Just a quick recipe today. No tales of drunken grilling this week. Happy Easter, Everyone!
I will admit that this is a stolen recipe, however, the place that had it is now closed (if you want to know why its closed, look for my Tapas Tirade, coming soon) so I have no problem posting it and, since I have worked this over a few times, I think I've earned the right to use it.
Smoked Ghuda and Red Pepper Sauce
5 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk, 3 cups heavy cream
2 cups shredded smoked ghuda cheese.
Salt and Pepper to taste
Melt butter in a sauce pan and slowly add and whisk in the flour. In a different pan, heat milk and cream to just below boiling being careful not to burn it. Slowly add milk/cream mixture and whisk into flour/butter mixture keeping about 2 cups reserved. Slowly add cheese until desired consistency is reached. Adding the cheese will cause the sauce to thicken beyond what you expect. Use any reserve milk to thin as needed. Add pepper to taste and I like a good bit of fresh ground black as well as a small amount of red pepper flakes.
Roast 2-3 red bell peppers over coals on the grill. This can also be done over a burner on a gas stove but that is really just cheating yourself out of flavor. Roast until most of the skin is blackened and set aside to cool. Cut off tops, de-seed and de-vein the peppers and lay them out flat on the cutting board as this will make it easier to scrape the blackened skins off. When they are scraped clean of skin, cut to a fine julienne and add to the sauce. Let this simmer for a bit to let the flavors marry.
The prefered method for this dish would be to roast an entire bird and them break it up into the dish. However, if this isnt an option, salt, pepper, and garlic powder a few breasts, sear them in an oven safe pan until golden on both sides and finish in an oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Roughly chop and add to the sauce.
This recipe could use almost an entire box of Ziti pasta. If your not lucky enough to get fresh pasta locally (and currently, I am not) spend the money on a top notch pasta brand. Boil to Al Dente and add to the sauce as needed. Finish with finely chopped basil or parsley on top of the whole dish if you're serving Family Style or individually when you plate it.
If you would like wine with this (and why wouldn't you?) it could go a couple of ways. Although there is a certain sweetness to the sauce and chicken, Reisling would work well or, my new favorite, Muscato. However, with certain underlying flavors, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, or another dry white wine would also pair well.
Now that thats over with, I would like to invite you to send this recipe straight into freakin' orbit.
Forget the chicken. Pack the chicken a nice bag lunch, pin a note to its coat and send it down the road. Add some extra reserve milk to thin up the sauce. Add about 1-2 lbs of peeled shrimp and let it cook. When it is cooked, add one tub of Jumbo Lump Backfin Crab meat. SLOWLY stir in thre crab as not to break apart the lumps then serve over the Ziti or you can use Fettuccine . You will utter the phrases that tender ears should not hear. It is that freakin' good.
Party Well, Eat Better,
Rob
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
The Breakfast After
"How about a nice piece of greasy salt pork served in a dirty ash tray?" - Bill Paxton as "Chet" in Weird Science.
Friends over for cocktails. Thats how it always starts. Last night was one of those nights that started off with the best of intentions...to cook for a friend of ours in the Community while her husband was at a baseball game. Everything was going swimmingly until I realized that she had brought my Arch-Nemesis: Chocolate Vodka. Thats a bit of a lie as I asked if she was brining it. Anyway you look at it, it was a bad idea and stack that on top of my having a busy weekend and being quite tired, I didn't last much past dinner.
Now, in the throws of The Day After one ponders the breakfast that is always required after such Cocktail Fueled Events, however, there are choices to be made and if you would like to go simple, that's cool. After all, there was alot of energy expended last night and after coffee hits that rather touchy stomach, a few slices of bacon might be all you want.
Then again, you may be in the same position I am: I realize that I am going to be very unproductive today and willingly admit that after breakfast is done and one more Blog Post is in the books, my tired, slightly hungover self will end up on the couch for the remainder of the day...until dinner, of course. With that said, let us explore this mornings Brunch options. They are:
Mimosa's
Seacoast Eggs Benedict
The French Toast from Hell
Mimosa's
Equal parts champagne or sparkling wine and orange juice. You may wish to wet the rim of the champagne flute and dust it with confectioners sugar, but that's up to you. Depending on the day and the hangover, you may wish to spike that with just a pinch of vodka but, again, that's up to you. Another interesting approach is to use Ruby Red Grapefruit juice instead of orange. Its just an interesting twist.
I put this here simply because brunch just isn't brunch without Mimosa's. It also helps with that "Next Day" feeling. Now, after a one or two of these, its time for food.
Seacoast Eggs Benedict
The last sales job I had was very stressful. I worked for an idiot who thought degradation and yelling were motivational tools.....until he got fired for being, well, an idiot. In the middle of said sales job, we took a much needed break and headed for Panama City Beach, FL which is commonly referred to as the Redneck Riviera. I can't remember the name of the condos we stayed at but after a weekend of way to many cocktails and stress relief, we ate Sunday Breakfast at one of the resorts many restaurants. As soon as I saw this on the menu, it was on order. It was a simple variation on classic Eggs Benedict (if you aren't familiar with Eggs Benedict it is, from the bottom up: a toasted English muffin, one slice of Canadian bacon, a poached egg, topped with hollandaise sauce), however, in place of the Canadian bacon was a jumbo lump crab cake...and once I ate it, I would have whacked a Mafia Don to get another one.
The Crab Cake
You can pick any recipe for crab cakes that you like and apply it here. Some folks prefer the cakes with more breading some don't. Personally, I want crab, Crab, CRAB flavor with hints off the seasoning in the background.
2 cups Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
3-4 Club crackers crushed very well
1 egg white (this is optional but helps hold it together. If you use this, save the yolk)
1 Tbsp finely chopped chives or green onions
1 Tsp finely diced pimento
1/2 teaspoon prepared course or wholegrain mustard
1 Light dash of Hot Sauce
Pinches of sea salt and cracked pepper to taste
Drain and pick the crab meat for missed shell fragments being careful not to break up the lumps and toss in the cracker crumbs. Again ,do whatever you can to not dismantle the lump meat.
In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together. Pour over the lump crab meat and LIGHTLY toss it with a rubber spatula. I really don't think I need to say it again but...Do Not bust up the crab meat. There, I said it.
Let this sit for just a minute or two to let all flavors come together, form into 4" wide by 1" thick patties. Pan fry on medium heat in a light oil such as canola oil until lightly browned.
The Hollandaise Sauce
A simple recipe, to be sure but a good one none the less.
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cream
2 egg yolks, beaten (this is why you saved the yolk from before)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of paprika
Melt butter in the top of a double boiler. Stir in cream and beaten egg yolks. Whisk together. Add salt and lemon juice. Cook over boiling water in a double boiler until mixture thickens, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and beat with a whisk until light. Stir in cayenne pepper and paprika if desired.
The Poached Egg
Poaching an egg is as simple as slowly submerging an egg in hot water but there are a few tricks that will make it perform just a bit better.
1) Add a few tablespoons of white vinegar to the water. This helps the egg set faster and helps keep it from falling apart.
2) Use simmering water. Boiling water will tear the egg apart no matter how much vinegar you use.
3) I like using a metal soup ladle to introduce the egg. Crack the egg into the ladle and slowly dip it into the water letting the water come over the edges until the egg slides out.
When the egg white has solidified entirely, its done. You want the yolk to still be very loose or "Runny".
Assemble it, again, from the bottom up: Well toasted and buttered English Muffin, crab cake, poached egg, top with Hollandaise, garnish with a pinch of sweet paprika and finely chopped parsley. Done. Seacoast Eggs Benedict.
The French Toast....from HELL!!!!
I walked by them for some time noticing their existence but leaving them be. Every time I pass, I look but dare not touch since they are the favorites of more people in this house than me. After a few days I realize that no one is going finish the last 4-5 Krispy Kritter doughnuts that are now, quite stale, but still far from going over to the Dark Side. So I take a bread knife to them and this is what they become.......
