Recipes: Split Pea Soup with Ham Hocks & Garlic Yogurt

As many of you know, my 88-year-old father is nearing the end of his happy and fortunate life. For the past couple months, as his health has gone downhill, I’ve been spending lots of time with my parents in the Pacific Northwest, hence my lack of blog posting.

I’m heading back down to Washington again on Wednesday. At home in Alaska, I’ve been making lots of freezer food so my husband can have quick and easy meals while I’m gone. This weekend, I spent a lazy Saturday afternoon making a giant pot of Split Pea Soup, comfort food at its most basic.

I started making Split Pea Soup 35 years ago as a college student living on work study wages. In those days, I ate it because it was cheap, filling, and very tasty. Now, I eat Split Pea Soup just because it tastes good. As it has evolved over the years, my Split Pea Soup recipe is one of my favorites.

There are two keys to making wonderful split pea soup: the soup must cook at low temperature for a long time and the ham hock (or leftover ham-bone) must be meaty and of best quality. Low and slow cooking allows the flavors to meld seamlessly into one another, and the cartilage in the hock to dissolve and give the soup a silky mouth feel.

In Anchorage, Mr. Prime Beef on the Old Seward Highway sells beautifully meaty smoked ham hocks; make sure to have the butcher cut them into thirds for ease of cooking and better tasting soup. The other day, I also say nice-looking whole ham hocks at Natural Pantry; sadly, this store doesn't have an in-store butcher to cut them up.

Split Pea Soup with Ham Hocks
Serves 12
Finish Split Pea Soup with a dollop of Garlic Yogurt (see recipe below) or a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Whether to purée split pea soup is a personal decision, and isn’t necessary. I’ve served and enjoyed the soup both ways. Lately, I’m liking the more refined puréed version; its flavors seem to be better balanced. Split Pea Soup freezes really well and a quart freezer bag easily holds enough Split Pea Soup for two. Of course, you can always cut the recipe in half if you aren’t serving a crowd or stocking your freezer or don’t have a large enough pot (a Dutch oven is only big enough to make half a recipe). I use a mortar and pestle for crushing the peppercorns, but you can also crush them with the bottom of a saucepan.

2 pounds dried green split peas
4 cups diced onion, 1/4” dice (about 2 large)
2 cups diced garnet yams (sweet potatoes), 1/4” dice (about 3 medium)
1 1/2 cups diced celery, 1/4” dice (about 3 stalks)
1 cup diced carrots, 1/4” dice (about 3 medium)
1 Tbsp. freshly crushed black peppercorns
1 Tbsp. freshly crushed dried thyme
2 cups white wine
5 bay leaves
2 - 2 1/2 pounds smoked ham hock, cut in thirds
Water
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Spread out the split peas on a tray or flat pan and inspect carefully, removing any pebbles or debris. Rinse and drain the split peas.

Put the split peas, onions, garnet yams, celery, carrots, crushed peppercorns, crushed thyme, white wine, bay leaves, and ham hocks in a very large stock pot. Add water to cover the ingredients by 6 inches (3 inches if you cut the recipe in half). Bring the mixture to a boil, cover, turn the heat down to low, and simmer for 2 hours. Remove the cover and simmer for 1-3 more hours until the split peas are very soft, the meat is falling off the bone, and the liquid is reduced to your liking.

Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the bay leaves and the ham hocks, including all the bones and chunks of fat. If you are puréeing the soup, process it with a stick blender (or in a blender or food processor) until it is very smooth.

Remove and discard all the fat and bones from the ham hocks. Dice the meat into bite sized pieces and add it back to the soup. If the soup is too thin, simmer it longer. If it is too thick, thin it with water and simmer for 15 minutes before serving.

Garlic Yogurt
When I’m in a hurry, or have strained Greek yogurt on hand, I don’t bother with straining the yogurt. It tastes fine if you just mix all the ingredients and serve immediately, though the texture is better if you strain the yogurt. This recipe makes enough for about 6 servings of soup, so double the recipe if you’re serving Split Pea Soup to a crowd.

1 cup whole-milk yogurt
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. Kosher or coarse-grained salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Line a colander with paper towels. Dump the yogurt into the lined colander and let the liquid drain out of the yogurt for 30 – 60 minutes. Puree the garlic by mashing it into the salt. Mix together the drained yogurt, mashed salted garlic, and freshly ground black pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning by adding garlic, salt, or pepper, as needed.

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This is my entry for My Legume Love Affair – 9th Edition (MLLA9) which I am hosting this month and which was created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Recipe for Lemony Carrot Ginger Soup (Σούπα με Καρότα, Λεμόνι και Τζίντζερ)

I’m sick and tired of my refrigerator being filled to the gunnels. Something must be done; the situation is dire.

Condiments and ingredients with a permanent spot in the refrigerator are a big cause of the problem. Preserved lemons, sourdough starter, 3 kinds of olives, 10 kinds of hot sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, pickles, Asian sauces, capers, anchovies, jam, milk, cream, orange juice, eggs, and who knows what else; it all adds up.

