Soup Glorious Soup

It's not often I expect much out of the recipes in the Kroger coupon mailer but this one sounded like it was worth a try. I was not disappointed. The onion, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, parsley, rosemary, and thyme all came from Dewdrop Farms in Springboro, Ohio.

Basic Preparation

Although it might seems expensive, I highly recommend getting a good food processor for blending soups and chopping vegetables. It really does simplify the prep work and reduced the chance of injury, either from slicing your fingers or burning your skin. Whenever recipes call for varying amounts of herb, I always go with the upper number; for salt, I err in the other direction. I also always use reduced sodium stocks if I don't have fresh on hand. Salt is good for enhancing flavor but it shouldn't be a crutch to cover up poor flavor. When you get use to using less, you'll be surprised at how salty typical over-salted fare starts to taste.

White Bean Soup With Vegetables
4 servings

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, minced
2 medium carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium Yukon Gold potato, chopped
1 medium zucchini, diced
4 sprigs Italian flat-leaf parsley, minced
1/4 tsp each fresh rosemary and thyme
6 cups warm chicken stock
2 1/2 cups white beans soaked and cooked
1 tbs unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and saute the onion, carrot, celery, and potato until they sweat.

Stir in the parsley, rosemary, and thyme. Add the zucchini, stock, and beans. Cook 25-30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Puree to a uniform consistency. Stir in butter and season with salt and pepper. Cook and additional 3-5 minutes.

Not Just For The Soul

I guarantee if you make this chicken soup recipe, you will never open another can or packet again. It is adapted from a recipe by Emeril Lagasse. The onion, thyme, and parsley were provided by Dewdrop Farms in Springboro, Ohio.

Basic Preparation

I cannot stress enough the importance of using freshly ground pepper. Find a good grinder and never buy pre-ground...ever! I also suggest never using salted butter when cooking. You can always adjust the salt at the end. If you don't have real chicken stock or canned I would advise against using bouillon. Why go to all the bother of making fresh chicken soup if you just plan to ruin it with those little cubes. Open up a can of soup and wait until you can buy some. The only substitute for regular bouillon is Better Than Bouillon. If you are using a small noodle like alphabet or stars be sure not too much or they will swell and you'll end up noodle cake.

Simple Chicken Noodle Soup
4 hearty servings

1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs)
1 quart chicken stock
2 quarts water
2 medium onions, quartered
2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme

5-6 parsley stems

2 bay leaves

2 tbs unsalted butter

1/2 cup diced onions

1/2 cup sliced carrots

1/2 cup diced celery

2 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 lb noodles

2 tbs fresh parsley

Place the chicken in a large soup pot and cover with chicken broth and water. Add the onion quarters, roughly chopped carrots and celery, thyme, parsley stems, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, partially cover, and simmer for 1 hour.

Remove the chicken and, when cool enough to handle, shred the meat. Strain the liquid through cheese cloth and discard the vegetables reserving the liquid.

Melt the butter in the pot over medium-high heat. Add the diced carrots, onions, and celery and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved broth and meat and bring to a boil. Add the noodles and simmer until cooked, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

A Daughter's Birthday Dinner

My oldest had a specific request for her birthday dinner. She called it "pumpkin squash soup" and brought me the cookbook she'd used when she made it herself. Turns out it was Red Curry of Roasted Fall Vegetables from "Kitchen Seasons" by Ross Dobson. I highly recommend both the book and the recipe. The book urges eating local produce in season. Although studies seem to show this isn't healthier than the crap produce you get at the local grocery, I guarantee you fewer pesticides and a much better flavor! The potatoes, carrots, onion and basil were provided by Dewdrop Farms in Springboro, Ohio.

Basic Preparation

Although you could make the curry paste yourself, that can be a time consuming process. I only suggest it if you are unable to get a good quality one. I use Maseri which comes in little round colored cans. They can usually be found in well stocked foreign markets. The flavor and quality of the dish will be directly impacted by your choice of curry paste. If you walk away thinking, "eh, it was just so, so" you probably used a cheap curry paste.

My daughter can't handle very spicy foods which this dish definitely is. She used a cheaper curry paste so didn't realize how spicy it could get. I felt bad because my version was hotter than she wanted but she insisted on eating it because she said it tasted so good. Had I known, I would have let it set overnight. If you have trouble with spicy foods, you can do the same. The coconut milk will greatly reduce the heat if left overnight in the fridge.

Cutting a tough squash can be a troublesome task. I prefer acorn and it is more easily cut by slicing it along the groves into cantaloupe-like slivers. These can then be peeled with a potato peeler.

Red Curry of Roasted Fall Vegetables
4 servings

4 small new potatoes, quartered
1 large carrot, cut into bite sized pieces
2 tbs light olive oil
14 oz pumpkin or other winter squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 parsnip, peeled and cut into batons
1 medium onion, cut into 8 wedges
1 can (13-15oz) coconut milk
2 tbs red curry paste
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs fish sauce
1 cup chicken stock
handful of fresh basil

Preheat the oven and baking sheet to 425. Put the carrot and potatoes on the hot baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle with 1 tbs of olive oil and roast for 10 minutes. Add the squash, parsnip, and onion and roast for another 20 minutes.