French Toast from Hell
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract (use the good stuff)
1 tsp Orange Flavored Liquor (again, use the good stuff)
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt and sugar
Whisk all of this together and quite well or use the immersion blender to make sure it is well blended.
Cut the tops and bottoms off of 6-10 Krispy Kritter doughnuts and soak in egg mixture for about a minute or just a bit longer. Flip and repeat. Over medium heat, fry french toast using butter until golden brown. Serve with any syrup you like or make one. It is quite simple but I'll leave that for another day.
Take the above breakfast options as exactly what they are: A confirmation that you didn't do quite enough damage to yourself the night before so that you have room to do just a bit more destruction the following day.
Now, if you don't mind, the unmistakable Siren's Song of the couch calls. It speaks to me in a language that only I can hear and tells me that hours of comfort and luxury await me and all I have to do is submit and close my eyes...until I have to finish that Taco Spice order cause its due tomorrow and I still have to get 30 packets together, including packaging, and printing and that I should probably do that before I get neck deep in dinner since dinner will be complicated (I'm thinking something with shrimp) as it always is.
Party Well and Eat Even Better,
Rob
Friends over for cocktails. Thats how it always starts. Last night was one of those nights that started off with the best of intentions...to cook for a friend of ours in the Community while her husband was at a baseball game. Everything was going swimmingly until I realized that she had brought my Arch-Nemesis: Chocolate Vodka. Thats a bit of a lie as I asked if she was brining it. Anyway you look at it, it was a bad idea and stack that on top of my having a busy weekend and being quite tired, I didn't last much past dinner.
Now, in the throws of The Day After one ponders the breakfast that is always required after such Cocktail Fueled Events, however, there are choices to be made and if you would like to go simple, that's cool. After all, there was alot of energy expended last night and after coffee hits that rather touchy stomach, a few slices of bacon might be all you want.
Then again, you may be in the same position I am: I realize that I am going to be very unproductive today and willingly admit that after breakfast is done and one more Blog Post is in the books, my tired, slightly hungover self will end up on the couch for the remainder of the day...until dinner, of course. With that said, let us explore this mornings Brunch options. They are:
Mimosa's
Seacoast Eggs Benedict
The French Toast from Hell
Mimosa's
Equal parts champagne or sparkling wine and orange juice. You may wish to wet the rim of the champagne flute and dust it with confectioners sugar, but that's up to you. Depending on the day and the hangover, you may wish to spike that with just a pinch of vodka but, again, that's up to you. Another interesting approach is to use Ruby Red Grapefruit juice instead of orange. Its just an interesting twist.
I put this here simply because brunch just isn't brunch without Mimosa's. It also helps with that "Next Day" feeling. Now, after a one or two of these, its time for food.
Seacoast Eggs Benedict
The last sales job I had was very stressful. I worked for an idiot who thought degradation and yelling were motivational tools.....until he got fired for being, well, an idiot. In the middle of said sales job, we took a much needed break and headed for Panama City Beach, FL which is commonly referred to as the Redneck Riviera. I can't remember the name of the condos we stayed at but after a weekend of way to many cocktails and stress relief, we ate Sunday Breakfast at one of the resorts many restaurants. As soon as I saw this on the menu, it was on order. It was a simple variation on classic Eggs Benedict (if you aren't familiar with Eggs Benedict it is, from the bottom up: a toasted English muffin, one slice of Canadian bacon, a poached egg, topped with hollandaise sauce), however, in place of the Canadian bacon was a jumbo lump crab cake...and once I ate it, I would have whacked a Mafia Don to get another one.
The Crab Cake
You can pick any recipe for crab cakes that you like and apply it here. Some folks prefer the cakes with more breading some don't. Personally, I want crab, Crab, CRAB flavor with hints off the seasoning in the background.
2 cups Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
3-4 Club crackers crushed very well
1 egg white (this is optional but helps hold it together. If you use this, save the yolk)
1 Tbsp finely chopped chives or green onions
1 Tsp finely diced pimento
1/2 teaspoon prepared course or wholegrain mustard
1 Light dash of Hot Sauce
Pinches of sea salt and cracked pepper to taste
Drain and pick the crab meat for missed shell fragments being careful not to break up the lumps and toss in the cracker crumbs. Again ,do whatever you can to not dismantle the lump meat.
In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together. Pour over the lump crab meat and LIGHTLY toss it with a rubber spatula. I really don't think I need to say it again but...Do Not bust up the crab meat. There, I said it.
Let this sit for just a minute or two to let all flavors come together, form into 4" wide by 1" thick patties. Pan fry on medium heat in a light oil such as canola oil until lightly browned.
The Hollandaise Sauce
A simple recipe, to be sure but a good one none the less.
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cream
2 egg yolks, beaten (this is why you saved the yolk from before)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of paprika
Melt butter in the top of a double boiler. Stir in cream and beaten egg yolks. Whisk together. Add salt and lemon juice. Cook over boiling water in a double boiler until mixture thickens, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and beat with a whisk until light. Stir in cayenne pepper and paprika if desired.
The Poached Egg
Poaching an egg is as simple as slowly submerging an egg in hot water but there are a few tricks that will make it perform just a bit better.
1) Add a few tablespoons of white vinegar to the water. This helps the egg set faster and helps keep it from falling apart.
2) Use simmering water. Boiling water will tear the egg apart no matter how much vinegar you use.
3) I like using a metal soup ladle to introduce the egg. Crack the egg into the ladle and slowly dip it into the water letting the water come over the edges until the egg slides out.
When the egg white has solidified entirely, its done. You want the yolk to still be very loose or "Runny".
Assemble it, again, from the bottom up: Well toasted and buttered English Muffin, crab cake, poached egg, top with Hollandaise, garnish with a pinch of sweet paprika and finely chopped parsley. Done. Seacoast Eggs Benedict.
The French Toast....from HELL!!!!
I walked by them for some time noticing their existence but leaving them be. Every time I pass, I look but dare not touch since they are the favorites of more people in this house than me. After a few days I realize that no one is going finish the last 4-5 Krispy Kritter doughnuts that are now, quite stale, but still far from going over to the Dark Side. So I take a bread knife to them and this is what they become.......
French Toast from Hell
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract (use the good stuff)
1 tsp Orange Flavored Liquor (again, use the good stuff)
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt and sugar
Whisk all of this together and quite well or use the immersion blender to make sure it is well blended.
Cut the tops and bottoms off of 6-10 Krispy Kritter doughnuts and soak in egg mixture for about a minute or just a bit longer. Flip and repeat. Over medium heat, fry french toast using butter until golden brown. Serve with any syrup you like or make one. It is quite simple but I'll leave that for another day.
Take the above breakfast options as exactly what they are: A confirmation that you didn't do quite enough damage to yourself the night before so that you have room to do just a bit more destruction the following day.
Now, if you don't mind, the unmistakable Siren's Song of the couch calls. It speaks to me in a language that only I can hear and tells me that hours of comfort and luxury await me and all I have to do is submit and close my eyes...until I have to finish that Taco Spice order cause its due tomorrow and I still have to get 30 packets together, including packaging, and printing and that I should probably do that before I get neck deep in dinner since dinner will be complicated (I'm thinking something with shrimp) as it always is.
Party Well and Eat Even Better,
Rob
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Suicide Burgers with Komodo Sauce
I realize I owe you a closing to Soup: The Trilogy and I will get there. I even have pics, I just have to do it.
Anyway.......
It doesn't happen often but I get the urge to do burgers. I can respect Bubba Burgers and other frozen patties for what they are but they are nothing compared to a burger so good, it can only be called The Suicide Burger. Fresh chopped, dripping with beefy, juicy goodness, its not for the faint of heart or those watching their caloric intake.
