Cherry Tomato Saute

OK, here's the thing...I don't really care much for vegetables. I mean they are fine in soups, stew, casseroles, anything that has other cool ingredients for the veggies to rub elbows with. But as a stand alone side dish, not so much. Then on my quest for FJ cookbooks, I acquired one with the title Farm Journal's Best-Ever Vegetable Recipes. After perusing the recipes, the thought occurred to me that maybe I just needed more variety in my veggie cooking. What a revelation! So, my first post from that particular FJ cookbook is what my hubby calls a keeper. He told me I couldn't make it too often because he almost couldn't stop himself from devouring the entire bowl.

As I read over the original recipe I felt there were some changes that needed to be made to increase flavor. I exchanged grape tomatoes for the cherry. I also added zucchini and fennel. The original called for fennel seed, but I thought, "What the heck. Let's shoot the moon and use fennel bulb." Pretty brave of me since I have never worked with fennel at all. But ya gotta start somewhere.

Ingredients

2 TBS. butter

2 TBS. olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

2 large cloves garlic grated

1/3 cup chopped fennel bulb

1 medium zucchini thick sliced

1 pint grape tomatoes

1 tsp. dried basil

1/4 cup parsley chopped

1/2 to 1 tsp. salt

1/8 to 1/4 tsp. pepper

grated Parmesan cheese

In a saute pan melt butter with the oil. Add onion and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and fennel and cook another 5 minutes.

Add zucchini and cook and stir until slightly tender. Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Reduce heat and cover. Cook for 3-5 minutes until tomatoes are tender, but don't let the skins burst. When serving top with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Notes:This really did have a tremendous amount of flavor. I think the next time I make it I will try more fennel. Since it was a new ingredient I decided to go light, but think it could definitely use a little bumping up. But other than that, it was delish and so easy. So, Enjoy!

Broccoli Souffle (And...I'm...Back!)

Yes, I know I have been gone for quite a while. I have reasons, I really do. First, I have an in-home tutoring business (I go to their homes), and summer is my busiest time. Second, when school started and the tutoring dropped off, I was scurrying to find some way to supplement my income. I spent hours running round trying to get paperwork together, fingerprints done, letters of reference from clients, so that I could (shudder) substitute teach. But with the unemployment situation the way it is, I have a suspicion that many other people had the same idea. As of this writing, I have yet to sub. Third, I have been working on a monkey quilt for my grandson. (It's coming along nicely, thank you.) So, I am now finding myself with a little time again, and since cooking and tutoring are my two passions, I turn back to the blog! My goal is to be more consistent in posting. Wish me luck.

This is another recipe from the Farm Journal cookbooks, and my hubby has been after me for months to try it. As I usually do I changed a couple of things. The original recipe called for American cheese. The only excuse I can come up with for that is until the last ten years or so, better cheeses were not readily available at the market. And I remember that when my mother would make a sauce for broccoli or cauliflower she would use Velveeta. At least Velveeta melts nicely...but American? I'm not sure what the thinking was on that one. So I substituted cheddar and Parmesan. Fontina and gueyre would also be delicious in this recipe. Frozen broccoli was also in the original recipe, but I used fresh and first cooked it in my steamer. Make sure it's undercooked.

Ingredients

3 TBS. butter

3 TBS. flour

1 cup milk

1/4 tsp. salt (I use sea salt)

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. pepper (fresh ground)

1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 small heads broccoli slightly cooked and chopped

3 egg yolks, beaten

3 egg whites, stiffly beaten (not meringue stiffness)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in saucepan; stir in flour. Cook this mixture for a few minutes to eliminate excess starchiness. Add milk, salt, garlic powder, and pepper: cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes. Add cheese; stir until melted. Fold in broccoli, onion and egg yolks. Gently fold in egg white. Pour into a buttered (I used a cooking spray) 2-qt. souffle dish. Set in shallow baking pan. Add hot water to pan to 1/2 inch depth. Bake 1 hour or until puffy or do what I did...insert a metal skewer and if it comes out clean it's done.

Notes: My souffle did not rise high and puffy over the top of the dish. I have two thoughts on that. 1. My dish was too big. When I make this again I am going to increase the ingredients. If I am not mistaken, I think the mixture should reach the top of the the dish and mine didn't even come close. But it was still yummy. 2. This had a lot of broccoli in it and that, too, may have inhibited it's rising. I welcome any suggestions as to how to make this more puffy. Hubby thought it was great as is, but I am going to continue to tweak it. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime...Enjoy!

Minestrone

Italian for "big soup" is minestrone. There seems to be no standard recipe for this staple of Italian cuisine, probably because it was considered a poor man's meal made from whatever was available in the garden. It can be made with or without meat. The recipe I use is one I have tweaked a bit that I found in a vegetarian cookbook from Sunset magazine. It is wonderfully hardy and flavorful. And very versatile.

