Day 27 - White Bean and Garlic Soup, with Sautéed Cabbage

I was rushing around like a madwoman this afternoon, trying to get everything prepared before I left for Montreal. My friend and I were supposed to drive up tomorrow, but because of the impending snow forecast, we decided to leave tonight. Even though driving at night for 8 hrs is not ideal, being stuck in a snowstorm is even worse.

We Canadians may be used to un-godly amounts of snow, but we don’t like driving in snowstorms, and we really dislike long distance driving in snowstorms. Maybe it’s because we still have huge swaths of land that are grossly under populated, and the fear of being stuck off the side of the road, with no houses around, no cell phone service or cars on the road, is a real possibility and it sends shivers down our spine.

A smart Canadian will have a long with the spare tire, a flashlight, and blanket and winter boots. Just in case the car breaks down or you spin off the road, you can A: wait it out, or B: start walking.

I myself have had the privilege of driving off the road in the spring, and futily tried applying the breaks only to shoot further off at an angle in slushy snow. I was good and stuck, and had to be towed out. Which was very embarrassing.

This soup was the result of my desire to clean out my fridge and avoid yet another grocery run. I had leftover cabbage from the Borscht, leftover shrimp, lots of garlic and leftover white beans from the Pasta Fagioli.

White beans and garlic seem like a natural pair, but the crunchy cabbage on top added another layer of texture and flavor.

White Bean and Garlic Soup, with Sautéed Cabbage and Shrimp
Source: Krystal Ford

Soup
1 can of Canneli white beans
3 cups of chicken broth
1 whole garlic bulb

Sauteed Cabbage
1 1/2 cup of cabbage shredded
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
pinch of kosher salt

Sauteed Shrimp
6 shrimp
1 lemon
salt and pepper
pinch of saffron

Directions
Pre-heat over to 400F. Peel the outer layer of garlic, and cut off a few cm of the top of the garlic bulb. Rub a bit of olive oil over the smooth surface. Cover with aluminum foil and place in a muffin tin. Roast for 35 minutes.

Marinate shrimps in lemon juice, saffron, salt and pepper for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile. Boil the broth and add the whole can of white beans, do not drain them. Bring to a boil and gently simmer. Add roasted garlic cloves to stock and beans and puree with immersion blender until smooth. Adjust seasoning.

Melt butter and olive over high heat and sautée cabbage until just softened, but still a bit crunchy. Sprinkle with salt.

Sautée shrimps over high heat with a bit of butter one minute each side until pink.

Serve soup with cabbage and shrimp piled on top.

Day 24 - Turnip and Maple Syrup Soup, with French Toast

A few years ago, our friend in Canada had made a really nice turnip and maple syrup soup. I have no idea what recipe she used, but I knew that I wanted to try make my own. If you are skeptical about turnip soup (the oft forgotten root vegetable) you won't be after trying this. The combination of maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg complimented the turnip and made it warm, creamy and comforting.

I have a lot of nice childhood memories centered around maple syrup. Being born and raised in the heart of maple syrup land, where the province of Quebec is accountable for 75% of the worlds production (according to Wikipedia). We definitely kick Vermonter's maple tree tapping butt.

I always loved the sugaring off season, which is what we call the period that maple syrup is collected (starts in February-April). The days are a bit milder, a nice and balmy 25F/-5C, in other words, not the double digit minuses (talking Celsius here) we are accustomed to. We would go to the Cabane a Sucre(Sugar shack)where we would enjoy sleigh rides and gorge our selves on fat and sugar.

The best part is having maple taffy on the snow, if you haven't gone into a diabetic comatose by that point. The bubbling nectar of the gods is poured over a fresh batch of snow, which instantly freezes, and you roll a wooden stick in the amber frozen taffy. We would have our lunch in an old wooden cabin, where the smell of wood mixed with syrup hangs in the air like a delicious perfume.

The feast would be laid out on long wooden tables, and would include bacon, sausage, pancakes, baked beans, scrambled eggs cooked in maple syrup, "oreilles de crisse" (fried strips of salt pork). Then, you might get up to dance it all off to some French songs.

