Expanding our Ship!

I've been doing less blogging and more thinking over the past few weeks (which is why you haven't seen me on here so much).  Now that the summer months are upon us I want to play with all the wonders around me: asparagus, fresh pasta, fragrant cilantro. I want to experiment, to expand the reach of my culinary alchemy.

So, dear readers and fellow food alchemists, I am going to be making more than soup this summer. I am expanding to other dishes that I love, experiments I'm doing that will enrich your kitchen and mine.

There will still be soup! One every two weeks or so (instead of every week...) but there will also be:

outdoor meals for the whole family

scrumptious seasonal sides

tips on what to do with all that kale from your CSA (or local farmer's market)

I'm also going to be including a calculator with each meal so you can estimate how much it will cost you to make. Being food and health and simply YUM conscious doesn't mean throwing your budget out the window.

So come along with me and send me comments and suggestions for what you'd like to see!

Green Love!

Kermit the Frog told us it ain't easy being green but I disagree (it should be noted that I am not a Muppet, so I'm sure I don't quite understand the nuances of being Mr. the Frog). Being green is easy and contrary to opinion of a lot of 5 year olds, quite yummy!

This week's soup takes a favorite of mine and gives it a new, earthy twist. It also sings the praises of going back to the drawing board, back to that base formula that you know works and building on it. As a writer this is an action (and metaphor) that I can get behind.



To make this luscious green goddess, gather up:

1 bunch purple kale (or any kale you like, the purple was looking particularly lovely the when I shopped for this soup), chopped
1 bunch spinach, chopped
4 Tbsp Arborio rice
2 small yellow onions, chopped
1 leek, white and light green parts (do away with any rougher dark parts), thinly sliced
1 pkg (10oz) crimini mushrooms (or other brown mushrooms you may enjoy), chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Eyeballing it:

1/2 cupped palmful (or about 1 1/2 tsp) sea salt (to taste! add a bit at a time to be sure you don't overwhelm your soup!)
A few good glugs of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 tsp french thyme (I use Penzeys but any thyme or herbes de provance will do!)
A few generous splashes of a nice dry sherry
4 cups veggie broth (I use Rapunzel, no salt added)
1/2 sm. squeezy bottle of lemon juice (to taste! I LOVE lemon so please adjust accordingly)


Get to it:


1) Wash all veggies! De-stem the kale and the spinach, tearing with your fingers for a lovely sensory experience (the aromas really fill the air when you "chop" by hand!).  Put these in your stockpot along with the Arborio rice, 4 cups veggie broth and a few dashes of sea salt.  Bring to boil, lower the heat and simmer covered for at least 20 minutes.
2) On the other side of the stove, heat a few good glugs of EVOO and saute the onions with a pinch or two of sea salt until they are soft, about 8-10 minutes. Add the lovely leeks and caramelize (sauteing and stirring frequently over low-medium heat for up to half an hour).
3) Add another glug of EVOO to the skillet of caramelized onions/leeks and stir in minced garlic. Heat until garlic is golden but not dark.
4) Add the mushrooms, thyme, another dash of salt and a few good splashes of dry sherry. Saute all together until most of liquid cooks away. Your kitchen should smell heavenly.
5) Add everything in the skillet to the soup, deglazing the pan and adding to the pot as well. Simmer for 10 minutes.
6) Add lemon juice and other sea salt or herbs you fancy (I often add a dash of cayenne to my green soups, for an unexpected flourish at the end of each bite).
7) Serve with some very fresh baguette!

Rating: 4 (also, you are getting a week's worth of veggies in ONE BOWL)
Taste: So good you'll forget it's so good for you.
Easy-o-meter: Your cat could do it
Time: 30-45 minutes from chop to serve

Adapted from Love Soup by Anna Thomas

The Art of Imperfection

 There’s this famous adage that says poems are never finished but instead abandoned.  A college friend of mine used to say: “The paper is never done, the paper due. “

Trying to get things perfect can be maddening, but what if we think of imperfections as uniqueness, a giver of flavor and excitement instead of failures?

This week’s soup is was definitely an example of playing with the art of imperfection. I was inspired by Soup Chick, a tasty soup blog out of Rhode Island, to try Sopa de Ajo (note that Soup Chick’s recipe and mine is derived from Love Soup by Anna Thomas).This soup definitely had me scratching my head at times; I made it two or three times before I decided it is a work-in-progress soup.

