The Food We Eat

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

 

  

Hope you all had a great thanksgiving with friends and family. We sure did! Even though I am of East-Indian descent and never grew up celebrating thanksgiving, I really enjoy this holiday. And I really love hosting thanksgiving dinner at our place. In fact, I think we'll never be on vacation at this time of the year 'coz I'll miss hosting. But really, what would thanksgiving even be without our wonderful family and friends?

Well, I have been fighting this nasty flu-cold bug for 2 weeks now (thanks to my germ-carrying school age children :-)), and some soup was in order. Nope, did not use the Turkey carcass and Ham bone yet (soon to come recipes for those). So what did we have? Black bean pumpkin soup.

Another Pumpkin recipe? You ask. But 'tis the season, I say. Good news is this one is not one-dimensional as many pumpkin soups tend to be. Before you all get up in arms, let me clarify. I do like good old pumpkin soup -with apples, or curried, or whatwever. Many good recipes there. But it's just that sometimes I get a bit tired of eating a whole bowl of pureed pumpkin soup. But this one, dear friends, is a fiesty one. Not one-dimesional in the least. Bake yourself some nice cornbread and this is one helluva meal in itself.

If you are not into bacon, pancetta would do nicely. Oh! You're vegetarian? No problem, just  use vegetable broth (or water) instead of chicken broth and leave out the bacon. Me, I'll hold on to the bacon. Woof, Woof! My canine, Casey agrees too. Here is a picture of her lovingly staring at the bacon as I was piling it on paper towels to drain. And yes, she got some (who can resist that face ?)

   

Oh! the black beans. I would really recommend starting from dried beans and cooking your own. Doesn't take much effort and the end result is unbeatable. If you're like me and have a pressure cooker, then it is a real snap as you don't even have to soak overnight. Sure, you can use canned black beans and I have used them many times myself (Goya is my brand of choice), but there is something especially yummy about the texture of freshly cooked beans. The skin is absolutely tender and the inside of the bean is perfectly soft and yielding, and most of all --the luscious inky smooth cooking liquid. Now where do you get that in canned beans. I drain all that off. So, if you will indulge me, cook up a batch of black beans. Oh by the way, they freeze beautifully too.

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

Inspired from Gourmet, November 1996

4 cups cooked black beans

2 cups pumpkin puree (I use fresh, but organic canned will do)

3 strips thick-cut bacon

1 tsp olive oil

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced

1 yellow onion, diced

2 carrots, fine diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 quart chicken broth

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp kosher salt

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Method:

1. Add 1 tsp olive oil to a large dutch oven. Cut the bacon into small pieces and cook till crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels and set aside.

2. Drain all but 2 tbsp bacon grease. Add leeks, onions, carrot, garlic, red chili flakes, and salt. Saute 5 minutes. Do not brown. Add chicken broth, tomato paste, sugar, cumin, cinnamon, and pepper.

3. Puree 1 cup of black beans togther with 1 cup of pumpkin puree. Add this to the oan along with the rest of the black beans and pumpkin puree.

4. Cook 30 minutes, till all the flavors meld together, and the soup is thick. Add the red wine vinegar, stir. Check seasonings. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, some reserved bacon, and some chopped chives (or scallions). Sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds for some welcome crunch.

French Lentil and Sausage Soup

 

 

The PTA at A's elementary school does this wonderful thing where parents provide a staff lunch every month. A gesture of gratitude for all that they do for our precious ones. I think this is way better than bringing in baked goods on an occasional basis to the staff lunch rooms. This is a complete luncheon, and although A's only been at the school for 2 months, I can already tell the staff really likes this treat. Of course, if you know me, you know I love to cook and feed people, so I'm more than happy to contribute. Tomorrow's theme (in keeping with the frosty weather) is soup and chili. My contribution is one of my favorite cold-weather soups, french lentils with sausage. I hope the staff likes it!

