Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup - Great Fall Warm-up!

Apparently, I made this soup on this day last year - as reminded by the book of face....
When I saw the picture and re-read the description, I decided I should preserve it for posterity.

Soak 2 C of dry black beans overnight and then pre-cook them with a bay leaf or two - until tender - about 1 hour.

I cooked the peeled and seeded pumpkin meat in some home made chicken stock - but could have used veggie stock just as easily. When it was tender I pureed it all together...


In a skillet I browned some sausage meat, added onions, garlic and a couple small turnips with their greens.
I let that cook for a while then added a green pepper and added the whole shebang to the pumpkin pot.

The sausage could easily be omitted and the veggies cooked in olive oil.

Stirred in the black beans (without the cooking water), added a couple of chopped tomatoes added spices and let it cook for a while. The spices I used that time were thyme, sage, coriander, cumin, cayenne, white pepper.

At the very end I added a little soy sauce for depth of flavorand some good red wine vinegar to cut the sweetness. 

As this was a chili-like soup, we added a little shredded cheese for an acccent!

It was pretty delicious!

Kale, Potato and Sausage Soup

I have made this a few times - and posted it to facebook but forgot to cross-post here. So, here goes.

Start with a little olive oil,

sweat a leek (or small onion) with 1/2t salt and some black pepper

add a couple cloves of garlic sliced,

add the sausage meat (sweet italian) casings removed and brown

add stock (I usually use chicken or turkey)

taste the broth for seasoning and adjust

add potatoes sliced super thin (use a mandolin if you have one)

add kale sliced super fine.

cook until done.

(I didn't put any amounts because I usually adjust for what I have available and what I think the kids will eat)

Can't Believe MONTHS have passed!

It's not that there has been nothing food-wise to blog about, it's just that we've been so darned busy.
Thankfully my husband has also picked up some of the bigger cooking duties and has made several roasts etc.

One thing that hasn't changed is our weekly pots of soup.
I've been doing more with bean soups this year - cooking up a pound of dry beans at a time and then splitting the batch - freezing half and using half immediately.
We had a smokey ham stock/white bean w/greens soup a couple weeks ago that my oldest son LOVED.
The week after that I cooked up a Yule present from a friend who always gives us a soup mix from The Women's Bean Project which my younger son LOVED.
There have also been the usual turkey&rice, chicken&veggetable etc. Because we still belong to our CSG and have our root veggies to use; and because I routinely make meat stock whenever we have a poultry dinner!

One thing that HAS changed is that I've also been making veggie stock this winter too!
It all started because we're working with a musician who is a vegetarian. We've been working on learning songs she has written to be able to perform with her and we will be recording her songs come spring. Our habit is to be able to share a meal with the musicians we work with; to add time where we can get to know each other and to discuss the business aspects of the relationship.
Although I like vegetarian foods and have certainly made no-meat meals, I was facing the prospect of feeding someone who is especially experienced at this!
I have been making my stock by using the trimmings from veggies I put into my other soups and stews. I put all of the "scraps" into a small sauce pot with just enough water to come to the top of the veggie material. After it has boiled for a while, I let it cool and then strain it through a coffee filter.
It is delicious, fragrant and beautiful! I can't believe I have never done this before and that I 've let all of those nutrient rich veggie scraps go directly to the compost without stealing back some of the flavors and vitimins first!

My arguments about not adding veggies to my meat stocks have always been that I don't approve of the waste of putting whole veggies in and then throwing them away with the bones.
Now I'm upset with myself for the waste of the veggie scraps LOL!

Thanksgiving is Coming!!!

Wow! Thanksgiving is almost here and for the first time in MANY years I will not be cooking.
I'm not hosting, and I'm not going to a relative's home with a side dish...I'm going to be on vacation and will probably be eating my turkey in a restaurant.

Now, I usually LOVE hosting Thanksgiving because it means making the turkey - which we always brine Alton Brown style.
The sides are typically the traditional.....mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, bread and sausage dressing (never stuffed into the turkey!), cranberry sauce and applesause.

