soup – Page 2 – Lollipopsicle

January 24, 2014January 25, 2014

Pork sausage Ramen with collard greens

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So I have been loving the “Momofuku” cookbook, but not having a brigade of cooks available to perform some of the tasks necessary, not to mention the time it takes to prep, and a two and a half year old, tiny tyrant ransacking the joint some recipes are not always plausible for the home cook although not impossible, maybe when my kids are in college in 15 years…haha! The book is totally inspiring though and I love his unique techniques, storytelling, and of course obsession with ramen. This week I have teamed up with Papa George’s sausage to create some recipes with this fabulous product. The sausage is 55% less fat then conventional sausage and upon tasting them and cooking with them realized that they have all the flavor without the grease! Ramen is on my mind of late and David Chang’s ramen broth has bacon, so I figured why not turn it on its head and use sausage to make a “quick” weeknight version? Collards are often used as well so I stuck to that but I just boiled them with my stock instead of doing a separate preparation. It ended up great and it was done in an hour!

You will need:
12 oz roll Papa George’s regular variety
1 inch knob fresh ginger cut in half
4 shitake mushrooms
1 bunch scallions
2 quarts chicken stock
1/4 cup mirin
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 bunch of collard greens, stripped off of stems and coarsely chopped
In a large saucepan or stock pot place crumbled sausage over medium heat, when the sausage begins to render add ginger, and white parts of scallions (save the green part for topping bowls), add shitake, add collards, when wilted and shrunken in size, add stock. Bring to boil, reduce to medium, add soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Simmer. Skim any oil off the top.
Noodles:
4 portions Ramen noodles, I used a fresh variety from my local Asian market, but you can you those dried ones as well.
Boil as per directions on package, this all depends on what you end up using, fresh cook fast mine were done in about 1 minute.
Toppings:
1 cup of corn, use frozen, canned, or if its in season fresh!
1 cup bamboo shoots, if you can’t get the fresh one’s canned work fine.
Green parts of scallions sliced
4 soft boiled eggs or fried eggs are good as well, your choice.
sesame seeds
Assembly:
Divide noodles up evenly into four bowls, fish out your mushrooms and remove stems, and slice, place in bowl, add corn to each bowl, fish ginger out of broth and discard. Using tongs or chopsticks remove some of the collards and mushrooms(remove woody stem)slice, place on bowls, do the same with sausage using a slotted spoon, add broth, sliced scallions, eggs, bamboo shoots and a bit of sesame seeds or ramen pepper. Enjoy! A whole new way to get your sausage and eggs!

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December 27, 2013

Navy Bean and Ham soup

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Well the holidays are nearly done, and I hate to be this way but I am awfully glad. So much pressure, Christmas, my anniversary, and birthday in a week timespan. Poor planning and in hindsight the events I had control over I would’ve changed, too late now, onward and upward! For Christmas eve I made a duck, and I used the rendered fat to make my au gratin potatoes for Christmas day, to go with our spiral cut ham and roasted beet salad. It was a great meal, but now I am ready to begin a bit healthier regimen to begin the New Year. I did have some ham leftover, you know the parts that aren’t easily accessible off the bone, so I used the rest to make ham and navy bean soup. I used a small organic navy bean, they were advertised as the “cognitive bean” full of vitamin B1, always needing a bit of help with cognitive function I went for them! This soup is easy and super delicious and I am guessing you have most of the needed ingredients in the fridge! A repurposed use of Christmas leftovers, with top notch results!
1 cup of ham, I used what was left on the bone /of our ham, using the bone makes for a rich and simply delicious broth, you could use turkey or leave out the meat as well.
1 ½ cups dried navy beans, or use two cans drained.
2 carrots, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh herbs of choice
In a large, thick bottomed stock pot, place rinsed beans covered with water, bring to a boil, rinse again and cover with fresh water filling the pot about half full, add ham on bone or meat of choice, carrots, celery, and onion, and bring back to boil, reduce heat to medium cook 30 minutes or until veggies and beans are tender. Check for seasoning and serve. Easiest soup ever and super delicious! Even better the next day as the flavors meld together if you don’t have ham on the bone or you are using a different meat (smoked turkey wings work great) you may need to use veggie stock to heighten the flavor, the bone in ham is amazingly flavorful in soup, mine had a bit of glaze on it and it worked out amazingly well! Happy New Year!

