A Jump on Autumn

One bonus of working in a professional kitchen, is that I get to have a jump on the seasons. I get a head start on fall baking in early September, start playing around with winter spices in November, and experiment with bright winter citrus in December. We are rolling out a new fall inspired menu at the restaurant in the next week and I could not be more excited. Does this early run on autumnal goodies mean I will hit burn out on fall flavors by November?

Fall is my favorite season, and the food that comes with it is second to none. Even better than fall baking, is fall cooking, and while I am up to my ears in cinnamon, pumpkin and apples at work, at home I am diving head first into slow braised meats, stews and soups, and some serious comfort food. This week I made my first big 'ol pot of chili of the year. Chock full of hearty ingredients, warm spices, and healthy lean ground turkey, this is one soup to keep on rotation. Roasted sweet potatoes, black beluga lentils, white cannelini beans, crunchy corn and yellow bell peppers all add to the complexity and texture. Cumin, coriander, ginger, smoked chipotle chili powder add to the depth of flavor and slow subtle heat. If you are looking to change up your usual chili recipe, this is it.

Autumn Chili with Beluga Lentils, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, and Turkey

2-3 lbs ground turkey,

3 teaspoons paprika

1/4 cup AP flour 

1/2 cup olive oil 

1 large vidalia onion, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 large green jalepeno, diced (remove seeds if you want it a little less spicy)

1/4 cup tomato paste

4 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons smoked chipotle chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatos

2 cups white wine

8 cups chicken stock

4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced small

2 cans canellini beans

2 cups black beluga lentils

2 small cans corn

2 bell peppers (red, yellow or orange are my preference), diced

1/2 cup parsley leaves, minced

greek yogurt and more chopped parsley to garnish

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss diced sweet potatoes with 1/4 cup olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 30-40 minutes, tossing periodically until starting to caramelize. Set aside. 

Meanwhile, heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a large heavy bottom pot, such as a dutch oven, over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add turkey and cook until cooked through and starting to brown. Add the onions and garlic and cook until softened and starting to caramelize, about 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the turkey and cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly to cook off a bit of the raw flour taste. Add the jalepenos and saute another 2-3 minutes, until softened.

Add the tomato paste, chili powders, cumin, coriander, ginger, and stir to combine. Add the wine, bring to a simmer, then add the chicken stock and tomatoes. Stir to combine, then bring to a boil and add the lentils. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30-45 minutes, until lentils are starting to get tender.

Add the beans, corn, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes. Bring back to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until veggies are tender. Stir in parsley and serve immediately topped with greek yogurt and more parsley. This also freezes wonderfully.

Egyptian Lentil Soup & Chive Flatbreads

I feel like I should rename this blog 'The Cake and Soup Blog'. It seems as though all I have been working on lately is cake, and now that life is finally calming down, all I want to do is hibernate in my kitchen and cook up a big batch of soup. So this weekend, I had my first Sunday off in what seems like about a year, that is what I did.

I love ordering lentil soups from Mediterranean or Indian take out places, and for some reason I have only ever cooked with lentils once. This is just WRONG. So Sunday morning, with coffee and the latest issue of Food & Wine in hand, I hit up the bulk section at whole foods and set about to make a pureed red lentil soup (I also decided I needed two pounds of quinoa and wheat berries, my checking account shrivels up with fear whenever I even drive past whole foods).

Ingredients in hand, I made my way home and pretended it was actually cold outside. This soup is so comforting, smooth and creamy, with just a hint of heat, it almost made me believe it was winter. (Can you tell I am a little bitter about this sorry excuse for "winter" we are having here in Chicago??) Accompanied by some crunchy roasted chickpeas and some homemade chive flatbread, this meal will definitely be made again and again when I am in need of a little warmth.

