THE SECRET RECIPE CLUB: CORN CHOWDA

Posted in Secret Recipe Club, Soups, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

Last Monday of the month = Reveal Day for The Secret Recipe Club! I could not be happier with my matching blog for this month: Beautiful Disasters, hosted by Casey, the coolest girl in the whole blogosphere. I first got to “meet” her when she made a flourless chocolate cake from my blog, and that was the most popular recipe of our SRC that month! How awesome is that? Casey is a hard working high school student, athletic, witty, and keeps a blog that is always fun to visit. I was thrilled to cook from her site. Being a young runner with a high metabolism and all, she’s got a ton of sweets to share, but I wanted to go for something savory. The weather is cooling down (Sally grabs the box of Kleenex), so I searched for a comforting soup. My first click on the index was for corn chowder. She starts her post with “Do you wish you had an accent?” Casey, you got me right there! I simply HAD to make your chowda.. 😉

CORN CHOWDER
(adapted from Beautiful Disasters)

2 cups corn kernels
2 Tablespoons butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 + 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons thyme
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
a few fresh basil leaves
scant 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups water
8 baby Yukon gold potatoes, cut in pieces
¾ cup half-and-half
1/2 Tablespoon white sugar

Heat the butter in a large pan. Let it melt, then add the shallots, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently, until the shallot is soft and starting to get some golden color. Add the flour and cook for another couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually add the water, keep stirring. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add the corn kernels and potatoes. Bring the chowder to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Transfer a little less than 2 cups of the chowder and the basil leaves to a blender and puree until smooth. Stir the puree back into the pan. Add the half-and-half then return the chowder to a simmer. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and mix in the sugar.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Delicious chowder, creamy, luscious, even if I took a few shortcuts with the recipe. Full disclosure: Casey did not use frozen corn. I am sure it would be even better with fresh corn and getting all that juicy corn milk, but I had to simplify the preparation to accommodate my schedule.

Now, back to the fascinating topic of accents. As any immigrant, I am often reminded that I have an accent. I don’t mind it that much, but I certainly wish I didn’t get in other types of trouble.

Allow me to share a quick story. Day one of lab move: I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off, asking our secretary, one of the moving guys, and a student “I need the doily. Have you seen the doily around?” All of a sudden, Phil gently grabs grabs my arm, takes me to the side and whispers “Sally, darling, you are looking for the dolly, not the doily“. That’s when I understood their small delay in answering my question with a sheepish “I don’t know where it is”. (sigh)

Casey, I hope you had a blast with your assignment too!
And for all my readers, don’t forget to click on the blue frog below to see the full list of posts by the members of Group D, the group that closes each month with a golden key! 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: Oven-broiled Salmon over Saucy Spinach

TWO YEARS AGO: Butterscotch Brownies

THREE YEARS AGO: First Soup of the Year

27Apr2012

A SUPER HEALTHY SOUP

Posted in Soups, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

It seems that every year, right when I get all excited that the cold weather is gone for good, a few chilly nights pop up to say hello. Chilly as 50F! For a Brazilian, it’s the dreadful boundary between life and death. So, faced with such adverse circumstances, I made soup. Complete improvisation from a few ingredients I had laying around in the fridge and the pantry. I felt incredibly energized after dinner, and even won a wrestling match with Oscar! It must have been the spinach. 😉

ZUCCHINI SPINACH SOUP
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 Tbs olive oil
1 stalk of leek, finely sliced (white part only)
3 zucchinis, medium size, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 to 1/3 cup of canned white beans
4 cups vegetable stock or water (plus more if needed)
1 to 2 cups baby spinach leaves
salt and pepper
freshly squeezed lemon juice
low fat yogurt to taste for serving

Heat the olive oil and saute the sliced leeks, allow them to get golden. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the zucchini, cook the slices for a few minutes, stirring every once in a while, until they get a bit of color in some spots. Add the white beans, cook for a couple of minutes, add the vegetable stock (or water), bring the whole thing to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook, covered, until the zucchini is tender (20 minutes).

Add the spinach, cook until the leaves are just wilted. Puree the soup in a food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender until the consistency you like. If too thick, add more water or vegetable broth. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, sprinkle lemon juice, and keep warm until serving.

Pour some into a bowl, and add a dollop of yogurt seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

All amounts for this soup are quite flexible. The spinach, added at the very end, gives it a nice bright green color, and a strong herbal flavor, so add as little or as much as your palate appreciates. I used an immersion blender because I like my soup to be a bit chunky and find that with other methods it’s harder to control the texture. But, if you prefer a smoother soup, use a blender. The beans made it creamy without the addition of any fat, and also turned it into a more substantial soup. A thick slice of rustic bread was all we needed.

