Giada's Asparagus Soup

Our friends, Mary and Fred were here for a visit.  Many years ago they came to a financial planning class that I taught.  Over the years we became fast friends.  Then, I met Connie and he enjoyed their company as much as I did.  They did trial runs of a few locations before deciding on a retirement spot in Bellingham, WA.  Over the years we spent a weekend with them in Grand Rapids, MI and a long weekend with them in Queen Creek, AZ (actually a suburb of Phoenix.)  We've not been to their new home in Washington but did visit when they owned a home up in the mountains.  They were the first to know when we got engaged back in December of 2005.  So, we've shared a lot of history.  Needless to say, we miss seeing them!  When they found out that their daughter was going to be attending a conference in Indy and could bring one of their grandsons, they asked if there was room at the inn. Always!

So, Saturday evening they arrived.  I'd planned a hodgepodge of dishes.  No one theme.  Just things that sounded good.  And, without thinking about it, it was virtually vegetarian.

First we had a fantastic appetizer.  You'll have to check back on Monday, April 23 to see that since it's my Secret Recipe Club dish.

Next, we tried our first new recipe from Giada's new cookbook:  Weeknights with Giada.  If everything in the cookbook is as good as this was, it's a total winner.  This was asparagus soup.  The recipe called for basil.  I had tarragon.  So, I substituted.  Basically you cook the asparagus with leeks in chicken broth.  Then you puree it.  Up to that point it's pretty plain pipe-rack asparagus soup.  Then, the difference maker.  You make balls of herbed goat cheese and drop them on top of the soup.  Wow!  The creaminess of the goat cheese just takes the soup to another level.  It's fantastic!

Our entree was eggplant involtini.  This is a go-to dish for Connie and me.  He's been asking for it for a few weeks now.  We typically have it several times over the summer when our eggplant plants are producing like crazy.  Mary and Fred had never had anything other than eggplant parmesan so this was a new concept for them.  As usual, I used Rao's Roasted Eggplant Sauce beneath the involtinis.  It's expensive but worth the splurge a few times a year.  And, if I can find it on sale, I stockpile it!

Last, but not least, another round of my friend Liz's White Chocolate Creme Brulee.  This is what we had on our birthday dinner weekend.  And, it was the first thing Connie requested when I said Mary loves desserts.  It is so easy to put together and looks and tastes so incredible.  Here's the link so you can hop over to Liz's blog and check it out.  She is an amazing cook so I hope you've got some time to explore her blog. 

Giada's Asparagus Soup with Herbed Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

2 lbs asparagus, woody ends trimmed, cut into 1" pieces
2 T butter
1 leek, white part only, chopped
basil or tarragon
4 c chicken broth (I used homemade stock)
goat cheese
basil or tarragon

Directions:

Saute the leek in the butter.  Add the asparagus and chicken broth along with fresh herbs of your choice.  Cook until the asparagus is VERY soft.  While the soup is cooking, you're going to make goat cheese balls to go on top.  Finely mince the fresh herbs you want to use.  I used tarragon instead of the basil the recipe called for but I'd think pretty much any herbs would be good here.  You could even mix it up a bit and add some pepper or other spicy bit.  You'll want about a tablespoon of goat cheese for each serving.  When the soup is ready, puree it either with an immersion blender or a blender - being very careful to vent the lid just a bit to let the steam escape.  Serve hot topped with the dollop of herbed goat cheese.

adapted from Weeknights with Giada

New Year's Eve Eve

Did you know there used to be a law regulating the maximum number of times a week servants could be served lobster?  It was such a cheap food that many folks overdid it so they regulated it to a maximum of two times a week.  From junk to dear.  When I found out that I was one of the 24 bloggers chosen by Foodbuzz to do a New Year's Eve dinner, I knew lobster was going to be on the menu.  You see, there's a stipend involved.  That'd allow us to order lobster from Salty Lou on Cape Cod.  And, since the lobsters themselves aren't terribly expensive there but shipping them to Indianapolis is, we decided to order enough to have Mom over for dinner on December 30th.  She's not had lobster for many years so this would be a major treat for her.  We also decided to prepare one lobster Connie's mom's favorite way.  Unfortunately, I never got to meet his mom.  She died several years before we met.  My guess is that I'd have really liked her.  She wasn't much of a cook but she did like good food.  And, she loved Lobster Thermidor. 


