Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Cider Cream

I make no secret of my love for All Things Pumpkin. I'll happily bake and cook with pumpkin on a year-round basis, but the cool, crisp and/or blustery weather of Autumn makes pumpkin recipes all the more appealing.

Most pumpkin dishes employ a sweet spiced flavor profile, such as my favorite pumpkin pie or my two favorite pumpkin bread recipes. When it comes to dinner selections, however, I prefer the savory ones. I have a pumpkin soup recipe that I love (which I have shared here in the past), but when I saw this recipe for a savory Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Cider Cream from Williams-Sonoma, I had to give it a try.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- You can find the soup recipe here. The recipe has several steps, but they can be done in stages. The pumpkin could be roasted days in advance, and the same with the reduced cider.

- Although the recipe directs cutting the whole pumpkins in quarters to roast, I roasted mine in halves, drizzled with olive oil and pepper. I added the salt later, because I thought it might draw the moisture out of the pumpkin as it roasted.

- I love that this recipe combines the flavors of sage and nutmeg.

- To finish the soup, the recipe has a lovely whipped cream flavored with concentrated cider. Rather than reducing a bunch of cider, I used boiled cider from King Arthur Flour, and the cream was perfectly flavored.

- I found that a half recipe made a big vat of soup.

the verdict:

My husband, who is definitely not the pumpkin fan that I am, said when he tasted his soup, "This is perfection." Don't tell anyone, but I was actually a bit disappointed by his reaction, because it meant less leftover soup for me!

By itself, the soup by was very very good but adding the cider cream completely balanced the flavors. The cider cream was not really sweet per se but it added a smoothing, slightly fruity note to the herby savory mixture of vegetable flavors in the soup. I can't wait to make this recipe again!

I'm sending this wonderful soup to my buddy Phyl to add to his pumpkin dinner roundup.

Red Kuri Squash Soup and my 400th Post!

Back when I began my blog I might have - rashly - thought that of course I'd still be blogging 29 months later, but from my current vantage point I'm a bit surprised that I'm still at it, writing, photographing, and posting the food that I prepare and that we eat. And although I was tempted to reach back into my stack of draft blog posts - my backlog hovers at around 150 posts at varying stages of readiness, for this my 400th post I will feature a recipe that I made yesterday.

At dinner last evening I was telling my family that my next post would be my blog's 400th and that I was unsure which recipe to use. My husband stopped, soup spoon halfway to his mouth and said, "Post this soup." So here it is, Red Kuri Squash Soup from Dorie Greenspan's newest book, Around My French Table. And really, it's only fitting that I use a recipe of Dorie's because it is her previous book, Baking From My Home to Yours and the baking group Tuesdays With Dorie that got me started on the whole blogging enterprise.

I'll be honest, here. Before today I'd never eaten kuri squash in my life. But it was pretty much a mission for me this fall. When cool weather hits, or when it hits places that have cool weather, the food world fairly explodes with recipes for winter squashes: butternut, pumpkin, acorn, and lesser known types such as kabocha, delicata, and kuri.

I was walking through the produce section of Whole Foods a few weeks ago and pounced when I saw a display of kuri squash. Luckily winter squash has a long shelf life, even if that shelf happens to be my kitchen counter, and yesterday's stormy weather gave me just the excuse to cut into that kuri and make some soup.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- The soup is beyond simple to make. Dorie shared the method in this post on her blog.

- The recipe calls for simmering the squash and some leeks in equal parts of milk and water. Luckily I had some leeks in the fridge, but I was running a bit short on milk. It was far too cozy and dry in my house for a run to the grocery store, so I mixed in a lot of half-and-half, a bit of milk, and some water. A little extra butterfat never hurt a soup. I'm sure the French would agree.

- After half an hour or so of simmering, I used my immersion blender to puree the soup right in the 4 quart soup pot. There was at least 2 quarts of soup, and given that two of the three humans in our household don't care for squash, I was pretty sure I'd be giving away several pints of soup.



the verdict:

My daughter wandered into the kitchen as I was pureeing the soup and readying it for its photo session. We had a late afternoon soup snack together. Her reaction? "Mom, I love this soup. Don't give any of it away."

A couple of hours later, when dinner time rolled around, my daughter asked for soup. Then my husband requested a bowl. After he tasted it, I thought I heard him say, "This is really rich." I must have had the half and half substitution on the brain because he really said, "This is really good!"

So there you have it: my two squash-haters loved this simple, easy soup. I think you will too; it is smooth in texture and flavor. The nutty flavor of the kuri comes through and is perfectly accented by a bit of nutmeg and black pepper. That big vat of soup will disappear in short order, as I can see it on the lunch, snack, and dinner menu for the next several days. And I envision licking the bowl when the last drop has been served.

In honor of my 400th post, I am going to make a donation to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, so that others in my community might be able to eat.

Overnight Oven Stock and Turkey Leek Soup

It has always been m habit to make stock with the remains of my Thanksgiving turkey (I previously posted my stock recipe here). I freeze most of it, and usually give some away. A couple of days after Thanksgiving last year Michael Ruhlman posted two recipes. The first was his Turkey Stock: Oven Method and the other was a Turkey Leek Soup that could be made with the stock. I prepared both recipes, and address them separately, below.

n.o.e.'s notes, overnight turkey stock:

- You can find the stock and soup recipes here.

- There are several advantages to using this method for cooking stock. First, it is cooked on very low heat for a very long slow cooking time. Ruhlman says 8 to 16 hours in the oven. That gives a lot of flexibility and does not keep you tied to the stove, to wakefulness, or, indeed even to your house while the stock cooks. The temperature is low enough that you can sleep or run errands without the fear that the house will burn down in your absence.

- Perhaps my favorite part of this recipe is that it begins with bones plus water, that is all. Eventually, after the pot has a long stint in a slow oven, at your convenience you add some aromatic vegetables and seasonings. Then you can return the stove to the oven for several more hours, or you can finish it more quickly in the conventional manner on top of the stove. This suits me because for some reason I'm always very pressed for time when I'm trying to make stock, and find it difficult to find the time to chop and peel the vegetables at the beginning of the process of stock-cooking.

