Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

Simply put, I love lentils and lentil soups.  I realized at some point last week that I hadn't yet made a lentil soup this winter, and when I came across this recipe on Heidi's 101 Cookbooks site I knew it had to be the next soup I made.

Rather than calling for the brown/green lentil that most people associate with "lentil" that results in a brown - and let's face it - bland-looking soup, this recipe uses lentils common to Indian cuisine.  I used to cook alot of Indian cuisine and have a supply of these lentils that I keep around.  This recipe calls for two kinds that I had on hand, masoor dal (small flat salmon-colored lentils) and chana dal, or yellow split peas (larger and yellow).  The salmon-colored lentils turn yellow when cooking and essentially disintegrate, so you would be disappointed if you thought you would still have pink individual lentils left after cooking them.  The chana dal is meatier and retains its shape and some firmness even when cooked through.


What attracted me to this particular lentil soup were the rest of the ingredients.  The base of the soup has some coconut milk added.  This was intriguing to me, because I associate use of coconut milk with Thai cuisine, so thought this might be some tasty amalgamation of the two cuisines.  My friend Sushma, who I would consider an authority on authentic Indian cuisine, tonight confirmed that coconut milk would not be found in any traditional Indian cuisine, though fresh coconut might.  So we agreed that this recipe must have just been someone's culinary creativity at work with yummy results.

The recipe can be found at:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/coconut-red-lentil-soup-recipe.html
It is quite straightforward but fun to make, and it left the house smelling just fabulous - of fresh ginger and curry.  After softening the lentils, a fragrant mix of green onion, fresh ginger, golden raisins, tomato paste and curry powder is added to the lentils along with the coconut milk.  Sauteing those ingredients together was quite unique and my favorite part of making this dish.


Once those ingredients are added to the lentils together with the coconut milk, the soup is a creamy orange color that is very visually appealing.


The recipe suggests allowing the soup to simmer for 20 minutes or so with the lid off to thicken the soup.  It starts off relatively thin, and I knew that I wanted a thick soup.  So I ended up simmering for probably an additional hour before I felt it was sufficiently thick.

Once again I ended up not eating the soup until the following day.  On Sunday night when I made it I was having my last serving of the White Wine Coq au Vin.  http://redcucina.blogspot.com/2013/01/white-wine-coq-au-vin.html  As an aside, I must say that recipe was a big winner.  It was impressively good every time I had some.  A keeper I'll be making again.

I came home at the end of the next day to a house still smelling of curry, and I reheated the soup with much anticipation.  I served it topped with a generous amount of freshly chopped cilantro and green onion.  I happened to have an Alsatian pinot gris on hand which was a great accompaniment.


This soup is really good.  The flavors developed significantly between the first and second day, and it did not need any additional seasoning.  I have greatly enjoyed it both of the times I've had it, and I can't wait for Wayne to try it when he gets home tomorrow as I think he'll really like it as well.  Here's to another vegetarian soup that is flavorful and satisfying yet quite easy to make!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

White Wine Coq au Vin

It is so delightful to have a 3-day weekend so soon after the winter holiday break.  It's been a pretty low-key one as I fight the sore throat I succumbed to (likely infectors will not be implicated here).  I'd much rather have a sore throat than head cold/congestion when I lose my sense of smell.  Not being able to taste and enjoy food is a total downer for me, and that is when I get whiny about being sick.

Fortunately that is not the case currently, so today I embarked on a recipe that piqued my interest when I saw it on My Recipes last month.  It's a recipe from Sunset for white wine coq au vin:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/white-wine-coq-au-vin-10000001947684/
It was billed as a "fresher, green herb-laced version of the original French classic".  Truth be told, I've never made the real deal coq au vin with red wine.  But this sounded like a lighter version, and it had a couple ingredients in it that got me excited - herbes de provence (a wonderful blend that includes a bunch of green herbs and also lavender - smells wonderful) and tarragon (which is an herb that smells to me like fennel or anise - which I love).