My friend told me about someone she knew that made burgers by chopping fresh steaks of various types in a food processor.until reaching the desired consistency. I tried it and it was phenomenal...the first time. After that I just couldn't get the consistency right and ended up over doing it. The end result was dry and without any redeeming values, so I decided to do this the old fashioned way
Suicide Burgers
1-2 lbs Chuck Eye Steak
1 medium to large shallot
2 Tbsp butter
1 very sharp meat cleaver
Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
Finely dice the shallot and and saute in 2 tbsp butter and a pinch of salt over low heat. This may looks like alot of butter when you first get it going but it will add juicy, buttery goodness to the burgers later. Let this work while you move on to the meat.
Start with trimming the fat off completely. You're going to put it back in later so set it off to the side. Cut the lean meat into strips, and then cut those strips into thinner strips, then again if you can and if your cleaver is sharp enough. Do the same with the trimmed fat only leave the pieces a tad larger than the meat. Now mix it all together in a pile on your cutting board and chop. No nancy tapping, take a few dozen hearty swings at the pile of meat and chop it until it just begins to look like burger but with larger pieces and a heavier consistency.
The shallots should be done and just barely caramelized around the edges. Allow these to cool to room temperature and than add directly to the meat. Mix well but make sure you don't squeeze or crush the burger too much and do not over handle. Fat melts very easily and the absolute death of a good burger, good meat or not, is over handling. The heat from your hands melts the fat and forces it out of the burger leaving it dry and simply average. This is countered by the additional butter from the shallots but still, don't overwork your meat. Yeah I know what I said. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge to rest and tighten up a bit. After about 30 minutes or so, form into 1 inch thick patties that match the size of your bun and get ready to season.
That's it. Simple, right? Now comes the point where you season the burger and there are three things seared meat deserves: Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder. Although I keep good meat limited to these three seasonings, you may add what suits your tastes, however, good beef will rarely need anymore than this and being that I'm a bit of a beef purist, that's all mine get. Now, these can go on the grill but this is one case where I prefer the frying pan and since a frying pan opens up a few options, I would use either bacon grease or clarified butter as the grease of choice. In most cases, its the former instead of the latter. To shorten and simplify: Hot pan, sear on both sides, turn the heat down to finish to your desired level of done. Please, eliminate the term "Well Done" from your vocabulary when you do these burgers. They are to good to be killed. One thing I do like to do is use a steel bowl to help steam the burgers to done and to melt the cheese as well. I am a HUGE Bleu Cheese fan and it takes a bit more heat to melt it on the burgers. For this, the bowl is essential.
Komodo Sauce
Fusion is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days. It describes taking a style of cooking and altering the ingredients to come up with something new. Although this is a fancy culinary term to describe the latest and greatest, I will now lower the term to everyday use. There are two great burger toppings that have been around for years and it turns out a fusion of the two is the arrow through the heart of those that put ketchup on their burger. Our story begins at Bill Thomas Halo Burger. A small, Northern burger chain that has one stand out from all other burger chains: Olive Mayo. There are few things that can compare to a 1/2 pound Supreme with Olive Mayo. For the second half of the sauce, we have to go down South and take up a classic sandwich condiment which has been referred to as Tiger Sauce. It is simply Mayo and Horseradish and has been a sandwich fixin' for years and rightfully so. Now, lets put these two classics together, and you get.......
Komodo Sauce
1 cup Good Quality Mayo
1/2 cup Chopped Green Olives w/ Pimento
2-3 Tbsp Prepared Horseradish
1 Tbsp Course Black Pepper
Juice of Half a Lemon
Pinch of Salt
Dash of Hot Sauce
Mix the above together and let sit for at least a few hours in the fridge for the flavors to come together, and that's it. Use at will and, from experience, the more the better and with the Bleu Cheese.....Yeah..........
Oh, one more thing: If there were ever a meal that goes with a good red wine, this is it.
Enjoy,
Rob
 |
| Suicide Burger with Komoda Sauce |
Anyway.......
It doesn't happen often but I get the urge to do burgers. I can respect Bubba Burgers and other frozen patties for what they are but they are nothing compared to a burger so good, it can only be called The Suicide Burger. Fresh chopped, dripping with beefy, juicy goodness, its not for the faint of heart or those watching their caloric intake.
My friend told me about someone she knew that made burgers by chopping fresh steaks of various types in a food processor.until reaching the desired consistency. I tried it and it was phenomenal...the first time. After that I just couldn't get the consistency right and ended up over doing it. The end result was dry and without any redeeming values, so I decided to do this the old fashioned way
Suicide Burgers
1-2 lbs Chuck Eye Steak
1 medium to large shallot
2 Tbsp butter
1 very sharp meat cleaver
Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
Finely dice the shallot and and saute in 2 tbsp butter and a pinch of salt over low heat. This may looks like alot of butter when you first get it going but it will add juicy, buttery goodness to the burgers later. Let this work while you move on to the meat.
Start with trimming the fat off completely. You're going to put it back in later so set it off to the side. Cut the lean meat into strips, and then cut those strips into thinner strips, then again if you can and if your cleaver is sharp enough. Do the same with the trimmed fat only leave the pieces a tad larger than the meat. Now mix it all together in a pile on your cutting board and chop. No nancy tapping, take a few dozen hearty swings at the pile of meat and chop it until it just begins to look like burger but with larger pieces and a heavier consistency.
The shallots should be done and just barely caramelized around the edges. Allow these to cool to room temperature and than add directly to the meat. Mix well but make sure you don't squeeze or crush the burger too much and do not over handle. Fat melts very easily and the absolute death of a good burger, good meat or not, is over handling. The heat from your hands melts the fat and forces it out of the burger leaving it dry and simply average. This is countered by the additional butter from the shallots but still, don't overwork your meat. Yeah I know what I said. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge to rest and tighten up a bit. After about 30 minutes or so, form into 1 inch thick patties that match the size of your bun and get ready to season.
That's it. Simple, right? Now comes the point where you season the burger and there are three things seared meat deserves: Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder. Although I keep good meat limited to these three seasonings, you may add what suits your tastes, however, good beef will rarely need anymore than this and being that I'm a bit of a beef purist, that's all mine get. Now, these can go on the grill but this is one case where I prefer the frying pan and since a frying pan opens up a few options, I would use either bacon grease or clarified butter as the grease of choice. In most cases, its the former instead of the latter. To shorten and simplify: Hot pan, sear on both sides, turn the heat down to finish to your desired level of done. Please, eliminate the term "Well Done" from your vocabulary when you do these burgers. They are to good to be killed. One thing I do like to do is use a steel bowl to help steam the burgers to done and to melt the cheese as well. I am a HUGE Bleu Cheese fan and it takes a bit more heat to melt it on the burgers. For this, the bowl is essential.
Komodo Sauce
Fusion is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days. It describes taking a style of cooking and altering the ingredients to come up with something new. Although this is a fancy culinary term to describe the latest and greatest, I will now lower the term to everyday use. There are two great burger toppings that have been around for years and it turns out a fusion of the two is the arrow through the heart of those that put ketchup on their burger. Our story begins at Bill Thomas Halo Burger. A small, Northern burger chain that has one stand out from all other burger chains: Olive Mayo. There are few things that can compare to a 1/2 pound Supreme with Olive Mayo. For the second half of the sauce, we have to go down South and take up a classic sandwich condiment which has been referred to as Tiger Sauce. It is simply Mayo and Horseradish and has been a sandwich fixin' for years and rightfully so. Now, lets put these two classics together, and you get.......
Komodo Sauce
1 cup Good Quality Mayo
1/2 cup Chopped Green Olives w/ Pimento
2-3 Tbsp Prepared Horseradish
1 Tbsp Course Black Pepper
Juice of Half a Lemon
Pinch of Salt
Dash of Hot Sauce
Mix the above together and let sit for at least a few hours in the fridge for the flavors to come together, and that's it. Use at will and, from experience, the more the better and with the Bleu Cheese.....Yeah..........
Oh, one more thing: If there were ever a meal that goes with a good red wine, this is it.
