Curried Parsnip Soup with Curried Croutons

 

The guys have gone to deer camp, so my sister came up to visit me at the lakehouse.   The rain we've been getting has turned to snow finally; it's been a very warm long autumn here.   So it is a perfect day for soup!

My friend Kirstin shared with me a curried parsnip soup recipe she makes, so I decided to give it a try.   I made a few tweaks to the recipe, but it came out delicious!  This recipe is a keeper.

Curried Parsnip Soup with Curried Croutons

For the soup:

2 T butter
2 med. onions, chopped 
1 T. grated fresh ginger
1 T. curry powder
2 t. cumin
2 lb. parsnips, peeled and diced small
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small
6 c. chicken stock
1 sm. container plain Greek yogurt
curried croutons (see below) lemon peel and lemon wedges, for serving

In a dutch oven, saute onion in butter until soft.   Add seasonings and cook for a minute or two, until fragrant.  Add parsnips, potato and chicken stock, and simmer until parsnip is soft, about 30 minutes.  Using a stick blender, puree in pot until smooth.  Blend in yogurt. Garnish with lemon peel and croutons; pass lemon wedges to squeeze on top.

Curried Croutons

2 slices bread
1 T, curry powder
juice from half a lemon

2 T. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 F.   Mix curry powder, butter and lemon juice together in a small bowl, and brush bread with mixture.   Cut bread into small cubes.   Bake on a cookie sheet untilcrisp and golden, about 20 minutes.  

Curried Chicken Soup

I have been keeping this blog since January 16, 2006.   My first blog post, which I thoughtfully entitled Scottish Food, totally reflected where I was in that point in my life.   I have always enjoyed good food, but as a mother of two young children (Jane was 11 and Eddie was 9) I often found myself at the drive thru at McDonalds,    I rarely find myself there now, but I do admit a fondness for McDonald's french fries.    I'd go there right now and get some but we are about to have an ice storm and so I might as well stay in and make some chicken soup instead.

I'm a fan of the shredded rotisserie chicken you can get at Meijer.   I buy it almost every week - it is very often a quick snack or an easy lunch ingredient.  This week, I found myself at Costco, even though I rarely use Costco for much more than gasoline, toilet paper and vodka.   (yes, their vodka is outstanding and well priced).   They offered up some shredded rotisserie chicken as well, at a price comparable to Meijer.   Consumer warning: it is rare that Costco prices can beat Meijer prices.   They trick you because you need to do math to figure that out.   Don't fall into the trap that Costco is cheap.  It most often is not.  I bought their chicken and found it to be subpar.   So I had a bunch that needed to be eaten and when I saw a recipe in Cook's Country for curried chicken noodle soup that sounded like it might work. 

Given the ice storm, I wasn't going to go out to get the rice vermicelli and the Thai basil leaves required for the recipe, so I decided to adapt.   Here is what I came up with.....it is outstanding!  Feel free to use up a cup of whatever pasta you have kicking around in the pantry.   And of course, you could poach some chicken breasts instead of the shredded rotisserie chicken.   This soup was so good!  Let the storm begin!

Curried Chicken Soup


2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, halved and sliced thin
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch-long matchsticks
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon pepper
6 cups chicken broth (3 cans)
1/4 c. dried pasta
¼ cup canned coconut milk
2 tablespoons sriracha sauce
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 small can mushrooms
2 T dried hot peppers
1 c. frozen peas

Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion, carrots, salt, and pepper and cook until vegetables are just softened, about 4 minutes. Add broth, noodles, coconut milk, and sriracha sauce and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until noodles are softened, about 12 minutes, depending on your pasta.  Stir in chicken and mushrooms and cook until chicken is heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in frozen peas and heat until bright green. 

Serve with lime wedges

This soup would be perfect for someone with a cold!  It is spicy.    So good on a cold, wet day like today.   My kids are grown and gone now, but I am willing to bet either one of them will make this soup.    Stay warm, my friends!

Salad Trio with Roasted Cauliflower Soup

This weekend, I created lunch for about 80 women at my church's "Growing in God" retreat, which I enjoy doing every year.    The only thing I knew for sure is that I wanted to make a curried chicken salad and a vegetarian soup.   I always like going to the deli at Arbor Farms for inspiration.  They have an outstanding selection of salads to choose from, and sure enough, I saw a southwest inspired vegan red quinoa salad that looked interesting. Also, there can often be a myriad of dietary constraints when you get that many women together.  This year,  it didn't turn out that way, only one dairy free and one no nuts.   In year's past, I have had to work with vegan and gluten free too.  I like to serve the ladies salad for lunch, because one of the best things about this retreat is the fantastic food served.   Need to keep it light!  For my other salad, I wanted a fruit salad that was lightly sweet.     Since I was already serving curry in my chicken salad, I couldn't use my favorite curried cauliflower soup, but I still wanted to use cauliflower so I came up with a roasted cauliflower soup  seasoned with lots of garlic and onion.

Southwest Red Quinoa Salad
serves 12 as a side or 6 as a main dish

Quinoa Salad
1 1/2 cup dried red quinoa
1 15 oz can corn, drained
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium red onions, diced
2  jalapeño, seeded and sliced

Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
juice of 2 limes
2 teaspoon cumin
salt, to taste

Rinse quinoa and set aside. Bring 2 3/4 cups water to a boil. Add quinoa and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until water has evaporated and quinoa is cooked. Transfer to a large bowl and fluff with a fork.  Allow to fully cool. 

Prepare dressing by adding all ingredients in a canning jar and shake until well combined.     After quinoa is cooled, add vegetables and dressing and mix well. 

Creamy Fruit Salad
serves 12 as a side

Dressing
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sugar

Salad
2 Golden Delicious apples, diced
2 Red Delicious apples, diced
2 cups red seedless grapes, halved
2 cups green seedless grapes, halved
1 (20-ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
1 (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/3 cup chopped  toasted pecans

Combine dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until thoroughly mixed.   In a large bowl, combine salad ingredients and dressing to serve.

