Yesterday I got a craving. I know, I know. Pregnant lady with a craving? Weird, right? But I figure a craving for minestrone is a pretty healthy one! I had been thinking about our friend Wendy who is an AMAZING cook. We had dinner at their house well over a year ago, maybe even 2, (for the record, we have gotten together with them more recently as well) when she made the most amazing minestrone I have ever had. And let me tell you, I have had a lot of minestrone! I have even tried making it once or twice, but it was never memorable. I think one of my mistakes was using big pieces of pasta that just ended up soaking up the soup and that is no fun! Or it would end up too watery without much flavor.
Minestrone is kind of an amazing soup because it is different everywhere you go. Some people use pesto. Some use a beef base, some veggie, tomato, or bean. Some use cabbage, pasta and special vegetables. I knew I didn't want cabbage in it. I just don't like my leafy greens wilting away in my soup.
Needless to say, beyond that, I didn't really know where to start, so I went to the source and emailed my minestrone muse, Wendy. She gave me some good tips. She recommended to start by sweating onions, carrots, celery with garlic, peppers and zuccini in olive oil. Then she adds stock, peeled tomatoes, a rind of parmesan (aha! the secret ingredient!), bay leaf, fresh thyme and oregano. She then said to simmer, season and add white beans, green beans. I thought her most interesting piece of advice was to not add inappropriate vegetables. I definitely kept that in mind when I went to the store. I had come across some recipes that called for butternut squash and things like that, that I had never seen in minestrone before. Then you can add pasta at the end.
I felt well armed and ready to hit the store. I tried to imagine Wendy standing over me and saying "No inappropriate vegetables!" So I bypassed the squash and the asparagus, especially since I am making some chili crusted tofu with asparagus later in the week anyway. Unfortunately they were out of green beans and Callie isn't really a fan of bell peppers, so I left the store without those particular items.
So here are the ingredients I worked with:
2 cans of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
1 potato (that might be considered inappropriate, but I can't say no to potatoes in soup!)
minced garlic
olive oil
carrots
peeled tomatoes ( I was pressed for time so I bought ones in a can even though I had some in the garden. I know...I feel ashamed)
zucchini
salt
1/2 - 2/3 cup white wine (I opted for Grgich Hills Fume Blanc since Whole Foods had it in a half bottle)
bay leaf
Parmesan cheese rind
herbs from the garden (since I forgot to buy herbs at the store!): basil, sage, oregano, rosemary
And here is what I did.
Heated up some olive oil in a big pot and added crushed garlic. Then added the vegetables: potato, carrots, zucchini and salt. Cooked them for about 5 minutes. While the vegetables were cooking, I cut up my tomatoes. I quartered them. Next time I think I would cut them even smaller. The chunks just ended up too big. I also took half of my beans and blended them with 1/2 cup of water to make a bean paste to help thicken the soup. Once your vegetables are softening and getting nice and sweaty, I added the wine. It might be because I'm pregnant and I can't really drink, but OH MY GOD. It smelled amazing! Then I added the herbs, beans, bean paste, tomatoes, Parmesan rind and some chicken broth. I brought it to a boil and then simmered it for about 25-30 minutes. Near the end I added some orzo. Once the pasta was cooked enough we took it off the stove, chilled some for callie and ate. We served it with a couple of pieces of olive oil and rosemary bread.
So here is my verdict.
This was definitely my best attempt so far. I am not quite convinced in my minestrone abilities quite yet. Of course by the time we packed away the leftovers for lunches, the orzo had swelled to about 3 times its size. Ugh. I know by the time I have it for lunch today there won't be much liquid left. I might opt out of pasta completely next time. Or cook it separately and ahead of time instead of in the soup.
I also think I would cook the vegetables longer. They were cooked well, but the carrots were still a bit crunchy and it was a little distracting from the rest of the soup. I think I would add more tomatoes next time as well. I do like the tomatoey taste in minestrone.