First thing - lentils. Must I use the french kind, you ask? You don't have to, but I am quite partial to these beauties. They are absolutely adorable and I love their petite size. I think it is well worth a trip to a good store to stock up on these. But, you can easily use the standard grocery store brown lentil too. Just make sure you use a skin-on lentil for this soup. We want to preserve the structural integrity of the legume, lest we end up with an unappetizing, brown slop.

Now, let's talk about the sausage. Sure, you could use chorizo or andouille. Heck! I'd eat practically anything featuring those. But, there is another great poultry-alternative that I absolutely love. It is Bruce Aidell's habanero green chile sausage. 12 g fat per link -- not too shabby. But this is no ordinary, tasteless, dry, desperate poultry knock-off. The texture and flavor of these guys is unbelievable. You can purchase them in your grocery store or online here. In any case, please use a robust sausage in this soup. Wimpy ones need not apply.

Next flavor component - ham. I realize many of you won't have a leftover ham bone (from a smoked ham) lying around in your freezer, but if you do, go ahead and get it out. If not, you could use a smoked ham hock, bacon, pancetta, smoked cubed ham, or, if you must, you can leave all the porcine flavor out altogether. If you must! It really does add that extra something (a really big something) to the soup though.

I hope you'll try this and let me know what you think.

French Lentil and Sausage Soup

Serves 6 - 8

4 sausage links (I used Aidell's Habanero-Green Chile), cut into1/4 inch slices

1 leftover smoked ham bone

2 cups french lentils (lentils du puy)

8 cups (2 quarts) water (or chicken broth)

2 tbsp olive oil

2 ribs celery, chopped fine

4 carrots, chopped into 1/4 inch cubes

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp red chili flakes

1 tsp pepper

1 can (15 oz) organic diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen)

1 large rosemary sprig

Salt to taste

Parsley (to garnish)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F *. Heat oil in a large dutch oven. Add the sausage and brown. Remove the sausage and set aside. Add ham hock, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, rosemary, and chili flakes. Saute 5 to 10 minutes till vegetables are slightly browned and fragrant.

* I like to cook the soup in the oven, but you could easily cook the whole thing on the cooktop. Cooking time should be about the same.

2. Add washed lentils, water or broth, tomatoes, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and transfer to oven for about 1 hour or until lentils are almost done.

3. Remove pan from oven. Take the ham bone out. Pick off any meat and discard the bone. Add sausage back to the soup. Heat for 10 - 15 minutes longer. Check salt and add some if needed. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve hot. I like mine with some good crusty bread.

Sunchoke (Jerusalem Artichoke) Soup

I am a newbie to the world of Sunchokes or Jerusalem Artichokes. I have tried them before at restaurants and I liked them, but I guess for some reason, I had never tried to make something with them in my kitchen. Well, until now. This year, I got a small sample of them from the farm, and that was enough to pique my curiosity. Oh! the possibilities.....

This is what I love most about cooking. Just trying out new gadgets, new ingredients, new methods -- this really makes me happy. J says I look like a mad scientist on happy drugs when I am in the kitchen.

In any case, I got my hands on a pound of these beautiful tubers and just had to try out this recipe for Sunchoke Soup from Thomas Keller. But I did tweak it a bit (mostly in the cream arena). You see, I had just returned from busting my A-- at the gym, and there was no way I was loading up this soup with 2 cups of cream! Not to mention, I just don't like that much cream in soup. It is way too cloying on the palate. I'd much rather save my cream quota for something else.

What resulted was a intensely earthy, absolutely luscious, velvety bowl of soup. Some crisped up Proscuitto on top and voila! Heaven in a bowl....

   

   

Sunchoke Soup

Loosely Adapted from Thomas Keller

Serves 4 generously

1  lb sunchokes

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp thinly sliced garlic

3/4 cup sliced shallots

3 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup half and half

Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

4 slices proscuitto (for garnish)

Method:

1. Scrub the sunchokes well. Peel the rough knobby bits and thick skin. I left the tender parts unpeeled. Slice thinly and soak in cold water.

