Watermelon Gazpacho

It's been forever since we've had time or inclination to put up any new recipes. But this isn't the first time we've made watermelon gazpacho, so I thought it was high time I blog this sucker. Maybe we'll get back into posting our recipes here.

Ingredients for the Soup

• 2 lbs of seedless watermelon, roughly chopped.
• Three medium tomatoes, stem bits removed, roughly chopped.
• 3c of crusty bread, crusts removed, rough chop
• A cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/2c water
• 1/4c basil
• 1/4c mint
• 1/4c cilantro
• 1/4c olive oil
• 1 shallot, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1.5 tsp salt
• Somewhere between 1/2 and 1 tsp of adobo seasoning (or just 1/2 tsp of cumin)

Ingredients for the Basil Oil

• Didn't realize we were going to get fancy, did you?
• 1/4c basil
• 1/4 olive oil
• Salt  & pepper to taste

Garnish

• Some little bits of cubed tomato, watermelon, avocado, and/or feta.

This is a pretty easy recipe, and the results are fantastic. So basically, blend together the basil oil ingredients in a blender, then set aside and rinse out the blender (doesn't need to be totally clean). Toss all of the soup ingredients into a bowl and let them sit for a little while (5, 10 minutes) and then blend those, too (in batches if you have to). Set in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes, then adjust seasonings.

To serve, pour some soup in a bowl and top with the garnishes and drizzle with basil oil. If you want to be really fancy, you could serve this as a shooter, actually, or you could put a pile of the garnishes in the center of a plate and pour some soup around it. But we weren't as concerned about that.

Thoughts: This is remarkably easy. It's good for summer, since it's like 97 degrees out and who wants to cook? And it's refreshing. I guess it took a little while to put together, bit if you make a smaller portion it wouldn't have to take very long. Honestly, you could skip the basil oil and just use some basil in the garnish. That would also mean you can dirty fewer dishes, and you can just toss ingredients into the blender as you go.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Roasted Carrot and Apple Soup

Ingredients

• 1 lb carrots, scrubbed (about 4-5 large)
• 1 medium-large onion, chopped
• 2 medium-large apples (we used pink lady), washed, chopped, unpeeled
• olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 black pepper
• 2 tbsp butter, divided
• 2 tbsp garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
• crema mexicana, for garnish (you can also use creme fraiche)

Preheat oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with foil.

In a large bowl, combine the carrots, onion, apples, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them in an even layer on the baking sheet. 

Roast for 30 minutes, turning once halfway. 

Heat 1 tbsp of the butter in a soup pot and put all the spices in it (garlic, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper). Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 

Add the roasted vegetables and the stock. Stir to combine, then turn the heat off. 

Use an immersion blender on everything until it's smooth. Return to heat and cook until it simmers.

While this is happening, make the paprika brown butter, viz. heat butter over medium/low heat until it starts to simmer and smell interesting. THIS DOES NOT TAKE LONG. DON'T BURN THE BUTTER unless you want to make a beurre noir. But don't. 

Remove from heat and add paprika. Stir while it's still hot. 

Serve soup garnished with the brown butter sauce and crema mexicana. We also served it with goat cheese crostini, which was boss.

Thoughts: Well, this was a fine soup. Flavor was pretty legit, but it was a little thick. I might try to thin the soup out a little if I were to make this in the future. Not sure I will though, because it's not a 1, and why re-make anything that isn't a 1? Dan really liked it -- he thinks it's better than the other carrot soups we've done. I guess I believe him. He also says he wouldn't thin it out, so.....? 

Disaster Index: 1/10 (Dan), 2/10 (Claire)

Artichoke Lamb Stew

This takes a little prep, but I think it's worth it. This was a bit unusual as dishes go, but I think the result was awesome.