- I always add all of the optional flavoring ingredients to the stock.

- One tip: your oven might decide to turn itself off after a certain number of hours, so if you are heading out the door or going to sleep, I'd advise turning the oven off and re-starting it.

the verdict, stock:

Although I love my usual stock recipe once I made Ruhlman's stock with last Thanksgiving's turkey carcass I have not used any other method to make chicken or turkey stock in the intervening year. It is a far easier and more flexible way to cook stock, and the end result is as tasty as my previous recipe.

n.o.e.'s notes, turkey leek soup:

- As long as you have some leeks on hand, you can make this soup easily with leftover turkey meat and your wonderful fresh stock. You can also make it with stock you've stashed in your freezer, and an poultry scraps you might save, and leeks, of course.

- This soup was a snap to make, which was quite welcome after all of the cooking involved in Thanksgiving dinner.

the verdict, soup:

Leeks, the well-mannered, refined members of the onion family, lend a subtle note to this soup. It made a lovely light dinner served on Thanksgiving weekend with bread and salad on the side (and a little leftover pie to finish it off!)

Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating today!

Provencal Tomato Soup

What do you do when you have a surplus of fresh tomatoes? I often make either a quick or a long-simmering tomato sauce. In the summer my default plan is gazpacho. But the last time I had an overstock of tomatoes on my counter, I was in the mood for a different kind of soup. I searched my cookbooks and found a promising candidate - a soup with the herbal flavors of Provence.


n.o.e.'s notes:

- The recipe is from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper

- I used fresh tomatoes. The author is very clear that Roma tomatoes are not good to use for anything, and recommends using the best tasting fresh tomatoes available, or good quality canned.

- The recipe's ingredient list specifies dried herbs. It was quite tempting to substitute fresh herbs from my little garden, but I didn't. Boy was I glad when I turned the page and found this note:

"Resist substituting fresh herbs for the dried ones called for here. They should be dried (but never powdered), just as they are in Provence's famous blend, herbes de Provence. The ready-made blend is often stale. Here you will be making your own."

- I removed the skins from my fresh tomatoes by immersing in boiling water for 1 minute then immediately putting them into an ice bath. After that the skins just rub off easily.

- I was a bit leery of the cinnamon in the recipe and used less than half and it was almost too much.

- At the end, goat cheese is stirred into the soup. I had a lovely seven-pepper-encrusted goat cheese from the farm box, which added a bit of spicy heat to the soup.

- The recipe has a variation where the dried herbs are replaced by fresh basil, and I plan to try that next time.


the verdict:

This was an unusual take on tomato soup, and I enjoyed every spoonful. The cinnamon nearly ran away with the soup, though, so next time I would add only the smallest pinch, then adjust to taste.

the recipe:

South of France Tomato Soup with Young Chevre
from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper

generous 1/2 tsp dried basil
generous 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
generous 1/2 tsp dried oregano
generous 1/2 tsp dried thyme
extra virgin olive oil
3 med onions, finely chopped (I used about 9 ounces)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
generous 1/4 cup tomato paste
1/3 cup dry vermouth
2 pounds good tasting tomatoes (not Romas), peeled, seeded, and chopped, or one 28-ounce can whole tomatoes with their liquid, crushed
approximately 28 ounces of broth and 2/3 cup water
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, or to taste (I used 1/8 tsp of Vietnamese cinnamon, and would use less next time)
4 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled

1. Combine the dried herbs in a small cup. Crush them lightly until they become fragrant. Set aside.

2. Film the bottom of a 6-quart pot with olive oil. Heat over medium-high heat. Stir in the onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the onions are golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often. Add the reserved herbs and the garlic. Continue cooking until their aromas open up, about 30 seconds.

3. Blend in the tomato paste until there are no lumps; then add the vermouth and tomatoes. Boil for 2 minutes. Pour in the broth, stir, adjust the heat to a light bubble, and cover the pot tightly. Cook for 20 minutes. Then blend in the cinnamon, and taste the soup for seasoning.

4. Ladle the soup into bowls, and top each serving with crumbles of goat cheese.

English Onion Soup with Sage and Cheddar

February 4 is National Homemade Soup day, and I can think of no better way to celebrate than with a hot bowl of English Onion Soup with Sage and Cheddar.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I found the recipe here on Jamie Oliver's website, and mentioned it to my cooking friends on Twitter. Before I knew it, half a dozen of us decided to make the soup. Leslie of Lethally Delicious made this soup first, and reported that hers was bland, so I worked extra hard to develop maximum flavor at every stage of the soup.

- It is very important to measure your onions by weight for this recipe; no volume measurements are provided, and the size of onions varies wildly. I used 1000g of a mixture of five different types of onions: white onions, red onions, shallots (regular), leeks, and baby Vidalias.


- Oliver stresses that the onions should be cooked on low temperature to bring out their sweetness. I chose med/low, and my onions took a lot longer to cook that the recipe recommends. I wanted to make sure that the liquid evaporated off and they got caramelized, so I think my onions cooked about 80 minutes or so.

- I made sure to season at every stage with salt and pepper.

- Oliver allows a choice of which type of stock to use for the soup's base. I had just prepared some turkey and chicken stock from Ruhlman's overnight method, so that's what I used.

- My bread was from a homemade loaf of Bread Baker's Apprentice Italian Bread.

- Some lovely sharp 10 year aged cheddar finished off the soup.

- I ended up with about 2.5 quarts of soup. One quart went directly into the freezer for a rainy day.


the verdict:

I absolutely loved this soup, and surprisingly, so did my husband. He has never liked French onion soup, so I served this to him with a bit of trepidation. It was different from French onion soup, which to me tends to be mostly about the beef broth and the melted gruyere. This soup was packed with onions, and there was a plethora of different onion flavors which were complemented by the woodsy sage and the sharp cheddar. I really liked the poultry stock as a base for this, and would definitely make it the same next time.

