Ask and You Shall Receive...

My husband is many wonderful things, but he is not decisive when it comes to food.  In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not much better. Way back when we first started seriously dating and generally eating dinner together each night, choosing what we would make was an ordeal consisting largely of "I don't knows" on my side and "I don't feel likes" on his side.  This of course, leads to eating dinner at an ungodly hour. In a misguided attempt to solve our problem one day, I called him before he left work (this was back before texting was a thing) with some suggestions for dinner.  I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when he came back with "I can't choose.  I'm not hungry yet.  I won't know what I want until I'm hungry."  Needless to say, once we moved in together he pretty much lost all say in dinner entirely, and I just started cooking whatever I wanted.

Which is why last weekend when he suddenly developed a strong desire to have shrimp chowder for dinner, I was happy to oblige.  Not only was I thrilled that he was offering up a dinner suggestion, I just happened to have a recipe for shrimp chowder on hand that I wanted to try.  The recipe comes from a friend of my grandmother's. She hosted a lunch and my Nana thought the soup was so delicious that she got the recipe for me.  It had languished in my recipe file for awhile, but I'm glad Ryan gave me the motivation to finally try it.  It's definitely going into the rotation.

NAN JENSEN'S SHRIMP CHOWDER
altered slightly from the original

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb shrimp (peeled, deveined and chopped into bite sized pieces, but not too small!)
6 slices bacon (or turkey bacon)
1 1/2 C diced onion
2 celery ribs
2 medium baking potatoes, diced
3 bottles clam juice
1 C light cream
1 C milk
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
In a large heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven, cook your bacon.  You can do it as slices and crumble later, but I chopped mine ahead and then fished out the bits when they were crisp.  Crisping will take 5-7 minutes over medium heat.  Remove the bacon to paper towels and set aside until later.  Chop your celery, I do mine in a fine dice because Ryan hates celery, but you can gauge your chopping size however you please. Add the onion and the celery to the pan (no need for butter or oil if you have bacon drippings in the pan).  Cook for 7 minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent.  Then add the clam juice and the potatoes.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover.  Let simmer 15-20 minutes until your potatoes are tender.  Add the milk and cream (you can add all cream, even all heavy cream if you want full decadence).  Then add your shrimp and simmer for 3 minutes until they are pink.
Be really careful throughout these last 2 steps because if the heat is too high the cream will kind of separate and get grainy.  It'll taste fine, but look yucky. Add your salt and pepper to taste.  Once the shrimp are cooked you can add the bacon.  I served first and then used the bacon as a pretty garnish, but you're more than welcome to just stir it into the soup.

New Year? No Thanks.

I'm one of those people that totally buys into the concept of a New Year.  There's something sort of magical about that tiptoe crossing out of one year and into something shiny, new, fresh unmarred by disappointments and pain.  I made it exactly eight days into 2012 before I wanted to give it back.  Crawl back to the familiar if somewhat worn 2011.  Unfortunately, unlike unwanted Christmas presents, you are unable to return unwanted years.  You're stuck with them.  You can hope that they get better (hey, we even get a whole extra day to try this year); you can hope that how they start is the opposite of how they'll end, but you can't really do anything else.  So when the only way out is through, I'm the kind of person who'd rather not eat.  I don't want to give a false impression, I'm a real believer in comfort food and the ability of delicious things to lift up your mood, but when things are really, really tough, my appetite goes missing.

This is a soup you can eat when you don't think you can force yourself to swallow one spoonful.  This is a soup you can cook when you don't think you can stand at the stove.

AVGOLEMONO
Adapted slightly from my mother's trusty Time-Life series. Serves two with some leftover.
I even messed up and kind of curdled the eggs, but it was still delicious.

INGREDIENTS:
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
6-8 C chicken stock
3 T freshly squeezed lemon juice (really, seriously, fresh juice, don't use bottled)
1/2 C rice
4 eggs
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
In a large, heavy bottomed stockpot (I used my dutch oven), pour two-three cups of the chicken stock.  Rinse and dry your chicken breast and lightly salt and pepper the breast.  Heat the stock to a low simmer.  Add the chicken breast and cook 4-6 minutes a side until cooked through.  Tear the chicken into little bite sized bits.  Add the rest of the stock. I cook my rice separately because I am rice impaired.  I put the 1/2 C rice with the appropriate amount of chicken stock into my rice cooker and dealt with it that way. You can certainly cook it directly in the soup. I would add raw rice to the stock after removing the chicken and then cook it for 15 minutes or until tender.  Using cooked rice, I simply added it to the stock when it was done, along with the torn chicken.

In a small bowl, whisk the 4 eggs until light and frothy.  Then whisk in the lemon juice.  Stir in a quarter cup of the simmering stock, this will help keep the eggs from curdling.  Lower the heat under your soup because I felt like I couldn't get it low enough.  Slowly pour the egg/lemon juice/stock mixture into the soup pot, stirring constantly.  Cook over low heat for 3-5 minutes or until the soup thickens enough to coat the spoon lightly.  Do not let this boil or even bubble really because the eggs will curdle.  Add additional salt to taste.