Enjoy,
Rob
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Ok, Ok....Its On the Way
The last installment of Soup: The Trilogy will be along shortly. Between Gumbo research and the Holiday, I'm a little behind.
Rob
Rob
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Soup: The Trilogy / Part Two
AAAHHHHHH!!!!! Trying to get this post done has been interesting to say the least. Trying to work the 9-5, catering on the side, writing a bit......... It's all a bit much, but, if I didn't want it, I wouldn't have asked for it.
Oh, and just as a bit of an update: No one has contacted me about making this blog into a movie. Liv Tyler has said nothing about wanting to do the flick either. We'll get Part Three out of the way and start calling her agent or something. Kind of hard to imagine why she would want to do a movie about soup but.........
As promised, this episode finds our intrepid hero explaining the fun of Roux based soups. As you probably already know, a Roux is equal parts flour and fat (oil, butter, bacon fat....yeah.....bacon fat) heated to cook the raw flavor out of the flour and then used as a thickening agent when liquid is added. Its a long story about starches and gluten exploding and, to be honest, if you want all the gobble-dee-gook that goes along with the scientific angle of that, email me or watch Alton Brown on the Food Channel that's more of Reality TV than an actual channel...but I digress.
Without the scientific prose, there are a few things that you need to know about a roux. The first was mentioned above in that you need to cook it for at least a minute or two to take the raw flavor out of the flour. Feel free to try it without it and you will find that your cooking times increase and you will use alot of salt trying to cover the flavor which is a combination of bland and plain with a touch of nothing on the side. The next thing to keep on mind is the longer you cook the roux, the less thickening power it has. Keep this in mind as you watch the colors of the roux change. There will be a better explanation of this in Part Three, so stay tuned. For our current purposes we will stick to white or blonde roux's. Lastly, except for garlic, I prefer to put my spices in the roux as it cooks. I think we all know about garlic and what happens when it burns but the flavor of the spices have a chance to "bloom" and are in full effect when your soups come together.
A good ratio to start with is 1:1:2. 1 part flour, one part fat, two parts liquid. You will have to play with this to get the consistency you want from your soups but this is a good place to start. Once you have this together with the aromatics below (garlic, onions, and celery), it's just a matter of figuring out what type of soup you want. Lets start with......
Basic Potato Soup
1/2 pound bacon
4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp bacon fat
6 cups milk
2 cups light chicken broth
1/2-3/4 cups white onion, finely diced
1-2 stalks celery
1 clove garlic, finely diced
2-3 cups potatoes, medium diced (about 3/4" cubes)
1 sprig rosemary
1 bay leaf
Green onions sliced thin
Salt and Pepper to taste.
This goes fast and for good reason: This is NOT rocket science. Fry the bacon and finely chop, measure out required fat and mix with flour, salt, and pepper. Over medium high heat, cook flour and fat mixture until the color just starts to darken a bit. Make sure you keep stirring it. If the flour burns even a slight bit, it will leave a burnt flavor.
With the flour and fat still over medium-high heat add milk and chicken stock then whisk well making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot very well to eliminate clumps.
Saute the onions, garlic, and celery then add to the roux, drop in the bay leaf and sprig of rosemary and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Depending on my mood, I'll remove the bay leaf and rosemary, add a couple of tablespoons of the bacon then blast it with the immersion blender. Add the potatoes and let simmer until cooked through. As an interesting little twist, I like to fry the potatoes until golden brown, let them cool a tad, and them add those to the soup. Top with bacon and green onions and have at it.
Taking the roux recipe above (roux, onion, garlic, and herbs) you have the base for a variety of soups.
Shrimp and Corn Chowder
Roux recipe from above exchanging vegetable broth for chicken broth
1 16oz. can whole corn
1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
Very simply, saute corn over high heat in a bit of butter, salt, and pepper until the edges get slightly brown. Near the end, add shrimp for about one minute then add both to the roux Add to roux and let simmer for 20 minutes. Without the shrimp this recipe can be vegetarian but to make it vegan, use soy milk instead of dairy. The soy milk adds a great nutty flavor to the soup which is really tasty. I know this recipe sounds very simple but that's its intention. Just a simple, flavorful comfort food.
Smoked Chicken Chowder
I had gotten bored on a Sunday and made a potato soup and in the absence of bacon, I used smoked chicken. After a while, I added more and more chicken, threw a bit of the skin in to get more smoky flavor (remove it later). Add potatoes and, if you like, corn and enjoy.
Tomato Bisque
In our little town we have a small pizza joint that is part of a smaller, Southern chain. On a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon the family and I stopped in and decided to chill out with the college hippies that work there and have a bite. Knowing full well that one of the all time top comfort foods is Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup, I immediately gravitated toward the Tomato Bisque on the menu and.....Holy Cow! It was a cross between good, old fashioned Tomato Soup and Pizza Soup. The following weekend I got a few things together and this is what I came up with.
Roux from above (again, including onions and garlic)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 12oz can tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1/4 cup fried bacon
10-12 slices of pepperoni, lightly sauteed
Add the heavy cream to the roux simmering of to the side, break tomatoes up in a bowl trying to eliminate as many seeds as possible. Add tomatoes, the liquid from the tomatoes, tomato paste, and the rest of the ingredients. Let simmer for just a bit and give it a whiz with the immersion blender until smooth.
This stands out as one of the best pots of soup I have ever made. It's perfect for rainy days or crisp fall afternoons on the back porch. Feel free to play with the herbs and, by all means, this soup can take more garlic and onions if you like...and I do.
With the roux as a solid base, the amount of soups and chowders that can be thought up are almost endless. Play with different broths and vegetables, try seafood, go completely vegetarian with it. Once you have the foundation, thick and hearty soups are at your disposal.
Next week, this Trilogy comes to a close. I will focus on one "Soup" and one alone: Gumbo. There are so many styles and types that I am sure to get a ton of email telling me how far off base I am. As I mentioned in part one, the good thing about Gumbo is, there's no real way to get it wrong. If it's what you like, then you nailed it. More next week.
Enjoy,
Rob
Oh, and just as a bit of an update: No one has contacted me about making this blog into a movie. Liv Tyler has said nothing about wanting to do the flick either. We'll get Part Three out of the way and start calling her agent or something. Kind of hard to imagine why she would want to do a movie about soup but.........
As promised, this episode finds our intrepid hero explaining the fun of Roux based soups. As you probably already know, a Roux is equal parts flour and fat (oil, butter, bacon fat....yeah.....bacon fat) heated to cook the raw flavor out of the flour and then used as a thickening agent when liquid is added. Its a long story about starches and gluten exploding and, to be honest, if you want all the gobble-dee-gook that goes along with the scientific angle of that, email me or watch Alton Brown on the Food Channel that's more of Reality TV than an actual channel...but I digress.
Without the scientific prose, there are a few things that you need to know about a roux. The first was mentioned above in that you need to cook it for at least a minute or two to take the raw flavor out of the flour. Feel free to try it without it and you will find that your cooking times increase and you will use alot of salt trying to cover the flavor which is a combination of bland and plain with a touch of nothing on the side. The next thing to keep on mind is the longer you cook the roux, the less thickening power it has. Keep this in mind as you watch the colors of the roux change. There will be a better explanation of this in Part Three, so stay tuned. For our current purposes we will stick to white or blonde roux's. Lastly, except for garlic, I prefer to put my spices in the roux as it cooks. I think we all know about garlic and what happens when it burns but the flavor of the spices have a chance to "bloom" and are in full effect when your soups come together.
A good ratio to start with is 1:1:2. 1 part flour, one part fat, two parts liquid. You will have to play with this to get the consistency you want from your soups but this is a good place to start. Once you have this together with the aromatics below (garlic, onions, and celery), it's just a matter of figuring out what type of soup you want. Lets start with......