Ingredients

• 3 large artichokes (prep instructions below)
• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped (rounds)
• about 1/2 lb cannellini beans (or similar), soaked
• 1.5 tbsp flour
• 2tbsp lemon juice
• oil / fat of your choice (we used leftover bacon fat, but olive oil would work fine)
• rosemary, thyme, basil (we kind of eye-balled it - maybe 1 tsp / .5 tsp / 1 tsp, respectively)

Okay, the artichokes. Pull off the outer layer of roughed-up leaves. Wash the artichokes. Cut off the top inch or so of the artichoke to expose the leaves. As you do all of this, every time you remove a leaf or anything, rub the cut / damaged area with lemon juice. With a paring knife, peel the outer portion of the stem (but leave it attached. Or, if it came detached at some point, just peel it) and, again, coat in lemon juice.

Pop the artichokes in a steamer for 25-45 minutes, until the outer leaves come off pretty easily. Remove and let cool. Then begin removing the leaves. You can eat the ends of the leaves as you go or just save them for later. We saved all the leaves for an up-coming stock we're going to make. Anyway, when you get all the bigger leaves off (the top 5 layers or so) you can usually pull out all the center layers in one go. Then you're left with the heart (and the choke). Scrape out the choke using a spoon. Now chop the heart and the stems into 8 pieces (or so, I don't know - bite sized). ARTICHOKES DONE. If you didn't understand a step, go google it or something.

In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, add the lamb and some oil/fat. Break up the lamb a LITTLE, but not into tiny bits - it's nice to have larger pieces of lamb kicking around. Brown the lamb pretty well. Then add the onion and carrot. Cook until the onion is getting soft. Then add the flour and continue to cook for another minute. Finally, add everything else. Fill with water JUST to cover. Bring to a boil (scraping up the bottom of the pot as you go), then reduce to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for about an hour. Season to taste with salt and additional lemon juice.

Thoughts: The game-y-ness of the lamb was wonderfully balanced by the acidity of the lemon. It was a really nice, hearty winter soup. The artichokes had great flavor the FIRST day, but after sitting in the fridge the flavor diffused a bit so it wasn't as distinct the second day. Since the hearts were already cooked, next time I might not boil them for an hour with everything else, but instead pop them in with about 5 minutes left in the cooking process. If I had stew meat available (rather than ground) I think that would be better, but this was still really good.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Parsnip and Leek Soup with Crab

Seems like it's been too long since we posted something here. This was too interesting to pass up, though.

Ingredients

• scant 1 lb of parsnips, peeled and chopped into rough 1-2" pieces
• 2 small leeks or, I don't know, one large one? Chopped and rinsed thoroughly to remove the sand. (We like to float the cut leeks in a bowl of water, and the sand sinks to the bottom)
• about 1 or 1.5tsp dried thyme
• splash of white wine (or vermouth)
• olive oil
• 3c chicken stock
• 1/4c whipping cream
• lump crab meat (we got a 6oz package of "blue star" crab meat, and it wasn't too expensive - like $6).
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 2tbsp butter

So toss the parsnips in some olive oil and put in a glass baking dish. Cover with foil and pop in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the leeks, thyme, and wine and stir to coat. Cover back up with the foil and put back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

When that's done, put everything in a soup pot with 3c of chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. When the veg are soft, blend until relatively smooth (we used an immersion blender, which worked great, but you can use a stand blender if you want a really silky texture). Return to the pot (if you took it out?) and add the whipping cream. Adjust salt and the texture - if you use low-sodium broth, I can see you needing some more salt. And if you weren't generous with the stock or if you had a few more parsnips than I did, you MAY need a little more water.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter with the lemon juice. When it's melted, add the crab to the bowl and stir. Probably won't actually cook the crab, but I don't think you really need to, either (our crab meat was pasteurized and, therefore, ready to eat). Anyway, serve the soup in a bowl (or shooter, or whatever) and top with a little bit of crab.... or a lot of crab.