Cheese and salumi are always available at our house. And since I buy them at Costco, the single best source of cheese in Anchorage, they come in big packages and take up too much space. There are also the cheeses we bring back from Greece; we freeze what we can, but some can’t be frozen. They’re squatting on valuable real estate in the back of the refrigerator.

Produce completes the trifecta of refrigerator hogs. We eat a lot of vegetables and they take up space. Make that lots of space. When our Full Circle Farm CSA box arrives every other week, I struggle to cram in everything that needs to be refrigerated. I don’t always succeed.

Don’t get me started on the leftovers. They live perpetually on the verge of hurling themselves on anyone who is so bold as to open the refrigerator door. It’s quite a thrill when a yogurt container full of soup jumps out, drenching you and spreading its liquid goodness far and wide on the kitchen floor.

I can’t take it anymore. I’m done. I’ve reached my limit. I need a second refrigerator and I need it soon. I’m officially in the market for a used refrigerator. If you know of anyone in Anchorage who wants to get rid of one, or anyone who knows of anyone who knows of anyone, please let me know. In the meantime, I’m working my way through the produce.

Next up, three bunches of carrots; it’s soup time. Although I make a great Moroccan Carrot and Chermoula Soup, I decided on Carrot Ginger Soup, a recipe from the website of Beth, my partner this month in Taste and Create. Taste and Create is an event created by Nicole from For the Love of Food in which food writers are paired with a randomly assigned partner, and asked to cook and review one recipe from their partner’s blog.

Although I loved the concept of Beth’s recipe, it included orange juice, a flavor I don’t care for in savory dishes. Instead, I used lemon peel and juice. It was a fortuitous substitution; lemon’s tartness pleasingly balanced the sweet carrots and cinnamon. I added sautéed onions to bring out the soup’s savory notes, and crystallized ginger for its multi-dimensional sweet heat.

Sweet-yet-tangy Carrot Ginger Soup was a delicious treat on a snowy winter evening, even though it made only the tiniest dent in my refrigerator problem. We enjoyed the soup with Celery and Olive Salad, and were impressed by how much flavor we found in a simple dinner of carrots and celery.

Lemony Carrot Ginger Soup (Σούπα με Καρότα, Λεμόνι και Τζίντζερ)
Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a starter
The yogurt or cream stirred in at the end helps smooth out lemon’s sharp edges, but isn’t at all necessary. The soup tastes great without the dairy.

2 cups diced onions, 1/2” dice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon peel
2 Tbsp. minced crystallized ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup plain yogurt or cream (optional)

In a Dutch oven, sauté the onions, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until they soften and begin to turn golden. Stir in the carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, lemon peel, ginger, and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until the carrots are soft.

Purée the soup with a stick blender (or in a blender or food processor) until it is very smooth. Return the soup to the pot, stir in the lemon juice, and cook for five minutes. Taste and add salt, freshly ground black pepper, or lemon juice, as needed. If using yogurt or cream, stir it into the soup. Serve immediately.

Recipe for Seafood and Vegetable Stew with Rouille (Red Pepper Sauce)

Fish and Vegetable Stew with Rouille

The discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star. John Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Physiologie du Gout (Physiology of Taste) (1825)

Where do recipes come from? Family, community, tradition, and serendipitous accident are easy but incomplete answers.

The primary source of recipes has always been an individual cook’s imagination and palate. Over time, original recipes are modified by other cooks’ imaginations and adjusted by yet more cooks’ palates, to infinity and without limitation.

The food articles I enjoy most are ones that explain how a dish was developed or why a cook chose to combine certain flavors. Although its authors’ cooking styles and skills are quite different from my own, Ideas in Food is one of my favorite blogs. It focuses on the techniques and thought processes that go into creating unique flavor combinations.

I recently made Seafood and Vegetable Stew with Rouille. Here's how it came into being:

My kitchen counter was overflowing with garnet yams, bounty from more than one Full Circle Farms CSA box. I wanted to do something other than oven-roasting the yams or making oven fries. Looking for inspiration, I randomly pulled cookbooks off the shelves.

Barbara Kafka’s book Soup: A Way of Life had an interesting recipe for Fall Fish Stew that included sweet potatoes. I decided to try it.

My first version of the stew was similar to Kafka’s, though I substituted sautéed sweet potatoes for boiled and edamame beans for limas. After tasting the broth, I wanted more flavor.

In my next version, I added sautéed onions and red bell peppers, and used a different Rouille recipe than Kafka’s. I seasoned the Rouille with dried, ground red Moroccan pepper (poivron rouge). This version was tasty, but I thought it could be better.

In my final version, I added crushed fennel seeds and shelled shrimp. This combination was exactly what I wanted. Although inspired by Kafka, the final stew is uniquely my own.