Recovery

It has been a whirlwind around here for the last week or so and I have barely cooked. There was a solid 10-15 minute block of time on Christmas Eve where I tried to help with the cooking, but my eyes were closing as I was working and I had to be forcibly sent to the couch for a nap. So have I baked, yes. Oh my yes, but cooked? Not so much. NB: in the last two sentences I have typed cookied instead of cooked each time and had to go back and fix it. Clearly there has been some rewiring of my brain following the week o' baked goods.

Last night all I could think of was clean, fresh, non-butter infused flavors. Something hearty and warming though (because have you been outside? It is insanely cold out there) but not rich or creamy or anything like that. Stellacarolyn's vegetable soup sounded so tempting but I was a bit short in the vegetable departments so instead I turned to Lidia. I adapted a barley and bean soup to make it a bit less labor intensive and it is so delicious. Tomato soup, but better. Vegetable soup, but with fewer pesky vegetables. I am so very happy it made an excessively large quantity.

BARLEY AND BEAN SOUP
gluten-free adaptation at the end...

INGREDIENTS:
1 C chopped turkey bacon
1 C chopped onion
3 cloves garlic
5-6 baby carrots (maybe 2 if using full sized?)
2/3 C crushed tomatoes (from can)
8 C chicken stock
2 baking potatoes, peeled and diced
2/3 C barley
3 bay leaves
1 large sprig of fresh rosemary
about a cup of small white beans, rinsed and drained (or pick your own bean!)
olive oil
1/4 C parm (which I skipped because I accidentally over salted)
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
In a large stock pot, crisp up some turkey bacon. I cooked mine on medium for 8-10 minutes. Remove the bacon, but not the lovely bacon leavings. Toss in the chopped onion and again cook for 8-10 minutes. Toss the onion in the bacon fat so it gets all golden. In a food processor, combine the garlic and carrots with 2 T olive oil. Mix until it is very smooth. Once the onions are softened, add the garlic and carrot mixture to the pot and cook for 2 more minutes over medium low heat. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 8 more minutes. Then add the stock, the potatoes, the barley, the bay leaves and the rosemary. Bring up to a boil and the reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste at this point. Add the beans and cook for 10-15 minutes more. I served mine with little toasts with mozzarella broiled on them, but as long as you have some delicious bread to soak up the sauce, you'll be all set. If adding the parm, I would mix it in right before serving. Sprinkle the reserved bacon on top.

to make gluten-free:
Make sure you're using a gluten-free chicken stock and bacon (believe me, your bacon really shouldn't have gluten in it, if it does you really need to look into better bacon). Barley is a wheat product, so you can substitute rice instead. I'd use about 1 C cooked rice. The rice should be added at the very end, after the beans. I don't like to cook rice directly in soup because it can take on too much water.

Saving a Favorite

As we sat newly stuffed in front of our Thanksgiving dinner plates, I was already cataloging the leftovers. And when I mentioned ragout my father's face fell. He hadn't thought about ragout. It's not one of the big, obvious in your face things that he can't eat like pasta or pizza. It's just one of his childhood favorites that happens to have homemade dumplings. I reassured him without even being sure of what I could accomplish. I promised that I would come over and make him ragout and that it would be okay. And of course I went over and made it and much to my great relief (and I'll admit, amazement) it really was okay. More than okay. It was completely saved. So just in case someone else out there is longing for some chicken and dumplings that are safely gluten-free, here's my nana's ragout:


NANA GRENON'S CHICKEN RAGOUT

Ingredients:
For the soup -
1 C onion, chopped
1 C celery chopped (I mince mine because Ryan does not like celery)
2 C carrots (cut into disks, coins, whatever you call them)
5-6 C chicken stock (or turkey stock) preferably homemade
salt and pepper
2-3 T olive oil
1 T sage
1 T thyme
approximately 2 C of chopped leftover chicken or turkey. Use what you have. The dumplings will make up for it if you don't have enough. You can use chopped white meat or all the little bits you have, it's up to you.

For the dumplings -1 C stock - cooled
2.5 C gluten-free flour - I used Annalise Robert's mix, which you can either find in her cookbook Gluten-Free Baking Classics or purchase it ready mixed from Authentic Foods.
salt and pepper
thyme

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the oil in a large stockpot. Add the onion and celery and cook on low for about 5 minutes. Add the stock, carrots and whatever chicken or turkey bits you're add. Add salt and pepper for taste. This recipe takes a lot of salt, so taste carefully. Bring the stock almost to a boil. While you're waiting for it to boil, make the dumplings. Use a cup of cool stock (I usually set it aside before I start cooking) and mix it together with the gluten-free flour and about a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of pepper. Add about 2 t fresh thyme to the dumplings if you like. The thyme is completely inauthentic, but it is tasty. The dough will be sticky and hard to work with. Roll out the dough between two pieces of Saran Wrap, you can use cheaper rice flour to assist in the de-sticking of the dough. If you don't get it thin you will have yucky gloppy dumplings. When it's thin (maybe less than a 1/4 inch thick?) slice in 1" squares. These can and will be very irregular, some will sort of stick as you pick them up, I sort of use the knife to scrape them up and then drop them in the soup as described below. Don't worry about the irregularity, it gives the soup character. When the stock is very hot but not boiling, Add the thyme and sage and throw in the squares of dough and cook for 3-5 more minutes until the dough is cooked.