The nice thing about the soup was that you really got to taste the vegetables, but I think I need more seasoning next time. Maybe some pepper and some other italian herbs like marjoram? I don't know. The thickness at the time was very nice with the bean paste.
Its still a work in progress, but I think it was a good start! Thank you Wendy!!
Callie's Verdict
Callie loooved the beans and the pasta and not much else:) She did go for a couple of pieces of zucchini but definitely not the carrots. I think they probably weren't soft enough for her liking.
*Sadly, I did not think to take pictures of this one. Oh well. Sorry folks!*
Showing posts with label Cooking with Mama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooking with Mama. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Fresh Tomato Soup Recipe
Here we go again! Another recipe. Oh Shush.
I had a bunch of tomatoes laying around from our tomato plants (duh. what other kind of plant would they be from?) and I was worried they would go bad. And come on, let's be honest, you can only eat so much salad with cherry tomatoes on top! Plus a friend had posted pictures of her tomato soup and it just sounded sooo good and comforting. Especially after a fun filled day in Santa Cruz, some home cooked comfort food just sounded perfect. After looking online for a few recipes, I discovered that we had everything we would need at home and started tinkering. So unusual to not have to go to the store, but a very welcome sensation!
So here it is.
About 2 pounds of tomatoes (any combination: cherry, slicing tomatoes, heirlooms, whatever)
Herbs from the garden: sage, rosemary, basil, tiny bit of mint
2 bay leaves
garlic
chicken broth
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup olive oil
salt, pepper
Take your tomatoes and wash, core and cut them in half. If you are throwing some cherry tomatoes in the mix (like I did), I would leave them whole, otherwise they end up getting stuck to the baking sheet. Arrange tomatoes on a baking sheet. You could also add some sliced yellow onion, if you like that sort of thing, but I have a toddler that hates onions, and I'm not a huge fan either. Add crushed garlic (you could also use whole cloves if that's what you have on hand), 1/2 cup olive oil, salt and pepper and toss. Bake in a 450 oven for 25-30 minutes until they are carmelized. (If tomato skins bother you, you could probably remove them after waiting a bit, but I found that most of the skins got blended into the soup anyway).
Put tomatoes and their juices into a stockpot with butter and herbs. Just about cover the mixture with chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30-40 minutes. Use your stick blender to make it smooth. You could add cream to it at the end, but it was pretty creamy all on its own, but its up to you! Next time, I might add a little splash of red wine to give it a little something extra, but it was great as it was. Maybe a little shaved parmesan on top would be good too!
And what does perfectly with tomato soup? Grilled cheese, of course! We had some left over bread from the other day, so we got out the panini press (one of my best uses of $20 at target ever) and grilled up some sandwiches with some yummy sage cheddar cheese we had bought at the farmers market a while back with some tomato slices. And voila! Perfect comfort meal.
Now the real test. Would the picky toddler eat it? Thankfully yes!
I had a bunch of tomatoes laying around from our tomato plants (duh. what other kind of plant would they be from?) and I was worried they would go bad. And come on, let's be honest, you can only eat so much salad with cherry tomatoes on top! Plus a friend had posted pictures of her tomato soup and it just sounded sooo good and comforting. Especially after a fun filled day in Santa Cruz, some home cooked comfort food just sounded perfect. After looking online for a few recipes, I discovered that we had everything we would need at home and started tinkering. So unusual to not have to go to the store, but a very welcome sensation!
So here it is.