Egyptian Red Lentil Soup
adapted from Food & Wine magazine

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
2 large carrots, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon hot curry powder
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 cups red lentils (if you can't find red lentils, you can use a different color, you just won't have this beautiful color and it might change the cooking times)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large stockpot or dutch oven (as always I used my trusty 14-quart LeCrueset for this task since I made a double batch but an 8-10 quart pot will do) melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic and saute until soft, about 10-15 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, chili powder, and curry powder and stir to coat the veggies with the spices. Cook for a few minutes to toast the spices. Add the tomatoes and the stock and bring to a simmer. Season generously with salt and pepper and add the lentils. Simmer for about 30-40 minutes, until lentils and vegetables are very soft.

In a few batches, puree the soup in a food processor until completely smooth. Transfer back to pot and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you like it a bit more spicy, you can add a little cayenne pepper and more black pepper.

Serve with flatbread wedges and top with a bit of Greek yogurt mixed with lemon juice. I also garnished the soup with some roasted chickpeas and fresh chives. There are millions of recipes out there for roasted chickpeas, but basically just rinse and dry off some canned chickpeas (or my preferred name, garbanzo beans), toss them with a bit of olive oil and whatever seasonings you like, and roast them on a baking sheet in a really hot oven (400 F) until they are crispy. You don't need a recipe for that do you? No, you don't, I have faith in you. I just added all of the spices that I used in the soup along with some garlic powder and they were a perfect compliment to the creamy soup and tangy yogurt.

Chive Flatbreads
adapted from Food Network

2 packages instant yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons coarse salt
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
1 1/2 cup lukewarm water (aim for 90-100 degrees or just around body temperature, it will activate the yeast, don't go too hot or you can risk killing the yeast)
1 teaspoon oil or non-stick cooking spray

In a food processor, combine yeast, sugar, flour, and salt, pulse to combine. Slowly stream in the water while processor is on and mix just until a ball starts to form. Turn dough out onto a clean surface, and knead with the heels of your hands until the dough forms a nice elastic ball. This will probably take at least 10 minutes, so be patient. When the dough is ready you should be able to gather it into a tight ball and when you press your finger in, the imprint should spring back. If the imprint does not spring back at all, keep kneading. When the dough is just about ready, knead in the chives until thoroughly mixed in.

When the dough is fully kneaded, spray a glass or metal bowl with non stick cooking spray or coat lightly with oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn over a few times to coat. Cover the bowl with a slightly damp towel and place in a warm area for about an hour to rise. It should double in size. You can tell if the dough has sufficiently rested when you poke your finger into it and the imprint stays and does not spring back at all.

Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and punch it down to get all the excess air out of it. Cut the dough into about two ounce pieces and gather each piece into a ball. Place each ball under a damp towel while you are working on the rest, this will prevent them from drying out and forming a skin, plus it will give the gluten time to relax and make it easier to roll them out. When all the dough has been portioned and shaped, let rest under the towel for 10-20 minutes. After they have rested, heat a dry grill pan over medium-high heat. Take one or two of the piece (depending on how big your grill pan is) and roll each out to about 1/8 inch thickness (pretty thin). I had two ounce pieces and I rolled them out to be about six inches long by four inches wide. Place each flatbread on the grill pan and grill until it starts to puff up, then flip to cook the other side. It takes about 3-4 minutes total per flatbread if you have your pan hot enough.

Store in an airtight container for just a day or two. If you don't plan on eating them all within a day or so, put the remainder in the freezer as there is no fat in these breads and they get hard a chewy very quickly. I got about 15 flatbreads out of this recipe.

Roasted Rutabaga Beer Cheese Soup

Naaaa na na SOUP!! Na na, na naaa, na na. Naaaaaa na na SOUP!

So there is a bass-laden jock jam's song stuck in my head with a stadium of screaming fans in the background, and they are yelling SOUP instead of HEY! It must be fall.

This is how excited I get over soup season. I may or may not actually shimmy around the apartment humming this to myself while my 13-quart le crueset is full to the brim with bubbling soup. Those of you who know me probably aren't very shocked by this startling confession.