This time I don't have a picture of the ingredients. I took the picture and documented the whole procedure with more pictures. Then I loaded the pictures on the computer, then I deleted them (clumsy fingers) and when I downloaded them again to the computer the one of the ingredients was gone. So, I'm a technitard...I admit it. That means you guys are going to have to figure out what the ingredients are from this picture.

Just kidding!

The Ingredients

3 TBS. olive oil
1-2 onions chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced, grated or pressed
6 cups chopped fresh veggies...here's what I used
zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, turnips, potato,
green beans. You could also use celery, fresh peas,
basically anything in your garden
1 can kidney beans or white beans
1 can garbanzo beans
8 cups vegetable stock (I use bouillon cubes)
1 tsp. each oregano, basil, rosemary (all dry)
6 oz. can tomato paste
1 cup small pasta
2 cups shredded cabbage
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese for topping the bowls of soup

This again starts out pretty much the same way as my other soups with sauteeing the onion and garlic in a large soup pot about 5 minutes or so. Something I think a person should always keep in mind when making soup is that nothing is set in stone (unless you are making stone soup...I know, I know). I firmly believe that making soup requires intuition and an understanding of what flavors work together. I give measurements...but I rarely measure. That's probably why I like making soups! Less work. Alright, back to work.

Now that the onions and garlic are all yummy, dump in the broth, the beans with juice, all the veggies, and the spices.

Bring to a simmer, lower heat, cover and cook for 30 minues.
Stir in tomato paste and pasta and continue to cook for about 15 minutes, until pasta is tender.

Now dump all that pretty cabbage into the soup and cook until just wilted. You could also use spinach, chard or kale. It is all in what you prefer. Salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle into bowls, top with fresh grated parmesan, and serve with a nice crusty bread. Salut!

Dreamy Creamy Turkey Soup

You know how after turkey day you have a ton of leftover turkey, and after making a bazillion sandwiches you throw the rest of it into the freezer and then forget about it? Well, I’ve done that more times than I care to count. Several months after the last Thanksgiving I was rummaging around in the freezer when I came across a couple of ziploc bags with leftover turkey. I was trying to figure out what to do with it, because I was afraid it might have that freezer burn disease and wouldn’t be very suitable for casseroles or sandwiches. Then I thought of soup! Soup can hide a multitude of sins. So I took the bags out of the freezer to thaw and searched the fridge for other handy ingredients that might make a palatable concoction. What resulted was truly yummy! My hubby said, "Grab a pencil and write down how you made that puppy. That one is truly a keeper. And, of course, being a dutiful wife (not) I did exactly that. And you lucky people are the first to view and try this dreamy creamy soup. Let me know what you think. And Enjoy!!

Dreamy Creamy Turkey Soup

Here are the ingredients to this lovely soup.
In case you can't figure out all the ingredients from the picture I'll list them for you in the order of their appearance.

3 Tbs. butter

3 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 cup onion chopped

2 stalks celery chopped

3 large cloves garlic grated minced or pressed

8 oz. sliced mushrooms button or crimini

2 qts. chicken broth

4 cups chopped cooked turkey or chicken

1 cubed zucchini

1/2 cup white wine

1 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning

1 tsp. dried thyme sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

8 oz. small type pasta

1 1/2 cups cream

4 cups chopped or baby spinach

Don't let the long list intimidate you. It is totally worth the effort.

The first thing you need is a big soup pot or kettle. I like to use an eight quart pot because I get less spatter that way. Melt the butter and the olive oil (I always use EVOO) in the bottom of the pot. Add the onions, celery and garlic and saute until tender. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute. I like to slice the mushrooms directly into the pot so I can stand there and take in the aroma as it cooks. But I have to be careful not to take to long or else I will drool into the pot.

Can't you just smell it!!

After the veggies are tender add the broth, chicken, zucchini, spices, and wine. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Then add the pasta and continue to simmer until just a smidge past al dente. Then add the cream, heat through and then the spinach and cook until just wilted

My goodness, talk about your comfort food. The cream really is the secret ingredient. A couple of tips. Use sea salt for the health benefits. When I get more of this blog thing worked out I will put on links to the sites that discuss that. I like to use baby spinach in to save on the chopping and washing. And finally, I use Dreamfields Pasta exclusively. Again, I will tell you all about that in another post. That stuff is fantastic and I will sing their praises to the roofs.

When you finish cooking this serve it up in big bowls with a crusty bread. And there are so many veggies it in that it is a one dish meal. What could be better!!!

As a side note...I am still figuring out the whole camera thing and how to post. Hopefully with time they will improve. Any suggestions to that end will be helpful.