Chicken Soup Cure-All

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I felt a twinge on Friday. By Saturday, I kinda knew what was coming. I ignored it on Sunday and Monday I knew I was in trouble. Tuesday, it was off to the Doctor.

Acute Bronchitis. Believe me, there's nothing cute about it.

And I am a lousy patient.

When I'm not feeling well, I pretty much just want to be left alone to wallow in my misery. If I need something, I'll let ya know. Otherwise, just leave me alone. Victor, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. He likes that solicitous attention. Whenever one of us is sick, we act like what we want - not what the other wants - so I ignore him and he's all over me.

We're getting better, though... Victor actually said "Okay. I'll only ask this once. Do you want any soup or anything?" I said no and gave him the Really. Don't ask again look. It's rather comical because after all these years he still hovers and I still ignore.

After going to bed early Monday evening and spending all day Tuesday in bed, I surprised him by saying I was off to the Urgent Care place at 4:30pm. I get my annual physical, but I don't spend a lot of time at Dr's or take a ton of medications. To actually get up and go to a Dr means I don't feel good.

The good news is the lungs are clear and while my throat is raw and hurts like hell, there's no strep. The full throat labs take 72 hours, but they're not expecting anything...

I have an inhaler and a cough suppressant that seem to be doing a bit of good, but I still feel like I've been hit with a Mack Truck - and I have no appetite! I wonder how long I would need to be sick in order to lose 50 pounds?!?

I did have a bowl of homemade chicken soup when I got home, last night, and I had a fried egg on toast this morning - more because I know I actually need to eat in order to get well, than because I was hungry.

And it's now 9:30am. I'm crawling back into bed with a book...

Z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z..........

 


Roasted Vegetable Soup with Coca Cola Country Ham

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Coca Cola?!?  In MY house?!? Has the End of Times come and gone?!?

Well... not quite. It was a recipe ingredient. Really. And it was an imported Mexican Coke - made with sugar.

I drink maybe three Cokes a year. All from Mexico from an ice-cold bottle. Even if high fructose corn syrup was a healthy alternative to sugar, I wouldn't drink American Coca Cola. It's too damned sweet. The Mexican Coke made with sugar really is a fun and refreshing beverage. Three times a year.

I used to love Coke, Dr. Pepper, Bireley's Orange soda... Working in restaurants at a young age, I had a pretty much endless supply of it. But as I got older - and they changed the sweetener to HFCS - I lost my taste for it. Today, plain seltzer is my carbonated beverage of choice.

But we had country ham in the 'fridge compliments of Ann and Julie, and the label gave a recipe for fried ham in cola. I had to go for it. There's a world of difference between a country ham and a city ham. City hams - the ham you find at the supermarket, bone-in, boneless, spiral cut, etc., are a wet-cured ham, giving the meat a mild, tender and juicy flavor. Country hams, on the other hand, are dry-cured. They're rubbed with salt and seasonings, then smoked and aged for anywhere from a few months to several years. They're salty, chewy, and more intensely-flavored.

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The simple recipe called for half cola and half water in a skillet, and then to fry the ham in it for a few minutes per side. More braising than frying, but who am I to argue?

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It came out pretty damned good. The Coke added sweetness and the water leeched out a bit of the salt. It was chewy and really flavorful. I put pieces on buttered baguette and dipped it into the soup for a fun-flavor-combination.

The Soup...

It was going to be a roasted cauliflower soup, but when I opened the vegetable bin, I found bits and pieces of this-and-that that needed using up. Roasted Vegetable Soup was born.

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Broccoli, carrots, onion, cauliflower, garlic, and mushrooms were drizzled with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted at 425° for about 30 minutes. Into a pot they went with a cup of white wine, water, a carton of vegetable broth, and herbs d'Provence. When it all cooked down nice and mushy, I hit it with the immersion blender and 2 cups of heavy cream.

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It simmered away for a bit and dinner was served!

I vacuum-sealed the remaining ham and placed it in the freezer. I'm thinking that some of it is going to grace the Thanksgiving Table in some way and I definitely see a Bean Soup in our near future...

This is gonna be fun!

Thanks, Ann & Julie!


Pumpkin Soup and Panini

I made a Pumpkin Soup at work all week, so it was only fitting that I make more Pumpkin Soup at home, right?!? I mean, 'tis the season, and all...