Heat the coconut milk in a small sauce pan until is starts to separate. Heat remaining 1 tbs of oil in a heavy skillet. Add the curry paste and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the coconut milk, brown sugar, and fish sauce to the curry and cook for a couple of minutes more bringing to a strong simmer. Add the roasted vegetables and the basil. Cook for five minutes more.

Serve over rice, preferably basmati or jasmine.

Looking Forward to the Cold

With winter on the (distant) horizon, we decided to work on our split pea soup recipe. Past attempts were tasty but the peas never seemed to fully cook. So for this attempt, we decided to use a slow cooker. The result was a good consistency but was more bland than we would have preferred. This can probably be corrected by adding another Cajun belle pepper, and substituting a ham and ham bone for pork shoulder. It also might help to replace the water with a vegetable stock.

The onions, Cajun belle pepper, and lemon thyme were provided by Dewdrop Farms in Springboro, Ohio.

Basic Preparation

It is important to remember that very little liquid will evaporate from the slow cooker so you should use less water than called for. With soups, this means putting all the ingredients in the pot and then just covering with water. This recipe was adapted from Emeril Lagasse's "Ham and Split Pea Soup."

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
6 servings

1 pound dried split peas
I pork shoulder
3 tbs unsalted butter
1 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup carrots, finely chopped
1 tbs garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 Cajun belle pepper, minced (with seeds)
2 bay leaves
small handful of fresh lemon thyme sprigs

Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker and cover with water. Cook on high for at least 4 hours or low for 6.

Goodbye Summer

The menu at The Mangled Bread tonight was a last hurrah to summer fare. Here at The Mangled Bread, we attempt to use local produce whenever possible. For this meal, the cucumbers, mint, basil, and Serrano chilies were provided by Dewdrop Farms in Springboro, Ohio.

• Tuscan bread
• Grilled artichokes
• Grilled Brussels sprouts
• Thai cucumber salad
• Grilled peaches

(2 servings)

Basic Preparation

Nothing says summer like using the grill. This also means the oven doesn't heat up the kitchen. I highly recommend spending the extra money for a grill that will last. Cheap grills will produce uneven heat after a couple of years of use as the burners corrode and clog. Also make sure that you clean the grates with  a damp cloth to remove any of those little metal bristles from a grill brush...they are dangerous if swallowed.
These recipes will create a full meal for two.

Grilled Artichokes

1 Artichoke
2 tbl butter
salt and pepper to taste
garlic (optional)

Preheat the grill to 500 degrees.
Trim the prickles, cut in half, remove the choke (the hairy bit) and put two tablespoons of butter in each half. Salt and pepper lightly and add minced fresh garlic if desired. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Grill on each side for 10 minutes with the grill cover down.

Grilled Brussels Sprouts

1# Brussles sprouts, trimmed and halved
4 tbl extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper

Preheat the grill to 500 degrees.
Toss with half the oil and salt and pepper. Place in one layer cut side down on two pieces of aluminum foil. Top with two more sheets of foil and crimp all around. Grill foil packet on each side for 5 minutes with the grill cover down. Heat the other half of the oil in a small skillet until shimmering. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute until brown, about 1 minute. When the Brussels sprouts are done, toss with the garlic oil and Parmesan cheese.

Thai Cucumber Salad

4 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 tbl lime juice
1 tbl fish sauce
2 red Serrano chilies, finely minced
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped

Wisk all but the cucumbers, mint, basil, and peanuts. Pat the cucumbers dry and toss with the mint, basil, and peanuts. Cover with the dressing and toss again.

Grilled Peaches

2 peaches, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
extra virgin olive oil (optional)
cream (optional)
paprika (optional)

Brush them the oil if using. Place the peach sliced on a very hot grill with the cover open, 1-2 minutes per side. There should be good grill marks when done. Can be served warm or cold and with cream and/or a dusting of paprika if desired.

Summer Pot Luck

The selection of the proper item to bring to a pot luck is a tricky thing. The most common mistake is to make something that is best eaten warm which, if not cold when the eating starts, will be by the time the party has entered the snacking phase. This may work out if the dish can be kept warm in a crock pot and does not get mushy or crusty when sitting but that is frequently not the case. Another mistake is selection of a food that is inappropriate to the season. Unlike clothing, certain foods are seasonal for pragmatic reasons such as ingredient freshness, digestion and safety. Bringing a heavy, mayonnaise-based dish to an outdoor summer picnic is not only hard on the digestive tract of the poor souls who give it a whirl, it is unsafe.