The soup is better on the second or third day because the flavors will meld.

Soup for Sick People

I'm a freak. I mean, you probably already knew that, but really, I am. Whenever I get sick, I get a rash. It's mainly on my neck and torso but depending on how sick I am it can spread to my arms, face, legs. It often completely stresses out doctors when they see it for the first time. They always think I have scarlet fever, or fifth disease or something else dire. But over the years I've grown used to it. Sometimes it shows up before I even feel sick, like a bad omen. When it happens like this, I lay in supplies and prepare to take off work. Sometimes it shows up in the middle, a little, Hey! Guess what? You know how crappy you feel? It's because you're SICK, IDIOT! And sometimes, it waits until I am mostly recovered and throws me a Gotcha! And you thought that was allergies FOOL! Which is exactly what happened last week. After tossing back allergy pills, sniffing prescription steroid nasal sprays and working my way through the better part of a tissue box, I found out that really, I'd just been sick after all. Oh well. At least the treatment was the same. A big bowl of homemade sausage and rice soup. And trust me this was easy to make. I made it when I was sick, after all.

SAUSAGE AND RICE SOUP
adapted from Mario Batali

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C onion chopped
2-3 T duck fat (butter will do if you don't keep duck fat in your freezer!)
1/2 lb hot Italian sausage - casings removed (I used turkey sausage as usual - if you want gluten-free, check your sausage labeling to confirm)
2 quarts chicken stock (that's 8 C)
1-2 rinds of parmiggiano-reggiano (if you don't have these, just add a bit more parm at the end. I save my rinds in the freezer to use in soup, it adds a lot of depth of flavor with almost no effort on your part)
1 C rice
a few cups of spinach, washed and stems removed, rough chopped if it's not baby spinach.
2-3 carrots cut into coins
1/4 C grated parm (double this if you are rindless)

DIRECTIONS:

Let's talk about the rice before we even start. It is well documented that I can't cook rice. This extends to soup situations. Therefore, I put 1 C rice plus 2 C water in my rice cooker and made the rice that way. I then added it to the soup at the proper time. Mario advocates tossing the rice into boiling soup and giving it 15 minutes to cook. What you decide is your business.

Okay. In a large pot, over medium heat, add your duck fat (or butter) and your onion and sausage. Cook for about 5-10 minutes, breaking the sausage down with your spoon until it is browned and in nice little nibbly pieces. Add your stock (and your rinds if you have them) and bring it to a boil. If you have raw rice toss it in now and wait 15 minutes for it to cook. If you have cooked rice, toss it in now and keep going. Add the carrots and spinach and grated parm. Cook for about 5 more minutes (I have no idea what this would do to the raw rice?). Taste the soup. Mine required absolutely no seasoning, between the salty parm and the spicy sausage it was perfect just the way it was, but please add salt and pepper if needed.

Cold Enough For You?

Generally speaking when you have absolutely nothing to say to another person, you talk about the weather. I know this not only because I am relatively socially awkward, but also because my building is equipped with the world's smallest, slowest elevator. It is very, very uncomfortable to stand in silence when you are less than an inch away from another person, especially when you see this person on a semi-regular basis. This winter though, the weather has done its damnedest to keep things interesting for those of us forced into frequent small talk. There's the snow, the ice, the lack of parking available due to the snow and ice, the treacherous nature of brick sidewalks especially when coated with snow and ice. And when we've enjoyed a break from the joys of precipitation there has been an undue amount of cold, punctuated by blistering, bone-rattling wind, intent on making sure that cold is blown directly into the very core of your being.

And this soup is for those of you who have been suffering this winter. It will absolutely warm you up, even if you're at the point where you're pretty sure you'll never be warm again. It won't make you think of tropical beaches and bikinis but it will coat your insides with a nice little fire. Feel free to tinker with the recipe, I certainly did.

ASIAN CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
I found this delicious recipe over at Lady Gouda and modified it slightly, but it should be fully acknowledged that she is the brains behind this.

INGREDIENTS:
1-2" piece of ginger, peeled and minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T veggie oil
1/2 C onion diced finely
roughly 2 C sliced shiitake mushrooms (I used the whole package I bought)
3-4 shredded carrots (I julienned mine but I highly recommend using a mandolin)
2 C cooked chicken - I wasn't thrilled about the chicken, I felt I could have skipped it
5 C chicken broth + 1 C water - my broth was homemade and very rich so it could stand up to the supplement of water, I highly recommend using all broth.
3 T soy
2 t sriracha - this made for some seriously spicy soup, a plus in my book, but dial it back if you're wary of heat (but also don't expect it to warm you up as much either!)
3-4 heads of baby bok choy, white super crunchy bits trimmed off and well rinsed (they can be sandy).
3-4 scallions, sliced very thin (and on the diagonal)
3-4 oz rice noodles, cooked

gluten-free note: Get gluten-free soy sauce and check labeling, but sriracha should be gluten-free as should be your rice noodles.

