Soup

March in the Kitchen – Avgolemono Soup (Greek Lemon Soup)
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March in the Kitchen – Avgolemono Soup (Greek Lemon Soup)

Are you feeling under the weather? There are certainly some horrible colds going around, and they are going around…and around…and around again. This soup is warming, nutritious, easy on the stomach, and quick (as well as gluten-free if you use rice). Please use the best stock you have on hand, this is the perfect time for magic mineral broth or Parmesan broth or your homemade chicken stock (or in a pinch the best commercial stock you can find).

Avgolemono (or Greek Lemon Soup) is a classic Greek dish. Some recipes add cooked chicken at the end, but it’s not necessary. Make this soup with rice or orzo pasta. I prefer rice as it thickens the soup slightly, giving it more body. The snap and snow peas are not a classic part of the recipe. I picked a handful in the garden just before making the soup for lunch. I was lucky to have stock in the freezer and some leftover rice from takeout Chinese. The whole thing took about 15 minutes from start to finish!

Avgolemono soup

Ingredients for Avgolemono soup

Avgolemono (egg and lemon) Soup (2 lunch sized portions or 4 starter portions)

  • 4 cups of broth (chicken, vegetarian or Parmesan)
  • 1 cup of cooked long grain rice
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 lemons (juice and zest of one), plus extra juice if needed at the end
  • Optional small handful of snap and/or sugar peas – sliced thinly lengthwise
  • Sea or kosher salt
  • Parsley for garnish
Avgolemono Soup

Avgolemono Soup

  1. Bring stock to a boil in a saucepan over high heat.
  2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the rice to the pot. Cook for about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the optional snap/snow peas to the saucepan.
  4. Meanwhile in a small bowl whisk the eggs and lemon juice until frothy.
  5. Add one cup of hot stock to the eggs, whisking to combine.
  6. Transfer the egg/stock mixture back to the saucepan
  7. Cook, while stirring for about 2 minutes more. DO NOT LET THE STOCK BOIL AS IT WILL CURDLE THE EGGS.
  8. Taste to see if you need some more lemon, the soup should have a definite lemon flavor.
  9. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Soup

Avgolemono Soup

March in the Kitchen – Parmesan Broth
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March in the Kitchen – Parmesan Broth

For many years it was thought that there were only four main flavors we can taste; sour, sweet, salty and bitter. Umami is now considered the fifth flavor, coined in 1908 by a chemist at Tokyo University. It’s quality is a meaty or savory taste. Umami is roughly translated as yummy deliciousness. Foods that naturally contain umami include asparagus, tomatoes, cheese, meat, dashi (stock from the seaweed kelp), and mushrooms. Fermented foods such as soy sauce, cheese, cured meats and fish have it in abundance. The chemist was able to pinpoint glutamate, an amino acid, as the main source of this savory wonder. He then learned how to produce it in industrial quantities. We know that product as MSG.

Slow cooking for an extended period will release natural glutamate. Cooked foods with a high umami factor often have layers of taste, a combination of glutamates and a group of chemicals called ribonucleotides (occurring naturally in many foods). When you combine ingredients containing different umami-giving compounds, they enhance each other. Such is the case with Bolognese sauce with cheese on top. In fact, cooked meat, tomato and cheese are a 1-2-3-punch combo. Think pepperoni pizza, I know I do.

Just as humans evolved to crave sweetness and loathe bitter to help avoid toxins, umami is a marker of protein (which is made up of amino acids) essential for life. We are instinctually drawn to it.

Parmesan cheese is very high in umami. Freshly grated Parmesan, added at the end, will elevate a pasta dish to sublime. Search out the best Parmesan you can find, a little goes a long way and you won’t regret it. Keep it in the fridge or freezer and use it as needed, I think you will find lots of uses. Try in on scrambled eggs, or roast vegetables, even on crisp toasted rustic (slightly charred) bread with a drizzle of olive oil.