November 26, 2013November 6, 2014

The turkey I grew up eating, or how to make the grocery store bird look and taste like a million bucks!

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I learned early in life that my mother Diana had a way with roasting, I mean I can’t remember one Thanksgiving where her delectable, moist, turkey and pan gravy didn’t steal the show, seriously it’s like watching community theatre and having Marlon Brando come out to do a character role. We never bought the fancy bird, we got the bird that usually was “free” with purchase of all your other groceries at “Smith’s” or “Albertson’s”, the biggest we could find, domestic, un chic, cheap. The magic that would happen was one part seasoning and three parts her own weird method. I don’t know if she wants me to share it really…haha, easier to ask for forgiveness I suppose, but really this is a homage to the master turkey maker…my mommy. We would let “fat Freddy” our frozen bird defrost for a few days in the fridge, then the night before the spell would begin….she would use butter under the skin, massaging it in like an experienced masseuse working on a client, then she would use her blend of dried herbs, all kinds, I didn’t even know fresh herbs existed till I was about 16 and started working in other restaurants! She would add her secret weapon, that being Kikkoman soy sauce, for as thrifty as my mother is, she would never, ever settle for a cheap soy, uttering cuss words if a bottle of another brand was purchased on accident, she swears by the stuff, as do I, she also would douse our bird with a good glug or two of “real lemon” lemon juice concentrate, she still rolls her eyes at me to this day when I opt for fresh lemons. I wanted to blog the bird as close to hers as I could, without losing out on my own style, so here we go, in the words of the Beatles; “Turn off your mind, relax and float down stream
It is not dying, it is not dying
Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void
It is shining, it is shining
Yet you may see the meaning of within
It is being, it is being
Love is all and love is everyone”
This may not make any logic sense to “Traditional” recipes, and to keep it not only simple, but authentic, I used a cheap, run of the mill, grocery store “bargain” bird, don’t get me wrong, I have cooked some wonderful fresh, brined, beautiful free-range, expensive turkeys, but I want this version to be accessible to all, without pretense, to enjoy on a small budget, the way I did growing up. My memory, my gift, my family. There will be no snobbery only love.
You will need:
A turkey, I bought about a 16 pounder, I have cooked up to 35 pounders with my mom growing up.
A stick of butter, softened.
Several cloves garlic, my mom used granulated garlic, always, to this day….I like fresh better.
Herbs o’ plenty, my mom would use a handful of Italian seasoning, dried, dried parsley, I will be using fresh Thyme, sage, rosemary (mom hates this), and flat leaf parsley.
An onion, a carrot, a few ribs of celery
¼ cup Kikkoman soy
2 lemons, I use fresh, but the green bottle is moms go to, no judgment here, I’ve used it before.
½ cup dry white wine, mom uses plain old water
Salt and pepper, no measurement here really, she would toss it on like she was feeding pigeons on Mary Poppins.
Smoked paprika, about a palmful
Big ass roasting receptacle
Foil
Pre heat your oven to 400 degrees, in your roaster, place celery and carrots down to use as a edible rack for roasting, dress your bird, I like to mix the butter with the garlic and herbs (commonly known as compound butter) and rub it under the skin of the turkey, mainly the breast area. I sprinkle the whole bird with salt and pepper, if you have a pre-brined bird you don’t need to do this….we got ghetto fab turkey so we are salting and peppering. I squeeze the lemon over the bird then put the halves in the cavity with some rosemary and thyme, half the onion, pour on the soy and wine and cover with smoked paprika (this makes the color outrageous). Cook at 400 for about 20 minutes, then cover with foil and turn oven down to 300 degrees. Cook 5 hours, a little longer than the conventional recipes say, but trust me….it’s worth it. Never a bad idea to roast off one occasionally if you are fan of deli turkey, turkey noodle soup, and turkey curry, whatever! Roast your own, and you won’t believe how much more tasty, and affordable it can be!