DIRECTIONS:
In a large pot, over low heat, saute the garlic and ginger and onion until soft. Add the mushrooms (I think you could add the carrots here too, I added mine at the end with the bok choy and they cooked fully). Add the chicken, the soy and sriracha. Toss well until everything is coated. Then add the stock. Bring to a low simmer and cook for 15 minutes. While it's cooking, prepare the rice noodles according to the box - my box offered a choice of soaking them for 25-30 minutes which I really didn't have time for and boil them for 4-6 minutes which I did. My other bag has no English on it except for the words "rice noodles". Toss in the bok choy (the carrots too if you didn't add them earlier) and the scallions. Cook for about 2-4 minutes until the bok choy is wilted and tender. If you did as I advise below, add the cooked rice noodles.

A note about rice noodles: I cooked mine separately. I've had to overcook pasta before because I'd added it to cook directly in the soup and then the soup wasn't ready and the pasta ended up gross. I will not be burned again. I boiled my rice noodles separately and added them in cooked at the very end. Do whatever you think is best.

A further noodle note: I chose rice noodles because they were the only one of my several types of Asian noodles that advertised on the box that they can be used in soup. I had (very thin) soba noodles and mein noodles too. I'd planned to try all different ones but when I realized I would be the only one home for dinner my motivation disappeared. I would love to hear about further noodle experimentation.

Disappointment and Pondering

This is a beautiful honey cake. I made it using a fairly majorly altered version of this recipe. Sadly, as pretty as it is, it's just not for me, there just wasn't enough going on there - which is odd, because as I was mixing together the nine million ingredients I was thinking there was too much going on there. At any rate, I ended up very disappointed that I hadn't made my usual (but very nontraditional) little honey cupcakes.

Now I'm left with an underwhelming bundt to finish off and also a bit of roast chicken. (Come on, I know I'm not the only one in this position around Rosh Hashanah). The obvious choice right now is to make soup. But I'm feeling awfully whiny about what kind of soup. Also I kind of want meatballs. I know, not helpful. Since I'm being less than helpful, perhaps you can help sort it out.

poll by twiigs.com

Summer Soup

For our anniversary a few weeks ago, Ryan and I went to our favorite local restaurant. For my appetizer, I had an amazing cucumber avocado soup with some peach and corn salsa. It was so refreshing and delicious, we knew we had to try to make some version of it. Of course, I decided to make it last night, which was probably the coolest night we've had all summer, and therefore the only night we wouldn't have minded turning on the stove, but I can't really complain about a no-cook dinner right?

CUCUMBER AVOCADO SOUP WITH CRAB
I made enough for two, and felt that perhaps the soup to crab ratio was a bit off. I didn't mind at all when I was eating it. I'm giving you a doubled soup recipe, so there'll be enough for four smallish soups (or two with leftovers), but what you do with the crab is up to you.

INGREDIENTS:
I used 1/2 lb jumbo lump crabmeat. You could use this much for four people, if you wanted the focus on the soup. Or you could use more.

2 ripe avocados
3 cucumbers, peeled and seeded
2 T red onion
2 t seeded jalepeno
4 T fresh squeezed lemon juice (this would have been two whole lemons for me)
6 T plain yogurt (I used low fat)
2 T water
2 T olive oil
a bit of chopped tomato as garnish (optional)
hot sauce as garnish if you like (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Carefully pick through the crab and remove any hard bits. Jumbo lump won't have many, so you shouldn't have too much work to do. Chop the avocado and cucumber roughly and put them in a blender with the red onion, jalepeno, lemon juice, yogurt, water and oil. Process until smooth. I put mine through a strainer, partially because I put in two bits of cucumber with skin before I decided to peel it, but if you like your texture, feel free to skip the straining. Chill the soup. Top with crabmeat and a bit of tomato and a drizzle of hot sauce if you like.

Tomato, Tomahto

I'm continuing farm fresh week here at the hungry hippo. It all started with a trip to the Trenton Farmer's Market, which you can learn more about at Half a Yard. Today - you say tomato, I say tomahto - why Jersey tomatoes are pure bliss.

I hate to break this to you, but what you've been eating is NOT a tomato. In fact, this time of year I'm reminded that what I've been eating is not a tomato. Or what I've been avoiding is not a tomato. Those limp pinkish things that they put on sandwiches? The mushy wedges lurking in your salad greens? NOT TOMATOES. I promise. Because tomatoes are an amazing, amazing thing. When the summer gets nice and hot, Jersey works its magic and somehow, these perfect red globes appear to remind you of everything a tomato could and should be.

A true Jersey tomato is heaven sliced with just a sprinkle of salt. If you must, slice some fresh mozzarella to place on top of the slices and drizzle with a smidge of extra virgin olive oil (yes, it must be extra virgin - this is about the best ingredients, nothing less). You can then top with a beautiful confetti of fresh basil (unless your husband gets violently ill from basil like mine does).


If you've acquired enough of them, you might find yourself willing slice them up to become the star of a BLT.

But if you have a true bounty of them, it is time for gazpacho.

I know. Shut up. Just add a set of googly eyes and it looks like a muppet head. I'm still working on the food photography thing.

