carol Ricks Brunt. 1980s. A 14-yr old girl loses her beloved uncle. Yet a new friendship arises, someone she never knew about.
Four Treasures of the Sky, Jenny Zhang. 1880s, a young girl is kidnapped in China and brought to the United States. She survives with many hurdles in the path.
The Boy Who Fell out of the Sky, Ken Dornstein. Memoir, 1988. The author’s brother died in the PanAm flight that went down in Lockerbie, Scotland. A decade later he tries to solve “the riddle of his older brother’s life.”
Worse Care Scenario, T.J. Newman. Oh my. Interesting analysis of what could/might happen if a jet crashed into a nuclear plant. Un-put-downable.
Song of the Lark, Willa Cather. Complicated weave of a story about a young woman in about 1900, who has a gifted voice (singing) and about her journey to success, not without its ups and downs.
Crow Talk, Eileen Garvin. Charming story which takes place at a remote lake in Washington State, about a few people who inhabit it, the friendships made, but also revolving around the rescue of a baby crow.
The Story Collector, Evie Woods. Sweet story about some dark secrets from an area in Ireland, a bit magical, faerie life, but solving a mystery too.
A Sea of Unspoken Things, Adrienne Young. A woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death. She goes to a small town in California to figure it out, to figure HIM out.
The King’s Messenger, Susanna Kearsley. 1600s England, King James. About one of his trusted “messengers,” and his relationship with a young woman also of “the court.” Lots of intrigue.
In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, Emily Matchar. Interesting mystery in/around the area of the famous resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
Isola, Allegra Goodman. Hard to describe, survival story on an island in the 1600s.
Save the Date, Allison Raskin. Rom-com, witty, LOL funny. Clever.
The Sirens, Emilia Hart. Numerous time-lines, Australia. Mysteries abound, nightmares, abandoned baby, weird allergies.
Red Clay, Charles Fancher. LOVED this book. Mostly post-Civil War story about the lives of slaves in Alabama during Reconstruction.
Stars in an Italian Sky, Jill Santopolo. Dual time line, 1946 and recent time. Love stories and a mystery.
Battle Mountain, C.J. Box. Another one of Box’s riveting mysteries. Love his descriptions of the land.
Something Beautiful Happened, Yvette Corporon. A memoir of sorts in Greece, tiny island of Erikousa, where the locals hid Jews during WWII. All elusive stories told by the author’s grandmother.
The Jackal’s Mistress, Chris Bohjalian. 1860s Virginia, about a woman who saves the life of a Union soldier. Really good story.
Song of the Magpie, Louise Mayberry. Really interesting story about Australia back in the days when it was mostly a penal colony. Gritty strength of a woman trying to thrive with her farm.
The Boomerang, Robert Bailey. A thriller that will have you gripping the book. About a lot of secrets surrounding the president (fictional novel, remember) and his chief of staff and about cancer. A cure. Such a good story.
Care and Feeding, Laurie Woolever. Really interesting memoir of a woman driven to succeed in the restaurant business. She worked for Mario Batali and then Anthony Bourdain. Gritty stories.
Everything is Tuberculosis, John Green. Maybe not a book for everyone. A real deep dive into the deadly tuberculosis infection, its history. I heard the author interviewed and found the book very interesting.
The Book Lovers Library, Madeline Martin. Fascinating read about Boots’ drug stores’ lending library. And the people who worked in them.
The Arrivals, Meg Mitchell Moore. LOL funny, about a middle-aged couple whose children (and their various family members) return to the family home and the chaos that ensues.
My Life as a Silent Movie, Jesse Lee Kercheval. About grief. A big move to Paris, finding herself a new life with a new set of real blood family.
Escape, Carolyn Jessop. Another memoir about a woman really in bondage in Utah, Mormon plural marriage.
My blog's namesake - small, old and some very dented engraved silver plated tea spoons that belonged to my mother-in-law, and I use them to taste my food as I'm cooking.
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Posted in Appetizers, Soups, on July 29th, 2010.
Looks like guacamole, doesn’t it? Wrong. It’s a smooth, unctuous spoon-able soup. Lovely on a hot, summer evening, in small glasses with some crushed tortilla chips on top and a little sprig of cilantro. It was VERY easy to make in the food processor. You just have to have some ripe avocados and some buttermilk. Very delicious.
Posted in Soups, on June 19th, 2010.
It was one of those days when I needed to clean out the refrigerator a bit. I had cooked chicken. I had fennel and carrots. So when I leafed through a cookbook I’ve had for awhile and not made anything from it, this recipe popped out. All I needed was snow peas, which my DH picked up for me. And, as it turned out, we’ve been having some truly chilly days lately. Today (the day I’m writing this, which was last week, once this posts) – the high never got over 70, I don’t think. And the sun didn’t shine – it was overcast, humid, muggy. A good soup day!