So here is most everything (but the chicken!) before I started.  Note the use of a French burgundy for the wine.  The recipe calls for a "chardonnay", and I couldn't imagine a heavily oaked chardonnay from California would be the right choice.  I wonder what would even happen to that stuff if you heated it to try to cook with it.  Seems unpleasant.


The recipe is pretty straightforward.  The herb-coated chicken looked and smelled fantastic after browning in the bacon fat.  There was alot of burnt flour - (notice how that is euphemistically called "browned bits" in recipes ) - on the bottom of Le Creuset after browning all the chicken, but it all came up easily while the vegetables were sauteing.  Note that I added a medium sized potato cut into 3/4-inch chunks when I added the broth, wine, chicken and bacon.  I knew that the recipe only called for 15 minutes of simmering time, and that the broth would likely still be pretty thin without the potato.  It worked really well, as in 15 minutes it had already thickened.


While the soup was simmering I warmed up some of the Acme Italian Batard, my absolute favorite soup and stew accompaniment.


Freshly chopped Italian parsley and tarragon are added immediately prior to serving.  We paired it with the white burgundy that was the vin of the coq au vin.


It was really flavorful for such a short cooking time.  And the flavors are so... French!  With the bacon, white wine and herbs, it tastes distinctively like French cuisine.  We really liked it.  I think that adding the potato was a great idea to make the broth thick enough the first day of serving, as it was pretty thin before the 15 mins of simmering.  In the absence of potato, it might be best to wait until the day after you cook it for it to set and thicken overnight before serving - if you can resist with all the good smells in the house!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

THE BEST MEATBALLS EVER

I realize I am venturing outside the soup and stew realm in posting about meatballs.  But I can't not share something this good.

Wayne and I had these meatballs (exactly one each) during the Russian River Valley Wine & Food Affair in November.  For a little more info on that fun event, see http://redcucina.blogspot.com/2012/12/turkey-and-white-bean-chili.html and
http://www.wineroad.com/events/wine_and_food_affair/6
They were serving them at Mill Creek Vineyards.  At the time, and after sampling only one meatball, I proclaimed they were THE BEST MEATBALLS EVER.  (more accurately, it was THE BEST MEATBALL EVER).  I am pretty darn fond of the meatballs at Barbacco in San Francisco, so I took that judgment seriously.  I have now made them myself twice, and there is no doubt about their status.

So with no further ado...

These meatballs have alot of tasty ingredients in them that make them so good.  That is onion, garlic, parmigiano reggiano, basil, pepper and currants in there.


Part of what makes them so good in my opinion is that they have both beef and Italian sausage in them. Egg, milk and bread crumbs help hold them together and keep them really moist.  Note Le Creuset in the background at the ready to do some browning.


The meatballs are browned on all sides in batches (this is what takes a LONG time), then baked in the oven to cook them through.  There is also a simple tomato sauce to make to go with them.  I don't think you want or need to have a large amount of sauce with these. Just a little to keep them moist.

After browning and baking, I put them all in Le Creuset with some warm sauce on top to head over to Mike and Shirley's for the Patriots game.  In our haste to leave, I didn't think to take a picture of the finished product.  At Shirley's my Le Creuset had the opportunity to become acquainted with hers as they sat on adjacent burners on the stove while the meatballs rewarmed a bit.  Unfortunately I failed to capture that special moment in a photo. Hers is colored Marseille, which is my other favorite Le Creuset color.

The meatballs were very well received.  I was really happy that Shirley liked them, as I was making them at her request.  Shirley is an extremely good cook - both how she cooks and what she cooks - and I love when she cooks for me.  I eat so much that I end up in pain or passed out in a food coma every time.  But this makes me very happy!  So it was really fun to have her enjoy them so much and give back.

