Gave beef soup another shot last night, using a simple recipe I found on cooks.com. Stew beef, soup bones, barley, carrots, onions, tomatoes. I enhanced it with a leek, mushrooms, and some broccoli which was getting well past its prime. Very full beef flavor in the broth, though a lot of fat rose to the top that I had to skim off. A gravy separator helped a lot with this.
I feel confident now with cooking a beef vegetable. Next project--black bean.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Cooking--Posole
My wife and I have cooked a version of the Mexican stew posole for a while now, but I wouldn't call it anything close to authentic. It's a vegetarian version that involves little more than mixing together the contents of several cans: hominy, tomatoes, beans, along with a few spices. It's a quick tasty meal, and goes nicely in a tortilla.
Last night we made the genuine article: a pork shoulder simmered until tender in broth, hominy, cumin and garlic. We pureed some dried ancho chilis in the broth and added them for the last half hour of cooking. This gave us a mild, rich stew that tasted wonderful topped with sour cream and wrapped in a tortilla. Normally if we make burritos I stop at two. I had to go for three last night, as did my wife. We had enough left over for one more meal this week. I suspect this will enter the regular rotation in our household. I don't recall where my wife got the recipe or I'd post it here.
I've never seen posole offered in a Mexican restaurant, even in the small places that cater to the local Latino community. This in spite of it being one of the most popular Mexican dishes. Nearly every Mexican restaurant I've seen, chain or local, serves the same fifteen or so dishes that amount to variations on tacos or burritos. Why so little variety there, when there is so much in Mexican cuisine? Something similar holds true in Chinese restaurants, by my observation.
All the more reason to cook at home.
Last night we made the genuine article: a pork shoulder simmered until tender in broth, hominy, cumin and garlic. We pureed some dried ancho chilis in the broth and added them for the last half hour of cooking. This gave us a mild, rich stew that tasted wonderful topped with sour cream and wrapped in a tortilla. Normally if we make burritos I stop at two. I had to go for three last night, as did my wife. We had enough left over for one more meal this week. I suspect this will enter the regular rotation in our household. I don't recall where my wife got the recipe or I'd post it here.
I've never seen posole offered in a Mexican restaurant, even in the small places that cater to the local Latino community. This in spite of it being one of the most popular Mexican dishes. Nearly every Mexican restaurant I've seen, chain or local, serves the same fifteen or so dishes that amount to variations on tacos or burritos. Why so little variety there, when there is so much in Mexican cuisine? Something similar holds true in Chinese restaurants, by my observation.
All the more reason to cook at home.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Cooking--Finnish Beef Soup
A nordic beef-vegetable soup---all root vegetables (recipe). I don't have that much experience with meat soups and want to get more proficient with those. Something from the cold countries sounded right for the end of the coldest, snowiest week this year. (And for me, BTW, winter is something to celebrate, not run from. This year has provided a pleasant departure from our usual anemic winters in southern Michigan).
My rendition was a bit thin . The meat and first round of veggies should have cooked at least twice as long as the suggested time, and a soup bone would have strengthened the broth. The potatoes put in at the end don't need the full twenty minutes, at least if you've cut them small enough to comfortably occupy a soup spoon. I did like the generous topping of fresh parsely--it added a piquant tingle to the subdued root veggie flavors.
I'll attempt this again. I suspect I'll be making a lot of meat soups in the next few weeks, since that's the weak spot in my resume. Shopping for this effort, I discovered a good butcher shop--Knight's Market, an Ann Arbor landmark apparently, but one I'd never heard of until yesterday. By spring, they ought to know me by sight.
My rendition was a bit thin . The meat and first round of veggies should have cooked at least twice as long as the suggested time, and a soup bone would have strengthened the broth. The potatoes put in at the end don't need the full twenty minutes, at least if you've cut them small enough to comfortably occupy a soup spoon. I did like the generous topping of fresh parsely--it added a piquant tingle to the subdued root veggie flavors.
I'll attempt this again. I suspect I'll be making a lot of meat soups in the next few weeks, since that's the weak spot in my resume. Shopping for this effort, I discovered a good butcher shop--Knight's Market, an Ann Arbor landmark apparently, but one I'd never heard of until yesterday. By spring, they ought to know me by sight.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Tasting Notes--Italian Wedding Soup, Whole Foods
I rarely buy prepared foods from Whole Foods because they're expensive and often disappointing. Exceptions to this are the pizza, a couple of soups, and, on good days at least, the salad bar.
I was there today to lay in some provisions before the predicted snowstorm hits tonight. I'd been out a good part of the morning and was getting hungry, so naturally I gravitated to the soup bar. $3.50 for a 12 oz. bowl isn't bad, so I took a chance on the Italian wedding soup. I have a hard time steering away from anything with sausage in it.
People have raved about IWS to me, but I'd never tried it. I'd wager that I still haven't. WF's version consisted of a salty commercial-grade chicken broth, small bits of onion, carrot, and parsely, and chicken sausage. No herb flavors were discernible except for in the sausage. The overwhelming impression was of a canned chicken vegetable soup.
Like I said, I don't know much about this variety of soup. I want to look up some recipes and commentaries to see what I was missing. I like WF's vegetarian chili and some of their seafood soups, but I won't get this again.
I was there today to lay in some provisions before the predicted snowstorm hits tonight. I'd been out a good part of the morning and was getting hungry, so naturally I gravitated to the soup bar. $3.50 for a 12 oz. bowl isn't bad, so I took a chance on the Italian wedding soup. I have a hard time steering away from anything with sausage in it.
People have raved about IWS to me, but I'd never tried it. I'd wager that I still haven't. WF's version consisted of a salty commercial-grade chicken broth, small bits of onion, carrot, and parsely, and chicken sausage. No herb flavors were discernible except for in the sausage. The overwhelming impression was of a canned chicken vegetable soup.
Like I said, I don't know much about this variety of soup. I want to look up some recipes and commentaries to see what I was missing. I like WF's vegetarian chili and some of their seafood soups, but I won't get this again.
A Virtual Soup Dream
Every blog needs a blogroll. I'll start mine with the obvious: what's the soup.net. Looks like someone else had a soup dream but decided to take it virtual. Should be a good source of recipes.
(5 minutes later)...and another: http://seriouslysoupy.blogspot.com/
(5 minutes later)...and another: http://seriouslysoupy.blogspot.com/
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