Turkey Soup

This soup was so delicious that my husband suggested I make a batch for our Virginia trip and pack it in the cooler with the other food I'm taking there.  This recipe makes good use of leftover turkey from your holiday meal.  It is hearty and a very delicious meal for a New England fall dinner. 

Ingredients:

2 cups of leftover turkey meat
1 large onion
1/2 bunch of celery, chopped
4 large carrots, chopped
several sprigs of thyme
freshly chopped parsley
6 bay leaves
32 ounces of chicken stock
1 10 ounce package of frozen spinach, thawed with water removed
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of Bell's seasoning

In a very large stockpot, put in all ingredients.  Simmer over low heat for several hours to allow all the flavors to develop. 

Compound Butter

 

Compound butter is quite simply butter (at room temperature) mixed with savor ingredients to enhance the flavor of anything you are cooking.  This butter is simply softened salted butter with thyme, garlic, parsley and rosemary.  Make the butter ahead of time so that the flavors can blend well.  

My Master Chef Adventure

One of the greatest adventures was auditioning for Master Chef in New York.  Although I do not fit the profile of a Master Chef contestant (too old ), nor do I expect to get a call from them, this was a great positive nod to the abilities I have as a cook (especially with no culinary training). 

Because one of my nephews lives in Brooklyn, I asked him if I could stay overnight with him and brought my brownies to Brooklyn (via the Chinese bus in Boston).  The bus got in very late so I had to finish the brownies once I got to his apartment (I made the ganache there). 

Saturday morning, my nephew drove me to Broadway (how appropriate) where I got in line with 300 other hopefuls....Joe Bastianich was there in Times Square and the producers had us parading around him shouting Master Chef (I personally thought this was very dumb but participated anyway).

We were brought into a waiting room at the Doubletree on Broadway and as I chatted with the other hopefuls, I saw out of 100 or so folks I was the only person who brought a dessert.  Go figure...nobody brought a dessert.  There were several lamb, veal, turkey, duck and so forth recipes but I had the only chocolate recipe. 

There was a woman who checked everybody in  (Cassie) who had not eaten.  When she called me up to sign me in, I asked her if she wanted to see the brownies...she actually almost swooned when she smelled them. 

You all know that my brownies recipes are on this blog but I went all out with the one for Master Chef using five or six types of chocolate, Madagascar vanilla, etc.  And Kahlua...

We were told in the waiting room that plates and silverware would be available but when I got to the audition room, there was nothing. I had been carrying around the brownies and fresh raspberries for about 24 hours via the Chinese bus and now I had nothing to plate with.  The girl next to me gave me a napkin and I cut out a brownie, looked at my mashed raspberries and put a few on the napkin with one that amazingly survived on top. 

The tasting judge came over to our table and said to me "you have the only dessert so I'm coming back to you later".  She then spent several minutes with the two people next to me who each made chicken dishes.

After she had circulated the room, she came back to me.  One of the criteria for judging is plating and I said to her "In the history of Master Chef, this is probably the worst plating you've ever seen". .....
She said, "I have to agree with that". 

She asked me to describe the brownies.  I told her they would appeal to her on all five sense levels.  (The cayenne pepper was a godsend).  She tasted the brownies and to my surprise said "Is there Starbucks coffee in this recipe".....      Normally, I think I might be stunned by that remark but I quickly said yes.  She asked me how complicated the recipe was and I honestly told her that anybody could make this and it was already on my blog.

She surprised me again by asking me to tell her about a complicated recipe and I responded by describing my cheesecake recipe (it takes three days to make because the components need refrigeration before assembly.  I mentioned that I developed a cheesecake recipe for Master Chef with the same flavor profile that I can whip up in under an hour.  She also asked me to describe my savory dishes.

The experience was very enjoyable and the judge spent a considerable amount of time with each of the people who brought food to be sampled. 

After the audition, I just walked around Broadway for a while and then went back to my nephew's home because it was very tiring.

Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies are easy to make and require little babysitting.  Allow 30 minutes for the dough to chill in the fridge.  The toughest part of this recipe is waiting for the cookies to cool down.

Traditionally, shortbread dough is poked with a fork to make little holes all over them.  I'm not sure what the purpose of that is but it doesn't matter if you do that.