Before I go any further, let me tell you about Salty Lou.  For those of you unfamiliar with Cape Cod, there are three main roads across the lower part of the Cape.  The southern road is 28.  It's the shopping mall mecca.  You'll find all of the chains and kitschy shops.  Tourist traps.  And, you'll find some great restaurants like Cap'n Parkers (best clam chowder I've ever had) and the Yarmouth House (scallops and about anything else on the menu!)  The middle road is the limited access highway  - 6.  The northern road is the old "highway" 6A.  It meanders along and is one of the prettiest drives you can take.  Lots of Cape Cod style homes.  Stone walls.  Quaint shops.  A few restaurants.  Only a couple of gas stations.  Absolutely beautiful. 


On one of our trips to the Cape, Connie and I drove over to Sandwich.  In my opinion, it's the quintessential New England village.  We took 6A because we weren't in a hurry and wanted to enjoy the scenery.  I saw a sign at the end of a driveway that said, "Fresh Lobsters."  We decided to find it on the way back and buy our lobsters there instead of hiking over to the exit east of my sister-in-law's house and buying lobster from the seafood store in the strip mall there.  It was getting dark and we weren't sure we'd find the place again but we got lucky and did.  Salty Lou had made a Christmas tree from lobster pots in his front yard.  It was gorgeous.  We knocked on the door and there was no answer.  Connie said, "Let's leave, there's nobody here,"  just about the time Salty Lou answered the door.  The lobster had been caught that day.  We've been back practically every trip since.


What better way to get our lobster for New Year's Eve?  Except for the fact that we couldn't get ahold of Salty Lou.  My guess he was so swamped with local orders that he didn't have the time for an order from Indy.  Oh, well.  Plan B.  Goose the Market.  You've heard me chatter on about Chris Eley and his wonderful butcher shop.  It's actually much more than just a butcher shop.  It's been named one of the best sandwich shops in the nation.  And, he's got a wonderful selection of gourmet foods along with in-season fresh veggies and such.  Order by 4:00 on Thursday and pick up after 2:00 on Friday.  The lobsters were going to be a pound and a half or so, so we'd need three. 

Lobster dipped in butter, lobster thermidor, lobster with brie and wild mushrooms anda lobster roll.  Chris also listed manila clams on his email of what was available.  Neither Connie nor I had ever had manila clams. Time to research.

So, there we sat at 11:00 on Thursday night.  We'd gotten home from the theatre and I'd gone online to work for a bit.  Finally off to bed.  And we started talking about Friday and Saturday's dinners.  Downstairs went Connie and back upstairs with a load of cookbooks.  Cape Cod ones, Rays Boathouse, seafood ones...  Cookbooks piled all over our bed.  Hunting for a way to cook manila clams. And, to make sure we had everything we'd need on the grocery list.  I do believe I've turned Connie into a foodie :-)

This is the tale of Friday evening.  New Years Eve Eve.  Dinner with Mom. 

Here's our menu:

Manila Clams
Escargot, Ramp and Morel Broth
Lobster Thermidor
Lobster Dipped in Butter
choc


Rays Boathouse is a fabulous restaurant in Seattle.  We had an incredible meal there several years ago.  So incredible that I bought the cookbook.  That's where I found the recipe for manila clams.  They were perfect.  The broth was wonderful - and in fact has been saved to be the base for some clam chowder.  The clams were tiny and beautiful.

Everything we'd read said they were smaller and sweeter than other clams.  Best of all, they're farmed and are sustainable.  The three of us split a pound of clams.  It was the perfect amount.  And the perfect recipe.

Rays Boathouse Manila Clams

Ingredients:

3 lbs manila clams
1/2 c unsalted butter
1 t dried dill
1 t kosher salt
1 c Chardonnay

Directions:

Pour the wine into a large saucepan.  Add the butter, dill and salt. 

Simmer gently until you're ready to cook the clams and the butter is melted.  Rinse the clams well under cold, running water.  Bring the wine and butter mixture to a boil and add the clams.  Cover the saucepan.  Cook the clams for 5-6 minutes.  Shake the pan occasionally.  Discard any clams that don't open.  Serve immediately.