Curried Chicken Salad

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 T. kosher salt
1 t. pepper
1 large onion, unpeeled and cut in half
½ c. mayo
¼ c. hot mango chutney
2 T. curry powder
2 T. Zante currants
1 green onion, sliced
¼ c. toasted sliced almonds, toasted

In a small crock pot, add onion halves and chicken breasts and cover with water.   Add salt and pepper and cook on low for 3 hours.    Remove chicken, allow to cool and dice it.   Prepare dressing by combining mayo, chutney and curry powder in a small bowl.   Combine with chicken, onion and almonds.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup
serves 8

2 heads cauliflower, sliced in 1/2 in slabs
3 T. olive oil
2 T. kosher salt
1 t. pepper
1 large onion, diced
3 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T Better than Bouillon vegetable stock base
5 c. water
1/2 c. heavy cream (optional)
Croutons and parsley, for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 F.   On a baking sheet, drizzle cauliflower slabs with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes until browned.   Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, soften onion in olive oil on medium heat for about 10 minutes.   Add garlic and stir.   Add cauliflower, water and stock base and simmer for 30 minutes until cauliflower is really soft.   Using an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth.   Add heavy cream and blend until combined.  Serve soup garnished with croutons and parsley

Chipotle Turkey Tortilla Soup

What to do with the leftovers after the holiday? Every Thanksgiving, I have a ritual.   When we are cleaning up, I put the carcass of the bird, which usually has lots of leftover dark meat on it, in the crock pot with  water, and onion or two and a couple bay leaves.     I let it cook on low overnight.    When we go to the mall in the morning to take part in the Black Friday sales, I let the crock cool, and when I return, I strain the broth and pick out all the meat.   This is a great start to turkey soup.    I am quite fond of turkey noodle soup, or turkey soup with lemon and barley, but this year, a fellow MTU parent mentioned that she makes turkey tortilla soup and that sounded like a good idea to me.   The recipe she makes had fresh jalapenos in it, and I didn't have any, so I went off on my own to try to invent something.  We like our food spicier than the original recipe anyway.    Here is what I ended up doing....it came out great!

Chipotle Turkey Tortilla Soup

1 T. olive oil
1 cup diced onions
1 7 oz can chipotle peppers in adobo
2 T. cumin
4 cups diced cooked turkey
4 cups turkey stock (or use chicken stock)
1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz. can corn, drained
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
juice of one lime
crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, green onions, lime wedges for garnish

In a dutch oven, saute onions until soft.  Dice peppers and add them to onions, along with adobo.  (you can make this less spicy by adding less peppers).   Add cumin and heat through.   Add remaining ingredients, except garnish and simmer 20 minutes.    Add salt and pepper to taste.   Serve with garnishes.

Cudighi and Kale Soup

Another wonderful week in the Copper Country is coming to an end for us.   I love it here so much!  I can't wait to live here year round.    I just have one more day and then I am headed downstate.   I will be making lots of raspberry jam tomorrow.   Our property is abundant with both red and golden raspberries.    This will make some great holiday gifts!  Meanwhile, I've got to make sure we don't leave too much food lurking around.   Looking in the lakehouse refrigerator, I noticed some kale I bought at the Houghton Farmer's Market earlier in the week that I knew I better make into something.    I also had some cudighi sausage in the freezer, which is an upper peninsula specialty.   You can make your own by following my recipe here.   It's a mildly spiced Italian sausage....with plenty of "warm" spices like cloves, cinnamon and allspice.   We've been eating lots of great food this week but I just wanted something light for dinner.   Time for kale and sausage soup!  I also spied some cherry tomatoes that needed to be used up.   Great for a garnish.  I also threw in some oyster mushrooms my son foraged in the woods.   These aren't necessary, but if life gives you mushrooms, make soup with them. 

Cudighi and Kale Soup

1 lb. cudighi (or bulk Italian sausage_
1 onion, chopped fine
4 small potatoes, diced
32 oz.  box chicken broth
15 oz.  can Great Northern beans, drained
1 bunch kale, sliced thin
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. (or more) hot pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
quartered cherry tomatoes, for garnish

In a dutch oven, brown sausage and onion until sausage is cooked through and onion is translucent.    Add potatoes and broth and cover, cook until potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes.   Add beans, kale garlic and hot pepper, and cook about 10 minutes longer.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and ladle into soup bowls.   Garnish with cherry tomatoes.


I can already see the leaves are changing here and I know by the time I return in mid September, we will be coming upon even more fall color.    I will be working that week, and will not have time to relax and enjoy this place as much as I would like.   I am hoping we can spend Christmas here....it will depend on the kids schedules I guess.    Sure love it here!

Red Lentil Soup

Will a lentil soup change your life?   I think this one will...

I knew it was a winner when I made it late on a Sunday after a pre-Christmas dinner at my sister in law's house where we all ate way too much pizza and fudge and peanut butter kiss cookies and we needed a little something later in the evening.   I whipped up a batch and my "meat and potatoes" twenty something son proclaimed it "really good" and ate the rest of it.   It takes 30 minutes to make!  Next test was the vegetarian friend Patty who said that not only was it the best lentil soup she ever tasted, it was in the top 5 soups she ever had.   Those are some pretty wonderful compliments, especially coming from a soup that doesn't take all that long to make. 

I started with a recipe from America's Test Kitchen, which looked good, but had some pain in the a$$ things about it, like spiced butter.   I didn't have time for that.    Why not just put those spices in the soup?  Here is how I've made it.....3x now and I can see I will keep on making it for a long while.   For the vegetarians, just substitute the chicken broth for vegetable.    So good!

Red Lentil Soup with Cilantro

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped fine
Salt and pepper
¾ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch cayenne
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
10 ½ ounces (1 ½ cups) red lentils, picked over and rinsed
2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus extra for seasoning
1 teaspoon paprika
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add coriander, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in broth, water, and lentils and bring to simmer. Simmer vigorously, stirring occasionally, until lentils are soft and about half are broken down, about 15 minutes.

Whisk soup vigorously until it is coarsely pureed, about 30 seconds. Stir in lemon juice and season with salt and extra lemon juice to taste.

Ladle soup into individual bowls, sprinkle with  paprika and cilantro, and serve.