Nonna has decided she doesn't like pumpkin, so... as long as we don't tell her it's pumpkin, she'll eat it. But... since she doesn't care for spicy, either, I made her a beef and barley sour and went all out on the heat with ours. Sometimes it's just easier to cook two meals...

I embellished the work recipe and made it heartier with roasted butternut squash and black beans. It was a winner.

Coconut Pumpkin Soup with Sriracha

  • 1 ctn Pumpkin Soup
  • 1 can Pumpkin
  • 1 can Coconut Milk
  • 1 can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 small butternut squash - peeled, cubed, and roasted
  • 2 tbsp Sriracha Sauce – or to taste

Mix all ingredients in a medium saucepan and simmer until hot. Check for seasoning and add salt & pepper, as desired.

Really simple.

The panini were prosciutto, asiago, and apricot jam on Tuscan Pane...

More simplicity.

The weather is starting to cooperate with soups and stews. More to come...


Butternut Squash Soup

 

I just love coming home to dinner on the table! It really is one of life's great luxuries. I cook dinner most nights and really do enjoy it, but if you're cooking, I'm eating. Just show me where to sit.

Victor is a great cook. He's instinctive. He just knows what will work. And this soup definitely worked!

He started by roasting the squash and then adding it to a quart of chicken broth. In went a bit of garlic and then some sour cream, and cayenne pepper.  He then added a can of cannellini beans and pureed it all with an immersion blender. I have said many time to go out and get one. It is indispensable in our house. He let it all simmer away until I walked in the door.

He drizzled the top with some of our Sicilian olive oil we hand-carried back from vacation, and added a dollop of sour cream.

It was awesome!  Rich, creamy, and lots of flavor. Even Nonna had two bowls and there was still enough left for Victor and Nonna to have some for lunch.

It was great!

This weekend is going to be a bit on the warm side so no more soups for a few days, but I can't wait until they're the every-night norm...

Bring on the cooler weather!

 

 


17 Bean Soup

  • 1 bag 17 Bean Soup Mix
  • 1 can Organic Diced Tomatoes
  • 2 ctns Chicken Broth
  • 1 ctn Mirepoix
  • 1 pkg Kielbasa, sliced or diced
  • Salt, Pepper, 21 Seasoning Salute, to taste, if desired

Soak beans overnight or follow quick-soak instructions on bean package.

Drain beans and place in pot with 1 qt chicken broth. Simmer about 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, in another pot, sauté mirepoix and kielbasa until lightly browned. Add 1 qt chicken broth to mirepoix/kielbasa pan and scrape up any browned bits. Add to beans and continue cooking until beans are done—about 45 more minutes.

Check for seasoning and add S&P or 21 Seasoning Salute, if desired.


15 Minute Lentil Soup

  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp Crushed Garlic
  • 1 container Mirepoix
  • 1 pkg Steamed lentils
  • 1 can Diced Tomatoes
  • 1 qt Chicken Broth
  • 1 pkg Andouille Sausage, optional
  • 21 Seasoning Salute to taste

In large pot sauté mirepoix in olive oil until it begins to soften—about 3 minutes. Add garlic and andouille sausage, if using, and continue cooking a few minutes.

Add tomatoes with juice, chicken broth, and lentils. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add 21 Seasoning Salute to taste.


Pork Pies and Bean Soup

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I cooked up a bunch of navy beans yesterday and took a pound of ground pork out of the freezer. I didn't have a real plan, but I had an idea. But after a yummy birthday lunch none of us were in a dinner mood.

Today, I had a bunch of cooked navy beans and thawed ground pork. I needed an idea.

My sister had made a comment about adding vodka to pie crust a few days ago, and while I knew the science behind it, I had never made a crust with vodka, before - so... I decided a pork pie with a vodka crust was in order. And bean soup.

I have been making the same pie crust for years - using the food processor. It is pretty no-fail and makes a perfect 2-crust pie. I decided to tweak it a bit with some vodka. The results were stellar. I think I shall be adding a couple of tablespoons of vodka in my crusts from now on!

Pie Dough

for a double crust:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/3 cup cake flour
  • 1/2 lb butter, frozen
  • pinch salt
  • 3 tbsp ice water
  • 3 tbsp cold vodka

Using a food processor, add flour and salt. Pulse to mix.