Thoughts: Pretty great. The flavors complemented each other really nicely. I would say my only gripe is that I felt like there is a better way to do this. Roasting the parsnips should bring out the natural sweetness, but when you leave them covered, it kind of defeats the purpose. And why roast the leeks? Maybe next time, we throw the parsnips in the oven (covered for 15, uncovered for 25?) and while they're roasting, we could saute the leeks with the thyme and olive oil in the stock pot. That makes more sense to me. EVEN SO, this was really good. Also quite easy.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Straightforward cream of mushroom soup has deep flavor and none of that paste-y consistency that comes when you add thickeners.

Ingredients

• 3tbsp butter (ish)
• 1/2 a red onion, chopped
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 20oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1.5c water
• 2c chicken stock (you could probably substitute for veg)
• 1/2oz dried mushrooms - we used oyster mushrooms, though porcinis would be good.
• 1/6c dry sherry (we actually used Marsala, which worked very well.)
• 1/2c heavy cream
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• salt to taste

Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the onion and cook until translucent, then add the garlic and nutmeg. Cook for another 30 seconds (until fragrant) and add the creminis. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, then set heat to low and cover. Let them cook 15-20 minutes, stirring (again) occasionally. Add the stock, water, and dried mushrooms and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes (probably don't have to stir at all). Then, working in batches (or however you want to do it), blend the soup in a blender. You might be able to get away with an immersion blender here, but I'm not sure. Anyway, return to the pot and add the sherry, cream, and lemon juice. Season with salt to taste.

Thoughts: This was actually kind of time-consuming, but only because it was the first time we made it, I think, and we wanted to watch it all the time. Otherwise, the flavor was fantastic. I think we did something really smart here. Only complaint I think could be legitimately raised is that there isn't a lot of textural variety. I'm not sure what I would want to fix that. Probably some crusty bread would do the trick, or something equivalent. Not sure. Anyway, definitely make this soup.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Cullen Skink

We got the recipe at Doune Castle. I made some modifications, and it worked!


Ingredients

• about 8oz mashed potatoes
• 1.5 leeks (you could reasonably use one), chopped
• pint of 2% milk
• about 1lb cod or haddock (we used cod)
• salt
• pepper
• bay leaf
• some olive oil

In a soup pot, heat olive oil. Add the leeks and cook until they're just getting tender - 8 minutes or so. Add the milk, bay leaf, and cod. Heat to boiling, then reduce to a simmer until the fish is cooked through. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the fish, about half the leeks, and the bay leaf. Add the mashed potatoes and blend what remains until smooth. Flake the fish apart and re-add that and the leeks to the pot. Salt and pepper to taste (takes a LOT of salt because of the potato - don't be afraid of seasoning.)

Thoughts: This was pretty great. It's basically vichyssoise, except with cod in it. In the future, I would probably do this SLIGHTLY differently. I might cook most of the stuff in water rather than milk, because the milk tends to separate (though blending with the potato helps this). I would want chunks of potato, too. I'm not sure exactly when I would add this. Otherwise, pretty awesome. Everyone kept saying they liked it and I do not THINK they were lying to me.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Boeuf Bourguignon

SACRÉ BLEU.

Ingredients

• 2lbs. beef shoulder, cut into 1.5" pieces
• 4 onions, thinly sliced into rainbows
• olive oil
• 2tbsp flour
• 1c red Burgundy wine
• 6 carrots, cut into 1" pieces
• 1 clove garlic
• a bouquet garni (a bunch of parsley and thyme tied together)
• .5tsp thyme
• 3 bay leaves
• black pepper
• salt
• chopped parsley

In a large Dutch oven, heat some oil to nearly smoking. Salt and pepper the beef. Working in batches, sear the pieces of beef until you get a nice brown caramelized sear. You want to work in batches, because if you crowd the pan, you won't be able to get the sear you need.

