80: Will's Beef Stew

I don’t know why, but I had a serious craving for beef stew. Maybe I just wanted to do more slow cooking in December. It wasn’t cold, but I was determined to warm the house with delicious smells.

This stew is the ultimate winter season stew. I don’t use any flour or potatoes in the stew, so the sauce stays on the lighter side. I think the exclusion of flour and potatoes lets the natural flavors stand out. The addition of parsnips and fennel create a unique flavor base that is not typically found in traditional beef stew. The parsnips add a subtle sweetness, while the fennel adds that irresistible star anise flavor. I oven roasted sweet potato and green beans to go with this, but you could serve it with rice, or add potatoes to the stew for a more hearty profile.

Ingredients and Directions:

-1 pound stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes

-1 cup onion, diced

-1 cup celery, diced

-1 cup parsnips, peeled and cubed

-1 cup fennel, diced

-1 cup carrots, diced

-1 cup dry red wine

-2 1/2 cups beef stock

-generous portion of chopped rosemary, thyme, and sage

-3 cloves garlic, minced

-1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced thin

-good handful of green beans

-olive oil

-salt + pepper

The Stew: Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a Dutch oven. When it begins to smoke slightly, about 5 minutes, add the beef and brown very well. Add salt and pepper as you brown the meat. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon once the meat is browned.

Lower heat to medium, and add the onions, carrots, celery, fennel, and garlic with a good bit of salt and pepper. Saute for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the wine to deglaze bottom, and simmer mixture for about 5 minutes. Now add the beef, the beef stock, and herbs. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 60 minutes. Add the parsnips, and simmer for another 20-30 minutes.

Veggies: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange sweet potato and green beans on a dish, and toss with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Roast them in oven for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!!

79: Butternut Squash Soup / Vanilla, Amaretti & Cinnamon

Here’s an update to a timeless classic soup around the holidays. This soup came out absolutely incredible. The vanilla extract and amaretti cookies add a delicate sweetness to the soup without making it sweet. This is packed with flavor, give it a try.

Ingredients and Directions:

1 three-four pound butternut squash, halved

1 large onion, diced

3 cups chicken stock

2 tbs of chopped sage

2 tbs of olive oil

1 cup amaretti snap cookies, crushed

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cinnamon to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast halved squash flesh side up for one hour. Scoop out seeds and discard when roasting is complete. Spoon out the pulp of the squash into a bowl, set aside.

In a large pot, heat oil on medium heat. Add onions and sage after a few minutes, reduce heat to low. Stir often until onions become translucent, a good 10 minutes. Now add the stock and squash pulp, bring to a boil, and cook for a few minutes to meld the flavors. I used a hand blender to puree my soup in the same pot. Reduce heat to low and puree to your liking. Now adjust seasoning with vanilla extract, amaretti cookies, cinnamon, and salt and pepper to balance the flavor out. It will probably be a little starchy tasting before you add any seasoning. Garnish with minced sage or a dollop of mascarpone cheese.  

Note: The soup will thicken while refrigerated, so you may need to add a little water when/if reheating the soup.

Enjoy!!

76: Cauliflower Soup

I first made this soup for a Thanksgiving dinner that me and a friend teamed up to cook for a couple years ago. The soup was a hit, just one of 11 courses, and I’ve made this a couple times since then. This is the first time, however, that I have hared it publicly. It’s generally quick for a soup, and it packs an unbelievable flavor. The soup keeps well, too. I also added a large sprig of thyme to the container while it sits in the fridge for each use. I kept some chopped cauliflower to roast as garnish. Give it a try.

Ingredients and Directions:

1 head cauliflower leaves and core removed, coarsely chopped

1 cup shallots, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup dry white wine

3 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup fresh herbs, minced (rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, parsley)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Olive oil

Salt + pepper

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Sauté mixture until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the wine with half the herbs and reduce by half, about 5 minutes. Now add the cauliflower and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, add in the remaining herbs, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and, using a hand held blender, puree the soup o desired consistency. Add the cheese and stir until smooth. Season the soup with salt and pepper as necessary. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!!

71: White Wine & Herb-Infused Chicken Noodle Soup

Yes, the unforgettable, the unmistakable and ever time-tested classic: Chicken Noodle Soup. This is my version, of course, with an updated flavor profile that will surely treat the senses. The woman and I had both recently been sick, and we were longing for the classic “I’m sick soup.” Taking a basic recipe, I update this classic with white wine and herbs.

Ingredients and Directions:

1 lb chicken breast, diced

1 large carrot, diced

3 ribs celery, diced

1 small fennel bulb, diced

1 small leek, diced

1 quart of chicken stock

1.5 cups egg noodles

1 cup of white wine

1 tbsp of minced rosemary, thyme, oregano and parsley

1 tbsp of butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

Olive oil

Salt + pepper

Chicken—Boil chicken in hot water for 10 minutes. This method allows the chicken to sweat out the impurities and mucus commonly found on chicken. Rinse with cold water in a colander. Set aside.

Broth—Heat olive oil over medium high heat. Lower heat to medium, toss in all veggies and half of the seasoning and herbs, and sauté this mixture for 15 minutes, stirring often to soften the mixture.  Adjust heat to medium high again, add in wine, and simmer for 10 minutes with the butter. Now add chicken stock, chicken, egg noddles, and remaining herbs. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 45 minutes.