Muppets aside, I'm serious about the cold soup. I'm so serious that it's been about three years since I've had gazpacho and I'm still hung up on it. There's no way I could hope to touch the perfection of what I had, but ever since I tasted the gazpacho at Chez Les Anges, I cannot get the thought out of my head. Gazpacho with avocado. Why don't more people do this? The silky creamy avocado is the perfect balance to the sharp fresh spicy tomato. They were M.F.E.O. (made for each other - those of you who have also seen Sleepless in Seattle too many times know this).

GAZPACHO
inspired by Chez Les Anges

INGREDIENTS:
1 whole avocado (per 2 people - save until the end)
1 medium cucumber, peeled, chopped (seeded too if you have a crappy blender) if you seed them, add another third of a cucumber
3 1/2 baseball sized ripe tomatoes, chopped(bonus if they're farm fresh)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 slices slightly stale good bread, torn into pieces
2 T red wine vinegar (I used cider vinegar because that's all I've got, but I would have preferred red wine)
1 T hot sauce
1 1/4 C water (or more if you like it thinner)
1/4 C olive oil
1 pinch cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
If you have a real blender for heaven's sake use it. I only have an immersion blender and it was messier than I care to discuss and did not get the soup as smooth as I would have liked.

If you have a real blender, combine everything but salt and pepper and process until smooth. Then add salt and pepper to taste.  If you own a real blender maybe you don't need to chop everything?  If you're stuck with an immersion blender, you have to chop your solid ingredients. HAVE TO.

If you only have an immersion blender, put all liquid ingredients (hot sauce, water, vinegar, oil) in a pot and then add the garlic, cucumber and tomato. Get it as smooth as you can, then add the bread. Let it soak a bit to soften up. Then try your best to keep the blender actually immersed as you continue to blend. Then add salt and pepper to taste.

Chill in the refrigerator. When you are ready to serve, peel and pit the avocado. Place half and an avocado in each bowl. We had them served all in one piece, but certainly slice if that strikes your fancy. That would probably avoid the muppet face problem. Although, if you're trying to feed this to kids, you may want to look into googly eyes, hard boiled eggs perhaps? With olives?

Bleak Midwinter

Over the past few weeks, snow has fallen, snow on snow, until I've forgotten that I ever knew what spring was like. The first February blizzard left me charmed as I reveled in the beauty of snow covered city. The second made me giddy as a child as I nestled in for two days off work. This latest storm has found me resigned. Spring will not be coming soon. There is only one thing to do. Make soup.I cannot tell you how much we mmmmmed and yummed while eating this. I felt downright guilty for not making it sooner this year. I confess that I made the stock from scratch this time. (Have you looked outside? There's nothing else to DO!)

TURKEY MEATBALL SOUP WITH ESCAROLE AND ORZO
from SmittenKitchen
INGREDIENTS:
for meatballs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 C bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 C parmesan cheese
16 oz turkey
2 T water
3/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
parsley (seriously? I don't have parsley!)
for soup
8 cups chicken stock (I made my own - SO GOOD)
1 cup carrots, sliced into coins
3/4 cup orzo
4 cups escarole, cleaned and chopped
meatballs (see above)

DIRECTIONS:
Combine the egg, the breadcrumbs, and the water and mix. Pop in the fridge for 5 minutes. Remove from fridge and add the garlic, salt and pepper, the parm and the turkey. Mix gently until well combined. Form small meatballs (sized somewhere between ping-pong ball and golf ball?) and place on a cookie sheet, like so: Stick the whole pan in the fridge for 30 minutes. While the meatballs are chilling, chop your carrots and get your orzo ready. When you have about 10 minutes of chill time to go, bring your stock to a boil and add the carrots and orzo. Reduce the temperature to get a low simmer and cook for 8 minutes. Add the meatballs and simmer for 10 more minutes. Finally, add the escarole and cook for 5 more minutes. Add salt and pepper as needed. Ladle into bowls. Make lots of mmming noises.

Thanksgiving Leftovers: Nana Grenon's Ragout

My nana's mother was by all accounts a lovely woman and very talented at cooking in the old fashioned "a pinch of this, enough of that, cook until it's done" style. My nana was the baby of the family, and for a time after she had my father, she and my grampy lived with her parents. The result of this is that my father was completely beloved and spoiled by his grandparents. Grampy Grenon would wake my father up early and take him everywhere with him. His nana (Nana Grenon) would always cook up my father's favorites. One of his absolute all time favorites is Nana's Chicken Ragout. It also happens to be an ideal use of Thanksgiving leftovers. Nana Grenon is French Canadian, and like many French Canadian dishes this is meant to stretch a meal, with the dumplings being a substantial part of the soup. It's the French Canadian version of chicken noodle soup, and it's perfect comfort food. Feel free to adjust or adapt the ingredients. Think like a grandmother.

NANA GRENON'S CHICKEN RAGOUT

Ingredients:
For the soup -
1 C onion, chopped
1 C celery chopped (I mince mine because Ryan does not like celery)
2 C carrots (cut into disks, coins, whatever you call them)
5-6 C chicken stock (or turkey stock) preferably homemade
salt and pepper
2-3 T olive oil
1 T sage
1 T thyme
approximately 2 C of chopped leftover chicken or turkey. Use what you have. The dumplings will make up for it if you don't have enough. You can use chopped white meat or all the little bits you have, it's up to you.