But I was thinking, what if you're tired of those typical sides? What would you make?
So I dug into my archives for some inspiration:

For some simple pre-turkey munchies you could put out some pickles! They're crispy, zesty, nutritious, you can make them WAY ahead of time, and you can plan in variety!

For a twist on the use of pumpkin/squash/sweetpotatoes you could do a soup! If you don't want the Thai influence simply leave out the curry powder and the coconut milk and add some allspice and nutmeg and you've got a nice standard butternut squash soup starter to your meal.

Instead of the usual greenbean casserole you could try a greenbean saute! And it's one less item for the oven!

If you have the time, fresh applesauce is a real treat!

And to finish the day Thanksgiving Cookies can't be beat....of course they are good ANY time!
Please share your traditions or breaks from tradition with me!

Whatever your traditions and whatever you make, I hope your Thanksgiving is delicious and good for your soul!

It's Soup Season Again!

I may be considered to be a bit weird, but when there's a chill in the air and sweaters become every day garb, I get excited, because it is SOUP SEASON.

At my house we've already gone through 4 pots of steamy goodness this season.

1st up was:
Gingered Carrot Soup
I had a bag of mini-carrots that was going to go bad on me and used them all up in this soup.
It also contained leeks harvested from MY GARDEN this year!!! and a large nob of ginger.
Herb-wise I added a bay leaf, and garlic powder.
When it had cooked long enough I pureed it and served it up.

It was a fairly simple soup - good for the first pot of the year.

Then I got the flu - or something very much like it - and made:
Quick for the Sick Chicken Soup
My husband bought me a pack of all-natural chicken thighs which I seasoned with salt and pepper and browned in some olive oil.
I added two large onions - and half a tsp of salt, onions are GREAT for coughs and fevers
My friend Wendy over at Wisdom of the Moon suggested tumeric for headcolds...so
I also added about a 1/2 tsp of tumeric at this point..which is also great for congestion and inflamation.
Some carrots & celery
Green beans from the garden
Some droopy cooking greens from our CSG and
LOTS and LOTS of fresh herbs from the window boxes:
Thyme, Oregano, Dill, and Parsley
That was some GOOD chicken soup!

My flop for the season was next:
Leftover Ham Bone Split Pea
Now, if you are a split pea soup lover you might have been ok with this soup.
Split pea is not a favorite at my house, and although I cooked this soup several hours...the peas were still crunchy. NOT Good Eats. Of course I made this when the Quick for the Sick Chicken Soup ran out and I was still sick, so that might have had something to do with it......

We've also been upping the amount of oven cooking we're doing - to try to keep the house warm and avoid turning on the heat...so we've made a couple of roast chickens and stock from the leftovers.

So...I have also made my usual Chicken Soup again.
And, up this weekend a return of Mario Batali's Cauliflower Soup!

Easy RUSTIC Potato-Leek Soup

2 Leeks trimmed, cleaned and sliced
1 Sm Red Onion, peeled and sliced
1 lb potatoes cubed (peel is left on)
1 sm carrot minced
1 tsp tamari
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 - 1/2 c dry sherry
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
2-3 Cans of water
1 smallish bay leaf
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp parsley flakes
Olive Oil
Butter

In Medium size soup pot, coat bottom with about 2Tbsp Olive Oil and 1 Tbsp butter
Add Onion, Leek and Bay and salt. Sweat, stirring occasionally until it is beginning to turn color.
Add a splash of sherry to deglaze pot and let it completely evaporate
Add the rest of the sherry - go light if your not sure about this flavor- the potatoes,the can of soup, and the water, the carrot, Worcestershire sauce and tamari.
Stir to combine
Add white and black peppers.
Let the soup cook for a good hour at a gentle simmer.
Add the herbs (and any additional ones you like) and cook for another 20 minutes.

Serve with warm crusty bread.

Sausage and Root Veggie Soup

There was sweet italian sausage on sale at the local supermarket.
I made this one two weeks in a row....All I can say is YUMMMMM!

