Weekly Cooking (and things related) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

This week, it's Soup and "Bread"

(It's freezing here; and Soup's my favorite thing to cook anyway!)

When I first developed a serious interest in cooking, my favorite cookbooks were the original 'Laurel's Kitchen' and a Shaker cookbook whose name I've forgotten and can't seem to find cited anywhere.

One soup recipe that has stuck with me and remained a favorite is the "Favorite Green Soup" from 'Laurel's Kitchen.' Here is an adaptation of it, a really great soup, very nutritious, with plenty of room for variations.

(In our house, it has the undignified name of 'Green Slime Soup' because it looks like the stuff at the bottom of a creek bed; but don't let that bother you ;-)

Favorite Green Soup

2 T. Olive or other oil

1 Onion, chopped

2 Stalks Celery, diced

6 cups Vegetable Stock

¾ C. split peas, rinsed

6 C. diced Zucchini

1/2 lb. Kale, washed & torn

1 or 2 Bay leaves

1/2 lb. Spinach, washed and torn

¼ C. chopped fresh Parsley

2 tsps. Salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Basil to taste

Opt: Pinch of crushed Red Pepper

Opt: Granulated Garlic

Saute onion and celery in the oil until soft. Add 4 cups vegetable stock, split peas, and bay leaf.

Bring to boil; then lower heat and simmer about 40 minutes, or until the peas are soft. Remove bay leaves.

Add zucchini, remaining stock, and seasonings. Cook until the zucchini is soft, and then add kale and simmer until the kale cooks down. (You may want to add more water or stock here.) Add spinach and parsley and cook until wilted.

Puree in blender, in small batches (hot soup will explode in the blender if you do too much at once.)

Return to medium heat for several minutes; adjust seasonings.

(Granulated garlic and crushed red pepper can be added to taste.)

For the 'Bread', from the Shaker cookbook came a recipe for homemade crackers that have also become a staple:

Whole Wheat Crackers

Preheat oven to 375

2 C. whole wheat Flour

2 tsps. Baking powder

½ tsp. Salt

1 Cup Butter

6 T. Milk

Mix and dry ingredients. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until dough is 'grainy'. (Dough will be stiff.)

On floured surface, roll out to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into rounds (diamonds are nice, too, for a party.)

Place on greased baking sheet or a parchment- lined sheet. Pierce crackers with fork and bake until golden.

I would sometimes sprinkle sesame seeds on top before baking.

-JT

[bgill]

My favorite soup is squash soup. It’s just thrown together so no measurements. Cook whatever winter squash/s you like until soft. Put the pulp in a blender with cream or half and half until smooth. Add salt and pepper, garlic and hot pepper to give it a kick.

Made fried chicken a couple days ago and boiled the carcass. Picked the carcass and saved the broth (the fur babies got the skin and fat) so we’re having chicken soup tonight. No refrigerator leftovers to throw in so will just add some onions from the garden, canned corn, some mixed frozen veggies and a handful of noodles.

Oooh, found a new breakfast fav. Leftover breakfast sausage and an apple. Bite of sausage, bite of apple, bite of sausage, bate of apple... yum!

Used up an old can of pie filling last night by swirling it through a cake batter. Easy. Bake and enjoy.

[bgill]

Every poultry carcass goes into a pot for broth and picking. Canned veggies are drained into a freezer container until it’s full for future use, too. Usually store in 3 lb margarine tubs (of course the new and improved size is 2 lb something these days) or a plastic quart (?) sherbet container. Beef broth is also frozen. Cooked up 5 lbs of ground beef for chili during the last cold snap so added the broth to the veggie broth container. Also, rendered the tallow to fry chicken and sweet potato chips in this week. I can’t understand why anyone would buy canned broth.

[bgill]

The best low carb recipes - http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/recipes.html

[Calvin Locke]

I can’t understand why anyone would buy canned broth.

Convenience, mostly. I'm generally not all that picky if I have a broth on hand, other than the one a soup calls for, but if I have the urge, usually for onion, I'll use what I can get my hands on, canned or otherwise.

I'll have to remember to reserve and freeze canned vegetable liquids now. That's a great idea.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

True, a lot of aromatic molecules are also more soluble in oil than in water. I just mentioned the oil-separation technique as a way to rescue a pot of soup after a hot-pepper accident. It’s really the only way I know to diminish hotness, other than massive dilution. But you do lose a lot of the other flavors as well, and have to re-add some spices.

[greeneyes]

Ham and beans garnished with chopped onions and served with cornbread smeared with globs of butter.

Cooked most often is chicken noodle soup or chicken and dumplings soup.

One of the easiest meals to prepare is to roast a chicken or better yet, pick one up from the deli. This usually gives 3 good meals for us.

Use the carcass and some lemon juice or balsamic vinegar and about a quart of water to make the soup broth, after picking the meat off the bones, and making a mirepoix using celery, carrots, and onions. Add your spices to the pot(at least garlic, bay leaf, and pepper). If needed, you can add some chicken soup base or bouillion for a richer broth.

When the broth is done, take out the carcass and discard, throw in the egg noodles and cook to desired doneness (al dente is what I like).

I will also sometimes blenderize some cooked carrots to add to the pot to make a pleasing color for the soup. Sometimes I mix a little cornstarch with cold water, and add to the soup to thicken it, some times I don’t. Depends on what I’m in the mood for.

For the dumpling soup, I just use the recipe on a biscuit mix and drop them into the bubbling broth instead of the noodles, cover and simmer.

Home made French bread or biscuits and lots of butter.

Of course now, I have to watch the butter and sodium. So I am judicious about the size of the servings of these, and eat something a little lower in sodium and saturated fat for the rest of the day.

