notes from my food diary

One of the posts from spring time of this year that’s been sitting in my computer for a while.  Now it’s almost time for fall, maybe it’s a good thing because soup is gonna be on for a long run

Hearty Vegetable Soup

Serves 6 to 8

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces

2 large parsnips, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces

2 small onions, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

6 garlic cloves, minced

8 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 sprig fresh rosemary

2 bay leaves

2 slices hearty white sandwich bread, lightly toasted

2 cups curly-leaf spinach, stemmed and chopped

1 (14.5-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 (10-ounce) package frozen baby lima beans

Balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add the carrots, parnips, and onions and cook until lightly browned and softened, 5 to 7 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the broth, potatoes, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes.

Remove and discard the rosemary and bay leaves.  Transfer 3 cups of the solids, 1 cup of the broth, and the bread to a blender and puree until smooth.  Stir the puree back into the pot, add the spinach, cannellini beans, and lima beans and cook over medium heat until the spinach is tender and the beans are heated through, about 8 minutes.  Stir in 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve, passing extra vinegar at the table.

Source:  from The Cook’s Country Cookbook

Pittsburgh wedding soup is also known as Italian wedding soup.  Why made soup when the weather is so warm outside?  Because my hubby was sick and had a sore throat, I figured making him soup was best for his overall health.  We had our wedding anniversary and his birthday passed this month without having any cake or celebration yet.  The cake has to wait until he wants to eat something heavier than soup.

I’ve been wanting to try this recipe ever since I read it in The Cook’s Country Cook Book.  Hey yeah…even though I wasn’t born here but my heart belongs here in the heartland.  That’s why I’m trying to a good country cook, which I hope is working

The soup is super delicious especially if you get the meat loaf mix, which is a mixture of ground beef, pork and veal.  But if you can’t find such a mix, use 85-percent lean ground beef.  The meatballs will be slightly drier but still taste good.  According to the book, the origin of the soup was from a centuries-old southern Italian meat and vegetable soup called minestra maritata.  "Maritata" means marriage in Italian, and in this case the pairing of meatballs and the greens in the soup is the holy matrimony.  As for the greens, kale or Swiss chard can withstand the hot broth without disintergrating.  The meatballs can be made smaller by using a melon baller.  One thing I found out that was that refrigerating the meatballs after making them is crucial because if this step was skipped, the meatballs tend to break apart in the soup.

Today was the second day since the soup was made and we ate it with club sandwiches for lunch.  The flavor has gotten better and it just needs a sprinkle of grated Parmesan and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil to make a complete meal.

Pittsburgh Wedding Soup

Serves 6 to 8

Meatballs:

2 slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into pieces

1/2 cup low-fat milk

1 large egg yolk

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

3 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 pound meat loaf mix or 85-percent lean ground beef

Soup:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 quarts low-sodium chicken broth

1 large head kale or Swiss chard, stemmed, leaves chopped

1 cup orzo

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

To make the meatballs:  Combine the bread and milk in a large bowl and mash them with potato masher until smooth.  Add the remaining ingredients except the meatloaf mix/ground beef, mash until combined.  Using your hands, incorporate the meat into the bread and milk mixture, knead until all combined.  Form the mixture into a 1-inch size meatballs (use an ice cream scooper if you like) and place them in a large baking pan.  Wrap the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate about 30 minutes until quite firm.  The meatballs can be made ahead, up to 24 hours in advance.

To make the soup:  heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Cook the garlic and red pepper flakes about 30 seconds, or until fragrant.  Add the broth and bring to a boil.  Stir in the kale or Swiss chard and simmer until softened, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Stir in the meatballs and orzo, reduced the heat to medium, and simmer until the meatballs are cooked and the orzo is tender, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper.  The soup can then be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Source:  adapted from The Cook’s Country Cookbook

I am sometimes amazed at how many people I can be connected through the Internet.  From far away places, there’s always someone who I can strike a conversation, especially about foods.  This post is written because I found a friend in Australia who agreed to cook an Italian soup with me.  I’ve never met her but simply because we found each other in the Internet and through a photography event, we decided it’d be fun to do this cooking together.  Her name is Regina and she turned out to have the same book that I have.  The book is called Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Bastianich.

The cooking was real, the eating together never happened.  It didn’t matter that much because I thought I had fun cooking this.  The anticipation of waiting until she did her part and finally this, writing about it.  I had the book from a long time ago and I keep reminding myself to try one or two recipes.  I know Lidia Bastianich is a incredibly good Italian cook and if she could be my grandmother, I’d love to have her teach me all her knowledge about Italian food.  It is one of my favorite foods in the world but I don’t think I’m good at it yet.

Ribollita is a twice-boiled soup from Tuscany area, which is in southern part of Italy.  Ribollita means reboiled which is really what this soup is about.  Beans, vegetables, and old bread co-mingle in a soup pot and the end result is a satisfying soup.  In the era of money-pinching cooking and trying to be economical about what we eat, I think ribollita is one of good examples of a friendly-budget recipe.  And I am sure this soup could be freezed and reheated without losing much flavor.

Regina’s post can be found here.

Ribollita

If using dried cannellini beans, remember that the soaking time takes place a day ahead.  Use canned beans which is a good substitute in a pinch.  This recipe is cut in half from the original recipe.