Preheat the oven to 350F

Ingredients:
1 lb. of butter at room temperature
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 nip of Amaretto (Italian liquer)
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 cup of superfine sugar

I use my Kitchenaid Mixer with a dough hook to make these cookies.  If the batter seems a little too thick, you can add a little heavy cream to the mixture but usually that is not necessary.  The ganache recipe is already on my blog.  The little sprinkles are just because I made these cookies for a Guy Fawkes Party.  Use whatever you like to decorate them.  Traditionally, the shortbread bakes in the oven until the edges are golden brown and you then open the door of the oven to let them dry out.  I don't bother with that step.  I simply remove the tray from the oven and put it on a drying rack.  Allow the cookies to cool down for around an hour before frosting.  Then, allow the cookies to set for a little bit before cutting into cookies.

Cream the sugar, butter and flavorings.  Slowly add the flour.  Cream until well blended and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Put the prepared dough in a flat cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.  Cut the prepared cookies out when well cooled.

Stuffed Pork Chops

Stuffed Pork Chops

 

This is a simple recipe that has wonderful flavor.  You need fresh buttermilk (or make your own with buttermilk culture). 

 Preheat oven to 325°F

Marinade:

4 (four) thick pork chops

1 cup of fresh buttermilk
Garlic powder

Mix up the buttermilk.  Put in a large, shallow rectangular dish.  Cover with buttermilk and garlic powder.  Turn pork chops often.  Marinate for at least four hours.

Ingredients:

Beef suet (1/4 lb.)

Pancetta (3 to four ounces)
2 tbl. of butter
1 can of deviled ham
2 tbl. of mayo
Pancetta bits

Sauté the pancetta in a large frying pan with ¼ lb. of suet and butter.  Remove pancetta and drain on paper towels.  Shut heat off on frying pan while you stuff the pork chops.  Pour suet mixture in a baking dish for the oven.

Mix the deviled ham, mayo and pancetta.  Cut a deep slit in each pork chop.  Stuff with the ham mixture and secure the edges of the pork chops with toothpicks.  Brown the pork chops in the suet pan until golden on each side.   

Put the pork chops in the oven. 

Gravy:

Beef suet (1/4 lb.)

2 tbl. of butter
1 large shallot
Five cloves of garlic (minced)
1 lb. of fresh baby bella mushrooms
Salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg
Sauté mushrooms with all other ingredients.  Add heavy cream. 

Pork chops are done when internal temperature reaches 140F

 

 

Swedish Meatballs

Developing any recipe is a lot of fun and this was a good challenge.  To reduce the amount of fat in the recipe, I baked the meatballs before combining them with the remaining ingredients.  It is important to allow the ground meat to season for several hours before cooking the meatballs so the flavor profile is properly developed.  (If you are Swedish, this is not traditional because I put an Italian spin on it by adding garlic.) 

Ingredients:
1 lb. of ground beef (chuck)
1 lb. of ground pork
1 cup of freshly chopped parsley
four sprigs of fresh thyme
1 cup of Stouffer's chicken stuffing mix
2 eggs
1 cup of sour cream
1 cup of beef consommé
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 tbl. soy sauce
1 tbl. of garlic powder
1 tsp. of onion powder

Combine the ground meat, parsley, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder and salt and pepper (a pinch of each).   Add the stuffing mix (I use this instead of fresh bread) and the two eggs.  Mix the ingredients well and allow to rest for several hours.

Shape the meatballs and put them in a baking dish.  Cook at 350F for about 30 minutes. 

Reduce oven heat to 300F. 

Take a large saucepan that can be used in your oven and put the sour cream, the beef consommé and the soy sauce.  Mix well.  When the meatballs come out of the oven, put them in the saucepan with the sour cream mixture.  Do not discard the pan juices.  Pour the heavy cream into the pan you baked the meatballs in, stirring well to loosen the stuff on the bottom of the pan.  Scrape until you get all that goodness from the bottom of the pan and then pour everything into the sour cream mixture.  Stir with a wooden spoon.  Put this pan in your oven to finish cooking for about an hour or so.  To thicken the gravy, add a can of cream of mushroom soup if necessary.  Serve the meatballs over freshly cooked pasta. 

This is a very tasty version of Swedish Meatballs and though it may not be traditional, it is good enough to serve to guests.  Enjoy!