Personally, I find a pot luck one of the best times to experiment. Rather than haul out an oldie that has been had a million times, why not take the opportunity to offer something that no-one is likely to have tried before? No matter what you bring, not everyone will like it anyway and you are likely to please at least someone with anything.

Keeping all of this in mind when I was recently invited to a summer pot luck, I decided to take the following dish from ``The Nero Wolfe Cook Book'' by Rex Stout. The copy of this out of print book that I acquired through Amazon was the second printing published in 1973 by The Viking Press (SBN 670-50599-4). I realize that I have used this reference in two of my previous three postings, but this dish really did stand out as something proper for the occasion, which is more than half the battle in food preparation.

(Yes, picture forgotten again)

The menu

• cantaloupe and celery salad

Basic Preparation

Never put celery down the garbage disposal. It will become a horrific mass which will take days to break down during which you will be without a kitchen sink. If you do make this mistake, do not rush to buy a new disposal unless you are simply unwilling to wait for the cellulose to break down on its own. The same can occur with any pulpy fruits or veggies such as potato peels. When in doubt, put excess vegetable matter in the garbage.

Cantaloupe and Celery Salad

Although I was unsure about this mixture, I thought it was very tasty and it went over well at the pot luck. The dressing was an interesting combination of tarragon wine vinegar, olive oil, currant jelly, and poppy and coriander seeds. It was fairly easy to prepare and kept well in the heat. The flavor was light and cool which was perfect for a summer party.

A Few of My Favorite Things

When a friend admitted that she doesn't cook and hadn't had a home cooked meal since Thanksgiving, I knew that I had to remedy the situation ASAP. Of course, I realized that this was not the time to experiment so I searched my memory for things that I had cooked in the past that were sure to satisfy. The soup and desert courses were easy and they are two of my all-time favorite dishes. The main course took a little longer but once I remembered then, I was sure I had the right menu.

I intended to serve the meal with cranberry wine but it wasn't until we went to open the bottle that I realized that I didn't have a corkscrew. I did not forget pictures this time although I had no batteries for the camera and had to use the camera phone resulting in them being somewhat blurry. You might also note that presentation is still something on which I need to improve.

All of the recipes except for the soup are from ``The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors'' by Jeff Smith, first edition, 1992 by Avon Books (ISBN 0-380-71708-5). The soup came from that old staple that every cook, home or otherwise, should own, The Joy of Cooking.

The menu

• vichyssoise
• Cuban ropa vieja over Hungarian dumplings
• cheesecake, New York style

Basic Preparation

A word about working with garlic. The ropa vieja required two cloves of crushed garlic. This is not a time to simplify and use powdered or dried...get a press and crush it yourself. But, a word to the wise, unless you want your hands to smell of garlic for a couple of days, use gloves. I personally don't mind the smell and will sniff my fingers periodically as a way to remind myself of the fun of cooking and eating the meal.

Vichyssoise



This is a perfect example of how an amazing dish can be created quite easily and with very little work. I prefer the first version in The Joy of Cooking to the second. The recipe says 1-2 cups of cream and I like it best with the minimum since more covers the potato flavor. Since all you have done is to puree potatoes, leeks, and onions boiled in chicken broth, it is one of those things you can cook frequently while making changes to see how it changes your appreciation for the dish (i.e. try it with beef broth or add shallots). Finally, although usually served cold, I prefer it hot like all soups.


Cuban Ropa Vieja



This was one of my first lessons on why it is important to read a recipe fully before starting: the meat must be simmered for two hours and then allowed to cool so that it can be deboned and shredded which can take another hour. If you didn't realize this, you might be rather inconvenienced when you found that you main course had no hope of being finished on time. When I first made this stew, I accidentally doubled the tomato sauce. I corrected my mistake the second time around only to find that I liked it better with the extra and that is how I always make it now.


Hungarian Dumplings

These are similar to German spaetzle and quite easy to prepare. You will need a spaetzle press but almost any gook cooking shop should have an inexpensive one and they are easy to use. When I first made these, I learned another lesson on why you read the entire recipe making sure that it makes sense with the ingredient list given. After reading the ingredient list, I spent quite a while trying to figure out what ``mil'' was. Had I read the preparation section, I would have realized that there was a typo in the ingredient list and that all I needed to locate was ``milk'' which is readily available at most grocery stores.


Cheesecake, New York Style



I have never tasted a cheesecake as good as this recipe. In fact, this version is what made me a cheesecake purist. After eating it for the first time, I came to realize that you only put other things in them or drizzle sauces over them to cover up inferiority. The hardest part is making the graham cracker crust which seems to be intended to be spread very, very thin. I doubled it this time but it made too much and it became a little hard after baking. This is one of those items where simply following the time and temperature in the recipe is important since there is no way to tell when the cheesecake is done as it will continue to cook after being removed from the oven. If you use the knife or toothpick insertion test you will surely overcook it and although it will taste fine, it will have the texture of cottage cheese. For best results, you should purchase a good oven thermometer.