UPDATE:  My recipe was recently featured in the Michigan Electric Coop Magazine Country Lines.   Here is the video

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Check out the history of the D.W. Ferry Seed Company 

I made a great soup the other day, said my husband who doesn't like a) soup for a meal and b)  stuffed peppers.    I was reminded of this soup the other day, thanks to FB "On This Day" feature, since I saved a recipe last year at this time.    I can remember years ago, when I bought a half bushel of green peppers right before the first frost from a farmer up in Romeo, and I struggled with what to do with all of them.   This recipe would have been a good answer, had I known about it.   The FB recipe I saved  via Pinterest save I had seemed to have a lot of issues, so I just used it as a guide and went my own way.  Note the brown sugar is key!     

I realize that my soup isn't very photogenic, but it was really delicious.   Even my husband, who shouldn't have liked it at all, really did enjoy it.  Here's how I made it.....


Stuffed Pepper Soup
Makes 10 servings

2 lb. ground beef
1 c. white rice
2 c. water
4 green peppers, seeded and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1 onion, chopped similarly
28 oz. can diced tomato
27 oz. can tomato sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
1 teaspoon pepper
2 c. water

Brown ground beef in a large Dutch oven   Meanwhile, in another pot, cook rice in water until tender.     Add peppers and onion to beef and saute until soft, about 10 minutes.   Add rice and remaining ingredients and simmer 30 minutes.  

I ended up freezing the leftovers for my son to enjoy when he doesn't have time to cook.

Chicken of the Woods Mushroom Soup with Lemon and Dill

My son found a huge chicken of the woods mushroom near our lakehouse in the Keweenaw, right before MTU Family Weekend, when we came up to visit him.   I have never found this mushroom before; I've been looking for it ever since I got my wild mushroom foraging certification last spring.   The proper name for this mushroom is Laetiporous....the one he found specifically is called Laetiporous cincinnatus.

Isn't it a beauty?   The cool thing about Laetiporous is that it will keep growing back if you just cut the tips off of it.   Much more mushroom to come!

I was searching for a recipe to make with it....my friend Gina suggested a Hungarian mushroom soup she once tasted that she still dreams about.    I didn't have any paprika, so I improvised on a recipe I found for one online, and I came up with this truly delicious soup that was easy to make.   I'm sure it would be great with any kind of mushroom, not just chicken of the woods.  

Mushroom Soup with Lemon and Dill

1 large onion, diced

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 lb pound sliced fresh mushrooms

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon dill weed

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup whole milk 

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 cup sour cream

Juice from half a lemon

In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms; cook 4-5 minutes longer or until mushrooms are tender.  Stir in the flour, dill, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually stir in the broth, milk and soy sauce. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Just before serving, stir in sour cream and lemon juice (do not boil). 

Makes 4 servings

A Good Facsimile Thereof: Tom Yum Gai

My husband has caught the cold that I had; being a veteran of this 3 week illness, I know he's got some hard time to do.   So I wanted to nurse him back to health, or at least nearer to health, with a bowl of the Thai hot and sour soup Tom Yum Gai.   I've never tried to make it myself because it requires things I don't often have, like kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass.   Not wanting to venture out to the Asian market clear on the other side of town, I decided to try to make it with what I had.  I googled around looking for recipes, everything required exotic ingredients, so I decided to improvise with using some lemon zest for lemon grass and lime zest and bay leaves for kaffir limes, thinking this is a spicy soup anyway, so small nuances shouldn't matter.   Here's what I came up with:

Home Style Tom Yum Gai
Serves 4-6

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large skinless chicken breasts, diced 1/2 inch
1/2 medium onion, diced
4 cups chicken stock
6 thin slices fresh ginger
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 t. lemon zest
1/4 t. lime zest
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons chili paste
2 serrano chilies, thickly sliced
2 small tomatoes, cut into eighths.
5 button mushrooms, quartered
1 small can baby corn, drained
1/4 cup lime juice
2 green onions, sliced
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions
In a medium-sized soup pot, heat the peanut oil over medium-high heat. Saute the chicken and onion (not the green onions),  until the chicken is only a little bit pink and the onion translucent.
Add the stock, fish sauce, ginger, zests and the bay leaf.  Simmer 10 - 15 minute covered on medium-low heat.Add the sugar, chili paste, serranos, and sliced tomatoes, along with the mushrooms and corn.  Heat for another 10 minutes.  Turn heat fully to low and add the lime juice to taste. Add half of the diced cilantro and the green onions, then let simmer on low for another few minutes.

Serve topped with remaining onions and cilantro on top.

Delicious!  Or as my friend always used to describe soups when she was a restaurant reviewer: "restorative".  This recipe is definitely one I'll try again, even if no one is sick.

The Library Bar House Soup: Swiss Onion Au Gratin

Frequent readers of this blog will know that I spent 7 of the best years of my life attending Michigan Tech for undergrad and graduate school, and that I post recipes of U.P. favorites here from time to time, including pickled eggs, pasties, fishbowls and nisu (or pulla).   My friend and classmate Lee has been after me for years now to post another local favorite, the house soup from the Library Bar in Houghton.

Swiss Onion Au Gratin

The Library Bar in Houghton was a favorite place of MTU students in the 1980s.    It was owned by Jon Davis, a onetime MTU student who moved there and never left.  Whenever I think of him, the word "bon vivant" comes to mind....

In addition to his famous bar, which he conveniently named "The Library" (so students could tell their parents they were at "The Library" studying and it would be okay), he also was the man behind the Guts Frisbee league and also a winter road rally called the "Press On Regardless" or POR.  By the time I got to meet him, the Library was at it's pinnacle of popularity.  Jon was easing into retirement at this time, but occasionally you could find him behind the bar in those days. I can remember a night I spent perched on a barstool there, down in the dumps for reasons unremembered now, but Jon cheered me up like a good bartender can, with equal parts listening and encouragement and beer.  They had a great menu back then....excellent pizza which was all you can eat on Sundays for $5, and good sandwiches too, like the "James Beard" Reuben and the "BTO" which was what he called the best sandwich on the menu that no one ever orders but I did.   It was a bacon tomato onion sandwich.   The menu then looked like a book.   The place had red carpeting on the walls and a 1970s vibe and a low ceiling upstairs with a sign that admonished you to "Watch out you might get hit Ontonagon".   There was a guitar player named Gary Tunstall that played singalong songs like "Piano Man" and "American Pie" that the whole bar would stand up in unison and put their arms around each other and sing along in the pre-karaoke era.    Jon sold the place and the bar burned down in the 1990s and has been reincarnated as a microbrewery, and it's not the same as it once was anymore.   Jon passed away in 2007, but his memory lives on every MTU Winter Carnival during the Jon M. Davis Memorial Chili Run.   During the all nighter snow statue building, Jon would show up in a van and hand out cups of hot Library Bar chili to students throughout the night.   The MTU Alumni Association carries on this fine tradition to this day.