2. Heat the butter and oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots. Sweat until softened (but do not allow them to brown). Drain the sunchokes and add them to the pan. Cover with chicken stock and simmer until the sunchokes are soft, 15 to 20 minutes.

3. In the meantime, if you are using the proscuitto, heat a cast iron skillet. Lay the slices on the hot skillet and cook till nicely browned and crisp. Crumble and set aside.

4. Add the half and half to the soup, return to slight boil, and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper. Carefully ladle the soup into a blender and process until smooth and velvety. If you have a super-blender like I do (the Vitamix), then you should have a beautifully smooth soup on your hands. If not, enjoy as is, or if you want a very smooth texture, you can process through a sieve. Your choice.

5. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with more pepper and proscuitto.

Beef Stew with Guinness and Mustard

Ok, this may sound very much like a recipe for Irish Beef Stew, but I can tell you, it isn't. Not quite. For many reasons that go (a) No Irish roots here and I did not look up a recipe for authentic Irish beef stew, (b) this recipe is a sort of amalgamation of flavors I like in stew, (c) if I am correct, Irish beef stew has potatoes in it and this one doesn't, (d) I made the recipe up as I went along, and I was quite pleased with the results.

Would I change anything next time around? Sure! Most importantly, I would add some red wine, maybe a dash of worcestershire sauce. I think that is pretty much it. J and I enjoyed the stew quite a bit, but it was a total flop with the boys. I think the whole Guinness thing put them off. That's all I can think of, since otherwise the stew had all the basic components they love. Well, I guess it also might have to do with the fact that they ate their cheese quesadillas (packed for school this morning) at 3:30pm (after school). Monkeys! Sometimes I don't know why I go through all the headache of packing a decent lunch for them. Oh well...a mommy's gotta do what a mommy's gotta do I guess.

I served the stew with smashed yukon gold potatoes. Call me crazy if you want, but I actually prefer smashed potatoes with a dash of butter over mashed potatoes. Unless you give me those ultra-silky butter and cream laden mashed potatoes you eat at restaurants. But at home, thanks but no thanks. Low-fat mashed potatoes are nasty and I'll save my butter and cream quota for dessert.

I even made buttered egg noodles for the kids, but I guess that Ronzoni whole grain egg noodles thing didn't cut it for the boys today. In their defense though, the noodles were pretty yucky! Nothing like the silky, soft, soothing buttered egg noodles we hoped they would be. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

Beef Stew with Guinness and Mustard

Serves 4-6

1.5 lbs beef stew meat

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp fresh thyme

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

4 tbsp olive oil

1 can Guinness beer

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1/2 cup tomato sauce

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp stoneground mustard

3 large carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks

1 large onion, cut into large chunks (baby cippolini would be better, I didn't have any)

1 lb white button mushrooms

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

Method:

1. Mix flour, pepper, salt, and thyme in a large bowl. Toss the beef pieces in the flour mixture. Shake of excess flour.

2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large dutch oven. You don't want to crowd the beef too much, so brown in two batches preferably. The beef I used (organic, grass-fed) was pretty lean, so I used 2 tbsp oil to brown the second batch too. If the beef you use is very greasy, you might want to drain some off the fat off between batches and omit the oil. Set the beef aside.

3. Add the guinness to the dutch oven and scrape up all the precious brown bits on the bottom of the pan using a wooden spoon. Add the beef back to the pan.

4. Add in all the other ingredients (except the vegetables). Bring to a simmer and add in the carrots, onions, mushrooms, and bell pepper.

5. Cook, covered in oven at 350F for 1 1/2 hours or until beef is fork tender.

6. Adjust seasonings and serve.

Chilled Melon Soup

If you have not had a chilled fruit soup before, please do! How do I describe this? Let me try. It's like a foamy, light, delicious smoothie, but you eat it with a spoon. Nah! That doesn't do it justice - just go ahead and make some. It takes a melon, a blender, and 5 minutes. It is Summer after all....