So let's talk about this soup. It's got beer, it's got cheese, and it's got buttery roasted rutabagas and parsnips. That's enough vegetables to allow you to feel like it's good for you.

Beer Cheese Soup with Roasted Root Vegetables

makes 12-16 servings

you can halve this recipe if you like, it makes a lot of soup, but I almost never make small batches so that I can eat it for lunch for a few days and freeze a bunch.

1 large rutabaga, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
4-5 small-medium parsnips, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large vidalia onions, diced small
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 12 oz bottles of beer, preferable a full flavored lager or ale
6 cups vegetable stock (use the good stuff that comes in the cartons, not the 99 cent cans, you want the full flavor of the vegetable stock)
2 sticks ( 1 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup flour
8 cups whole milk
2 large bay leaves
3.5 lbs cheese, shredded (I used a mixture of Monterrey jack, white cheddar, and extra sharp cheddar)
3-4 tablespoons chipotle-adobo sauce, depending on how spicy you want it
2-3 teaspoons salt, to taste
1-2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
few handfuls of italian parsely, minced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Toss the diced rutabagas and parsnips with olive oil to coat and season well with some of the salt and pepper. Spread evenly on a lined baking sheet and roast until browned and cooked through, about 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a large stockpot or dutch oven melt 4 tablespoons of the butter (1/2 stick) over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and bay leaves and sweat until the onions are very soft and translucent, about 20-30 minutes (if you are doing a half recipe, this probably wont take as long). At this point I opted to remove the onions with a slotted spoon into a bowl and add back into the soup a bit later. I felt that making a good roux would be easier if I didn't have to worry about mashing up the onions.

So, turn off the heat, and using a slotted spoon, remove the onions to a bowl and set aside, leaving whatever liquids are left in the pan. In a small saucepan, gently heat your milk over medium-low heat. You do not need to boil it, you just want it hot to add to your roux. Add the rest of the butter to your stockpot and melt over low heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add the flour and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in the hot milk and continue cooking until it is completely combined and slightly thickened, just a minute or two.

In a few additions, add the cheese to the milk mixture and stir over low heat until cheese has completely melted. Add the beer, vegetable stock, and adobo sauce, and bring to a very gentle simmer. You want to be careful not to scorch your cheese. Add your onions and roasted vegetables to the soup, season with salt and pepper, and cook over low heat about 30-40 minutes until soup is nice and thick.

Make sure to taste the soup a few times while it is simmering, you may need to add more salt and pepper, or perhaps some more adobo sauce. You want to have a little heat at the end, but not have it overwhelmingly taste like chipotle peppers. Also, if the beer you used is bitter (I used an IPA the first time I tried this soup) you can add a few big spoonfuls of sugar to balance it out.

Garnish with fresh parsley, and serve with some n ice crusty bread. To take the soup to another level, grill some bratwursts and serve them sliced on top of the soup. It almost makes you feel like you are in Wisconsin, which is a good thing entirely.

If you have a killer soup recipe, please please please leave it in the comments, I am always on the lookout for new ones! Happy Fall!

Curried Squash & Wild Rice Soup

The weekend has once again come and gone, and yet again I am left with thoughts unfinished and tasks undone. My to do list has grown exponentially, and it seems that I am playing an endless game of catch up. Sunday marked the first day in weeks that my alarm clock was quiet until after the sun came up.

I suppose I could have caught up on the sleep lost over the past few weeks to racing thoughts and hard decisions, instead, I rolled myself out of bed and pulled out my Le Crueset. I flicked the burner on, and in went the turkey carcass that has been waiting in my freezer since thanksgiving, some carrots, onions, herbs, and garlic. Soon, the wonderful scent of homemade stock was filling the apartment. All I had to do was wait, so I pulled out another stock pot, and went to work peeling squash, sweet potatoes, and apples.