My eldest stepson, David, is working on what wines go with what.  When I saw a cookbook called Wine Mondays about the wine pairing meals served on Mondays at l'Espalier in Boston, I picked it up thinking he'd enjoy it.  Except for the fact that the recipes are in no way their kind of cooking.  For the most part the ingredient lists are as long as my will and the instructions are not for the faint of heart - or the average home cook.  For the most part it's very special occasion food.  Needless to say, I found a couple of recipes for our New Years Eve Eve.

The first was a soup.  They called it a broth.  Well, it was.  Kind of.  The broth is pureed with onions and garlic then some cream is added.  It's much lighter than your normal cream soup.  But, it's not a broth.  I made a couple of changes.  First, ramps just aren't available in December.  So, I used green onions.  You could also use a leek chopped very finely.  But, my guess is you'd want to sautee it briefly before adding it to the soup.  I also used a couple of dried morels and reconstituted them.  When time came to finish and serve the soup I thought it was a bit thick so I added the mushroom broth.  I cut the recipe in half and we had three lovely servings in my great-grandmother's soup bowls.

What did we think?  Spectacular.  Perfect. 


Broth of Escargots, Ramps and Morels

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 c white wine
1/4 c sweet sherry
1 c vegetable broth
4 oz dried morels, or 2 oz dried and reconstituted
12 ramps, washed and trimmed, or 12 green onions, chopped
24 escargots, washed and drained
1 T fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 T fresh chives, chopped
1 t fresh thyme
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t fresh lemon juice
1/4 c heavy cream

Directions:

Saute the onions in the olive oil.  When they're translucent, add the garlic and saute it for about a minute or two.  Add the wine, sherry and broth.  Simmer that for a few minutes then remove it from the heat and allow it to cool a bit.  Puree it in a blender and pour it back into the pan.  (nb:  the original recipe called for wiping out the pan then sauteeing the green onions, mushrooms and escargot in 2T of butter.  If you want to add those calories, go ahead.  I thought it'd be plenty rich without two more tablespoons of butter.)  Add the mushrooms, escargot and green onions and simmer until the onions are softened.  Add the parsley, chives, thyme, nutmeg and lemon juice.  If you've reconstituted the mushrooms, you can add that broth also.  Allow to barely simmer until you're ready to serve the soup.  Just before you serve it, add the cream and stir to combine.




Next up was lobster thermidor.  We've got a cookbook called Fish & Shellfish that takes you through the various types of fish and shellfish with great descriptions of the basics.  We decided we'd try their lobster thermidor recipe.  It was going to be one lobster tail split between the three of us. 

The whole process is pretty messy.  Cook the lobster.  Chop it in half.  Mix the lobster meat with a sauce.  Put the meat back in the shell and sprinkle it with cheese.  Broil it.  Now, the sad part about all of that work is that just plain old lobster dipped in butter tastes better.  Fortunately, we did that with the rest of the lobster and another tail. 


Lobster Thermidor

Ingredients:

2 live lobsters, cooked and cooled
3/4 c butter, divided
16 green onions, chopped
2 T flour
2 t English mustard (Colman's)
1/4 c white wine
1 c milk
1/4 c heavy cream
2 T fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 oz Gruyere, finely shredded

Directions:

Melt 1/4 c of the butter in a small saucepan.  Add the green onions and cook until they're softened.  Add the flour and mustard and cook for two minutes.  Slowly add the white wine, whisking continuously.  Add the milk and cook until the sauce is thickened. 

Add the cream and parsley.  Remove the pan from the heat and add the lobster meat.

Stuff the lobster shell with the mixture,

sprinkle with the Gruyere and broil for five minutes.  You're actually supposed to serve it in the shell but since I was dividing one among the three of us I opted for spooning a bit onto each plate.

Last but not least, dessert.  Bittersweet chocolate terrine with warm pumpkin sauce and shaved black truffles.  Since this post is already a mile long, I'm going to save the recipe for another day.  Suffice to say the terrine was heavenly. The pumpkin sauce amazing.  And, the truffles.  Blah.  They didn't taste like the truffles we've enjoyed at restaurants.  fortunately, they weren't terribly expensive - which is also why they were probably blah!  Here's a photo of our dessert:

Apple Martini and Chicken Soup

My throat's sore.  I feel miserable.  And, I'm trying my best to keep going.  Not terribly successfully, mind you.  Some of my appointments will have to be rescheduled because it's impossible to prep for them or have them while asleep in the big comfy chairs in front of my desk.  You thought those were for clients???  Think again, my friends.  They're recliners.  For me.  But, they're still big, comfy chairs for my staff when they come in to chat. At any rate, you're going to get two recipes today.  Because dinner was chicken soup.  And, I didn't take any photos.  I have lots of homemade stock at home.  Connie offered to go get a pizza.  But, all I really wanted was the warmth and comfort of chicken soup.  Here's how I made it:


Chicken Soup


Ingredients:


2  c chicken stock
small knob of ginger, finely minced
1 rib celery
1/4 c chopped, cooked chicken
1/4 c brown rice
1/4 t sesame oil
2 t soy sauce

Directions:

Heat the chicken stock to simmering.  Add the rice, celery and ginger.  Cook until the rice is almost done.  Add the cooked, chopped chicken along with the sesame oil and soy sauce.  Heat through and serve. 

Now, on to a drink.  I've been thoroughly enjoying the Entertain with Booze Cookbook.  There's a blog partially written with a couple of other recipes from the cookbook.  But, it needs directions and photos.  A drink.  Well, that's pretty easy.  Mix and serve.  Love it.

Apple Martini

Ingredients:

1 oz apple schnapps or apple pucker
1 oz vodka
1 oz apple juice

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.  Shake, shake, shake until it's too cold to hold. 

Strain into chilled martini glasses garnished with a slice of apple.  Now, we love our friend Joyce's Washington Apple Martini.  But it's now met its match.  Major YUM!

See that purple Connie's sporting in his hair?  We have a delightful friend by the name of Kelsey Van Wyk who had her first treatment for lymphoma the day after her 21st birthday.  Kelsey's died her hair purple on the assumption that it'll all fall out.  A bunch of us got purple stripes so she'd know we're all there for her.  If you'd like to read about her, she's written a blog called Dealt a New Hand.  Kelsey and her mom and dad and sisters are incredible folks.  And we know she's going to win this battle!


adapted from Entertaining with Booze

Autumn Vegetable Soup

I get a recipe emailed to me every day from Fine Cooking.  Let's see, I also get The Dish from Food and Wine and a newsletter from my favorite wine guy - aka the Wine Guy at Grapevine Cottage.  Plus, about five other email newsletters, 10 cooking magazines and a couple hundred ideas on Foodbuzz.  I own over 1000 cookbooks.  Plus, I regularly come up with ideas for new dishes. And, we can't forget our old favorites.  All in all not a dearth of recipe ideas!  More like a tsunami!  When I clip recipes I sort them into immediate, soon and later, knowing that I might as well toss the laters :-)  Consequently, a recipe has to look pretty darned good to me to make it to the menu list.  Even then, there's no guarantee it'll get made.  This autumn vegetable soup sounded so good that it immediately made it to the top of the list. 


A couple of weekends ago, I made one old favorite - Eggplant Involtini, a standard (thank you, Molly, it's all your fault) - chili and this newbie - Autumn Vegetable Soup.  The eggplant was for dinner, with leftovers for Connie a couple of evenings this week while I'm at grip and grins.  (Smile broadly, hold your hand out to shake and say, "Hi, I'm ______"  That's what you do at a grip and grin.)  The chili and soup were for lunches during the week.  I got the Autumn Vegetable soup recipe a couple of weeks ago in the Fine Cooking email.  It stayed on my desktop until I was ready to make it last weekend.  I'd decided to make it since we have a lovely kale plant out front and had a great volunteer butternut squash vine.  Then, we got a huge bag of kale in the CSA box Saturday.  Ok, time to get it made. 


What did we think?  This is great and will be even better after sitting in the fridge for 24 hours.  I added a can of pumpkin puree to the soup.  It kicks up the flavor without making the soup cloying.  I'm tempted to try adding a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg to the leftovers - or I may just increase the amount of allspice.

One funny note - it's tough to see her, but Annie is sitting on the rug back by the bar.  She knows no dogs are allowed in the kitchen and that it's wise to stay out of my path to the pantry when I'm cooking.  So, she sits back on that rug just hoping there's a dog treat somewhere...