Chilled Tomato Soup

Let's see a show of hands here: When you heard on Oct 5 that Daniel Boulud's restaurant Daniel was just was awarded three-star Michelin status, did it inspire you to run out and prepare one of Boulud's dishes in your own kitchen? No, me neither. In fact, truth be told, I wasn't familiar with the chef.

But in a timely coincidence I happened to have make one of his recipes just days earlier.

Last week Gavin Kaysen of Cafe Boulud prepared dinner at the Beard House (I know this because I "follow" @beardfoundation on Twitter). One dish that he made was Daniel Boulud's Chilled Tomato Soup with Basil Guacamole. I had just picked up some end of summer tomatoes from our local farm stand, and, amazingly, had all of the other ingredients on hand (well, it turned out that my leeks and fennel had gotten a bit too old in the fridge, so I had to replace them) so I cooked it right up.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I loved the taste of the pureed soup before adding the tomato juice.

- Basil and avocado are a new combination for me, and I was glad to have a chance to use some of my basil (which really flourished in the herb garden this summer) in making the basil guacamole.

- An immersion blender comes in very handy to puree the soup without having to clean the big blender.

- I didn't end up straining the soup, opting to leave it "rustic", since it was weeknight dinner for my husband and me. If I were serving this soup to company, I'd definitely strain it.

the verdict:

This is a great soup to have in the summer arsenal. Cool, refreshing, complex, refined (especially once it's strained). All of the vegetables added depth of flavor. The soup lasted a long time in the fridge, and was delicious for lunch or along with dinner. And while it's just a little intimidating to make comments/suggestions about a 3-star Michelin chef's recipe (!) I think I'd reduce the tomato juice the next time, as I thought it masked the other flavors just a tiny bit.

White Chicken Chili

Even though I blanketed this chili with chopped fresh parsley (which usualy does the trick) it still looks pretty dreadful in the picture. But don't let the appearance stop you from trying this recipe - it's a delicious and healthy alternative to red chili; perfect for summer!

I've been making this recipe for so long, I can't remember exactly where I found it. It's very similar to one that Williams-Sonoma had, but I've made enough changes over the years that I like to think of it as mine! This is one of my favorite recipes for using leftover chicken (white meat or a combination, as in the batch pictured). When my husband used to go camping with another dad and all the kids, I always made this chili for them to heat over the campfire.


White Chili

1 lb dried great northern white beans, rinsed and picked over (or can use canned white beans, see note below)
2 lb boneless chicken breasts (or use cooked chicken)
1 T. olive oil
2 med. onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves
2 4-oz cans chopped green chilies
2 tsp ground cumin
1 ½ tsp dried oregano, crumbled
¼ tsp gr. cloves
¼ tsp cayenne
1 cup frozen white shoepeg corn, thawed
6 cups chicken stock or broth (or less, if thicker chili desired)
1 T. lime juice
3 c. grated Monterey jack cheese (12 oz)
sour cream, salsa, chopped cilantro

1. place beans in pot, cover by 3 in water and soak overnight

2. cook chicken, cut into cubes

3. drain beans. heat oil in same pot over med-hi heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent (10 min)

4. stir in garlic, chilies, cumin, oregano, cloves, cayenne and sauté 2 min.

5. add beans and stock and bring to boil. reduce heat and simmer 2 hrs, until beans very tender.

6. add lime juice, chicken, corn and 1 c. cheese, and stir until cheese melts.

7. season with salt and pepper.

8. serve with remaining cheese, cilantro, salsa and sour cream.

note:
This is easier if you have cooked chicken on hand and you use canned great northern beans. You’d use about 1 ½ of the 15 oz size cans of beans per recipe (so it’s easiest to double the recipe and use 3 cans! Or freeze ½ can for next time.) If using canned beans, skip step #1, and step #5. Reduce the amount of stock by at least 1/3. Add the stock and canned beans with the chicken, corn, and cheese in step #6, and just cook until heated through. This recipe freezes well – prepare through step 5, and freeze with or without cooked chicken. After thawing, continue starting with step 6.

Ultimate "Chicken" "Noodle" Soup

Meatballs? Yes please! I have never met a meatball that I haven't liked. Swedish meatballs from IKEA? I've bought them by the bagful. Meatballs made with grape jelly (those mainstays of Junior League cookbooks) served at cocktail parties? I'll be standing right there at the chafing dish. My mother's spaghetti and meatballs? This is what I'd likely consume at my 'last meal.'

I do have a problem with meatballs, though. They are a pain in the neck to make. I really dislike browning a big pile of meatballs on top of the stove. For spaghetti and meatballs, I try for the brown-on-6-side approach. They end up looking like oversized dice, rather than balls, but they still taste amazing. Because of the high "bother factor", I make meatballs rarely. (I should probably try baking my meatballs in the oven, but I really like the taste they get from browning in a skillet with olive oil)

Why all this meatball talk in a post about chicken noodle soup? Good question! Tyler Florence featured this soup on his Rainy Saturday episode of Tyler's Ultimate, and he presented it as the ultimate chicken noodle soup. Now I'll bet there are lots of grannies out there who would wag their fingers about this soup passing for chicken noodle. It has a chicken broth for a base, but the "chicken" is chicken meatballs and the "noodle" is tortellini. Really, this is an Italian Wedding soup without the spinach.

No matter what it's called, when I watched the episode with this soup, I decided to brave the meatball experience to try the recipe.

n.o.e.'s notes:

I cooked this soup the same week that I watched this episode, and even took notes, but when the time came to prepare the recipe I couldn't find my notes and didn't remember some of the steps and tips. Here are the things I learned from making this recipe (a lot of meatball-making tips!):

- The most important thing is to be sure to use fresh - raw - sausage. The comments section of the online recipe is filled with tales of meatball woes, and many of the people used the fully cooked sausages, which do not work with this recipe. If you want to use those cooked sausages, just slice them and add them to the soup (you will save the meatball-making hassle, but the flavor will suffer a bit, imo).

- I couldn't find raw chicken apple sausage (the flavor Tyler used), so I purchased chicken Italian sausage - which was fine b/c of the tortellini and parmesan gave it a slight Italian flavor. (Shredded basil could be added to the soup at the end to further empasize the Italian aspect.) I found the sausage at Whole Foods, used 5 links, .8 lb total, and removed the casings.

- I don't think it would be very difficult to start with ground chicken and add some spices to make homemade bulk sausage.

- There's a mysterious lack of direction in the recipe. You use half the garlic for the broth part and then it doesn't say what you do with the other half. I put it in with the meat.

- I thought the food processor was unnecessary for the meatballs - and I just hate washing it when I don't need to use it! In fact, as the recipe is written, the mixture ends up overprocessed by the time the parsley is chopped. The next time I would either: 1. chop the parsley and mix the meatballs by hand instead of in the fp. Or 2. put the onions and parsley in, process, then add the other ingredients just to incorporate.

- Because the meatball mixture was kind of wet I added some panko crumbs. Crumbled bread would work also.

- I took Tyler's tip to use a 1 tsp disher to form the meatballs. (When I make my bigger meatballs for spaghetti, I roll them between my palms. This mixture was a lot wetter than meatballs I usually make.)

- These meatballs were so small that I couldn't give them the six-sided dice browning treatment. Instead, it was more like browning on 5 or even 4 sides. They went into the frying pan as adorable little balls and came out with funny angles and flat places.

- I used a 9 oz pkg of Whole Wheat Tortellini from Monterey Pasta Company, in Classic Italian Cheese flavor. This is my favorite brand of the pre-made pastas - it comes in a refrigerator case but I when I buy it I always throw it right in my freezer until I'm ready to use it. I always have a couple of packages of these in the freezer for those "desperation dinners!"

- Half the broth was my homemade turkey stock. Because my stock was so strong, I didn't want to use it for all the soup's liquid. I filled in with purchased chicken broth.

- I added "hot salt" (a salt blended with hot red peppers) to the broth and the meat mixture. I also added ground black pepper, which is not in the recipe.

- Tyler served this soup with grilled cheese sandwiches and brownies for lunch. Whoa, that's a lot of food for lunch! We enjoyed the soup with a salad and bread for dinner.

the verdict:

This was tasty soup! Making and browning the meatballs was a bit of a bother, but luckily we got enough servings out of the soup to make more than two dinners for the two of us. To be honest, a good part of the great flavor was from the homemade turkey stock I used.

My biggest beef with this "ultimate" chicken noodle soup is that your really can't call it that. It isn't chicken noodle - not from the perspective of the chicken or the noodles. It is, however, a really good soup that features meatballs and tortellini - and "ultimately" that's a good thing.

I'm submitting this to to Tyler Florence Fridays, a group devoted to exploring Tyler's recipes on a weekly basis. Stop by and see what the Tyleristas are cooking up!

Provencal Beef Daube

I have been making recipes from Cooking Light for more than 20 years. In fact before Cooking Light was a magazine it was a featured section of Southern Living Magazine, and I have some "Cooking Light" recipes that I tore out of Southern Living's pages. I don't subscribe to the magazine but I pick up an occasional issue in the grocery store. In the Fall of 2007 I came home with the 20th Anniversary issue of the magazine, which has turned out to be a veritable treasure-trove and has earned a permanent place on my cookbook shelves. (I've previously posted the Creamed Corn with Bacon and Leeks and the Penne with Vodka Cream Sauce, both from this issue. Edit: also Pasta with Prosciutto and Parmesan and Halibut with Bacon and Mushrooms) Another recipe in the issue that caught my eye was for Provencal Beef Daube, which was tagged as the "Best Beef Dish" in the magazine's history:

"It stands above all our other beef recipes because it offers the homey comfort and convenience of pot roast yet is versatile and sophisticated enough for entertaining."

Given this endorsement, I just had to try the dish for dinner guests. n.o.e.'s notes: I cut my own cubes from a wonderful beef chuck roast that I ordered through my farm box people. The roast was a tiny bit short of the specified 2 pounds, so I increased the carrots a little. As it turned out, the proportion was off - it really needed the full quantity of the meat and fewer carrots than I used. I browned the beef in two batches (in a 3 qt dutch oven, so the meat would brown rather than steam. This was the first time I used my new Lodge enameled cast iron - love the way it cooks. After starting the stew on the stove top, it finishes with 2 1/2 hours in the oven.

Ready to do time in the oven.

the verdict: I ladled the daube over buttered plain and spinach noodles. Although the recipe claims to yield 6 servings, we had just enough for 4 people. We really enjoyed this recipe (aside from wishing that I'd make it with the proper proportions of beef and carrots). All the flavors has mellowed richly during their long slow time in the over. It's as good as my go-to beef stew recipe, and more company-ready. Because it bakes in the oven rather than simmers on the stovetop, it needs less attention, leaving me do other things to prepare for company. Although it is a Cooking Light recipe, it is substantial and hearty - perfect for warming up on a gray, chilly day.

{Simple Soup Supper} Union Square Black Bean Soup, two ways

Black bean soup is one of the signature dishes at the Union Square Cafe in New York. When I ate there a year ago, I ordered this soup. It was extraordinarily good. Imagine my joy when I discovered an online recipe for the soup! [edit to add the link for the soup recipe] And even greater joy when I was given a copy of the Union Square Cafe Cookbook.

So the week before last, with temperatures dipping into the single digits (yes, here in Georgia), I decided it was the perfect time to make this soup.

n.o.e. notes

- I was very tempted to brown the veggies and bacon for a bit, but the recipe says to throw it all in a pot with water and the black beans, then pop it in the oven for, oh, 4 hours or so. That's what I did.