Note that the quantity below will make about two dozen meatballs.  I think if you are going to go through the effort, you'll want to make at least a double batch.  I made a double batch of the meatballs with a single batch of sauce, and it was just right.  You want just a little bit of sauce clinging to the meatballs and keeping them moist.  And you want to taste the flavors of the meatballs.

Nonna's Italian Meatballs
Chef Ken Rochioli

1/3 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons milk   [I used whole]
1/3 cup fresh Parmesan cheese   [I used parmigiano reggiano]
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 egg
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage
1/2 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons pine nuts   [it is critical to chop these or they come off during browning]
2 tablespoons dried currants

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the bread crumbs and milk in a medium bowl and let them stand 5 minutes [I try to break it up well so you don't have a big clump].  Add the Parmesan, onions, basil, egg, garlic, pepper, sausage, ground beef, pine nuts and currants, and blend well [I blend it really thoroughly with gloved hands.  The entire mixture should hold together well when thoroughly blended].  Using wet [or gloved] hands, form the mixture into balls [I go for slightly larger than golfball size].  Saute the meatballs in a nonstick pan over medium heat until they're uniformly browned [this is done in batches, and I use a little olive oil for the first batch so they don't stick].  Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.  [Break open a meatball after 10 minutes to check whether cooked all the way through.  I've found it may take 15-20 minutes at the size I've made].

Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
28 ounce can diced tomatoes
4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottom pot over medium-low heat.  Add the onions and saute until they're golden, approximately 10 minutes.  Add the garlic, stir the pot for one minute, then add the tomatoes and their juice, and half of the basil, and bring them to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce on low heat until it thickens - at least half an hour.  Mix in the remaining basil and season with salt and pepper.

Monday, January 14, 2013

White Bean Soup

Wayne and I had a busy weekend this past weekend.  We had his company holiday party to attend Saturday night, and we planned to watch the Patriots game over at Mike and Shirley's on Sunday.  For the latter I was planning to make THE BEST MEATBALLS EVER (recipe at http://redcucina.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-best-meatballs-ever.html).  So on Saturday afternoon I wanted to make our soup for the week, and I was looking for something relatively quick.

A couple months ago my friend Helen had pointed me in the direction of a White Bean Soup recipe by Williams-Sonoma, and I'd been wanting to give it a try.  For Christmas I had been given a bunch of cool new toys for the red cucina, including a super neat can opener (who knew they were still innovating that kind of thing!) and an immersion blender.  The latter I had been wanting to get because it's such a pain to puree anything hot.  You're supposed to let the soup cool somewhat first, but I'm way too impatient for that.  Ladling hot liquid into a food processor only to have hot steam and soup spray go everywhere is a messy and potentially dangerous proposition.  The immersion blender promised to make pureeing a delightful and fast experience done directly in Le Creuset.

The other improvement to my instruments de cuisine was that I finally got all of my knives sharpened last week.  They were in terrible need.  A local grocer called Piazza's has this great knife sharpening service I recently learned about.  You drop off your knives, and each Tuesday they have a mobile knife sharpener come and sharpen them for $7 each.  Then you pick them up when convenient.  Simply fantastic!

So with my immersion blender and freshly sharpened knives at the ready, I embarked upon this recipe:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/white-bean-soup.html

The soup has a large amount of flavor for the few ingredients in it.  You start out with some chopped pancetta to flavor the oil and season the sauteing vegetables.


It's quite fast to soften all the vegetables and get to the point of adding the seasonings, beans and broth.


After a bit of simmering it is time for the immersion blender to do its thing.  What I hadn't expected was that there would be this powerful suction force pulling the immersion blender to the bottom of the pot.  It was pretty cool.  And it did its work FAST, with no mess.


The soup is really creamy without having any cream.  The immersion blender pureed everything really thoroughly so the soup had the right consistency, and then the addition of the parmigiano reggiano takes it up another creamy notch and adds some depth and saltiness.