Basic Potato Soup
1/2 pound bacon
4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp bacon fat
6 cups milk
2 cups light chicken broth
1/2-3/4 cups white onion, finely diced
1-2 stalks celery
1 clove garlic, finely diced
2-3 cups potatoes, medium diced (about 3/4" cubes)
1 sprig rosemary
1 bay leaf
Green onions sliced thin
Salt and Pepper to taste.
This goes fast and for good reason: This is NOT rocket science. Fry the bacon and finely chop, measure out required fat and mix with flour, salt, and pepper. Over medium high heat, cook flour and fat mixture until the color just starts to darken a bit. Make sure you keep stirring it. If the flour burns even a slight bit, it will leave a burnt flavor.
With the flour and fat still over medium-high heat add milk and chicken stock then whisk well making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot very well to eliminate clumps.
Saute the onions, garlic, and celery then add to the roux, drop in the bay leaf and sprig of rosemary and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Depending on my mood, I'll remove the bay leaf and rosemary, add a couple of tablespoons of the bacon then blast it with the immersion blender. Add the potatoes and let simmer until cooked through. As an interesting little twist, I like to fry the potatoes until golden brown, let them cool a tad, and them add those to the soup. Top with bacon and green onions and have at it.
Taking the roux recipe above (roux, onion, garlic, and herbs) you have the base for a variety of soups.
Shrimp and Corn Chowder
Roux recipe from above exchanging vegetable broth for chicken broth
1 16oz. can whole corn
1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
Very simply, saute corn over high heat in a bit of butter, salt, and pepper until the edges get slightly brown. Near the end, add shrimp for about one minute then add both to the roux Add to roux and let simmer for 20 minutes. Without the shrimp this recipe can be vegetarian but to make it vegan, use soy milk instead of dairy. The soy milk adds a great nutty flavor to the soup which is really tasty. I know this recipe sounds very simple but that's its intention. Just a simple, flavorful comfort food.
Smoked Chicken Chowder
I had gotten bored on a Sunday and made a potato soup and in the absence of bacon, I used smoked chicken. After a while, I added more and more chicken, threw a bit of the skin in to get more smoky flavor (remove it later). Add potatoes and, if you like, corn and enjoy.
Tomato Bisque
In our little town we have a small pizza joint that is part of a smaller, Southern chain. On a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon the family and I stopped in and decided to chill out with the college hippies that work there and have a bite. Knowing full well that one of the all time top comfort foods is Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup, I immediately gravitated toward the Tomato Bisque on the menu and.....Holy Cow! It was a cross between good, old fashioned Tomato Soup and Pizza Soup. The following weekend I got a few things together and this is what I came up with.
Roux from above (again, including onions and garlic)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 12oz can tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1/4 cup fried bacon
10-12 slices of pepperoni, lightly sauteed
Add the heavy cream to the roux simmering of to the side, break tomatoes up in a bowl trying to eliminate as many seeds as possible. Add tomatoes, the liquid from the tomatoes, tomato paste, and the rest of the ingredients. Let simmer for just a bit and give it a whiz with the immersion blender until smooth.
This stands out as one of the best pots of soup I have ever made. It's perfect for rainy days or crisp fall afternoons on the back porch. Feel free to play with the herbs and, by all means, this soup can take more garlic and onions if you like...and I do.
With the roux as a solid base, the amount of soups and chowders that can be thought up are almost endless. Play with different broths and vegetables, try seafood, go completely vegetarian with it. Once you have the foundation, thick and hearty soups are at your disposal.
Next week, this Trilogy comes to a close. I will focus on one "Soup" and one alone: Gumbo. There are so many styles and types that I am sure to get a ton of email telling me how far off base I am. As I mentioned in part one, the good thing about Gumbo is, there's no real way to get it wrong. If it's what you like, then you nailed it. More next week.
Enjoy,
Rob
Friday, November 5, 2010
Soup: The Trilogy/Part One
Welcome to Episode One of Soup: The Trilogy. Although there are no Hobbits, Dwarfs, Ents, and the like, there is and shall be a ton of good recipes and knowledge for future soup use. I would like it to be known, however, that if this Trilogy ever gets made into a movie, I want Liv Tyler in it somewhere. I mean, what the Hell, she got naked in Empire Records, right?
Also, this is a long one. You may want to read a bit and get back to it after while. Even better, read long enough to get one of the recipes, go try it, eat, then come back and read some more. Oh, and Vegetarians go scroll straight to the bottom as there is one Hell of a good recipe waiting there for you.
If Spring is the time that turns a young mans fancy to love then Fall is, without a doubt, the time when an older mans thoughts turn to soup. The cool weather, the falling leaves, the fact that its getting to cold to go outside and work and that you would rather sit inside and drink beer and hot toddies, get lazy, and end up not having the ambition to actually cook something.
I imagine the history of soup was someone either being short on food and having some left over stuff or just being lazy and chucking said stuff in a clay pot with some water, boil it up for a bit a there you have it. After a bit, I would guess that they learned about some herbs, tree barks, blood, whatever. To be honest, I do have a good idea of what early man ate (its kind of a hobby of mine) although I really don't know much about Soup Anthropology. However, could it be much more complicated than that? I mean, what is more simple than throwing a few things in a pot and letting them simmer for a bit......
Um....Yeah. Ask the Mrs., I don't do anything simple.
I began writing this section and got a good ways into it and then I realized: Unless I'm willing to sit here for a day just outlining the every different base, and I really am not, then I better make it simple. There are stocks and broths, both meat and vegetable, there are flour bases such as roux and bechemel, there are vegetable juice bases such a tomato for gazpacho, and so on. Each has its uses and qualities and, when they are sometimes combined, can result is some mind blowing flavors. For this episode, stocks and broths will do fine and what could be a better primer than a good, old fashioned Chicken Soup.
Chicken Soup
In an 18 qt stock pot, place the following:
1 really good farm raised organic chicken (the taste explains why)
2 white onions cut into large pieces
7-8 cloves of garlic
1 medium Bouquet Garni (traditional includes parsley, thyme, rosemary, and a bay leaf. I add a little dill.)
1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
This next ingredient is optional but you will notice the difference when you use them:
6 chicken feet, cleaned with the claws removed (see below for the explanation).
2-4 Tbsp kosher or good quality sea salt
Pepper to taste
2 stalks woth of finely chopped celery
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
Noodles, Matzo Balls, Rice, whatever....
Wrap the Bouquet Garni in cheese cloth (which I prefer) or bind with string so that you're not chasing pieces of plants around later. Throw everything in the pot and cover with water by about an inch. Cover with a heavy lid and bring to a boil then reduce to a slow simmer. Let this go until the chicken of falling off the bone and is easily shredded. Remove the meat and return the bones for another hour or so. Uncover and boil down to a consistency/flavor that you like. You may now remove the Chicken Feet.
Important!!! After about 30 minutes or so, start skimming the Brown Clouds from the top. This is the excess blood and can add flavors but more important, if left in, it makes the broth cloudy. To me, there isn't much thats more appealing than a clear, golden chicken broth.
At this point, chop or shred the meat finely making sure to get all of the little bones and fragments out, add the celery and carrots and simmer for 20 minutes. Now you can add noodles, Matzo Balls (Marietta Diner in Marietta, GA makes the best Matzo Ball Soup and I mean EVER!), rice or what ever you like.
Ok, about the Chicken Feet. It is all over TV and in the food magazines about eating the leftovers of an animal as the ancients did and many rural cultures still do. Brains, Balls, Blood, and Bile are all the rage with Foodies now. The fact of the matter is a good, Jewish chicken soup has contained chicken feet for centuries, if not millenia. The feet contain alot of Calogen and Gelatin which makes for a much richer flavor and feeling when you eat it. If you make alot of Chicken Soup from scratch, you have to at least try this, and when you do, you will be happy.
This basic stock recipe is easily converted to beef, pork, lamb, whatever. In the case of Bovine, Ovine, and Porcine stocks, cut meat into cubes and brown so that you have more browned surface area, add some bones, replace the white wine with red, and go. Now the question is: How much work do you want to do?