You can use any sweet melon, but I particularly like Cantaloupe in this soup. The light peachy color is just beautiful! And it makes an extremely refreshing first course for a light lunch or dinner. I served this as the starter for lunch with friends on Sunday, followed by Curried Chicken Salad sandwiches.

One more thing. You need a nice powerful blender to get the nice, light, frothy mixture. If your blender is a bit sluggish, you might want to start with crushed ice. I have a Vita-mix and it can liquefy anything.

Chilled Melon Soup

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Serves 4

1 medium cantaloupe

2 tsp honey

1 tsp lemon juice

4 large sprigs fresh mint

1 cup ice cubes

1. Seed and peel the cantaloupe. Cut into 2-inch chunks. You should have approx. 6 cups of fruit.

2. Pick the mint leaves off the stems. Use a mortar and pestle (or a rolling pin) to gently pound the mint till it is bruised and aromatic.

3. Place the melon, honey, lemon juice, mint, and ice cubes in a blender and blend until the mixture is liquefied and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Ladle into individual bowls and serve immediately.

French Style Sorrel Soup - Potage à L'oseille

If you think the picture above reminds you of slimy green sludge, then I can understand. No, not really. Either way, I urge you to see beyond that and give this soup a try. You will be hooked!

Garden Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) is a relatively new herb for me. I became interested in this sour, leafy, spinach look-alike herb only in the last year or so, and am very glad I did. I was also very happy to know that Sorrel is a perennial herb. I am an avid gardener, and I am quite partial to perennials. Nothing makes me happier than watching my plants come out of the earth faithfully every spring to say Hello! Simple, but important pleasures.

Sorrel tastes similar to the leaves of a plant (Gongoora) that is a delicacy in Andhra Pradesh, the state in India where my parents are from.  I have seen many references to this plant as Red Sorrel, however, I'm not sure Gongoora is a Sorrel, as there are many other references to Gongoora as a member of the Roselle family (Hibiscus cannabinus). Plant taxonomy aside, I do know that Sorrel tastes similar enough to Gongoora (though a bit less sour) that there is many an experiment about to take place in my kitchen; experiments where I will try and re-create some of my favorite Indian Gongoora dishes using the Sorrel varietal we typically find here.

As for today, I decided to make something more ordinary, yet classic. A French style sorrel soup, except the classic french version uses French Sorrel (Rumex scatatus). Not sure how different it tastes from Garden Sorrel we find here, but if you know, I'd love to hear.

As obsessed as I am with food, I am sad to say that I have not been to Paris yet. Can you believe it? J and I need to fix this very very soon. Well, good thing is that the kids are developing a very discerning palate, so soon I think all 4 of us will be able to have a culinary adventure in Paris. Fun!

Ok I'm back. I was dreaming of Paris and what I'd be eating...... Back to the soup, I decided to deviate from authenticity in ode to smaller jeans, so I skimped heavily on butter and cream. Also skipped the egg. However, the end result was still absolutely lick-the-bowl-clean good. Smooth, creamy, velvety, perfectly tart! Sure, more cream and butter would take it over-the-top, but I think I got plenty of butter in the hearty slice of beer bread that accompanied my soup. So much for smaller jeans - c'est la vie.... Bon appetit.

French Style Sorrel Soup

Serves 2 generously

2 handfulls Sorrel (approx 6 oz), chopped roughly

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

1/2 medium Rusett Potato, diced fine

1 small shallot, diced

2 cups chicken broth

a pinch of fresh nutmeg

4 tbsp heavy cream

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

salt to taste

Heat butter and oil in a saucepan. Add shallots and a smidgeon of salt. Cook till barely transluscent.

Add sorrel. Cook till sorrel almost dissolves into the onions - about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and the chicken stock. Add nutmeg and pepper.

