Soup #3 - Chicken and Vegetable, Tarragon

I made this soup early in the day today to put in the refrigerator for dinner tonight.

I had braised a chicken in the crock pot the other day and deboned it for future soup use.I ended up using about half the meat for this one, and the other half will go into a future soup, perhaps.

I wanted this one chock-full of vegetables with little starch. The only starchy food in it is a half of a shredded potato, to give the broth more texture and richness. I also decided to shred a carrot into it also. I know that carrots are good for you, but I'm not terribly fond of them as a chunk, raw or cooked.

I started with a few tablespoons of diced onions sauteed in butter. I used butter instead of oil so I could get some nice browning. I cooked the onions until they were a little crispy and caramelized at the edges. I sort of like that look, though others like to keep them on the invisible side in their soups. I dumped in the pint of broth that I had saved from the crockpot chicken, and then added another pint of water. I was out of my favorite bouillon (Better than Bouillon) so I used my back-up dry powder stuff for the saltiness and a bit more chicken flavor. (I rely on spell check for the B word, but its getting tiring to go back and let it correct itself. Maybe I'll just make up my own word for the B stuff...)

I simmered it until the shreds were done, and then added my spice. I was sparing with the tarragon, since it can be quite overpowering. I used maybe a teaspoon at the most. A fair amount of granulated garlic and a squirt of lemon juice went in. I added a pinch of thyme to calm down the tarragon and add a little complexity. I added about another cup of water to account for evaporation and to dilute the seasoning.

Into the pot went a couple handfuls of chicken meat, some pre-blanched green beans, some sliced zucchini, and a some sliced red bell pepper. I also put in a big handful of Swiss chard.

Swiss chard is a great leafy green vegetable for soups. It stands up well to the heat, keeping its shape instead of dissolving into mush, like spinach leaves. The only thing is, you do HAVE to cook it, at least 5 minutes or more, or else it isn't tender enough to be enjoyable. I should have put the chard in earlier so that I didn't have to cook the other vegetables as long. I had wanted them to be a little more crisp-tender. So I ended up compromising between the two extremes. The chard is a little more substantial and the veggies a little more soft than I would have chosen. But I think it will still be ok.

We shall see when we have it tonight!

Soup #2 - Italian Meatball Soup

I had thrown togther a version of this last week, and I wanted to duplicate it for my Soups of January Series.

I had bought a family pack of good quality ground beef from the local meat market, used what I needed for my meal, and then made meatballs out of the rest of it. I divided them up into meal-sized portions, and then froze them for future reference. I pulled a bag of the meatballs out to use in this soup.

I started with a half can of tomato paste and added water and more paste until I got the right consistency, flavor, and volume of soup base. I probably used about 3/4 of a can of the paste, total. I seasoned it up with a couple good-sized pinches of Italian seasoning and a few generous shakes of granulated garlic. I gently simmered the frozen meatballs in it until they were warmed up. I dumped in a can of mushrooms, drained, and most of a can of drained black olives. (The cook always gets generous samples of black olives!) On a whim, I also spooned in a scoop of green spanish olives. Now it was time to taste and further hone the recipe.

It seemed a little bland and needing salt. I put in more Italian seasoning, and to add saltiness, I added "Better than Boullion" beef flavor until the saltiness seemed right. But it still didn't seem as peppy as it should. I wanted some heat. I put in about 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Better, but still not the zing I was looking for. When I get to this point, I know that the bright flavor I'm after will come from vinegar or lemon juice. I decided to use balsamic vinegar and shook in about a tablespoon. For good measure I splashed in about a teaspoon of Worchestershire sauce. Now it was just right!

The last item to add before I called it done was to fold in the half package of gnocchi dumplings I had precooked.

I think it turned out quite well, just the nice hearty soup for a cold January evening!