About 2 pounds of tomatoes (any combination: cherry, slicing tomatoes, heirlooms, whatever)
Herbs from the garden: sage, rosemary, basil, tiny bit of mint
2 bay leaves
garlic
chicken broth
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup olive oil
salt, pepper
Take your tomatoes and wash, core and cut them in half. If you are throwing some cherry tomatoes in the mix (like I did), I would leave them whole, otherwise they end up getting stuck to the baking sheet. Arrange tomatoes on a baking sheet. You could also add some sliced yellow onion, if you like that sort of thing, but I have a toddler that hates onions, and I'm not a huge fan either. Add crushed garlic (you could also use whole cloves if that's what you have on hand), 1/2 cup olive oil, salt and pepper and toss. Bake in a 450 oven for 25-30 minutes until they are carmelized. (If tomato skins bother you, you could probably remove them after waiting a bit, but I found that most of the skins got blended into the soup anyway).
 |
| Roasted Tomatoes! It really is a shame the internet isn't scratch n sniff. Cuz...damn. It smelled awesome! |
And what does perfectly with tomato soup? Grilled cheese, of course! We had some left over bread from the other day, so we got out the panini press (one of my best uses of $20 at target ever) and grilled up some sandwiches with some yummy sage cheddar cheese we had bought at the farmers market a while back with some tomato slices. And voila! Perfect comfort meal.
Now the real test. Would the picky toddler eat it? Thankfully yes!
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| Thanks for the soup mama! |
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Butternut Squash Soup
I know, I know. Its another recipe. Someday I will have another type of entry, but today is not that day!
Tonight's experiment turned out very nicely.
Here is what you need:
Container of already cut up butternut squash
2 fuji apples, peeled and cubed
ginger
celery
italian seasoning
garlic
salt, pepper
butter
chicken broth
cream cheese
pinch of cayenne pepper
Started out by roasting the squash at 400 for half an hour with a little butter, pepper, salt, garlic turning once. After that's done, take a saucepan and put squash, apples, celery, ginger, italian seasoning and a pinch of cayenne pepper in it. Cook for a few minutes until it gets nice and hot. Pour in enough chicken broth to just cover it. Bring to a boil, let it simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 6-8 ounces of cream cheese and puree with a stick blender. We ate this all up with some garlic bread and it was delicious!! It would be really good with some kind of crostini on top, but I just topped it with a bit of shredded parmesan.
Tonight's experiment turned out very nicely.
Here is what you need:
Container of already cut up butternut squash
2 fuji apples, peeled and cubed
ginger
celery
italian seasoning
garlic
salt, pepper
butter
chicken broth
cream cheese
pinch of cayenne pepper
Started out by roasting the squash at 400 for half an hour with a little butter, pepper, salt, garlic turning once. After that's done, take a saucepan and put squash, apples, celery, ginger, italian seasoning and a pinch of cayenne pepper in it. Cook for a few minutes until it gets nice and hot. Pour in enough chicken broth to just cover it. Bring to a boil, let it simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 6-8 ounces of cream cheese and puree with a stick blender. We ate this all up with some garlic bread and it was delicious!! It would be really good with some kind of crostini on top, but I just topped it with a bit of shredded parmesan.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Pork Stew with Potatoes, Apples and Hard Cider
I doctored this recipe from Epicurious with DELICIOUS results!!
I skipped the pearl onions completely because 1) I don't really like them and 2) I think they are more trouble than they are worth. So proceed straight to the bacon! Because anything cooked in bacon is extra awesome...
Ingredients
5 slices of bacon chopped into 1/4- 1/2 inch pieces
Boneless Pork Shoulder, fat trimmed, cut into 2 inch pieces
Fresh sage
3 cups chicken broth
bottle of hard cider ( I used Hornsby's Crisp Apple)
4 yukon gold potatoes unpeeled, chopped
2 peeled, chopped fuji apples
Red wine
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter, room temp
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
Cook bacon in a pot and set aside on paper towels to drain while you cook the pork. In the same pot you cooked the bacon, cook the pork shoulder (sprinkled with salt and pepper) until browned. Remove pork with slotted spoon and set aside. In same pot, brown shallots with fresh sage and pepper. Add chicken broth, hard cider, reserved bacon and pork. Add potatoes and apples. (Note: at this point I gave the stew a whiff and it smelled crazy sweet from the cider so I added a healthy pour of red wine, because to me, stew = red wine.) Cook for 30-40 minutes (or longer if you want!). Meanwhile, make a paste of the butter and flour in a small bowl. Add to the stew and stir well. Then add the mustard. Cook for an additional 7-10 minutes. And voila! Amazing, hearty, thick pork stew. It is a little time consuming but it is realllly worth it!
