We planted a fair number of quick-growing greens when we got back from New Zealand in April. We were eager to get something out of the garden, and some greens take only 30 or so days.
And then the 30 days went by (rather quickly) and now we have lots of greens, some of them bolting already despite our very cool June. They include several kinds of mustard, turnip greens, radish greens, kale (old and new), chard (old, just starting to go into its second-year biennial seed-producing phase) - a total of 8 kinds.
If I'd left them in the garden, they would have become tough and bitter. I have other options: leave them in the fridge till I need them (but there are more every day); sauté them and pack for the freezer against a day next winter when they'll be great in a soup; or….
Frizzle them!
I have done this before with kale but not as a regular habit and not with other varieties of greens. Here's what I'm doing now:
I'm looking over the greens when I first gather them from the garden. I don't want to wash them if I don't have to. Mostly they are fine, since I have harvested them by cutting them off several inches above ground level with scissors.
Then I'm laying them out on foil on a cookie sheet. The foil has been used several times, and already has a thin coating of olive oil, which adds a perfect flavor for greens. Once there, I wipe them around a pit in the oil, and if they seem dry, I'm adding a few more sprinkles of olive oil.
Then into the oven they go. The oven has been preheated to 400 degrees. Or else it is hot from baking something else, and that's the temperature I use. They go on the bottom rack.
Then I do my best to keep an eye on them. I don't want them getting black. They could use moving around at about the 3 minute mark. In 5 minutes, they are ready to take out, usually.
Once they're out, I let them cool off. Or I sprinkle them with parmesan. Or I sprinkle them with salt.
I serve them with supper. They're great on soup, or just to eat by hand with almost anything. (So far, with everything.) They're reminiscent of nori.
I'm thinking of crumbling them into leftover rice tonight, after it's reheated. Though they really are best when they are crisp, and it takes almost no moisture to soften them up and the rice may wreck them.
Last night supper got delayed by Father's Day calls from the kids, so I didn't go out harvesting. Instead I just grabbed a handful of mixed greens from the produce-keeper bag in the fridge to frizzle. So if you don't have a garden but want to have these very tasty (irresistible) healthy crisps around, you can certainly use greens from the farmers' market or store.
Let me know how you're using them.
Showing posts with label Soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soup. Show all posts
Monday, June 16, 2014
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Whole-chicken and garden soup
We've eaten this soup all winter. This is a small variation on Creamy Chicken Soup because when I got home with the cream I found it spoiled. Improvise! (I am not going to make an 8-mile 40-minute round trip for cream.) This soup takes days but very little labor.
Put the whole chicken into the crockpot, cover (or almost cover) with water, set the pot on low, cover with the lid, and plan something else for dinner for the next few days.
When the chicken is thoroughly cooked, after 24-30 hours more or less, lift out pieces of meat for immediate use or freeze them. Discard the skin. Leave the bones and more of the meat in the pot for this recipe. Cook them for one more day.
On the third day, discard the bones and skin. Return any meat to the pot. Add veggies, such as:
Put the whole chicken into the crockpot, cover (or almost cover) with water, set the pot on low, cover with the lid, and plan something else for dinner for the next few days.
When the chicken is thoroughly cooked, after 24-30 hours more or less, lift out pieces of meat for immediate use or freeze them. Discard the skin. Leave the bones and more of the meat in the pot for this recipe. Cook them for one more day.
On the third day, discard the bones and skin. Return any meat to the pot. Add veggies, such as:
- leftover baked squash
- dried summer squash pieces
- dried mushrooms, or fresh
- leftover mashed potatoes
- roasted veggies (potatoes, onions, peppers, carrots, etc) - or they can be raw
- chopped celery, or freeze-dried celery
- fresh chopped onion
- good salt to taste
Add water to the rim and return the lid to the crockpot. Let everything cook on high until heated, or on low overnight if the veggies are fresh and need more cooking.
Using a Vita-Mix, food processor, or wand, homogenize everything that's in the pot.
Serve steaming hot. Add cream (half cup?) just before serving, or at the table.