I internet-ordered poivron rouge from World Spice Merchants in Seattle, one of my favorite herb and spice purveyors. World Spice describes poivron rouge as “sweet red pepper … produced from sweet round red niora peppers grown in the lush valleys at the foot of the High Atlas Mountains to the northeast of Marrakech.“

Poivron Rouge and Sweet Hungarian Paprika

Although Moroccan recipes often call for paprika, niora peppers are what Moroccans use for “paprika.” The flavor of ground niora differs significantly from sweet Hungarian paprika. Niora is spicier and has a fruitier flavor than its Hungarian counterpart, which has a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Moroccan niora peppers are likely the same as the ñora peppers used in Romesco sauce and other Spanish and Catalonian dishes. In addition to having similar names, nioras and ñoras look the same. Most texts refer to nioras and ñoras only as members of the Capsicum annuum family; in other words, as domesticated peppers. However, in Catalan Cuisine, Colman Andrews says pepper scholar Charles Perry “thinks the nyora [ñora] pepper is the variety scientifically called Capsicum annuum grossum/provar. Pomiforme/sub-var. Conc. Humilirotundum Haz."

No matter what its scientific designation might be, poivron rouge has wonderful flavor and a permanent place in my spice cupboard. Its mildly spicy and fruity tastes make distinctively delicious Rouille and a mouth-wateringly good Seafood and Vegetable Stew.

Seafood and Vegetable Stew with Rouille (Red Pepper Sauce)
Serves 4
The stew may also be made with just fish or just shrimp; if so, use 1 pound of either ingredient. Although not necessary, steamed rice is a nice complement to the spicy, aromatic broth. Serve the rice on the side so eaters can stir the amount they desire into the stew.

1 cup peeled, diced garnet yams or sweet potatoes, 1/2” dice (1 garnet yam)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup diced red bell pepper, 1/2” dice (1-2 peppers)
1 cup diced yellow onion, 1/2” dice
1 tsp. freshly crushed fennel seed
4 cups fish stock or clam broth (nectar)
1 recipe Rouille (see below)
1 cup shelled edamame beans (thawed) or fresh fava beans
1/2 pound skinless fillets of halibut, rockfish, cod, or other white-fleshed fish, cut in 3/4” pieces
1/2 pound shelled and cleaned shrimp, 16-20 count, halved crosswise
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)
Minced parsley for garnish

Sauté the garnet yams in olive oil, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, until they start to brown around the edges. Stir in the red bell peppers and onions, and continue to sauté until the onions soften. Add the crushed fennel seed and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in the fish stock, bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. (The recipe may be made ahead to this point.)

In a small bowl, whisk one cup of the hot broth into the Rouille. Stir this mixture into the simmering stew pot, along with the edamame beans, fish, and shrimp. Do not let boil or the Rouille may curdle. Simmer for 3-4 minutes, or until the seafood is cooked through. Stir in the lemon juice. Taste and add salt or lemon juice, as needed.

Sprinkle with minced parsley and serve immediately with steamed rice and wedges of lemon.

Rouille
Recipe adapted from In the Hands of a Chef by Jody Adams
Rouille goes well with all fish, and is a tasty addition to fish salads. The recipe may be doubled or tripled and keeps for a week in the refrigerator.

1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup best quality extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. poivron rouge or sweet Hungarian paprika
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Put the egg yolk, mustard, and lemon juice in a blender and mix well. While the blender is running, add the vegetable oil drop by drop so that it emulsifies with the other ingredients. While the blender is running, pour in the olive oil in a steady stream. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until the Rouille is very smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender to ensure all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
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This is my recipe for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Dee from The Daily Tiffin.

Recipe for Beet Soup (Παντζαρόσουπα)

Rushes of adrenaline are surging through my body. My hands are shaking so hard it’s difficult to type.

For the last half hour, I’ve been trying to chase a gathering of moose out of the garden. Whistling and yelling and waving my arms convinced two of them to leave. The remaining two ignored me, continuing to eat the currant bushes with equanimity.

To assist their departure, I opened the garden gate, hooting and hollering the whole time. This only motivated the largest moose to charge in my direction. I ran back to the house - and safety - as fast as my legs would carry me.

Both moose calmly returned to chomping the currant bushes, working their way unacceptably close to our precious apple tree.

I grabbed a baseball bat and headed back into the fray. This time I approached the garden through the woods, whacking trees with the bat and making the scariest noises I could muster. As I neared the garden fence, being careful to stay out of sight and to keep the fence between me and the moose, they finally turned tail and ran, not through the open gate but over the 7-foot fence.

Such are the challenges of gardening in Alaska. It’s clear we’ll have to raise the fence to keep out rapacious moose.

No doubt the moose were in the garden because snow covers the grass on which they normally graze. With temperatures well below freezing, Alaska is settling into winter.

Cold weather goes hand in hand with soup. Last night we sat in front of a roaring fire, cozy in our log house, enjoying bowls of ruby-red Beet Soup.

Hearty Beet Soup is chockfull of vegetables. Because they cook for a relatively short time, the vegetables retain their individual flavors. They swim in a savory-yet-sweet broth, which is perfectly balanced by the sour cream and fresh dill garnish.

Now that I’ve calmed down from my moose encounter, I’m ready for lunch: a delicious bowl of leftover Beet Soup.