Soon enough, my stove was full of soups bubbling away, and my mind was perfectly clear. I was no longer worrying about the big changes about to come, or the new directions my life may be taking. I wasn't thinking about jobs and money and bills and credit cards. All I had to think about was not burning the chicken and apple sausage or over cooking the wild rice that were destined to join the roasted squash in the soup pot. I was filled with the anticipation of a new recipe working out with no kinks, and most of all filling my tummy with a wonderfully hearty and comforting soup.

This soup is chocked full of good stuff. Butternut squash, sweet potatoes, apples, and shallots, get roasted together and pureed. Then nutty wild rice is added, and topped with some chicken apple sausage. Lets not forget the warming kick from a little curry powder that really balances out the sweetness from the apple and squash. I have a few soups I tend to make over and over again, so this time I was looking for a little familiarity, but also something new.

I kept thinking about a butternut and wild rice soup from Emril Lagasse, recommended to me by my sister, but when I went to look up the recipe, it had a ton of heavy cream, and just didn't appeal to my mood at the time. So I took the notion of combining squash, sausage, and wild rice and made it my own. This was a great adaptation of a simple roasted vegetable soup, I hope you all get the chance to try it soon.

Curried Squash and Wild Rice Soup
this makes a HUGE pot of soup, feel free to halve

1 - 4 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed into 1 inch pieces
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
6 shallots, peeled and quartered
2 small granny smith apples, or 1 large, peeled, cored, and quartered
10-12 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups wild rice, cooked according to package directions
1-2 tablespoons curry powder
4 chicken-apple sausages (feel free to substitute any sort of sausage here) quartered lengthwise and diced
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss squash, apples, shallots, and sweet potatoes with a few tablespoons olive oil, season generously with salt and pepper, and spread in an ever layer on two baking sheets. Roast for about an hour, tossing a few times, until soft and cooked through, and beginning to turn golden brown.

Transfer about 1/2 the vegetables to a food processor with 2-4 cups of chicken stock (enough to cover veggies), and puree until smooth. Transfer to stock pot, and repeat with remaining vegetables.  Stir in the cooked wild rice, and add the remaining chicken stock to desired thickness. Season with 1-2 tablespoons of curry powder, depending on how spicy you like it, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring the soup up to a very gentle simmer.

Meanwhile, heat a small amount of olive oil in a medium saute pan, and cook the sausage over medium high heat until cooked though and crispy brown on the outside. You can either stir the sausage in, I prefer to use it more as a garnish.

This soup freezes very well, so feel free to make a huge batch, it will be enough to get you through the remaining months of winter.

A Nearly Perfect Christmas Eve Eve Dinner

For years, my immediate family has had a tradition of making an extravagant meal the night before Christmas Eve, also known as 'Christmas Eve Eve'. It's like a kickoff to the main event, though in recent years it has become my favorite part of the entire holiday. We have made blinis and beef cheeks, lamb shanks and crab cakes, gougeres, tarts, truffles, and about anything else you can think of. We have opened numerous bottles of Brunello and Porto and Champagne, and spent many many hours and days prepping and cooking and baking.

While every year has been memorable, this year topped them all. And it wasn't just the food that made this year outshine them all. Yes the revamped-retro inspired menu was incredibly aggressive, and we pulled it off swimmingly, savoring each and every bite, but it was the company, and the laughter, that will stay with me the most when I reflect back on this Christmas. We cooked and baked for two days, all four of us squeezed into the kitchen for one of them. There was laughing and heckling (in the most loving sense possible), lessons being taught, and skills being eagerly learned. Stories of our lives spent apart over the past month were told, encouragement and understanding were shared. Wine flowed freely into skillets and stomachs, and the food that we worked so hard on, was eaten around a beautifuly decorated table. Most importantly though, the meal that night was eaten together, the four of us, celebrating our health and happiness.

