easy french onion soup

Okay, so here comes the second soup post in a row.  But that's because I could probably eat soup every other day.  And it's an easy meal to make hearty and yet vegetarian.  The soup I made used chicken broth, but could easily be made with a nice homemade veggie broth.  I keep scraps of veggies and chicken or other meat bones in large bags in the freezer, then when I need broth, I just pop the contents of the bag into the crock pot, covered with water, and cook it on low for 18-24 hours.  How long you let it go depends on how strong you want your broth and how stinky you are willing to let your house get.  Ha.

french onion soup on Matt's grandma's handmade hotpad

I liked that this recipe was simple, but I thought it was just a tad bit too simple, so I added a couple of garlic cloves and some dried thyme to the onions.  Then it seemed just right.

 you know it's good--look at that doggy snout trying to get at it!

Quick, Light French Onion Soup
slightly adapted from Serious Eats
serves 4

1 pound sweet white or yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 tsp dried thyme
2 cups dry white wine, such as Muscadet
2 tablespoons butter
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock, preferably homemade

1 bay leaf
4 slices crusty bread or baguette
2 cups (5 ounces) freshly grated Gruyere cheese

Preheat the oven to 500°F. Combine the onions, garlic, thymewine, butter, and a large pinch of salt in a baking dish and cook, uncovered, until the wine is absorbed almost completely into the onions, and they are tender and golden, 45 minutes or perhaps a little longer.

In the meantime, bring the chicken or vegetable stock and bay leaf to a simmer in a large saucepan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

When the onions are finished, divide them among 4 deep broiler-safe bowls. Cover the onions with chicken stock to fill the bowls, and place a slice of bread on each. Distribute the grated cheese over the bread and broil until the cheese is golden and bubbling, 2 to 3 minutes. 

 

early spring warmth

We're still at a point in the spring season where we'll see chilly and rainy and generally miserable days, so I still need soup.  But I'm definitely getting to the point where I want lighter, more vegetable-based foods.  This soup provided a nice balance.

I love Cook's Country's take on posole, but I can only take that fatty, pork-filled stew so often.  This potato soup begins with a similar pureed onion and chili base.  I opted for a can of crushed fire-roasted tomatoes instead of crushed fresh, but if you have nice fresh tomatoes around, go for it.

I also wanted to add another texture or flavor, and debated between frozen sweet corn or hominy.  I decided on hominy this time to keep the flavors smoky and earthy like the pork posole.  If I make this later into the spring or summer it would be nice to use frozen or fresh sweet corn to brighten up the whole soup.

Mexican Potato Soup

adapted from Serious Eats

1 lb boiling potatoes, peeled and diced (about 2 cups)
Kosher salt 

28-oz can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes or 3 large red ripe tomatoes, about 1 1/4 pounds, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 canned chipotle in adobo sauce, coarsely chopped
2 c homemade chicken or vegetable stock (of course, go for veggie broth if you want it vegetarian)

28-oz can hominy (optional)
1/3 c cilantro, finely chopped

Place in large saucepan and cover with water by about three inches. Season water with salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender but firm to the bite (potatoes will cook further in step 2). Drain potatoes and set aside. Meanwhile, blend tomatoes, onion, garlic, and chipotle pepper in blender at high speed until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Pour tomato mixture into large saucepan. Add vegetable stock and potatoes. Stir to combine and season to taste with salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are completely tender, about 7 to 8 minutes. For thicker broth, mash a few potatoes against side of pot with wooden spoon. Add cilantro and hominy (if using) simmer for 2 minutes longer, or until hominy is warm. Serve immediately with extra cilantro and sour cream (I use Greek yogurt) as desired. 

 

new favorite

The people at Cook's Country magazine come across as mad food scientists.  They make and remake and mess with and test a recipe so many times that it makes me impatient just reading about it.  The result is typically a reliable recipe, but sometimes involves ingredients I'd rather not keep on hand (anybody keep apple brandy in the cabinet??).

In the case of their "New Mexican Pork Stew", the result is a delicious and fairly simple posole.  When deciding to make this recipe, I did something I really shouldn't do.  I decided to make an ethnic dish from a recipe when I had never tasted any other version of the dish, good or bad.  I've attempted this foolishness with varied results.  Spanikopita was only so-so.  Korean bulgogi was actually pretty great.  And so was this posole.  The problem is, I don't know whether these recipes even begin to approximate the authentic dish.  If you're some kind of posole expert, please enlighten me.  I guess when it comes right down to it, I don't particularly care--this stew is that good.