Anyway, remove the beef and add all the onions. Turn heat to medium-high and cook until they're translucent and wilted. Add the flour and cook another couple minutes. Add the wine and deglaze, then add the carrots, garlic, bouquet garni, thyme, and bay leaves. Add water to cover everything by a centimeter or so. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently, then reduce to a low simmer for two hours, checking every 15-20 minutes to scrape up the bottom and make sure nothing is sticking. You may have to add water in the middle if it's cooking down too fast - it's a stew, after all. When it's done, adjust the salt. Serve over crushed boiled potatoes, and top with chopped parsley.

Thoughts: We actually served over some roughly smashed yukon gold potatoes with rosemary and wilted greens. This was pretty fantastic. I don't think I'd do anything differently. Oh yeah - we took the carrots out half-way through when Claire was afraid that they would get too soft. We added them back in at the end.

Claire says now that she thinks she liked the idea, but she also wants to try other recipes. WHATEVER.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Update: Add a bit more thyme. Also, don't need the bouquets garnis. Double the wine, and add some beef stock along with the water. Also, when you add the water, make sure to add the beef back in - somehow we left that out of the recipe.

Turkey Gumbo

After Thanksgiving, we went to Jeff's house and had amazing leftover turkey gumbo. Pat & Eleanor had given us the turkey carcass from our own feast, so Claire and I were inspired to try it. The recipe we made was ENORMOUS but good. You will almost CERTAINLY want to alter the amount of stuff in this.

Ingredients

• 1/2c oil or leftover bacon grease or something similar
• 1/2c all purpose flour
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded, chopped
• 4 celery ribs, chopped
• 8 cloves worth of garlic
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 1/4c white vermouth
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes with juice
• 4-6ish cups turkey stock with turkey
• 1 package (?) andouille sausage (I think about 1 lb), cut into 1/2" slices
• 1 16-ounce packages sliced frozen okra
• 1 lb peeled (tail off) de-veined shrimp.
• Salt to taste
• Gumbo filé to taste

So, it's important to note before you start that we made the turkey stock as follows: chop up the turkey carcass and place in a slow-cooker. Cover with water, and leave for about 24 hours. Fish out any bones. DONE.

In a huge pot, add the grease / oil. Heat until quite hot, then add the flour. Stir around this paste, cooking over medium heat, for about 5 minutes. If you use oil, at least, it's supposed to turn reddish-brown through this process. Ours started out that color, so who knows. Anyway, add the onions, peppers, and celery. Cook until everything is quite soft - about 20 minutes. Then add the garlic and cayenne and cook another couple minutes. Then add the vermouth, thyme, and bay leaves. Turn to high heat and cook for a minute, before you add the tomato, stock, and sausage. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes, then add the okra and simmer for another 10 minutes. Finally add the shrimp and cook until just fully opaque (3-5 minutes). Salt to taste (ours needed quite a lot).

Serve.

Thoughts: Great flavor. Claire and I agree that we could have used more turkey - we could have had more, but we ate a lot of the turkey before we tried this. I think the amount of shrimp and sausage was good, though. We agree that the flavor was great.

Disaster Index: 1/10, but it made so much we'll be eating it for like 2 weeks.

Split Pea and Red Lentil Soup

This one was a little odd as recipes go. We borrowed some concepts from a couple recipes. But this turned out awesome.
Ingredients

• 1c split peas
• 1c red lentils
• 3 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 6c chicken stock
• 1c water
• 2tsp smoked spanish paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• 1.5-2tbsp tomato paste
• 1/3c raisins
• yogurt / blue cheese (optional)

Cook the bacon in the bottom of a heavy soup pan. When it's crispy, remove the bacon and set aside to drain. Pour off the grease if there's too much and add the onions and the bay leaf. Cook until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Then add the split peas and lentils, chicken stock, water, and paprika. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to simmer for 30 minutes. Around 25 minutes, check on it that it isn't sticking (it will tend to do this). When you're done, stir it really well (our stuck a little bit, but some stirring loosed the soup stuck to the bottom of the pot). Add the tomato paste and the raisins, and cook at low heat for another minute or so. Serve with crumbled bacon and yogurt / blue cheese.