Another thing I associate maple syrup with,(when combined with cinnamon and nutmeg)is French toast. For my soup today, I went out on a limb and got really innovative. I decided to make some French toast slices(using only egg and milk, no spices) and piled them on top of the creamy soup. It was a nice combination of savory and sweet, and if you're like me and love maple syrup, you can always drizzle a bit more on.

Turnip and Maple Syrup Soup, with French Toast
Source: Krystal Ford

Soup
1 lb of turnip, peeled and cubed
one potato peeled and cubed
4 cups of chicken broth
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup of maple syrup plus some for drizzling
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of nutmeg

Bring chicken broth to a boil. Add turnip and potato cubes and boil until soft (around 10 minutes) Take off the heat, and blend using immersion blender. Add maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and cream. Re-heat on low just until it reaches a gentle simmer.

French Toast
One piece of bread (thick if possible and leave it to dry out a bit)
one egg
1/4 milk

Directions
Take a slice of bread and cut into three strips. Beat one egg with milk. Dip bread strips in egg mixture and fry in a frying pan with butter on high heat. Sprinkle with a bit of Kosher salt. Remove when golden on both sides.

Place the slices of French toast criss-crossed on top of the soup, and drizzle with a bit of maple syrup.

Day 23 - Russian Borscht

Borscht,borsht or borshch is a Eastern European vegetable soup well recognized for its purple color, because it is traditionally made with beets. There are many variations of borshct, depending on the country of origin. Some are eaten hot, some are cold. The Ukrainian version has tomatoes added to it, the Russian version has cabbage, meat and sometimes potatoes, and the Polish version sometimes doesn't include beets at all.

This soup takes forever to cook (compared to my other soups), but your patience will be rewarded. From start to finish it took 3hrs. It tastes great with a dallop of sour cream and some chives.

We went to the Rockefeller center in the evening to see the Christmas tree all lite up in it's glory, and topped with a swarvoski crystal star. There was some rapper T.I playing (who Darien and I had never heard of) at the Rockefellar center, so it took a little negotiating around the crowd to get a good view.

After we saw the tree, we walked to one of our favorite restaurants Tao on 58st and Madison. It has a giant Buddha, a pond with koy fish, and amazing lychee martini's. We had some Peking duck spring rolls, pork pot stickers with ginger sauce, shrimp tempura with chili sauce and pad thai. We are never disappointed with the food there, and the atmosphere is lounge meets the Southeast Asia.


Russian Borscht
Source: Adapted from Recipe Zaar

1lb beef tenderloin
3 Carrots
3 onions
2 big beets (peeled and halved)
3 medium potatoes
1 small head of cabbage
1/2 cup of red wine
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
sour cream and chives for garnish

Directions
Season meat with salt and pepper, and then sear meat in a stew pot with olive oil over high heat. After the meat is seared, add the red wine and then add water to cover the meat. You may need to keep adding more water, so that the meat is completely covered. Simmer for 2 hrs. Take meat out of the broth and put aside. Shred the meat (I used two forks to pull the meat apart).

Add the beets to the broth and boil until soft. Meanwhile, sautee the onions and carrot in olive oil until onion are soft. When beats are done, use a fork to break them up into chunks. Add meat, onion, carrots, cubed potatoes and cabbage to soup. Bring to a boil. Adjust water level (the amount depends on how thick or thin you want the soup). When potatoes are cooked. Add 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar and adjust salt and pepper.

Serve with a dallop of sour cream and chives.

Day 22 - Red Pepper Soup

The alarm went off at 6am this morning. It took some real commitment for me to pull myself out of bed at that time, and even more knowing that I would be heading out into the cold.

In order to qualify for the 2009 New York City marathon, I had to run 9 races and volunteer at one race in 2008. Of course, I left my volunteering to the last minute, and this was my only chance to volunteer at a race before the year was out.

Dressed in a turtleneck, hoodie sweatshirt, long jacket, winter boots, gloves, and headband, I ventured out in the 25F/-5C dark Saturday morning. I was going to be working in the baggage area at the Holiday 4 mile race in Central Park. We had to be there for 6:45am but baggage didn't open until 7:30. We volunteers were freezing outside for 3hours. My toes and fingers were frozen, and I kept thinking of coffee, hot chocolate, and soup.

