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Oct 28 2013

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Posted by georgiapellegrini in Step-by-Step Recipes

I had oceans of frozen broccoli in my freezer recently, and I was looking for new ways to cook it up into something delicious. There’s only so many times a girl can eat broccoli with melted cheese. Well, maybe not, but still this Cream of Broccoli Soup from Rebecca caught my eye as something new and intriguing to try. I didn’t opt to make the homemade crème fraiche but I did add a dollop of the storebought variety and it adds a wonderful tang. I think you’ll like this one. It’s a healthy bowl of goodness and full of flavor.

You will need: butter, onion, broccoli, stock, potato, white pepper and crème fraiche.

Note: The crème fraiche is optional but so, so simple to make. All you need is buttermilk, heavy cream, a bowl and a whisk. Rebecca’s recipe includes instructions on making your own—just remember to make it the day before so it will be ready when your soup is done.

Begin by dicing your onions.

Add the onions and sweat, stirring occasionally until soft, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, dice your potatoes.

Then add the broccoli to the pot …

Along with the potatoes.

Cover with your stock and stir gently.

Cover partially with a lid and let simmer for 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Remove the pot from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes.

Then transfer in batches to a blender and puree until smooth.

Season with salt and pepper, fresh herbs, and a dollop of crème fraiche, plain yogurt or sour cream. It is even delicious served room temperature or cold on a hot day. And it will store well in sealed containers in the freezer for up to 3 months. Give this a try!

And please visit Rebecca’s website Foodie with Family to see her other wonderful homespun recipes. She’s got all kinds of crazy goodness going on there!

Printable Recipe

Cream of Broccoli Soup and DIY Creme Fraiche

by Rebecca on April 25, 2010 in Creamy Soups, Homemade Ingredients, Soups

See post on Rebecca’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 4 Rating(s) 4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5

Description

Cream of Broccoli soup that puts the spotlight right where it should be: on the broccoli! Psst. It’s good for you!

Plus, quit paying mega-bucks for creme fraiche. No “I live in the boonies” excuses, people. Make two cups of your own creme fraiche for less than a buck.

Ingredients

FOR THE SOUP:
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 whole Small Cooking Onion, Peeled And Diced
4 cups Broccoli Cuts, Fresh Or Frozen (definitely Include The Stems!)
4 cups Stock (chicken Or Vegetable, Preferably) Or Water
1 whole Medium Russet (or Other Baking) Potato, Peeled And Diced
Salt And Freshly Ground White Pepper, To Taste (if You Can't Get White Pepper, You Can Use Black Pepper!)
Creme Fraiche, For Garnish (optional)
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FOR THE CREME FRAICHE:
2 Tablespoons Cultured Buttermilk (NOT Lemon Juice Or Vinegar Soured Milk)
2 cups Heavy Cream (ultra-pasteurized Is Not Preferable, But It Can Be Used. It May Just Take Longer For The Creme Fraiche To Thicken.)

Preparation Instructions

To make the soup:
Melt the butter in a stockpot or large soup pot over medium heat. Add onions and lower heat to medium-low. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the onions and sweat, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened. Lower the heat if necessary to avoid browning the onions. This should take about 5 minutes.

Add the broccoli, stock, and potato to the soup pot and raise the heat to medium-high. Bring the soup to a simmer. Partially cover the pot and simmer for 25 minutes, or until all the vegetables are soft.

Remove the pot from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Puree the soup, in batches, in a blender or food processor or use an immersion (stick) blender in the pot to puree the soup to your desired consistency. Add the salt and pepper to taste.

If garnishing, first loosen the crème fraîche in a small bowl with a fork or whisk. Use a spoon to drizzle or dollop the crème fraîche over the soup and then swirl with a toothpick to create pretty patterns throughout.

You can freeze the uneaten, un-garnished soup in tightly covered containers for up to three months.

To make the creme fraiche:

Use a whisk to combine the buttermilk with heavy cream. Cover lightly and leave at room temperature (between 65°F and 75°F) for 24 hours or until thickened (but no more than 48 hours). This is good for two weeks (but I’ve used it longer than that) in the refrigerator. Chilling it prior to use will thicken it further.