Many meals in our home either start out spicy or get some kind of spice added to them later (red pepper flake, jalapenos, sambal).  This was not one of those meals, and yet we both found it immensely satisfying.  The ancho chiles, which Wikipedia tells me are a dried poblano, are not particularly spicy.  Instead, they are smoky and earthy.  Between the chiles and the intensely corny hominy, this dish reminds me of the first particularly earthy Mexican dish I ate, a tortilla soup at La Mestiza in Madison.  This is one recipe that will be going into our regular rotation.

One major benefit of Cook's Country (and they don't pay me to say this) is the mad scientist's report on the process which led to the recipe.  While mind-bogglingly involved, it does provide the justification for each step of the recipe that might seem unnecessary, like, say, browning hominy.  Steps that I might be tempted to skip, which would be very silly of me.  I will not be typing up Cook's Country's introduction to the recipe.  Just trust me and follow the directions.  As a side-note, the pork ribs from our butcher had little bones in a few of them, but they had no adverse effect.  Just pull them out when you shred the pork.  Also, my grocery store doesn't carry 15-ounce cans of hominy, so I went with two huge 28-ounce cans.  The more hominy, the better, I say.

New Mexican Pork Stew (Posole)
from Cook's Country-January 2011

3/4 oz dried ancho chiles (about 3 chiles)
8 c low-sodium chicken broth (I used homemade)
2 lbs boneless country-style pork ribs
salt & pepper
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 (15-oz) cans white hominy, rinsed and drained well
2 onions, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tbsp lime juice
chopped avocado, cabbage, and radishes for serving (optional)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place chiles on baking sheet and bake until puffed and fragrant, about 6 minutes.  When chiles are cool enough to handle, remove seeds and stems.  Combine chiles and 1 cup broth in medium bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and microwave until bubbling, about 2 minutes.  Let stand until softened, 10 to 15 minutes.

Pat pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Heat 2 tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking.  Cook pork until well browned all over, about 10 minutes.  Transfer pork to plate.  Add hominy to now-empty pot and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and hominy begins to darken 2 to 3 minutes.  Transfer hominy to medium bowl.

Heat remaining oil in now-empty pot over medium heat until shimmering.  Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Puree onion mixture with softened chile mixture in blender.  Combine remaining broth, pureed onion-chile mixture, pork, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon sald, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in now-empty pot and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until meat is tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Transfer pork to clean plate.  Add hominy to pot and simmer, covered, until tender, about 30 minutes.  Skim fat from broth.  When meat is cool enough to handle, shred into bite-sized pieces, discarding fat.  Return pork to pot and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.  Off heat, add lime juice.  Season with salt and pepper.

Posole can be refrigerated in airtight container for 3 days.  We did not really skim the fat off the soup, thus the shiny spots in the photo.  We did, however, scrape some of the congealed, bright-orange fat off the top of our leftovers before reheating.  Only some though.  Matt's turned me into an animal-fat fan.

1 chicken 4 ways: number 4

Finally I'm getting around to telling you how I finished using the beer-can chicken--after about a month of avoiding it.  Whenever I make a whole chicken, the last step is using the bones to make chicken broth.  I made a summery zucchini basil soup from the last batch of broth.  If you've got zucchini coming out of your ears, this is a great way to use quite a few up.  I happened to be overrun with pattypan squashes at that time, and they worked just as well.  I wasn't happy with any of the available recipes that I found, so I combined a couple.

Creamy Basil Summer Squash Soup
adapted from myrecipes and epicurious

This soup gets nice and creamy and tastes like summer.  We liked it topped with grated parmesan, roasted red pepper strips, and pine nuts.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 lbs zucchini or other summer squash, chopped (about 6-8 cups)
4 c reduced-sodium or homemade chicken broth
1 c loosely-packed rinsed basil leaves
2-4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
salt


Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add squash and cook another 2 minutes; then add chicken broth and 1 cup basil leaves. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 20 minutes.  Purée the soup in batches in a blender. Pour the soup through a strainer into a bowl, using a ladle to push any solid bits through. Add the cayenne pepper. Season with salt to taste.

1 chicken 3 ways: the final chapter

Tonight, last week's chicken finished its journey in a pot of spring vegetable soup.


I made the stock for this soup earlier in the week. I'm enjoying this newly developed habit of making slow-cooker stock after finishing a chicken meal. Once we cleaned the chicken off all of the bones, I threw them into the crock pot with vegetables and water and let it go overnight. Then I chilled the stock, drained off the fat, and made a quick vegetable soup with it. My only issue with the soup was that the herbs I added were somewhat harsh. If I had better planned ahead, I would have thrown herb stems in while the stock was cooking. Always use herb stems only as the leaves get weird and gross.