Another tradition is the house soup at the Library.  It is still Swiss Onion Au Gratin.  I've never seen this soup anywhere else ever, and I am not sure if it was a Jon Davis invention or something that came later, but it is still served today at the Library.   A taste of it takes me back to my student days for sure; it's a "must have" for MTU alums, along with a pickled egg from the B&B and a fishbowl drink at the Ambassador whenever we visit Houghton.  One of my sorority sisters worked at the Library and got the recipe for the soup, which I've scaled down here to make a smaller pot.   Whoever invented the recipe, my hat goes off to them because it's pure genius for a restaurant...costs nearly nothing to make and is a great way to use up stale rye bread.   I like to use double the onions the original recipe called out (just half them if you want the original quantity).  Also, don't be tempted to use real chicken stock or anything....this recipe needs the salty boost of soup base.    And definitely make your own rye croutons because they are so delicious.   In a pinch, I suppose you could use the Gardetto's Rye Chips.   Another note: over the years, I've found that soup base varies in concentration, so taste yours after adding the water and add more if it needs it.   I like Penzey's Chicken Soup Base, but also" Better Than Bouillon" will work.

Swiss Onion Au Gratin Soup
Serves 8

4 medium onions, diced
1 T. butter
1/4 c. chicken soup base
5 1/4 c. water, divided
3 T. white wine
1 t basil
1/2 c corn starch
2 c. whole milk

Croutons
1 pkg. cocktail rye bread (or stale rye bread cut into cubes)
Garlic powder
Shredded Swiss Cheese (for topping)

To make the croutons, heat vegetable oil (about a half inch depth) in a frying pan until hot.  Cut cocktail bread slices into quarters and fry in hot oil until crisp.  Sprinkle hot croutons with garlic powder to taste.

In a large dutch oven, saute onions in butter until soft.    Add soup base and 5 cups water (taste here to determine if more soup base needs to be added).   Add wine and basil and heat through.   With the remaining 1/4 c. water, make a slurry with the cornstarch and add to the soup, heat until thickened.   Whisk in milk and heat through.

Top bowls of soup with croutons and Swiss cheese.

Pinterest Prove Out: Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

My nest is now empty...my youngest has moved into his dorm and now I have all the spare time in the world to try out recipes.  Just kidding, I don't have that much spare time, but I am looking forward to trying out some of the many recipes I have pinned in my "recipes I want to try" board on Pinterest.  Due to my overzealous farmer's marketing, I ended up with a ton of Roma tomatoes, and my garden's basil was threatening to bolt, so it was time for me to try one of my pinned recipes for a roasted tomato soup.   The original recipe can be found here, and when I first looked at it, I immediately questioned a few things.   First, there was very precise weights for the tomatoes.   ...2 1/4 lbs of Romas,  1 1/4 lb cherry tomatoes. Then the onions to be sliced "just under" 1/2 inch,,,,and then 2 cups (32 grams) of lightly packed basil leaves.   This seemed a little too precise for me.   Plus, there was no way that many tomatoes were going to fit on one baking sheet.

So I decided to use my stoneware bar pan (13x9) for as many tomatoes as I could fit and my half sheet pan for as many onions as I could fit.  I tried roasting the tomatoes face up like the recipe suggested, but it really works better to do it face down to get the skins caramelized.   Also, DO NOT pull off the skins as suggested.  Roasting is the whole point of this recipe; pulling off the skins gets rid of all that flavor.  I cut my onions about 1/4 inch, and left them in slices so they wouldn't burn....

I roasted them for an hour and a half, not the 45 minutes suggested because they were just getting a little soft after that short of a time. I also had some oregano from the market to use, so I added that.  The recipe author suggested using an "emulsion" blender (I think she meant "immersion") but I found it easier to put the solids in a food processor instead.   I hate vegetable broth - it has a nasty aftertaste, so I just used water to thin it and it was fine.  To finish it off, I added a bit of sugar and some red wine vinegar to brighten it.   My husband can't have dairy, so I just made garlic toasts instead.  Delicious!

Here's how I changed the recipe to make it even better:

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
Ingredients
2 1/4 lbs Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise   About 15 medium Roma tomatoes cut in half
1 1/4 lbs Cherry tomatoes
4 1/2 Tbsp olive oil 1/4 c olive oil divided
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
8 cloves garlic,  minced
2 small yellow onions, sliced just under 1/2­inch thick  1/4 inch slice
2 cups (32g) lightly packed fresh basil leaves
1 cup basil leaves
1/2 cup oregano leaves
1.5 c. water
2 T sugar
2 T red wine vinegar
Grilled cheese croutons (optional), see notes  


Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with 3 Tbsp half
olive oil then season with salt and pepper (place Roma halves cut side upright down). Place onion
slices and garlic on a rimmed half sheet and toss brush with remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil on all
sides, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place baking sheet with tomatoes and half sheet with
onions in oven side by side and roast onions  1 1.2 hours. 30 ­ 35 minutes until edges are golden, and
tomatoes 40 ­ 45 minutes until golden. Peel away any burnt papery layers of onions if there are
any. Pull peels from tomatoes (I didn't do this with mine but later wished I would have so I'd
recommend it so the soup isn't loaded with peels. If you want some peel then I'd peel at least
half). Pour onions and tomatoes into a large pot. Add 4 cups vegetable broth and the basil.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.     In the large bowl of a food processor, pulse tomatoes, onions, herbs and garlic,  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes,
adding an additional 1 cup vegetable broth  water to thin as desired. Blend soup with an emulsion
blender or in small batches in a blender (only fill blender half full). Add sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste,   Float a small garlic toast on top if desired.