- The recipe calls for a 3-quart pot. After reading the recipe, I was dubious about the size, but figured surely the cookbook knows how much it makes. I used my 3-quart le Creuset-wanna-be Lodge pot and sure enough there was no way 2 quarts of water were going to fit in that baby with all the other ingredients. 6 cups were the limit. I ended up adding a little bit more as the soup cooked down. Luckily, the soup didn't seem to need the full 8 cups.

- I used Benton's bacon (of course!) While the soup cooked, the smoky aroma of the bacon just filled the house.

- I loved the technique of baking this soup. It totally eliminates any question of soup sticking to the bottom of the pot. Just pop it in the oven and forget about it. I imagine this recipe could be made in a slow cooker.

- After the soup comes out of the oven the directive is to "puree the beans with their cooking liquid." What about the veggies? and the bacon??? do they get to come along for for a whirl in the blender? Pureeing boiled bacon sounded kind of weird to me. I shot off a quick email to the restaurant asking them about that pureeing step. And whether I should have sauteed the veggies and bacon in the beginning. And the restaurant actually emailed me back!!! How cool is that??? And here's the scoop: the recipe does mean for us to just throw everything into the pot in an uncooked condition, but in the actual restaurant the chefs "show a little love" by sauteeing everything first (well, not the black beans.) And yes, according to the chef, we are supposed to blend everything together at the end.

- I used my new immersion blender that Santa brought me for Christmas. Boy is that thing effective! As it turns out, after 4 hours in the oven, the bacon is so softened that it blends just as well as everything else.


- My husband Jim was there (with a spoon) when I took the pot out of the oven and he fell out over* the taste. He didn't want me to puree it, and suggested that we leave some unblended and compare it to the blended. A taste test! I'm all in.

the verdict:

This is a very nice black bean soup. The smokiness of the Benton's comes through as well as the flavors of all the veggies, complemented by the shot of sherry that gets added to the bowl at serving time. I served this with a salad and the Mesa Grill corn muffins. Ha, recipes from two NYC restaurants!

We both tasted the soup both ways - pureed and un-pureed. My husband preferred his un-pureed, saying, "the mastication process infuses the taste into my olfactory facilities," which in turn made it taste better. I kinda agree with him about the taste thing, but if I'm going to have black bean soup I just want it pureed. Easy as that.


* "fell out over" in common parlance means to disagree about something. My very Southern mother-in-law, however, always uses the phrase to mean "liked something very much."

My very own Red Chili Throwdown: Bobby Flay vs America's Test Kitchen

Above: Bobby Flay
Below: America's Test Kitchen

I didn't set out to have a chili throwdown. Really, I didn't. Most accurately, this is an ex post factum match-up of two recipes that were in my draft folder.

I've cooked chili over the years, but I've never had a recipe for a good solid red chili. When we were in the mood for chili, most of the time we'd cracked open a bag of Carroll Shelby's chili mix. Just add 2 lbs of beef, a can of tomato sauce, and some water, and you've got chili in less than half an hour. You can customize your chili by adding as much or as little as you want of the included masa flour (thickening), salt, or cayenne pepper. Or you can get fancy and jazz it up, adding your own extra tomato, or onions, peppers, beans, cheese, etc. We've never had any complaints about good ole' Carroll Shelby's chili.


But I did want a standby chili recipe. As I've browsed the food blogisphere, I've planted various bookmarks, not to mention real paper bookmarks in some of the cookbooks on my shelves.

The one I decided to try was a Red Beef Chili recipe from the "Chili" episode of the Food Network's Throwdown with Bobby Flay. It sounded delicious (and had a bunch of rave reviews), and might be a fantastic special-occasion chili (this is not a contradiction in terms!) I made the chili back in November, but in between my trip to Germany and the holiday crush I never got it posted.

Recently another red chili caught my eye: in my America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook there's a recipe for Weeknight Slow Cooker Chili. It sounded easy (and good) so I cooked it right up to eat alongside the Extra Spicy Corn Muffins that I baked for TWD.

When I realized that I had these two separate draft posts about chili, I decided to combine them. In each recipe I used ground beef and pretty much the same combination of chili powders, so there is actually a decent base of comparison. Throwdown time!

I will describe and give a verdict for each of the chili recipes separately and then at the end of the post, I will give an overall verdict.

Bobby Flay Red Beef Chili
cook's notes:

- This recipe was more complicated than I'm usually willing to cook. It called for 4 kinds of chili powder alone. After running all around town, I had accumulated an assortment of chili powders - none of which really matched what he specified. I decided to add them in, and hope for the same complexity of flavor. (I haven't seen the TV episode with his chili, but I'm guessing I was supposed to grind my own from the different chiles? Or source them at some obscure online chili powder emporium?)

- The ingredient list also includes 5 different chile peppers including prepared ancho chiles (that had to be separately pureed). I had better luck locating the peppers.

Here are the many different peppers, all chopped up and ready for the pot

- I used a 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes with mild green chiles, because I had one that I'd opened by mistake. I drained them and pureed them in the blender.

- I substituted ground beef for the cubes of bottom round beef. It was in the freezer. I debated buying new beef, but ultimately decided if I loved the chili's flavor then next time I'd go the extra mile with the beef.

- The chili was pretty thin so I sprinkled 1/8 c. masa flour to thicken the chili slightly


- The chili recipe doesn't call for any beans (Texas style), but we like them so I added some canned pinto beans.

the verdict - Bobby Flay's chili:

This recipe took a ton of time, and featured plenty of hard to find ingredients. We liked it but didn't love it. My husband said, "in the realm of all possible chili recipes this falls in the middle." Not enough of an endorsement for me to make it again!

It could be that I really missed out by not using Bobby's formula of magic special chili powders, but here's my opinion: If, after my best efforts at several specialty stores, and every pan in the kitchen dirty, I only end up with average chili, this is not the recipe for me.