Beet Soup (Παντζαρόσουπα)
Serves 6
Bacon adds wonderful flavor to the soup, but it’s equally delicious without it; if you omit the bacon, sauté the vegetables in 2 tablespoons olive oil. If you don’t want to bother with dicing the beets, parsnips, and carrots, grating them by hand or in a food processor works just fine. Ketchup is an unusual addition, but it boosts the umami, thus enhancing the soup’s lusciousness. I prefer roasting beets to concentrate their flavor; however, the soup may also be made with boiled, steamed, or microwaved beets. If the beets are cooked ahead of time, Beet Soup makes a quick and tasty meal.

1 cup diced bacon, 1/4” dice (optional)
1 cup diced parsnips, 1/8” dice
1 cup diced carrots, 1/8” dice
1 1/2 cups diced celery, 1/4” dice
1 1/2 cups diced onions, 1/4” dice
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
6 cups vegetable or beef stock
1 14.5 ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup ketchup
4 medium-sized beets, roasted and cut in 1/4” dice
1 1/2 cups finely shredded cabbage
Sour cream
Minced dill

Sauté the bacon in a Dutch oven until the fat has rendered and the bacon begins to brown. Add the parsnips, carrots, celery, and onions, and sauté until the onion softens. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Stir in the stock, tomatoes, ketchup, beets, and cabbage. Bring to a boil, cover, turn down the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked through and the broth is flavorful.

Serve the soup immediately, topped with a dollop of sour cream and minced fresh dill.

NOTE on Roasting Beets: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the beets, cut off the greens leaving an inch of stem (don't cut into the beet itself), rub the beets with olive oil, and wrap tightly in a foil packet (or place in a tightly covered baking dish). Bake for 40 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, depending on the size of the beets and how fresh they are. The beets are done when they're tender if poked with a knife or skewer. Let the beets cool, and slip off their skins (I wear gloves when I do this to protect my hands from staining). (These can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for about a week.)
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This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging hosted this week by Heather from Diary of a Fanatic Foodie.

Recipes: Red Pepper Soup & Pizzettes (Σούπα με Κόκκινες Πιπεριές & Πιτσάκια)

My first cookbooks were homemade, full of hand-written recipes and clippings from newspapers and magazines. Because I lived on next to nothing, I glued the recipes on old pages of notes I’d taken in classes that had ended.

In those days, before the internet, interesting food writing was hard to find. Now it’s easy. It seems as if new food blogs pop up every day. The challenge is sorting the wheat from the chaff in the abundance of online recipes.

Jenn of The Leftover Queen has made it easier to investigate the multitude of food blogs by maintaining a comprehensive listing of them. In addition, Jenn writes an article on The Leftover Queen every Friday highlighting some of her favorite blogs.

Another way to learn about new blogs is an event called Taste and Create organized by For the Love of Food. In this event, food writers are paired with a randomly assigned partner, and asked to cook and review one recipe from their partner’s blog.

This month I was paired with Tart Reform, a blog written by a smart woman who is thrilled about starting law school in the fall. The name of her blog is a clever play on the phrase “tort reform,” a political effort undertaken by insurance companies and major corporations to deny full compensation to those who are injured by another’s negligence.

Tart Reform includes many dessert recipes; the author is a dedicated baker. I rarely make desserts anymore, the result of marrying a man who doesn’t like sweets. Since I inherited a sweet tooth from my father, when I make desserts they end up in my belly or, more accurately, on my belly. Sadly, it’s better for me to admire Tart Reform’s lovely desserts than to make them.

Instead, I made Red Pepper Soup, a recipe posted on Tart Reform’s blog last July. I’d originally thought of following Tart Reform’s lead and making the soup with green peppers for a festive St. Patrick’s Day soup. However, Tart Reform warned strongly against doing so, and said the soup “looks just like the goo from Ghostbusters” when made with green peppers. Not interested in having a Ghostbusters’ prop for dinner, I stuck with red peppers.

Red Pepper Soup, originally published in a New York Times article by Marian Burros, was quick and easy because it doesn’t require pre-roasting or peeling the peppers. With a bag of Costco red peppers (in Alaska, $6.50 for 6 peppers), the recipe made a reasonably priced dinner for 4.

The soup is delicious and beautiful. A small amount of crushed red pepper flakes and minced thyme highlight its sweet red pepper flavor.

The peppers aren’t peeled, so bits of pepper skin remain in the soup after it is puréed. The original recipe left in the skins, but I didn’t like the soup's texture with them in it. It took 2 minutes to strain them out, leaving the soup with a pleasingly silky texture.

The original recipe suggests serving the soup with a dollop of crème fraiche and sprigs of thyme. Although we tried this suggestion and it tasted fine, we preferred the soup with a drizzle of best quality olive oil and a sprinkling of minced thyme.

I served the soup with Pizzettes, another recipe from Tart Reform’s site. Pizzettes are nothing more than mini-pizzas; the original recipe came from Giada’s Family Dinners by Giada De Laurentiis.

I made the Pizzettes twice; once with gorgonzola as Giada called for and the second time with mozzarella, which was Tart Reform’s recommendation. We preferred mozzarella Pizzettes, although the ones with gorgonzola were also tasty.