Serving idea: Heat up some red pepper flakes in a little dish of olive oil in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Using a teaspoon, drizzle this mixture over the soup in pleasing patterns. Don't mix it in - the variations in taste of hot soup, cold cream, and spicy oil make a nice little culinary adventure. Serves about 8.
This soup can be the basis of many meals in the days to come, or can be frozen for eating at home or on the road.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Super soup, real creamy cream of chicken
This recipe is from +Jenny McGruther, modified a bit. Here's my version (but check hers out).
1. Buy a plump chicken, the best quality you can afford.
2. Place the chicken in a large crockpot, cover it completely with cold water, and turn the pot on low.
3. Lay various veggies on top: carrots including tops, whole stalks of celery including leaves (but cut in half if they won't fit), onions, leeks, kale or chard stems, or whatever is available. Don't chop them or mix them in.
4. Cover the pot and ignore it for 24 or more hours.
5. Remove the veggies and discard the inedible parts.
6. Remove the chicken and debone, carefully retaining as much of the broth as possible.
7. Turn the broth, still in the crockpot, on high.
8. Saving half the chicken for another recipe, place the boned chicken and salvaged cooked veggies into a food processor and whirr till it is almost smooth. (I had to do this in batches).
9. Add the resulting paste to the broth and stir it in thoroughly.
10. Heat till steamy.
11. Stir in a cup of heavy cream. I preheated the cream in the microwave because my crockpot is slow to heat up.
12. Mix 3-4 egg yolks (depending on size - I used duck eggs, and with their large yolks I found I needed only 2 yolks). Use a wire whisk. Add some of the hot stock mixture to temper the yolks, then stir them into the soup.
13. Heat the soup to close to a full boil.
14. Serve. I added an extra tablespoon of cream in a swirl. We ate the soup with roasted veggies (potatoes, rutabagas, and parsnips sprinkled with olive oil and good salt and cooked and browned in a 400 degree oven).
This is a smooth, rich, satisfying soup full of flavor and real food. The two of us will get two meals each out of it. The flavor is so full that more cream or even water could be added to stretch it. Thanks, Jenny!
1. Buy a plump chicken, the best quality you can afford.
2. Place the chicken in a large crockpot, cover it completely with cold water, and turn the pot on low.
3. Lay various veggies on top: carrots including tops, whole stalks of celery including leaves (but cut in half if they won't fit), onions, leeks, kale or chard stems, or whatever is available. Don't chop them or mix them in.
4. Cover the pot and ignore it for 24 or more hours.
5. Remove the veggies and discard the inedible parts.
6. Remove the chicken and debone, carefully retaining as much of the broth as possible.
7. Turn the broth, still in the crockpot, on high.
8. Saving half the chicken for another recipe, place the boned chicken and salvaged cooked veggies into a food processor and whirr till it is almost smooth. (I had to do this in batches).
9. Add the resulting paste to the broth and stir it in thoroughly.
10. Heat till steamy.
11. Stir in a cup of heavy cream. I preheated the cream in the microwave because my crockpot is slow to heat up.
12. Mix 3-4 egg yolks (depending on size - I used duck eggs, and with their large yolks I found I needed only 2 yolks). Use a wire whisk. Add some of the hot stock mixture to temper the yolks, then stir them into the soup.
13. Heat the soup to close to a full boil.
14. Serve. I added an extra tablespoon of cream in a swirl. We ate the soup with roasted veggies (potatoes, rutabagas, and parsnips sprinkled with olive oil and good salt and cooked and browned in a 400 degree oven).
This is a smooth, rich, satisfying soup full of flavor and real food. The two of us will get two meals each out of it. The flavor is so full that more cream or even water could be added to stretch it. Thanks, Jenny!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Recipe: Miso Soup with Sizzling Rice
Last night I needed something quick and tasty and if possible, never-seen-before on my table (just for fun). I had tofu so miso soup was a natural choice: I always have the basic ingredients in various cupboards, and I try to keep the miso itself in the fridge.
