Zuppa di Fragole - Strawberry Soup

Ingredients:

1 quart strawberries – ripe.

lemon juice - 1 Tablespoon ( 1 ½ Tablespoons if you are not using Limoncello)

zest from ½ lemon

Optional – 2 teaspoons high quality aged Balsamic Vinegar

Optional – 3 ripe peaches (optional, it's a good change for the soup)

1 Tablespoon Limoncello (optional

1 small carton of lemon sherbet or homemade Granita di Limone (optional)

¼ - 1/3 cup simple syrup (see recipe below)

Ingredients for Simple Syrup

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup boiling water

Preparation for Simple Syrup:

Bring water to a boil. Add sugar and whisk gently on very low flame.  When the sugar dilutes totally, it should start to get a little thicker.  Shut off heat and let it cool to room temperature before using. Let it cool to at least room temperature.

Preparation for Strawberries

Wash strawberries

Trim the ends, remove the green

Cut the berries – depending on the size.  If they are small, cut them in half, otherwise slice them into pieces about ¼” wide.

Put them into a glass or ceramic bowl

Pour in ¼ cup simple syrup and toss

Add lemon and lemon zest

Toss again

Add Balsamic vinegar and Limoncello (optional)

If it’s too tart, add a little more simple syrup.  Don’t overdo it! Remember, ripe strawberries are already sweet.

If you're adding peaches, do it now.

Toss and cover with plastic wrap or lid

Put into refrigerator and let it macerate, blending the flavors

The next day the strawberries will become more like soup, and all the flavors will be blended.  You can do this a day or 2 ahead of time.

 

Option 1 - If you are serving the strawberry soup in separate bowls, use a small ice cream scoop and scoop sherbet into the center of each bowl.  Pour a teaspoon of Limoncello over each scoop and serve.

Option 2 - If you are serving the strawberry soup in one bowl, use a small ice cream scoop and scoop a ball of sherbet for each person into the bowl.  Pour a teaspoon of Limoncello over each scoop and serve.

Option 3 – Do the same as Option 1 or 2 without the Limoncello.

 

 

 

 

Moon Milk - Say Good-Might Moon

 Ingredients:                                                                      Difficulty Rating:  Easy                                                             

1 cup milk (whole milk, 2% or fat free milk, almond milk or milk of your choice)

½ teaspoon turmeric

½ inch cinnamon stick.  If you don’t have a cinnamon stick use a scant ½ teaspoon of cinnamon

½ inch ginger root.  If you don’t have ginger root you can either use Penzys Sliced China Ginger Root or ½ ginger powder.  If you use Penzys Sliced China Ginger Root try it first with 1 piece, it’s strong. 

2-3 green cardamom pods, slightly crushed

2 black peppercorns.  If your pepper isn’t very strong, use 3.  Don’t crush them.

A few scrapes of fresh nutmeg

1 teaspoon honey or to taste

Preparation: 

Put milk in a saucepan at low heat.  While it is heating add all the ingredients 

except the honey.

Add the honey to the teapot or French press or to individual cups.   

When the milk looks like it’s about to simmer, shut off the heat. 

If you are using a French Press, pour everything into it an stir well.   After you’ve stirred it well, put the top on, but do not push the press down on the plunger until it steeps for about 5 miutes.

If you are using a strainer, stir everything, cover the pot and let it stand so the flavors marry.  After at least 5 minutes, remove the cover, stir again and  pour it through the strainer into a teapot.

To double the recipe, double all ingredients

 Enjoy.  Oh, it’s best served in your pajamas.

 

 

Arroz Con Leche - Rice Pudding Spanish Style

 

Inspired by Recipe by Albert Bevia @ Spain on a Fork

This makes about 8 servings                   Difficulty Rating - easy, but it takes lots of stirring

Ingredients                    

• 1 cup short grained rice.  I used medium grain rice because I didn't have short grained rice in the house and it was delicious.  But if you can find Arroz Bomba, or that is what you should use.  Note: This is for Arroz con Leche from Spain, the type of rice may differ depending on the country.
• 8 cups milk - I use 2% 
• 3/4 cup sugar - Note: Most recipes I have seen from Spain, and all recipes I have seen from Central/South America call for more sugar, about 1 cup, but I tried it with one cup and it was too sweet for me.  Make your own choice.
• 2 Vanilla beans or 1 vanilla bean and 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 Cinnamon sticks
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon powder. I like Penzy's Vietnamese Cinnamon
  
• 8 slices of lemon peel

Instructions

Place a large frying pan a medium heat and add milk, vanilla bean (and vanilla extract if using), cinnnamon sticks and sugar.  Stir so it is all mixed together.

