A Good Week for Cooking!

 

Blogging has been way down my list over the last couple of years.  Life has been busy and interesting.  I’ll not go into all the details except to say we’re hoping for a MUCH better 2023! 

Over the last couple of years we’ve had way too much carryout and not enough good old-fashioned home cooking.  Hopefully that will also improve in 2023.  At least over the last week it has.  We’ve made four new recipes, four old favorites and one blast from the past.  How did it go?  Well, one of the misperceptions I find is that folks assume since I’m a good enough cook I don’t have many failures.  And, truly I don’t wind up with many two’s.  But, I do have failures.  Usually they’re ok enough to eat the meal.  But, then the leftovers wind up in the trash.  Last week we had two such failures.  I’d read a recipe for a lemon/orzo/chickpea/spinach soup.  It sounded fresh and wonderful.  It wasn’t.  I listed it as “blah to the max.”  Then, there were the mussels.  Enough for a meal after we used some for cioppino.  Another blah to the max. 

Fortunately the other two new recipes were REALLY good.  One was the aforementioned cioppino from Taste of Home.  Another was a Monte Cristo sandwich – made with a Bisquick mix from Betty Crocker Right Size Recipes.  Then the blast from the past was a tomato basil soup.  I think it was my mom’s recipe.  It’s in a “cookbook” of recipes I put together about 15 years ago and has no provenance listed.  It’ll be a regular in our rotation going forward.  Particularly since I now know it can be served warm equally successfully.  And, last but certainly not least were the old favorites:  cauliflower cheese soup and barley vegetable soup, both from Park Tudor Treasures.  Plus Alex Guarnaschelli’s French Onion Soup with Short Ribs and a Kate’s creation chicken pot pie.

Let’s start with the Tomato Basil Soup since it’s SO very easy!

Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients:

28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

½ c half and half

16 oz chicken stock

½ package basil ( we used about a handful of leaves)

½- 1 t sugar

 

Directions:

Combine everything in a food processor and process until smooth.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the flavors to blend.  You can serve this either cold or hot.

 

Chicken Pot Pie

 

Ingredients:

Shredded rotisserie chicken

Potatoes, diced and parcooked

Carrots, diced and parcooked

Mushrooms, diced and sauteed

Can of cream of chicken soup

Cream

Dry Sherry

Thyme

Gruyere cheese, shredded

Pie crust

 

Directions:

This is  one where you just need to put together whatever veggies you want with the chicken.  We were out of peas or they’d have gone in.  No parsnips either.  It’s pretty much a clean up the kitchen dish.  

You’ll want to dump the soup into a small saucepan.  Pour in about a quarter of a cup of sherry.  Then, enough cream to make a nice sauce.  Or less sherry and more cream.  Toss in about a couple of teaspoons of thyme.  Or whatever herb trips your trigger.  Then, a handful of the shredded gruyere.  Let that melt and toss in the chicken and whatever veggies you’ve cooked.  Pour everything into a pie crust lined casserole dish.  Crimp the edges of the crust and bake at 350 until the crust is nice and brown. 

 

Spicy Fresh Seafood Cioppino 

Ingredients: 

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 T olive oil

1 24 oz can tomato basil pasta sauce

1 8 oz bottle clam juice

1 c dry white wine or chicken broth (I used the wine)

Salt and pepper

1 t sugar

Crushed red pepper flakes to taste

1 t thyme

1 lb fresh littleneck clams (I was stuck with canned)

1 lb fresh mussels, scrubbed and beards removed

1 lb uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 lb uncooked bay scallops (I used a seafood medley from Trader Joes that also include calamari rings)

1 6 oz package baby spinach

 

Directions: 

Saute the garlic in the olive oil.  Do not let in brown.  Add in the pasta sauce, clam juice, wine and seasonings.  Allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.  Add in the seafood and cook until the shrimp is pink and the mussels and clams have opened.  Toss any that do not open!  Add in the spinach and stir to wilt it just a bit. Adapted from Taste of Home.  

We made another of our old favorites recently.  It's Alex Guarnaschelli's French Onion Soup with Short Ribs.  It's a long, complicated recipe and is totally worth the time it takes.  For me it pretty much sets the standard.  But, I'm not going to try and add the recipe to the blog.  Here are our photos:

LOTS of garlic in with the onions

The recipe calls for Korean short ribs but they're hard to find so I instant pot traditional short ribs.

Alex calls for 1/2 cup of shredded gruyere on each crouton.  She's exactly right!