What I didn't have was something new or extra in mind to add to it or go with it. I don't usually put rice in miso soup. It did sound easy, but also a little boring. That's when sizzling rice came to mind.
I've never made sizzling rice but I've enjoyed it in Chinese restaurants. So I looked up a recipe online. And so this meal was born. (I didn't know it yet, but that recipe wasn't a good one - more on that later.)
Here's the recipe. At the end I'll tell you what didn't work, and then what happened and then how to fix it:
1 strip of kombu, rinsed quickly
1/2 cup or so dried shiitake mushrooms. I bought sliced ones, but whole ones will work.
1 quart cold water
3-4 T miso, whichever flavor you favor - for a gluten-free recipe avoid miso with barley
1 pkg soft tofu, rinsed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (more or less)
2T mirin (or to taste)
2T tamari soy sauce - for a gluten-free recipe use wheat-free tamari
3-4 choy sum (small bok choy type plants) or 2 baby bok choy or other green. Spinach would do.
1/2 cup medium grain white rice - I use a brand of CalRose rice, used in sushi. Other kinds might work.
Put the water in a 2-qt pot and add the kombu and mushrooms. Bring it up to a simmer (little bubbles at the edges) but don't let it boil. Take it off the heat and let it sit while you do something else. It can sit till nearly cool, or for hours.
Remove the kombu and put it in the compost bucket
Slice the mushrooms if they aren't already sliced, and put the tough stalks in the compost bucket. Return the sliced mushrooms to the pot.
Turn on the heat. As it starts to get hot, stir in the miso by placing it in a strainer, lowering the strainer into the kombu broth, and stirring the miso around in the strainer. The idea is to get rid of lumps and anything else that stays in the strainer.
Don't let the broth boil.
Add the greens. I prepare the choy sum by cutting off the stems at the base of the leaves (one cut). Then I separate the leaves from each other and rinse them off, then add them to the broth.
Put the tofu in a flat dish and heat in the microwave for about 2 minutes. You don't want it to chill the broth.
Add the hot tofu to the pot, add the mirin and tamari, stir gently, and taste. Adjust the seasoning. Keep the broth hot just below the boiling point.
So far so good. Now to the sizzling rice.
Heat 3/4 cup oil in a wok or frying pan. Toss in a piece of rice and if it sizzles, add all the rest. Stir it around till the rice begins to brown. This takes a good 5 minutes, but watch it closely - burning does not improve it.
Ladle the soup into wide bowls, then add a portion of rice. This recipe will make 2-4 servings.
Now to the difficulty and the solution:
When I did this last night, the rice never did cook enough. And it didn't stick together at all, as it does in restaurants. So after the first serving I took all the rice we had been avoiding in our bowls, heated up the oil again, and added them. While they browned (better than before) they began to stick together. They looked and smelled like sizzling rice! I served them on our second bowls of soup and they were a welcome addition, crispy, tasty, complementary.
So from now on I'm doing it this way:
Before adding the tofu to the broth, measure out the rice and add enough broth to cover. Once the soup is heated, heat up the oil, strain the rice mixture back into the pot, and add the rice to the hot oil. It will splatter a bit. Cook until the rice turns opaque, then brown. Finish the soup as before. Serve a portion with each bowl of soup.
This was absolutely delicious, and surprisingly filling. The choy sum was lovely. The rice floated in crunchy little islands and was a great touch!
What I didn't have was something new or extra in mind to add to it or go with it. I don't usually put rice in miso soup. It did sound easy, but also a little boring. That's when sizzling rice came to mind.
I've never made sizzling rice but I've enjoyed it in Chinese restaurants. So I looked up a recipe online. And so this meal was born. (I didn't know it yet, but that recipe wasn't a good one - more on that later.)
Here's the recipe. At the end I'll tell you what didn't work, and then what happened and then how to fix it:
1 strip of kombu, rinsed quickly
1/2 cup or so dried shiitake mushrooms. I bought sliced ones, but whole ones will work.