Thanksgiving or not....roasting a turkey is never a bad idea! Look at what you can do with the "leftovers"! — Thanksgiving or not….roasting a turkey is never a bad idea! Look at what you can do with the “leftovers”!

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November 5, 2013

Butternut squash veloute with brown butter croutons and sage

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A week ago I had the utter privilege of eating at one of PDX’s most famous restaurants “Beast” headed up by renowned chef Naomi Pomeroy and nestled in the heart of Concordia in the northeast, this 24 seat high end eatery is a hot reservation here in Portland. My husband, and I got the opportunity to go there since we had his mom in town to watch the kids, and I had been dreaming of eating there since we moved here three years ago. The food did not disappoint, with six courses, and French wine pairings it was surely a night to remember. The dish that stood out for me was course one, it was a butternut squash veloute, with pork rillettes and brown butter crumble. It was sublime, velvety, and the rillette was like a pulled pork “tater tot” of sorts that literally melted in your mouth, bathed in butternut blankets and topped with brown butter crumble so light that it seemed it was something not of this world. I’m pretty sure it might’ve been topped with a hint of truffle oil, and hey, I ain’t complaining. I wanted to make this as an opener for Thanksgiving this year, and I figured I would need to do a “dress rehearsal” beforehand to get it right. I didn’t make the rillettes (a post for another day) yet as my son had an epic fit today at the Lloyd farmer’s market that seemed only an exorcism could cure. I did pick up a beautiful butternut squash from Naked Acres Farm here in Portland, it doesn’t get any more local then that! Naked Acres is on SE Foster here just outside of the city and if need be I could be there in 10 minutes! I love this about Portland, yes Hood river produce is awesome, but if I can support a small sustainable farmer right in town it’s a win for us all. This squash was so fresh that upon peeling it wept tears of sweet moisture! My soup is of course my own interpretation and I think the results were stellar. Try this as an opener at your Thanksgiving celebration!
You will need for four servings:
Soup:
1 ½ lbs butternut squash peeled and roughly chopped
½ medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 cups stock, chicken or veg
One palm full of dried porcini (you could omit this if you want to drizzle it with truffle oil at the end)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 T. Olive oil
4 oz. heavy cream, 1 oz put aside for garnishing.
2 T. beurre manie with sage (1 tablespoon butter mixed with 1 tablespoon flour and three minced sage leaves, this is used in place of a traditional blond roux)
In a heavy bottom sauce pan, sweat squash, onion, and garlic in oil over medium heat, until onions are translucent, add stock and porcini, simmer until tender, using an immersion blender or regular blender, puree, add cream, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, add beurre manie and simmer five minutes. Soup is done. Can be made ahead, just don’t add the cream or beurre manie till the day of.
Croutons:
Two slices white bread, I used Marquee bakery country white, cubed
Two tablespoons brown butter (cook until brown and toasty)
1 sage leaf
Brown butter in a small skillet, add sage leaf, add bread, cook bread until golden. Salt croutons lightly, serve on top of soup.
For presentation, drop a few drops of cream into soup and garnish with croutons. Enjoy!