A final note: if you are in a daring mood, add a splash of Sriracha to the yogurt. Takes the soup to a whole other level… 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: Cinco de Mayo Dinner Celebration

TWO YEARS AGO: Thom Leonard’s Country French Bread

19Mar2012

HEART-HEALTHY RECIPE FOR A CAUSE

Posted in Soups by sallybr

Through The Secret Recipe Club, I got to know Jey, from “The Jey of Cooking“. A year ago, her Mom received a new heart in a transplant, and Jey decided to post a heart-healthy recipe in her blog, inviting also other bloggers to do the same. For every recipe posted, she made a donation for The American Heart Association . Now, to mark the first anniversary of her mother’s surgery, she is launching the same campaign, and this is my contribution. By the way, if you have a food blog, or even if you don’t, you can join too: simply cook a heart-healthy recipe, blog or take photos from it, and send an email to Jey, you can find more details jumping here. The deadline is March 25th.

CHICKPEA AND FIRE-ROASTED TOMATO SOUP
(adapted from Fine Cooking; issue 116, March 2012)

1 Tbs. olive oil
Fine sea salt
1 medium shallot, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
2 carrots, finely diced
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (15 oz)
1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
2 rosemary sprigs
3 cups water (or vegetable broth)
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup low fat yogurt
squeeze of lemon juice

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.Add the onion, celery, carrot, and a pinch of salt and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the chickpeas and tomatoes with their juice, stir to combine, and cook for 1 minute. Add the rosemary, water, 1 tsp salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Partially cover the pan and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Remove the sprigs of rosemary, leaving behind any leaves that fell off the stem. Purée the soup with a hand blender or in batches in a regular blender or food processor. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, mix the yogurt with lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Divide the soup among 4 bowls, add a nice dollop of yogurt in the center of the bowl, and swirl it around with chopsticks.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

The original recipe, in the latest issue of Fine Cooking, used regular tomatoes and had a higher proportion of chickpeas. I confess to having a mild addiction to the heat and flavor of Muir fire-roasted tomatoes, so I try to sneak them in my cooking at every opportunity. Their heat was quite obvious, so the yogurt swirl was a nice addition to tame the fire.

We are pretty much saying goodbye to soup weather, but this version would be great even on a warm Summer evening. Chickpeas and tomatoes are awesome together. I have paired them in stews and salads, but this was my first time enjoying them in a soup. Tasty!

Jey, I hope you’ll get a lot of contributions to celebrate the first anniversary of your Mom’s surgery!

ONE YEAR AGO: Almond Butter Cake

TWO YEARS AGO: Taillevent (a meal to remember…)

20Dec2011

CARAMELIZED CARROT SOUP

Posted in Soups, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

Emeril Lagasse had his trademark “BAM!” Rachael Ray goes with “Yumm-o,” and Anne Burrell chimes in again and again: “Brown food tastes good!” When they are overused these expressions get on my nerves, but I can’t argue with the importance of browning your food to pump up its flavor. So, what is happening to the food? It all reduces to a series of chemical events known as the “Maillard reactions,”named after the French chemist who discovered them, Louis-Camille Maillard (pronounced “mah-yar”).

Maillard reactions involve proteins and sugars. These molecules may react with each other if they contain atoms on their surfaces with a net positive or negative charge. Proteins consist of tens or hundreds of amino acids linked together, but the constituent amino acids of a native protein are not very reactive, because they fold into a stable 3-dimensional structure. However, subjecting the protein to high energy (heat) or a basic (high pH) environment destabilizes its structure, exposing the charges of many of its amino acids. If present, a sugar will react with the charged amino acids to produce all sorts of different compounds, many of which taste great! Note that boiling water won’t do the trick: the Maillard reactions need much higher heat, like in a skillet with hot oil, or on a grill. As we all know, these are the best approaches to browning foods.

Caramelization and Maillard reactions are often used interchangeably, but this is wrong because the former refer to what happens to a sugar alone upon heating, whereas Maillard reactions always involve proteins and sugars. The two processes are cosmetically and conceptually similar, in that both produce a brown color, but they arise from different chemistry.

and… brown food DOES tastes good! 😉

That brings me to a recipe for caramelized carrot soup, in which just a few simple ingredients….

… come together to create an incredible depth of flavor. Here increasing both the heat (a pressure cooker works its magic), and the pH (baking soda to the rescue) optimizes the Maillard reactions. Chemistry never tasted so good!