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There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful books Girl Hunter and Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

Oct 25 2013

The Theme is … Hot Dogs!

Posted by Erika (TK) in The Theme Is...

I want to know one thing: What happened to summer? It feels like only last week, I was watering my lawn in a t-shirt and capris. Wait, that really was last week. Then bam! I’m standing outside in the morning with the actual temperature below freezing and a stiff breeze making it feel like 24 degrees and December.

Except it’s October. Oy.

The past years have brought unusual weather. We’ve started seeing snowfall as early as October. We’ve had nasty hurricanes up north in October, too. Everything’s changing. But you know what we can count on as a constant? Baseball. You can always count on baseball giving us a great show in October. Hello, World Series.

When it comes to baseball grub, more than peanuts or Cracker Jacks and yes, even beer, I think of hot dogs. Tradition has it that the practice of serving hot dogs at baseball parks started in St. Louis. (See how all this is coming together?) Fast forward more than a hundred years, and hot dogs are still standard fare at the game. So whether you prefer your hot dogs with neon green relish “dragged through the garden” and stuffed into a sesame seed bun, or topped with mustard and a simple onion sauce, or if you’ll take your Fenway Frank steamed (I had to give them a shout-out too), we all have our favorite way to enjoy hot dogs.

There’s just something about a hot dog that’s both supremely satisfying and nostalgic, and apparently, many of our members agree because we have some pretty creative sandwiches here, inspired by various regions around the country, and even outside this land of baseball. Let’s take a quick tour, shall we?

Detroit-Style Coney Dogs: natural casing hot dog, chili, mustard and onions. Classic.

Jalapeño Chili Dog: a Tex-Mex style hot dog topped with chili, jalapeño peppers, chopped tomatoes, avocado, cheese, sour cream, and salsa. Spicy cream smoky goodness.

Colombian Hot Dog: fried hot dog seasoned with oregano and cumin, topped with a vinegar-based cabbage slaw, thinly sliced onion, avocado, three different kinds of sauces (garlic cilantro mayo, anyone?), and topped with shoestring fries. Perro caliente indeed.

The Spud Dog: beef hot dogs in a hoagie roll, topped with cheddar, fries, caramelized onions, sauerkraut and yellow mustard. John’s homage to Idaho and his German roots.

Fancy Pants Street Vendor Hot Dogs: all-beef hot dogs marinated in apple cider vinegar, garlic and brown sugar, grilled then topped with a sweet BBQ sauce, onions, pepperoncinis, and pickles. Inspired by a hot dog stand in Utah. Yowza.

Buffalo Chicken Hot Dog: a chicken hotdog or sausage, dressed with Buffalo sauce, crumbled blue cheese, and celery. All the flavor of a Buffalo wing, without the messy fingers.

Pulled Pork Hot Dogs with Broccoli Slaw: a hot dog topped with pulled pork, broccoli slaw, queso fresco, and cilantro. A little bit of south, a little bit of Mex. It’s all over the place, in the best way possible.

Gourmet Chili Dogs: this isn’t necessarily tied to any one region either, but goodness, just try resisting this! The beef-and-bean chili gets extra depth from red wine and the “hot dog” is actually Polish sausage grilled and slightly charred, cradled in a baguette and topped with onions, cheese, and cilantro. Sign me up.

All this talk of hot dogs is giving me the urge to host a World Series party and set up a hot dog bar with every kind of topping possible. Then I think of having to clean up after and all the beer that might be consumed and all the hooting and hollering and toppings flying everywhere, and I’m tempted to set up the hot dog bar just for myself.

