soup

Vegetable Beef Soup and 60-minute rolls

~ nancyruth ~ 1 Comment

What is for supper when I’ve used up everything in the produce drawer, the meats in the freezer are too big to thaw quickly, and I have to be at work?  It’s a cold rainy fall day so soup seems in order. But what soup to make with frozen mixed vegetables as the main ingredient? There’s not even a potato in the house!

Building a soup, as my sister says, can be an adventure in creativity.  Here’s what I found to use. I had a half a box of beef broth in the fridge. There were remains of green onions in the produce drawer. I found a bit of ground beef hanging about the fridge freezer. Earlier I had found the ground turkey and mistook it for an Italian sausage, hubby had made sausage and peppers a few weeks before, so it was still in the freezer waiting for a use.

  • Beef broth, enough to cover the ingredients in the crock pot, about 2-4 cups;
  • 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
  • White ends of two green onions, sliced
  • One garlic clove, minced
  • 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes, these had basil, oregano, and garlic seasonings
  • ¼ pound ground beef
  • ½-3/4  pound ground turkey
  • Fresh herbs, parsley and spicy oregano

I sautéed the onion and garlic with the ground meats until the meats were browned. I used a bit of olive oil in the pan as well. I put this and the rest of the ingredients in the crock pot and covered with the beef broth. I set this on low and let it cook all day.

Sixty minute rolls are a staple from the Fleischmann’s Yeast bread book my Mom gave me eons ago. These are a tasty dinner roll that does not take hours and hours to make.

  • 3 ½ to 4 ½ cups of flour
  • 3 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 packages yeast; I use instant yeast which is 3 teaspoons plus a scant bit more.
  • 1 cup milk; I did not have milk of any kind in my refrigerator so I opened a can of evaporated milk
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ stick butter  = ¼ cup

Mix 1 ½ cups flour and next three ingredients in the mixer bowl. Heat the milk, water, and butter until very warm (120-130 degrees F). Gradually add to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Add ½ cup flour and beat at high speed for 2 minutes. Stir in enough additional flour to make soft dough and knead until smooth and elastic. I do all of this in the KitchenAid with the dough hook. Place in greased bowl and cover; let rise 15 minutes.

At this stage I read that that first rise is to be done by placing the dough bowl in a pan of hot water.  This is news to me! I have been making these rolls forever and have never done that. One thing about making bread and knowing how it works, I apparently mostly read the ingredients, skim over the directions, add up the rising and baking times, and just go about the business of baking bread. So this time I did put the bowl in a pan of hot water mainly because it was a cold and rainy day.

After rising, turn dough out on lightly floured board and shape into rolls as you like. The recipe gives directions for Curlicues and Lucky Clovers. I decide on Lucky Clovers. Divide dough into 24 pieces, shape into balls, put in greased muffin tins, cut crosswise into the top of the dough almost to the bottom.

Cover and let rise for another 15 minutes. Bake these in a 425 degree oven about 12 minutes or until done. Remove from pan and cool on wire racks.

Dinner is served!

Soulard Veggie Stew, my way

~ nancyruth ~ 2 Comments

We got gifted fresh garden vegetables and then got the weekly produce delivery. There were lots of tomatoes and some were eaten in salads and on sandwiches. A big hearty thank you to all the gardeners out there!

Soups and stews are an easy way to use up vegetables. I went through my handy-dandy Soulard Market Cookbook and found a veggie stew. This sounded good so this was the plan for the weekend, along with home baked crusty bread. For the bread I am making a French baguette.

For those interested, Soulard Market is St. Louis’ oldest public farmer’s market operating since 1799. It is a fabulous place to visit on Saturday mornings when visiting family in the area.

Basically vegetable soup can use any vegetables you have hanging about. For this recipe I substituted okra for the eggplant, added a green pepper, used veggie broth for the water, omitted the tomato paste and brown sugar. I used several hefty shakes of a dried Italian seasoning since my basil plant is pretty much useless.