This soup was simple to put together. The carrots and fennel are simmered in chicken broth, then it’s all poured out into a bowl on the side. Then you make a cream sauce: melt butter, add flour, then half-and-half, fennel seeds (crushed in my mortar and pestle), some salt, then you add in the vegetables and chicken. It’s a soup by that point, and snow peas were added last and are just barely cooked since you want them to have some texture when served. The creamy broth has a very subtle taste of fennel, and the small amount of fennel seeds don’t add any strong flavors. I ended up adding some of the chicken stock concentrate that I buy from Penzey’s. I thought the soup needed a little bit more oomph.
The recipe comes from Sunday Soup: A Year’s Worth of Mouth-Watering, Easy-to-Make Recipes
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Recipe By: Adapted from Sunday Soups by Betty Rosbottom
Serving Size: 4
NOTES: You could also add fresh asparagus to this. The original recipe calls for baby carrots (I used regular ones, chopped). I added more chicken just because I had it, and also added the asparagus. Sugar snap peas would probably work well with this instead of snow peas. I also added some chicken stock base (a concentrate) to the stock – to give it a bit more flavor.
2 medium fennel bulbs
4 cups chicken stock — [I use Penzey’s chicken soup base]
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups carrots — chopped
2 cups cooked chicken — diced
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups half and half
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons fennel seeds — crushed
1 teaspoon kosher salt — or more to taste
1 cup fresh snow peas
2 tablespoons Italian parsley — minced
fennel fronds for garnish (optional)
1. Cut off stalks from fennel (if attached) and reserve feathery tops for garnish (set aside covered in water to prevent wilting). Halve the bulbs lengthwise; cut out and discard tough cores. Chop enough fennel to yield 1 1/2 cups.
2. Bring 4 cups of chicken stock to a simmer in a large pot set over medium-high heat. Add fennel and carrots, and cook until vegetables are tender when pierced with a knife, about 12 minutes.
3. Drain the fennel and carrots, setting aside about 1 1/2 cups of stock [I used all of the stock]. Put the fennel, carrots and diced chicken in a bowl and set aside.
4. Melt butter in a large, heavy saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or less. Gradually whisk in cream and reserved stock. Whisk until mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon, for 4 minutes or longer. Stir in lemon juice, fennel seeds and salt. Stir in chicken, fennel and carrots. If the soup is too thick, thin it with additional stock as needed. The soup can be prepared to this point a day ahead; cool, cover and refrigerate. Reheat over medium heat.
5. When ready to serve the soup, trim and discard ends from snow peas (removing any strings). Cut the snow peas on the diagonal into thirds. Add them to the soup and cook just until tender, about 2 minutes. Taste soup and season with salt, as needed [I also added freshly ground black pepper].
6. To serve, ladle soup into 4 entree-sized soup bowls. Garnish each with chopped parsley and/or fennel fronds.
Per Serving: 412 Calories; 22g Fat (47.8% calories from fat); 28g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 112mg Cholesterol; 2791mg Sodium.
A year ago: Basil Vinaigrette
Two years ago: Peanut Butter Cookies
Three years ago: Hashed Brown Casserole (wicked, great with summer menu)
Posted in Soups, on March 22nd, 2010.
This is another recipe from the Tarla Fallgatter cooking class I attended earlier this week. And if you’d like a delicious, but different kind of potato soup, here it is. Bacon isn’t an unknown in potato soup, but the topping – that cute crouton you see above, is. If you look closely you can see the bacon, garlic and Italian parsley on top of the crouton. What a clever idea, I thought. Usually I just put a toasted crouton (maybe a buttered or olive-oiled one on top of soup or even with cheese) on top of a soup. The bacon incorporation is altogether different here.
The bacon is chopped up and cooked in water. Why, I asked her? To reduce the salt and to make the bacon softer for pureeing purposes. Made sense. So the bacon is cooked for about 15 minutes, drained, then pureed in the food processor with the fresh garlic and Italian parsley. Then that mixture – a very little bit of it – is spread on top of the already lightly toasted baguette slices. Those slices are really thinly sliced – her recipe said 1/3 inch – I’d say they might have been narrower than that. Those are toasted (again) to crisp-up the bacon and cook the garlic a bit, then they’re laid on top of the hot potato soup.
The soup was easy – butter and shallots, potatoes, chicken stock, salt, pepper and a bit of heavy cream. It’s pureed – and a little bit of the bacon topping also is stirred into each bowl, then served with the crouton on top. I did find the crouton a bit hard to eat – if you pick up the whole crouton with a spoon, you have to bite it in the spoon – very awkward. The crouton is a bit too big to eat very daintily. I think it would be better to cut the croutons into thirds after they’re baked and drop in 3-5 of the smaller pieces into the soup bowl. That way you could easily pick up one at a time and eat. There is a little bit of bacon in the soup too – just enough to give it that bacony-smoky taste. Tarla also said you could add cubed cooked turkey to this (or chicken, obviously) and make it a main dish meal. What I liked was the texture difference – the smooth soup with the crunchy savory crouton on top. Liked this very much.