Summertime Corn Chowder

It's that time of year again....I have too many tomatoes, too much basil , green peppers, etc.   We seem to be eating BLTs all the time.   And the sweet corn!  I bought extra today because it was only $1.50 for a half dozen, with the idea that I'd make corn chowder for work lunch this week.   I googled around and all the recipes seemed too heavy with cream.   I wanted to use bacon (and a little bacon fat) instead.  I wanted something lighter, and to use up some of my garden extras.   Time to improvise....here's how I made my corn chowder.   I didn't to it this time, but could see even adding zucchini to this.  Perfect for summer!

2 strips bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup small diced green bell pepper
4-5 ears of sweet corn, kernels removed from the cobs (about 3 cups), cobs reserved (this can be cooked already)
4 cups milk, whole or low fat
1 cup diced potatoes (1/2 inch)
2 small zucchini, diced (optional)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 t. turmeric
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish
diced fresh tomatoes
basil leaves, cut into thin strip

Place chopped bacon into a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot. Heat on medium heat until the bacon slightly browns and renders its fat, 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped onions and bell pepper lower the heat to medium low and cook until vegetables soften. Break the corn cobs in half (after you've stripped off the corn) and add the cobs to the pot. Add the milk. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a bare simmer. Cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes. Make sure the heat is as low as can be and still maintain a gentle simmer.  After 20 minutes, add the potatoes, Increase the heat to return the soup to a simmer, then lower the heat to maintain the simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Discard the cobs add the corn kernels and zucchini and thyme and turmeric Again raise the heat to bring the soup to a simmer, then lower the heat and cook for another 5 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with tomatoes and basil.

Pasta e Fagioli soup

I don't eat at Olive Garden very often; I try to never eat at chain restaurants unless I have to do so.  I travel occasionally for work, and notice that most places that support manufacturing facilities often have every chain restaurant known to man and so I can expect to be invited dine at least one of them; Olive Garden is usually in the mix.  Or the inevitable Panera boxed lunch, or Subway.  Even factories in the middle of acres of cornfields often manage to provide a Panera boxed lunch (sub sandwich, cookie, chips, pop).  It must be part of Panera's business model to locate themselves near midwest industrial parks.    When I am asked for my preference, I always suggest that I'd like to try whatever the town's specialty is.    I don't get to travel to exciting locales, instead, I am usually going to a place that might end in "-ville".   My boss often adds "-ville" on the end of any city we are going to just for fun, even if it doesn't actually have it appended to it's name.  By asking about the local favorites, I find out about the local favorite salad dressing in Cozad, Nebraska or the delicious cream cheese filled blueberry muffin from a bakery in Montpelier, Ohio or the best takeout pizza in Cleveland.   If I was always eating at Panera or Starbucks, I would never have found these local food gems.   But sometimes, people think that the Olive Garden is the best restaurant in their town, so I will go there on occasion, but it's never my first choice.  I realized that perhaps I was a bit of a food snob when my son was going to the Olive Garden with a group for the homecoming dance, and he was concerned about it because he doesn't like olives and thought that is all they might feature there.   He was 15 years old and never had been to an Olive Garden in his entire life!  He made up for lost time - all during football season, he'd go there with his friends for team dinner because they really serve huge portions.

When I go to Olive Garden, I always get the same thing: the unlimited minestrone soup and salad.   I rarely eat pasta at restaurants....it's too easy to make at home.   I try to eat as many vegetables as possible on business  trips because it is really easy to gain weight eating out for 3 meals a day.    So I confess, I've never tried the original Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli soup, but when I was talking to my sister the other day, she said it was one of her favorites and she made a copycat version of it and thought it was great.   After eating tons of rich foods this holiday season, I thought soup would be a good meal for the day before Christmas Eve, so I trolled the internet for a recipe.   I found one that I thought I could start with, however I wanted to use dried beans instead of canned and increase their proportion.  Also, I thought it was silly to cook the pasta separately, so I changed that, too.   The result was a very good hearty soup; more like a chili and full of lots of vegetables.   The men in the house usually rebel as soup served as a meal, but I didn't get too many complaints this time!  It is very filling.

Pasta e Fagioli a la Mothers Kitchen

1 c dried red kidney beans
1 c dried great northern beans
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 14.5­ ounce cans diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 15­ ounce can tomato sauce
1 1/2 c V­8 juice
1 c. water
1/2 pound (1/2 pkg.) ditali pasta
1 T white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Cook dried beans your favorite way and drain.   My favorite way is to cover beans with water and pressure cook them for 25 minutes.  Meanwhile,  brown the ground beef and add vegetables, garlic and herbs and cook until vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes.   Add tomatoes, sauce and juice and cook for about 30 minutes.   Add water, beans and pasta and cook until pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes.  Add white vinegar and season with salt and pepper.   Serve with parmesan cheese.

Whiffletree Recipes

In my effort to preserve recipes from favorite Michigan restaurants, I'm posting a couple from one of Ann Arbor's favorites, the Whiffletree was on the corner of Huron and Ashley, and it burned down in the late 80s, before I lived here.   It was a favorite recipe of many locals; I am sorry I never had the chance to visit it.  Here are two recipes from Ann Arbor's Cookin' a Mott Children's Hospital fundraiser cookbook no longer in print.  I simplified them to make them more clear, but tried not to change them too much, however there are a few things I probably would do differently like just use egg yolks instead of the 2 whole eggs in the mousse. and fresh herbs in the gazpacho.

White Chocolate Mousse

Crust
3 c. vanilla wafers
1/2 c. butter, melted

In a food processor, process wafers until they are are crumbs.  Add melted butter and mix, press in the bottom of an 8 inch springform pan.

Filling
1 lb white chocolate
10 egg whites
4 c. heavy cream
2 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
3 oz. white creme de cacao

Chop white chocolate into small pieces and and in a medium size bowl, microwave on high in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted.  Set aside to cool to 95 F.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the 10 egg whites until stiff,  Then separately whip the cream until stiff peaks form.  In the bowl with the melted chocolate,  add the whole eggs, egg yolks and cream de cacao and whisk until smooth.    Add some of the egg whites and whipped cream and whisk it a little more, then fold in the remaining egg whites.   Pour mixture onto the crust and freeze.