America's Test Kitchen Weeknight Slow Cooker Chili

After Bobby Flay's fancy chili didn't pan out, I was back in the market for a chili recipe, preferably something just a tad easier. It took me a while before I could actually face cooking chili again, but when the savory corn muffins came up as a January TWD pick, I decided the time was right for more chili experimentation.


I figured if anyone was going to have a good, reliable chili recipe it would be the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. This 3-ring binder- style volume has got some great basic recipes, all backed by that exhaustive ATK testing.

The biggest draw? The recipe looked good, could be made in a crock pot, and was easy. Very easy. Already this recipe had an advantage over Bobby Flay! (In the Family Cookbook there's actually another slow cooker chili recipe that's an even closer match to Bobby Flay's, but I was in the market for simple this time)

cook's notes:

[edit: I just realized that I didn't give any info about the ATK recipe. Their recipes aren't generally available for free online, but here's a summary of ingredients: 2 T. vegetable oil, 2 chopped onions, 1 chopped red bell pepper, 1/4 c. chili powder, 1 T. cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne, salt, 6 minced cloves of garlic, 2 lb 85% lean ground beef, 1 28 oz can tomato puree, 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, 2 15 oz cans red kidney beans, rinsed. Everything gets cooked on the stovetop before being added to the slow cooker.]

- I made 1/2 recipe

- Again I decided to use beef from the freezer. This time I had just 3/4 lb 'chili ground' beef (instead of the 1 lb that I should have had for a half recipe). The recipe specifies no leaner than 85%, because the long cook in the crock pot would toughen a leaner grind of beef. I don't know the fat content of the beef I used, but I could tell from looking at it that it was plenty.

- I didn't have any bell pepper, so used a large jalapeno in place of the half bell pepper.

See the three different chili powders? Each had a distinctive flavor.

- I mixed 3 different kinds of chili powder - pretty much the same ones that I'd used for Bobby Flay's red chili:

Urban Accents Mesa Rosa Chipotle
Urban Accents Rio Grande Chili Blend
Whole Foods 365 Valle del Sol Chili Powder

- My pantry search netted tomato sauce but no puree. The internet informed me the two products are similar in texture and close to interchangeable, so interchange I did. Since I only had 3/4 of the meat, I reduced the tomato sauce a little bit.

- The chili cooked on high for 3 1/2 hrs and low for 1 hr.

- A full recipe would have filled my 4 quart slow cooker - maybe too full.

the verdict on America's Test Kitchen chili:

We found this to be a great basic red chili, and it will become my chili for everyday and for chili-type entertaining. It doesn't save any dishes, or really any prep time over most other chili recipes, but the slow cooker really does meld the flavors and smooth the textures, while providing an easy way to set up the food in advance and have a fabulous hot meal later.

Winner of the Throwdown:

The crock pot chili soundly whupped Bobby Flay's chili. It was easier, used far fewer dishes, and still benefited from the variety of flavors found in the three chili powders. Someday I'll grind all my own chiles, but until that time, this chili recipe will be a fantastic way to use up all that specialty chili powder that I bought! It's good with or without a corn muffin...

{Simple Soup Supper} Union Square White Bean and Broccoli Soup

Last January I enjoyed a lovely meal at the Union Square Cafe in NYC, including a bowl of their fabulous Black Bean Soup. I intend to try making that soup sometime soon using Benton's bacon!

A few weeks ago I was delighted to spy a copy of The Union Square Cafe Cookbook on my mother's bookshelves and this recipe for White Bean and Broccoli Soup with Parmigiano and Prosciutto (recipe at end of this post) jumped out at me. It has all of my favorite flavors, and I had some lovely little heads of broccoli that came in my farm box.

cook's notes:

- This was a fairly easy soup; most of the time is waiting for the beans to soak or cook.

- I couldn't find coriander seeds anywhere local, so I just added a pinch of ground coriander.

- for added flavor, you can add Parmigiano rinds into the soup at the same time you add the salt.

- I froze half of the soup after step 4


the verdict:

Although my husband was deeply suspicious while this soup was cooking, we both loved it and it has earned "keeper" status.

White Bean and Broccoli Soup with Parmigiano and Prosciutto

serves 4

3.4 cup dries cannellini or Great Northern Beans
1 tsp coriander seeds
¼ tsp black peppercorns
1 fresh thyme sprig
4 parsley sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 T. butter
¾ cup sliced onions
¾ cup sliced celery
¾ cup slices leeks, white and light green parts only, washed
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp kosher salt
2 oz prosciutto, finely diced (1.2 c.)
4 c. broccoli florets (1/2 lb)
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
¼ c. shredded or coarsely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Soak the beans in water overnight or for at least 6 hours.

2. Make an herb bundle: In a small piece of clean cheesecloth, place te coriander seeds, peppercorns, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Close the bundle by tying with a piece of kitchen twine.

3. Melt the butter over a medium flame in a 3 quart saucepan; add the onions, celery, leeks, and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Add the herb bundle, beans, and 8 cups water.

4. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and gently simmer, covered, for 1 ½ hours. Season with the salt and cook for an additional 30 minutes, or until the beans are tender.

5. Discard the herb bundle, add the prosciutto and the broccoli, and simmer 3 to 5 minutes, until cooked. Just before serving, stir in the balsamic vinegar and season with freshly ground black pepper to taste. Pour the soup into warm bowls and garnish with the grated Parmigiano.

Taking Stock

When I woke up today, I didn't think I'd spend the better part of the morning cleaning out our two freezers, although they desperately needed organizing (a fact that hadn't escaped me or anyone else who's had the misfortune of opening a freezer door.) There was lots of good stuff buried in those freezers and I need some more room for early Christmas baking (I need to fit a cheesecake in this weekend), so after eating my granola I found myself jumping right in.