Yet Sopa de Ajo is deceptively simple. It calls for few ingredients but the way in which these ingredients are blended together makes a huge difference. The success of this highly alchemical process depends upon your palate, which is a personal as a fingerprint.

As noted above, this soup is an exercise in imperfection. Give yourself time to experiment, to get  it just right for you. I include my notes on how it works for me here. Please make suggestions on your favorite ways to make it (or your frustrations!) in the comments!

Sopa de Ajo (Garlic Soup)

I found the best way to make this soup is per bowl. Each serving should be made separately in a small pot for best flavor.

Gather up:

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp smokey Spanish paprika (I heart Penzey’s)

2 cups vegetable broth (Rapunzel’s is fab)

1-2 large eggs (1 for a small serving, 2 for a large)

2-3 pieces of French bread (great to use day old!)

Eyeballing it:

EVOO

sea salt

pinch cayenne

1)      Prep ingredients before you start cooking (garlic minced, bread sliced/cubed).

2)      Go round your small pot with the EVOO twice and heat.

3)      Saute garlic and stir until the aromas begin to pop and the garlic starts to brown just a touch.

4)      Stir in paprika, cayenne and broth. Bring to a low simmer and cover (for 5 minutes or so).

5)      Add sea salt (about a pinch, according to taste).

6)      Add bread and simmer a few more minutes as bread softens. Ladle bread into a small bowl.

7)      Be sure your broth is hot but NOT simmering/boiling.

8)      Break a room temperature egg into a small bowl and (very gingerly so the egg barely notices its being moved) slide in slowly into your broth. Be sure your egg is swimming soundly beneath the surface of the broth and cook until the white is opaque but yolk is a still softish (to your liking).

9)      WOW! You’ve just POACHED AN EGG! Give yourself a hand!

10)   Ladle into your bread bowl and there you have it!

Rating: Another comforting soup! Warm & easy on the tummy on winter days and when you’re feeling flu-ey.

Taste: 3ish, but becomes sort of addictive!

Easy-o-meter: Quite, though you need to be very careful while poaching the egg as it’s a bit tricky!

Time: 15 minutes tops

Get Parsnippity!

That’s right! Parsnips are awesome! Flavorful and comforting in their many forms, parsnips are underused in the American diet. I recently came into a windfall of parsnips and decided to make good use of them (in soup, of course!).

I located a good parsnip soup recipe (Parsnip Soup from Tea & Sympathy by Anita Naughton) but ended up changing it quite a bit to make it pop! What’s flavor for if not to fully experience all food has to offer?!

Gather up:

1 large potato (I swear by Yukon Golds), chopped

¼ cup (aka half a stick) of unsalted butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 med celeriac (aka celery root, looks like a human heart made out of roots!)

6 large parnsips, peeled and chopped

6 cups veggie stock (I used Better Than Boullion, Mushroom base)

3 bay leaves

a block of good, sharp cheese (I used a cheddar/gruyere mix)

Eyeballing it:

sea salt, to taste

fresh ground pepper , to taste

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

Do it!

1)      Melt butter in large pot and add chopped onion and celery root and sauté until onion is soft (it’s ok it celery root is a bit firm). This is your base.

2)      Add potatoes, parsnips, stock and bay leaves and simmer for about 40 minutes or until veggies are soft.

3)      Season to taste! The original recipe only called for sea salt/pepper but I felt this was way too bland. My friend Bekah (who kindly let me experiment with this soup in her kitchen), suggested the addition of the nutmeg, which warms the soup nicely and the nutritional yeast, which thickens the soup a bit and gives it a nice cheesy tang. You can also add cayenne or other more savory herbs/spices. Play with your palate and see what floats your boat!

4)      Top with Rosemary Batard (or similar yummy, crusty bread) and crumbles of sharp/salty cheese.

Rating: A comforting soup whose punch depends on you. Be adventurous!

Taste: 3-4

Easy-o-meter: You could do it in your sleep.
Time: 1.5 hours (from chop to chops!)

The Magic Herb Soup

No, I'm not talking about that herb, silly. I'm still talking about lavender (apologies for the delay in posting; the life of a college professor during the semester is frantic and inconsistent at best!).

My good friend, fellow writer and foodie, Kat Good-Schiff recently accompanied me on a trip to Boston's North End to poke around and gather ingredient for the soup below.

The North End is a bit magical in itself. Tiny cobblestone sidewalks winding up narrow streets dotted with all kinds of Italian groceries and specialty shops, home of the best, freshest you may find in Boston.