All of these things are optional and can be adjusted to fit the recipe you'll be making with the stock. I always use onion, carrot, garlic, and peppercorns, then add some aromatics. For Asian cooking, I used pieces of ginger. For Mexican cooking, I put in cilantro stems. I like the suggestion from Nourishing Days to keep carrot, onion, and celery scraps in a bag in your refrigerator or freezer until it's time to make stock. I'm sure this could be vegetable broth if you wanted to leave out the chicken, though I've never tried it.

Chicken Stock
adapted from Nourishing Days

leftover chicken carcass (plus uncooked wings if you have them from a cut-up chicken)
1 large carrot or 2-3 small ones, peeled and trimmed
1-2 celery stalks or leftover tops, roughly chopped
1 small or 1/2 large onion, roughly chopped
peppercorns
4-6 garlic cloves, peeled
stems from herbs such as thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage, or marjoram (or whatever you have!)
1-2 tbsp of any vinegar (I used apple cider for this one, rice wine and plain white for others)
1-2 tsp kosher salt (optional, depending on what you'll make with the stock--don't salt if you'll be making risotto)

Dump everything in a small crock pot. Fill to the top with filtered water. It is suggested that you let it sit for an hour to allow the vinegar to extract minerals from the bones--I've been too impatient to wait quite that long. Then put the slow cooker on low. I've let mine go for 20-24 hours, which makes a pretty dark and strong stock. I've read that others only go for 8-12. I think you can do whatever's convenient for you. Let cool, strain out the solids, and refrigerate. When the fat has congealed on top, strain again to separate the fat and either use or freeze for later use.

Spring Vegetable Soup
adapted from Spring Chicken Soup in Real Simple, April 2007

homemade chicken broth (above)
1 large turnip or 4-6 baby turnips, scrubbed and cubed
4 carrots and 4 parsnips, peeled and sliced into coins
8 oz asparagus, sliced into 1-in pieces (I didn't have this)
10 oz frozen or fresh green beans
1 beefsteak tomato, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Heat chicken broth in soup pot until simmering. Add vegetables and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper as needed and serve with crusty bread.

corn chowder

smoky chipotle-chicken corn chowder

In the search for recipes that will use up the piles of corn that we get every week (not that I'm complaining!), I rediscovered this easy recipe for a really tasty, thick corn chowder. I like to use fresh corn in this while it's so tender, but the frozen kernels work fine too. This would also be a hearty vegetarian option if you used vegetable broth and omitted the chicken. It's a great soup for these days when fall is not quite here, but I am wanting something warm and hearty.

5 tbsp olive oil
1 lg onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves
1 chipotle chili in adobo, chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped (I always leave this out!)
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt and black pepper
20 white or yellow tortilla chips
1 quart chicken stock
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 10-oz boxes frozen corn kernels (or kernels cut from 3-4 ears)
limes, sour cream (we use plain yogurt), and cilantro for serving


Preheat a soup pot over medium-high heat with 2 tbsp of the oil. Add the onions, garlic, chipotle, celery (if using), coriander, cumin, and a little salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes or until onions are slightly tender, stirring frequently.


While the onions are cooking, put the chips in a resealable plastic bag and smash them up using a rolling pin. You can use a food processor too, but I rarely want to go to the work of getting that out and cleaning it up. In the end, you need about 1 cup of ground chips, so vary the amount of chips you grind accordingly.

Add the ground chips to the onions, stir to combine, then add chicken stock, bring it up to a bubble, and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add the chicken and corn and continue to cook it for 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through (it seems weird, but the chicken will actually cook this way).

If the soup becomes too thick, adjust it by adding a little more stock, and if it is too thin, let it continue to cook and reduce it until it is to your liking. Taste and check for seasing, adjust with a little salt and pepper. Garnish with cilantro, and serve with plain yogurt (sour cream) to cut the heat and lime wedges to squeeze in.

adapted from Rachel Ray's Express Lane Meals

spring vegetables

We've gotten our second CSA box and I'm really enjoying cooking with the fresh, local ingredients. Here are a couple of meals I've made this week:

This sandwich is one way we've taken advantage of asparagus season. The lemon aioli is very tasty.

California asparagus sandwich with roasted red peppers

Tonight we made a creamy potato soup that used up most of our many young onions. Also, we have quite a bit of spinach that we used to make our salad.

hot bacon spinach salad & scallion potato corn soup

It's been wonderful to use these veggies knowing what ground they've grown in, and that our money funded their growth directly. I like taking the middle man out of my food purchasing.