Enjoy!!

67: Split Pea Soup / The Start of Soup and Slow Cooking Season 2011

What does my dog shedding and my making of soup have in common? The start of cooler weather and slow cooking season! It was unseasonably cold in DC today, only about 60 degrees and rainy. I would normally frown upon such weather, but I’m happy it prompted me to make soup. Making soup is my second favorite thing to do when it gets cold out. The first is obviously slow cooking and braising meat. Of course, it could actually be a couple months before it gets and stays cool here.

Split pea is soup is usually made with ham hocks, but I still had leftover smoked turkey legs from this dinner that had not gone bad in my fridge. The soup turned out incredibly flavorful with just enough of the smoked turkey legs in the flavor. Without further adieu…

Ingredients and Directions:

2 1/4 cups green split peas

1/2 large onion, peeled and chopped

4 cups chicken stock

5 cups water

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 large leek, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

3 large clove of garlic, halved

2 smoked turkey leg bones

1-2 tablespoons of flour (optional)

Thyme

Parsley

Salt and Pepper

Olive oil

Butter

Soup-- Pick over the peas and remove any stones. Wash and drain peas, twice. Heat a couple tablespoons of oil and butter over medium high heat in a 4 quart pan. Add veggies once utter is crackling. Sauté veggies until onions are translucent, 5-6 minutes. Now add the vegetables, seasoning, stock and water. Bring to a simmer. Skim the scum (a film residue that forms and easily identifiable bc of the foam) off the top of the soup for several minutes, until the scum ceases to rise, about 12-15 minutes. Cover the pot loosely and simmer about 1.5 hours, or until peas are tender. Remove the turkey legs from the soup, scraping whatever leftover meat is on the bones into the soup pot. Purée the soup with a handheld immersion blender until liquefied. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary. 

(Optional: For a thicker soup, add 1 tablespoon of flour to the pot 20 minutes before finished, stir in well. See how thick it gets after about 5-6 minutes, and decide if you want it thicker. Add another tablespoon of flour if you desire. I did.)

Enjoy!!

45: Carrot Soup w/ Curry & Ginger

It’s pouring rain in DC with wind gusts up to 60mph, so I did my thing with another soup while Mother Nature did her thing outside. Truth is, I received a pound of carrots in my farm club delivery this week, and I had just bought a bag of carrots earlier this week. I now have two quarts of soup in my refrigerator, this soup and the roasted butternut squash soup from yesterday (see next post down).

This is quick (with a food processor), delicious and incredibly healthy. Carrots are one of those super foods you hear people talk about. They are rich in beta-carotene for the eyes, help keep the arteries clear and are also considered an anti-cancer food. Yup, start eating more carrots. I heaped two tablespoons of curry powder in this, and I think it was a tablespoon too many. Still, there was a nice balance of flavors, and I garnished the soup bowl with a little bit of greek yogurt. The yogurt helps with the spiciness. 

Ingredients and Directions:

1.5 lbs of carrots, diced

1 liter of veggie stock (can sub chicken stock)

1 medium onion, diced

1 tbsp of curry powder

1 tbsp of ginger powder

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp of parsley, minced

Olive oil

Salt to taste

Rev up that food processor! It will make the prep goes much quicker. Heat olive oil over medium heat, and then sauté the onions for 5-7 minutes once the oil is heated.  Add the spices, cook for a couple minutes to meld the flavors. Now add the carrots and stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off heat, and puree until creamy with a hand blender. Add salt as necessary at end to bring out flavors.

Enjoy!

44: Roasted Butternet Squash Soup

This is the 44^th recipe I have shared with you! It’s hard to believe I have made that many different things in just a few short months. Check out the blog archive on the right side, just below the top recipes, for a month-by-month archive of the recipes.

I originally wanted to make something President Obama would eat as my 44^th recipe. He’s the 44^th president, get it? Yes, I’m a dork like that. While I think he would eat this soup, I was going to make something more along the lines of his guilty pleasure food such as a burger and fries. C’est la vie.

My farm club, Arganica, sent me butternut squash as part of this week’s delivery. I decided to do something fairly quick and easy that I could enjoy more than once with it. Here we have a soup that I didn’t do too much to in order to preserve the delightful flavor of the squash. There are many ways to make this soup that would have required much more time, but I think this came out rather nicely. Roasting the squash adds depth to the flavor. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients and Directions:

1 two or three pound butternut squash, halved

1 large onion, diced

3 cups of chicken stock

2 tbs of chopped sage

1/4 stick of butter

2 tbs of olive oil

Nutmeg and/or cinnamon to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast halved squash flesh side up for one hour. Scoop out seeds and discard when roasting is complete. Spoon out the pulp of the squash into a bowl, set aside.

In a large pot, heat oil and butter on medium heat. Add onions and sage after butter has melted, reduce heat to low. Stir often until onions become translucent, a good 10 minutes. Now add the stock and squash pulp, bring to a boil, and cook for a few minutes to meld the flavors. I used a hand blender to puree my soup in the same pot. Reduce heat to low and puree to your liking. Now adjust seasoning with nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper to balance the flavor out. It will probably be a little starchy tasting before you add any seasoning. Garnish with minced sage or a dollop of mascarpone cheese.  Serve warm.

Note: The soup will thicken while refrigerated, so you may need to add a little water when/if reheating the soup.

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!