We did not eat it the night I made it, so I can't comment on the difference between when it is first made and once it has had some time for the flavors to develop.  Tonight it was delicious with some crusty Italian batard - note my bread bunny.  I love the Acme Italian Batard; it is my favorite bread to warm sliced in the oven to get it nice and crunchy crusty to dip in soup.  This soup has enough flavor that it was a satisfying meal to have just the soup and bread (and some red wine).  I'll definitely make it again.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

"Eat a Rainbow" Vegetable Soup

This was my first weekend of this winter as a "ski widow".  Once Wayne has access to his ski house, if there is snow, he is up there most weekends.  So I use the time to rest and nest.  I clean, reorganize and get caught up on things that have been on my "to do" list for months. And of course, I cook.  Each Sunday I'll prepare something for us that will be ready when he arrives so we can eat dinner together.  The lucky guy ;) gets to come home to a warm house that smells of whatever is simmering on the stove.

So today I glamorously cleaned the oven and rearranged my spice drawer.  I am quite excited about the latter, actually.  When I first moved in I chose the top pull-out drawer in my pantry for my spices, and they were all in their upright position in a barely organized way.  Whenever I needed something I'd have to pull out the drawer and stand on my tip-toes to lift each container trying to be able to read the label on the side to find what I was looking for.  And pulling out things from the back was always a pain.  Why I lived with that situation for over 6 years, I can't explain.  But today, I moved them all down one drawer and put them all on their sides with the labels facing up (which I noted is the way my friend Shirley keeps hers; I was inspired).  So now only the really large jars for spices I buy in bulk are upright in back.  So much better!

This weekend I decided to make a soup for which I've had the recipe since grad school.  I got it from a post-doc in the lab who made it for a lab potluck.  It is surprisingly flavorful for how little seasoning is in it and that it calls for water instead of broth.  One clever aspect of it is that it includes arborio rice, the rice used to make risotto.  If you've ever made risotto, you know that the rice essentially dissolves into and thickens the broth you are gradually adding.  In this soup, it does the same thing.  By the time you eat it the rice has completely dissolved and thickened up the broth quite nicely.  The best part of this recipe though, is all the different vegetables in it.  I am calling it "Eat a Rainbow" because there is quite a spectrum here:



As likely many have heard, it is supposed to be quite healthy to eat vegetables of many different colors as they all contain different vitamins.  I love delicious AND healthy, and this soup is it.  But the other reason I wanted to call this soup "Eat a Rainbow" is because ever since I was little, I've loved rainbows and to organize things by color.  To this day, I have the blouses hanging in my closet arranged by the spectrum of the rainbow.  This time of year we have them often in the Bay Area given the weather patterns.  I sometimes see them driving up 101 to work in the morning, and it brightens the start of my day.

This recipe is really straighforward.  My one suggestion is to monitor it as it is simmering to decide whether it needs more broth.  Originally the broth looks thin as below, but as the arborio rice dissolves and it is simmering away you may feel you'd like to make sure there is enough broth.  I just add more water by the 1/2 cup.  When finished it is intended to be a dense, chunky soup without too much broth.



It is amazing how thick and flavorful this soup is despite the few seasonings added.  Some freshly ground pepper and a generous sprinkling of parmigiano reggiano is all it needs.  Delicious.  Enjoy!



Vegetable Soup
Chef unknown

1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves  [the original recipe doesn't call for garlic, but it only adds flavor]
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large red-skinned potato, cut into 1-inch dice
1 yellow squash, cut into 1-inch dice
1 zucchini, cut into 1-inch dice
1 Japanese eggplant, cut into 1-inch dice  [I omit this as I don't like the flavor and texture in this soup]
1/2 cup arborio rice
28oz can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped  [note I do not add all the excess juice in the can to the soup]
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 stalk broccoli, cut into 1-inch florets
1/4 head cauliflower, cut into 1-inch florets
1 rib celery, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/2 cup frozen peas
Grated parmigiano reggiano for garnish

Saute onion [garlic] and bell pepper in olive oil for 6 minutes.  Add carrot, potato, zucchini and squash and saute for 5 minutes.  Add rice and stir really well for awhile to coat the rice.