Pizzettes are easy to make, even with putting together my own pizza dough (the original recipe used store bought). The concept is one I will use again; pizzettes make a terrific appetizer. They tasted great hot, and retained their flavor at room temperature, so could easily be made ahead for entertaining.

Red Pepper Soup (Σούπα με Κόκκινες Πιπεριές)
Serves 4
Adapted from Marion Burros, New York Times (September 21, 2005) via Tart Reform
The amount of red pepper depends on how spicy you like your soup and the heat of your dried red peppers. When I first read the recipe, I was concerned 1 cup of liquid wouldn’t be enough, but I shouldn’t have worried. There is plenty of liquid because peppers are full of moisture and the soup is cooked covered. If you don’t mind pepper skins, there’s no need to strain the soup. Red Pepper Soup may be served hot or cold, and may be frozen for later use.

2 cups sliced onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup dry white wine
6 large red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and cut in 1” chunks
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
4 tsp. minced fresh thyme, plus extra for garnish
Crème fraîche or sour cream, for garnish (optional) OR
Best quality extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling (optional)

Sauté the onion, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until the onions soften and start to turn golden. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and boil until only 1 Tbsp. liquid remains.

Stir in the peppers, stock, and thyme, and lightly season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover, turn down the heat and simmer for 30 – 40 minutes, or until the peppers are tender

Using a stick blender, blender, or food processor, purée the soup until it's smooth. Strain the soup with a Foley food mill or strainer to remove the tough pieces of pepper skin. Taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed.

Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with extra virgin olive oil, crème fraiche, or sour cream. Sprinkle with minced thyme and serve immediately.

Variation: Drizzle with a blender pesto of 2 Tbsp. fresh thyme, 2 large cloves garlic, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 cup olive oil. This is good drizzled directly into the soup, and is particularly attractive (and tasty) when used in combination with crème fraîche.

Pizzettes (Πιτσάκια)
Makes 40 2 1/4” mini-pizzas
Adapted from Giada’s Family Dinners (Crown Publishing Group 2006) via Tart Reform
Pizzettes are pizza dough cut into small circles and baked with a topping. I indented the dough before adding the toppings so they would stay on the pizzettes when the dough expands during baking. The oil is necessary at the end to bring out the full flavor of fresh basil. When I tried a basil topping without oil, the basil lost much of its flavor (the volatile oils dissipated when the cut basil hit the hot pizzettes). As with pizza, the topping for pizzettes is limited only by one’s imagination.

Dough:
1 cup warm water
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. yeast
2 – 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt

Topping:
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 1/2 cups seeded and diced tomatoes, 1/2” dice
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil (basil chiffonade)
2 – 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Make the Dough: Mix the water, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit for 10 minutes. Using the mixer’s paddle attachment (or by hand), stir in the salt and enough flour to form a soft dough. Switch to the dough hook attachment. Knead on low speed for 5 minutes (or by hand), adding flour as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking to the bowl. Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap fixed to the bowl with a rubber band, cover with a dish towel, and let rise until doubled in size.

Make the Pizzettes: Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Roll out the dough until it is 1/4” thick. Using a 2” – 2 1/2” round cutter, cut out as many circles as you can and place 3/4” apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Gather the remaining dough together, roll it out, and cut into circles. Use a glass (or other circular object) slightly smaller than the dough circles to indent their centers.

Sprinkle the dough rounds with crushed red pepper flakes, top with shredded mozzarella, and then with diced tomatoes. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until the cheese melts and starts to turn golden. If baking two sheets of pizzettes at one time, rotate the baking sheets after they've been in the oven 5 minutes.

While the pizzettes are baking, mix the basil and olive oil. As soon as the pizzettes come out of the oven, top each one with a little basil and olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt, and serve immediately.

Recipe: Moroccan Chermoula and Carrot Soup (Μαροκινή Σούπα με Καρότα)

Something is happening in my vegetable drawer. I swear the carrots have been multiplying during the night. I can’t use them fast enough.

The real cause of the carrot explosion is their arrival in every CSA box we’ve received over the past few months. I love carrots, I’m glad they’re in the boxes, but I need to do better at keeping up with the inflow.

A new CSA box is arriving today, and yes, it will include another bunch of carrots. Last night, I took the carrot overflow problem in hand and made a wonderfully flavorful Moroccan Chermoula and Carrot Soup.

Although Carrot Soup is delicious on its own, the addition of Chermoula turns it into something special. I make the Chermoula while the soup is simmering, which means the entire recipe takes less than an hour from start to serving.

It’s hard for me to get enough Chermoula – I usually double or triple the recipe whenever I make it. I use the extra Chermoula to top grilled salmon, halibut, or chicken, or to add flavor to salads.

Moroccan Chermoula and Carrot Soup (Μαροκινή Σούπα με Καρότα)


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Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper, Fennel, and Lentil Soup (Κόκκινες Πιπεριές, Μάραθο, και Φακές)

Roasted red peppers are a staple in my kitchen.