It's also cheap: Kat and I found the ingredients for two meals for 4-6 people for UNDER ten dollars. And a nice, swaggery Italian guy gave us some free celery.

For this soup, I found a base recipe online (linked here) and made it my own. Lavender adds the magic touch here, the complexity that makes this soup memorable as well as delicious.

Traipsing through the Italian shops with little old ladies, we gathered:

 

3 leeks, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced5 small Yukon Gold potatoes, diced with skins

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

1 cascabel pepper, dried, diced

8 cups vegetable broth (I used "Better than Boullion" Mushroom base to add an earthly flavor layer)

1 1/2 Tbsps flour (to thicken the base/make a roux)
1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 bay leaves

1 cup light cream

* a coffee filter and a bit of twine/string

 

Eyeballing it:

1/2 palmful peppercorns (your choice of variety; I used a mix of black, red, green, and white) 

1 cupped palmful ground cumin   

1 flat palmful dried culinary lavender buds

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper (to taste) 

fresh chives or scallions chopped, for garnish

 

Go to it:

1) Mix the cumin and the lavender and crush the best you can with the back of a spoon (I couldn't find my mortar and pestle but this worked just fine). Set aside. 

 

2) Melt the butter in your trusty soup pot over medium heat and add the leeks, carrots, celery and garlic. Soon the amazing scents of this case will be wafting all around. 

 

3) Once your leeks are nice and soft, stir in the flour, making a roux (or a thickened base for your soup)

 

4) Add the 8 cups of broth, diced potatoes, cumin/lavender mixture, and peppers to your soup (I used peppers that I like, jalapenos give a nice kick without being too hot while cascabels add a rich medium heat that is also smoky. If you don't like a whole lot of heat, I recommend a poblano or even a bell pepper if your tastes are really tame.)

5) Taking your coffee filter and twine, tie the peppercorns and bay leaves up and add to the pot. Simmer about 20 or so minutes (or until the potatoes are tender).

6) Lower the heat and discard the peppercorn/bay leaf bundle. Stir in the light cream (do not boil or burn soup at this point). Season as you like. 

7) Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh chives and good friends!

Rating:  4; so good (though next time, I will use more potatoes for a starchier, thicker soup)

Taste: Light yet substantial dance of lavender and pepper.

Easy-o-meter: Very easy, mostly chopping and stirring.

 

Time: 45 minutes from chop to bowl.

 

Lavender is the New Black

I've always been fond of lavender. When I was a kid, my aunt, who runs an organic herb and flower farm in Rhode Island, used to give me bunches of it to make my room smell nice (a good tactic for the room of a teenager!).

I never quite realized that it was edible until a few years ago when I was eating at a lovely Ethiopian restaurant in Cambridge and ordered lemonade. What I got was an infusion of fresh lemon juice, lavender and rosehips that I can only describe as transcendent.

Since then, bringing lavender into my kitchen has been on my mind. A few weekends ago, a friend and I trekked to Penzey's Spices in Arlington and I procured some lovely culinary lavender (among lots of other wonderful things that will show up right here very soon!) and decided to do some experimentation, using lavender in two very different ways. The first, which appears below, is meant as an accent or a rich dessert after a lighter soup. The second will be incorporating the herb into a soup itself.

This is my first non-soup recipe of the blog but I hope you will embrace it as a lovely addition to any soup-tacular meal!

Lavender Shortbread Cookies

This was my first time making shortbread and I was astounded at how much butter shortbread actually requires. More amazing however, was the alchemical process of infusing the elemental lavender with the rest of the ingredients. Keep reading to see what I mean. 

Note: Baking is a lot more exact than cooking, so you won't see eyeball measurements here.
Also Note: This is more comfortably accomplished as a two-day, two-hands-needed process.

Gather up:

1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsps (unsprayed, dried) culinary lavender, crushed
1 Tsp (unsprayed, dried) culinary lavender, whole flowers
1 lb unsalted butter (slighty soften and at room temp)
1/2 Tsp sea salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tsp pure vanilla extract
4 cups flour

Part One: The Infusion

1) Combine the honey and the crushed lavender in either the top of a double broiler or in a heat-safe bowl tucked in the top of a pot with some softly simmering water (I did the latter as I do not have a double-broiler) and heat for about 15 minutes or until the honey melts a bit.

2) Using a screen sieve or some other strainer with very small holes, strain the honey, discarding as much of the crushed lavender as possible.