* I would have taken a picture of it, but we ate it all before I thought to snap a picture:)
I skipped the pearl onions completely because 1) I don't really like them and 2) I think they are more trouble than they are worth. So proceed straight to the bacon! Because anything cooked in bacon is extra awesome...
Ingredients
5 slices of bacon chopped into 1/4- 1/2 inch pieces
Boneless Pork Shoulder, fat trimmed, cut into 2 inch pieces
Fresh sage
3 cups chicken broth
bottle of hard cider ( I used Hornsby's Crisp Apple)
4 yukon gold potatoes unpeeled, chopped
2 peeled, chopped fuji apples
Red wine
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter, room temp
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
Cook bacon in a pot and set aside on paper towels to drain while you cook the pork. In the same pot you cooked the bacon, cook the pork shoulder (sprinkled with salt and pepper) until browned. Remove pork with slotted spoon and set aside. In same pot, brown shallots with fresh sage and pepper. Add chicken broth, hard cider, reserved bacon and pork. Add potatoes and apples. (Note: at this point I gave the stew a whiff and it smelled crazy sweet from the cider so I added a healthy pour of red wine, because to me, stew = red wine.) Cook for 30-40 minutes (or longer if you want!). Meanwhile, make a paste of the butter and flour in a small bowl. Add to the stew and stir well. Then add the mustard. Cook for an additional 7-10 minutes. And voila! Amazing, hearty, thick pork stew. It is a little time consuming but it is realllly worth it!
* I would have taken a picture of it, but we ate it all before I thought to snap a picture:)
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Sweet Potato Soup Experiment
I did a little experimenting tonight, well, this afternoon actually. Last night's crock pot dinner was delicious, but was a little too acidic for the babe. So tonight I decided to do something with sweet potatoes, since she goes gaga for them and I'd been craving soup, so soup it was.
So here it is:
3 peeled, cut up sweet potatoes
3 small mangoes peeled, cut up (they don't have to be tiny, you're going to blend them anyway)
chicken broth
limeade (I was out of lime juice)
curry powder
cinnamon
minced ginger
allspice
If I hadn't intended on giving it to Callie, I probably would have made it spicier by adding some crushed red pepper and a ton more ginger or maybe even my favorite new ingredient, green curry paste.
Put on high for 4 hours. You could probably put it on low, but I pretty much forgot about making dinner until about 2pm, so high it was!
After the time was up, I put the delicious smelling chunks in the blender. It was good, but it was missing something. I thought some broiled toasts with melted gruyere or something like that would be good on top, but alas, neither ingredient was in my house. So I topped the soup with some crumbled goat cheese and some black pepper and voila! Bowl of awesome. That came off more Charlie Sheen than I anticipated...but there it is. Bill said it "smelled like fall."
It was a nice meal to enjoy while watching the Sharks beat the tar out of the Stars. A nice change from the previous night's meltdown against the 'Hawks. There, now this post is not just about food. Done.
I feel pretty good about my experiment. I always feel a little uneasy experimenting with the crock pot, because, well, if it doesn't work you've been cooking something for 4-8 hours for nothin'! Luckily it turned out.
Oh and if you're interested in what last night's dinner was, here it is.
Chicken breasts
can of fire roasted tomatoes
peppercinis
green olives
jar of grilled marinated artichokes
dry white wine
Crockpot on low for 7 hours. Amazing.
So here it is:
3 peeled, cut up sweet potatoes
3 small mangoes peeled, cut up (they don't have to be tiny, you're going to blend them anyway)
chicken broth
limeade (I was out of lime juice)
curry powder
cinnamon
minced ginger
allspice
If I hadn't intended on giving it to Callie, I probably would have made it spicier by adding some crushed red pepper and a ton more ginger or maybe even my favorite new ingredient, green curry paste.