Bouncing up and down trying to keep warm at 7am on Saturday in the blustering cold, while talking to the other volunteers about running, I realized that we runners really are driven people. If you haven't figured it out yet, I thrive on challenges.

This red pepper soup had a hint of spice and it tasted really great with garlic bread. The original red pepper soup recipe was given to me by a lady who works at the Saturday market. I told her about my soup plan's, she brought me the recipe the following week. I am not sure where she got the recipe, but I modified it quite a bit, so it has become my recipe now.

Red Pepper Soup
Source: Krystal Ford

3 Medium red peppers
1 Medium onion, chopped
1 Carrots, chopped
1 Celery rib, chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, mince
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 cup of white wine
2 cups of chicken broth
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
1 tsp Italian spice mix
1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp of paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Roasted red peppers or roasted tomatoes for garnish (optional)

Directions
Saute onions and garlic. Add carrots, peppers, and celery and continue cooking until tender. Add wine, broth, tomato sauce, Italian spice mix, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes. Puree until smooth with blender or immersion blender.
Garnish with roasted peppers or roasted tomatoes.

Day 21- Chilled Pea and Mint Soup

Please excuse my post being one day late. We hosted a little Christmas party last night, and I didn't have time to write.

Yesterday, in attempts to brighten our rather stark white apartment with holiday spirit, I bought some jelly letters to put on our window, and a small little Christmas tree made of bells for our table.

I put the red and green letters on the window spelling out Happy Holidays. My dog, minutes later, started growling. I thought maybe she heard a dog or something in the hall, and just ignored her. But she continued growling and looking at the window. The jelly letters? Are you kidding me? I was incredulous. I showed her some letters and her tail uncurled and she snaked away.

I couldn't believe that my big dog in a little dogs body, was afraid of the jelly letters. Maybe she wasn't afraid, as so much as offended by the tacky-ness of them. Darien was initially skeptical about the window lettering, when I messaged him about my holiday decorating, but I assured him that it was all very tastefull.

I wanted to make a soup that would be kind of Christmas-y and fun to eat. I thought that a chilled pea soup would be perfect. The color was a nice green, almost the same color as a grasshopper (an alcoholic drink made with Creme de Menthe, Creme de Cacao, and light cream, and it tastes like an Andes mint) and I served the chilled soup in martini glasses. It was almost like drinking a savory virgin cocktail.

It was a bit risky serving a chilled soup, but my friends were all good sports and gave it a try. I will be the first to admit that the soup had separated a bit, and it wasn't phenomenal. That being said, I think the soup would be great in the summer, and I would advise two things. One, do not skimp on the mint, it really add flavor to the soup, and second, that you chill it in a bowl first, give it a good stir before you portion (I had portioned it directly into my glasses and didn't stir before serving).

Chilled Pea and Mint Soup
Source: Good House Keeping Step by Step Cookery
2lb of fresh peas or 1lb of frozen peas
20z of butter
1 onion chopped roughly
600 ml or 1 pint of milk
600 ml or 1 pint of chicken stock
6 large sprigs of mint for soup, and 6 small for garnish
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper
150 ml of single cream

Directions
If using fresh peas, shell peas. Other wise use frozen peas (no need to defrost them). Melt butter in a saucepan, add onion and cover and cook gently for 15 minutes until it is soft but not brown.

Remove from heat and stir in the milk, stock, peas, mint, sugar and seasoning. Bring to a boil, stirring. Cover and simmer gently for about 20-25 minutes. Until peas are really tender.

Place soup in blender or use immersion blender and blend to form a smooth puree. Pour into a bowl and adjust seasoning and cool. Stir in cream and chill for 2-3 hours. To serve garnish with sprigs of mint.

Day 20 - Mexican Meatball Soup

This afternoon, I was a multi-tasking machine. I was preparing my soup of the day, and at the same time preparing banana muffins and peppermint bark for my little party tomorrow night.