Back Porch Harvest Soup
4 cups Beef Broth
2 cups Lamb Broth
1-2 pounds Chuck Roast, large diced
1/2 pound Leg of Lamb, small diced
1 large White Onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
1-2 cups White Cap Mushrooms, quartered
1/2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
1/2 cup Dry Barley
3/4 cup cut green beans (fresh, of course)
3/4 cup Carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 cup diced Celery
3-4 Potatoes cut into large chunks
1 Tbsp tomato paste (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Get the broth up to a simmer and immediately add the mushrooms and let them simmer. Salt and pepper the meats and brown them over medium-high heat in olive oil. When brown, add the onions and garlic and suate all ofthem together for just a few minutes being careful not to burn the garlic. With all ingredients in the pan, deglaze with the Cabernet Sauvignon and let it reduce by half. Pour everything into the broth.
Add the barley and cook until about half finished. Add vegetables and potatoes. By the time the potatoes and veggies are done the barley will be as well. When I was growing up, The Old Man usually had tomatoes of some form in vegetable soup. Some don't care for it but if you do, this is the time to add the tomoto paste and stir it in well.
For those that don't do the whole meat thing, thats cool. You can get al kinds of happy with this vegetable stock:
Olive or Vegetable oil
2 large onions
10 cloves of garlic
4 stalks celery
4 carrots
1 Bouquet Garni
Salt and Pepper to taste
About 3-4 quarts of water
Chop vegetables to a medium small dice. In a large stock pot, add oil and cook vegetables over high heat for about ten minutes. Add Bouquet Grani (loose and unwrapped for this recipe) salt and pepper and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a slow simmer. After about an hour turn off heat and let in cool over 30 minutes or so. Strain and throw the veggies out. Bada Bing-Bada Boom...Vegetable Stock.
Now...What to do with it...?
Morrocan Pumpkin Soup
1 cups Chickpeas, cooked
3 tablespoons Olive or Vegetable oil
2 Leeks (white and light green part only), chopped
4 cups Vegetable Stock
4 cups Pumpkin Puree
1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Allspice
2 teaspoons Salt
Dash of Hot Sauce
ground pepper to taste
Saute leeks in oil until translucent, add to stock. Add pumpkin, spices, hot sauce and puree with immersion blender to a very smooth consistency. Add chick peas, salt, and pepper let the chick peas come to temperature and enjoy. For an added bit of taste, add a dollop of heavy plain yogurt.
Without a doubt, some of my favorite winter soups are variations of squash or pumpkin soups. Even more so since they are very simple and quick to prepare.
Whew! Well, there it is. One heck of a long post and the first installment of Soup: The Trilogy. Next week I will be writing about my favoite soups that come from a Roux base. They are mainly chowders but you will be very happy with what you read.
I will give you an advance on Episode Three: Gumbo. There are so many versions of everyones favorite gumbo recipe that no one is the definative. However, I will take you back to the beginnings of my Gumbo Journey that, I am glad to say, has no end. If I knew I had tried every version of Gumbo the World would be a much sadder place to be.
Enjoy!
Rob
Also, this is a long one. You may want to read a bit and get back to it after while. Even better, read long enough to get one of the recipes, go try it, eat, then come back and read some more. Oh, and Vegetarians go scroll straight to the bottom as there is one Hell of a good recipe waiting there for you.
If Spring is the time that turns a young mans fancy to love then Fall is, without a doubt, the time when an older mans thoughts turn to soup. The cool weather, the falling leaves, the fact that its getting to cold to go outside and work and that you would rather sit inside and drink beer and hot toddies, get lazy, and end up not having the ambition to actually cook something.
I imagine the history of soup was someone either being short on food and having some left over stuff or just being lazy and chucking said stuff in a clay pot with some water, boil it up for a bit a there you have it. After a bit, I would guess that they learned about some herbs, tree barks, blood, whatever. To be honest, I do have a good idea of what early man ate (its kind of a hobby of mine) although I really don't know much about Soup Anthropology. However, could it be much more complicated than that? I mean, what is more simple than throwing a few things in a pot and letting them simmer for a bit......
Um....Yeah. Ask the Mrs., I don't do anything simple.
I began writing this section and got a good ways into it and then I realized: Unless I'm willing to sit here for a day just outlining the every different base, and I really am not, then I better make it simple. There are stocks and broths, both meat and vegetable, there are flour bases such as roux and bechemel, there are vegetable juice bases such a tomato for gazpacho, and so on. Each has its uses and qualities and, when they are sometimes combined, can result is some mind blowing flavors. For this episode, stocks and broths will do fine and what could be a better primer than a good, old fashioned Chicken Soup.
Chicken Soup
In an 18 qt stock pot, place the following:
1 really good farm raised organic chicken (the taste explains why)
2 white onions cut into large pieces
7-8 cloves of garlic
1 medium Bouquet Garni (traditional includes parsley, thyme, rosemary, and a bay leaf. I add a little dill.)
1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
This next ingredient is optional but you will notice the difference when you use them:
6 chicken feet, cleaned with the claws removed (see below for the explanation).
2-4 Tbsp kosher or good quality sea salt
Pepper to taste
2 stalks woth of finely chopped celery
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
Noodles, Matzo Balls, Rice, whatever....
Wrap the Bouquet Garni in cheese cloth (which I prefer) or bind with string so that you're not chasing pieces of plants around later. Throw everything in the pot and cover with water by about an inch. Cover with a heavy lid and bring to a boil then reduce to a slow simmer. Let this go until the chicken of falling off the bone and is easily shredded. Remove the meat and return the bones for another hour or so. Uncover and boil down to a consistency/flavor that you like. You may now remove the Chicken Feet.
Important!!! After about 30 minutes or so, start skimming the Brown Clouds from the top. This is the excess blood and can add flavors but more important, if left in, it makes the broth cloudy. To me, there isn't much thats more appealing than a clear, golden chicken broth.
At this point, chop or shred the meat finely making sure to get all of the little bones and fragments out, add the celery and carrots and simmer for 20 minutes. Now you can add noodles, Matzo Balls (Marietta Diner in Marietta, GA makes the best Matzo Ball Soup and I mean EVER!), rice or what ever you like.
Ok, about the Chicken Feet. It is all over TV and in the food magazines about eating the leftovers of an animal as the ancients did and many rural cultures still do. Brains, Balls, Blood, and Bile are all the rage with Foodies now. The fact of the matter is a good, Jewish chicken soup has contained chicken feet for centuries, if not millenia. The feet contain alot of Calogen and Gelatin which makes for a much richer flavor and feeling when you eat it. If you make alot of Chicken Soup from scratch, you have to at least try this, and when you do, you will be happy.
This basic stock recipe is easily converted to beef, pork, lamb, whatever. In the case of Bovine, Ovine, and Porcine stocks, cut meat into cubes and brown so that you have more browned surface area, add some bones, replace the white wine with red, and go. Now the question is: How much work do you want to do?
Back Porch Harvest Soup
4 cups Beef Broth
2 cups Lamb Broth
1-2 pounds Chuck Roast, large diced
1/2 pound Leg of Lamb, small diced
1 large White Onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
1-2 cups White Cap Mushrooms, quartered
1/2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
1/2 cup Dry Barley
3/4 cup cut green beans (fresh, of course)
3/4 cup Carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 cup diced Celery
3-4 Potatoes cut into large chunks
1 Tbsp tomato paste (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Get the broth up to a simmer and immediately add the mushrooms and let them simmer. Salt and pepper the meats and brown them over medium-high heat in olive oil. When brown, add the onions and garlic and suate all ofthem together for just a few minutes being careful not to burn the garlic. With all ingredients in the pan, deglaze with the Cabernet Sauvignon and let it reduce by half. Pour everything into the broth.