When simply dressed with olive oil and a splash of good quality balsamic vinegar, roasted peppers make an easy, flavorful appetizer. As a side dish, they perk up even the most pedestrian meal.

My favorite way to roast peppers is over a wood fire. In summer, we often cook over an outdoor grill. The best time to roast peppers is shortly after starting the fire, when the flames are still too high for grilling. With an active flame, pepper skins char quickly, leaving the flesh perfectly cooked.

In summer, peppers are in season and I buy them in quantity. We roast and peel all the peppers at one time, and freeze them in individual plastic sandwich bags. I use frozen roasted red peppers all winter to add an extra layer of flavor to soups and sauces.

When it’s too cold to cook outside, the easiest way to roast one or two peppers is directly over a gas burner. This is what I did last week when I wanted to enhance lentil soup with roasted red peppers, but had used up my entire frozen supply.

The rich, smoky taste of peppers dramatically improves an otherwise straightforward lentil soup. Because I pureed the peppers, their flavor permeated every bite without overpowering the fennel and lentils.

Since only two of us were eating, I had enough soup to freeze for another day. I’m looking forward to it.

Roasted Red Pepper, Fennel, and Lentil Soup (Κόκκινες Πιπεριές, Μάραθο, και Φακές)
Serves 4 - 6
Some jalapeño peppers are spicy, while others are quite mild. Taste the jalapeños before adding them to the soup, and adjust the amount accordingly.

3 cups diced onions, 1/2” dice
1 cup diced carrots, 1/2” dice
1 cup diced celery, 1/2” dice
1 cup diced fennel bulb, 1/2” dice
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. Aleppo pepper or 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp. fennel seeds, crushed
1 cup lentils, any kind (picked over to remove detritus and rinsed)
8 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 red bell peppers, roasted and peeled (see NOTE below)
1 – 2 jalapeño or other spicy pepper, roasted and peeled (optional) (see NOTE below)

Sauté the onions, carrots, celery, and fennel bulb, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until the onions soften and begin to turn golden. Stir in the garlic, Aleppo pepper, and fennel seeds and cook for 1 minute. Add the lentils and stir until they are coated with oil. Stir in the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender, but not mushy.

While the soup is simmering, puree the roasted peppers and jalapeños in a blender or food processor. When the lentils are tender, stir the pureed peppers into the soup. Serve immediately.

NOTE on Roasting Peppers: The traditional method of roasting peppers is over a hot wood fire, but you can also roast them on a gas grill, directly on a gas burner, under the broiler, or by baking in a 450° oven for 30 minutes. Unless you are baking them, turn the peppers frequently to ensure the skins char evenly and the flesh beneath doesn’t overcook. When the skin is completely blackened, place the peppers in a brown paper bag or plastic wrap covered bowl. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, poke a hole in each pepper’s bottom and reserve any liquid inside for adding to the soup. Peel away the peppers’ burnt skin, gently scraping away any stuck bits with a knife. Don’t rinse the peppers in water, as doing so washes away too much flavor. Remove and discard the stem, seeds, and any white pulp inside the pepper.

NOTE on Storing Roasted Peppers: Roasted peppers can be refrigerated and stored in a glass jar, topped with olive oil, for about a week. They also freeze well sealed in portion-sized sandwich bags.
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This is my entry for No Croutons Required hosted by Lisa's Kitchen and Tinned Tomatoes.

Recipe: Red Lentil and Bulgur Soup with Mint and Lemon - Ezo Gelin Çorbasi (Σούπα της Νύφη Έζο)

Ezo, good natured and beautiful, married badly - twice. Her life was so tragic, it became a legend.

Ezo was born in 1909 in the village of Dokuzyol in southeastern Anatolia, now Turkey. The house where Ezo lived was on an ancient caravan route.

Ezo’s family stored their water in a large jug outside the front door. When dry and dusty travelers wanted a drink, Ezo graciously served them.

Tales of Ezo’s beauty spread along the caravan route. Soon, camel drivers were stopping by Ezo’s house to see her lovely face and spend time in her company. This happy time came to an end when she was 20. Her family arranged Ezo’s marriage to a man who was in love with someone else.

After the wedding, Ezo’s husband ignored her and left her alone while he trailed after the woman he truly loved. For Ezo, who was used to being cherished, this was intolerable. After a year, she returned to her family and divorced her husband.

Ezo remained single for six years, at which time her family arranged a second marriage to a cousin who lived across the border in Syria. Though Ezo had six daughters in Syria, she remained homesick for her family and village. Adding to Ezo’s misery was a mother-in-law who couldn’t be pleased.

Ezo died at 46. She was buried, at her request, on a hill looking north to the Turkish village she missed so badly. After a bureaucratic battle between Turkey and Syria,Ezo's remains were removed from her Syrian grave in 1999, and she was reburied in her home village of Dokuzyol.

Ezo’s tragic life has been popularized in Turkey through song, film, and television. Though her life was spent in hardship, Ezo became the emblem of traditional values: love, honor, pride, beauty, longing for homeland, and patience.