Recipe By: Tarla Fallgatter, cooking class 3/2010
Serving Size: 6
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium shallots — peeled, thinly sliced
1 1/2 pounds baking potatoes — peeled, sliced 1/3 inch thick
6 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
BACON CROUTONS:
4 ounces bacon — cut in 1/2″ pieces
2 whole garlic cloves — chopped
1 tablespoon Italian parsley — chopped
1/8 whole baguette — cut into six 1/3-inch slices
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan, add shallots and saute until softened, about 4 minutes. Add potatoes and saute a few minutes, then add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are tender.
3. Pour hot soup mixture (in batches if necessary) into blender or food processor and puree. Return soup to the pan.
4. Meanwhile, in a small frying pan simmer the bacon pieces in 1/2 inch of water over low heat, until tender – about 15 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a mini-food processor. Add the garlic and Italian parsley and puree until smooth.
5. Arrange baguette slices on a baking sheet and spread
NOTES: You can also add some cubed cooked turkey or chicken and make this a main meal soup. My advice: cut each bacon crouton into about 3 pieces (after baking them) so they’re easier to pick up with the spoon. The larger baguette slice is just too big for one bite.
Per Serving: 372 Calories; 23g Fat (56.0% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 29g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 55mg Cholesterol; 2539mg Sodium.
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A year ago: Yam Slices with Garlic and Rosemary
Two years ago: Beef Stew with Currant Glaze
Posted in Soups, on March 4th, 2010.
Multi-vegetable soup, Italian style, with some rough torn bread croutons on top. Missing from the photo: the tendrils of fresh basil and cilantro that were supposed to be sprinkled all over the top.
Ribollita. Sounds like it ought to be a girl’s name. The Italian word actually means “reboiled.” So if you lived in Italy you certainly wouldn’t want to be named Ribollita! Historically it’s a Tuscan soup – a method of re-serving minestrone soup – the next day – and making it different with the bread, beans and greens. Ribollita always contains cannellini beans and some greens like kale or Swiss chard. I’ve had this at restaurants now and then, but wanted to make my own. My friend Linda stopped by for dinner after having a crown put in, and she wanted something she didn’t have to chew. This fit that need very well. And it’s very healthy (only 14 grams of fat for a 1 1/2 cup serving). Mostly it’s vegetables, although I added in some ham cubes because I had them. You could also make this without the meat.
The preparation – you could probably make this soup in less than 30 minutes if you had all the vegetables ready to go. There is a bit of chopping and mincing involved (onions, carrots, celery, leeks, garlic, kale, Swiss chard, mushrooms, zucchini). I used my handy-dandy Alligator Dicer
The result? It’s worth the work. I read a variety of recipes for this soup and discovered that you can just about do your own thing. So I did. I added oregano – next time I’d add some rosemary, or maybe some Herbs de Provence. I added the ham and kale. I’d read a recipe in an old Sunset Magazine for this soup and it showed the rough torn bread cubes floating on top of the soup, so I decided to do it that way too. This may not wow your audience, but it was certainly delicious and healthy. The bread cubes are essential, so don’t eliminate that part – they provide aesthetics and some crunchy texture. I had ample to send a small care package home with Linda and enough for two portions to go into my freezer’s “soup library.”
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Recipe By: My own concoction
Serving Size: 8
NOTES: buy a ciabatta loaf and roughly tear off pieces of it (large bite size) and toast in a 350 oven for about 5 minutes (use broiler if you can watch it carefully). If you want a more flavorful soup, add some rosemary, a Bay leaf, and some thyme. You can also use Parmesan cheese rinds in a soup like this (you do save them, right?). They merely flavor the soup – don’t eat them. You can also add more beans to this, and/or some rice. In the authentic version you slice off a piece of bread and put it in the bottom of the bowl and pour the soup on top. This version uses less bread and you just toast the cubes and plop them on top. The croutons don’t get totally soaked in the soup. The quantities of the vegetables are approximate – add more or less of things if it suits you or you don’t have sufficient amounts.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 medium white onions — chopped
4 cloves garlic — minced
2 whole leeks — cleaned and chopped
3 stalks celery — chopped
3 whole carrots — peeled, chopped
2 cups ham cubes — (or use 2-3 slices of minced bacon)
32 ounces canned tomatoes — (including juice)
8 cups chicken broth — (or Penzey’s chicken soup base + water)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
3 medium zucchini — chopped
4 ounces mushrooms — sliced
4 cups Swiss chard — chopped
4 cups kale — chopped
3 cups Savoy cabbage — chopped
15 ounces canned cannelini beans — drained, rinsed Salt and pepper to taste
TOPPINGS:
2 cups croutons
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese — shaved in shards
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil — to drizzle on top
1/4 cup fresh basil — sliced
1/4 cup cilantro — chopped
1. In a large, heavy pot heat the olive oil. Saute the onion for about 5 minutes until it’s wilted but not browned. Add garlic and leeks and continue cooking until leeks have begun to soften. Add celery and carrots. Add ham, tomatoes, chicken broth and oregano and bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes until carrots are cooked. Add zucchini and mushrooms and continue simmering for about 5 minutes. Then add canned beans, Swiss chard, kale and cabbage. Cook for 2-4 minutes until the greens are just tender. Taste for seasoning.
2. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350 and toast the roughly torn bread cubes – using the broiler if necessary to brown them.
3. Have all the topping ingredients ready. Scoop about 1 1/2 cups of the soup into a wide soup bowl. Top with the Parmesan, basil, cilantro and the toasty-hot bread cubes and serve.
Per Serving: 347 Calories; 14g Fat (35.0% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 38g Carbohydrate; 9g Dietary Fiber; 21mg Cholesterol; 1678mg Sodium.
A year ago: Guacamole
Two years ago: Orange Jalapeno Vinaigrette
Posted in Soups, on February 22nd, 2010.
Is there anything much more comforting than split pea soup? I think not. I had a lovely ham bone that was just itching to provide some great flavor to something. And I had a hunk of pancetta that also needed using, so they were the flavor peak in this simple soup. With onion, leeks, celery, carrots, thyme, chicken broth and split peas there’s little else you need. The entire meal came together with about 30 minutes of simmering, but there was a bit of chopping and mincing going on – the pancetta and vegetables before, then the ham from the ham bone (plus a bit more). But I now have several nights of hearty soup dinners in the freezer. Since the soup is thick to begin with, you can thin it down if you’d like – either with water or some added chicken broth. You can also not puree the soup as much as I did – that’s totally up to you. I like the texture contrast of the toast croutons (I just used a thick piece of whole wheat toast, toasted in the toaster, trimmed and very lightly buttered and chopped), then a little bit of green with the Italian parsley. And you’re done.
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Recipe By: Combined from several recipes on the internet.
Serving Size: 8
NOTES: If you like to see carrots in your soup, reserve about a cup of raw ones (dice them up fairly small) and add in after you’ve pureed the soup. Cook carrots for about 5 minutes, then add the peas and heat through. You can also use a ham bone (rather than the hock) if you have it – just leave some of the meat on the bone as it adds a lot of flavor to the broth. Once the soup is cooked, remove the bone and chop up the meat just as for the ham hock, discarding any fat. If you prefer your soup more chunky, puree about half of it and leave the remainder as-is. If you prefer your soup thinner, just add more chicken broth or water to make it the consistency you like. I cool the soup, then pour 4-cups worth (that’s 2 1/2 servings in my house) into a large Ziploc freezer bag, chill, then lay flat in the freezer until frozen solid. Then I stand it up with all the other frozen soups I have in my freezer. The ham and pancetta add a ton of flavor to this soup, but you can eliminate the pancetta if you don’t have it on hand.
3 ounces pancetta — minced
2 ounces unsalted butter — (half a cube)
1 large onion — (if small, use two), chopped
3 stalks celery — coarsely chopped
2 medium leeks — cleaned, chopped
8 cups chicken broth — (or 1 T Penzey’s soup base concentrate)
3 cloves garlic — peeled, mashed
4 whole carrots — coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons dried thyme
1 1/2 pounds ham hock — with some meat on the bone
2 cups ham — minced
2 cups frozen peas
2 whole toast slices — use thick toast if you have it, slicing off the edges
2 tablespoons Italian parsley — minced
1. Chop all the vegetables before starting to cook. Rinse the split peas well and remove any rocks or debris. Allow to drain.
2. Saute pancetta in a large, tall stockpot (use a heavy-duty pan) for about 10 minutes until some of the edges are browned. (If you want the pancetta to remain in visible pieces, remove it and set aside to add in at the end.) Add the butter, melt, then add onions, leeks and celery. Sweat for about 10 minutes. Add garlic, stir and cook for about a minute. Add the carrots, split peas, season with thyme and pepper. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30-45 minutes, until split peas are completely cooked through.
4. Remove ham hock and set aside to cool. Remove meat from the bone and chop into small pieces (discard the bone).
5. Allow soup to cool about 20 minutes, then 2-3 cups at a time pour into blender and puree. Don’t overfill the blender container or it will blow off the top when you begin to puree it.
6. Pour soup back into the stock pot and bring up to a simmer again. Add the reserved ham, and frozen peas. Simmer for about 5 minutes, taste for seasoning and serve in wide bowls – about 1 1/2 cups per serving. Garnish with chopped-up toast cubes (or make croutons) and a bit of Italian parsley.
Per Serving: 482 Calories; 28g Fat (53.2% calories from fat); 36g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 132mg Cholesterol; 1654mg Sodium.
A year ago: An explanation about Error Code 404
Two years ago: Cream of Cashew Soup
The day I made this soup it rained nearly all day. Last Saturday. A kind of day when we lit the fireplace, turned the thermostat up, and kept watching the drain lines around our house. We managed to get by without any flooding in the house, but we stayed on top of it all day. And I stayed close to the kitchen nearly all day too, working on this soup.