Then don’t throw out the rinds once you have grated every last bit of cheese! In Italy a Parmesan rind is often tossed into minestrone for extra depth of flavor. Try one in a simple pot of beans, it makes a big difference. I keep a zip top bag in the freezer and collect them until I have enough to make this absolutely fabulous and delicious broth that is bursting with umami.

Parmesan rinds

A Collection of Parmesan Rinds

Let me introduce you to Parmesan Broth, a powerhouse of the fifth flavor. Use it as a versatile stock for soup, or anywhere you need a flavor boost. For vegetarians this broth is a huge flavor enhancer, it closely resembles a long simmered chicken stock. Simply simmering the broth fills your kitchen with the most amazing aroma, I couldn’t resist drinking a mug full once it was finished.

Parmesan Broth (makes 4-6 cups)

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
  • 1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
  • 1 bunch of fresh thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3-4 parsley sprigs
  • 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 lb. of Parmesan rinds
  • 8 cups of water
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, thyme bay leaf, parsley and peppercorns. Cook, stirring often, until the onion and garlic are toasty brown about 5-10 minutes.
  2. Add the wine, bring to a simmer, and cook, scraping up any brown bit until the liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the Parmesan rinds and 8 cups of water to the saucepan, bring to a boil.
  4. Turn down the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours. Stir occasionally so the rinds don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
  5. Strain through a fine mesh strainer.

Use immediately or store in the fridge up to four days. Freeze for longer storage. This recipe makes a 4-6 cups of stock, depending on how reduced it becomes. You can easily double it if you have more rinds. I don’t salt when making the broth, instead I add salt when it is used.

onion, garlic, thyme, parsley, peppercorns and bayleaf in olive oil

onion, garlic, thyme, parsley, peppercorns and bayleaf in olive oil

Parmesan broth

Parmesan broth cooking

Parmesan Brot

Finished Parmesan Broth, cooling before straining

The finished broth is the most lovely shade of golden yellow!

 

This recipe was first published in Bon Appetit.

December in the kitchen – Pear and butternut squash soup
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December in the kitchen – Pear and butternut squash soup

Heavy rain was forecasted for the San Francisco bay area today, I think there was way too much media hype about this storm. It frightened everyone, they even closed the schools. This is how winter used to be before the drought of the last three years. A tree came down at the end of our street and there is some minor flooding in the neighborhood because of fallen leaves in the storm drains. It’s a perfect day for staying in and making soup.

I’ve wanted to make this recipe for some time; it is adapted from one in the cookbook “plum gorgeous” by Romney Steele. The original recipe calls for a medium butternut or kabocha squash, and curry powder. As usual, I ended up improvising. I couldn’t find the curry powder (the spice drawer needs a major overhaul) and my fridge only had 2 cups of cut-up butternut squash, not enough. I wasn’t about to brave the storm for a trip to the grocery store. I used the butternut and added 2 small sweet potatoes. As a substitute for the curry powder, I used Ras el Hanout. It’s a spice blend I purchased a few weeks ago from the Oaktown Spice Shop. You’ll find a link to their website here. If you get a chance to visit, don’t miss it. It’s heavenly just walking in the door, the aromas are amazing! Ras el Hanout is a custom blend of paprika, cumin, ginger, Ceylon cinnamon, cassia, turmeric, grains of paradise, allspice, nutmeg, mace and cayenne. Wow! They recommend using it to season chicken, lamb tagines, or scent rice. Using the curry powder suggested in the initial recipe would also be excellent. Mine eventually turned up in the back of the drawer, too late for the soup.

To make this recipe vegan, I used coconut water instead of chicken broth and added a cup of coconut milk at the end for richness. It ended up being both warming and delicious, perfect for a stormy day.