Cementing Ezo’s role in Turkish culture is a soup named for her: Ezo Gelin Çorbasi (The Bride Ezo’s Soup). Some say Ezo created the soup to placate her miserable mother-in-law, successfully or unsuccessfully, depending on who’s telling the story.

Others say the soup is named for Ezo because, like the soup, her example strengthens women for the many challenges of married life. In Turkey, women eat Ezo Gelin Soup right before their wedding.

Red Lentil and Bulgur Soup with Mint and Lemon - Ezo Gelin Çorbasi (Σούπα της Νύφη Έζο)
Serves 4 - 6
This mildly spicy soup is quick and easy, yet packed with flavor and very filling. Savory pepper and mint oil is drizzled over the soup just before serving, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice adds a refreshing tang. In Turkey, Ezo Gelin Soup is sold in most kebab houses, eaten for breakfast, and used to cure hangovers. It is low in fat, full of legumes and grains, and very heart-healthy. Aside from all that, it tastes delicious. I served this with Algerian Flatbread.

Soup:
1 cup red lentils
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups diced onion, 1/8” dice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. Aleppo pepper or 1 Tbsp. hot paprika
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 cup bulgur
6 – 8 cups beef or vegetable stock

Topping:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. dried mint
1 tsp. Aleppo pepper (optional)
Lemon wedges

Make the soup: Spread out the lentils on a tray and pick through them to remove any little stones, clumps of dirt, and chaff. Rinse and drain the lentils.

Sauté the onion, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, until it softens and starts to turn golden. Add the garlic, Aleppo pepper, and tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the lentils, bulgur, and 6 cups of stock, bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils and bulgur are tender and the soup has a creamy consistency.

If you prefer your soup smooth, puree it with a stick blender. If the soup is too thick, add all or some of the remaining stock. Taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed.
Make the topping: Warm the olive oil in a small pan; don’t get it too hot or it will burn the mint. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the mint and Aleppo pepper.

Serve the soup with the topping drizzled over it and lemon wedges on the side.
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The is my entry for Heart of the Matter: Soup hosted by Joanna's Food.

Recipes: Braised Chicken, Peppers and Greens & Chicken, Beans and Greens Soup (Κοτόπουλο, Πιπεριές και Χόρτα & Κοτόπουλο, Φασόλια και Χόρτα Σούπα)

When it’s winter in Alaska, the good news is that it’s greens weather in California and the Pacific Northwest. Since vegetables in Alaskan markets come from outside the state, we share our West Coast neighbors’ bounty of greens. (In summer, we happily grow our own.)

For the last couple months, our CSA box from Full Circle Farm has been full of greens: lacinato kale (cavolo nero), beet greens, curly endive, Swiss chard, radicchio, and lettuces. My favorite is the bag of mixed baby “braising greens” that Full Circle sometimes offers. The bag usually includes 3 kinds of baby kale, Swiss chard, and mustard greens.

“Braising” is a method of cooking in which meat or vegetables are browned in fat and then simmered in liquid until done. When raw, greens like kales and beets are usually tough and fibrous. Braising turns them soft and tender.

Last week I wanted braised greens for dinner, so dug out bunches of lacinato and purple kales, plus a bag of baby braising greens. To balance the slightly bitter greens, I added onions and red peppers for sweetness, and finished the dish with chunks of chicken and plenty of herbs.

The final dish was flavorful and filling; a feast for the eyes and senses. The kale’s curly edges trapped the herbs and cooking juices, and bathed our mouths with flavor.

Leftovers: I made more Braised Chicken, Peppers, and Greens than the two of us could eat at one sitting. With the leftovers, I put together a wonderful soup by adding stock, beans, and seasonings. The soup took 5 minutes of mixing and 30 minutes of simmering; a perfect meal for a busy day.

Braised Chicken,Peppers, and Greens (Κοτόπουλο, Πιπεριές και Χόρτα)
Serves 4 – 6
I prefer serving this on its own, but it is also good over pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes. For vegans or those who are fasting, this tastes great if you leave the chicken out or substitute white beans for the chicken. You can also substitute Italian sausage for the chicken. Adjust the amount of Aleppo or crushed red pepper depending on how spicy you like your food. If I know I’ll have leftovers, I make this using tough greens like kale, because they don’t fall apart or turn mushy when reheated.

1 1/2 pounds braising greens, such as kales, beet greens, chard, broccoli raab, dandelion (about 3 bunches or 3/4 pound cleaned greens)
1 pound onions (1 - 2 large)
2 red bell peppers
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs (4 thighs) or 1 pound leftover chicken
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. fennel seeds, crushed
1 Tbsp. dried oregano, crushed
1 – 2 tsp. Aleppo pepper or 1/2 – 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

Wash the greens and remove the tough stems. Cut into 1 – 2” pieces. Cut the onions into 1 – 2” chunks. Clean and seed the bell peppers, and cut into 1 – 2” chunks. Cut the chicken thighs (or leftover chicken) into 1 – 2” chunks, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides.