A hearty meat-laden and vegetable soup was what appealed to me. With a big chunk of pork shoulder from the freezer and cabbage as the mainstays, it wasn’t hard to make this, although it does take some chopping and mincing. And some slicing and sautéing. The recipe started from James Peterson’s book, Splendid Soups: Recipes and Master Techniques for Making the World’s Best Soups. Really making this began with the fact that I had not one, but two cabbage heads in the refrigerator. I had onions, celery, carrots and sauerkraut. From that, though, I weaved a bit off track with a few extra additions.
The pork (actually the original recipe called for beef, but Peterson said in his after-notes that he often makes it with pork instead) I cooked up in the crockpot for about 5 hours, until it was fall-apart tender. Once that was done I used the broth from the pork (strained of all its now spent vegetables) to start the soup. It comes together in a jiffy – you just have to chop everything (mushrooms, more onion, celery, carrots, turnips, and the cabbage). And at the end you add in some fresh sauerkraut, the cubed pork and some spicy sausage of some kind. I happened to have some imported Spanish dry (salami-type) chorizo which I cubed up to add flavor. But you do NOT want to put the sausage in earlier because it will give up all of its flavor to the soup and not have any taste.
The recipe is based on an old-world everyday soup from Russia. It’s called shchi in Russian. I went online hunting for how to pronounce the word. Some say it’s something like she, others sh-chi. But any way you want to say it, it’s a cabbage soup. With sauerkraut added in at the end too. And full of flavor. And healthy with all the veggies. It is mostly veggies. The pork I used was very lean and produced almost no fat whatsoever. You can see some of it in the photo, but I probably didn’t have 2 1/2 pounds as I’ve indicated in the recipe. Probably more like 1 1/2 pounds. But, you know, soup is very forgiving that way. I needed to add more liquid to the soup, so I added water and a dollop of Penzey’s pork soup base (a broth concentrate). You may remember that I’m a big fan of Penzey’s soup bases (I have small jars of beef, chicken, turkey, pork, ham, seafood and vegetable) that I use very frequently. You could substitute chicken broth granules or canned broth too. The soup can be made ahead – maybe even tastes better the next day.
What I will tell you – beyond the fact that the soup is downright scrumptious – is that you don’t want to omit the sour cream (I used light) and fresh dill for the garnish. As good as the soup was, it made it over-the-top, as far as I’m concerned, with the dollop of sour cream and a bit of dill in every bite. Eventually, as we ate the soup, the sour cream dissipated throughout the broth, and the dill floated on top. So, for me, just remember the sour cream and dill, okay? I think this likely serves more than 10 people – more like 12 – in 2-cup servings. I froze dinner-size portions (two of them), gave away another two-portion container, and still had enough for us for another 2 meals. So, however you pronounce shchi, just make this, okay? Hearty, healthy and comforting.
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Recipe: Inspired by a recipe in Splendid Soups by James Peterson
Serving Size: 10-12
NOTES: I used a spicy Spanish dry chorizo, but ordinary Polish sausage would be fine, or even ground Italian sausage (cook about 10 minutes first). The sour cream and fresh dill are the capper to this soup – don’t eliminate it as you’ll be missing some of the authenticity and flavor of this soup. The pork broth concentrate comes from Penzey’s spices (online). They produce a line of broth concentrates that are amazing, low in salt, and keep for months in the refrigerator. If you want to remove some of the fat from the pork shoulder, chill the broth and remove the congealed fat before continuing with the soup. Do not use canned sauerkraut.
PORK:
2 1/2 pounds pork shoulder — boned, trimmed
1 large onion — peeled, halved
2 whole carrots
2 stalks celery — cut in 3-inch pieces
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 quarts water — (or more if needed)
SOUP:
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms — cleaned, chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion — chopped
2 stalks celery — chopped
2 whole turnips — peeled, cubed
1 large head of cabbage — thinly sliced, then crossways in about 2-inch lengths
2 cups sauerkraut — rinsed
1/2 pound smoked sausage — cubed
2 teaspoons pork soup base and water — (or chicken concentrate or a quart of meat broth)
salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup sour cream
fresh dill, chopped, for garnish (do not omit the garnish!)
1. PORK: Combine the pork, vegetables and herbs in a 4-quart pot. Pour over enough cold water to cover the meat by an inch. Bring the pot to a slow simmer. Ladle off any froth and fat that floats to the top. Simmer for 2-3 hours, until the meat is completely tender so that a knife inserted into the meat offers no resistance, adding water as needed to make up for any evaporation. Allow mixture to cool for an hour, then strain out the vegetables (and discard them), reserving all of the meat and broth. When the meat is cool enough, chop it up into 1-inch pieces. (Can also be made in the crockpot for about 4-5 hours)
2. SOUP: In a large soup pot melt the butter and sauté the mushrooms for 2-4 minutes. Add the onion, turnips, carrots, celery and garlic, then add all the broth from the pork. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add the cabbage. If there is not sufficient liquid, add some water or chicken broth (or the Penzey’s pork soup base) and continue cooking for another 10 minutes or until the cabbage is just barely tender. Then add the rinsed sauerkraut, the cooked pork and the sausage. Simmer very slowly just until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Serve about 2 cups of soup mixture in a wide bowl (heated bowls, preferably) with a dollop of sour cream on top and sprinkled with fresh dill.