Soup - pear, butternut squash, and sweet potato

Pear and butternut squash soup

Pear, Butternut Squash, and Sweet Potato Soup

  • 2 cups cubed butternut or other squash
  • 2 small sweet potatoes
  • 2 large or 3 small pears, peeled, cored, and chopped
  • 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons of Ras el Hanout or curry powder
  • 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, skinned and finely grated
  • 4 cups of coconut water or vegetable broth
  • 1 cup of coconut milk
  • chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)
  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Cut the squash into large chunks and arrange in a baking pan, cut side down. Prick the sweet potatoes and add them to the pan (cut them in half if large). Add about ¼ cup of water to the pan, drizzle with coconut oil, and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour. They should be soft.
  3. Cool, then scoop out the flesh into a bowl.
  4. Heat 2 tablespoons of the coconut oil in a heavy pot. Add the onion, carrot and garlic and cook on medium heat until lightly browned and soft. Do not let the garlic burn.
  5. Stir in the Ras el Hanout or curry powder and fresh ginger. Mix with the vegetables for about 30 seconds, until aromatic.
  6. Add the squash, sweet potato, pears, coconut water or stock, and ½ teaspoon of salt to the pot.
  7. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 25 minutes until the vegetables and pears are soft.
  8. Puree in the blender or with an immersion blender.
  9. Add the coconut milk and gently reheat, thin with water or stock if needed.
  10. Serve garnished with chopped cilantro.
Pear soup

Pear and Butternut Squash Soup

This soup was perfect, a little sweet but with a spicy kick.

I think the folks at Gluten Free Fridays will like this one since it is both gluten free and vegetarian. Come see what else is cooking.

November in the kitchen – Cream of Tomato Soup with Crispy Grilled Cheese Croutons
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November in the kitchen – Cream of Tomato Soup with Crispy Grilled Cheese Croutons

Do you have a favorite comfort food? Maybe a food that you crave when things feel a bit overwhelming? Or, when you are under the weather, not actually sick, just not feeling quite right? Mine is tomato soup and grilled cheese. I take a warm mug to bed and watch reruns of “The Good Wife”. The next day, my world is much improved.

This is the best cream of tomato soup I have ever tasted, bar none! The grilled cheese croutons are a great additon (but it doesn’t need much). The croutons are crisp on the outside, but become soft and cheesy on the inside as they soak up the soup. It’s the perfect combination of textures and flavors. What can beat tomatoes and cheese? You could also make grilled cheese sandwiches and simply dunk them in the soup. All excellent!

Originally the recipe was adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook. It came to me from the archives of the blog Smitten Kitchen. It would be difficult to improve on it.

Cream of Tomato Soup

  • 2 – 28 oz. cans of whole Roma tomatoes packed in juice
  • 1 ½ tablespoon of dark brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons of melted butter
  • 4 large shallots, minced (about ½ cup)
  • 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
  • 1/8 teaspoon of ground allspice
  • 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¾ cups of chicken or vegetable stock
  • ½ cup of heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons of brandy
  • Salt and cayenne pepper as needed
  1. Adjust your oven rack to the upper-middle position and pre-heat to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil.
  2. Place a strainer over a large bowl. Open the cans of tomatoes and, using your hands, gently squeeze each tomato open over the strainer. You want to remove the seeds without crushing the tomato. Lay each tomato on the foil lined baking sheet.
  3. Pour the rest of the juice into the strainer and push the juices through. Clean the bottom of the strainer into the bowl. You should have just the seeds left inside the strainer.
  4. Sprinkle the tomatoes with the brown sugar and bake until the liquid has evaporated. It took about 30 minutes in my oven. You are concentrating the flavor of the tomatoes.
  5. When finished, remove from the oven and let cool.
  6. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the shallots, tomato paste, and allspice. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the shallots are soft. Stir it occasionally; it will take about 10 minutes.
  7. Add the flour and stir well to mix with the contents of the skillet. To cook the flour and remove the raw taste, stir for 30 seconds to a minute. You don’t want the flour to burn.
  8. Add the chicken or vegetable stock gradually, whisking or stirring constantly.
  9. Stir in the tomato juice and roast tomatoes.
  10. Cover, bring to a boil, and reduce the heat to a simmer for about 10 minutes.
  11. At this point you can either blend it smooth (be careful to vent the top and fill your blender only half full) or use an immersion blender directly in the pot.
  12. When smooth, add the cream, reheat for a minute, and then add the brandy.