Sauté the onions and bell pepper, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until the onions soften and are translucent. Stir in the chicken, garlic, fennel seeds, and Aleppo pepper. If using raw chicken, cook just until the chicken starts to brown; if using leftover chicken, cook for one minute. Stir in the cleaned greens, and cook just until the greens start to wilt. Stir in the wine and vegetable stock, bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer until the greens are tender. Stir the pot from time to time as it simmers to prevent the greens from sticking. This takes 15 – 30 minutes depending on the size and age of the greens; the only way to tell whether braising greens are properly tender is to taste them. When the greens are done, taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed.

Serve immediately with crusty bread and a crisp green salad.

Chicken, Beans, and Greens Soup (Κοτόπουλο, Φασόλια και Χόρτα Σούπα)
Serves 4

4 cups leftover Braised Chicken, Peppers, and Greens
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 – 1 tsp. Aleppo pepper or 1/4 – 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1 Tbsp. minced garlic

Mix all of the ingredients in a pot. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Serve immediately.

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This is my entry for Antioxidant Rich Foods/5-A-Day Tuesday hosted by Sweetnicks. I am also submitting it for Leftover Tuesdays #11 hosted by Pam at Project Foodie.

Recipe: Spicy Squash Soup (Σούπα με Kολοκύθα)

Squash tends to build up at our house. I love it; my husband doesn’t. It’s one of the few areas where our palates don’t overlap.

Squash roasted at high temperature with olive oil and salt is acceptable to us both. That’s pretty much it; Oven Roasted Squash is the lone star on a long list of squash recipes I’ve tried over the years.

This might not be a problem except that it’s squash season and we’ve been regularly getting one variety of squash or another in our Full Circle Farm CSA box. Since my perpetual New Year’s resolution is not to waste food, I keep trying new squash recipes and hoping I’ll hit on another one we both like. As good as it is, there are only so many days in a month I can eat roasted squash.

I hit the jackpot last Friday.

Chelsea Greigh’s Spicy Squash Soup is a winner. Its rich spicing counteracts the tendency of winter squash to be overly sweet, the characteristic to which my husband objects. We both loved the soup and happily enjoyed it two meals in a row.

I tried Chelsea’s soup as part of Taste and Create, an event in which food writers are paired with a randomly assigned partner, and asked to cook one recipe off their partner’s blog. Taste and Create gives writers the opportunity to have their recipes tested by a peer.

Spicy Squash Soup (Σούπα με Kολοκύθα)
Serves 4 - 6
Adapted from Chelsea Greigh of Rolling in Dough
If you prefer less spicy food, leave out the crushed red pepper flakes. There are three ways to serve Spicy Squash Soup: 1) Drizzle the soup with high quality olive oil and sprinkle it with green onions and minced parsley (my husband's way); 2) Sprinkle the soup with green onions and minced parsley (my way); or 3) Add a dollop of sour cream to the soup and sprinkle it with chives (Chelsea’s way). All three versions are delicious. I’ve adjusted Chelsea’s recipe to the size of my squash and the level of spicing we prefer. You can find Chelsea’s original version of Spicy Squash Soup here.

3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup diced carrot, 1/2” dice
2 1/2 cups diced onions, 1/2” dice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. chili powder blend
1 Tbsp. cumin seeds, crushed
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 3/4 lbs. cleaned, peeled, and diced winter squash (6 cups), any variety
3/4 lb. peeled and diced potatoes, 1/2” dice (2 cups)
8 cups water
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Optional Garnishes:
2 green onions, finely chopped for sprinkling
2 Tbsp. minced parsley for sprinkling
Olive oil for drizzling
Sour cream for dolloping
Chives for sprinkling

Sauté the carrots and onions, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until the onions soften and start to turn golden. Stir in the chili powder, cumin seeds, and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the squash, potato, and water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and cook at a slow boil until the vegetables are soft, about 30 – 40 minutes.

Puree the soup (this is easiest to do with a stick blender). Simmer the soup for 10 - 15 minutes or until it is the thickness you prefer. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce. Taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed (squash and potatoes really suck up salt; you may need to add more than you normally would).

Garnish and serve.

Recipe: Greens and Beans Soup (Fasolia me Horta)

Greens and Beans Soup is a particularly welcome recipe because its ingredients are not cast in stone. If I don’t have kale, I make it with Swiss chard or spinach (although I add these tender greens later in the cooking process than I do kale).

Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska has moved as of March 2011. To read this post please go to


http://www.laurieconstantino.com/the-best-kale-for-soup/


Please click on over and visit my new site. Thank you!

Recipe: Lemony Chickpea and Rosemary Soup

To fight the cold, we ate soups and stews accompanied by homemade bread, and appreciated the extra heat from the bubbling pot and baking oven. I frequently cooked with chickpeas and, during that winter, started making Lemony Chickpea and Rosemary Soup. Since then, it has remained one of my favorite recipes and I make it regularly.

Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska has moved as of March 2011. To read this post please go to


http://www.laurieconstantino.com/chickpea-soup-cures-cold-weather-blues/


Please click on over and visit my new site. Thank you!