1 quart cold water
3-4 T miso, whichever flavor you favor - for a gluten-free recipe avoid miso with barley
1 pkg soft tofu, rinsed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (more or less)
2T mirin (or to taste)
2T tamari soy sauce - for a gluten-free recipe use wheat-free tamari
3-4 choy sum (small bok choy type plants) or 2 baby bok choy or other green. Spinach would do.
1/2 cup medium grain white rice - I use a brand of CalRose rice, used in sushi. Other kinds might work.
Put the water in a 2-qt pot and add the kombu and mushrooms. Bring it up to a simmer (little bubbles at the edges) but don't let it boil. Take it off the heat and let it sit while you do something else. It can sit till nearly cool, or for hours.
Remove the kombu and put it in the compost bucket
Slice the mushrooms if they aren't already sliced, and put the tough stalks in the compost bucket. Return the sliced mushrooms to the pot.
Turn on the heat. As it starts to get hot, stir in the miso by placing it in a strainer, lowering the strainer into the kombu broth, and stirring the miso around in the strainer. The idea is to get rid of lumps and anything else that stays in the strainer.
Don't let the broth boil.
Add the greens. I prepare the choy sum by cutting off the stems at the base of the leaves (one cut). Then I separate the leaves from each other and rinse them off, then add them to the broth.
Put the tofu in a flat dish and heat in the microwave for about 2 minutes. You don't want it to chill the broth.
Add the hot tofu to the pot, add the mirin and tamari, stir gently, and taste. Adjust the seasoning. Keep the broth hot just below the boiling point.
So far so good. Now to the sizzling rice.
Heat 3/4 cup oil in a wok or frying pan. Toss in a piece of rice and if it sizzles, add all the rest. Stir it around till the rice begins to brown. This takes a good 5 minutes, but watch it closely - burning does not improve it.
Ladle the soup into wide bowls, then add a portion of rice. This recipe will make 2-4 servings.
Now to the difficulty and the solution:
When I did this last night, the rice never did cook enough. And it didn't stick together at all, as it does in restaurants. So after the first serving I took all the rice we had been avoiding in our bowls, heated up the oil again, and added them. While they browned (better than before) they began to stick together. They looked and smelled like sizzling rice! I served them on our second bowls of soup and they were a welcome addition, crispy, tasty, complementary.
So from now on I'm doing it this way:
Before adding the tofu to the broth, measure out the rice and add enough broth to cover. Once the soup is heated, heat up the oil, strain the rice mixture back into the pot, and add the rice to the hot oil. It will splatter a bit. Cook until the rice turns opaque, then brown. Finish the soup as before. Serve a portion with each bowl of soup.
This was absolutely delicious, and surprisingly filling. The choy sum was lovely. The rice floated in crunchy little islands and was a great touch!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Grammy Peg's Tablespoon Soup
In a soup pot or crockpot, place the following ingredients from your bulk storage:
1 T wheat
1 T rye (rinsed before adding)
1 T barley
1 T grinding corn
1 T brown rice
1 T lentils
1 T kidney beans
1 T black beans
You can use whatever you have, as long as there are 8 tablespoons. This is enough for 1 person, so multiply it by the number of servings you want to make. Tip: it gets better and better as it sits, so make some planned-overs.
Instead of measuring each tablespoon separately, you can add a little of each to a 1/2 cup measure. Once it is full, you will have enough for one serving.
Add 1/4 water or broth for each tablespoon used: for the 8 tablespoons shown, you would add 2 cups of water or broth.
If you want to add tomatoes, do it at the last minute, after the grains and beans are tender. See below for other options.
This soup will tolerate a quarter pound of meat for each 8 tablespoons. Add it when you start the cooking.
Instructions: Add all the ingredients except the tomatoes to the pot, cover, and cook over low until all the beans are tender. The time will vary depending on how fresh the beans are. In a slow cooker it may take 12 hours, on the stove more like 4-6. Keep an eye on them so they don't scorch and adjust the water accordingly. Salt to taste when the cooking is finished. Soy sauce makes a nice salty addition, either to the pot or on the table.