Taste for salt and a bit of spice, I didn’t think it needed any.

Crispy Grilled Cheese

Crispy Grilled Cheese

Crispy Grilled Cheese Croutons

  • 4 slices of sandwich bread, crusts removed
  • 1 ¼ cup of grated cheddar cheese
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat.
  2. Butter one side of each slice of bread.
  3. Brush the hot skillet with any remaining butter.
  4. Sprinkle two small piles of cheese directly on to the skillet, about 2 tablespoons. Spread them to the approximate size of your bread. Place a slice of bread (buttered side down) on top of each pile.
  5. Put about ½ cup of cheese on top of each slice in the pan, cover with the second slice of bread (buttered side up).
  6. Brown the first side, and then remove the bread to a plate.
  7. Sprinkle another 2 tablespoons of cheese into two piles in the skillet.
  8. Carefully slide the bread, other side down, on top of the cheese and brown the second side. The cheese in the middle should have started to melt.
  9. Remove the bread to the plate and cool slightly.
  10. When cool, cut into cubes.
  11. Top the hot soup with the croutons; or eat the crisp grilled sandwiches as they are, dipping them into the soup.
Cream of Tomato Soup with Crispy Grilled Cheese Croutons

Cream of Tomato Soup with Crispy Grilled Cheese Croutons

Crispy Grilled Cheese Croutons

Crispy Grilled Cheese Croutons

Cream of tomato soup with grilled cheese

Ready for “The Good Wife”

What is your favorite comfort food?

I’m taking this to Fiesta Friday #43 to party with Angie and friends from the Novice Gardener. This time of year we are all in need of a little comfort.

Fiesta Friday

 

November in the kitchen – Magic Mineral Broth
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November in the kitchen – Magic Mineral Broth

I realize that this post isn’t ‘sexy’. But, handmade stock or broth can make a huge difference to the flavor of your cooking. The beginning class of my mother’s cooking school was always about stocks.

Do you remember the old Campbell’s soup slogan, “M’m! M’m! Good!”? The soup you make yourself is even better. And a soup made with your own stock or broth is better still. Commercial soups and stocks are full of ingredients like high fructose corn sugar; even organic chicken broth from Trader Joe’s contains cane sugar! Good stock doesn’t need any sugar.

Here in the Northern hemisphere we are entering the season of soups, stews, colds, and flu. I hope you enjoy lots of the first two, and none of the second two. This broth can serve as a delicious sipping soup, as well as a base for hearty soups and stews. It’s a powerful tool for your panty, with the added benefit of being a cure for whatever ails you. Make it in big batches and stock it in the freezer. It will add flavor and minerals to everything you cook.

The recipe comes from the book “The Cancer Fighting Kitchen” by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson. Don’t let the title put you off. This stock is amazingly flavorful as well as good for you. There are two versions in this post; the first is vegan and vegetarian. The second uses chicken. Both are gluten free.

If you have friends or family battling cancer and the side effects of treatment, I cannot recommend this book enough. But, the recipes are for everyone. This soup is a delicious nutritional powerhouse. It’s full of magnesium, potassium, and sodium; it allows your body to rejuvenate itself. Rebecca Katz calls it a tonic.

There is a long list of vegetables; but you don’t have to peel anything, just rinse them well, cut or break them into large pieces, and throw them into the pot to cook. And if you are missing one of them, don’t worry. I forgot to buy celery at the store so used more stems from the parsley. It will still be excellent.

You will need a large stockpot to cook this, at least 12 quarts. If necessary you have cut the recipe in half and cook it in a slow cooker or a smaller pot. I made two half batches, one vegetarian and one with chicken.