For the dumplings -
1 C stock - cooled
2.5 C flour
salt and pepper
thyme

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the oil in a large stockpot. Add the onion and celery and cook on low for about 5 minutes. Add the stock, carrots and whatever chicken or turkey bits you're add. Add salt and pepper for taste. This recipe takes a lot of salt, so taste carefully. Bring the stock almost to a boil. While you're waiting for it to boil, make the dumplings. Use a cup of cool stock (I usually set it aside before I start cooking) and mix it together with the flour and about a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of pepper. Add about 2 t fresh thyme to the dumplings if you like. The thyme is completely inauthentic, but it is tasty. The dough will be incredibly sticky and hard to work with. With very well floured hands, roll out the dough very thin. If you don't get it thin you will have yucky gloppy dumplings. Make sure you move the dough a lot while rolling and keep it well floured. When it's thin (maybe less than a 1/4 inch thick?) slice in 1" squares. These can be very irregular, it gives the soup character. When the stock is very hot but not boiling, Add the thyme and sage and throw in the squares of dough and cook for 3-5 more minutes until the dough is cooked.

Inadvertently Festive

In the weeks immediately preceding Christmas it is entirely possible that I consumed nothing of nutritional value. I did eat lots of cookies. And things containing vast quantities of butter. As enjoyable as that is, I always find myself desperately craving vegetables and fruits when I've had too much junk. Back in the day, I used to joke that I was coming down with scurvy and immediately run out and buy a Fresh Samantha to drink. I would lovingly refer to this as scurvy juice.


Sadly, Fresh Samantha is long gone, bought out as most good small companies are, so now I'm left to fend off scurvy on my own. So I ended up craving broccoli soup. Without cream. Broccoli has scads of scurvy-fighting Vitamin C. I found a recipe that is absolutely delicious, easy, and looks marvelously seasonal on my new Christmas tablecloth. The tablecloth, by the way, was hand-embroidered by my great-aunt. Pretty cool, no?


BROCCOLI SOUP (NOT CREAM OF BROCCOLI SOUP)
From Rosalynn Carter

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 T vegetable oil
1 bay leaf
1 pound green broccoli, chopped
1 small potato, peeled and chopped
2.5 C vegetable stock
the juice of 1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper
dollop of plain yogurt (optional)

Directions:
In a soup pot, add the oil, onion and garlic. Saute for 3-4 minutes until the onion and garlic are soft. Then add the bay, the potato, broccoli and vegetable stock. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the broccoli is bright green and tender. Remove the bay leaf and let cool a bit. Puree using a blender or immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice and reheat a bit if necessary. If you want, serve each bowl with a small dollop of plain yogurt.

Cantaloupe and Peach Soup

My first thought as I was pureeing the heck out of this was, wow, this is exactly what I would want to eat if my jaw were wired shut. Granted, I have never had my jaw wired shut, but I do know not one but two people who have suffered this fate. One had her jaw deliberately broken to treat recurring pain from TMJ and the other, a drunken hockey player, fell out of his bunk bed. If I recall correctly, neither could eat solid food for quite some time. This is so light and sweet and refreshing it would brighten up anyone's day (even those of us with fully functioning jaws). I can picture packing a thermos of it for a picnic of cheeses and baguettes, or serving it as a light appetizer before a summer dinner. We served up bowls of it with dollops of vanilla yogurt for dessert. The yogurt is so creamy and silky mixed in with the peach and cantaloupe.
CANTALOUPE AND PEACH SOUP
from Enchanted Broccoli Forest
Necessary equipment: food processor or blender, an immersion blender will not work (in my case this meant blending one cup at a time in my trusty mini-prep. I really thought I was going to burn out its little motor).

INGREDIENTS:
1 cantaloupe (about 5 inches diameter)
4-6 peaches, very ripe
6 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 T honey
1 C freshly squeezed orange juice
dash of nutmeg
1/4 t cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Peel and slice all the peaches, removing the pits. Place them in a pot with the lemon juice, honey and spices. Bring it to a boil and then lower to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes.Remove the rind and cut the cantaloupe into 1 inch pieces. Add the cantaloupe and orange juice to the peach mixture and then use your blender or food processor to puree the mixture until very smooth. Refrigerate until very cool and serve.

Spring Fever

For most, spring fever is a restless feeling, the anticipation of good weather and later evenings and spring blooms. Others of us have a more literal interpretation that involves a sore throat, sinus pain and a crazy tickling cough. Here is a fresh soup that will help quell either type. The sweet corn flavor holds the promise of summer, but it's warm and soothing in case your merry month of May includes 40 degree weather and a fistful of tissues.

CORN CHOWDER
adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style

INGREDIENTS:
1 T olive oil
1 large onion (approximately 2 C)
1.5 T butter
2 T flour (use brown rice powder to make gf)
3 C potatoes diced
4 C chicken or vegetable broth
1 package frozen corn
1 C milk
1 C grated cheddar cheese (shred your own or carefully check labeling to make gluten-free, not all shredded cheeses are).

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add the butter and the flour stir together. Cook for 2-3 minutes so that the flour is cooked. Add the broth and the potatoes and cook for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Add the frozen corn and the milk and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir in the cheese as a topping. If you want to get creative, you can add bacon as a topper or even crab.