Chop up frozen butter and add. Pulse until butter is incorporated and mixture looks grainy.

Slowly add ice water and vodka. Pulse until mixed.

Turn out onto counter. Press and form mixture into 2 disks . Wrap in plastic and refrigerate about an hour to allow the flour to properly absorb the water and to relax the gluten.

Roll out crust and place in pie plate. Crimp edges and fill.

For a sweet crust add 2 tbsp sugar.

That's the basic.

For the pork pie, I used one crust for three pies and the other for a tart that I froze for Thanksgiving. This should actually be good for 6 pies.

Pork Pie

  • 1 lb ground pork
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 1 carrot, minced
  • 1 stalk celery, minced
  • 3 tbsp parsley, minced
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp sage
  • Pie dough

Preheat oven to 375°.

Grease a jumbo muffin tin with butter.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients.

Roll out the dough and cut out 6 8" circles.

Center the rounds in the tins. Divide the filling evenly among the cups and fold the excess dough over the tops, leaving a vent hole in the center.

Bake until the tops are browned and puffed slightly, about 45 minutes.

Serve warm.

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For the soup, I sauteed celery, carrots and onion in a bit of bacon grease and then added the beans and a couple cups of turkey broth. I let it all simmer and then hit it with an immersion blender to make it creamy. I added S&P - no other spices. It didn't need anything...

Victor thought the pork pie could have used a cream sauce. I think he's right. Maybe a creamy green peppercorn sauce or something along that line...

I'll figure something out by Thanksgiving...


Butternut Squash Soup Tim and Victor's Totally Joyous Recipes http://www.tahoet.com/tjrclone

Butternut Squash Soup

 

 

I was kinda brain-dead when I got home this afternoon. I was a bit tired and had no idea what I wanted for dinner, let alone what I felt like cooking. Had we been in San Francisco, I would have called Andy's and had Chinese food delivered. Alas, we're not in San Francisco and delivery out here in 'burbia is pretty non-existent.

Staring blankly in the kitchen, I espied a butternut squash. Soup. Dinner is solved. I even had a loaf of homemade bread in the freezer. Dinner definitely solved.

I tell ya, the beauty of our kitchen is we can come up with just about any idea and have the ingredients to make it. Or, at least, enough of them to fake it. I generally don't shop for meals, I just buy ingredients, and let the meals come together based upon what else is in the house.  It's not a system for everyone, but it works for me. I've had to give a bit more thought to it since Nonna moved in, but now I keep a few frozen Italian dinners in the freezer for the days I go off on a gastronomic tangent.

Butternut Squash Soup

  • 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut in cubes
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 4 oz pancetta, diced
  • 1 qt chicken broth
  • 1 can red beans, drained
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Mix squash with olive oil and roast in a 425° oven about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute onion and pancetta until onion is translucent. Add garlic and quickly cook. Add broth and bring to boil.

When squash is cooked, add it to the soup. Use an immersion blender and blend the soup, leaving a few chunks.

Add the beans and the tomatoes and heat everything through.

Check for seasonings and add salt and pepper, as desired.

Serve it up and top with a dollop of sour cream if you're feeling fancy.

The real beauty of soup is you can add just about anything you want. It's stuff in a broth. You can be as creative or as un-creative as you like - it will still work.

Of course, it helps when there's a loaf of homemade bread in the freezer...

Which reminds me... I was really good about keeping bread dough in the 'fridge for making a loaf of bread when I got home, but summertime is more conducive to buying than baking. Methinks this weekend I shall start my dough, again.

'Tis the season...


Sopa de Tomate

 

It was just a  few hours ago that I wrote that I rarely follow recipes. Here is one of those rare occasions.

I just got the latest issue of Saveur magazine and skimming through, I saw a photograph of eggs poached in tomato soup.

My heart skipped a beat. I seriously love eggs served in slightly unorthodox ways.  Over pastas, in soups, atop a burger... People all over the world eat eggs at any meal. Here, they're relegated to breakfast with a warning about not eating too many of them. Bah. Humbug. Eggs are one of the best foods a body can eat.  A barely-firm white with a silken runny yolk... gastronomic heaven. And the closer to the chicken that you can get them - the better they are.