Magic Mineral Broth

  • 6 unpeeled carrots, cut in thirds
  • 2 unpeeled yellow onions, cut in chunks
  • 1 leek, white and green parts, cut into thirds
  • 1 bunch of celery, including the heart, cut into thirds
  • 4 unpeeled potatoes, quartered
  • 2 unpeeled Japanese or regular sweet potatoes, quartered
  • 1 unpeeled garnet yam, quartered
  • 5 unpeeled cloves of garlic, halved
  • ½ bunch of flat leaf parsley
  • 6 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
  • 1 8-inch strip of kombu seaweed
  • 12 black peppercorns
  • 4 whole allspice or juniper berries
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 8 quarts cold water
  • 1 teaspoon of sea salt
Kombu seaweed

Kombu

vegetables for magic mineral broth

Vegetables for magic mineral broth

  1.  Rinse all the vegetables including the kombu.
  2. In a large stockpot (12 quarts or larger) combine everything except the salt.
  3. Fill the pot with water to 2 inches below the rim of the pot, cover, and bring to a boil.
  4. Remove the lid once it comes to a boil, turn the heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for at least 2 hours. (The longer the simmer time, the better this broth will taste as the goodness leaches out of the vegetables.)
  5. Let the broth cool slightly and then strain it through a large, coarse-mesh sieve into a large bowl.
  6. Add salt to taste.
  7. Once completely cool, refrigerate or freeze.

This will keep 5 days in the refrigerator, or freeze for 4 months.

Note: Since you are not peeling the vegetables, use organic ones if at all possible.

You can turn this into chicken magic mineral broth by the addition of a chicken carcass or 2 pounds of chicken bones.

Chicken Magic Mineral Broth

  • All ingredients listed above plus
  • 1 organic chicken carcass or 2 pounds of chicken bones (I save bones in the freezer until I have enough for a batch of broth)
  1. Add the chicken with the vegetables and proceed as in the recipe above
  2. Once the stock comes to a boil, skim off any scum that rises to the top
  3. Simmer at least 4 hours
  4. Strain as above
  5. Add salt to taste.
  6. Once cool, skim off any fat on the top. This is easier if you refrigerate the broth overnight.

Because of the chicken, the keeping time in the fridge is slightly less, 3-4 days, freezer 3 months.

I’m putting this at the end as I don’t want to lecture. Feel free to skip the rest. My blog is mainly about the adventures of cooking, gardening, and eating. Although many of my recipes are healthy, health is a by-product not a singular goal. I want my recipes to be delicious, nourishing, and approachable. That being said, I feel strongly about stock and the benefits of making it at home. Here are a few examples…

  • Onions act as an expectorant that helps with mucous flow.
  • Carrots are a powerful antiseptic and good for respiratory infections.
  • Celery works to relax muscles and promotes restful sleep.
  • Garlic is a well-documented natural remedy; it has antiseptic powers and stimulates the immune system to fight infections.
  • Thyme leaves fight infection.
  • Bay leaves are great for thinning mucous.
  • Kombu and sea salt are rich in minerals from the sea; they help replenish electrolytes.

The broth made from simmering the chicken bones becomes a “bone stock”. Chicken soup has been a well-known remedy for years, and we now know it is more than an old wives tale. The nutrients that leach out of the bones and into the broth have active healing properties that aid in immune system health. The cartilage and collagen from the bones aid in keeping our intestines and bones healthy. In the picture below, the chicken broth has been chilled. Notice the jellied appearance due to the dissolved cartilage and collagen. This is good stock!

Jellied Chicken Broth

Jellied Chicken Broth

 

Home-made stock vs. commercial organic stock

Magic Mineral Chicken Stock on left, Organic Chicken Stock on right

 

Notice the difference in the homemade stock (on left) and commercial organic stock on the right.

There are sniffles in our household, the first of the season. This broth is my first line of defense. I’ll be taking it to Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday to help head off any colds and flu going around the group.

What should I do with the leftover commercial stock?

IMG_0297