Per Serving: 414 Calories; 31g Fat (65.6% calories from fat); 21g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 96mg Cholesterol; 863mg Sodium.
A year ago: Chicken a l’Orange
Two years ago: Borscht with Andouille Sausage
Posted in Soups, on January 27th, 2010.
Funny thing, I don’t think I’d ever eaten Italian Wedding Soup before. I’d heard of it. But never ordered it in a restaurant or made it myself. No time like the present. Nor did I truly understand the meaning of the title – it has nothing to do with weddings. Like a dish that’s served at an Italian wedding. No, that’s a misnomer. In this case it means you “marry” two ingredients – in this case the marriage of vegetables and meat. A food marriage.
The recipe comes from Ina Garten’s newest cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics. The recipe is on the Food Network website, with about over a hundred comments from people who’ve made it and gave it the maximum ratings possible. In case you’re interested, you can read all about Italian Wedding Soup over at Wikipedia. And at about.com too. Some history about the dish in both places. So the story goes, the soup is an Italian-American invention, really, although some places in and around Rome now make it. The soup can contain other meat products like pancetta, prosciutto, even salami. In this case, though, (and it’s more American this way) it’s made with chicken. It’s called Minestra Maritata (meaning married soup).
So, what’s the soup all about? The garlicky chicken meatballs are extra flavorful – we both loved the flavor of them since they’re heightened with ample garlic, parsley, and cheese. I purchased some ground chicken and some turkey Italian sausage, which was just extra delicious. You make small rounds (meatballs), place them on parchment on a rimmed baking sheet (makes about 32-40 meatballs), and bake them for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, you make a fairly simple vegetable soup with onion, carrots and celery, in a chicken broth. Traditionally the soup has a bit of pasta in it (I used orzo) and at the very last minute you add in some fresh baby spinach. And you can add the meatballs to heat them up again if you made them ahead. I served 4 small meatballs in each bowl of soup. Very satisfying, filling, and really good. Now, the soup part is sort of bland, really. The recipe calls for fresh dill. I didn’t have any, so used dried. Others who made it commented that the fresh dill made a big difference, so I’ll try that next time. Likely the soup flavor would be enhanced if made a day ahead. Just don’t overcook the vegetables, as you want them to still have some texture. And don’t overcook the pasta – you’ll want to serve it just when the pasta has reach that perfect peak of done-ness, with just a bit of bite. What this is, is an EASY soup. Start to finish in less than an hour, and it was certainly a full meal. Do note the low calories and fat too. A nice bonus.
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Recipe By: Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics
Serving Size: 8
MEATBALLS:
3/4 pound ground chicken
1/2 pound chicken sausage — casings removed
2/3 cup bread crumbs — fresh white
2 cloves garlic — minced [I used 3]
3 tablespoons fresh parsley — minced
1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese — grated
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese — freshly grated, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons milk
1 large egg — lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
SOUP:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup yellow onion — minced
1 cup carrots — diced, 3 whole, peeled
3/4 cup celery — 2 stalks, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
10 cups chicken stock [I used low-sodium]
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup pasta — tubetini, stars, or orzo
1/4 cup fresh dill — minced
12 ounces baby spinach — washed and trimmed
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don’t have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.
3. In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan.
Per Serving: 361 Calories; 13g Fat (35.3% calories from fat); 27g Protein; 27g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 95mg Cholesterol; 3124mg Sodium (I don’t know how it’s possible it could have that much sodium – I use low-sodium chicken broth; the cheese also supplies lots of sodium though).
A year ago: Crockpot Chile Verde
Posted in Soups, on January 26th, 2010.
Our daughter Sara decided to take some time off from her family and come spend the day with us. We were thrilled, since we don’t get to see her very often because of the family business she and her husband run and two very busy children. Kids in sports. You young moms know all about that.
We decided we’d go out to dinner, so I wanted to fix something fairly light for lunch, but warm on the tummy (since it only got to about 50 as a high temp here that day, and that’s cold for Southern California). So I made some creamy broccoli cheese soup with some bacon and cheddar croutons on top.
Very easy soup. I had all the ingredients on hand (a good thing) and it took no time at all, really, to whip this soup together. An onion, a little garlic, chicken broth, 1 1/2 pounds of broccoli, a bit of heavy cream, a little bit of freshly grated nutmeg, some bacon and a bunch of cheddar cheese. Then I made some little croutons – thinly sliced baguette slices toasted under the broiler, then some more grated cheese and a little dollop of cooked bacon on top. Once those croutons were bubbling hot, I ladled soup into the bowl and floated two of those little hot toasts on top. Scrumptious. Easy to make. Even nice enough for a weeknight dinner. Perfect for a cold, blustery day.