  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 medium potatoes, diced
  • 2 carrots, cut in rounds
  • 3 okra, sliced in rounds
  • 1 rib celery, chopped
  • 1 small green pepper, diced
  • 2 shakes of salt
  • several hefty shakes of Italian seasoning
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cups, or thereabouts, chopped tomatoes,
  • 1 medium zucchini, sliced
  • 4-5 quartered tomatillos
  • about 1 cup broccoli flowerets
  • 2 cups vegetable broth

First sauté a Mirepoix of the onion, one carrot, celery, garlic, and bell pepper in a bit of olive oil for about 8 minutes. I chose to cook this soup in a crockpot so I added the potatoes and the other carrot to the pot first. Add the Mirepoix and the other vegetables ending with the zucchini and the broccoli. Add seasonings. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Very nice soup!

(The original recipe instructs to put all vegetables except zucchini and broccoli in a large Dutch oven with the seasonings and liquid and bring to a boil. Then reduce to simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Then add the zucchini and broccoli, a can of tomato paste and 2 Tablespoons brown sugar and cook until broccoli is tender.)

Soupe a l’oignon a la Julia!

~ nancyruth ~ 4 Comments

I have been enjoying cooking from my “French” cookbooks, one by Julia Child and one by Jacques Pepin. Hubby bought beef broth hoping for some onion soup. We get lots of onions each week so had all the ingredients. Hubby prefers beef broth as it gives a different taste and mouth feel.  I think that is umami.

I chose to go with Julia’s recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. My goal is not to master the art but to experiment with different combinations and ways of preparing food. I really like soups. Hubby likes soups to be more stew-like.  I have adjusted very few items in this recipe. I use slightly less butter than she suggests. This is what I used.

  • 5 cups sliced onions
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp sugar
  • 3 Tab flour
  • 1 quart boiling beef broth
  • 3 cups homemade chicken broth, also boiling
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Start with the butter and oil and onions in a heavy saucepan. This needs to be big enough to cook the whole soup. And needs a lid. A 4 quart pan is suggested. Slow cook the onions for 15 minutes. Then add the salt and sugar and cook over medium heat for 30-40 minutes stirring frequently.

Did I mention Julia writes to count on 2 ½ hours to make this soup?

Now add the flour and stir for 3-4 minutes. Add the boiling liquids and the wine. Simmer partially covered for 30-40 minutes.

For serving, add 3 Tab cognac. Now pour the soup into bowls lined with baguette and cheese.

The first time I made this soup I also made baguettes from Jacques Pepin’s Essentials. Real bread made with flour, yeast, salt, and water. We ate 2 ½ baguettes with the soup. And this tasted like “real” French onion soup, not just onions sautéed in broth. And we had gruyere cheese.

The second time I made the soup I halved the broth to just the beef broth, heated not boiling, cooked for the minimum times, forgot the cognac, and did not serve over bread and cheese. It was just as good but did not have that fabulous first taste of “Ahhhhh, this is good soup!”

Stay safe and be well!

Spinach, Sausages, and Potatoes

~ nancyruth ~ 2 Comments

I have collected various cooking/food magazines over the years. While looking for my cookie recipes I found some Eating Well magazines from 2002 and 2003. I have a memory of the time reading these and thinking the recipes were too exotic or different. But when glancing through them now I find the recipes intriguing and simple enough. They are different from the usual Midwestern fare of my upbringing, but now in my cooking that is a good thing. Back then I read the articles for the health and wellness; now I will try out some of the recipes.

This recipe was touted as a warm salad along with other recipes for adding greens to one’s diet. It describes a variety of winter greens and how to cook them. This one was named Warm Salad of Greens, Italian Sausage & Potatoes. And it’s not like I had all these ingredients sitting around my kitchen. But as many of you do, I read the recipe for the idea and the way the ingredients are combined and cooked and put together. And as I was reading this one I thought about frozen spinach (always in my freezer), the venison sausage from my son-in-law’s first buck, and the white potatoes in the pantry. Voila, a recipe is born!

The original recipe calls for kale. I have never cooked kale, nor eaten it to my knowledge. I have heard, who knows where, that it is bitter and tough if not cooked right. Here’s what I used:

  • 4 links of venison sausage, most likely a pound or more
  • 3 medium sized potatoes, washed and diced
  • 1 or 2 cups frozen spinach (I just poured from the bag)
  • 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic from a jar
  • pinch of salt
  • fresh ground pepper

First put the potatoes in a pot of water and bring to boil. While waiting for this, remove skins from sausages. First actually I boiled the sausages for 10 minutes in a pot of water like my son-in-law instructed. So I am removing the skins from these cooked sausages.