Add tomatoes, salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper and 6 cups of water.  Bring to a boil and add broccoli, cauliflower, celery and peas.  Simmer 35 minutes.

Serve sprinkled with parmigiano reggiano accompanied by a warm crusty Italian bread.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Chicken Tagine (aka Wayne's favorite meal)

I've been away from Le Creuset and the blog for awhile.  Had a great Christmas in Denver with family.  Lots of catching up over good food and drink.  My sister Ali and her fiance Michael (who also loves to cook) shared cooking responsibilities with me.  For Christmas morning brunch they made an apple cake from Smitten Kitchen that was absolutely delicious:
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/09/moms-apple-cake/
They made it in a 13x9 glass pan instead of a bundt pan so it took alot less time to bake.  When I make it (and I most definitely will!) I will use the glass pan with gala apples as they did so it turns out just like theirs did.  Perfection.

Also worth mentioning, for Christmas Eve I tried out for the first time a meatball recipe from the Wine and Food Affair and they are THE BEST MEATBALLS EVER.  I promised to make them for my friend Shirley, so I will post about those along with the recipe sometime soon.  [Here it is!]   http://redcucina.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-best-meatballs-ever.html

Wayne didn't join me in going to Denver for Christmas.  Before I left I promised him that I would make his absolute favorite meal, chicken tagine, over the holidays when I got back.  Upon my return I made a couple non soup or stew things, and we also ate out a few times (including Oren's Hummus Shop - more than once!).  It was getting close to the end of my holiday break, and I hadn't made good on my tagine promise.  So I decided for it to be our New Years Day meal with mimosas to sip as I chopped.


The downside of this recipe is that it requires ALOT of chopping.  But the flip side of that is that it makes a huge batch, so you get a great return on your investment with several meals where the flavors just get better with time.  But to give you a sense of what is involved - all 1/4 inch dice:



Note bowls are much larger than they appear!

But really the chopping is the bulk of it.  You brown the chicken at the beginning, then you saute the onions and garlic, bring the chicken broth to a simmer, and add all of the remaining ingredients over time.


It makes a very rich and flavorful broth.  You have the curry spices and the slight sweetness from the cinnamon and dried fruit.  Served over couscous it is an extremely satisfying winter comfort food.


Now a note of warning/advice.  This tagine is not at its best the day you make it, especially if you serve it right after it has finished the recommended amount of cooking time.  This really, really improves when it has time to set.  The broth thickens substantially and becomes much richer when it takes up the flavors of all of the ingredients.  If you can force yourself to wait until the next day for the first meal, you will be rewarded with a much more satisfying and soul-warming broth.

Chicken and Vegetables with Couscous
From The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins

2 chickens (2 1/2 to 3 lbs each), each cut into 8 pieces  [I use 3 lbs of boneless skinless thighs instead]
1/4 cup olive oil
2 onions, cut into 1/4-inch dice
6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
8 cups chicken broth
3 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 large white turnip, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice
5 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups pitted prunes, halved
1 cup golden raisins
steamed couscous

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven.  Cook the chicken in batches until opaque and slightly golden on both sides.  Do not overcook.  Transfer to a dish and set aside.

Add the onions and garlic to the dutch oven, and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.  Then add the chicken broth, cinnamon sticks and all the spices.  Bring to a boil, then continue boiling for 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat to a simmer, and add the chicken legs and thighs, carrots, zucchini, turnip and bell pepper.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Then add the chicken breasts, tomatoes, prunes, and raisins, and simmer an additional 10 minutes.

Remove the cinnamon sticks, and serve the tagine in deep bowls over steamed couscous.