Thoughts: We eyeballed the raisin amount, but I think that it could have used more raisins. Start with 1/3 cup and add more as necessary. This was an awesome recipe, if somewhat unusual. Would definitely make again.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Pumpkin Soup with Mole Sauce

This was kind of made up, but it worked.

Ingredients

• Soup
• 1 small pumpkin, peeled, insides scooped, chopped
• 1 apple, peeled and chopped
• 4c chicken stock
• pepper
• a couple of small, hot peppers, chopped
• Mole Sauce 
• pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin
• one onion, chopped
• garlic
• about 1tbsp dutch processed cocoa
• 1/4c raisins
• 1/4tsp cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne, ancho chili powder, oregano, anise seed
• 2 dried chilies, seeds included
• 1-2 tomatoes (in our case, actually, about 3tbsp tomato paste)
• 1c chicken stock
• salt to taste
• water as necessary
• Some honey (optional - I like my mole a little sweeter)
• olive oil

First, scoop the seeds out of the pumpkin. Peel and chop the pumpkin. Toss with olive oil and some pepper and roast for about 30 minutes at 350, until soft.

Meanwhile, toast the pumpkin seeds in a pan with some olive oil until lightly toasted. Add onions and saute until translucent. Throw in the garlic and cook until fragrant. Put the onion, garlic, and pumpkin seeds in a blender with all the other ingredients, and blend until mostly smooth. At this point, I put the sauce on the stove and boiled for 15 minutes or so with some extra water, but I don't know if this is necessary? Anyway, press through a sieve into a bowl. Season to taste. DONE WITH MOLE.

The soup is so easy, it hardly counts as cooking. Add the pumpkin, apples, stock, and peppers to a pot. Cook until the apples are soft (about 20 minutes?) and blend (we used an immersion blender). Season to taste.

Serve soup with mole drizzled on top.

Thoughts: The soup was easy, but the mole took a while. Next time I would use almonds instead of pumpkin seeds, since I failed to hull the pumpkin seeds, I guess, and they were very tough. Anyway, the flavor combination worked, which I think we were all a little surprised about, since this was completely made up. But awesome! Claire says "interesting texture on the soup" - it's true, it was pretty thick, but velvety.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Borscht

Even Claire likes it!
Ingredients

• 4 beets, cut to matchsticks (ish)
• 1 russet potato, cubed
• 2½c green cabbage, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, sliced
• 5c beef stock
• garlic
• splash of red wine vinegar
• about ¼c chopped fresh dill, optional

Put the onions in a stock pot with some olive oil and saute until translucent. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Then add the remaining vegetables. Cook, stirring frequently, for something like 5 minutes. Deglaze with the stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-25 minutes, until veg are tender. Using an immersion blender, partly blend the soup (to taste). add the dill and splash of vinegar. Serve with optional plain yogurt or sour cream.

Thoughts: This was our first successful attempt to make borscht. It was great! Even Claire liked it, and she doesn't like beets. Future versions might include trying to get a meatier flavor from the stock. Not sure about this yet. Hm.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Fennel and Greens Soup

Sometimes you just can't have enough soup. That time is all the time.

Ingredients

• olive oil
• salt and pepper
  
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 lb mixed leafy greens (kale, swiss chard, mustard greens, collards, whatever)
• 6 cups stock
• oz spinach
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• garnish of dill or fennel

Heat oil and butter and add salt, fennel, onion, and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are slightly browned, 7-8 minutes. Everything should be soft.
Add leafy greens (no spinach yet) and stock to the pot and simmer, uncovered, until greens are tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cook until just wilted (maybe 1 minute).
Puree the soup in your blender or by using a stick blender. Return to heat and add the heavy cream and lemon juice. Heat on low until desired temperature.
Also good with Parmesan cheese.

Thoughts: Delicious, but I can't get enough vegetable soup. This is my favorite style of soup -- cook everything, blend it, return to heat and add dairy. It's a pretty simply formula, and one that yields awesome soup every time. I don't think Dan is nearly as crazy about soup as I am, so he probably wouldn't give this a 1, but it was pretty much a 1. I'll give it a 2 just to prevent arguments.