[boatbums]

Here's a great lentil soup...perfect for cold winter nights! Feeds a crowd and freezes well.

Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup

1- lb. dried lentils, rinsed and drained
1- lb. bulk hot Italian sausage (can use mild if you don't like spicy)
2 medium onions, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
4 or 5 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2- qts. chicken stock (store bought cartons are fine)
2- 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 - 2 tsp. salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp, dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 bay leaf

---

On medium heat, cook sausage in large soup pot until done and lightly browned, breaking up into small pieces. Drain off grease. Add onions, celery, carrots, salt and pepper. Stir and cook until onions are transparent. Stir in oregano, basil, bay leaf and garlic. Add lentils, stock and tomatoes with their juice. Turn up heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and cook 1 to 1 1/2 hours until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese on top and a good crusty bread. Enjoy!

[Grammy]

Perhaps Cucuzza soup will appeal to you.

Take a nice young zucchini and slice into bite sized pieces. Place in a pan and just barely cover with water or chicken stock (I use canned if necessary). Cook till just tender. Take an egg and mix it with a good handful of parm cheese, salt and pepper, parsley. Toss the egg mixture into the soup, stir, and serve. It is fast, delicious and healing. A good alternative when you don’t feel like the effort of making chicken soup.

Hope you feel better.

[Jamestown1630]

I think I found it. Don’t be put off by the price here; I think this is a first-edition. There were subsequent (and paperback) editions that can be purchased reasonably. As I recall, it was a lot more than just a cookbook, and contained a lot of history:

http://www.amazon.com/The-BEST-OF-SHAKER-COOKING/dp/0020098103

-JT

[Jamestown1630]

Among our other favorites are the cookbooks by Helen Witty, which involve made-from-scratch pantry items:

http://www.amazon.com/Better-Than-Store-Bought-Cookbook-Authoritative/dp/0060146931

http://www.amazon.com/Fancy-Pantry-Helen-Witty/dp/0894800949

She has a ‘concentrated extract’ way of making stock. My husband and I did it once, and it gave us months of chicken stock that took up only a very small space in the freezer. It’s a whole weekend operation, but very convenient when it’s done.

I found a link on how to do it (I think in the book she even includes a way to further concentrate the stock by dehydrating it, but we haven’t tried that):

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1990-04-19/features/9001030683_1_chicken-broth-pot

[bgill]

Thanks. I’ve never heard of Helen Witty but searching around she has a good following with lots of her recipes online.

[Jamestown1630]

I’ve never been able to find out much about her, but I think they are among the very best cookbooks.

I think she may have also written for magazines.

-JT

[Jamestown1630]

I have a question about soup pots.

We have one of those Lodge cast iron pots with the enameled insides. Once, I tried making no-knead bread in it, and the enameling in the bottom started eroding a little.

We’ve continued to use it, but I noticed today that it has eroded even more.

Is it safe to use this pot? I’m assuming the enameling is ‘food safe’, but not sure that’s the case when it starts to go. Or should I just ditch it and get one of the Lodge pre-seasoned pots, without the enamel?

Thanks,
JT

[Deagle]

Okay, something out of the ordinary...just for those that cook at home.

I have a sous vide machine and tried cooking sausage (you know the 1 pound tube you buy at the store) and found a great recipe...well, not really, just found this out by myself...

First freeze the 1 pound sausage. Remove it from the freezer and take off the grocery covering (I use a sharp knife and slice it down the middle). Then place it into your vacuum bag and perform the vacuum miracle...heh. Then place it into the sous vide at 165F for a day or so...length is up to you but 24 hours should be the minimum. It will cook to very tender sausage slices which you will not only enjoy but wonder about how it can be...heh. The difference between frying and this is amazing! Will no longer do it any different way!

Would love to hear any other sous vide ideas! Am still experimenting...

[Jamestown1630]

My Husband Unit really wants a sous vide machine.

I’m scared of it. I’m worried about the low temps/anaerobic issues, and the germs that could grow in there.

Can you convince me that it’s a safe thing to give him for his B’Day? (of course, one that a modest household could afford :-)

-JT

[Deagle]

Nice of you to ask... A bit of research on the web will ease your worries...

When you cook things at a lower temperature but longer times, the vermin/germs can’t survive so it is actually just as safe an cooking at higher temperatures.

I just love the tenderness that comes from this kind of cooking - being an older fellow with a lack of chewing ability..heh.

You should not be afraid of the sous vide though as cooking at a constant temperature (not as high as they specify) kills germs and other things better because it is held at a temperature that they can not endure for hours. It seems to be a heat vs heat and longevity thing...

[Jamestown1630]

Thanks very much. I’ll look into them. I think my husband got interested in them because the method is supposed to preserve nutrients.

-JT

[Deagle]

Roger, and it does that (or at least they claim) but it is also nice for many other reasons. When you can keep cooking at a constant temperature, it finishes the cooking at the maximum temperature (at hours at a time), keeps all the nutrients intact, and is actually very conservative of power usage. Checking with a power monitor, it does seem to use very little power to keep the temperature at the designated temperature (approx 1 KW per day or less). Must less than frying, boiling, or even Slow Cooker.

Anyway, good luck and hope your husband likes his gift (if given). If not, you can enjoy it for yourself...heh. Lots of recipes on the net.

[Sacajaweau]

Only one mouth to feed so a kettle of soup makes lotsa meals for me. Chicken and pea soup are the favorites. Going to try some beef with barley next. My daughter made some for me and it was excellent.

Tricks...I buy Minors beef and chicken base. They have the chicken at BJs but not the beef so I get that at Amazon. For the pea soup, I use GOYA ham concentrate if more intensity is desired.

I cook macaroni or rice if I want to turn any of these into a gut busting heavy meal.