Topping
1 lb frozen raspberries, thawed and strained.  

Top mousse with raspberry sauce.


Chilled Gazpacho Soup

1 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 small cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 med. green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 t.. basil
1 t. oregano
1/2 t, thyme
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. vred wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
1 tt. salt
1/2 t. ground cumin
8 oz. black olives, diced
15 oz. can whole tomatoes
1 fresh roma tomato
1 46 oz. can tomato juice

In a blender, add all ingredients except tomatoes.  Let stand 1 hour.   Add tomatoes and tomato juice.   Serve chilled, garnished with a slice of avocado, a spear of cucumber, ctourons and a dab of sour cream.

Kosmo's Hot and Sour Soup

There is a lunch counter in Kerrytown in Ann Arbor that is known the unofficial cafeteria of nearby Community High.   It serves an eclectic mix of Korean and diner food, most notably bi bim bop, which my children, who are now teenagers, still call "Korean breakfast", because that is what I told them it was when they were little.  It has a fried egg on top, so why not???

They do make outstanding bop (I prefer mine "Old School" style, sans egg but I get the pickled daikon instead) but I am sad to report they no longer offer the VERY BEST THING on their menu, which was their hot and sour soup.   Years ago, I wrote into the Ann Arbor News Kitchen Mailbox to ask them for the recipe - it's the one and only time I wrote into the Ann Arbor News for a recipe, and they came up short.  The owner of Kosmo wouldn't divulge it; so instead they offered up some weird recipe that included "wood ear" and other exotic ingredients.   I used to eat that soup every Saturday morning at about 7 am when I was doing my A2 Farmer's Marketing, and so when I perched on my usual stool at the lunch counter, the owner of Kosmo, whose name is Don, came out and asked me why I ordered it.  I told him it was my favorite and that I even went so far as to write the A2 News for the recipe.   He is a super nice guy and he took pity on me and told me the basics how to make it.    Just yesterday, I went there to get my usual breakfast and it's no longer on the menu.   That makes me sad, but the bop is SO GOOD, I just got that instead.   Here's how to make it at home, since you can no longer get it there....

Kosmo Style Hot and Sour Soup

1 lb. pork shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut in 1/2 in dice (I often just use pork tenderloin)
4 14 or 15 oz cans reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup grated carrots
2 small onions, sliced thin
3/4 c. white vinegar
10 small Thai chili peppers, diced  (you can use any hot pepper and it will work fine)
1 t. fresh ground black pepper
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1/2 brick extra firm tofu
1.4 c. reduced sodium soy sauce

Put the pork and the chicken broth in a crock pot and cook it for about 4 hours on low. Add the carrots, onions, peppers and pepper and let it cook for another 4 hours on low. Add the tofu and soy sauce and mushrooms and let it cook until the tofu was heated through.  Serve!  Warning: this stuff is habit forming.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Parmesan Dumplings

In Warren, Michigan, where I grew up in the 1970s, you were either Polish or Italian.   It was so cool to be Italian - all the popular kids were Italian.  The Italians had famous Hollywood characters like Rocky Balboa and Vinnie Barbarino.  There was the whole "Godfather"  thing, too.  Sadly, I was born on the Polish side of the tracks.  Instead of wearing Italian horn gold chain necklaces, and wearing 1st Holy Communion dresses that rivaled wedding dresses, we were the butt of all the Polish jokes.   We got called "Polacks" on the playground (it wasn't a compliment).   I secretly hoped my brown hair looked almost black like the girls in "in" crowd. In the summer, my singular goal was to work on my tan to transform my pale Eastern bloc complexion into something that looked a little more Mediterranean by laying out in the sun drenched in a homemade mixture of baby oil and mecuricome that allegedly guaranteed a deep dark tan.   I wanted to pass as an Italian.  

We Polish kids ate weird food, too.   Stuff like golapki (stuffed cabbage) and czernina (duck blood soup).  Besides sentencing me to a lifetime of uncoolness; being Polish also meant that I didn't get to eat the Italian foods that everyone else loved....fettucine alfredo, pasta carbonara, lasagna, etc.   After all, there was no commercial about kids running home to eat Polish food that we ate (like a big plate of kapusta with kielbasa); instead there was this one about a young Italian boy named Anthony:



While I have come to appreciate my own clan's food, the only true downside of being Polish is that I had never really tasted real Parmigiano Reggiano until I was an adult.    Sure, we had spaghetti, but we didn't have it every Wednesday like Anthony.  My mom made spaghetti with hamburger in it and sauce from a jar.  Of course, it was topped with the stuff in the green can...

Fast forward to my adult life. I was running late coming home from the office and I was supposed to bring an appetizer to a book club meeting.   No time to cook, so, I stopped by Morgan and York, a fine Ann Arbor purveyor of wine and cheese...or should I say cheese...cheese....CHEESE....

...and the young fellow behind the counter suggested I bring some Parmigiano Reggiano with a baguette and some of their wonderful aged balsamic vinegar they sell in bulk.  I blanched at the price of the cheese - after all, the real deal costs a lot more than the stuff in the green can. However, I was assured that I didn't need all that much cheese.  All that was needed was a little sliver of cheese and a thin slice of baguette dipped in some of that sweet and tart vinegar.   I tasted it and it was out of this world!  The book club ladies skipped everyone else's appetizers and went straight for my snack. I felt a little guilty because my contribution didn't even require cooking!  "This is so good!" they exclaimed.   My one friend, quite the food snob, sniffed, "This is real Parmigiano Reggiano, isn't it?  I can tell."  And she is right, you can tell.  It has an unrivaled texture and nutty taste.   Genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano is made only in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, following stringent guidelines. The milk used to make the cheese comes from cows that spend most of their days grazing in grassy meadows.  It must be made from April 15 to November 11 so that the cows from which the milk comes can graze only on fresh grass. It must be aged for a minimum of 14 months (though most are aged for 2 years) in wheels that weigh at least 66 pounds.