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Soup #1 - Italian Sausage Gnocchi

Cork likes thick hearty soups. I'm just as happy with thinner soups with lots of broth. My soup-making goal is to have a bit of both, when I can. I got the idea of this one from a lentil soup he had at Mary's Pizza Shack the other day. It had Italian sausage in it, but not very much. And he mentioned that it wasn't very spicy. Well I know how to fix that! HOT Italian sausage. We have been enamored of gnocchi since I discovered it in the Olive Garden soup, but I wanted something a little less cream-based.

In case you don't know gnocchi, they are these addictive little potato dumplings that come from Italy in plastic, shrink-wrapped, shelf-stable packages. I've tried the fresh ones from Safeway, but they just don't cut it for me.

I used a half pound of hot Italian Sausage, frying it in the saucepan. It was low-fat turkey or chicken, but still tasty and not so greasy. It stuck to the bottom of the pot, but that was ok, because the broth would loosen it. I poured in about 3 cups or so of "lazy man's chicken stock," that is, water and "Better than Bouillon" chicken bouillon. To give it a thicker mouth-feel, I grated half a potato into the liquid, and then simmered it until the potato was soft. I also added some shakes of garlic powder and about a teaspoon of Italian seasoning.

Meanwhile, I cooked the gnocchi in a separate pot. When I was happy with the flavor and consistency of the soup, I added the gnocch, about half the package, and poured in a cup of whole milk. I tossed in a handful of chopped red bell peppers and pre-blanched green beans. The lid went on and the burner got turned down to a very low setting.

About five or ten minutes later, dinner was served! Green salad and fresh fruit with yogurt completed the meal.

I was quite pleased with the results, and I think Cork gave it an "A" also.

The Soups of January

I thought about looking for a picture online for a bowl of soup, but it seemed to me that it would be like saying, Hey! I made this! Which I haven't done anything of the sort like that, yet. Trying to eat more healthfully and less calorically this brand new year, and soup just seemed like it would be a part of that. They are more filling because of the high liquid content and warmth, they are easy to stuff vegetables into and they seem like they could be interesting.

My plan is to make about 3 or 4 soups a week, hopefully, a lot of unique ones too. I will try to report on how that goes, as soon as I get some groceries and plans together.

Wish me luck!

Now THAT'S a Good (hot) Ginger Ale!

Over the past several years, we have explored new ginger ales and ginger beers as we came across them. So far, the best has been Ginger People ginger beer (according to my husband). The other night we tried a nice ginger beer from Trader Joe's that came in a large green swingtop bottle. It was also very good. But probably a little expensive. A very enjoyable project I worked on some years back was brewing my own ginger ale with a pinch of yeast and a liter soda bottle. One limiting factor was that when it was ready, you had to chill it and keep it chilled, since the yeast would continue to merrily divide, spewing out co2 until the bottle exploded or was drunk. The other problem my son kept complaining about was, "It isn't hot enough!" I tried adding more ginger pulp, but could never satisfy his craving for the ginger furnace he knew was possible.

I have since tried the other method of making ginger ale, creating a syrup and adding that to carbonated water. It wasn't bad, but it was a tedious process of peeling, slicing, simmering, straining, sugaring, etc. so I gave it up. The thing I WASN'T going to do was scrape my knuckles raw with a micro shredder and squeezing little bags of ginger pulp to just get the straight juice. And then, a light bulb went on. My Braun juicer!

I had picked up this big round juicer at the thrift store for just in case I ever wanted to make carrot juice or a little glass of apple juice! This is a serious machine, with heft, and a spinning shredder plate that flings the pulp against a whirling centrifugal strainer. Perfect!

I picked up a handful of plump ginger root pieces at Safeway, and got right to it when I got home. I peeled them and cut them into chunks. It was great fun dropping them into the hopper (immediately setting the pusher in place to keep them from flying back out again) and gently pushing them onto the grater. It was almost as much fun to hear the "REEEeeeeeerrrr" sound that made as it was to watch the yellow trickles of ginger juice run out into the cup. I ended up with a half cup of juice. When I opened the juicer, the strained pulp was dry as cardboard. I may or may not try to rinse some more flavor out of the remaining pulp next time.

I gently simmered it for about a minute with 3/4 cup sugar, 2 Tablespoons honey, juice of a half of a lemon, and a half teaspoon of lemon zest. It is thick, and opaque yellow. I put about a tablespoon into a half cup of carbonated water with a couple ice cubes.

It is amazingly hot and spicy, flavorful and juicy. What's great is that, for calorie watchers, you won't be glugging mouthfuls of sugary soda, you'll be sipping a small glass slowly. I'm still adjusting the ratios of sweetener to ginger juice, and deciding whether I need the lemon zest or not.

But I think this one is a keeper.

 

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Beer Tasting in Eugene Oregon

Over Memorial Day weekend, Wes and I drove up to Eugene for a little get-away and beer tasting jaunt. Although we did more than just taste beer, beer is what this post is about.

We stopped in Ashland to do a little shopping and then it was lunch time, which meant our first stop, Standing Stone Brewery and Restaurant. I had had their sampler before. They make it very cute and appealing with the tall little cylindrical glasses in the wood tray. But I’d had it before, and decided to chose a glass. I was torn between the saison and the abbey style, so the waitress brought me a taste of each. I’m always pleased when the staff can do that without having to charge extra for a little cup! I chose the “Dear Abbey,” which was moderate enough to be a delightful accompaniment to the food. The food was good, except for the quite horrid sweet potato soup. If I had to describe it, I'd say grayish milk gravy with glistening beads of fat on the surface, indeterminate flavor, and a prize in every spoonful- vegetable shreds that were eerily similar to fingernail clippings. (probably ginger root?) She took it away and didn't charge me. 

When we got to our hotel, we made the lovely discovery that a local brewpub and restaurant was directly next door! Hop Valley Brewing is an exciting and popular place in town. They had a large sampler available. My favorite was the Proxima IPA, similar to the Alpha Centauri Imperial IPA, but less “over the top.”  

The next day, we had planned on visiting Ninkasi, but decided to go elsewhere, since it was lunchtime and they did not serve food. We chose the High Street Brewery and Café, located in a renovated old house near downtown. The sampler was limited to their choice (including a berry one), so I chose their Jam Session IPA (FYI- Malts: Golden Promise, Vienna, Flaked Barley, Crystal C15 Hops: Chinook, Centennial, Mosaic, Falconer’s Flight  OG: 1.047  TG: 1.010  ABV: 4.77  IBU: 51  SRM: 4) which was very nice and well suited to a mid-day lunch. We had an unplanned and somewhat disturbing floor show, as we relaxed over our meal in the front yard patio. It quickly became apparent that the woman seated nearby was mentally ill, possibly schizophrenic. After she verbally abused the waitstaff, they asked her to leave. She kept trying to get someone to take her order, but they declined. The police didn't show up until she had screamed at the crowd, cussed the waiter, threw the table centerpiece containing salt shakers, menus etc. out into the street, and slapped the waitress as she was walking up the steps with a loaded tray. 

That evening it was back to Hop Valley for dinner. This time I ordered a pint of Proxima, and Wes ordered a glass of their pub-brewed root beer. And this was about where the Great  Sriracha Event happened. 

We had our food, our drinks, our ketchup cups, and by request, a full pint-sized jug of sriracha sauce sat in the middle of the little table. I reached for it, but the plastic was slippery and it popped out of my hand. All I could see in my mind was the jug rolling around the table bowling over our drinks, so I started grabbing. But the jug was still slippery, and the plastic was so flexible that every time I got a grip it would squirt streams of red hot sauce in wild arcs across the table, across our food, and finally in a big puddle on the carpet beside the table. The rolling bottle had caught one ketchup cup, flinging its contents all along Wes’ white long-sleeve shirt. It all took place in about 1.5  seconds. I hardly knew what to say. But I was happy to see that the drinks were still standing. (sorry I don't have a picture of that, though I could take a picture of the small pink stain that was left on his shirt after I laundered it.)