Autumn Vegetable Soup


Ingredients:

2T olive oil
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and diced (2 1/2 cups)
1/4 t ground allspice
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 t thyme
14 oz can pumpkin puree
4 c chicken stock (or chicken broth)
2 c coarsely chopped kale
14 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed


Directions:
Saute the carrots and onions in the olive oil in a stock pot.  After about 10 min when they have softened, add the butternut squash, seasonings, pumpkin and stock.   Simmer for about 15 minutes until squash is cooked.  Add the kale and chickpeas and simmer until the kale is softened.   Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

adapted from Elie Krieger on Fine Cooking

Jan's Pumpkin and Tomato Soup

Fall in a bowl.  It's suddenly gone from August to November then back to October.  The leaves on the trees across the street from my office have give us their glorious color show and are starting to fall to the ground.  We wore jackets to the office this morning.  It's time for fall in a bowl. 

Now if you could just help me convince Mr. I'll Wear Shorts in a Blizzard that we need to turn the heat on at the house...  But, maybe if I crawl into bed wearing a hoodie sweatshirt, sweats and socks then cover up with a blanket, bedspread and quilt, he'll get the message that frost on MY nose is NOT a good thing - lol.  Yes, dear, I know you read this and I know we've saved oodles on the electric bill.  But, relying on Gracie the cat to keep me warm at night isn't a good idea.  Ok, so that being said, this soup is wonderfully warming.


The combination may sound really strange to you.  It did to me when I first read the recipe.  It's from a dear friend by the name of Jan.  She's one of the buddies my mom hangs around with.  Is hangs around with good terminology for a group of eighty-something year old ladies?  Well, at any rate, they're a hoot to be around.  Jan's got this great outlook on life that's just amazing.  Don't you love knowing folks like that!  I'm very lucky to have her as a friend also!!

Jan's Pumpkin Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

1T butter or olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1-2t curry powder (to taste)
1/4 - 1/2 t freshly grated nutmeg (to taste)
14.5 oz can pumpkin puree
14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
14.5 chicken broth
1/2 c cream - if desired


Directions:
Saute onion in olive oil until it's softened.  Sitr in the curry powder and nutmeg. 

Stir in the pumpkin.  Drain the stewed tomato liquid into the pot then chop the tomatoes pretty well.  I've made the mistake of just dumping the tomatoes in and have wound up with these big honking pieces of tomato... not a pleasant deal. 

Add the chicken broth and  cook for at least 20 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. You can either add the cream or not and puree the soup or not. 

What to do with Kale?

Thursday was a REALLY late night at the office.  It was dark when I left.  I felt like being a wimp and stopping at Some Guys on the way home a picking up a huge bbq chicken salad or linguine with clam sauce.  Something comforting.  Something that meant I didn't have to cook.  My brain was full of financial plans and asset allocations and all that good stuff.  It didn't have room for recipes.  But, my budget won out.  Darn it.  Ok, so I need to set a good example for my clients.  Don't give in to whims.  It's not always fun.  What was in the fridge?  Lots of stuff that required lots of work.  And, one lonely sweet Italian sausage.  Hmmm, there's a huge stand of kale in the front garden that's just been crying out to be used.  What about a sausage and kale soup?  Ok, that'll work.  It's easy and filling and good for us.


What did we think?  Well, Connie thought it was soup.  It was.  But, he always gripes about soup.  I ignore him.  Soup is good for you and I love it and I'm the cook.  Therefore, he eats soup.  He also whines about fruit.  He eats it.  Really, he's a good sport and he's just kind of whining in jest.  At least I take it that way because he usually cleans his plate or his bowl, very frequently says it was good and doesn't go fix himself a pb and j.  He says he eats anything but corn chowder.  He does but he whines.  That's ok.  Me, I loved it.  The flavors played really well together.  It was super easy to make.  The leftovers were killer.  I'll make this as long as the kale lasts out front - which ought to be well into November.

 Kale and Sausage Soup


 4 oz crumbled sweet Italian sausage
1 medium potato, finely diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2-3 c homemade chicken broth (canned if necessary)
chili powder to taste
cumin to taste
1 large garlic clove, finely minced
1 1/2 c chopped fresh kale
1/4 c finely shredded Romano


Brown and drain the sausage. 

Add the potato,

tomatoes,

beans, chicken stock and seasonings. 

Cook for aobut 15-20 min until the potatoes are tender. 

Add the kale and cook just until it's tender. 

Serve with the grated Romano on the side.