Mister and I both like to entertain and feed our friends. I also like to make fun, interesting things that use up what ingredients we have. To that extent, we have three syrups in our fridge, not counting maple. We have Apple Cider Syrup, which we had accidentally left a pot of mulled cider on the stove when we went out, and Mister decided to experiment with syrup. The experiment was a success, and it is a favorite in hot toddies.
Last summer, I had attempted to make a large amount of iced tea to drink, and so had several large jars of sweetened tea-water in my fridge, taking up space and using jars. I reduced it down, steeped more strong black tea (using up some old tea bags that are of dubious nature), added that, spiced it, sweetened as needed, etc, and now have Spiced Tea Syrup.
We now have another syrup as of tonight: Cinnamon-Ginger Simple Syrup. I received a lemon in my stocking at Christmas, and as Mister was feeling unwell this evening, I finally got around to juicing said lemon. I mixed the juice with honey, ginger and hot water and he lounged around trying to feel better. I then removed the outer part of the lemon peel, and boiled it in simple syrup and cinnamon to candy it. It is drying as I type this. But then I had all of this excess syrup! So I added some ginger, and rewarmed it to infuse, strained and bottled.
As mentioned previously, these syrups are quite good in hot toddies (hot water, syrup, whiskey, lemon juice optional). They're also good mixed in hot water for a quick warm drink and you can use them any place where you'd normally use honey (drizzled on scones anyone?), but on the whole I use these for "Feel Better" drinks. There's nothing like a warm mug of something delicious and made with love. If it comes with cookies, it'd probably be better, but we can't have everything!
In an endeavor to use up what we've got, I finally got around to finishing a cordial I started 6/10/11. I steeped lemon balm in 63% rum, strained it in probably September, and mixed it 50/50 with simple syrup tonight. I had a bit of that with ginger ale for a candy-sweet but simple beverage.
As I've mentioned probably many times by now, we have a lot of peeled garlic cloves in our freezer that we got for free when a friend was moving and had to get rid of his food. I decided that tonight was a good night to make garlic soup. With a little help from Mister (who discovered some cheese that had gotten unwrapped), and a few softening potatoes, this became Cheese-y Garlic and Potato Soup. Simple really. Fry a chopped onion in bacon fat. Add a bit of flour and stir to combine. Let this cook a few minutes, stirring, until a slight golden color. Add in one carton of veg. stock (or chicken). Throw in one and a half handfuls of garlic cloves, or approximately one head of garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let this cook until nice and soft. If you're energetic, mash the garlic cloves and reincorporate. Chop a few potatoes and add to the soup. Add a teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce. When the potatoes are about done, slice cheese and add, stirring with each addition so the cheese doesn't clump. Adjust seasonings as needed and serve! This one meal used up: hardening cheese, soft potatoes, a lot of frozen garlic cloves, last carton of veg. stock, an ugly looking onion. And since I pulled two rolls out of the freezer and heated them, I also cleared out a bit more freezer space!
On the schedule for tomorrow: making veg stock with the massive amount of odds n ends in the freezer, clean house. Also go to Wegmans (a.k.a. the best grocery store in the world). Now if only I could learn to incorporate my pantry goods as well as my freezer goods...
Showing posts with label soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soup. Show all posts
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Potato Soup
So yesterday, while packing the kitchen, I decided that I needed to make potato soup. Why? Because there was a bag of potatoes just chillin'. Turns out, this was a good idea, as I had about 8 potatoes squirreled away in a cupboard beggin' to be used.
Looking for a recipe I first searched Tasty Kitchen -- only to be sorely disappointed. To the writers of Tasty Kitchen, I ask you this: what part of making soup starts with canned soup? Specifically Cream of _____ Soup of any variety? Maybe I want to MAKE Potato Soup on my own, instead of relying upon Campbell!
Thoroughly disgusted with TK, I searched my cooking blogs. I wound up combining the recipes for Baked Potato Soup from Smitten Kitchen and Carrot, Potato, Cheese Soup with Corn from Pinch My Salt. Ladies, your soups are lovely, and I appreciate your aid.
To start, I chopped all of the vegetables.
~8 c. Potatoes
Slice the top third off of a head of garlic (minus a few cloves apparently) and remove any extra papery outside.
Mince what remained in that top third of the head of garlic. Also, chop a whole onion but forget to take pictures.
Melt 3 Tbs of butter and toss the onions in, stirring to fully butter. Let them cook down until mostly translucent.
When the onions are nearly translucent, toss in the minced garlic and 3 Tbs. more butter. Stir occasionally, you want to get the garlic nice and buttery.
When the garlic and onions are as cooked as you'd like them, toss in 6-8 oz. of flour.
Stir until completely combined, and cook down for a little bit, stirring constantly. This is your roux + onions and garlic. Cook until as dark as you'd like -- I kept mine a light roux.
You're then going to add your stock. I had 3-4 c. of vegetable broth in the fridge, and also used half of a bottle of Better Than Bouillon Chicken -- with the water to match it.
Toss in your potatoes and your 2/3 head of garlic. Let this cook for at least 30 mins, making sure to stir occasionally, and don't let the liquid boil. I also added my spices -- about 1 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce, 2 tsp. spicy brown mustard, lots of ground black pepper and some chili powder.
After your garlic is soft, you're going to want to fish the head out, pop out the cloves and...
Mash it with a potato masher! Add this back to the soup.
This is a good time to toss in most of a bag of frozen corn.
When the potatoes are cooked through, fish out 1/3 - 1/2 of the potatoes and mash them with a potato masher. Add them back into the soup.
Let this cook together a little further, and then serve!
Warning: this soup is not safe for Vampires.
Looking for a recipe I first searched Tasty Kitchen -- only to be sorely disappointed. To the writers of Tasty Kitchen, I ask you this: what part of making soup starts with canned soup? Specifically Cream of _____ Soup of any variety? Maybe I want to MAKE Potato Soup on my own, instead of relying upon Campbell!
Thoroughly disgusted with TK, I searched my cooking blogs. I wound up combining the recipes for Baked Potato Soup from Smitten Kitchen and Carrot, Potato, Cheese Soup with Corn from Pinch My Salt. Ladies, your soups are lovely, and I appreciate your aid.
To start, I chopped all of the vegetables.
~8 c. Potatoes
Slice the top third off of a head of garlic (minus a few cloves apparently) and remove any extra papery outside.
Mince what remained in that top third of the head of garlic. Also, chop a whole onion but forget to take pictures.
Melt 3 Tbs of butter and toss the onions in, stirring to fully butter. Let them cook down until mostly translucent.
When the onions are nearly translucent, toss in the minced garlic and 3 Tbs. more butter. Stir occasionally, you want to get the garlic nice and buttery.
When the garlic and onions are as cooked as you'd like them, toss in 6-8 oz. of flour.
Stir until completely combined, and cook down for a little bit, stirring constantly. This is your roux + onions and garlic. Cook until as dark as you'd like -- I kept mine a light roux.
You're then going to add your stock. I had 3-4 c. of vegetable broth in the fridge, and also used half of a bottle of Better Than Bouillon Chicken -- with the water to match it.
Toss in your potatoes and your 2/3 head of garlic. Let this cook for at least 30 mins, making sure to stir occasionally, and don't let the liquid boil. I also added my spices -- about 1 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce, 2 tsp. spicy brown mustard, lots of ground black pepper and some chili powder.
After your garlic is soft, you're going to want to fish the head out, pop out the cloves and...
Mash it with a potato masher! Add this back to the soup.
This is a good time to toss in most of a bag of frozen corn.
When the potatoes are cooked through, fish out 1/3 - 1/2 of the potatoes and mash them with a potato masher. Add them back into the soup.
Let this cook together a little further, and then serve!
Warning: this soup is not safe for Vampires.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Turnabout Is Fair Play
So remember the time that I said I had no intention of making bread? Well, I lied apparently. The amount of baked goodness on the internets coupled with my chicken soup that I made yesterday lured my bread-baking out of hiding.
So! Pics of soup making.
Making stock from my nommy chicken carcass.
You have to strain out all of the bones and such.
After picking through all of the bones for meat (because SOMEONE ate the meat I reserved for soup...)
Sooooooooooooup glorious sooooooup.
Nommy bread!
So the recipe (bare bones though it is) for the bread is as follows:
I started with this recipe for garlic soda bread and leaped off from there. I used 50/50 WW flour/white flour, and regular skim milk (in lieu of buttermilk). I then threw in grated sharp provolone and parmesan, fresh rosemary, fresh basil, and some herbs des provences for good measure. Mixed it all up in the bowl, didn't really bother kneading, and threw it in a greased round cake pan, and topped it with more grated cheese and course sea salt for good measure. Baked for a little over 20 mins, et voila! Tastiness achieved!
Best part about it? Mister was pleasantly surprised and said it was really tasty (although too much salt on top) -- the last thing I threw together breadwise was a spectacular failure :-\
So! Pics of soup making.
Making stock from my nommy chicken carcass.
You have to strain out all of the bones and such.
After picking through all of the bones for meat (because SOMEONE ate the meat I reserved for soup...)
Sooooooooooooup glorious sooooooup.
Nommy bread!
So the recipe (bare bones though it is) for the bread is as follows:
I started with this recipe for garlic soda bread and leaped off from there. I used 50/50 WW flour/white flour, and regular skim milk (in lieu of buttermilk). I then threw in grated sharp provolone and parmesan, fresh rosemary, fresh basil, and some herbs des provences for good measure. Mixed it all up in the bowl, didn't really bother kneading, and threw it in a greased round cake pan, and topped it with more grated cheese and course sea salt for good measure. Baked for a little over 20 mins, et voila! Tastiness achieved!
Best part about it? Mister was pleasantly surprised and said it was really tasty (although too much salt on top) -- the last thing I threw together breadwise was a spectacular failure :-\
Monday, October 25, 2010
Tasty Recipes
I swear, I love fall cooking more than any other. And I'm not alone in this. Fall just makes you want to buy pumpkins.
And apples galore.
And save fall recipes to try.
Carrot, Potato and Cheese Soup
Baked Coconut Custard
Creamy Carrot and Chickpea Soup
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Cilantro/Pepita Pesto
I am so hungry now...
And apples galore.
And save fall recipes to try.
Carrot, Potato and Cheese Soup
Baked Coconut Custard
Creamy Carrot and Chickpea Soup
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Cilantro/Pepita Pesto
I am so hungry now...
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Soup
So as I was uploading some pics that I took this afternoon, I realized that I'd missed a post. A delicious, delicious soup! So here we go.
Soak beans for at least a few hours, preferably overnight (or two days as it happens...).
Drain and rinse beans, then add 4-5 c. broth (one carton), and 3 c. of water.
Add some spices (bay leaf, paprika, cumin, etc.) and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.
Chop some shallots and add that to the simmering beans/stock. Cut an inch off of a package of bacon, and fry it up, but please don't take pictures of it. When tasty, toss cooked bacon pieces in soup. Leave the fat in the pan.
Chop up a small red onion and fry it in the bacon fat. When it's nearly cooked, add a chopped clove of garlic as well*. When these are properly fried, toss them in the soup, still leaving the fat in the pan. Think that you have not enough fat, so fry some more bacon and still don't take pictures of it. Toss the fried bacon into the soup.
Roughly chop three sausages (pre-cooked or otherwise -- I cooked mine the other day) and fry them until beautifully browned in the bacon fat. If needed, add some olive oil. When the sausage is done, please put aside.
Preheat oven to 500F. Chop veggies of your choice (I had some carrots that needed eating and a potato or two). Pour olive oil and some salt over veggies, roll them around to ensure that they are fully coated with olive oil and salt. When oven is preheated, roast the veggies, stirring occasionally, until they are browned.
When the beans are fully cooked (a.k.a. soft but not mushy), toss in the sausage and roasted veggies. Serve with some cheese and cornbread.
Note to self: Jiff is too sweet to put cheddar cheese on the top. Still delicious, but an odd combo.
* N.B. #1: onion and garlic are amazing fried, but while you want onions to get translucent and brown, you merely want the garlic toasted. If it's brown it'll taste burnt.
N.B. #2: the easiest way that I've found to chop garlic is this: peel the clove, then with the flat of your knife, smoosh it. Just lean on it until you feel it give. It'll then be much easier to dice.
Soak beans for at least a few hours, preferably overnight (or two days as it happens...).
Drain and rinse beans, then add 4-5 c. broth (one carton), and 3 c. of water.
Add some spices (bay leaf, paprika, cumin, etc.) and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.
Chop some shallots and add that to the simmering beans/stock. Cut an inch off of a package of bacon, and fry it up, but please don't take pictures of it. When tasty, toss cooked bacon pieces in soup. Leave the fat in the pan.
Chop up a small red onion and fry it in the bacon fat. When it's nearly cooked, add a chopped clove of garlic as well*. When these are properly fried, toss them in the soup, still leaving the fat in the pan. Think that you have not enough fat, so fry some more bacon and still don't take pictures of it. Toss the fried bacon into the soup.
Roughly chop three sausages (pre-cooked or otherwise -- I cooked mine the other day) and fry them until beautifully browned in the bacon fat. If needed, add some olive oil. When the sausage is done, please put aside.
Preheat oven to 500F. Chop veggies of your choice (I had some carrots that needed eating and a potato or two). Pour olive oil and some salt over veggies, roll them around to ensure that they are fully coated with olive oil and salt. When oven is preheated, roast the veggies, stirring occasionally, until they are browned.
When the beans are fully cooked (a.k.a. soft but not mushy), toss in the sausage and roasted veggies. Serve with some cheese and cornbread.
Note to self: Jiff is too sweet to put cheddar cheese on the top. Still delicious, but an odd combo.
* N.B. #1: onion and garlic are amazing fried, but while you want onions to get translucent and brown, you merely want the garlic toasted. If it's brown it'll taste burnt.
N.B. #2: the easiest way that I've found to chop garlic is this: peel the clove, then with the flat of your knife, smoosh it. Just lean on it until you feel it give. It'll then be much easier to dice.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Making Soup
Finally, it is soup weather yet again! The fact that it is raining only makes it more so, in my book. This'll be an odd soup -- with bits of odds 'n' ends as well as parts of recipes. N.B. the camera was out of batteries, so there are no pics. :-(
Two of the basic soup recipes that I based this upon are Five Bean Soup from Tasty Kitchen and Ree Drummond's (a.k.a. Pioneer Woman) Roasted Vegetable Minestrone.
To begin with, I soaked equal amounts of Great Northern, Black, Red, and Roman beans in water for about 7 hours. I then drained the beans, and put them back in the pot with 5 c. of beef broth and 1 c. water. Brought the whole thing to a boil, then lowered to a simmer for 2 hours.
While the beans are heating up, I chopped off an inch on a package of bacon (so perhaps 2 slices total?), set that to frying, and chopped a small red onion, approximately 2 cloves of garlic, and small shallot. The shallot I threw directly into the soup, but the onion and garlic I fried in bacon fat before adding to the soup. I also added the following spices to the soup: 2 bay leaves, ground cumin, and paprika.
After adding all of the fried things to the soup, I chopped up four Andouille sausage, and fried them in the bacon fat as well (adding a little olive oil if it needed it). As my frying pan is on the small side, I fried them two at a time.
While the sausage was frying, preheating the oven to 500F, I chopped up the lone remaining Zucchini from weeks ago (into long quarters, and then into chunks), threw it in a baking pan, covered it with olive oil and salt, and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes, until it was all pretty and browned. Optional: when taking the zucchini out of the oven, have the fire alarm go off, and hold the pan outside the back door in the rain until the alarm turns off.
After the sausage has finished frying and is beautifully browned, remove it from the pan and set it aside (I put it in with the zucchini). Also, chop a handful of green beans, and set aside. All that is left is waiting on the beans.
After about an hour and a half, start checking the beans for done-ness. When they are soft, they are done. If they still crunch a little, leave them be.
When the beans are fully cooked, add the sausage, zucchini, green beans, ~8 oz. of tomato sauce (leftover from the Lasagne Tart), and ~6 oz. mild salsa. After mixing this all in, check for flavor levels. I wound up adding more ground cumin, pepper, and smoked paprika.
This was served with cheddar cheese, and corn bread.
Two of the basic soup recipes that I based this upon are Five Bean Soup from Tasty Kitchen and Ree Drummond's (a.k.a. Pioneer Woman) Roasted Vegetable Minestrone.
To begin with, I soaked equal amounts of Great Northern, Black, Red, and Roman beans in water for about 7 hours. I then drained the beans, and put them back in the pot with 5 c. of beef broth and 1 c. water. Brought the whole thing to a boil, then lowered to a simmer for 2 hours.
While the beans are heating up, I chopped off an inch on a package of bacon (so perhaps 2 slices total?), set that to frying, and chopped a small red onion, approximately 2 cloves of garlic, and small shallot. The shallot I threw directly into the soup, but the onion and garlic I fried in bacon fat before adding to the soup. I also added the following spices to the soup: 2 bay leaves, ground cumin, and paprika.
After adding all of the fried things to the soup, I chopped up four Andouille sausage, and fried them in the bacon fat as well (adding a little olive oil if it needed it). As my frying pan is on the small side, I fried them two at a time.
While the sausage was frying, preheating the oven to 500F, I chopped up the lone remaining Zucchini from weeks ago (into long quarters, and then into chunks), threw it in a baking pan, covered it with olive oil and salt, and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes, until it was all pretty and browned. Optional: when taking the zucchini out of the oven, have the fire alarm go off, and hold the pan outside the back door in the rain until the alarm turns off.
After the sausage has finished frying and is beautifully browned, remove it from the pan and set it aside (I put it in with the zucchini). Also, chop a handful of green beans, and set aside. All that is left is waiting on the beans.
After about an hour and a half, start checking the beans for done-ness. When they are soft, they are done. If they still crunch a little, leave them be.
When the beans are fully cooked, add the sausage, zucchini, green beans, ~8 oz. of tomato sauce (leftover from the Lasagne Tart), and ~6 oz. mild salsa. After mixing this all in, check for flavor levels. I wound up adding more ground cumin, pepper, and smoked paprika.
This was served with cheddar cheese, and corn bread.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Food!
As it is trash day tomorrow morning, I cleaned out the fridge, and took stock of what's in there. (I also discovered that Mister DOES have ketchup and mustard -- which I was lamenting all summer that he didn't...) To keep track of my plans involving food, I'm just gonna throw stuff at this post.
Monday: leftover chicken stew
Tuesday: leftover pancake for breakfast, fried sausage for dinner (perhaps a starch of some sort as well?)
Wednesday: Eggs/bacon for breakfast, fried pickles for lunch, Zucchini/Ricotta cheesecake for dinner
Thursday: bacon/cheese scones for breakfast, hummus/chips for lunch, pizza for dinner
Friday: brekkie? Lasagne Pie for dinner (but with the top coat of mozz.)
Saturday: brekkie? blackbean/andouille sausage soup w/ corn bread for dinner
Sunday: brekkie? Sausage Kebabs for dinner
Shopping List: more ricotta, dill?, lemon, eggs, goat cheese?, tomato sauce, dried beans, fig preserves, cherry tomatoes, pita chips
Also, here are some interesting recipes:
ANDUOILLE, KALE, WHITE BEAN, & POTATO SOUP......MMMMM EXCELLENT!
Ingredients; I use mostly organic prepared ingredients because they contain far fewer ingredients/additives and generally no wheat or other gluten laced additives.
1 lb of 1/4" sliced organic Andouille Sausage. I used the Uncle something or another brand that's readily available.
8 cups of low sodium organic chicken broth
1 head Kale washed, chopped in strips and remove tough stems
4 roma tomato's, drained, seeded, and diced
2 cans of white beans washed and drained
1 large white onion chopped
3 garlic cloves chopped
Kosher salt at the end so not to over salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
2-3 cap fulls of balsamic or red wine vinager
2 thick cut Russett Potato's or Yukon Gold (Wait a little longer to add the Yukon as they are much softer...much tastier as well)
Directions:
Brown sausage in large soup pot
Add chopped onion to pot and cook for 2 minutes
Add garlic and potato chunks and sautee for 2 minutes
Add Kale and sautee for 2-3 minutes stirring until wilted evenly coated
Add chicken broth and vinegar and bring to a boil and then simmer with cover for 40 min.
Add chopped tomato, white beans, and kosher salt and simmer covered for 20-30 minutes or until desired doneness.
Serve with warm crusty bread or corn bread. Enjoy!
Dill Pickle Soup (Zupa Ogorkowa)
And some lovely Wiki info:
Hot soups
Shchi
Shchi (cabbage soup) had been the predominant first course in Russian cuisine for over a thousand years. Although tastes have changed, it steadily made its way through several epochs. Shchi knew no social class boundaries, and even if the rich had richer ingredients and the poor made it solely of cabbage and onions, all these "poor" and "rich" variations were cooked in the same tradition. The unique taste of this cabbage soup was from the fact that after cooking it was left to draw (stew) in a Russian stove. The "Spirit of shchi" was inseparable from a Russian izba (log hut). Many Russian proverbs are connected to this soup, such as Shchi da kasha pishcha nasha ("Shchi and porridge are our food"). It can be eaten regularly, and at any time of the year.
The richer variant of shchi includes several ingredients, but the first and last components are a must:
Cabbage.
Meat (very rarely fish or mushrooms).
Carrots or parsley roots.
Spicy herbs (onions, celery, dill, garlic, pepper, bay leaf).
Sour components (smetana, apples, sauerkraut, pickle water).
When this soup is served, smetana is added. It is eaten with rye bread. During much of the year when the Orthodox Christian Church prescribes abstinence from meat and dairy, a vegan version of shchi is made. "Kislye" (sour) schi are made from pickled cabbage (sauerkraut), "serye" (grey) schi from the green outer leaves of the cabbage head. "Zelyonye" (green) schi are made from sorrel leaves, not cabbage, and used to be a popular summer soup.
Ukha is a warm watery fish dish, however calling it a fish soup would not be absolutely correct. "Ukha" as a name for fish broth was established only in the late 17th to early 18th centuries. In earlier times this name was first given to thick meat broths, and then later chicken. Beginning from the 15th century, fish was more and more often used to prepare ukha, thus creating a dish that had a distinctive taste among soups.
A minimum of vegetables is added in preparation, and in classical cooking ukha was simply a rich fish broth served to accompany fish pies (rasstegai, kuliebiaka, etc.). These days it is more often a fish soup, cooked with potatoes and other vegetables. A wide variety of freshwater fish is traditionally used.
Rassolnik is a hot soup in a salty-sour cucumber base. This dish formed in Russian cuisine quite late—only in the 19th century. About this time the name rassolnik was attached to it, originating from the Russian word "rassol" which means brine (pickle water). Pickle water was known to be used as base for soups from the 15th century at the latest. Its concentration and ratio with other liquids and soup components gave birth to different soups: solyanka, pohmelka, and of course rassolnik. The latest are moderately sour-salty soups on pickled cucumber base. Some are vegetarian, but more often with products like veal or beef kidneys or all poultry giblets (stomach, liver, heart, neck, feet). For best taste there has to be a balance between the sour part and neutral absorbers (cereals, potatoes, root vegetables). Typical rassolnik is based on kidneys, brine (and pickles), vegetables and barley.
Kal'ya was a very common dish first served in the 16th–17th centuries. Subsequently it almost completely disappeared from Russian cuisine. Often it was incorrectly called "fish rassolnik." The cooking technique is mostly the same as of ukha, but to the broth were added pickled cucumbers, pickle water, lemons and lemon juice, either separately or all together. The main characteristic of kal'ya is that only fat, rich fish was used; sometimes caviar was added along with the fish. More spices are added, and the soup turns out more piquant and thicker than ukha. Formerly kal'ya was considered a festivity dish.
Solyanka is a thick, piquant soup that combines components from schi (cabbage, smetana) and rassolnik (pickle water and cucumbers), spices such as olives, capers, tomatoes, lemons, lemon juice, kvass, salted and pickled mushrooms are make up a considerably strong sour-salty base of the soup. Solyanka is much thicker than other soups, about 1/3 less liquid ratio. Three types are distinguished: meat, fish, and simple solyanka. The first two are cooked on strong meat or fish broths, and the last on mushroom or vegetable broth. All the broths are mixed with cucumber pickle water.
Lapsha (noodle soup) was adopted by Russians from Tatars, and after some transformation became widespread in Russia. It comes in three variations: chicken, mushroom, and milk. Cooking all three is simple, including preparation of noodles, cooking of corresponding broth, and boiling of noodles in broth. Noodles are based on the same wheat flour or buckwheat/wheat flour mix. Mixed flour noodles go better with mushroom or milk broth.
Borsch is made of broth, beets, and tomato juice with various vegetables. Vegetables include onions, cabbage, tomato, carrots, and celery. Broth is usually made from beef and is heated while ingredients are added. Borsch can be made vegan, served hot or cold. Typically, it is served with white bread and Smetana.
Monday: leftover chicken stew
Tuesday: leftover pancake for breakfast, fried sausage for dinner (perhaps a starch of some sort as well?)
Wednesday: Eggs/bacon for breakfast, fried pickles for lunch, Zucchini/Ricotta cheesecake for dinner
Thursday: bacon/cheese scones for breakfast, hummus/chips for lunch, pizza for dinner
Friday: brekkie? Lasagne Pie for dinner (but with the top coat of mozz.)
Saturday: brekkie? blackbean/andouille sausage soup w/ corn bread for dinner
Sunday: brekkie? Sausage Kebabs for dinner
Shopping List: more ricotta, dill?, lemon, eggs, goat cheese?, tomato sauce, dried beans, fig preserves, cherry tomatoes, pita chips
Also, here are some interesting recipes:
ANDUOILLE, KALE, WHITE BEAN, & POTATO SOUP......MMMMM EXCELLENT!
Ingredients; I use mostly organic prepared ingredients because they contain far fewer ingredients/additives and generally no wheat or other gluten laced additives.
1 lb of 1/4" sliced organic Andouille Sausage. I used the Uncle something or another brand that's readily available.
8 cups of low sodium organic chicken broth
1 head Kale washed, chopped in strips and remove tough stems
4 roma tomato's, drained, seeded, and diced
2 cans of white beans washed and drained
1 large white onion chopped
3 garlic cloves chopped
Kosher salt at the end so not to over salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
2-3 cap fulls of balsamic or red wine vinager
2 thick cut Russett Potato's or Yukon Gold (Wait a little longer to add the Yukon as they are much softer...much tastier as well)
Directions:
Brown sausage in large soup pot
Add chopped onion to pot and cook for 2 minutes
Add garlic and potato chunks and sautee for 2 minutes
Add Kale and sautee for 2-3 minutes stirring until wilted evenly coated
Add chicken broth and vinegar and bring to a boil and then simmer with cover for 40 min.
Add chopped tomato, white beans, and kosher salt and simmer covered for 20-30 minutes or until desired doneness.
Serve with warm crusty bread or corn bread. Enjoy!
Dill Pickle Soup (Zupa Ogorkowa)
And some lovely Wiki info:
Hot soups
Shchi
Shchi (cabbage soup) had been the predominant first course in Russian cuisine for over a thousand years. Although tastes have changed, it steadily made its way through several epochs. Shchi knew no social class boundaries, and even if the rich had richer ingredients and the poor made it solely of cabbage and onions, all these "poor" and "rich" variations were cooked in the same tradition. The unique taste of this cabbage soup was from the fact that after cooking it was left to draw (stew) in a Russian stove. The "Spirit of shchi" was inseparable from a Russian izba (log hut). Many Russian proverbs are connected to this soup, such as Shchi da kasha pishcha nasha ("Shchi and porridge are our food"). It can be eaten regularly, and at any time of the year.
The richer variant of shchi includes several ingredients, but the first and last components are a must:
Cabbage.
Meat (very rarely fish or mushrooms).
Carrots or parsley roots.
Spicy herbs (onions, celery, dill, garlic, pepper, bay leaf).
Sour components (smetana, apples, sauerkraut, pickle water).
When this soup is served, smetana is added. It is eaten with rye bread. During much of the year when the Orthodox Christian Church prescribes abstinence from meat and dairy, a vegan version of shchi is made. "Kislye" (sour) schi are made from pickled cabbage (sauerkraut), "serye" (grey) schi from the green outer leaves of the cabbage head. "Zelyonye" (green) schi are made from sorrel leaves, not cabbage, and used to be a popular summer soup.
Ukha is a warm watery fish dish, however calling it a fish soup would not be absolutely correct. "Ukha" as a name for fish broth was established only in the late 17th to early 18th centuries. In earlier times this name was first given to thick meat broths, and then later chicken. Beginning from the 15th century, fish was more and more often used to prepare ukha, thus creating a dish that had a distinctive taste among soups.
A minimum of vegetables is added in preparation, and in classical cooking ukha was simply a rich fish broth served to accompany fish pies (rasstegai, kuliebiaka, etc.). These days it is more often a fish soup, cooked with potatoes and other vegetables. A wide variety of freshwater fish is traditionally used.
Rassolnik is a hot soup in a salty-sour cucumber base. This dish formed in Russian cuisine quite late—only in the 19th century. About this time the name rassolnik was attached to it, originating from the Russian word "rassol" which means brine (pickle water). Pickle water was known to be used as base for soups from the 15th century at the latest. Its concentration and ratio with other liquids and soup components gave birth to different soups: solyanka, pohmelka, and of course rassolnik. The latest are moderately sour-salty soups on pickled cucumber base. Some are vegetarian, but more often with products like veal or beef kidneys or all poultry giblets (stomach, liver, heart, neck, feet). For best taste there has to be a balance between the sour part and neutral absorbers (cereals, potatoes, root vegetables). Typical rassolnik is based on kidneys, brine (and pickles), vegetables and barley.
Kal'ya was a very common dish first served in the 16th–17th centuries. Subsequently it almost completely disappeared from Russian cuisine. Often it was incorrectly called "fish rassolnik." The cooking technique is mostly the same as of ukha, but to the broth were added pickled cucumbers, pickle water, lemons and lemon juice, either separately or all together. The main characteristic of kal'ya is that only fat, rich fish was used; sometimes caviar was added along with the fish. More spices are added, and the soup turns out more piquant and thicker than ukha. Formerly kal'ya was considered a festivity dish.
Solyanka is a thick, piquant soup that combines components from schi (cabbage, smetana) and rassolnik (pickle water and cucumbers), spices such as olives, capers, tomatoes, lemons, lemon juice, kvass, salted and pickled mushrooms are make up a considerably strong sour-salty base of the soup. Solyanka is much thicker than other soups, about 1/3 less liquid ratio. Three types are distinguished: meat, fish, and simple solyanka. The first two are cooked on strong meat or fish broths, and the last on mushroom or vegetable broth. All the broths are mixed with cucumber pickle water.
Lapsha (noodle soup) was adopted by Russians from Tatars, and after some transformation became widespread in Russia. It comes in three variations: chicken, mushroom, and milk. Cooking all three is simple, including preparation of noodles, cooking of corresponding broth, and boiling of noodles in broth. Noodles are based on the same wheat flour or buckwheat/wheat flour mix. Mixed flour noodles go better with mushroom or milk broth.
Borsch is made of broth, beets, and tomato juice with various vegetables. Vegetables include onions, cabbage, tomato, carrots, and celery. Broth is usually made from beef and is heated while ingredients are added. Borsch can be made vegan, served hot or cold. Typically, it is served with white bread and Smetana.
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