 

 

Lamb and Beef Barley Soup

 

 

 

Easy to Make

 

 

 

This recipe is a combination of two that work well together.  If you can find lamb shanks at the supermarket, use lamb shanks.  Otherwise, any piece of lamb will do well after it is braised.  Marrow bones will give you an extra depth of flavor.  Use a very large slowcooker...

 

 

Ingredients:

 

Lamb shanks (several) or two pieces of lamb



1 lb. of ground beef

1 lb. of baby crimini mushrooms

2 marrow bones

64 ounces of chicken broth

1 ten ounce can of beef consommé

1 cup of uncooked slow barley or if you have no barley, cooked pasta

4 bay leaves

 

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 bunch of celery (with leaves) chopped

1 bunch of carrots, chopped

 

Saute the lamb in butter and extra virgin olive oil.  Put in empty crockpot when done but reserve cooking oil.  Saute the mushrooms and ground beef.  Put in the crockpot when done.

 

In a microwavable bowl, put the onion, celery and carrots with one cup of chicken broth.  Nuke for about 15 minutes until the onions are soft and tender.  Put this mixture in the crockpot.

 

Put remaining ingredients in crockpot.  Salt and pepper to taste after the soup has cooked for an hour.  After a couple of hours, you can cut up the lamb into pieces and remove marrow from marrow bones and put that in the crockpot.  I also defrosted 10 ounces of spinach and added that to the crockpot.

 

Serve with biscuits.

 

Pasta Bolognese

 

 

This recipe is one I tweaked quite a bit before I was happy with it.  It's not particularly complicated to make but it does require prep time and you must allow several hours for the marriage of the sauce.  My grandmother always threw a chunk of Italian cheese in every sauce so that's what I do.  She also threw at least one turkey neck in every meat sauce (good luck finding one) so I do if I have one on hand.  I had no beef consommé in my pantry or I would have added a can of that too...this is really a taste and experiment kind of recipe.  If you have fresh herbs still growing in your garden, throw them in too...  Please note that this picture is of the sauce only...you will note how rich this is.  Normally, when I make this recipe, I do not serve it with bread because two starches are unnecessary.

 

 

Ingredients:

  

1 onion, finely chopped



3 stalks of celery or celery hearts, finely chopped

3 carrots, finely chopped

Pancetta

crimini, porcini or portabella mushrooms (dried and reconstituted in chicken broth...save the broth)

1 large can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes

2 cans of San Marzano tomato paste

1 lb. of ground pork

1 lb. of ground beef

2 cups of chicken broth

1 head of garlic (many cloves), chopped finely

1 large chunk of domestic parmesan with the skin on
fresh basil
1/2 cup of grated peccorini romano

 

I pick up a package of meatloaf seasoning and put that in the bowl with all the ground meat, plus fresh thyme and dried rosemary.  Mix these well with one egg and allow to sit for an hour or two to develop flavor....

 

In a large sauté pan, place 1 tbl. of butter and 1 tbl. of extra virgin olive oil.  Sweat the onion, celery and carrots for one half hour until soft.  Remove from heat.  Hold.

 

In a separate pan, sauté the pancetta (I used one half pound) and the reconstituted mushrooms with garlic powder, salt and pepper (same amount of butter and extra virgin olive oil) over very slow simmer.  This sauté is a slow simmer, so just wait about 30 minutes until the pancetta is golden brown.  Remove the pancetta and allow to cool. 

 

In the pancetta pan, put the ground meat.  This sauté is also slow.  Flavor with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Allow this to sauté over a simmer until meat is cooked.  Deglaze with one to two cups of a hearty red wine.  Shut off heat and allow this to cool down a little (it will reduce a little bit in its own liquid).

 

In a crockpot, put the tomatoes, tomato paste, the cooled onion mixture, the chunk of cheese, and then the remaining ingredients.  Allow the meat sauce to cook for several hours.  After two hours, taste it and season accordingly.  I added two cups of leftover beef gravy that I had in the fridge.  Then I added another 1/2 cup of pecorino romano cheese.

 

Serve over any cooked pasta that has ridges (under cook the pasta a tad if you are adding it to the sauce...otherwise cook to the al dente stage).  Serve this with freshly grated parmiagianno regianno

and a good bottle of hearty red chianti.