October 13, 2013

Tofu Tom Yum-my ramen

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I’ve been watching the PBS series David Chang (chef/owner of Momofuku) did in 2012, and he had a really fun and non-pretentious view of instant ramen, yes that dried stuff with the salty silver packet of seasoning that you get 6 of for a $1. He described instant ramen as what “Mac and cheese” was for most kids was ramen at his house, he talked about eating it raw, cooked, etc. We followed David as he ate ramen at all the best spots in Japan (where he worked at ramen shops early in his career) and his overall appreciation for it in all forms. I ate a lot of it growing up, one of the first things I learned to cook was instant ramen, there always seemed if nothing else, a pack of ramen would be lying around. I also love Thai tom yum soup, and one of my friends requested a recipe for it. I actually have never made it, but after a fun trip to the Asian market by my house I got all the ingredients I needed and it was super easy to make. You of course don’t need to add the noodles, when I eat Tom Yum at restaurants it is usually served with some steamed rice, so of course if you want you can sub that or not….this again is a guideline to inspire your own individualized creations. All I can say is this was super tasty, easy, and as long as you can read and get to an Asian market, can be easily recreated at home!

You will need for 2-3 servings:
4 Cups water
1 Tbsp instant Tom yum paste, I got a Thai import that was amazing and only $1.69 for a jar that stays well in the refrigerator whenever you need it. Most pastes consist of shallots, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, chilies, and dried shrimp paste, you can easily find the vegetarian version if you want to this to be vegan.
½ brick medium firm tofu, cut up into large bites
2 green onions, sliced, green part set aside
¼ Cup bamboo shoots, my market has fresh ones for $1.39 a lb you can of course use canned, or leave them out completely if you no likey.
A handful of canned straw mushrooms, I got unpeeled ones, they were super tasty!
A handful of canned baby corn, sliced
3 or 4 fresh shitake mushrooms, woody stems removed
Two packages ramen, discard seasoning or save it for a rainy day….or whatever.
A handful of cherry tomatoes cut in half, or use a regular tomato, the ripest and tastiest I could find were cherry
Cilantro, enoki mushrooms (optional) and lime to garnish
Method:
In a medium sauce pan boil your water, paste, shitake, white parts of onion, when boiling add tofu, add two bricks of ramen, cook 2 minutes or so. Distribute the noodles and goodies evenly between two or three bowls depending on how much you can snarf down in a sitting. Serve with cilantro maybe some enoki mushrooms (I love them, you can cook them a bit if you want or leave them out completely), and some lime wedges. Seriously SOOOOO TASTY! Be ready for a spicy good time, and of course you can adjust the amount of Tom Yum paste to suit your individual palate. Thanks Dave for reminding me of the awesomeness that is instant ramen and Courtney for the idea.

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October 10, 2013

Avgolemono chicken soup with quinoa and wild rice

Fall is soup season, so today I made a take on one of my family’s favorite. Avgolemono is a Greek way to thicken sauces or broths with eggs and lemon. When done correctly, the result is velvety texture with a kick of citrus. One of my early posts here explains how to make dolmathes with avgolemono sauce, and basically this is the same technique applied to soup. I used to work at a bagel shop back in High school and our most popular soup by far was creamy chicken with wild rice, so I figured if I married the two ideas it would be delicious. I used tru roots sprouted wild rice with quinoa and threw in some leeks, it turned out delicious. Give this a try and I think you will be glad you did!

You will need:
8 cups stock, I used a blend of veggie and chicken
1 cup wild rice blend or rice or quinoa of choice, orzo is also really good in this
1 carrot, peeled, medium dice
1 rib of celery, medium dice
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 leek, cleaned, and sliced into half moon shape
4 eggs
juice of two lemons
salt and pepper to taste
dill and parsley for garnish
2 cups shredded chicken, rotisserie works great for this or you can leave it out completely if you want a vegetarian friendly soup

Method:
In a soup pot add rice and stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, simmer 10 minutes, add veggies, cook 10 or so more minutes or until rice and veg are no longer crunchy. Crack four eggs into a medium bowl, add lemon juice, and whip well, you can use a blender if you prefer, make sure it is light yellow in color and foamy. Temper 2 cups of soup broth into egg mixture, by pouring it slowly, but continuously into eggs, once combined add back to soup pot and simmer until thickened.

I really like how the different rice turned out in this, the quinoa gave a great texture and next time I don’t think we would even need to add the chicken. Try this Greek diner classic at home tonight! It is a total crowd pleaser and is perfect for cold fall nights.