We left for home Monday morning, scouting for a likely pub when noon approached. Here is where an ipad is very handy. You can do a search, then check the reviews, even get a virtual tour sometimes. We discovered the 4 Daughters Irish Pub in Medford Oregon. 

Located downtown, this is an awesome pub in an old brick building with two stories, full bar top and bottom, a mixture of tables and chairs, couches, coffee tables, parlor chairs and electric fireplaces. Tasteful and interesting Irish memorabilia and decorations are everywhere. 

I was tempted by Smithwicks, but when I found out they had an ale on tap brewed by them, I had to order that, a brown. It was the best brown I’d had in a while, just a touch of roast, and crisp enough to keep up with the food (Shepherds pie, and Bubbles and Squeak). 

Then home again, home again, jiggety jig.

Next time... Bend, OR!

Fermentation Frolic - Pt. 2, Making cheese

Not all cheese is fermented, and the type that we were going to make, fresh mozzarella, would not be fermented. But since we were all novices to cheesemaking, we considered this exercise but a first step to more and greater fermentation in our cheese-futures to come.

First step, install tiaras.

Second step, study the recipe and lay out all our ingredients, milk and rennet being primary.

Supposedly, the very best way to make a superior fresh mozzarella is to use raw, unpasturized milk. But we just weren't ready to do that, with a group of us all being responsible for each other's health. We also did not have a personal source, and grocery store raw milk is quite expensive, comparatively. So we settled on a nice fresh gallon of regular milk and got started.

Some citric acid was needed to curdle the milk. I grew up baking things, and often the recipe called for buttermilk, which wasn't always in the fridge when you needed it. So we were used to curdling fresh milk with a couple teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice. But citric acid will to the same thing, but without leaving its own flavor. After adding the acid, the temperature needed to be brought up to exactly 90 degrees.

 

I used to trust my instant-read thermometer above all my thermometers. And then one day I proofed all my kitchen thermometers with boiling water and was shocked to find out how much off some of them were, even my esteemed instant-read! So I always advise proofing thermometers when every degree counts. Water boils at 212 degrees at sea level, so you can use that standard.

Time to add the rennet! We used vegetable rennet, but when I go to buy my own stock, I'll probably get the original stuff made from calves stomachs. Gentle mixing for 30 seconds, and then let it rest for 5 min. The instructions are to: Put the lid on! Don't touch the pan! Walk away! Live your life for exactly five minutes! So I'm assuming that part is petty important.

Now it was starting to get fun. With a long knife, we cut the soft curd into a one inch checkerboard pattern. After heating up the mixture again slightly, we used a slotted spoon to transfer the curds into a colander. A this point, the main goal at hand was to get the whey out of the way.

Swirling and folding, squeezing and kneading, heating it up for brief periods in the microwave, these all helped to make a nice firm texture and let the liquid leak out of the curd. When it was done, we formed it into little balls and dropped them into cold water.

 

It was very delicious!

It shouldn't be surprising that there wasn't really very much of it. Even though milk has enough of a fluid consistency that you can actually pour it and drink it out of a glass, for some reason, I still expected more solids in our little glass cheese bowl and less in the jug of leftover whey. It would feel more efficient if I had a use at hand for the whey, but I haven't come up with one yet. So I don't think it would be especially cost economical to make it, if you are looking at the rubbery mozzarella balls you get for making lasagne or pizza. But if you want a hand-crafted treat covered with herbs and olive oil, or a lovely Caprese salad, then I suggest you try it. Plus, it really is fun!

If you want to follow the recipe we used, here is the link. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/07/making-fresh-mozzarella/

 

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