The soup in question is from the Alentejo region of Portugal. It's south-central Portugal with a varied landscape - from beaches to rolling plains to granite hills.

This is rustic food at its finest - and my favorite form of food. I would really rather eat the basic foods of the locals than the latest Michelin-starred dish-of-the-moment. These are foods steeped in history and refined over the years. Their flavor belies their simplicity. And it's interesting watching how the flavors are layered - from bacon to chouriço to onions, garlic, tomato...  Everything built upon what was done before.

I followed the recipe fairly closely, but traditionally, a toasted slab of bread would be placed in the bowl, egg placed on it, and then soup ladled over all. I opted for a sliced baguette on the side that I used to wipe the bowl clean.

Sopa de Tomate

  • ½ lb. thick-cut bacon, cut into ½" pieces
  • ¼ lb. cured Portuguese chouriço sausage, cut into ¼" cubes
  • 2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 (28-oz.) cans whole peeled tomatoes, seeded and crushed
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1-2 eggs, per person

Heat bacon in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a bowl; set aside. Add sausage to pan; cook until browned, 4–5 minutes, then using a slotted spoon, transfer to bowl with bacon. Drain and discard all but 3 tbsp. fat from pan and add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly caramelized, 10–12 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1–2 minutes more. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, and 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, uncovered, until soup is slightly thickened, about 1 hour. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Purée soup with an immersion blender until smooth; transfer to a 14" high-sided skillet and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Working with 1 egg at a time, crack eggs into a small bowl and carefully slide into soup. Using a spoon, baste eggs with soup, until whites are firm and yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Place eggs in bowls and ladle soup over the top. Garnish with reserved bacon and sausage.

Nonna had manicotti. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be one of her favorites so I described the dish to her and then gave her another option - she took the other option. I have a few items in the freezer now that I can pull out for her when I want to cook something that may be a bit over-the-top for her.  I'm learning.

I think this may be resurrected this winter. I can see this simmering on the stove with snow falling outside...

And maybe I'll look for a recipe for a traditional Portuguese Pão Alentejano...


Peppers

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The peppers are suddenly multiplying, outside. What started off as a pretty dismal season has finally turned fruitful. I had enough to can and Victor had enough to make pepper bread.

Pepper Bread. It's one of those things that is just fantastic in its simplicity. It bursts with flavor - and the spicier the peppers, the better the bread. Even Nonna likes it.

Pepper Bread

  • 2 cups peppers
  • 2 1/2 - 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Slice peppers lengthwise and fry in olive oil until limp. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside and cool.

Mix yeast and water in mixing bowl. Add flour, salt, and olive oil and mix about 3 minutes.

Scrape down bowl and mix, adding the last 1/2 cup flour, as necessary, until dough is smooth and silken.

Roll into a ball and let rest 10 minutes.

Roll into a rectangle about 15" x 8". Spread cooled peppers on dough.

Roll tightly and place on sheet pan.

Bake at 400° about 25-30 minutes.

And while that was cooling, I cut peppers.

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Hot Pickled Peppers

  • 6 lbs hot peppers
  • 6 cups distilled white vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 4 tsp kosher salt

Wash and cut peppers to desired size.  (I made rings. )

Pack peppers into mason jars leaving about 1/2″ headroom.

Combine and heat sugar, salt, vinegar, and water.  Bring to boil and then simmer about 5-6 minutes.

Pour over peppers, leaving the same 1/2″ headroom.

Wipe rims of jars, top with lids and rings.

Process in a boiling water bath about 10 minutes.

And, because we needed something to eat with the pepper bread, I made soup.

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Beef, spicy andouille sausage, lots of veggies and elbow macaroni.

We're eating good.


Chicken Soup Tim and Victor's Totally Joyous Recipes www.tjrecipes.com

Feed A Cold...

Chicken Soup Tim and Victor's Totally Joyous Recipes www.tjrecipes.com

The Dreaded Summer Cold.

It really is one of the worst (non-life-threatening) illnesses out there. Ya feel like crud, there's nothing you can take to make you actually feel better, you lose your sense of taste and smell... It is just no fun.

Mine has been lingering in the peripheral of life - just enough to feel headachy and out of sorts. It's hit Victor Full-Tilt-Boogie. Imagine hacking and coughing and mountains of Kleenex and you get the picture.  I merely feel meh - he feels really rotten.