Put on high for 4 hours. You could probably put it on low, but I pretty much forgot about making dinner until about 2pm, so high it was!
After the time was up, I put the delicious smelling chunks in the blender. It was good, but it was missing something. I thought some broiled toasts with melted gruyere or something like that would be good on top, but alas, neither ingredient was in my house. So I topped the soup with some crumbled goat cheese and some black pepper and voila! Bowl of awesome. That came off more Charlie Sheen than I anticipated...but there it is. Bill said it "smelled like fall."
It was a nice meal to enjoy while watching the Sharks beat the tar out of the Stars. A nice change from the previous night's meltdown against the 'Hawks. There, now this post is not just about food. Done.
I feel pretty good about my experiment. I always feel a little uneasy experimenting with the crock pot, because, well, if it doesn't work you've been cooking something for 4-8 hours for nothin'! Luckily it turned out.
Oh and if you're interested in what last night's dinner was, here it is.
Chicken breasts
can of fire roasted tomatoes
peppercinis
green olives
jar of grilled marinated artichokes
dry white wine
Crockpot on low for 7 hours. Amazing.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Baby Sweet Potato Fries
Now that Callie is eating table food, I am trying to get away from just giving her purees so she can work on feeding herself. She loves sweet potatoes (yams) so I decided to try a baby friendly version of sweet potato fries.
I took a sweet potato, peeled it and cut it into small, baby friendly sizes. Tossed it with some olive oil, ginger and cinnamon. Then put it in a single layer on a baking sheet covered with foil. Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes, depending on how mushy you want them. Callie loved them!!
My taste tester approves!
I took a sweet potato, peeled it and cut it into small, baby friendly sizes. Tossed it with some olive oil, ginger and cinnamon. Then put it in a single layer on a baking sheet covered with foil. Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes, depending on how mushy you want them. Callie loved them!!
My taste tester approves!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Lemon Ricotta Cookies
So I've been bitten by the holiday cookie bug. Big time! I came across this recipe from the food network and thought I would give it a try. The cookie itself is pretty decent. More cakelike than I thought it would be. The icing didn't taste all that fabulous though. You could definitely taste the powdered sugar. So, being me, I added ginger:) I had Bill try it and he said it was good. Not the remark I was looking for. I am looking for a truly great cookie. He recommended using the topping I use for my famous crack muffins. Which is basically lemon zest mixed with sugar crumbled on top. So that's what I did. I'm not convinced it is truly great, but it is definitely lemony!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Crock Pot Cookin' Mama
Oh my god. This thing is amazing!! Thank you to Valerie for convincing me to finally get a crock pot. Not that it took a whole hellofa lot to do...Just a cookbook (Make it Fast, Cook it Slow) and some tales about how easy and fast it can be to cook a meal. I had really been missing having some cooked food at home. I always loved to cook and I had been struggling to even make it to the grocery store with Callie to buy pasta! This thing is freaking amazing! The cookbook is based on this woman's blog where she decided to spend a year using her crock pot.
I made my first dish yesterday: Chicken Coq Au Vin. I took 6 chicken thighs (which I'd never used before) some bacon, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, chicken stock, red wine, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper and threw it in the stoneware, set the timer for 8 hours. And that's it! I was able to get it done in about 10 minutes while Bill and Callie were still snoozing in the morning. By the time Bill got home from work it was a thing of beauty. The chicken basically felt apart and it was delicious! I think next time I might try chicken breasts or finding skinless thighs as it was a little oily. I am definitely a convert.
Today it is going to be mediterranean chicken. This one was even faster! Chicken breasts, and some choice items from Whole Foods' antipasto bar: green olives with feta, peppercinis, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes and some diced tomatoes. It took maybe 2 minutes to throw it all in the pot. And voila! If it tastes half as good as it smells right now I'm pretty sure it will be devoured just as quickly as last night's dish!
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