Add the barley and cook until about half finished. Add vegetables and potatoes. By the time the potatoes and veggies are done the barley will be as well. When I was growing up, The Old Man usually had tomatoes of some form in vegetable soup. Some don't care for it but if you do, this is the time to add the tomoto paste and stir it in well.
For those that don't do the whole meat thing, thats cool. You can get al kinds of happy with this vegetable stock:
Olive or Vegetable oil
2 large onions
10 cloves of garlic
4 stalks celery
4 carrots
1 Bouquet Garni
Salt and Pepper to taste
About 3-4 quarts of water
Chop vegetables to a medium small dice. In a large stock pot, add oil and cook vegetables over high heat for about ten minutes. Add Bouquet Grani (loose and unwrapped for this recipe) salt and pepper and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a slow simmer. After about an hour turn off heat and let in cool over 30 minutes or so. Strain and throw the veggies out. Bada Bing-Bada Boom...Vegetable Stock.
Now...What to do with it...?
Morrocan Pumpkin Soup
1 cups Chickpeas, cooked
3 tablespoons Olive or Vegetable oil
2 Leeks (white and light green part only), chopped
4 cups Vegetable Stock
4 cups Pumpkin Puree
1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Allspice
2 teaspoons Salt
Dash of Hot Sauce
ground pepper to taste
Saute leeks in oil until translucent, add to stock. Add pumpkin, spices, hot sauce and puree with immersion blender to a very smooth consistency. Add chick peas, salt, and pepper let the chick peas come to temperature and enjoy. For an added bit of taste, add a dollop of heavy plain yogurt.
Without a doubt, some of my favorite winter soups are variations of squash or pumpkin soups. Even more so since they are very simple and quick to prepare.
Whew! Well, there it is. One heck of a long post and the first installment of Soup: The Trilogy. Next week I will be writing about my favoite soups that come from a Roux base. They are mainly chowders but you will be very happy with what you read.
I will give you an advance on Episode Three: Gumbo. There are so many versions of everyones favorite gumbo recipe that no one is the definative. However, I will take you back to the beginnings of my Gumbo Journey that, I am glad to say, has no end. If I knew I had tried every version of Gumbo the World would be a much sadder place to be.
Enjoy!
Rob
Sunday, October 31, 2010
West Georgia Locavore Challenge / Political Food Repost
Edit Jusy 1st, 2012: Today is the launch of the West Georgia Locavore Challenge. It's chance to challenge those in our community to eat as much local produce and goods as possible. I had a Blog Post already to go talking about the bash thrown at my house last night in celebration of my niece's birthday. I included Silver Queen Corn, two locally made hot sauces for the, literally, hundreds of wings, and a local Blue Stilton for homemade Blue Cheese Dressing.
However, I remembered this post from a year or two ago and thought that it would be a good one to revisit simply because it explains very well what shopping and eating local is all about and it's not about buying everything from local folks, although that would be great. It's about looking around once in a while and realizing that some of the produce you get from Mega Box Grocery Store can be purchase from someone that lives right around the corner from you. Maybe make an extra stop to get really fresh squash, spinach, onions, and so on.
Read through this post and take to heart what you can. In tough economic times, it makes a great deal of sense to keep as much money as close to home as possible and you can never beat the feeling of looking the person who grew your steak or sausage square in the eye.
**Writers Note**: When I began this post, it was meant to take a different perspective about Local Grown Foods and the economic benefits thereof. I do have a much larger and comprehensive post in mind in which I Electronically Interview some of the Organic Farmers that I know and get their reasons for doing what they do so that you might get a glimpse into the personal side of what is becoming an ever increasing cottage industry. Please look for it in the future as it could, quite possibly, change the way you eat.
Let's talk about the food that most people eat from the top down. I live in the South and our markets include Ingles, Winn Dixie, Piggly Wiggly, and so on. You get out of work, you're beat, and you need something for dinner so thats where you go since its on the way home and you're in and out in no time. However, if you read the post "Loss of a Carrollton Icon" you know that I believe in buying local and keeping things in the Community and I have a HUGE problem with Big Box Stores, whether they are groceries or or the All in One stores (Wal Mart, Target, etc.). I understand the appeal and convenience but let's look at two realities that could drastically change your outlook on how you shop. What You Buy and Following the Money.
A simple challenge for you: Walk into your local Huge Outlet Grocery, grab the Produce Guy/Gal, and ask them where the squash came from. If said employee can tell you without that look of a deer in the headlights, your answer will probably be Guatemala, Mexico, or somewhere other than the U.S and if it does come from the U.S. it is typically a Large Corporate Farm. With over 350 million people in this Nation it would be hard to imagine feeding everyone without importing a great deal of food or growing in a production related setting. I don't want to get into the habit of throwing around politically popular words like Locavore or anything but lets be realistic: There is a great benefit to knowing where your food comes from and the people that grow it.
There are the undeniable facts that 1) Other countries don't have food quality and fertilization laws that we do. 2) Most production vegetables are harvested while very young so that they may ripen in warehouses which stops the produce from reaching its full nutritional potential. 3) Most of what you find in the groceries these days is genetically modified. Want a fun, little experiment? Buy a tomato from the grocery and try to grow one of the seeds which, outside of a laboratory setting, is impossible. All of these points have been made numerous times over the past few years and I really don't want to beat a dead horse so, if you're comfortable with eating produce knowing whats stated above, that's fine. I do from time to time as well but when I can, I buy local.
Now, I know many Organic Farmers and do my best to buy from them for a two main reasons. The above is the first. There is no better feeling than to go to a Local Farm and look at the field where my last batch of Chicken and Rice came from ("Hey, Local Farm Guy! Where did my peppers come from?" Local Farmer points: "From Over There.").
The second is a matter of economics as it relates to my business and it is the second point from above as well. As I have said before, lets follow the money. It starts when I buy a few pounds of produce from the Local Farmer then the Local Farmer goes to town and gets a gallon of gasoline, some nails from the hardware, or some other product. The owner of whatever place Local Farmer takes that money to goes to the Local Butcher and while at the Local Butcher he notices packets of Spice on the counter and decides to try something new. A few of my dollars just came back to me. This is Economic Simplicity, I realize, but its also Economic Fact.
I will admit that I am not some self-righteous food freak or Organic Activist and that I buy out of convenience more often than even I am comfortable with. I buy from the stores that I am excoriating above and realize that some of that money does come back into the Community. However, I also take the time to go to places like Heritage Farms and see where my other foods come from...and I take time to talk to Jake. Jake (the young son of the owner of Heritage Farms) and I had a talk during the last Farm Tour and he informed me of his disappointment when his mother wouldn't let him buy a particular T-shirt. Expecting it to be something offensive, as is the trend these days, I asked and then laughed openly when I heard what it said: All of Gods Creatures Have a Place...Right Next to the Mashed Potatoes & Gravy. Not only was it uproariously funny but it did my heart a world of good knowing that Jake was being raised with a minimum of video games and with a realistic knowledge of where his food comes from. There is also the point that Jakes Family is surviving on what they grow, both nutritionally and economically.
Now, as promised, there is a political angle to this writing. Mayor Bloomberg of New York wants to ban additional salt in all meals (which makes most of the Nation ask, WTF?). San Fransisco has banned toys from Happy Meals. All over the Nation we are watching Government dictate what and how we eat on an ever increasing scale. To me, its none of Governments business what I eat or how I eat it. However, instead of grabbing a placard and protesting outside some anonymous Federal or State office, I have devised a much more simple solution: I buy local and take Government out of the equation as often as I possibly can.
