14: Puree of Pumpkin/Sweet Potato Soup

Soup, soup, and more soup! I still need to find my silky cauliflower soup recipe. In the meantime, enjoy this recipe. I still had leftover sweet potato puree as well as some leftover pumpkin puree from a pumpkin cheesecake Amber made Thanksgiving weekend when we hosted some friends for a mighty delicious bolognese dinner.

This is quick, less than 30 minutes if you have the puree already, and it will amaze anyone that you serve this to. I garnished it with mascarpone cheese, a sweet Italian dessert cheese.

Ingredients and Directions:

-1 tbs flour

-1 tbs butter

-1.5 cups vegetable broth

-1 tbs brown sugar

-1.5 cups total sweet potato and pumpkin puree

-1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-1/4teaspoon ground nutmeg

 -1 cup milk

 -1salt to taste

In a large saucepot, cook the flour and butter over medium-low. Stir constantly to achieve a light caramel color. Add the broth and brown sugar, bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer. Stir in the sweet potatoes and spices, bring to a simmer again, and cook for five more minutes more. In a blender, puree the soup and return to saucepot. Add the milk, reheat soup, and season with salt as necessary. Add a dollop of mascarpone cheese to the top.

Enjoy!

13: Puree of Celery Soup

Homemade soup is something new for me. I made an out-of-this-world silky cauliflower soup last Thanksgiving, and it came out so well I have been making different soups since then. One night I was bored with few items in the fridge, took an inventory of what I had, and I made a potato and leek soup. This particular soup is close to the potato and leek soup.

This is a classic puree of celery soup,  wonderfully aromatic and incredibly delicious! It’s incredibly quick and highly versatile. I garnished it with toasted sourdough bread crumbs and celery leaves, but you could easily add crispy bacon pieces to it as well. 

Note: Soup will thicken in fridge, and this recipe made over a quart of soup. I served two bowls and still had enough to fill a quart-sized container. To re-heat another time, add a little water to the pot. Heat through without boiling and enjoy as many times as your batch allows you to do so.

Ingredients and Directions:

-1 lb fresh celery, 5-7 stalks (save the leaves for garnish)

-1 medium red potato, skin on, roughly chopped

-2 tbs butter (or olive oil)

-1medium onion, roughly chopped

-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

-1 cup dry white wine (I used chablis), separated in halves

-3.5 cups chicken stock

-about one tbs each of rosemary, thyme, and oregano

-salt and pepper to taste  

-chunky bread crumbs for garnish

Chop celery, potato, and onion into roughly same-sized pieces, no more than one inch thick.

Heat butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, and celery and cook for 3-4 minutes until the onion is slightly translucent, stirring frequently. Now add half the wine and reduce by half, about 4-6 minutes.

Now add the chicken stock, remaining wine, herbs, and the potato to the pot. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Stir, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. The celery and potatoes should be easily pierced with a fork. Be careful not to overcook. It should not be mushy.

Remove from heat and puree the mixture in a blender. Be careful here because the steam can blow the lid off a blender or food processor. Leave the lid slightly ajar during the first few pulses to release steam. Now you can cover it properly and puree.

Return the puree to the pot, add salt and pepper, and re-heat.

I had some two day old sourdough bread I needed to use. Dice the bread and toast in skillet over medium heat until brown on one side. Flip over and toast the other side.

Serve, garnish with bread crumbs, parsley leaves, and enjoy!

12: Tuscan-Style Pork Stew in Red Wine and Herbs

The slow cooking madness continues! If you missed it, be sure to check out this bolognese sauce.

Last winter in DC was pretty wild. We had over five feet of snow, and we were snowed in for four days because this city isn’t prepared for that type of snow. It just doesn’t happen here. I happened to have a five pound bag of cubed pork shoulder perfect for stewing. This meal takes about 3-4 hours of total time to prepare and cook, but it didn’t matter at the time because I had nothing but time!

Fresh herbs make this meal so complete and flavorful that you should think twice before adding any salt or pepper. Pair it with a hearty red wine, and you will fall in love. We drank a magnificent cab/shiraz/merlot blend from Australia – the name escapes me.

Ingredients and Directions:

-2 tbs olive oil

-1 medium onion, diced

-3 cloves garlic, minced

-1.5 lbs pork, cut into 1-1/2-inch cubes

-1 cup fresh parsley leaves

-1 cup hearty red wine

-28 oz can peeled tomatoes

-2 branches fresh rosemary

-12 fresh sage leaves

-2 cloves garlic, peeled

-day old bread

-cheese for garnish

Saute the oil, onion, and minced garlic in Durch oven (or large saucepan) over medium heat and cook for 10 minutes. Add the pork, stir, and cook until it has taken on a slight golden edge – 5 to 6 minutes. Now add the parsley and wine, stir, and bring wine to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer about 25 minutes. The wine should have reduced by half at this point.

