Italian Wedding Soup

My first attempt at chicken stock worked out so well that I couldn't wait to try it again.

This time, I also used a rotisserie chicken carcass, but I omitted the apple.  I added carrot, onion, celery, and some kale that was soon going to go bad.  We were home all day, so it simmered on low for about five hours.

When the stock was ready, I strained it and then made Italian Wedding Soup with it.  I wanted to make something that was warm, hearty, and had lots of veggies and lots of meat (my carnivorous husband has been putting up with a lot of vegan cooking lately -- he's earned it).

10-12 cups of chicken stock (preferably home-made!)
1 pound of sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
1 piece of Ezekiel bread
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 egg whites
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup small, uncooked pasta, like ditalini
4 cups chopped dark, leafy greens (I used mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, and spinach)

Rip the Ezekiel bread and put it in the blender to pulse into crumbs.  Put the crumbs, sausage, and egg whites into a bowl and then mush together by hand.  Form into 1-inch meatballs.  Put olive oil into a pan and brown the meatballs in batches.  [They don't have to cook all the way through, but they should be brown on all sides.]

Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside, but leave the oil in the pan.

Put the carrots, celery, and garlic in the same pan and cook for about 3 minutes.  Then put the chicken stock, the veggies, the meatballs, and the pasta in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 45 minutes.  After 45 minutes, add the dark, leafy greens and cook for 15 minutes more.  Serve.

This meal made the whole family happy: veggies for me, meat for my hubby, and soft finger food (cut up meatballs, carrots, celery, and pasta) for the toddler and baby.  A winner!

Indian-Spiced, Parsnip, Apple, and Chicken Soup

I made this soup entirely from scratch.  Yup, I made the stock, too!

After reading Joel Salatin's "Folks, This Ain't Normal," I was inspired to cook with a whole chicken.

A few nights ago, my husband roasted a bird, stuffed with an apple, covered in olive oil and rosemary (in a 400 degree oven for about an hour).  We had the chicken for dinner with vegetable side dishes, including Winter Fruit and Cabbage Side Salad.  That night, I picked through the leftovers, separating the meat from the bones, skin, and sinew.  I put the meat in one bag and the bones, etc. (including the apple!) in another.

Tonight I made the chicken stock.  I put the remains of the chicken (including the apple, but not the meat) in a stock pot along with carrots, celery, onion, garlic, kale, Brussels sprouts, and parsley.

[It was pretty much a sampling of all the fresh veggies I had in my 'fridge that I had no other immediate plans to use.  You could use whatever veggies and herbs you have on hand.]  Then I covered the ingredients with water and brought them to a boil.  From there, I turned it down to a simmer and allowed it to cook for three hours.

During that three hours, I became ADDICTED to the smell wafting from the pot.  I actually had to tell myself, "just clear out the dishes in the dishwasher and then you can go take another whiff."  Which turned into, "okay, a whiff after I finish the top rack...".

When the three hours were up, I removed the big "stuff" with a spoon, and then strained the remainder over a bowl.  I wasn't picky about the very small bits of chicken and veggies that remained; if you are, you could strain through a cheesecloth.  It seems like such a waste to throw out the veggies used to make a stock, but it's really not.  They've given up their flavor to the stock and would only add unpleasant texture if you kept them.  Think of them like tea leaves.  :-)

I tasted the stock and it was amazing with a sprinkle of salt and pepper!  I couldn't wait to make it into a tasty soup.

I put the stock back into the stock pot, and added 5 chopped parsnips, 2 peeled and chopped apples, 1 chopped onion, and a 1/2 bunch of chopped celery.

I also added the leftover chicken meat.  Then I put about a teaspoon of garam masala in a tea ball and dropped it in.  The tea ball was pretty much superfluous, because the spice got out anyway!

I allowed it to cook for half an hour, until the vegetables were tender.

I served the soup with very light sprinkles of salt, pepper, and more garam masala.  It does need just a touch of salt to make it taste "like a soup."

The result was a fragrant, spicy / sweet soup that was unexpectedly delicious (I had high hopes for this soup, but not this high!).  If you have not had parsnips in soup before, you absolutely must try this recipe.  The parsnips are so sweet!  Sweeter than the apples!  Who needs sugar?!

And my experiment with the whole chicken was a definite success.  The soup made enough food to feed an army, so for a $13 (organic, free-range) chicken, I got countless meals.  That never happens with a package of boneless, skinless breasts!

Warm, Winter Cream of Celery Soup

For Christmas, my uncle got me a fabulous blender that also cooks!  I couldn't wait to try it out.

I started with warm, winter cream of celery soup.  So many celery soups are meant to be eaten chilled; I wanted to create one that would be delicious when served warm.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch celery and leaves, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
4 cups low-fat (1 percent) milk

I put the olive oil, celery, onion, and garlic in the blender first and cooked it on a high for ten minutes.

Then I added the broth and milk, stirred and lightly blended it, and allowed it to cook on high for 30 minutes.

The soup came out fragrant and tasty -- delicious with some cracked black pepper -- but the celery wasn't as tender as I would have liked.  As I type, I've got the rest of the batch cooking for 30 minutes more.  I think it will be perfect after that!

The best part of the new blender is that there is almost no mess...I think I'm going to like it!

Roasted Turkey Rubbed with Olive Oil, Sage, Thyme, and Rosemary

My husband prepares the bird each year with the same whole foods: roughly-cut apples, celery, carrots, and onion inside, a quick rub of olive oil outside, and fresh herbs (sage, thyme, and rosemary) where ever they will fit.  The meat is always moist and fragrant!

Here are this year's birds going into the oven...

Next year, I think I'd like to try a local breed.  But this year we didn't get our act together in time...

Butternut Squash and Green Apple Soup

After my last death-defying experience cutting up a butternut squash, I have to admit that I nearly succumbed to the oh-so-tempting, pre-peeled, pre-cut cubes that I found at Whole Foods. I even put the packaged butternut goodness IN MY CART.

But I know that when I have my CSA next year, I won't have that choice: I'll have to man up and face the squash. So out went the beautiful, golden hunks wrapped in cellophane and styrofoam (eek! are we still using styrofoam?) and in went the fresh-from-the-ground, whole butternut squash.

When I got home and got out my huge knife, I had a pang of regret. When I tried to scoop the flesh out of the skin and it kept getting stuck, I had more than a pang of regret.

But it was worth it. I'm finding that there is nothing more satisfying than starting with a whole food and ending up with a finished meal. Especially when it's really hard to do.

Cutting the butternut squash was really the only hard part about my butternut squash and green apple soup. I started with this recipe, and then made it my own.

1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 rib of celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, chopped
2 tart green apples, peeled, cored, chopped (chop second apple only just before serving)
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon garam masala

Set a large saucepan over medium-high heat and heat the olive oil. Add the onion, celery and carrot and sauté for 5 minutes, taking care to turn the heat down if the vegetables begin to brown.

Add squash, 1 chopped apple, broth and water. Bring to boil. Cover, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until squash and carrots soften. Puree with an immersion blender.

Serve into bowls, sprinkle with garam masala, and top with chopped apples (it is best if you chop the apple right before serving so that none of the pieces turns brown).

This beautiful soup was really easy to stay on top of while entertaining (read: drinking wine), but looked and tasted special for a nice dinner with friends.