My friend Ann makes the most wonderful cheese dumplings.   When she gave me her recipe, she warned me not to use real parmesan cheese, saying that it wouldn't work, the dumplings fall apart.  "Use the stuff in the green can!" she admonished.   So use it I did, but I got to wondering if I could make them work with the real deal?  A quick scan of the ingredients of the green can showed that it contained cheese and something called "cellulose powder".  Wondering if that could be the secret, I Googled "cellulose powder" and found out it is "minuscule pieces of wood pulp or other plant fibers that coat the cheese and keep it from clumping" .  Yikes!  I didn't want to have to add sawdust to my dumplings....but I got to thinking that maybe the cellulose powder was acting as a thickening agent.  I tried adding a little cornstarch instead, and that did the trick.   They're perfect for this robust flavored tomato soup.   This recipe is wonderful and easy - to save even more time, buy finely grated Parmigiano Regiano.   I got some at Whole Foods, who are celebrating Parmageddon by simulaneously cracking into 400 wheels of cheese on March 9.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Parmesan Dumplings

For the soup
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
1 can (28 oz) roasted tomatoes (I used Whole Foods 365 Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes)
1 yellow squash, diced
1 zucchini, diced

For the dumplings
3/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (grated like powder, not shards)
1 t kosher salt
1/2 t corn starch
1 egg

In a 2 qt saucepan or Dutch oven, saute garlic in oil until fragrant.   Puree tomatoes (including the juice) in a blender until smooth.   Add to pan and heat until boiling, and then turn down to medium low heat.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Make the dumplings by mixing the egg, cheese, cornstarch and salt in a small bowl until combined.  Form 1/2 inch dumplings and drop them a few at a time into the hot tomato sauce.   Wait for them to puff up a bit and float before adding more.  

When all the dumplings are adding, cover and cook over a medium low fire for 5 minutes.  Resist the urge to stir - the dumplings will break up - however if a few break, it's okay. 

  







Add the squash and stir gently to combine.  Cover and cook for 5 more minutes, or until squash is soft.

    










That's it!  Couldn't be simpler....it's great as it is or even better topped with some additional cheese.   Delizioso or Smaczne as we say in Polish!

Turkey Soup with Lemon and Barley

Pinterest has been such a blessing to me - I can pin recipes I think I want to try....and yesterday, I saw this one that my friend Kate had posted.   I already had prepared a turkey stock - the last thing I do each Thanksgiving is to throw the carcass with whatever meat is left on it in the slow cooker with an onion and a carrot and a bay leaf or two, and let it cook on low all night.   The following morning, I pick off the meat and save the stock to make soup.   But after a couple Thanksgiving dinners now, I am getting tired of the traditional Thanksgiving flavors.  I made nachos for lunch and for dinner, I tried my hand at this soup, and it is terrific.  It tastes light and lemony.   It's just what I need after a couple days of really heavy eating.

Turkey Soup with Lemon and Barley

printer friendly

3 T olive oil

1 large onion,  minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and black pepper

1 t ground turmeric

1/2 t ground cumin

1/2 t ground ginger

Juice of a lemon (about 3 to 4 Tbsp)

Strips of lemon zest, from one lemon - peel it with a vegetable peeler

6 cups turkey stock or chicken stock

1 cup barley

Whatever leftover turkey you have kicking around

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a heavy pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion and cook until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in the chopped garlic and cook another minute, then mix in the turmeric, cumin, ground ginger and a generous pinch of salt.

Pour in the lemon juice and turkey stock and turkey and add the strips of lemon zest. Bring to a simmer, then add the barley. Simmer gently until the barley is cooked, about an hour. 

When the barley is cooked through, add the cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste. Remove the lemon zest strips before serving.

Autumnal Equinox

 

This week, I could definitely feel the seasons turn.  It seems like overnight, my tomato plants started to look past their prime, and there was a cold snap in the air that came upon us on Friday evening and hasn't yet left us.  We closed the windows and pondered putting on the furnace, but I hate to give the summer up yet.    The average fall frost date for my area is October 2, which means I should have a couple weeks left.    Sure, we are guaranteed a spell of Indian summer - I can remember kayaking in 80 degree heat last year in late October, but for now, it feels like fall for sure. 

 

According to Greek mythology/Druid/Pagan/Wiccan culture, on the autumnal equinox is a time of celebration.  I'm no expert in paganism, but the festival is called Mabon, and it is a time to recognize balance, since the earth is equally in darkness and in light on the equinox. 

 

 

Being a Catholic, I have always appreciated how the early church borrowed from the pagan calendar for it's feast days.   Thus, the feast of St. Michael (Michaelmas) became associated with the autumnal equinox.   According to the Feast Day Cookbook by Katherine Burton and Helmut Ripperger, Michaelmas is to be celebrated with eating a roast goose - in fact, it is said that Queen Elizabeth had learned of the defeat of the Spanish Armada while she was eating her Michaelmas goose.   In Scotland, the custom was to eat St. Michael's bannock, a buttermilk cake that looks interesting. I'll have to try making it some day. 

 

For me, I am celebrating the equinox by making curried cauliflower soup. I love making this soup this time of year - it's a beautiful chartreuse color and it has a spicy kick that lends well to the chill in the air.   Plus there's a ton of cauliflower at the farmer's market this time of year.   Enjoy! 

Curried Cauliflower Soup

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1 head cauliflower cut into florets
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt
1 tablespoon butter
3 onions, sliced 1 inch thick
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
4 cups water
2 cups reduced-sodium canned chicken or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 450°. On a baking sheet, toss cauliflower with vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Spread out, and roast until the florets turn brown, about 25 minutes.


2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in curry powder, cauliflower, water, and broth; cover, and bring to a boil. Uncover, lower heat, and simmer 5 minutes.


3. Using a slotted spoon, transfer 3 cups cauliflower to a bowl, and set aside. Put remaining florets into a blender or food processor, add 1 teaspoon salt, and process until smooth. Stir purée into broth in pan, and reheat if necessary. Ladle soup into bowls, and top with reserved florets and parsley.