Slowly add the tomatoes to the pan, and stir well to mix everything together. Then add the rosemary and sage, ensuring you push the herbs down into the tomato juices. Bring to a boil once more, reduce heat as long as you can, and cook for 2 hours. The end result should be incredibly tender pork and a somewhat thick sauce. Cook a little longer if need be.

Preheat the broiler. While the stew finishes cooking, toast the bread under the broiler. Be sure to keep a close eye on it as you will only need a couple minutes on each side to crisp it up nice enough. Remove bread and coarsely chop.

Serve stew over bread crumbs, garnish, and enjoy!

11: Proper Five Hour Bolognese Sauce over Crispy Polenta Cakes

Strap on your seatbelts, kids, because this dinner will take you for a culinary ride! Fall has moved quickly to Winter, and the change in seasons means only one thing: Time to slow cook some meat!

This bolognese recipe is sure to please. Slow cooking meat for this long ensures the meat melts right in your mouth. I had a few friends over for dinner recently, and I thought this was the perfect time to make this meal for the first time this season. I make my bolognese a number of ways, and I employed a completely different style than the previous times I have created this dish. This is a hands-on recipe for a few hours, but you will not be disappointed! A hearty red wine is the perfect choice for the meal – we drank a 2004 cab franc from California.

Note: Clear your calendar for a day because you will need a good portion of it for cooking. Also, using a blender or food processor will make your prep time much shorter. No picture available because we were so freakin’ ready to eat by the time it was done!

Ingredients and Directions:

Bolognese Sauce
 

-3/4 lb lean ground beef

-3/4 lb ground bison

-1/4 lb pancetta, diced (get it whole at a butcher)

-1/3 cup butter

-2 tbs olive oil

-1 cup onion, diced

-1 cup carrots, diced

-1 cup celery, diced

-1.5 cups whole milk

-2 cups canned chopped tomatoes (use Pomi brand if you can find it)

-1/4 healthy pinch of nutmeg

-1.5 cups white wine

-4 cloves garlic, minced

-2 branches fresh rosemary, five fresh twigs of thyme, and 12 sage leaves

-Fresh parsley, chopped minced for garnish

-Fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for garnish

-Salt and pepper to taste

Finely chop the fresh herbs (discard stems). Combine beef and bison in a mixing bowl with salt and herbs in a mixing bowl, and refrigerate for 24 hours.

In a Dutch oven (or large saucepan), cook pancetta like you would bacon, so all the fat is cooked off, about 10 minutes. Remove the pancetta chunks when crispy and set aside. Add the butter and oil over to the pancetta grease and cook on medium-low heat. When the butter has melted, add the onion, garlic, and a healthy pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté for 10 minutes. Now add the carrots and celery to the pan and mix well, and then cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the ground meat and mix well with veggie mixture in the pan. Cook for about five minutes, stirring to break up clumps of meat. Add milk and reduce heat to low. The key is to simmer now, not boil. Simmer for 1 hour uncovered, stirring every 15 minutes. Add the nutmeg. (Note: You will begin preparing the crispy polenta cakes at this time.) Add the wine and simmer the same way you did with the milk for another hour.

Now add the tomatoes slowly while stirring. Put the lid on, turn the heat as low as you can and cook for three hours. Be sure to stir it occasionally to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom.

Crispy Polenta Cakes

-2 tbs olive oil

-1/4 – 1/2 cup onion, minced

-1 cup coarse polenta (corn meal)

-3 cups water

-1/2 cup milk

-1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese

After stirring in the milk in the sauce above, bring the water, milk, and onion for the polenta to a simmer. Stir in the corn meal in a steady stream and whisk as necessary to get rid of all lumps. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes on low heat, stirring often. Polenta should be smooth and soft and pull away from the pan when stirred.

Spread the polenta on a baking sheet and sprinkle with crumbles of the goat cheese. Mix gently to combine while still leaving clumps of cheese. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4.

About 30 minutes before the sauce will be done, cut the chilled polenta into triangles and sear in olive oil for 4-6 minutes, should be brown and crisp.

Serve the bolognese over the polenta, garnish with cheese, and add parsley over the top.

Enjoy!!