Once again I started up a double boiler. Melted my dark chocolate until it was shiny and smooth, poured it into a pan, and stuck it in the freezer. Then I set about melting the white chocolate, trying to do everything right, never letting it sit for too long, and before my eyes the white chips changed from individuals into one solid clump (with a strong resemblance to mashed potatoes). Oh crap, not again! I just wasted another bag of Ghirardelli's, as the same things happened last week when I tried to make icing to go on top of my Rice Krispies squares. Had I known I was going to screw up, I would have left the smashing of the candy canes until after I melted the chocolate (a little kitchen therapy).

This little experience got me thinking, does every chef have an Achilles heel? Or is it possible to be renaissance cook, knowledgeable and capable of cooking it all? Can a pastry chef still sear a mean steak? I know my mom's arch nemesis is pie crust and I just discovered mine is melting white chocolate. Although, I am a little miffed that my weakness has to be something so lame. Why couldn't it be making a souffle or a Hollandaise sauce?

The Mexican meatball soup was really good in my opinion, but Darien wasn't too keen on it. He found the meatball's a little bland. It probably would have been more flavorful if I had used the mint in the meatballs instead of cilantro.

Albondigas (Mexican Meatball soup)
Source: Elise, Simply Recipes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
3 quarts of beef stock OR water OR a mixture of both (we usually use half stock half water as the meatballs will create their own stock)
2 large carrots, sliced
1/2 lb of string beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 pound ground beef
1/3 cup of raw white rice
1 raw egg
1/2 cup of chopped fresh mint leaves and/or parsley
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas
Dried oregano, crumbled
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

*Chef's Note: I didn't have any mint or parsley, so I made my meatballs with cilantro. I also added celery to the onion and garlic mix.

Directions
Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and minced garlic and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and broth mixture. Bring to boil and simmer. Add carrots and string beans.

Prepare meatballs. Mix rice into meat, adding mint land parsley leaves, salt and pepper. Add raw egg. Form beef into 1-inch meatballs.

Return soup to gentle simmer. Add meatballs to soup, one at a time. Cover and let simmer for 1/2 hour. Add peas towards the end of the 1/2 hour. Add a few pinches of oregano and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish soup with chopped fresh cilantro.

Day 19- Carrot and Lemongrass soup

What a day! I woke up this morning to a nice little pile of vomit on my couch, courtesy of my dog. That is quite an ominous beginning to a day. My poor puppy continued emptying the contents of her stomach all morning, while I was running around trying to put paper towels under her, to minimize clean-up.

I was going to bring her to the vet in the afternoon, but it started really pouring. Our vet is a good 30 minute walk, and taxi's won't pick you up unless you put your animal in a carrying case. So, I decided to wait a bit to see how she was doing.

Two hours later she was tossing her little raw-hide around the apartment and going all kooky, so I felt a little relieved knowing she had plenty of energy.

In order to get into soup mode, I put on a mixed C.D. back from my college days, containing classics like Ice, Ice, Baby by Vanilla Ice and Intergalactic by the Beastie Boys. Yes, a questionable combination, but I have very eclectic music tastes.

Carrot soup is not only delicious, it also has a really pretty orange color when it's blended. I was originally going to make a carrot and ginger soup, but decided to put a different spin on it by using lemongrass and coconut milk. I also turned the heat up a bit, by adding whole dried chili peppers.

I used an immersion blender to get it smooth, but I think that using a regular blender would have been a lot faster. I kept finding stray whole carrot rounds that the immersion blender had missed.

Carrot and Lemongrass soup
source: Krystal Ford

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 inch whole lemon grass stalk, cut into two-three inches
1/2 tablespoon green onion, chopped
1 1/2 pounds of carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
1-2 whole dried chili peppers
Salt and pepper
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 cup coconut cream
Chopped cilantro for garnish

Directions

Pour the oil into a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, green onions, lemongrass, and dried red peppers. Stir occasionally and cook for a minute, or until very fragrant. Dump in the carrots, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.

Pour in the stock and coconut cream and add ginger and coriander. Bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes or until the carrots are very tender. Remove the lemongrass pieces, and chili peppers (if you want it to be spicy, leave part of one in).

Blend the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. Adjust seasoning and serve with chopped cilantro and drizzle with some coconut cream.