I sauteed a
1 1/2lb sweet sausage, removed it from the pan
added about
1 TBSP olive oil and then
Chopped and sweated with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt:
1/2 a LARGE onion
1/2 head of garlic
1 inch fresh ginger minced
1 Large Celeriac (celery root)
1 Large Parsnip
1 Carrot
& 2 Bay Leaves

When the Onion was translucent I added homemade chicken stock, (about 6-8 Cups)
After about 20 minutes I added 3-4 white and 1 sweet potatoe, sliced thinly.

I let it cook until the potatoes were done and served it up.

January Freezer Soup

This soup was born out of the January seed selection meeting with my girlfriends, and the question about how much of the last summer's harvest was still in the freezer.

I chopped and sweated with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt:
1/2 a LARGE onion
1 Med Leek
1 inch fresh ginger minced
2 Stalks of Celery chopped (med. dice)
2 Carrots chopped (med. dice)
1 small-med piece of prociutto end - diced

When the Onion was translucent I started adding additional veggies:
2 handfuls of frozen greenbeans - chopped into 1 inch pieces
3-4 handfuls of frozen chopped squash (1/2-1 inch dice)
About 10-12 nappa cabbage leaves shredded

Then I added a can of white beans, along with the homemade chicken stock (about 6-8 cups)
about 1/2 cup of barley
2 bay leaves
Celery seed
Parsley
Oregano
And let it cook until it was done!

Thai Style Butternut Squash Soup

We had this soup with dinner last night using another batch of homemade chicken stock.

The first part can be done up to several days in advance:
Cut a large butternut squash in half, remove seeds
Place cut side down on a cookie sheet or jellyroll pan.Roast until tender (about 1-2 hours)
Let cool and scrape squash meat out of the shell.
If you're not immediately making soup,seal the squash in a plastic container or plastic bag.

To make the soup:
Sweat:
1 leek chopped fine
1/2 large onion chopped fine
2 ribs of celery minced fine
1/2 tsp salt
When onion is translucent add1 tsp of your favorite curry powder
Stir to coat the onions and let this mixture cook for about 5 minutes.
Add 3-4 cups of stock (preferably homemade)
Add butternut squash and mash into the soup using a potato masher
Add 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
Add another 3-4 cups of stockGrind fresh black pepper into the pot (to taste)
Let the soup come to a simmer
Puree in batches if you like a really creamy soup or simply serve as is for a more rustic soup.
ENJOY!

Chicken Soup - My Way

So, with illness prevailing at my house we've been keeping the food pretty bland.
I roasted a chicken along with some root veggies on Wednesday night, and I immediately made stock from the bones.
Last night I put together Chicken Soup...
I chopped and sweated with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt:
1/2 a LARGE onion
1 Med Leek
1/2 a head of garlic
2 inch knob of ginger
Heart of Celery
Heart of Anise
2 Carrots
1 Med Sweet Potato
6 Button Mushrooms
When the onion/leek was translucent I started adding the stock.
I also added dry herbs at this point:
Bay
Oregano
Parsley
pinch of Dill
& black and white pepper

I let the soup come to a boil and added about 3/4 lb of Chopped Kale.
Let it come to a simmer and kept it there for about 30 minutes.
I can't wait to heat it up for dinner tonight!

Soup Season!

So far I've made 2 soups this season the first used the ham bone from our Mabon feast and the second used the stock I made from the Samhain turkey. Both were yummy but the turkey was definitely the better soup - I think partially because I also added all of the leftovers from the fridge in addition to cabbage, celery, carrots, leeks and onion.

Over the years that I've participated in the local CSA Organic farm (Community Supported Agriculture) I've learned to LOVE using leeks and parsnips in soup. This year we haven't received any parsnips with the share yet, but we have had leeks in the past 3 distributions as well as lots of kale - which is GREAT in chicken and turkey soups, and cabbage - great in any soup.

Last year I tried a cauliflower soup from one of Mario Batali's books and took a tip from one of Lydia Bastianich's books and started adding parmesan cheese rinds to some of the soups I made. YUMMM.

As we progress through soup season this year I'll try to post the soups I make and how the family responds to them.......
Happy cooking!