Disaster Index: 2/10

Spicy Black Bean Soup

Wow.

Ingredients

• .75c dry black beans
• 4 strips of bacon, chopped finely
• 1 smallish onion, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1tsp dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4tsp thyme
• 6c chicken stock
• .25c cilantro, chopped
• 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 dried chili pepper, MOST of the seeds removed, ground in a mortar & pestle

Cover the black beans with 3 inches of cold water and let sit for about 8 hours.  Drain the water and rinse the beans.

In a soup pot, place the bacon and cook until crispy.  Then add the onion and pepper and the spices.  Cook until the onion is translucent and add the beans, stock, and the chicken thighs.  Stir well, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pot.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for like 2 hours.  After one of those hours has elapsed, remove the chicken using tongs or a slotted spoon and shred using two forks, then return them to the soup.  After about 2 hours, the beans should be very tender.  Add the cilantro.  Serve.

Thoughts: Not only was this amazing - one of our best soups yet - it pretty much left the entire floor of our building smelling awesome.  The chicken was a last minute innovation designed to use up leftovers before we left town, and shredding it seemed like a really easy way to deal with the stuff being too frozen to cut.  Claire declared that all the chicken in our soups should be prepared this way in the future.  Anyway, not much can be said about this soup.  It was awesome.  Maybe next time I'll use 2 chilies.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Mulligatawny Soup

Ingredients

• neutral oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2 1/2 tbsp garam masala
• 2 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 c red lentils
• 8 c chicken stock
• 2 c chicken, cooked (optional)
• 1c chopped cilantro (optional)
• 1 can coconut milk
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1c basmati rice, cooked

At some point while you're making the soup, you can cook the rice: wash 1c of rice, then put it in a pot with 1.25c water.  Bring to a boil, then cover and set to very low heat and cook for about 8 minutes.  Then turn off the heat and let it sit (covered) for another 10 minutes at least.

To make the soup, heat a little oil in a pot, then add the onions and carrots.  When the onions are getting translucent, add the garlic and all the other spices (including the bay leaves) and cook for a minute.  Then add the red lentils and toss to coat.  Then add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.  Take it off the heat and add the lemon juice and coconut milk, then blend until smooth (we used a stick blender).  Stir in the cooked chicken and cilantro and correct seasoning (we had to add more spices and salt).  To serve, put rice in a bowl and pour soup over the rice.

Thoughts: When we first made the recipe, I tasted it before we added the coconut milk and thought that the flavor was fantastic.  The coconut milk really muted the spices, so we needed to add a lot more.  But it was quite good.  It might be nice to only PARTIALLY blend this but leave some of the lentils whole for texture.  Even so, this was quite good.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Cream of Broccoli and Kale Soup

Ingredients

• 2 medium bunches of broccoli, florets removed and cut into smallish pieces
• 2-3c Kale, roughly chopped
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp neutral oil
• salt
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped or minced or smashed
• 1tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4c dry white wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 1c chicken stock
• 2c vegetable stock
• 1/2c whole milk

Combine broccoli, kale, and onion with oil and some salt in a soup pot and saute over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds.  Then add in the flour and toss around evenly, cooking for about a minute.  Add the wine and bay leaf and cook until the wine is absorbed - about a minute - then add the stock.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and blend everything together in a blender.  Return to the pot and add the whole milk.  Correct seasoning.  Le voila.

Thoughts: Good flavor, but we agreed that we could have used the soup to be pureed a little smoother.  I dunno - it was pretty standard, really.  We weren't blown away by this recipe.  How should we add more flavor in the future?  Anyway, unobjectionable.  Just nothing to write home about.

Disaster Index: 2/10

Cream of Red Bell Pepper Soup

Maybe we can get back into the swing of things here.