Lentil Dilemma

Generally, I am not afraid to try new recipes. Trying new ingredients however, can be a bit more tricky. Let's take lentils. Now, I'm just trying to cook more healthy, vegetarian meals and I think, "Hey, I should make lentils!" And just like that, we have several different colors of lentils in the cupboard, and I've searched and bookmarked several promising lentil recipes, and tonight I am ready to make Red-Lentil Soup. There's just this one tiny thing. I had no idea that lentils behave exactly like clumping cat litter. So I'm going about my business, and following the directions, and reading my little lentil bag, which advises looking for pebbles amid my lentils, and rinsing them for a wholesome meal. And I rinse the amount of lentils I need. But some liquid escapes (honestly, this is a theme tonight, something escaping, you'd understand if you could see the mountain of cumin lurking under my right front burner, but I digress), and makes it's way into the section of dry lentils. Instant cat litter. So in order to salvage these lentils, I do what anyone who's had a completely horrible day at work and has just made dinner and has an immobilizing wrist splint on their dominant hand would do...I start a second pot of Red Lentil Soup. And it comes to me in a flash. I am Martha. And I should probably watch Ryan carefully to make sure we don't arrive at the point where he is pouring lentil soup into his loafers. And the kicker? I'm not even sure that I like red lentil soup.
Kitchen Stadium: Battle Lentil


Oh yeah. Also? Red lentils? Totally not red once you cook them.

RED-LENTIL SOUP as shown above. Not to be confused with Red Lentil Soup
adapted from epicurious

Ingredients:
1 C lentils
1/2 C carrots, diced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
6 1/2 C vegetable broth
lemon wedges
olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a large stockpot. Add the onions and carrots and saute until soft about 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, bay leaf and thyme and cook for 1 more minute. Add the lentils and broth, 1 t salt and 1/2 t pepper. Simmer stirring occasionally until lentils are soft, about 30-45 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend until soup is smoother, but still has some texture. Serve and squeeze a lemon wedge over each bowl.

P.S. Turns out we both like red lentil soup. Also, I bet you're still wondering about that second pot of red lentil soup. Ah, well. Tomorrow is another day.

Bistro Fare: French Onion Soup

It's been awhile since I've posted, and for that, I apologize to you. In fact, I've had this recipe ready to go for probably a week or two now. Of course, by ready, I mean scribbled down in a cryptic fashion on the back of a torn envelope along with other great notes such as Buy Dixie Cups, Draw Groundhogs and at least two other things that resemble recipes. So heck, it may not even be a recipe for french onion soup. If it is though, it's damn good.

FRENCH ONION SOUP
NB: Makes only 2-3 servings!!

INGREDIENTS:
2 sweet onions halved and sliced so as to create long arcs of onion
1.5 T butter
1 T flour
4-5 cups chicken stock
1 T worcester sauce
1/4 C white wine or vermouth
1/4-1/2 C red wine
salt and pepper to taste

Topping:
1 C - 2 C grated Gruyere cheese
2-4 slices of bread from a baguette.
1-2 T butter

DIRECTIONS:
Add the butter to a saucepan larger enough to contain the soup, and heat until melted. Add the sliced onions, season with a bit of salt and pepper and cook on low heat 20-25 minutes until the onions brown and caramelize. They should be cooked slowly enough that they remain soft, not crisp. Add the flour and cook for 2-3 additional minutes. Do not worry if the onions have created some residue on the bottom of the pan, when you add the broth this will all come up. Add the white wine and allow to cook until liquid has reduced by half, about 3-5 minutes. Then add the worcester saue and the chicken stock. Cook 25-30 minutes or until soup tastes rich and oniony. While the soup is cooking, ready the topping. Cut the bread into large (approximately 1") cubes. Add the butter to a skillet and melt. Add the bread cubes and toss until coated, cook a few minutes until nice and toasty. Then check the soup, add more salt and pepper to taste. Add the red wine and raise heat to a boil. Boil for about 3 minutes, then spoon soup into oven proof bowls. Top with the toasted cubes, and about 1/2 C - 3/4 C of cheese (I use a microplane to grate the Gruyere, so it is very fluffy and not dense, thus seeming to be a greater volume). Put under a broiler until cheese is thoroughly melted.

Failure and Redemption

I'm just now getting around to writing about Thursday's dinner, things have been a bit hectic around here. Also, I wasn't so sure I wanted to share with you yet another failure. But it wasn't all failure, so for the sake of impending Thanksgiving dinners everywhere, I'll share with you orange dinner number 1,548 - Sweet Potato Soup with Pumpkin Pie for dessert. Clearly, I'm only eating orange foods these days. Maybe now that it's getting deeper into November, I'll branch out. Maybe.