Fast forward a few hours, and I have one freezer dedicated to ingredients - everything from grated citrus zests and cups of mashed bananas to a healthy supply of bacon and chicken breasts - and the other freezer has prepared food - quarts of soup, pans of lasagna and mac n' cheese, tamales, and chocolate pound cakes. My plan is to eat from the freezer and pantry during the busy holiday season. I've also set aside a shelf for scraps of cooked meat for the doggies, so everyone in the house will benefit!

One thing that I try to have on hand is a supply of homemade chicken or turkey stock. I keep a large zipper bag in the freezer for poultry bones, and when it gets filled, I put a pot on to make stock. The day after Thanksgiving I usually make a huge batch of turkey stock. For years I'd use that stock as a base for a lovely turkey soup that we could enjoy on Christmas Eve after the children's pageant and before we hung stockings and waited for Santa.

This year's turkey yielded 12 cups of stock. A.L.E. used some to make a delicious risotto over Thanksgiving weekend; the remaining stock is in the freezer. Here's the turkey stock recipe that I use, based on the one in Jane Brody's Good Food Book:

Turkey Carcass Stock

turkey carcass bones, and whatever meat scraps, drippings, giblets (except liver), even leftover gravy, you want to throw in
12-14 c water (enough to almost cover bones)
2 large celery ribs cut in pieces, plus all the celery leaves from the heart
2 large carrots, cut in pieces, around 1 1/2 cups
1 1/2 large onions, cut in eighths, studded with 6 cloves
2 cloves of garlic, smashed and quartered
1-2 bay leaves, broken in pieces
1 tsp salt
several sprigs fresh Italian parsley (or 2 tsp dried parsley flakes)
1-2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried)
several sage leaves, torn in pieces (or 1/2 tsp dried)
12 peppercorns

Simmer on stovetop, partially covered for a minimum of two hours. It will get richer the longer it cooks.

Remove from heat, strain through cheesecloth, or in a fine mesh strainer, pressing lightly on solids.

cook's notes:

- I usually put in water to just below the level of the tops of the bones. The carcass will come apart and compact as it cooks.

- If you leave the pan less covered as it cooks, the stock will be more concentrated and flavorful, but you will end up with a smaller quantity.

- I freeze this in pints and in cups. You can also freeze in ice cube trays for those time when you just need a bit of stock, but I rarely bother.

{T-giving} Pumpkin Soup

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We are having an unusual holiday; since A.L.E. flew in today, and our relatives were otherwise occupied, we only had the three of us for dinner. We decided to split the cooking and eating over two days, and have our Thanksgiving first course and desserts today (with mac n cheese from the freezer), and the turkey and trimmings main course on Friday (with leftover pies, of course!)

Here's a fantastic pumpkin soup that we first tried last year. It made such a big hit with all of us, we just had to repeat it. You can make this recipe in a snap, and it's low fat but so rich and creamy tasting that you'd never know!

Pumpkin Soup
This is my adaptation of a recipe from Epicurious.com, but I can't find the original cite.

2 Tablespoon unsalted butter or less if using a nonstick pan
1 cup chopped onion (I used pre-chopped)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 ¾ cups chicken broth (14oz can), or homemade (I used homemade)
1 16oz can pureed pumpkin (I used homemade)
¾ teaspoon brown sugar (packed)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme (I used fresh)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary (I used fresh)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
dash white pepper
dash red/cayenne pepper
dash nutmeg
1 cup evaporated skim milk or combined with 2% milk
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter. Saute onion and garlic over medium heat for 7-8 minutes until lightly browned.

2. Add broth, pumpkin, and seasonings. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Remove from heat. Stir in milk.

4. In a blender or food processor, combine soup mixture and pecans in batches at low speed for 1 minute. (I pureed in two batches in blender)

5. Return to pan and heat, stirring.

Today, I am overwhelmed with thanks that I have food to eat, a roof over my head, family and friends to share it with. I'm also grateful that I can enjoy cooking as an avocation, with such a bounty of resources and fellow cooks with whom to compare notes.

{Note: I'm celebrating my first 100 blog posts with a cookbook giveaway - to enter, go here and leave a comment before December 3}

{Simple Soup Supper} Busy Day Chicken Tortellini Soup

This hardly qualifies as a real recipe, but busy times call for dinners with shortcuts! The original inspiration for this soup was on a label of Swanson's chicken broth that I came across years ago, and have significantly embellished. Depending on whether I use homemade stock and chicken (as opposed to canned or cubes of stock, and a rotisserie chicken) and freshly chopped veggies and herbs, this can be a little or a lot better than a can of soup. In this busy week before Thanksgiving, a little simple soup really hit the spot, combined with some hot multigrain bread and a green salad.

Busy Day Chicken Tortellini Soup

1 T. olive oil

1 large carrot, sliced (about 3/4 cup)

1/3 cup celery, chopped

1/3 cup onion, chopped

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2 qt. chicken stock, homemade or purchased

1 cup (weight: 4 oz.) dried tortellini, such as Barilla (or 1 package frozen tortellini)

1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1-2 tsp. chopped fresh herbs, such as Italian parsley, oregano, or thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried)

1. Heat olive oil in large saucepan, and saute carrot, onion, and celery for 3 minutes.

2. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook an additional minute.

3. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

4. Reduce heat to medium, add tortellini, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until tortellini are cooked through and vegetables are tender. (If using frozen tortellini, follow the cooking time on the package, and let the veggies simmer in the stock for a few minutes before adding the tortellini.)

5. Stir in fresh herbs and chicken. Bring soup to a boil and serve.


{Note: I'm celebrating my first 100 blog posts with a cookbook giveaway - to enter, go here and leave a comment before December 3}

{Simple Soup Supper} French Fish Chowder

Back before Google, Epicurious, and the Food Network, finding a good recipe took a bit of digging and, often, some crossed fingers as the chosen recipe was being prepared. Although I now use my computer to research recipes and benefit from the reviews of online cooks, I also have an embarrassingly large bookcase of cookbooks, as well as files stuffed with recipes I've torn out of books and magazines over the years.