Ingredients

• 2.5 lbs red bell peppers
• 2tbsp shallot or red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1tsp dried thyme
• 3c chicken stock
• 1/2c half and half
• 1tsp red wine vinegar
• 1tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/8tsp cayenne
• Parmesan, salt, pepper to serve

Over a gas stove (or under a broiler), char the skin off of the red bell peppers until they're really blackened.  Put them in a paper bag as you finish them and close the paper bag - let them sit in the humid environment for about 10 minutes to sweat.  Then take them out and rinse them in the sink under cool water - the skin should come off pretty easily.  Use a butter knife to scrape off any extra that doesn't just flake off.

In a pot, add the shallot and onion and saute in olive oil until the onion is translucent.  Add the garlic and thyme and sautee another 30 seconds, then add the peppers and the chicken stock.  Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 20 minutes.  Then blend everything together until smooth (we used an immersion blender).

Return the soup to the heat and add the half-and-half, vinegar, and cayenne.  Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with parmesan.

Thoughts: We didn't have the recipe for red pepper soup we ate at Sally's because we forgot it.  So we did this, and it was actually pretty good.  We both liked it, though there wasn't as much going on here in terms of different textures and flavors - it was a little one note.  But it was a good note.  I can see making this again, particularly because it's so easy.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Double Celery Potato Soup

Not for those who are allergic to celery, as this has DOUBLE celery.

Ingredients

• 3tbsp olive oil
• about 2 entire leeks, chopped (we used the green parts of about 4 leeks)
• 1 large onion or 2 small, chopped
• 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped to rough 1" chunks
• 2 medium celery roots, peeled and chopped to rough 1" chunks
• heaping 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 8c chicken/vegetable stock
• 5 celery stalks, chopped
• (optional) bacon, crisped to top (you can also cook vegetables in the bacon fat / skip the olive oil completely)
• (optional) cream or whole milk - between 1/4 and 1 c, depending on how you feel (we used 1/4 whole)
• black pepper

In a pot, add the leeks and onion and the oil (or bacon fat, if using).  Cook until tender over medium to medium-low heat, about 10 minutes.  Then add the potatoes, celery root, thyme, bay leaf, and stock.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.  Add the celery stalks and simmer for another 15 minutes.  Now take the soup off the heat and, using an immersion blender (or equivalent?), blend the hell out of the soup until it's mostly smooth.  Add a ton of finely ground black pepper, milk (if using).  Serve and top with optional bacon, if desired.

Thoughts: The flavor of this is really INTERESTING - different from any soup I've had.  In retrospect, this recipe is another variation on the traditional leek and potato soup (see Vichyssoise 2 or our ever popular Vichyssoise with Chilies), but the celery flavor is slightly sweet.  It doesn't taste strongly like celery, but it has a unique... unexpected flavor.  Not totally unlike pea soup.  Kind of "warm" is the best way to put it.  It pairs very well with pepper.  I think this soup would be better had in winter.  But it was a good way to use up a lot of ingredients we had... and it was an excuse to try celeriac for the first time ever.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Vichyssoise 2

Easier and better than our original recipe.  Thanks Julia Child.
Ingredients

• 6 leeks, white parts chopped and rinsed of grit, green parts discarded (or saved for something else)
• 5 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped (the idea is to have about 6 cups of leeks and 6 cups of potatoes)
• 12c chicken or vegetable stock
• 1-2c cream

Note: This recipe makes a LOT of soup.  I made this for a group of 12 and had leftovers.

This recipe is embarrassingly easy.  Throw the vegetables in a big pot with the stock.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 40 to 50 minutes.  Blend in batches, then stir in the cream.  Chill.