3) In a large bowl, combine the butter (which should be slightly softened and room temp), salt, the whole lavender flowers, and the infused honey. Beat until completely blended. This takes about 5 seconds in a Kitchen Aid but if you don't have one, you can use a mixer, an old fashioned egg-beater or elbow grease. (I had a friend and an old-fashioned egg-beater. If you decide on this course of action, be sure to have a beer or cocktail ready for your friend as a reward.).,

4) Cover the newly infused butter and refrigerate overnight.

Part Two: The Bake

1) Bring the infused butter to room temp. Add the sugar and beat with an electric mixer on medium until light and fluffy.

2) Beat in the vanilla and very slowly add the flour. Beat until just blended (everything is pretty much uniform).

3) Take the dough and shape it (on a floured surface, of course) into a log that about a foot long. Wrap in plastic and stick it in the fridge for at least 2 hours (or up to 2 days if you want to make it beforehand).

4) After your dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 and grease 2 cookie sheets.


Part Two Point Five: Shaping Your Shortbread

1) Wanna get creative with your cookies? Go over to your favorite kitchen store (mine's Kitchen Witch in Jamaica Plain) and pick out some fun shapes! I got a penguin, a teapot, and a skull and crossbones.

2) Now take out your chilled dough, roll it about a 1/2 inch thick on a floured surface and cut those shapes!

3) Place on greased cookie sheets (they don't have to be very far apart because shortbread doesn't expand much) and cook for 10-12 minutes or until they are just starting to get golden at the edges.

4) Place on a rack to cool and then....

5) Serve them up! (Preferably after a mild soup)

Rating: 5 (pretty much the best cookies, very rich and buttery. Walker's eat your hearts out!)

Taste: Ambrosia-infused nectar of the gods

Easy-o-meter: Fairly simple, though the infusion process can get tricky if you don't have the correct sieve.

Time: Two days for a relaxed and pain-free experience.

Adapted from Tony Hill's The Spice Lover's Guide to Herbs and Spices

How to be a Spice Grrl

This is different, of course, from a Spice Girl, that silly 90s phenomenon we'd all do best to forget.

Since the broken elbow has impeded solo soup making over the past few weeks, I decided to spend some time studying how spices and herbs impact each soup I make. I found a wonderful guide called: The Spice Lover's Guide to Herbs and Spices (by Tony Hill) and I've stocked up on a bunch of amazing spices and herbs which I will experiment with over the coming weeks (don't worry! there will also be soup!).


In The Spice Lover's Guide, the author leads us through an alphabetical journey of international proportions. From ajwain to zedoary, we learn a bit about each herb or spice: where it is harvested, parts used, and different ideas for how to incorporate each into your culinary adventures. Following each mini-history is a recipe that will tickle your taste buds in ways you never thought possible.

This is culinary alchemy (what I like to practice while I'm creating my soups;  using the magical power of food to engage in the process of transmuting a common substance into a substance of great value and comfort) at its finest.

Check out the book and the following recipe to see what I mean.  

Melanie’s Amazing Veggie Chili

When I graduated from college I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Like many folks in their early 20s, I felt like I wasn’t done learning, like I hadn’t yet figured out my path. While most of my friends had moved on, I stuck around New York and moved in with a friend of a friend and her son. This friend of a friend soon became an extremely important figure in my life. She inspired me with her dedication to the Spanish language, teaching, and her wonderful stories of meeting Jorge Luis Borges as a graduate student in Buenos Aires.  In her house I learned the flavors, accents, and love involved in Mexican and South American cooking.

Here’s a recipe right from her sunny kitchen in Rhinebeck, NY.

Gather up:

2 lrg white onions, chopped coarsely

4 lrg garlic cloves, finely chopped

*2 jalapeños, minced with seeds

2 28 oz cans of diced tomatoes (plum if you can find them), reserve juices

½ cup tomato paste

*2 peppers (I like using poblanos for their smoky flavor), chopped

2 lrg carrots, chopped

**1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained

**1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained

**1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained

2 small zucchini diced

cheddar cheese (grated for garnish)

*If you are timid about heat in this chili, de-seed the jalapeños, OR use a milder pepper. In fact, feel free to substitute any of the peppers in this soup for your favorites. Of course, this will change the flavor.

**Use any beans you like! I’m a fan of garbanzos and sometimes cannellini take the place of kidney beans.

Eyeballing it:

Vegetable oil (enough to generously coat the bottom of your soup pot)

ground cumin, flat palmful

salt, cupped palmful

cayenne (half a cupped palmful, adjust as you see fit)

I made this awesome chili at my friend Vicki’s casa, who along with my pal Kari, did the chopping.