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Recipe By: Inspired by a Cook’s Country recipe
Serving Size: 6
SOUP:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion — chopped
2 whole garlic cloves — chopped
1 1/2 pounds broccoli — stems peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces, florets chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese — shredded, plus extra for garnish
salt and cayenne pepper to taste
CROUTONS:
6 slices baguette, about 1/4 inch thick
3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese — shredded
3 slices bacon — cut in small pieces
1. Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add broccoli stems and cook until bright green and just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth, increase heat to medium-high and simmer until stems are tender, about 5 minutes. Add florets, cream and nutmeg and simmer until florets are tender, about 5 minutes.
2. In a small skillet fry up the bacon until just crispy. Drain on paper towels. Set aside.
3. Place sliced baguette on a baking sheet. Broil one side until bread is just barely golden brown. Turn pieces over and broil other side until they are golden brown. Remove from oven and place some of the grated cheese on top and sprinkle about a teaspoon of bacon on each slice. Return to broiler until cheese is melted and bubbling.
4. Meanwhile, puree soup in 2 batches in blender until smooth, return to pot and bring to simmer over medium heat. Stir in cheddar and half the bacon until cheese is melted and season with salt and cayenne.
5. Pour soup into wider, flatter bowls and place one or more slices of bacon-cheddar croutons on top. Serve.
6. Soup can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Reheat over medium heat until hot, but do not boil or cheese will separate.
Per Serving (doesn’t include the bread in the croutons): 463 Calories; 41g Fat (73.7% calories from fat); 24g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 127mg Cholesterol; 435mg Sodium.
A year ago: Curry Pasta Salad (a recipe from Namibia)
Gee, that recipe title is a mouthful, isn’t it? If you’ve been reading my blog for long, you may recall that there’s only one person I know who gives recipes such long names. Because she’s afraid we won’t realize all the tasty goodness and goodies in any recipe. Yup. Phillis Carey. This one’s from a “light and healthy” cooking class. And it’s delicious. And quick. EASY! It likely will require a trip to the market – specifically for the kale and zucchini – and maybe the chicken sausages – but as long as you’ve got canned cannellini beans and tomatoes on hand, then this recipe comes together in a jiffy. You add the kale – and it will seem like a LOT of kale, but once you put a lid on it, it will reduce down. Just don’t overcook everything – the kale just needs to cook until it’s tender, no further.
Pictured at right is the “soup” when I’d just added the kale – notice the mound. It cooks down, though. This dinner would likely require less than 25 minutes, maybe 20 if you didn’t serve anything else with it. And it’s a one-dish meal (it could be, anyway). Phillis suggested serving this with brown rice. If I were to serve it I think I’d serve it over a very small portion of pasta. But I liked it as-is, just served as a kind of soup with a very little bit of juice to it. Is that called a dry soup? I think so. Or sometimes the broth part is served in a separate bowl in Asian cuisines. That’s not the case here – it’s the chunky stuff that makes up the ragout/soup.
Phillis suggested that if you’d like some other textures and flavors in this, add some raisins during the last bit of heating, and then sprinkle on top some pine nuts (toasted would be best). I’ve included them in this recipe because they added a lot of texture and flavor to this dish when I made it. Delicious, that’s all I have to say. And low calorie too. This may become a real staple in my soup library.
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Recipe By: Phillis Carey, cookbook author and instructor
Serving Size: 5
NOTES: You can substitute any kind of sausages here – even using bulk sausage rather than links.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup onion — chopped
8 ounces chicken sausage — links, cut in coins
2 cups zucchini — diced
3 cloves garlic
6 cups kale — chopped (about 1/2 pound), remove stems
1/2 cup water
32 ounces canned cannellini beans — rinsed and drained
14 1/2 ounces diced tomatoes — including juices
2 tablespoons basil — slivered
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup golden raisins (optional)
1/4 cup pine nuts — toasted, for garnish (optional)
1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sausage and cook for 4-5 minutes or until sausage is browned (be sure to BROWN the sausage, as it provides a lot more flavor that way). Add zucchini and garlic; cook for about 2 minutes.
2. Add kale, water and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until thoroughly heated. Stir in beans, raisins and basil, season to taste with salt and pepper, heat through and serve immediately with pine nuts on top. The kale should still be a little bit chewy so do not overcook it.
Serving Ideas: Can be served with brown rice if desired. Serve in a shallow bowl.
Per Serving: 393 Calories; 11g Fat (24.9% calories from fat); 23g Protein; 54g Carbohydrate; 13g Dietary Fiber; 37mg Cholesterol; 964mg Sodium.
A year ago: Beef – an informative essay
Two years ago: Brandied Apricot Bars
Posted in Soups, on January 7th, 2010.