So we started the week with a thin-broth Chicken Soup.  There are a score of studies out there that show the medicinal properties of chicken soup. It really is Jewish penicillin. It hasn't seemed to cure anything this time around, though, but I'm going to make another batch tonight.

I also made some Beer Bread because it's easy and can be on the table in an hour. The recipe is totally no-brainer and can be played with to your liking.

Beer Bread Tim and Victor's Totally Joyous Recipes www.tjrecipes.com

I used Guinness in this batch because it's what I had in the 'fridge.

Beer Bread Tim and Victor's Totally Joyous Recipes www.tjrecipes.com

Since man - or Nonna - cannot live by soup alone, I stayed with the chicken theme, but added a twist - pureed carrots and peach-pepper jam. Capsasin is also a miracle food. We had the carrot puree at my sister's house in Portland a few weeks back - under her famous crab cakes.

Chicken with Peach and Pepper Jam and Carrot Puree  Tim and Victor's Totally Joyous Recipes www.tjrecipes.com

I grilled the chicken and topped it with the Peach-Pepper Jam.

For the carrot puree, I cooked carrots until they were really soft, and then blended them with salt, pepper, butter, and a bit of maple syrup. I saved a bit of the cooking water and used it to get the right consistency.I used my immersion blender but a regular blender will work just fine.

One of my favorite Lundgerg rice blends on the side...

Beef Pot Pie Tim and Victor's Totally Joyous Recipes www.tjrecipes.com

Feeling the need for Comfort Food, I next made a beef pot pie with biscuit topping. And I used canned biscuits. Yes, it's true. I was sick. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

And while they weren't horrible, there really is a reason why I make my own. Homemade really are better. The big secret to making a biscuit top is to make sure the filling is REALLY hot before putting the biscuits on and placing everything into the oven. If the filling is cold, the biscuit will burn before the bottom cooks. Ask me how I know.

I made a pretty basic beef stew - another item I really don't have a recipe for - put too much into the casserole, and it bubbled over everything. I did place it on a sheetpan in the oven, so I spared us the billowing clouds of smoke I'm famous for.

Still looking for Comfort Food, I next went for Tortellini with sauce made from fresh tomatoes out of our garden.

Tortellini Tim and Victor's Totally Joyous Recipes www.tjrecipes.com

Victor made the sauce. It's pretty much just throwing tomatoes in a skillet with some onion, garlic, red wine, some grated cheese, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs from the garden. Hit it with an immersion blender.

One of the bigger mistakes a lot of people do is try and replicate jarred sauces or flavors from packaged foods. Food manufactures are chemists who manipulate foods, ingredients, enhancers - you name it - to trick the brain into thinking it's good. Even All-Natural-Organic foods can contain ingredients like carrageenan that create an otherwise unnatural creaminess. It's like the biscuits I used. The ingredient list was a mile long - and they're "all-natural."

Real food tastes like real food. It's okay if your sauce doesn't taste like Ragu. in fact, it's better if it doesn't!

In the meantime, I'm off to make another pot of soup.

 

 


Chicken Soup

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I roasted a chicken the other night and roasted chicken always means soup a day or so later.

I have to admit that I don't quite get the concept of canned soup. Soup is the most basic food a person can make. And it's the perfect way to use up leftovers and those little bits and pieces of things that end up in little tupperware containers in the 'fridge - that end up becoming science projects and thrown away. Healthy, nutritious, and always good.

Soup can be simple or elaborate - ingredients chosen for a specific outcome - or a whole bunch of things tossed in a pot and simmered to a delicious end. While I do make both, my favorite soup is toss it in a pot. I love the variations. It takes no effort and the outcome always rocks.

Besides, it keeps the science experiments at bay.

Tonight's soup started with the chicken carcass and some chicken broth in the freezer. And some wine.  The carcass came out and the goodies started going in, starting with the leftover gravy from the roasted chicken.

Celery, carrots, garlic, onions, butter beans, cannelini beans, brown rice, black lentils, French lentils, egg noodles, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables... chunks of chicken...

The only seasonings were a pinch of French herbs and some S&P. It just didn't need a lot.

Naturally, I made a vat, so several containers went into the newly-emptied freezer.

Better than canned.

Much better.