September 18, 2013

Zuppa Toscana…Healthified!

Well it’s been a while since I blogged a recipe with meat in it….but I am doing so today. I am plant based 5 days of the week, but occasionally I like to indulge in a bit of high quality, sustainable, meat. Fall is in the air, and so is SOUP SEASON! Oh man, I love making soup, my friend Heidi came by on Monday and gave me the most amazing harvest of leafy greens and other things from her garden, I was at Wholefoods today and found that they had some great local hot Italian sausage and decided I would make this soup since I was suddenly wealthy in all its main players. Zuppa Toscana is a popular menu item at Italian American restaurants (a large chain one in particular), and a total food fav for me. It apparently is for many people as I have seen numerous versions on pinterest; the good, the bad, and the ugly…haha! I wonder sometimes if some of these bloggers are really good at food photography, but not so hot on the actual product….I am very visually inspired and one of the photos that caught my eye had the most horrific recipe attached to it! This blogger used a roux and a slurry to thicken the soup instead of cream….hmmm…that is working harder not smarter…and to top it off she added two cans of evaporated milk at the end….probably should’ve done the cream at that point. I am not saying this to be bratty, I just don’t want anyone to have to over complicate or over fat a recipe. How do you feel good about feeding your family something that has as much fat in one portion as a slice of cheesecake. So I have healthified this soup, yes it has sausage, but I have removed all the other animal products (you don’t need them when the sausage provides so much condensed flavor and richness), I have included large amount of garden fresh veggies, and thickened with cauliflower puree! It was better than then the originaI! The recipe made probably 12 servings, so you only get a small amount of the meat, with loads of veggies! It may be a few days before I need to cook again though, as this makes enough to feed an army! If you like Zuppa Toscana, try this version, you will love it and no one will know it isn’t the decadent original.

Veggies from my friend Heidi's garden!! — Veggies from my friend Heidi’s garden!!

You will need
1 pound good quality sausage of choice, you can use whatever type you like, even soyrizo (you may just need to add a little extra oil), I used classic Italian Hot pork sausage.
2 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed well and sliced as thin as possible, I use them skin and all
1 bunch lactinato Kale, chopped
1 bunch Chard
2 ribs celery, medium dice
2 carrots, medium dice
1 zucchini, sliced thin, same as potatoes.
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic smashed, and chopped
Pinch of red pepper flakes, if your sausage is quite spicy you can omit this
8 Cups stock, I used veggie
1 head of cauliflower, stem removed, and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Over medium heat, in a large Dutch oven or soup pot place sausage and begin to render it of its fat. After five minutes or so add onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and pepper flakes if you are using them, cook five or so more minutes, spoon off any visible oil,add potatoes and kale. Add stock, turn heat up to medium high till it is at a low boil, reduce heat, add chard and zucchini, and cover, turn heat to low. While your soup simmers, in a medium sauce pan, place cauliflower and 2 cups lightly salted water, boil for 20 minutes until very soft, then blend until smooth and creamy. Add cauliflower puree to soup, sprinkle with some fresh parsley and cracked pepper, serve! This makes a huge amount so it is perfect for freezing.