Okay that was pretty mushy, I may or may not be suffering post-Christmas home-sickness and cookie withdrawal. Onto the good stuff (the menu of course!). It all started with the idea to recreate a dish that my family had at a new restaurant in Minneapolis, who had the audacity to serve tater tot hot dish.  Now, this was not the tater tot hot dish of my youth. You know, the one with ground beef, a can of cream of mushroom soup, canned green beans, all covering a crispy layer of frozen tater tots. Nope this was tater tot hotdish, brought into the 21st century and put on steroids. We knew we had to make this at home, but what to serve with it? The menu quickly formed by thinking of slightly kitschy, old-school, retro food, that we could revamp and put a gourmet spin onto.

First up, pigs in blankets. Actually by the end of the appetizer course these became known as 'chicks in snuggies'. I blame the Champagne. Homemade sous-vide-d chicken sausages, were sauteed and wrapped up in buttery puff pastry. We baked them up and dipped them in a horseradish-sour cream sauce, and an oatmeal stout-mustard-shallot sauce. These exceeded all expectations. We knew they were going to be good. How good though? We were blown away.

Next up, soup and salad. We took the classic wedge salad and threw it on the grill along with some cherry tomatoes. We had homemade blue cheese dressing prepared by my smarter, prettier, older sister. Here's where the fun with the deep fryer came. Pops sous-vide-d some pork belly, breaded it, and deep fried it. It was crispy, fatty, pork heaven I tell you. Pork Heaven. Amen.

We added some roasted pureed cauliflower soup for good measure, you know, cause we didn't have enough to eat already.

Now, this may not be the prettiest dish you've ever seen on camera (plus, it was dark, and I really just wanted to dig in), but trust me, you can not go wrong with oatmeal stout braised short ribs, porcini mushroom béchamel sauce, deep fried potato croquettes, and steamed buttered french green beans. This may be the peak of the proverbial comfort food mountain. I dream about this dish.

The crowning moment, the cake.

Actually this was a disappointing moment, and the reason for the title of this post being a nearly perfect dinner. This recipe came from the cover of last month's Bon Appétit Magazine. The problem was that the cake just wasn't very good. I am not sure if I did something wrong, which is entirely possible, but the actual cake was dry and crumbly. If I ever made this again, which I may, it was stunning, and the frosting was insanely good, I would stick with the chocolate devils food cake I have made many times now. Poor thing sat on the table for three days after Christmas since no one could bring themselves to toss it.

Thankfully, there was cheese.  It just wouldn't be Christmas eve eve dinner without a cheese plate and a vintage Porto. And Trivial Pursuit.

Someday, my sister and I will beat my parents....someday. Until then, we will just have to keep practicing making amazing meals, and spending much needed quality time together as a family.

Soup for a Sicky

Well, after all my praise about the fall season approaching, the weather that I so love has turned on me. Actually I think it's more of the fact that the weather can't make up its mind about what season it wants to be. A week ago it was a perfect 67 degrees and sunny, 88 and sticky a few days later, then a trip to Wisconsin over the weekend brought a 36 degree overnight low. My sinuses have given up trying to adjust and are now revolting. I have a mutiny going on in my face, and it's not even winter yet.

Feeling like this makes it hard to get motivated to cook anything for dinner, I had trouble bringing myself to make a sandwich last night. Thank god for my productive weekend two weeks ago in which I spent the morning making a huge pot of soup, and stored most of it in the freezer for just such an occasion.

This corn and potato chowder is a perfect soup for a sicky like me. It is comforting, hearty, and creamy, but not super thick, so it doesn't leave you feeling like a big lump if you accidentally eat two giant bowlfuls. If you use corn off the ears like I did, be forewarned that it is a bit of work, cutting the kernels off and milking the cobs takes some time and patience.

In my opinion, it would have been very much worth it had the corn been better quality, unfortunately, it wasn't the greatest. I would make this again before next year's sweet corn season comes around, but will probably take the easy route and go with frozen. If you do use frozen corn, I would recommend taking about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of the corn and puree it in a food processor before adding it to the soup, this will simulate the corn pulp that you would have extracted from the cobs.