So, I came home on Thursday, and immediately set about figuring out my new! improved! pumpkin pie plan. I had these delicious spice cookies, and I felt that they would make a delicious and more interesting version of the graham cracker crust. So I promptly whipped one up, popped it in the oven and set about reinventing pumpkin pie filling. About 10 minutes later, I pulled out these delightful looking treats. All of the crust had crept back down the sides and pooled at the bottom and the whole mess was slightly blackened. So after a few heart-wrenching moments and a phone call to my mom, I decided to scrap the whole bunch. Which made me wince, because I can't bear throwing out perfectly good food, but then again, you might argue that a burnt solid mass of cookie crumbs does not qualify as perfectly good food. With the filling already mixed, I didn't have time to experiment with another crust and went for the old standby crust I've been making since I was twelve. With my trusty crust, I managed to turn out some slightly sad looking little pies, which people kindly proclaimed "interesting." What they really meant was: This doesn't taste like what I'm used to, and I am so much in shock I cannot possibly give you my actual thoughts on whether or not this is tasty. After eating a few of them myself I can tell you that they are indeed, tasty, but not very related to the standard Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. Which is good to know if you plan on making this ever. Considering the fact that I managed to peel my thumb and burn a finger during the making of this meal, it really is a godsend that I managed to fix the sweet potato soup recipe so that it is no longer a sweet potato broth. See I told you it wasn't all failure.


INTERESTING PUMPKIN PIE (This is NOT gluten-free)
INGREDIENTS:
1 recipe crust - see below
1 can packed pumpkin puree
2 T + 1 t maple syrup
1/3 T molasses
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 t ginger
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
1 C whipped cream (I felt this was a little much, maybe try 3/4 cup?)
2 eggs
DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients together. Pour into pie crust. Cook at 425 for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 cook for 40-50 minutes more.

CRUST
1 C flour
1 T sugar
pinch salt
1/3 C butter
4-6 + T of ice water
DIRECTIONS:
This is a million times easier with a KitchenAid mixer. Cutting shortening/butter in by hand is no fun. So, mix together dry ingredients in the mixer. Add butter (still cold from the fridge, make sure it's not warm or room temp) in small chunks (I tend to cut my in tablespoon sized slabs). Mix until the whole mixture has a coarse sand or pebbley consistency. And this is where it gets hard. Add water. The amount you need varies based on where you live, the weather, the mood of your crust. You'll need to learn to add enough that it all holds together as a dough, but not so much that it's a wet mess. Go slowly, mix carefully. I don't measure anymore. I pour straight from my Brita of ice water into the mix (while the mixer is running) and see if it becomes a ball.

REDEMPTION SWEET POTATO SOUP (This is gluten-free)
INGREDIENTS:
1 c onion diced
1 leek (cleaned by soaking the rings), sliced
1 carrot peeled and diced
2 bay leaves
2 large sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into 1/2" or 1/4" cubes)
2 garlic cloves minced
1 large regular potato (same as above)
salt and pepper
1/4 C white wine (or vermouth)
4 C chicken broth (or veggie, if you want it to be vegetarian)
1 C water for thinning (at the end, if needed)
butter/olive oil
sour cream (for topping at the end)
1 recipe buttered pecans (see below)
DIRECTIONS:
Add a few T of butter or olive oil to a large pot. Add the onion, carrots, leek, garlic, bay and salt and pepper. Cook over medium until vegetables are soft and translucent. Use the wine or vermouth to deglaze. Then add the potatoes (sweet and regular) and cover with chicken broth. Simmer for 20 minutes or until a fork goes into the potatoes easily. Remove the bay leaves. Puree mixture in a blender (I use an immersion blender). It may take a while to get smooth. Check the consistency, if it's a bit thick or lumpy, add the cup of water, and reblend until it's smoother. Pour in a bowl, and top with a big dollop of sour cream and some buttered pecans.

BUTTERED PECANS:
pecans
butter
Add a few T of butter to a skillet on low-medium. Add the pecans (maybe a bit under a cup) and stir until well coated. Let cook about 5-10 minutes. Be careful not to burn them. Not that I've ever done that. No not an expert chef like me!

My Pot Runneth Over

I love Sara Moulton. When I first started watching cooking shows, hers didn't interest me, because honestly, she hasn't really got a fabulous stoveside manner. But after awhile I realized that none of that mattered, because she was good at what she did. Really good. And moreover, her recipes actually turn out. And so I was totally excited to make Sweet
Potato Soup With Buttered Pecans.

Now, I can fit suitcases in the trunk of my car like none other (ask me about the time I drove from New Jersey to Connecticut with 4 passengers, a cat, and all their assorted luggage in a Honda Civic), but sadly, my spatial prowess does not extend to liquid measures.
And so I ended up with about a quarter inch between the top edge of my soup and the top edge of the soup pot. But did I transfer the soup to another pot? Hells no. I just smacked a cover on it, and watched it closely. What can I say, it was a long week at work. Turns out, there was only a minimal loss of liquid due to boil over. Also turns out, this is a bad thing. I poured some off to a second bowl in order to let my immersion blender work its magic, but at this point, I was feeling mighty skeptical. You see, the recipe called for a ratio of liquid to potato that was far higher than any I've ever seen in a soup recipe before. And I didn't question it, because it's Sara Moulton, and she does not screw this kind of thing up. And after blending? Too soupy. I ended up adding back in only the solids of the part I'd poured off, and that helped thicken a little, but in the future I will definitely not be using all 7 1/4 C of liquid.

The upside is, that even though it was a little brothier than I would like, the soup was delicious and I will make it again. And hey, with less liquid, it might even fit in the pot.