I already have a posole recipe here on my blog. But when I made this one I’d forgotten that, so I made this version, perhaps even easier than the other one. This one uses all canned ingredients for the soup part (tomatoes, hominy, broth) and as long as you have the topping items on hand (grated Monterey jack cheese, radishes, green onions, lettuce – and I added cilantro, sour cream and avocado), this soup comes together in a hurry. This soup I made is not the authentic posole (as it’s usually made with pork). I added in other ingredients. But oh, is it a WOW soup. This is MY KIND OF SOUP, I’ll tell ya. Lots of powerful flavors mingling in the bowl. Lots of textures too. Altogether fabulous.
But first of all I must tell you about a new product – well, it WILL be a new product, I believe – from Muir Glen. I hope you’ve been seeking out Muir Glen organic canned tomatoes already – especially their fire-roasted tomatoes. I just am crazy about them – sometimes they’re hard to find, so I buy a bunch of cans whenever I do locate them. A couple of months ago, the folks at Muir Glen kindly sent me a little gift package of their about-to-released products. (I’m sure the reason they did is that I’ve mentioned Muir Glen several times on my blog, so they probably assumed I’d be more than pleased. They didn’t ask me to write up anything, but I’m happy to, because I believe so much in their superior products.)
Today I’m just going to talk about the Fire-Roasted Tomatoes in Adobo Seasoning because that’s the one I tried out of my gift basket. Very yummy, this stuff! You can order this gift box/basket online through the company’s website. The box I received (above) is $7.00.
I took a taste of the canned tomatoes before I put them in the soup, so I could try to think about the flavor. It’s spicy (has chiles, cumin, oregano among other things) and has a little deeper character than just plain canned tomatoes. Of course, the Muir Glen are fire-roasted, so they already have some deeper flavor to begin with. All things to make this new Muir Glen can very helpful in the kitchen! And very appropriate for things like chili and soup. Adobo is a type of seasoning (popular in Mexico, the Caribbean, Spain and the Philippines) but they vary widely. This adobo is, I think, the Mexican variety. Here’s what wikipedia has to say about it:
As it happens, I added more oregano in my soup, because I wanted a more pronounced herby flavor. But the adobo tomatoes already have some. Plus the cumin, another popular Mexican seasoning. There at the picture (left) you can see the “salad” part of posole – you put that in the bowl first (shredded lettuce, green onions, radishes, avocado and sour cream). Then the soup is ladled in. It’s a fairly dry soup – not a lot of liquid, which was fine with me. Then I sprinkled the cheese and cilantro on top of the soup before serving.
Soups are a standard around my house. I really enjoy making them – and especially the kind like this which have a little cornucopia of toppings – to be added with relish and abandon. You like cheese? Add more. Nix the lettuce? Okay by me. Maybe cabbage is better. Don’t like radishes? Fine, add minced red bell pepper as a condiment. You understand – make it your own. As long as the basic soup is flavorful (yes), healthful (yes, with chicken), you can make this soup any way you’d like. This soup is a winner!
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Recipe By: Inspired by a Gourmet Magazine recipe
Serving Size: 8
NOTES: Bacon is not traditional, but pork is, so I added the bacon instead. Celery also isn’t standard, but I like the flavor it adds. Make your own choices about toppings – use some or all. Or change them to suit your family’s likes and dislikes.
Serving Ideas: Since the posole really has “salad” underneath it, it’s a perfect one-dish-meal. You can serve with hot flour tortillas if desired.
4 cups chicken breast — cooked, cubed
SOUP:
2 slices bacon — chopped (optional)
1 whole yellow onion — chopped
32 ounces hominy, canned — drained
28 ounces canned tomatoes — [I used Muir Glen Adobo Fire Roasted]
4 teaspoons dried oregano
4 ounces green chiles — canned mild Anaheim type or 1-2 chopped jalapeno chiles fresh
4 cups chicken broth — [I used pork broth from Penzey’s]
2 tablespoons dried celery flakes — (or 1 cup minced celery)
2 tablespoons dried red bell pepper flakes — (or 1 cup minced fresh)
2 tablespoons Aleppo pepper — or chili powder
GARNISHES:
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce — or cabbage
1/2 cup radishes — sliced
1/2 cup green onions — sliced
1 cup Monterey jack cheese — shredded
6 tablespoons sour cream
1 whole avocado — diced
1. In a large saucepan gently saute the bacon until it’s rendered some of its fat. Add onion and continue cooking until the onion has become translucent, about 4-8 minutes.
2. Add hominy, stewed tomatoes, oregano, broth, green chiles, aleppo pepper, celery and red pepper flakes. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until slightly thickened, stirring often, about 45 minutes. Stir in shredded chicken. Season with salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce, if desired. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to simmer before serving.)
3. Divide shredded lettuce, sliced radishes, green onions, avocado and sour cream equally among soup bowls. Ladle posole into each bowl. Top posole with grated Monterey Jack cheese and serve.
Per Serving: 425 Calories; 22g Fat (46.2% calories from fat); 30g Protein; 27g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 79mg Cholesterol; 940mg Sodium.
A year ago: Chicken Bouillabaisse
Two years ago: Pork & Green Chile Stew
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