Corn and Potato Chowder
recipe adapted from Foy Update

10 ears sweet corn
1 large vidalia onion, diced
1 1/2 lbs baby red potatoes, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
6 oz pancetta, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons minced parsley
2 teaspoons minced thyme
1 bay leaf
1 heaping tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the corn first. Using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the cobs and place in a bowl. Be sure not to cut too close to the cob, you want just the soft crisp nuggets of corn. Then you want to "milk" the corn cobs. This basically means you want to squeeze all the pulp and juice out of the cob, this will help make the soup nice and creamy. I used my microplane to gently grate the cobs of corn over a bowl. After I went over the entire cob with the microplane, I quickly ran the back of my knife down each cob to squish out the rest of the juice. This can get a bit messy, so use a large bowl and wear an apron.

In a large stock pot or dutch oven, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the pancetta and saute until most of the fat has rendered off and it is starting to get crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Remove the pancetta and set aside. Reduce heat to low and add the onions and butter. Cover and cook until onions have softened, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes.

Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes. Make a roux by sprinkling the flour over the onions and whisk for a minute or two until the flour has heated and is combined with the butter and onions. Slowly whisk in the stock and bring to a simmer.

Add the potatoes, bay leaf, thyme, corn pulp/juice, whole milk, and the cooked pancetta. Bring back to a simmer and cook over low heat for about 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are nice and tender. Add the corn, heavy cream and sugar, bring to a simmer again, and cook until corn kernels are tender but still crisp, about 10-15 minutes. Take out the bay leaf and serve topped with the chopped parsley and even some grated parmigiano reggiano.

The winter is coming, along with the colds, flu's, and sinus infections that come with it. I suggest you make this soup right now so you are armed and ready to battle it out.

Summer-ish Chili + A Giveaway

Is there such a thing as summer chili? If you read my last post I may be a wee bit obvious in my disdain for summer right now, so it should come as no surprise that I have been busy in the kitchen making soup. I am combatting the 105 degree heat index by cranking down the air conditioning and filling my 13-quart LeCrueset full of soup and chili. Delusional? Maybe, but I have a stomach full of chili right now, and that delusion tasted damn good.

Here's where my ADD kicks in. Don't forget to enter my giveaway! Leave a comment by this Monday on the linked post telling me what summer dish is on your list to make before fall arrives and you could win a $40 gift card to CSN online stores.

Okay so about that chili. I have made this chili at least ten times over the last few years. It is based on Michael Chiarello recipe but I change it a little bit every time I make it. It is chock full of zucchini and summer squash, corn, all kinds of peppers and three kinds of beans. It is best made with chicken thighs (trust me on this) but made easier and quite healthy if you use ground turkey. I keep meaning to try a new chili recipe but I just can't stop making this one. It may be an addiction.

3 Bean Chili with Zucchini and Turkey

adapted from Michael Chiarello

3 lbs. chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (or ground turkey or chicken)

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

3 teaspoons paprika

1 cup AP flour (not needed if you are using ground meat)

1/2 cup olive oil (again, if you are using ground meat you will not need as much)

2 large red onions, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 green jalepenos, diced (remove seeds if you want it a little less spicy)

2 red jalepenos, diced (remove seeds if you want it a little less spicy)

1/4 cup tomato paste

6 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons minced thyme leaves

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatos

2 cups white wine

4 cups chicken stock

2 small-medium zucchini, quartered and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

2 small-medium summer squash, quartered and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

1 can canellini beans

1 can red kidney beans

1 can chickpeas

2 small cans corn

1 piquillo pepper, diced

1 orange bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup basil leaves, thinly sliced

grated parmesan cheese to garnish (goat cheese crumbles are also delicious, but I put goat cheese on everything so don't hold me to that)

If you are using chicken thighs, place in a large bowl and season generously with salt and pepper, along with the paprika. Toss with the flour to coat. Skip this step if you are using ground turkey, you can add the salt, pepper, and paprika to the pot while the turkey is browning.

Heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a large heavy bottom pot, such as a dutch oven, over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add meat (in batches if needed) and cook until brown on all sides. Remove meat and set aside, leaving juices in pot. Add a few more tablespoons olive oil to the pot and when it is hot, add the onions and garlic and cook until softened and starting to caramelize, about 5-7 minutes. Add the jalepenos and saute another 2-3 minutes, until softened.

Add the tomato paste, chili powder, and thyme and stir to combine. Add the wine, bring to a simmer, then add the chicken stock, tomatoes, and cooked meat. Stir to combine, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, until chicken is falling-apart-tender.

Add the beans, zucchini, summer squash, corn, piquillo pepper, bell peppers, and green onions. Bring back to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until veggies are tender. Stir in basil and serve immediately topped with cheese. This also freezes wonderfully.

Soup Arsenal

It is good to have a soup arsenal. A list of soups that you can make without consulting the recipe, soups that you are itching to make at the first hint of cold weather, and soups that consistently make you feel warm and full and satisfied. Soups that you like so much that you don't mind eating them for the next three weeks because you made such a huge pot.

This soup is going into my arsenal. I have survived almost three weeks of eating this soup, and as of this afternoon, I am still not sick of it. I fact, I kind of want it for dinner too...

I especially love roasted soups. Put a bunch of stuff onto a sheet pan, throw it in the oven for an hour, buzz it through the food processor and viola: creamy, healthy, thick, complex, soup. Its like magic.

Roasted Butternut Squash, Pear, and Shallot Soup

Adapted from Eatingwell.com

2 pounds peeled, seeded, and cubed butternut squash

2 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cubed

5-6 shallots, peels and quartered

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

4 carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

4 cups chicken stock

salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

crumbled goat cheese for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine pears, squash, garlic, shallots, carrots, olive oil, salt and pepper, together on a large rimmed baking sheet and toss to coat evenly with the oil. Roast, stirring occasionally, until soft and starting to caramelize, about 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Working in batches, adding vegetables to food processor with enough chicken stock to aid blending. Blend until smooth and pour into large soup pot. Add any remaining stock, stir to combine, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in bowls with crumbled goat cheese on top.

Get cozy, its going to be a long, cold winter :-)

Fall = Soup

As soon as fall started appearing around here, I got excited to start making soup. Maybe a leeetle too excited. I just really like soup okay?

I also really like cauliflower, especially when the word 'creamy' is involved. And the word 'bacon'.

This velvety soup is so comforting, and extremely easy. Pureed cauliflower, shallots, and chicken stock, thickened with a bit of cream, and topped with some prosciutto-toasted bread crumbs, this soup is hearty and fairly healthy. You could easily cut out some of the butter and the cream, and I suppose the prosciutto, but then you would really just have creamed cauliflower, and that's no fun. But, whatever mixes your meatloaf I guess.

Cauliflower Soup with Crispy Prosciutto Breadcrumbs

adapted from Food & Wine Magazine

4 tablespoons butter

4 medium-large shallots, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

2 medium heads cauliflower, cut into 2-inch florets

5 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper

6 ounces prosciutto or pancetta, chopped into small bits (the original recipe called for chorizo, I couldn't find any, but prosciutto worked beautifully and tasted great)

3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

In a large heavy pot, melt the butter and add the shallots, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Saute until the shallots have softened and have slightly caramelized, about 5-7 minutes. Add the cauliflower, chicken stock, and white wine and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook about 20 minutes, until the cauliflower is fork-tender.

Discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. In small batches, puree the cauliflower mixture in a food processor, or you can use an immersion blender right in the pot. Make sure to puree it thoroughly, it may separate if the cauliflower bits are too large and heavy. I let each batch process for at least 30 seconds.

Pour soup back into empty pot, and place over medium-low heat to heat it back up. Stir in the cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.

While this comes back up to temperature, sauté the prosciutto in a small non stick skillet over medium heat until it becomes crispy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the panko and toss with the prosciutto. Toast, stirring frequently, until the breadcrumbs are brown and crispy.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the prosciutto mixture. Serve immediately.

Cheers!