Last week I was sifting through these accumulated clippings, and pulled out a soup recipe by Pierre Franey from his long-running New York Times column, "60-Minute Gourmet." Franey was an elegant and accomplished cook, French born and trained, who collaborated with Craig Claiborne on several books and projects, and wrote the Times column for around 20 years. His recipes emphasized fresh ingredients and simple but sophisticated techniques to bring delicious food to the busy home cook. The Times published two books of recipes from his column: 60 Minute Gourmet, and More 60 Minute Gourmet. My dad, an avid reader of The Times, was a huge fan of Franey's and gave me the 1979 60 Minute Gourmet more than 20 years ago.

The clipping I found was for French Fish Chowder ("quicker than bouillabaisse, a flavorful fish chowder for cod and orzo.") I had most of the ingredients on hand, and a quick trip to the fish counter brought me cod and halibut.

cook's notes

- This recipe comes together considerably quicker than the promised 60 minutes.

- I crumbled the saffron threads into the measuring spoon. It took a surprising number of those threads-of-spun-gold to measure 1/4 tsp. I think that perhaps the saffron was meant to be measured before breaking, in which case I would have used far less of it.

- It probably would have been worth the effort to have made a fish stock. Although I contemplated using chicken or vegetable stock (both of which I had), I used water.

- There was no orzo in my pasta drawer, which I realized when I was ready to add it. The closest dry pasta choice was alphabet soup noodles. Somehow that just didn't seem to strike the right note with ingredients like saffron, halibut, fresh thyme and cod. Instead I used some fancy leftover pasta that I had stashed in the freezer. Since the pasta was already cooked, I simmered the soup for a few minutes longer before adding the pasta (and a few minutes shorter after).

- I served the soup accompanied by a salad, and a loaf of crusty bread with a plate of dipping olive oil. I didn't make the croutons in the recipe.

- The fresh thyme and basil were from my herb harvest!

the verdict

- This soup was unusual and flavorful. The turmeric and saffron gave the fish an orange glow and the broth an exotic taste. I think I'd use a little less saffron in the future. Given the price of saffron, cutting back is a great place to economize. Actually, the recipe specifies saffron as an optional ingredient.

- Although we had bread on the side, I think the soup needed the recipe's croutons. It was just calling for a little more fullness in flavor. I wouldn't skip making croutons again. In their absence, maybe a sprinkling with grated parmesan would have been good. I mean, what isn't improved by a shake of parm?

- My husband gave this an 8 (out of 10) and a thumbs-up for seeing this at a future dinner. Which is great since we had lots left over.

This is the first official post in my new blog series Simple Soup Supper. I'll be cooking lots more soup. Join me with your own soup recipes!

Introducing: Simple Soup Supper!

If it is eaten with a spoon, chances are I'll love it. Cereal (hot or cold), pudding, applesauce, soup. Especially soup. Hot, cold, delicate or hearty, I really enjoy soup. We eat our evening meal pretty late - between 7:30 and 8:00 typically - and at that hour simple fare suits us best. Soup often fits the bill, typically accompanied by a big salad and some bread.

In honor of my favorite type of meal, I'm adding a new event to my blog: Simple Soup Supper. I asked my daughter A.L.E. to design a logo, and I'm sure you'll agree she did a great job (mmm, tomato soup, my favorite! - with water, not milk).

My plan is to cook a soup recipe - a new one or an old favorite - a couple of times per month, posting the result on my blog. I'm looking forward to many soup-er experiments! For simplicity of cataloging, I'll feature the first soup in a separate post. I've also gone back and tagged my previous soup posts as "Simple Soup Suppers."

You're welcome to play along with your own Simple Soup Supper - feel free to use the logo. Like Clara with Cooking Light Night, I'd request that you link back to my blog in your post so I can see what you're cooking up!

Health in a bowl

In my forays around the food blogosphere, I came across a reference to walnut sage pesto. And was immediately captivated. We have a nice little patch of sage growing outside the front door, and I don't cook with it nearly as much as our other herbs. But my husband and I love sage, so I excitedly searched for recipes.

One of the first things I learned was that most walnut sage pesto recipes have a lot of parsley because sage is a very strong flavor. Anyway, I bookmarked a few recipes, then I came across this recipe for Sweet Potato and White Bean Soup with Sage Walnut Pesto from Cooking Light and I was smitten. The picture is gorgeous. Of course. (I was planning to serve my soup in a wonderful artsy bowl, but in the end I grabbed bowls that were the right size. I only remembered about photographing after we sat down to eat. Blogging about dinner is kinda tough that way. So there's my soup, above, in an Easter bowl from The Bay! My husband's bowl had little chicks around the border...)

With this recipe in mind, I ordered sweet potatoes as part of my box of vegetables. I had to go to two stores to get leeks and cannellini beans and chard. The whole time, I was irrationally excited about making this soup. Finally it was all assembled.


So, just a little chopping and processing and the pesto was done.


The soup came together quickly. The most time consuming thing was making sure the leeks and the chard were well washed. Saute the leeks, throw a few things in, and it's done!


Here are a few notes of how I made the recipe:
- I used olive oil for cooking the leeks.
- I used homemade chicken stock from the freezer
- I forgot to add the lemon juice to the soup, although I had it all squeezed and ready to go
- for the pesto, I increased the sage and decreased the parsley. I'd add even more sage next time.
- I used olive oil in the pesto because my walnut oil had gone bad, unfortunately.
- the mini chopper was perfect for the pesto

We served the soup with crusty bread and a salad.

The Verdict:
Not only did this soup live up to my insane expectations, it exceeded them! I loved it!! The soup is packed with nutrition, especially from the sweet potato and chard, plus it has protein from the beans. The best part is how all of the flavors blended into a synergy of warm deliciousness. I can't wait to have the leftovers.

And after dinner I previewed the recipe for cookies I am going to bake this weekend that have, oh, five or six kinds of chocolate.