Cook till potatoes are very tender, and soup thickens just a bit. Blend the soup into a puree using an imersion stick or blender. Add the soup back to the saucepan. The soup should have a nice velvety consistency. If you find that yours is too watery, just cook it a bit longer. Mine was fine as soon as I was done pureeing it.

Once you are satisfied with the soup's seasoning and consistency, reduce heat to a bare simmer and add heavy cream. Leave on heat just enough to heat through. Do not let boil once you've added the cream.

Ladle into soup bowls. Garnish with a tsp of cream, or cream fraiche. (I used cream).

Wine Tip: Pair with a good Riesling.

Warm your soul - Matzo Ball Soup

It has been a dull grey rainy day. And I think I'm fighting a cold. I totally agree with the 'Chicken soup for the soul' thing. Just something hot, steamy, light, and brothy was in order. I haven't still made it to the grocery store, but thanks to my online organic delivery service, I have some things around. The freezer never fails to come through for me -- I managed to fish out some dinner rolls and homemade turkey broth (from when I dutifully made broth from the turkey carcass the morning after thanksgiving). Had some fresh carrots and celery in the veggie drawer and you have it! Soup it  would be for dinner!

Back when I was in grad school in Ohio, there was a freshman kid called Amy who did the dishes in the Molecular Biology lab I was working at. Amy brought a steaming bowl of Matzo Ball soup at least a couple days of the week in winter. I still remember how longingly I used to look at her soup while I ate some greasy Hot Pockets or a ham sandwich with pretzels, or PB & J sandwiches - basic crappy grad student time and budget friendly fare. Thank god I've come a long way from those culinary masterpieces :-) Anyway, I once asked Amy how she made the soup and she told me she really had no clue. Her Grandma used to make it. At least one of the perks of living at home during college I guess. After pestering her for the recipe on many an occassion, I finally managed to get some sort of recipe out of her...but not really. Anyway, over the years I have tried a few different things and what results below is my version of Matzo Ball soup. I'm sure its not the authentic Jewish recipe, but works well for me. BTW, the dill is Amy's grandma's secret ingredient...

Now, I've since tried Matzo Ball Soup at Jewish delis in NYC and I have to admit, I still like mine better. I think I like the freshness of the veggies. My apologies to those of you who think this is blasphemy..

So if one of these cold rainy days you're feeling down, sick, icky, or just plain lazy and want a quick meal, try this out! I hope we don't have too many such days till winter is actually due. But then again, this is Seattle right ??

Matzo Ball Soup

1 packet Matzo Ball soup mix

2 eggs

2 tbsp canola oil

2 quarts chicken broth (I used turkey broth) *** Homemade is best!

1 quart water

1 tsp dried dill

3 carrots, chopped in 1/4 inch coins

2 ribs celery, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Salt to taste

1 cup egg noodles (I like the wide ones)

Method:

1. Add carrot, celery and onion in a 4 quart pan along with broth and water. Bring to boil. Add dill and pepper. Ok, one caveat here. Since this is a broth-based clear soup, its only as good as the broth you make it with. If you don't have homenade broth (shame on you :-)), just use a good quality organic chicken or turkey broth. I like Swansons Organic and Pacific brand organic chicken broths.

2. Meanwhile prepare Matzo Balls. Crack 2 eggs in a bowl and whip gently with 2 tbsp oil. Add the Matzo meal and mix gently with a fork. Leave to rest in fridge for 15 minutes.

3. Shape the matzo mixture into 1 inch balls. You'll end up with 10 - 12. Wetting your hands helps shape the balls easily as the mixture is quite sticky.

4. Add egg noodles to the pan. Bring the broth back to a boil and gently slide in the matzo balls. Bring soup back to a boil, cover tightly, and simmer 20 minutes. Absolutely no peeking!

5. After 20 minutes, open the lid and you will be rewarded with delicious fluffy matzo balls floating in the soup. Check for salt and pepper, add if needed. Ladle into soup bowls and enjoy!