Chickpea and Leek Soup

I have been a longtime fan of Christopher Kimball.   I always liked when he was a part of "Turkey Confidential" with Lynn Rosetto Kasper.    For some reason,  I don't like him so much on TV,  when he hosts America's Test Kitchen on PBS.  I don't want to sound superficial, it's just that he is rather nerdy looking with his Harry Potter-esque glasses.   The effect is that he comes off as the annoying guy you knew from college that sits in the front row of every class, brown nosing the professor, like   he knows more than you do.  Heck, he probably does know more than I do, but I don't want to feel that way. I much prefer Kimball's writing - as the editor of Cook's Illustrated, I've always enjoyed his essays at the beginning of the magazine entitled Letter from Vermont, which are more about Vermonter's life philosophy and less about knowing everything.   I realize I am applying a double standard - maybe those celebrity chefs that are also "eye candy" can get away with talking like they know more than I do. 

Over the holiday break, I got lots of cookbooks out of the library and a big stack were Chris Kimball books.  I am liking the tone of his cookbooks - much more user friendly and personal than the magazine or the TV show.   In the one I am reading now, Kitchen Detective,  he writes about what recipes inspire him, and then he goes out to make them even better.   That's how I like to work in the kitchen as well.    Plus, there's little folksy witticisms laced throughout....it's a great cookbook.  I might have to buy it.   He said he was inspired by Jamie Oliver's chickpea soup recipe from the Naked Chef, another cookbook I need to get out of the library soon.   Talk about eye candy!  You be the judge....somehow, even though Jamie's always telling me how to cook and eat as well, I seem to take it better. 

Looks notwithstanding, I tried Kimball's chickpea soup and I liked that he used dried chickpeas instead of canned (or "tinned", as Jamie Oliver called them in his recipe), and he garnished his with the stuff you put on top of osso bucco, a dish made of veal shank I once made that no one but me would eat here at our house.   The official name of that stuff is gremolata and it is wonderful with this soup.  Kimball insists that the soup is better with homemade chicken stock, which is how I made mine because I had some in the freezer, but the "tinned" stuff would do just fine.    Here's my take on it:

Chickpea and Leek Soup
printer friendly recipe
Makes enough for about 6 people

2 c. dried chickpeas, rinsed, picked over and soaked overnight
1 t. kosher salt
2 T. butter
2 T. olive oil
2 leeks - white and light green parts, cut in half lengthwise and sliced
3 cans chicken broth - like Cook's Illustrated, I like Swanson's Natural Goodness (low sodium)
4 medium potatoes, peeled diced in 1/2 inch pieces

For the gremolata
1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
zest of 2 lemons
2 cloves garlic, minced

Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Prepare the chickpeas by draining them and cooking them in a quart of cold water with the salt until they are tender - about 30 minutes.  Drain.   Melt the butter and olive oil in a dutch oven and add the leek and saute until soft.   Add chickpeas, chicken broth and potato pieces.  Cook until the potatoes are tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

To make the gremolata, chop parsley and add lemon zest and garlic, and chop together until fine.   Garnish soup with gremolata and fresh grated Parmesan cheese.    This soup was wonderful on a cold winter'd day like today.   I can't call it a "pantry soup" like Chris Kimball did - because I had to run out and buy some leeks.  I had some leftover flat leaf parsley from another recipe, but that isn't something I'd have on hand.   I did have some Meyer lemons, which I keep in the fridge, just as Cook's Illustrated told me to.  They stay fresh a long time in the fridge.   Thanks for the tip Chris, maybe YOU DO know more than I do!

The robin and split pea soup

Hospice care...it's not what I thought it would be.  I thought it would be that they would send a nurse to sit with my mother and then she would summon us when "the time" was upon us, and then we kids would assemble and hold my mother's hand and tell her it was "okay" for her to die, and then she would.   That's not actually how it works - actually, how it works is that a nurse comes every other day and a social worker comes out every once in a while,  and there are what are called "comfort measures" made,  but really, you have to be there for it to administer the "comfort measures" (i.e. Ativan, morphine and a whole cornucopia of drugs).   My sister is there the most, because she lives the closest and my brother just started a job that requires lots of hours.  I live 50 miles away.  We have a caregiver we've hired to take care of my dad (who actually needs more care than my mom) and she spends a lot of time being there with both of them and we are blessed because we have Geri there, but Geri is off in the afternoons, so I am going to start being there in the afternoon.  I am blessed again because I can work wherever there's a phone and a computer.

Today I was there for my afternoon shift, trying to get my computer to work so I could work tomorrow, and I was making some split pea soup.  My sister left a meaty hambone in the fridge for me, thinking that my mom might like some.  It's her favorite soup.   So, I brought some peas and some carrots, onions and garlic to try to make some soup.   But she was too sick to eat any...she couldn't even drink water to take her pills.  As I was giving her the liquid morphine, or as they call it, the "comfort measures", I noticed a robin calling to me out the front window.   The robin was there, right on the front lawn I used to lay down on and look up into the branches of the maple tree on the easement and wonder what I would be doing in the year 2000 when I would be 36 years old.    Now, at 46 years old, the robin was in the same spot.   It was trying to get my attention, walking back and forth and crying out as I looked out across the street to the house where my childhood best friend used to live.  The robin kept coming closer and calling to me....it was strange.   Geri came and said "Look, that robin is still there!"  She said it was there all morning; even when my sweet nephew was cutting the grass, it wouldn't get out of the way.   

When my mother in law was dying of cancer, she pondered if there was a hereafter....she was a very religious woman, and I aske her if there was, would she show me a sign?  She said she would.   I'd like to say I received some more clear cut evidence, but one thing I noticed was the birds.  Right after she died, a pheasant showed up at our house for a couple weeks, and it seemed like it was looking out after us.   It would be staring out over the hill when my husband came home from work; it would be staring down the kids when they got off the school bus.  My husband thought it was his dad, who had passed away  years earlier.  He really felt it was him checking up on us.  My father in law loved wood carving birds.  And now today, there was the robin.   I really feel it was my mother in law, checking up on me, just like she said she would.

Here's my recipe for split pea soup.  It's a great dish for winter time....it felt odd to make it when it was 80 degrees out, but it was always my mother's favorite. 

Split Pea Soup

4 carrots, diced
1 c. chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 lb. dried split peas, rinsed and sorted
1 meaty ham bone or a couple smoked ham hocks

Saute vegetables and garlic until onion is soft.   Add peas, pork and enough water to cover.  Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until peas are soft.   Remove bones and pick off meat and add back to the soup.