Put the fennel seeds in a skillet and cook with the sausages. I had to improvise here because my sausages were already cooked. I added an additional tablespoon of oil to this skillet and sauteed the sausage with the fennel seeds. The seeds did indeed stick to the sausages as reported in the original recipe. When done, I cut the sausages into 1/2 inch thick slices.

When the potato pot comes to a boil, add the spinach and cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and add to the skillet with the sausages. Whisk the oil, vinegar, garlic, and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Pour over the sausage-potato mixture and toss to blend. Dinner is served.

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The beauty of this recipe is that it also make a fabulous base for soup for the leftovers. Venison has a rich taste so a little goes a long way. To make soup I sauteed a diced onion and 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables in a tablespoon of oil in the dutch oven. After about 5 minutes I added a can of diced tomatoes and two tablespoons of pesto. The pesto was in place of sauteing garlic with the onion. I had one last square of homemade pesto in my freezer. Now add 3 cups of broth. I used chicken or turkey broth that also was homemade in my freezer. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and add the leftover sausage-potato mixture and a can of cannellini beans, drained. Simmer until heated through.

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This is a nice rich soup/stew. We had some for supper, and I have leftovers to bring to work for my lunches.

 

 

 

 

 

What’s new in my kitchen?

~ nancyruth ~ Leave a comment

The first answer that comes to mind is “nothing much”. But there is a new green bucket for compost. I have subscribed to a composting service called blue earth. This is not a paid endorsement just my newest little way of saving the planet. And we earn dirt! I would post a picture but it just looks like food scraps.

Next, I found Keurig cups that are completely compostible: Chock Full O’ Nuts. Oh, and the Keurig is also new in my kitchen. Hubby and I were drinking less coffee even though brewing a pot full each morning. This way we control the amount of coffee used and drunk.

I have not been doing much baking or innovative cooking. My creative juices seem to have dried up. Cooking dinners of meat and vegetable and sometimes rice or potatoes. No recipes required. I see recipes that I think are interesting but have not gotten around to it.

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So tonight’s dinner is soup and bread. The soup is a mix from King Arthur Flour. In fact I got my purchases in the mail today. Contrary to my nature, I ordered several mixes from them. I do not usually buy mixes or from on-line but took a survey and got a coupon. My math skills being a little rusty had the idea that 10% would be $10 but is really only $5 on $50 worth of items. Oh well.

Soup is for supper even though I had thought about barbecue chicken pizza. On Facebook I saw a video on how to make a stuffed crust pizza in a cast iron skillet. I love my cast iron skillet and I have four pieces of barbecue chicken hanging about in my refrigerator. There’s also three pieces of Popeye’s chicken in there.  But there is a nice loaf of artisan bakery bread that needs to be eaten. The soup is farmhouse vegetable and I used chicken stock. Hubby will eat a couple pieces of chicken anyway. And this dreary New England day is a perfect one for soup. I will need to steer Hubby away from the BBQ chicken so I can make that pizza tomorrow night, or Saturday, or maybe someday in the future!

So here is my three ingredient supper!

 

Soup for the Soup Kitchen

~ nancyruth ~ 2 Comments

 

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Intermixed among my Mom’s recipe clippings are hints and sayings that she also must have found important. Here is one I remember.

My church is serving dinner at the local soup kitchen today. I have made a batch of soup. Local churches and other organizations take turns serving a Sunday evening dinner and providing all the necessary items. This is love in action. People are served food because they show up and are hungry. No vetting necessary.

This church organizes the meal to be served. Another church I used to attend made it more of a potluck. Either way, it feels good to do this. And instead of thinking that is a bad thing to do something like this because it feels good, the end result is that people get fed. People feel cared for.

The ladies put together “soup kits” for those of us who chose to cook.

The cook supplied the ground beef and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I am thankful that my children, all of them, will be home altogether for our Wednesday evening Family Feast of Steak and Cake. (I just came up with that name this year.) I have a lot more that I can be thankful for: a job, a wonderful loving husband, the faith instilled in me by my parents, a car, a home, supportive friends and family, a beautiful granddaughter, and much more. And I have a fridge full of food and plenty to eat.

Thank God for dirty dishes, they have a tale to tell.

While other folks go hungry, we’re eating very well.

With health, and hope, and happiness, we shouldn’t want to fuss.

For by this stack of evidence, God’s very good to us!