August 16, 2013

No cream, Cream of mushroom soup

I love cream soups, I really do, but I don’t love the high fat content, and calories associated with this comfort classic. I love mushrooms as well, and found them to be quite underutilized as a main dish in Western cuisine. I have made many cream of mushroom soups in my day, but this one has got to be the show stopper! Completely plant based, with minimal sodium, you wouldn’t think it would taste as truly decadent and creamy as it does. My secret? Cannellini beans and cauliflower! This easy soup will have even the most plant based skeptic asking for seconds, and you know what? You can have seconds of this soup and not have to worry about your waistline.
Our ingredients:
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
8 ounces cremini or button mushrooms, with a handful reserved for garnish
½ medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 oz. dried porcini
2 tbsp. reduced sodium tamari or bragg’s liquid aminos
In a medium sauce pan combine all ingredients (except mushrooms for garnish, we will get to those in a sec) cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, let simmer while you prepare your other ingredients.
½ head of cauliflower florets
Place cauliflower florets in a small sauce pan, cover with water, steam 10 minutes, set aside.
For the rest of your mushrooms, place a tsp. of camelina oil (amazing raw oil, rich in omega 3’s, if you can’t find that you can use olive oil) in a sauté pan over medium high heat, sauté until golden, set aside.
Note: never salt mushrooms before you sauté them, it will release all their water and they will never brown, but rather wilt.
Take your mushroom soup and blend to desired consistency, I like very smooth, the beans add an amazing velvety texture. I used an immersion blender for convenience, keep soup warm.
Do the same blend on the cauliflower adding more water if too thick, you want a creamy, gravy like texture, add a drop or two of truffle oil, if you really want to up the decadence, a drop or two is all it takes and provides amazing aroma. Leave this out if you want…..but it really elevates the dish.
Pour mushroom soup into four bowls, spoon your cauliflower puree on top, garnish with sautéed mushroom and a little parsley, you can adjust your own level of salt, I am trying to cut out any extra. Bellisimo! If you feel the presentation is too fussy, just add the cauliflower to your mushroom soup at the start and blend all together….I however, personally live for fussy presentation…haha!

July 17, 2013December 26, 2014

Faki (Greek Lentil Soup), also known as don’t “faki” with the old man’s soup!

Yep another install of lentil soup, but this is no run of mill “something I think up” soup. This is the real deal Greek style lentil soup that is simple yet outrageously good. You need nothing particularly special for this, more important it is the process that deems the desired result. I have a little story for you… about this soup, my dad, Nick, he loves the stuff….we didn’t eat it that often growing up but when we would have it or eat it at a restaurant and it was done to pop’s specifications it was always a work of art, and seemed to bring him more joy than the most expensive steak house meal. Lentils, aren’t art you say? Well try this then decide that. One brazen afternoon after I had finished my tenure at culinary tech college I decided I would whip up a “new” and “improved” version that I was sure would please my dad and he would never want to go back to the “old” way again. Knowing his longstanding love affair with Campbell soup’s bean with bacon, I added BACON! Bacon makes everything better right? WRONG, dead wrong….he ate a bite and his face fell, “did you add bacon?” “Yep, I did”. “It doesn’t have bacon, it never has meat in it.” He turned his Grecian nose up at it and never asked me to make it again…I have since gone back to the original and even made a few batches for him to try and I finally came up to with right formula. This experience taught me a valuable lesson, not everything is better with bacon, in fact the really good stuff needs nothing superfluous at all. Some things are about tradition, culture, nostalgia, there are some things my friends that we just can’t improve on. So today is my faki style lentil soup redemption, and if you’ve never had them this way, you are in for a treat.

My dad on the right, with his uncles and my grandfather (middle in the plaid). Never mess with tradition

1 lb bag of dried brown lentils, yep old run o’ mill $1 a bag kind
1 large onion, diced
5 yes 5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 carrots, peeled, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
10 cups of stock or water or both, I used 5 cups chicken stock and 5 cups of water
1 6oz can tomato paste
6 whole cloves
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp red pepper flake
¼ cup olive oil, extra for drizzling
4tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp dried oregano
In a heavy bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat, sauté onions and garlic till translucent, add carrots, celery, red pepper flakes and tomato paste, cook 2 minutes, add all of your liquid, rinsed and inspected lentils (you don’t want tiny rocks in your soup), bring to a boil, then simmer 1 ½ hours. Add salt (adjust to taste, depending on how salty your cooking liquid is), pepper, and oregano, add vinegar. Drizzle with a bit more oil and serve, you can add chopped parsley to beautify it, but not if you are serving it to my dad…maybe just a bit more dried oregano and maybe a drizzle of hot sauce (go with personal preference). This is great with a rustic bread or even your pantry staple saltines.