Soup

The fall weather has inspired me to try some new soups. 


I recently enjoyed a delicious lobster bisque from Costco.  Excellent.


Yesterday I made a tasty Tarragon Broccoli Soup:

1/2 c. diced onions
2 t. olive oil
1 clove garlic
3 c. chicken stock
2 c. chopped broccoli florets
1 small red potato, peeled and diced
2 T. minced fresh parsley
1/2 t. dried tarragon
salt and pepper
1/4 c.  sour cream

Saute onions in oil for 5 minutes over medium heat, until tender.  Add garlic and stir for another 1 minute.
Add stock, broccoli, potato, parsley and tarragon.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then simmer over medium heat  for 10-15 minutes until vegetables are tender, adding some salt and pepper to taste while cooking.  Remove from heat and add sour cream.
Serves 4


The sour cream makes this soup so nice.  It is a nice cross between brothy and creamy.  Just right.

Baked Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese

I came across this very nice casserole.  Perfect for these first cool fall days:

12 oz high fiber elbows
2 T. butter
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. minced onion
2 c. skim milk
1 c. fat free chicken broth
8 oz. reduced fat shredded sharp cheese
12 oz fresh broccoli florets
1/8 c. parmesan
1/4 c. seasoned bread crumbs
salt and pepper

Cook pasta and broccoli together in large pot of salted water until pasta is al dente or slightly undercooked.  Spray baking dish with cooking spray.  Preheat oven to 375.

In a heavy skillet melt butter, add onion and cook over low heat about 2 minutes, add flour and cook another minute or until flour is golden and well combined.  Add milk and chicken broth and whisk, raising heat to medium high until it comes to a boil.  Cook about 5 minutes or until the sauce becomes smooth and thick.  Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, add cheese and mix well until cheese is melted.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste, add cooked macaroni and broccoli and mix well.  Pour into prepared baking dish.  Top with parmesan and breadcrumbs.  Spray a little cooking spray on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, then broil to get the breadcrumbs golden.



This recipe was identified as "skinny"  It does not seem too skinny to me.  I suppose it could be "fatter" if you used regular cheese and whole milk.  In any event, it is delicious.

Almonds

I like nuts as a snack, particularly during the day at work.

An ounce of almonds (about 23) contains 3.3 grams of fiber, more than any other nut, and 164 calories.  It also has 14 grams of fat, which sounds like a lot, but almonds are supposed to be for reducing triglycerides and cholesterol.

Trivia:  The Romans showered newlyweds with almonds as a fertility charm.

Vegetable & Feta Quiche

I made a delicious, very simple quiche last week:

9 in pie crust
3 eggs
1 T. flour
2 c. vegetables (I used generous half cups each of sliced mushrooms, chopped fresh spinach, chopped      scallions and broccoli florets, plus a little red pepper -- lots of combinations would work)
1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 c. milk
garlic
salt, pepper

Bake crust for a 5-7 minutes at 450 to set.  Lower oven to 350.  Mix eggs, milk and flour.  Add vegetables and garlic and then cheese.  If this combination of vegetables and cheese does not seem to you to have enough flavor, add more garlic or try a feta with garlic or herbs.  Bake at 350 for at least 50 minutes.  It is done when knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Reheats very easily. I have not made quiche in ages and this reinterested me in this old standby.

A Good Year

I read - alot - mostly novels - and it is interesting how much food and wine factor into many of them.

I recently enjoyed A Good Year by Peter Mayle.  It is a very light, fun summer read about a British banker, Max Skinner, who inherits a house and vineyard in France the very same day he loses his unsatisfactory, stressful job in a London bank.  So off Max goes to a storybook town in Provence.   He is welcomed by the colorful locals and experiences the many of adventures of (very old) home ownership that you have read about before in books like Under the Tuscan Sun. Add a little romance and ever so mild intrigue about the mislabeling of some of his vineyard's wine, and you have a very enjoyable, if a little silly, story.  Throughout, Mayle offers lovely descriptions of the countryside and mouthwatering accounts of the scrumptious food and wine.

The book was apparently made into a movie in 2006, which I have not seen, but my edition of the book featured the very handsome Russell Crowe on the cover.  The Max Skinner character does not require the Russell Crowe of Gladiator or A Beautiful Mind: Crowe's good looks and winning smile could carry the day.

Watermelon Gazpacho

I took the summer off.

A couple months ago Emma and I took a cooking class at Crate, a local cookware shop and cooking school.  The class was focused on fish and was taught by chefs from Penn Avenue Fish, a local fish shop and delicious restaurant.  They grilled three delicious fish with different marinades or glazes, all of which we got to enjoy.  They also made an excellent Watermelon Gazpacho.  I will modestly say that I make an excellent Gazpacho myself, using V-8 and tomato juice and inspired by The Moosewood Cookbook.  But I have not had too many good sweet versions, so I was pleased to discover this:

Seedless watermelon, skinned and diced
2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
2 green peppers, diced
2 red peppers, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
1/2 purple onion, diced
2 c. lemon juice
3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c. wine vinegar
black pepper
salt
Sriracha

The ingredients here makes a lot of soup; you may want to cut it down.

Mash watermelon very well.  I failed to do that and there were a few rather too large pieces.  Add cucumber, peppers, celery and onion.  Add the lemon juice, olive oil and vinegar.  Then add salt, pepper and Sriracha to taste.  It tastes best if you can let it set for a few hours for the flavors to mix.

Also, it absorbs the liquid so in a couple days you really don't have soup, but more of a thick vegetable and watermelon mix in a little broth, which is still quite delicious.  You can really taste the lemon juice and the olive oil.  They are a perfect foil to the sweet of the watermelon juice.

While you are waiting for the basil...

For the gardeners out there, while you are waiting for your fresh basil, try this delicious Spinach Pesto:

10  oz  spinach
  2  T   pine nuts or walnuts
1/4 c    parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast if you want to make it vegan)
1/4 c    extra virgin olive oil
1/2 t     granulated garlic
salt

Place all ingredients in blender and pulse until smooth, scraping sides of bowl as necessary.  Add water or olive oil if necessary to reach desired consistency.


We used it on pasta and also on broiled chicken.  Would be great on pizza dough, with or without more cheese and other toppings.

Recipe compliments of Penzeys Spices, Early Summer 2011 catalog