You put the onion short rib mix on top of a handful of shredded gruyere.

Then, you pour in this magnificent broth.  

And, top it with a lovely broiled cheesy crouton of French bread.  Heavenly!

 

 

Dumplings with Spicy Ginger Pork and Bok Choy

 

We joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) this year.  After a less than stellar experience MANY years ago we decided to give it another whirl.  The fact that we pay a delivery fee and the veggies show up on our front porch is a super double bonus.  Market Wagon (the folks doing the delivery) majorly muffed the first week.  I was SO disappointed to miss all the goodies.  Particularly since I had my eye on a bag of pork and leek dumplings and a pound of frozen ground pork to go with the bok choy.  Well, we got lucky.  Week two Michael (the farmer) included TWO bok choys. 

I’d gone on eatyourbooks.com to look at ingredient lists and the closest thing I could find was a recipe on the New York Times recipe site called Spicy Ginger Pork Noodles with Bok Choy.   It’s by Melissa Clark, whose recipes I normally love.  This one wasn’t an exception!  Although I’ll admit that I made some major changes.

Connie declared that the only reason this wasn’t a five for him was that it had some SOUP to it.  Soup, stew, whatever means it’s automatically downgraded.  That’s ok, I still gave it a five!

One funny story…  When I prepped my ingredients I did the normal quick rinse of the bok choy.  I ignored the fact that this was wonderful organic stuff and not from the store.  Then, I found a ton of dirt and a worm.  Ok, time to take it all apart and really turn on the cold water.  How lovely it was to have some fabulous fresh food!!!  I’m looking forward to our weekly baskets so much!

Ingredients:

12 oz baby bok choy

1 pound lean ground pork

3 large cremini mushrooms, cut in half and then very thinly sliced

1 T crushed ginger (I used the jarred)

2 T soy sauce

2 T rice wine vinegar

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Large pinch crushed red pepper

1 bag dumplings (I used pork, shrimp and leek)

2 c chicken stock

1 T olive oil

2 T green onions, chopped

1 T soy sauce

1 T sesame oil

1 medium carrot, shaved

¼ c basil, chiffonade

 

Directions: 

Separate the bok choy greens from the stems.  Chop them both about ½”.  Set aside. 

In a medium saucepan, brown the ground pork.  Just before it’s finished (when it’s no longer pink) add in the mushrooms.  When the pork is browned, remove it from the heat and add the crushed ginger, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, garlic and crushed red pepper.  

Prepare the dumplings according to the package directions. 

Warm the chicken stock. 

Sauté the bok choy in the olive oil.  Start with the stems and once they’re softened a bit, add in the greens.  

Now, it’s time to put everything together. 

In the bottom of each bowl put five dumplings.  In the center of the dumplings put a spoonful of bok choy followed by a spoonful of the pork mixture.  Ladle on ½ c of chicken broth per bowl.  Sprinkle with the carrot, basil and green onion.  Drizzle on the additional soy sauce and the sesame oil. 

 

Adapted from Melissa Clark on the New York Times

Zesty Hummus

I’ve told the story so many times about finding this cookbook.  I owned every other one from the WTHR Sunrise series.  My friend Lisa’s mom died and she came in to town to clean out her condo.  When we went by to say hello I found one of the rules was that everyone had to leave with something.  I chose a beautiful navy with sunflowers pitcher and bowl.  And, that bowl has become my favorite.  Then, on a whim I asked if her mom had had any cookbooks that she might be giving away.  Yes, the missing one was there.  And, as it turns out, I love it as much as the bowl.  Not only have I made this recipe but I’ve made many others too.  It’s one of my favorites!   

Zesty Layered Hummus Dip 

 

 

 

Ingredients: 

 

 

1 10oz container hummus 

½ c drained and coarsely chopped pitted kalamata olives 

2 Roma tomatoes, chopped (about 1 cup)  I used cherry tomatoes in the winter 

½ c diced pepperoncini 

½ small red onion, finely diced 

1/2 c crumbled feta cheese  

2 T coarsely chopped fresh dill or a good sprinkle of dried 

1 ½ T extra virgin olive oil 

Directions: 

Spread the hummus in the bottom of a serving dish.   

 

 

Layer on the olives, tomatoes, pepperoncini and the onion.   

 

 

Sprinkle the feta over.  Then sprinkle on the dill.  Drizzle with the olive oil.  Serve with pita chips or crackers or carrot and celery sticks.   

Adapted from the Sunrise Cookbook