CARAMELIZED CARROT SOUP (adapted from Food and Wine magazine)

1/3 cup low fat yogurt

1 teaspoon chopped tarragon

1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds, chopped

salt and pepper

6 tTbs unsalted butter (divided in 4 + 2 Tbs)

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups fresh carrot juice (see notes)

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

In a small bowl, mix the yogurt with tarragon, caraway seeds, a touch of salt and pepper, and reserve. In a pressure cooker, combine 4 tablespoons of the butter with the carrots and cook uncovered until the butter is melted. Stir in the salt and baking soda, cover and cook at full pressure for 10 minutes.Carefully move the pressure cooker to the sink and run cold water over the lid until the temperature drops down and the pressure is equalized (one minute under cold water will definitely be enough). Open the pressure cooker, add the carrot juice (or a mixture of carrot juice + water), and stir to release caramelized bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Transfer the contents of the pan to a blender or food processor, add the ginger, the remaining 2 Tbs of butter, and puree until smooth. Season the soup with pepper and pour into bowls. Garnish with a small dollop of the reserved yogurt, sprinkle some fresh tarragon, and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Don’t be alarmed by the look of the carrot/butter mixture once you open the pressure cooker. The brown bits stuck to the pan will dissolve easily and they give this soup the most intense carrot flavor ever!

The box of carrot juice I used had a little less than 2 cups so I completed the volume with water. If you have some V8 juice around the pantry, it could be a nice addition. This technique won me over, I wonder if other soups could benefit from this treatment. Caramelized broccoli? Butternut squash? Only future experiments will tell… 😉 At any rate, this will be my favorite soup recipe for the year 2011. Hands down!

ONE YEAR AGO: Miso-Grilled Shrimp

TWO YEARS AGO: A Special Holiday Fruitcake

3Nov2011

A SOUP WITH MEMORIES OF LOS ANGELES

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Soups by sallybr

During our sabbatical year at UCLA, we often went to a restaurant in our street, Beverly Glen Blvd, right at its junction with Mulholland Drive. It was a small Italian restaurant called Fabrocini’s, almost hidden in a little corner, but always packed with folks from the neighborhood. The restaurant is affordable (for L.A. standards, that is), has an extensive menu, and the moment you sit at the table the waiter greets you with a small bowl of their focaccia. Interestingly, each time we went there, the focaccia was just a little different, as if the baker loved to improvise. We were obviously hooked!

One evening I was not very hungry and ordered a small bowl of their stracciatella soup for my dinner. From the first spoonful, I was equally hooked. Their version had spinach and a little pasta added to the basic egg-drop preparation, in a light and delicious broth. I loved it so much that before we left L.A. I wrote an email asking for the recipe, but they never even replied to it… 😦 Undeterred, I went on my own quest to make it at home, and finally found a good version on a Food and Wine magazine.

SPINACH STRACCIATELLA SOUP
(adapted from Food and Wine magazine)

1 cup tubetti, ditalini or other small pasta
1 quart chicken stock, preferably home made (recipe follows)
1 garlic clove, cut in 4 pieces
3- 4 ounces baby spinach
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well.

In a saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a simmer with the garlic; simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the garlic using a slotted spoon, add the pasta and spinach and cook over medium heat until the spinach wilts. Season with salt and pepper. Gently stir in the eggs, breaking them into long strands. Simmer the soup until the eggs are just firm, about 1 minute. Stir in the Parmigiano cheese. Ladle the soup into bowls, and serve with additional cheese grated on top.

to print the recipe, click here

ONE HOUR CHICKEN STOCK
(adapted from Mark Bittman, and other sources)

8 – 10 chicken wings
10 cups water
1 onion, cut in half
4 whole cloves
6 black peppercorns
4 green onions, cut in half
1 piece of ginger (1/2 inch thick)
1 bay leaf

Stuck 2 cloves into each onion half, add all ingredients to a large stock pot, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and cook, uncovered for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the layer of foam that eventually floats to the surface during the initial stage of cooking, using a slotted spoon.

Drain the stock, discard all vegetables and meat. Let it cool slightly, refrigerate, and remove the congealed fat from the surface before using. Freeze 1 or 2 cup aliquots. Season with salt and appropriate spices when using for soups, risottos, or sauces.

to print this recipe, click here

The beginning…..

Almost at the end of cooking….

The reward… Liquid culinary gold!

I am no food snob, in the sense that I use store-bought chicken stock on a regular basis. However, for this soup to be really special, I went the extra mile and made my own. I’ve made many types of chicken stock in the past, using chicken bones, or a whole chicken. But once I found this shortcut version at Bittman’s book “From Simple to Spectacular,” I adapted it to my taste and it’s been my method of choice because it is fast and produces incredibly rich and dense stock. Usually I make my first batch when the weather turns cold, and save a few cups in the freezer.

This simple soup, with very few ingredients, definitely benefits from a home made stock, but in a pinch, I’d still use a good quality store-bought version. Do what suits you best, but make this soup, it’s a winner… 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: Sabu’s Spicy Coconut Chicken

TWO YEARS AGO: Poolish Baguettes