How about you? Do you have any favorite hot dog variations? Strong feelings about ketchup on a hot dog? Do you like them grilled, fried, deep-fried, or steamed? Cooked onions or raw? Did I make you want hot dogs now? (I hope so!)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Oct 23 2013

Let’s Talk Bacon

Posted by Erika (TK) in Kitchen Talk

Ah, bacon. What is it about bacon that makes hearts go aflutter? Even just the aroma of bacon cooking is sometimes enough to stop people in their tracks to follow the scent trail to its source. People have added bacon to just about everything you can think of, including ice cream and chocolate martinis (served in glasses rimmed with maple syrup and bacon bits, no less). Grocery shelves house bottles of bacon salt and bacon spray. Cooks stash precious jars of bacon grease in the refrigerator, and I promise you using a dollop of that instead of oil will kick up your favorite fried rice recipe a few notches.

Bacon pretty much makes almost everything better—and special. Toss it with some tomatoes and pasta and you have a super simple yet incredibly tasty Bacon Tomato Capellini, which is where the photo above comes from. (If you love bacon and pasta, you’ll definitely want to check that out.)

Since we’ve established there are endless ways to use bacon, let’s talk about cooking bacon.

What’s your favorite method or technique for cooking bacon?

For Betsy, lately it’s been on a foil-lined baking sheet (with sides, of course) in the oven. She loves not having to babysit it on the stove, and the less is mess. She says her mom microwaves it but she thinks doing it that way makes the bacon shrivel and it doesn’t get as crispy. She tried using a wire rack once but her bacon just stuck to the rack, so she likes the foil.

I do pretty much the same thing, but for a different reason. See, my husband doesn’t like the smell of bacon in the house. (Shocker, I know.) So I cook it in the oven on a foil-lined baking sheet, like Betsy. (I skip the wire rack not because my bacon sticks to it but because I don’t enjoy cleaning it.) As soon as the bacon starts to sizzle and the edges look slightly crisp, I shut the oven off and let the bacon finish cooking in the residual heat. That way, when I open the oven door to retrieve the now-crisp bacon, much of the bacon smell will have dissipated inside the oven.

Nanci, on the other hand, is a stovetop kind of girl. She swears by her favorite 12-inch Griswold cast iron skillet and fries several batches of thick cut pepper bacon in one morning. Then she drains the bacon on paper towels, lets it cool, the wraps it up in clean paper towels. All that bacon goes into a bag to store in the freezer for quick microwave heating on weekday mornings. Smart!

How about you? Do you have a favorite method for cooking bacon? Or maybe a favorite bacon trick? It’s your turn to share and we’d love to hear your tips! (Or maybe you just want to profess your undying love for this marvelous piece of porky goodness. That’s okay too. We understand.)

Oct 21 2013

Farro, Cranberry and Goat Cheese Salad

Posted by cookincanuck in Step-by-Step Recipes

If you’re like me, you may be skeptical about the “grain of the minute” that comes on the scene and seems to take over every recipe site. While it may seem new to many of us, Italians have been cooking with farro for generations. And you know what? It’s really good! It’s a whole grain that doesn’t require 45 minutes of cooking time, and its tender but slightly crunchy texture will convince you to keep a supply in your pantry.

Thanks to Tasty Kitchen member Des, this Farro, Cranberry and Goat Cheese Salad is one you can whip up for an easy lunch, or serve to guests at a dinner party. Creamy goat cheese, sweet dried cranberries and a Dijon vinaigrette make this recipe a keeper.

Cook farro according to package directions.

Drain. Transfer to a bowl to cool.

While the farro is cooking, whip up the vinaigrette.

In a small bowl, combine the balsamic vinegar …

Dijon mustard …

Rosemary …

And garlic powder. Whisk to combine.

Slowly whisk in olive oil until emulsified. Allow to sit at room temperature.

Once farro has cooled, toss with cranberries, parsley and goat cheese.

When you are ready to serve the salad, pour dressing over the top. Toss well. Serve at room temperature.

Thanks so much to Des for this wonderful recipe. Be sure to check out her site, Life’s Ambrosia, to drool over some of her other amazing recipes. I have my eye on the Chickpea Cakes with Chipotle Avocado Cream and Pumpkin Cupcakes with Browned Butter Maple Frosting.

Printable Recipe