Makes 6 servings

1 1/2 cups dried cannelini (white kidney) beans or 3 cups canned beans, rinsed and drained

4 cups cold water or 4 cups vegetable broth for canned beans method

1/4 cup extra-vigrin olive oil, plus more for drizzling over the soup

1 medium onions, chopped (about 2 cups)

1/2 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 pound kale or Italian kale, washed and cut into 1/2-inch strips (about 4 cups)

2 cups savoy cabbage, cored and cut into 1/2-inch strips (about 4 ounces)

1/4 pound Swiss chard leaves washed and cut into 1/2-inch strips (about 2 cups)

1 large Yukon Gold or Idaho potatoes, peeld and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated (about 1 cup)

1 medium stalks celery with leaves, chopped (abou 1/2 cup)

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup 1/2-inch pieces day-old country bread, crusts removed

1/2 medium red onion, chopped

If using dried beans, soak them in a pot/container large enough to hold the beans and pour water to cover the beans. Cover and let it soak for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.  Pour 4 cups of cold water into a 2-to 3-quart pot and add the beans.  Bring to a boil, lower the heat to simmer and cook for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until the beans are tender.  Drain the beans and let them cool.  Put about three-quarters of them into a food processor bowl or blender.  Add some cooking liquid and process the bean until smooth.  Stir the bean puree into the cooking liquid.  Save the remaining beans.

If using canned beans, rinsed and drained the beans well.  Process three-quarter of beans the same way as you would of the dried beans.  Use vegetable broth to help smoothing the beans in the food processor.  Stir this bean puree into the rest of the vegetable broth.  Save the remaining beans.

Heat the oil in a large stockpot.  Stir in the onions and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 2 minutes.  Stir the tomato paste and 1/4 cup water together in a small bowl, and stir into the wilted onions.  Pour in the beans puree, then add kale, cabbage, Swiss chard, potato, carrots, and celery.  Pour in the beans and their cooking liquid, or the vegetable broth if using canned beans.  Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat to simmering.  Season lightly with salt and pepper and cook 25 minutes.  Let the soup rests for at least 30 minutes, or cool completely and refrigerate until the next day. 

Stir the bread into the soup, taste, adding salt and pepper if necessary.  Cook until thickened and dense, about 15-20 minutes, or longer if the soup has been refrigerated.  Remove from heat, stir well and let stand about 15 minutes.

For each soup serving, sprinkle some chopped red onion and drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil on top.

Source:  adapted from Lidia’s Italian American Kitchen

When I first read the recipe I was a bit skeptical. Could ginseng be good in a soup? Even though I grew up watching my grandfather drank a cupful of ginseng tonic (I believe it’s ginseng root steeped in water), I’ve never cooked with ginseng before. The only way to know was to try to cook it. I remember I had a brand new box of ginseng tea in the pantry as yet to be opened. As I further inquired, ginseng could be cooked with some protein as a soup and it’s believed to have a healing property; mainly to release muscles tension and to increase the body’s resistance to stress (from Wikipedia). It’s a quite contradictory statement because if I read the side effects of taking ginseng I found out that it could cause people to be unable to sleep. How can you be relaxed when you can’t sleep afterwards? Maybe if one consumes to many ginseng this would happen, but not on occasional basis. Aside from that healing property, I discovered that the soup was pretty tasty. I detected a bit of bitterness and the broth looked a bit cloudy but they didn’t concern me too much. My photo was not very enticing if I may say so but perhaps someone would like to try the recipe and I’ve proved that yes, ginseng soup could be quite delicious.

Chicken-Ginseng Soup
Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion
2 tablespoons diced peeled fresh ginger
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cups water
3 (14 1/2-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 cups fresh or frozen yellow corn—I used a combination of corn and peas
4 bags ginseng tea or 2 sliced ginseng roots
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, ginger, and garlic cloves; saute 2 minutes. Add chicken; saute 4 minutes. Add water and broth; bring to a boil. Stir in corn and ginseng tea; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Source: adapted from Cooking Light, January 2002

Recently I discovered that I like a food that’s never crossed my palate before. This is true and it might seem like I’ve lived in a cave or a Third World country (hmm…I grew up there, mayb that is why). It is something so basic that most of you have eaten it before regardless you like it or not. And most of you would pair it with grilled cheese sandwich. By now you’ve recognized which dish I meant, yes…it’s tomato soup. Would you believe it that I’ve never eaten one before, not until about two weeks ago I made a discovery that I like, make it really like, tomato soup. The one that I ate was a creamy tomato soup. Hooweee…the minute a spoon of that soup entered my mouth, I was ecstatic. I felt like I could eat bowl after bowl, with or without a grilled cheese sandwich, but of course I only ate a bowl. I was embarrassed everyone would know that I was addicted to tomato soup on the first taste. I determined to make the soup at home so my family could be forced to enjoy the tasty soup just like I did. Lucky for me, my family is very easy to be entertained with food, they would almost gobble up everything I make for them.

After looking at several recipe books I decided to try this recipe first. It was the most simple and I believed the one closely resemble the one I ate. There were quite a few other I wanted to try too for I discovered (I forget lots of stuff these days!) tomato soup is a nutritious dish and an easygoing one too.

Creamy Tomato Soup
Makes 3 quarts

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 26 1/2-ounce boxes vacuum-packed crushed tomatoes, or 10 cups canned crushed tomatoes
5 1/4 cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium canned chicken broth, skimmed of fat
3 sprigs fresh oregano, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup half-and-half
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook, stirring, until translucent, about 8 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, stock, and oregano; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer gently, uncovered, until thickened, about 45 minutes. Remove the oregano sprigs.

Slowly add the half-and half, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with oregano. Serve hot.

Note: I pureed the soup because I liked it smooth. You could leave it chunky if yyou liked. The soup will keep in the refrigerator for two days and can be frozen for up to 3 months without the half-and-half.

Source: adapted from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook