Good Real Food

anyone who tells you that two kids more than doubles the work is totally correct. Wow.

Anyway, in addition to being up to my eyeballs in kids, this site’s software lost it’s marbles for a bit and none of our intrepid authors could login to share their culinary adventures. Apologies that it has taken me so long to get things sorted out.

And being back, I thought I should share something food-ish. In fact, I have two things to share: squash stuffings, and a nifty thing to do with soup.

Squash Stuffings:

I don’t know what’s happening where you live, but we are well into fall here, and that means squash.

In the past weeks, our CSA share has provided a few butternuts, a couple of acorn, a kombucha and some truly amazing delicata. I’ve been kind of down on the peel, roast, eat practice recently - maybe since that was all I ever did with squash so lately, I’ve been stuffing it. Below are two suggestions for stuff squash - the sausage one filled out the roasted delicata, while the bean and greens stuffing filled out roasted acorn squash. The butternuts and kombucha are likely to find themselves in a soup or pie in the not too distant future.

Sausage stuffing for squash: This couldn’t be simpler. Get some good bulk italian sausage. Cook it. Make a simple tomato sauce - I put fennel and peppers and garlic and onions and capers in mine. Halve, scoop, lightly oil and roast your squash (cut side down) - I did ours at 400 and tucked a sprig of thyme under each half of squash. When cooked, spoon sausage into squash and top with tomato sauce and some grated pecorino or parmesan.

Beans and Greens stuffing for squash: Another simple one. Cook some great northern beans. Chop some bacon, cook until it’s mostly done, then add diced onion, garlic, carrots, and peppers assuming you’ve got some from your market or CSA. Cook down, adding some salt and pepper and some crushed red chili along the way. Add your greens. I used some lovely “saute greens” from our CSA - a mix of all kinds of little greens. You could use any greens you like. I think dino kale, chard, spinach, or arugula would all be lovely. Beet greens would be fantastic, and you’d have beets too! Once the greens are wilted, add your cooked beans without the liquid they cooked in, and reduce heat and let it hang out for a bit, stirring occasionally and maybe adding a bit of water if it looks like it needs it. Once again, roast your squash, stuff it with this mixture, and enjoy.

Really, these are shared not because there’s anything terribly interesting about them - you likely already do stuff like this all the time - I just find that sharing and hearing about what others do with their veggies inspires me to get a bit more creative with my cooking from time to time.

Nifty soup trick: Yes, I was rather proud of myself when I thought of this one. Does that make me a food nerd? Fine, then I’m a food nerd.

Anyway, I was making some celeriac, carrot, and beet soup, and I thought it would be swell with a poached egg in each bowl. So, instead of poaching them separately, I just broke the eggs directly into the simmering soup and waited till they were cooked to my liking. Just don’t forget how many eggs you put in!

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Last night we hosted 20 some folks for my birthday party/fundraiser for the Progressive Technology Project (which would be where I work).
Because I’d just returned from a rather taxing week away, I decided to keep the food for the shindig as easy as I could, and though I hadn’t made this recipe before, figured it was simple enough and fairly straightforward and how could you really go wrong with veggies and beans and broth anyway?

As expected the soup came out nicely, though I can certainly see why the cooks that I lifted this recipe from added some bits of meat.  I sort of thought that some stew meat/pork/lamb would be a nice addition, though you’d want to change the cooking order a bit if going that route.  In any event, here’s a soup that’s quick to make, dead simple, and is filling and warming and everything else that winter soups should be.  Enjoy.

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I was inspired today by this cookbook I received as a gift, Homegrown Pure and Simple by Michel Nischan. He has a recipe for chicken soup that changed how I think about making it. His recipe calls for 2 whole chickens for the stock and the soup and it is perfect for cooking ahead for easy weeknight meals.

 What you need:

•  2 whole free-range, responsibly raised chickens
• course sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
• 3-5 small yukon gold potatoes
• 3 celery ribs, trimmed
• 2 small yellow onions
• 2 large carrots, peeled
• 1 turnip, peeled
• 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. In a soup pot large enough to hold 1 chicken and the vegetables with at least 4 inches of room at the top of the pot, place 1 whole chicken in the pot and add cold water to cover by one inch. Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, skimming any foam that rises to the top, for about one hour. Remove the chicken from the pot with tongs and a ladle.

2. Season the chicken broth to taste with salt and pepper. Put the second chicken in the pot and add the potatoes, celery, onions, carrots, and turnip. Add water as needed to cover everything in the pot by 1-2 inches.

3. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for about an hour. Add the parsley during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

4. Remove the second whole chicken from the pot. Let it cool, then pull the meat from the bones, discarding the bones and skin. Save the meat from the first chicken for sanwiches, fajitas etc. for the next week.

5. Cut up the whole cooked vegetables and add them back to the pot along with the chicken meat from one to two chickens. If you like, add noodles in the last 10 minutes. I used mini star pasta, omited the potatoes, and used two large turnips and three carrots.

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I recently started to try using leaner meat options in my standby recipes. (Last month is was ground turkey instead of ground pork in my lasagna.) I have been working on perfecting my chili recipe for some time now (this time of year I make it about every other weekend), but today was the first time I have tried using ground bison in place of ground beef. Below is my home chili recipe w/ bison.

What you need:

• 1 pound lean ground bison
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large can of tomatoes
• 2 cups cooked or 1 large can pinto beans
• 2 cups cooked or 1 large can black beans
• 1 red or 1 green pepper chopped
• 1 habanero pepper chopped
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 bottle of beer
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup strong coffee

1. Saute onion, peppers, garlic and spices in oil in a dutch oven or deep heavy pot. Add the bison and stirr to brown.

2. Add the tomatoes, beans, beer and coffee and simmer for 1/2 hour.

Salt and pepper to taste and eat with good bread or cornbread along with a topping of fresh cilantro or sour cream. This chili tastes even better on the second or third day.

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I can’t really take credit for either of the items that graced our table this evening - a lovely rice and smothered cabbage soup via The Wednesday Chef (where do I know her from?) accompanied by squash fritters based on this recipe with light modifications courtesy of me. No pictures cause the camera has been acting up a bit, but it was a truly lovely supper. My wife was in the mood to cook, so she took charge of the soup while I tackled the squash and by some odd miracle, we finished up everything right on time as the small one was starting to get peckish - in both the hunger and mood senses of the word. Since we’re expecting another child, I added a few sausages to the menu to bump up the protein, but they could easily be left out for a really nice vegetarian meal that is just perfect for a winter Sunday supper.

Two notes on the recipes - we switched out the arborio rice in the soup for some already cooked left-over brown rice and vegetable broth for the beef stock, we also spiced up the squash fritters with cayenne and skipped the powdered sugar. The fritters were great. We felt that the soup was missing something, which C and I both agreed was a green flavor - likely solved by the addition of some chopped up parsley at the very end. In summer, basil or other fresh herbs would do nicely, maybe even arugula. The soup recipe is quite simple - though does take some time, and seems to be a good place from which to make multiple modifications.

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This was me on The Big Day, a proud girl with her Turkey.

As we set upon the post-dinner remains, using every avalable container and plastic bag in the house to send everyone home with goodies, I realized D and I would be eating the big guy for about two weeks. Inspired by the many Asian supermarkets to be found in Saint Paul, this past weekend I experimented with a few dishes using my copious leftovers. Following are two of them: Szechwan Soup and Turkey and Pumpkin Stew.

Szechwan Soup

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I had this clasic Milanese soup for the first time in, of all places, Ecuador last spring. My host brought me to a rustic resort located about two hours outside of Quito in the Cloud Forest. Sitting on the deck watching the humingbirds dive and the rain come down through the rainforest, I had the feeling of sitting in the tree-fort house I dreamed of as a child. The place is owned by an Italian, so for lunch, they prepared the three of us (from scratch), this amazing soup followed by gnochi in cream sauce and chocholate mouse. It was the best lunch I have ever had, for many reasons, and as the seasons start to turn here in Minnesota, (which always sparks my nostalgia for travel) I was drawn to make this soup on one of our first truely cool fall days.

What you need:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 oz pancetta, roughly chopped
• 2-3 celary stalks, finely chopped
• 3 medium carrots, finley chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6-8 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• about 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 can (14 oz) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup macaroni
• 4-5 spriggs fresh flat leaf parsley
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• shaved parmesan cheese, to serve

What to do:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the pancetta, celery, carrots and onion and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring until the vegetables are softened.

2. Add the garlic and tomatoes. Pour in the stock. Add salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Half cover the pan, lower the heat, and cook for 20 minutes.

3. Drain the beans and add them to the pan along with the macaroni. Bring to a boil again. Cover, lower heat and continue to simmer for another 20 minutes. Stir in the parsley and taste for seasoning.

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So, wow, I sure do have a lot of corn and cucumbers on my hands with the recent CSA boxes. After some searching I found this great recipe for a cold summer soup in  Sheila Lukins’ All Around The World Cookbook. 

P.S. After weeks of heat and no rain, it is raining nonstop today and our house is dark. I had to take the photo above perched in a window so as to shed some decent light on the soup.

What you need:

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 ears corn, kernels removed, cobs reserved and halved crosswise
• 4 fresh dill sprigs with stems
• 4 new red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 2 cups)
• 3 medium cucumbers
• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 1 small red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• coursely ground pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp. fresh dill

1. Place the chicken broth, corn cobs, and dill sprigs in a medium-size heavy pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove and discard the cobs and dill springs.
2. Add the potatoes to the broth and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the corn kernels and cook for 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat and pour the soup through a strainer, reserving the vegetables and broth separately.
3. Peel, halve, and seed the cucumbers. Coursely chop 2 of the cucumbers and cut the last cucumber into 1/4-inch dice.
4. Place the yogurt and coursely chopped cucumbers in a food processor and pulse on and off to combine but not puree. Pour in 1 cup of the reserved chicken broth and pulse to combine. Remove the mixture to a bowl.
5. Stir in the reserved potatoes and corn, and the diced cucumber, red pepper, and chopped dill. Season with pepper. Refrigerate for up to 4 hours. Serve chilled. Makes six one cup servings.

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My favorite soup for a cold Minnesota afternoon.

• 3 cups split peas
• 7-8 cups water
• 2-4 strips of bacon
• 4-6 peeled and sliced carrots
• 2 stocks minced celery
• 3 cloves garlic
• one large onion minced
• 2 medium potatos peeled and sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• (I also added the mushroom reduction sauce from last night’s dinner to the pot which gave it some nice depth. This was a saute mixture of chopped dried wild mushrooms soaked in boiling water, the stock made from soaking the mushrooms, a bunch of regular mushrooms chopped, some dry sherry, and a tbsp of unsalted butter.)

1. Cook the peas with the bay leaves and salt in the water for about 45 minutes.
2. Slice the bacon and saute to render the fat for about 5 minutes.
3. Saute the onions, carrots, potato, celery, onion, and garlic with the bacon for ten minutes adding a bit of water to steam then add to the peas.
4. Cook for another 20 mintes, add the thyme, some salt and black pepper and serve.

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