I do want to point out, again, that I know a number of Organic Farmers and some of them do believe that Government has a place in telling us what to do and, if that is their position, that's fine. However, I would like to point out that most of these people work very hard to grow Organic Produce and bring it to Market. Knowing this, it gets hard to support a Government that defines "Organic" as loosely as possible in order for larger, corporate farms to be able to sell their product under the title of "Organic" while still using harmful chemicals and questionable growing methods. This is the same Government that won't let one of the hundreds of USDA inspectors in the Carroll County, GA area go to Jakes Dad's farm and certify his chickens, forcing him to take them to South Carolina or Kentucky to get them processed, which turns a $5.00 bird into an $11.00 bird. All of this makes Organic more expensive and sometimes too expensive for people to make it a realistic food option. If this doesn't really bother people and they would like to stick to the idea that only the USDA can save us from farmers who take shortcuts I present to you this challange: Go to the USDA (that's the United States Department of Agriculture) building in Washington D.C. and find out how many Farmers work there. The Short Answer is that there aren't any.
I have said for a long time that we need to pay less attention to what happens in California and spend more time thinking about our Communities and Local Issues. The best place to start with this mindset, in my eyes, is with our food. Support your local farms as they are not only the place to find some of the highest quality produce but if you have a question or concern you can visit them. Keep the money at home as I am sure Jake's Dad is sending some that Farm Money to school, local football, and maybe even to the Local Spice Company. And for the Love of Pete, get Government out of the way of your food. If you take even a few minutes and Google Organic Growing Regulations for your state, you will be very surprised at what chemicals the larger, corporate farms are allowed to use, by Law, and still be allowed to call them and label them "Organic". Laws that were passed by our Trusted Elected Officials.
I have put away the Soap Box...For Now,
Rob
However, I remembered this post from a year or two ago and thought that it would be a good one to revisit simply because it explains very well what shopping and eating local is all about and it's not about buying everything from local folks, although that would be great. It's about looking around once in a while and realizing that some of the produce you get from Mega Box Grocery Store can be purchase from someone that lives right around the corner from you. Maybe make an extra stop to get really fresh squash, spinach, onions, and so on.
Read through this post and take to heart what you can. In tough economic times, it makes a great deal of sense to keep as much money as close to home as possible and you can never beat the feeling of looking the person who grew your steak or sausage square in the eye.
**Writers Note**: When I began this post, it was meant to take a different perspective about Local Grown Foods and the economic benefits thereof. I do have a much larger and comprehensive post in mind in which I Electronically Interview some of the Organic Farmers that I know and get their reasons for doing what they do so that you might get a glimpse into the personal side of what is becoming an ever increasing cottage industry. Please look for it in the future as it could, quite possibly, change the way you eat.
Let's talk about the food that most people eat from the top down. I live in the South and our markets include Ingles, Winn Dixie, Piggly Wiggly, and so on. You get out of work, you're beat, and you need something for dinner so thats where you go since its on the way home and you're in and out in no time. However, if you read the post "Loss of a Carrollton Icon" you know that I believe in buying local and keeping things in the Community and I have a HUGE problem with Big Box Stores, whether they are groceries or or the All in One stores (Wal Mart, Target, etc.). I understand the appeal and convenience but let's look at two realities that could drastically change your outlook on how you shop. What You Buy and Following the Money.
A simple challenge for you: Walk into your local Huge Outlet Grocery, grab the Produce Guy/Gal, and ask them where the squash came from. If said employee can tell you without that look of a deer in the headlights, your answer will probably be Guatemala, Mexico, or somewhere other than the U.S and if it does come from the U.S. it is typically a Large Corporate Farm. With over 350 million people in this Nation it would be hard to imagine feeding everyone without importing a great deal of food or growing in a production related setting. I don't want to get into the habit of throwing around politically popular words like Locavore or anything but lets be realistic: There is a great benefit to knowing where your food comes from and the people that grow it.
There are the undeniable facts that 1) Other countries don't have food quality and fertilization laws that we do. 2) Most production vegetables are harvested while very young so that they may ripen in warehouses which stops the produce from reaching its full nutritional potential. 3) Most of what you find in the groceries these days is genetically modified. Want a fun, little experiment? Buy a tomato from the grocery and try to grow one of the seeds which, outside of a laboratory setting, is impossible. All of these points have been made numerous times over the past few years and I really don't want to beat a dead horse so, if you're comfortable with eating produce knowing whats stated above, that's fine. I do from time to time as well but when I can, I buy local.
Now, I know many Organic Farmers and do my best to buy from them for a two main reasons. The above is the first. There is no better feeling than to go to a Local Farm and look at the field where my last batch of Chicken and Rice came from ("Hey, Local Farm Guy! Where did my peppers come from?" Local Farmer points: "From Over There.").
The second is a matter of economics as it relates to my business and it is the second point from above as well. As I have said before, lets follow the money. It starts when I buy a few pounds of produce from the Local Farmer then the Local Farmer goes to town and gets a gallon of gasoline, some nails from the hardware, or some other product. The owner of whatever place Local Farmer takes that money to goes to the Local Butcher and while at the Local Butcher he notices packets of Spice on the counter and decides to try something new. A few of my dollars just came back to me. This is Economic Simplicity, I realize, but its also Economic Fact.
I will admit that I am not some self-righteous food freak or Organic Activist and that I buy out of convenience more often than even I am comfortable with. I buy from the stores that I am excoriating above and realize that some of that money does come back into the Community. However, I also take the time to go to places like Heritage Farms and see where my other foods come from...and I take time to talk to Jake. Jake (the young son of the owner of Heritage Farms) and I had a talk during the last Farm Tour and he informed me of his disappointment when his mother wouldn't let him buy a particular T-shirt. Expecting it to be something offensive, as is the trend these days, I asked and then laughed openly when I heard what it said: All of Gods Creatures Have a Place...Right Next to the Mashed Potatoes & Gravy. Not only was it uproariously funny but it did my heart a world of good knowing that Jake was being raised with a minimum of video games and with a realistic knowledge of where his food comes from. There is also the point that Jakes Family is surviving on what they grow, both nutritionally and economically.
Now, as promised, there is a political angle to this writing. Mayor Bloomberg of New York wants to ban additional salt in all meals (which makes most of the Nation ask, WTF?). San Fransisco has banned toys from Happy Meals. All over the Nation we are watching Government dictate what and how we eat on an ever increasing scale. To me, its none of Governments business what I eat or how I eat it. However, instead of grabbing a placard and protesting outside some anonymous Federal or State office, I have devised a much more simple solution: I buy local and take Government out of the equation as often as I possibly can.
I do want to point out, again, that I know a number of Organic Farmers and some of them do believe that Government has a place in telling us what to do and, if that is their position, that's fine. However, I would like to point out that most of these people work very hard to grow Organic Produce and bring it to Market. Knowing this, it gets hard to support a Government that defines "Organic" as loosely as possible in order for larger, corporate farms to be able to sell their product under the title of "Organic" while still using harmful chemicals and questionable growing methods. This is the same Government that won't let one of the hundreds of USDA inspectors in the Carroll County, GA area go to Jakes Dad's farm and certify his chickens, forcing him to take them to South Carolina or Kentucky to get them processed, which turns a $5.00 bird into an $11.00 bird. All of this makes Organic more expensive and sometimes too expensive for people to make it a realistic food option. If this doesn't really bother people and they would like to stick to the idea that only the USDA can save us from farmers who take shortcuts I present to you this challange: Go to the USDA (that's the United States Department of Agriculture) building in Washington D.C. and find out how many Farmers work there. The Short Answer is that there aren't any.
I have said for a long time that we need to pay less attention to what happens in California and spend more time thinking about our Communities and Local Issues. The best place to start with this mindset, in my eyes, is with our food. Support your local farms as they are not only the place to find some of the highest quality produce but if you have a question or concern you can visit them. Keep the money at home as I am sure Jake's Dad is sending some that Farm Money to school, local football, and maybe even to the Local Spice Company. And for the Love of Pete, get Government out of the way of your food. If you take even a few minutes and Google Organic Growing Regulations for your state, you will be very surprised at what chemicals the larger, corporate farms are allowed to use, by Law, and still be allowed to call them and label them "Organic". Laws that were passed by our Trusted Elected Officials.
I have put away the Soap Box...For Now,
Rob
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