Do it:

1)      If you’re down a hand, ask your friends to help with the chopping of the veggies. It will be fun and the work will go much faster!

2)      Heat oil in a heavy, large pot (we used  Vicki’s lovely Dutch oven) over medium heat.

3)      Add the chopped onions, garlic, and jalapeños and sauté until the onions are translucent and the the amazing aromas of this base are tickling your nose.

4)      Add 1 cup of the reserved tomato juices to the pot along with the tomato paste, the poblanos, carrots, cumin, salt, and cayenne. Bring to a simmer and cook 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

5)      Add all the beans, cook 15 more minutes and add more reserved tomato juices if your chili is too thick (aka if you can stick a spatula in it without it moving).

6)      Add the zucchini and cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

7)      Ladle it into cute bowls (our had a funky Marimeko-ish pattern on them) and top with some grated cheese (the best for this chili is sharp cheddar).

YUM!

Rating: Hi-Fives All Around

Easy-o-meter: wicked, though you should know a bit about chilies if you’re going to experiment. You don’t want to burn a hole in your tongue (hopefully).

Time: 1.5 hours from unpacking the groceries to tucking in.

Taste: Spicy but not too hot. Just the way I like it!

The Magic of Pickles

When I was a kid, I lived for dill pickles. I loved them so much I drank the briny pickle juice when the pickles themselves were gone. My grandmother, who  didn’t really allow indulgence unless it came to food or drink, encouraged my obsession, even going so far as to wrap jars of Heinz Dill Pickles (my favorite kind, long since gone off the market)for Christmas.

When I discovered my friend Bill also thought pickle juice a necessary and yummy treat, I knew I had found a kindred spirit. The kind of kindred spirit I found in the following soup.

Since breaking my arm, the alchemy required of soup creation has been difficult. I owe much of the success and most of the creation of this soup to Abby Machson-Carter, who also loves pickles.

Pickle Soup (or everything in your veggie drawer on a chilly March night)

Gather up:

½ cup pearl barley

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 bunch scallions, chopped

2 cloves  garlic (we had heirloom on hand, which tasted lovely)

1 pkg crimini mushrooms (about 10 oz)

2 small Yukon Gold potatoes

2 medium carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 medium turnip, peeled and diced

½ bunch kale

1 wedge of cabbage

1 orange bell pepper (choose the color that strikes your fancy!)

***1 cup finely diced dill pickles

Eyeball:

sea salt (full palmful)

Extra Virgin olive oil

thyme

dill

freshly ground black pepper

Our broth!

3 cups broth (we made our own with the leavings/scraps of our diced veggies, just boil in a pot with water until flavor is at desired level)

Let’s do it!

      1) Rinse the barley and put in a large soup pot with about 8 cups of water and half your sea salt. Simmer covered for about half an hour.

   
  2) Saute chopped onion in skillet with EVOO (just once around the pan) on low heat for about 10 minutes. Add chopped scallions and sauté until both onions and scallions are beginning to brown and are soft.

     
  3)In another skillet add another round o’the pan of EVOO and your garlic and sauté it up on high heat for about a minute or so. Add the mushrooms, just a dash of salt and a few good pinches of thyme and sauté until all the excess liquid cooks away. 

      
4) By this point your barley is well on its way. You can add the root veggies to the soup pot, adjusting the water-levek to keep all veggies submerged if you need to do so. 

5) Chop your kale (I always remove the tough stemmery because who wants to chew their soup?), bell pepper, and the cabbage and set aside (don’t worry! you’ll add it soon!).

6) Add all the things that have been sautéing (scallions, onions, garlic, mushrooms) to the soup. 

7) Stir your kale, cabbage, bell pepper, dill and broth into the soup. Simmer for about 10 minutes. 

Pickles!

        8) Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for! Add the pickles, simmer 10 more minutes and adjust the taste by adding salt and fresh black pepper.

The pickles will add a great, slightly acidic flavor that makes the soup quite special. Share with good friends. And give your mom a mason jar of it for her birthday. She’ll like it!

Rating: One of my fav's 
Easy-o-meter: 4 Pretty easy, though definitely time consuming. Consider chopping veggies beforehand

Time: 2 + hours (particularly if you only have one hand)

Taste: Even my mom loves it. No seriously. It’s comforting AND tasty.