Thoughts: I thought that this was really delicious - better than any vichyssoise we'd made in the past.  Must be the cream.  Claire really liked it, too, except that she likes it better with chili peppers in it, and she prefers it served warm.  Anyway, good show.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Corn Soup

Ingredients

• 3 cups frozen corn kernels, defrosted (or kernels from 5 ears of fresh corn)
• olive oil
• garlic
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, stemmed and chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1.5 cups chicken broth (or veg)
  
• cilantro sprigs
• sour cream
  

Put kernels in a blender. Don't blend yet. Just let them sit there.
Combine oil and garlic in a small soup pot over medium heat and let cook until fragrant. Add onion and jalapeno and cook until vegetables are soft and translucent, about 6 minutes.
Transfer the vegetables to blender and puree with corn until smooth.
Pour the corn puree back into the soup pot and place over medium heat. Add cilantro sprigs. Stir constantly for a few minutes until soup thickens. This will be tricky because this soup is so thick that when it splatters, it really splatters. Just do your best. Your stove will be a mess, but just come to peace with it.
Once soup has thickened a little, add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, decrease heat to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes (covered, if you value your stovetop).
Top with roasted corn guacamole and serve. Garnish with sour cream and cilantro sprigs.

Thoughts: Hella easy to make, but hella spicy. It's those really ripe jalapenos. We got a whole bag of them and we're still working on using them up. So only make this if you like really spicy things. Also, don't drink alcohol with this soup -- it will just make the spiciness even worse. There wasn't a whole lot of depth of flavor here, probably because the spice took care of that. But it's good nonetheless. A good starter recipe. We'll see what else we can add to it, I think.

Disaster Index: 2-3/10

Green chili pozole

This is almost too spicy?

Ingredients

• 2 cans hominy, rinsed and drained
• 1.5 lbs pork ribs
• 8 springs of flat-leaf parsley, tied with kitchen twine
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3/4 tsp dried oregano (preferably Mexican, says Martha, but seriously?)
• .5 lbs tomatillos, husked and rinsed well (they get pretty sticky)
• 2 jalapeno peppers, quartered
• 1 cup cilantro
  
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped (it's going into a food processor)
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• salt

Place pork in large pot -- cover by 2" with water. Add parsley and garlic and bring to a boil. If any foam or fat rises to the top, skim it off with a ladle.
Reduce heat to medium low, and add oregano. Simmer, partially covered, until the meat is falling off of the bone, about 2 hours.
In the meantime, fill a small pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add your tomatillos and cook them in the boiling water for about 10 minutes, until the tomatillos are tender. Transfer them to a small bowl. Reserve some of the cooking liquid.
In a food processor or blender, add the onion, jalapeno peppers, cilantro, tomatillos, and as much reserved cooking liquid as you need to make the whole thing blend. Blend it until smooth. It should look like green chili.
Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. When it's hot enough to make you nervous, add the tomatillo mixture and 1/2 tsp salt, stirring constantly. It will probably spatter a little. Use a spatter shield.
Reduce heat to medium and simmer gently, stirring almost constantly (if you have pots like we do), until the mixture is thick, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
The pork might be done by now. If it is, remove it from the broth (reserve the broth) and trim any excess fat from it (we didn't have any to trim). Remove the meat from the bones (which should be pretty easy at this point). Shred meat. Remove the parsley from the broth and throw it away.
Stir tomatillo mixture into the reserved pork broth and bring to a boil. Add the shredded pork.
Reduce heat, and simmer gently until heated through. If you just took the pork from the broth, this really shouldn't take long.
Add the hominy. Simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt or pepper to your heart's content.
Eat.

Thoughts: This was a pretty involved recipe, actually. There must be a way to simplify it. We'll see. This was pretty good -- I was hoping it would be JUST SLIGHTLY more flavorful. I think the pork ribs we used were not super fatty, and they probably could have been. In the future I would choose a less lean cut. Although a healthier thing to do might be to cook everything in pork broth instead of water. Then you would get a more savory flavor without the extra fat. Just a lot of extra sodium. TOTALLY WORTH IT, KIDS. The hominy adds a really interesting flavor. I have never really eaten much hominy before, but I would like to be eating more of it. The heat is of a proper intensity. Dan says "delicious" about the whole affair. Good.

Disaster Index: 1.5/10