Optionally, add these or other vegetables in season with the grains and beans:
Potatoes cut in large chunks
Onions cut in large chunks
Green pepper cut in large chunks
Another tasty and nutritious option is to stir in fresh greens and chunks of cheese as you serve it. Spinach works well. Kale would need to be frizzled by stirring on high heat for a few minutes with some olive oil.
Serve the soup with a salad.
1 T wheat
1 T rye (rinsed before adding)
1 T barley
1 T grinding corn
1 T brown rice
1 T lentils
1 T kidney beans
1 T black beans
You can use whatever you have, as long as there are 8 tablespoons. This is enough for 1 person, so multiply it by the number of servings you want to make. Tip: it gets better and better as it sits, so make some planned-overs.
Instead of measuring each tablespoon separately, you can add a little of each to a 1/2 cup measure. Once it is full, you will have enough for one serving.
Add 1/4 water or broth for each tablespoon used: for the 8 tablespoons shown, you would add 2 cups of water or broth.
If you want to add tomatoes, do it at the last minute, after the grains and beans are tender. See below for other options.
This soup will tolerate a quarter pound of meat for each 8 tablespoons. Add it when you start the cooking.
Instructions: Add all the ingredients except the tomatoes to the pot, cover, and cook over low until all the beans are tender. The time will vary depending on how fresh the beans are. In a slow cooker it may take 12 hours, on the stove more like 4-6. Keep an eye on them so they don't scorch and adjust the water accordingly. Salt to taste when the cooking is finished. Soy sauce makes a nice salty addition, either to the pot or on the table.
Optionally, add these or other vegetables in season with the grains and beans:
Potatoes cut in large chunks
Onions cut in large chunks
Green pepper cut in large chunks
Another tasty and nutritious option is to stir in fresh greens and chunks of cheese as you serve it. Spinach works well. Kale would need to be frizzled by stirring on high heat for a few minutes with some olive oil.
Serve the soup with a salad.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Glorious Italian Harvest Soup
I found this soup online at one of my favorite sites. If you like food, you will want to subscribe to this wonderful 'kitchen', full of aromatic surprises. You can even leave your feedback - which in this setting means comments you make after you feed yourself with these delightful concoctions! To subscribe, go to http://101cookbooks.com.
This soup is from southern Italy, not a well-traveled place. It is full of harvest veggies, and flexible enough to make use of whatever you have in your local area. It is also a SHOCKING soup: it uses 2 cups of olive oil. But don't worry: first, olive oil is healthy, and second, you don't consume it all. After you're done cooking this soup, you will have plenty of flavored olive oil to use in other dishes.
Here's the link: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/summer-vegetable-cianfotta-recipe.html. Or you can get to it from the 101cookbooks.com site.
I'm trying this tonight. I even have squash buds still in my garden. I will have to go to the store for a nice fennel root - too bad because I passed one up at the Anacortes Farmer's Market last Saturday. Oh yeah - I'll have to buy tomatoes too because all the ones in our garden are still green: tomatoes aren't designed for a maritime climate with daytime highs in the 60s!
Leave a comment here if you try it!
This soup is from southern Italy, not a well-traveled place. It is full of harvest veggies, and flexible enough to make use of whatever you have in your local area. It is also a SHOCKING soup: it uses 2 cups of olive oil. But don't worry: first, olive oil is healthy, and second, you don't consume it all. After you're done cooking this soup, you will have plenty of flavored olive oil to use in other dishes.
Here's the link: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/summer-vegetable-cianfotta-recipe.html. Or you can get to it from the 101cookbooks.com site.
I'm trying this tonight. I even have squash buds still in my garden. I will have to go to the store for a nice fennel root - too bad because I passed one up at the Anacortes Farmer's Market last Saturday. Oh yeah - I'll have to buy tomatoes too because all the ones in our garden are still green: tomatoes aren't designed for a maritime climate with daytime highs in the 60s!
Leave a comment here if you try it!
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