When this begins to simmer lightly, add rice stir to combine.  It is important to continue stirring so the milk doesn't form a film.  However, it did form a film many times as I was cooking since I don't have the patience to stir every second.  The film disappeared as I stirred

10 minutes after adding the rice to the pan, lower to a LOW heat, and add the sugar to the pan, and stir.

4.      Continue to stir for another 20 minutes or until you can run run the spatula through the pan, and it makes a little path so you can see the bottom of the pan. 

5.      Remove the rice pudding from the burner and let rest for about 8 minutes

6.      Spoon the rice pudding into small bowls

7.      Sprinkle with some cinnamon powder and garnish with a mint leaf

fresh lemon peels

Mardely adding the vanilla bean to the pudding mixture

Mardely chosing which mint to use for our arroz con leche/rice pudding

Mardely clipping mint from our garden

Thai Iced Coffee - Gafea Yen กาแฟเย็น

Serves 2 or 3 depending on the size of the glass

 Ingredient:

To make 1 glass, half this recipe, to make 4 or 5, double the recipe

 

·        5 Tbsp Thai coffee (Oliang powder mix) If you can't get Thai Coffee Powder (Oliang) try it with strong coffee like espresso

·        1 1/2 cup boiling water

·        31/2  Tbsp sweetened condensed milk

·        3 tsp sugar

·        Pinch of salt

·        Fill the glasses with ice

·        About 5  Tbsp evaporated milk

Preparation:

Place dry coffee into
the Coffee into the press or strainer.  Pour boiling water into your coffee press (you can use a jar and a strainer). Stir it well.  Let it steep for about 5 minutes  Note:  Most Thai people use the cloth strainer, I prefer to use the press. It's easier to keep clean and it lasts forever.

Add sweetened condensed milk
sugar, pinch of salt into a glass
mixing cup

While you wait, get a glass mixing cup (glass so you can see through it and ensure that the condensed milk is totally mixed).

Mix together the sweetened condensed milk, sugar, pinch of salt.

Add hot coffee to the mixing cup.

Add the hot coffee to the mixing glass and stir until everything is dissolved.

When you are ready for your treat, fill the drinking glasses with ice, almost to the top and pour in your coffee leaving just enough room on the top to add some evaporated milk to taste.

Cauliflower Latkes - Gluten free, low carb, delicious

 

A food processor is used in this recipe.  You don’t have a food processor, you can use the shredding side of a grater.  It takes a little longer, but it's easy

 
Ingredients:                                                                        Difficulty Rating: Easy to Medium

·       1 medium head cauliflower 

·       1 small to medium onion depending on your taste

·       2 eggs beaten

·       1/2 teaspoon baking powder

·       1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt or to taste

·       1/2 cup almond flour (more may be needed)

·       oil – a light oil that doesn't burn as quickly as olive oil.  I use Grapeseed Oil

·       Sour cream - optional dollop of sour cream for each pancake

Beyond Beef Meatloaf - Are we headed to a replicator? I hope so!

OK, OK, OK. It's not meat and it's not perfect and it still needs work.  However, we are headed toward plant based foods to take the place of animal meat someday.  Just like on Star Trek!
"Computer, aged t-bone please" or "Computer, pizza with mozzarella di bufala and pepperoni please". Yes, we have a long way to go for that, and we have enough in the world to fix before we even head on that path, but it is coming.

If you have a favorite brand of plant based meat, substitute it for Beyond Meat.  This is what was available at Whole Foods, so this is what I used.

Ingredients:                                                                           Difficulty Rating: Easy

1 pound Beyond Beef
4 cloves roasted garlic (recipe included)
1 egg - room temperature
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs (use gluten free if needed)
1/4 cup diced onion or 1/8 cup Penzy air dried
shallots (I prefer the shallots)
Kosher salt
Ketchup (I can't remember the last time I had
Ketchup in my house, but hey, it worked)
Frozen roasted corn
less than 1 teaspoon Olive oil

Preparation for Roasted Garlic:

Preheat oven to 400, or toaster oven to 350.
Remove 4 good sized cloves from a head of garlic and peel them.
Place on aluminum foil
Sprinkle olive oil and kosher salt over the garlic.
Loosely wrap them in the aluminum foil and place in the
oven (on a baking sheet) for about 20-25 minutes.
When they're done, they'll be soft when they are
pressed with a fork.  Press them.

Preparation for meat loaf:
Turn oven down to 325
Put the Beyond Beef in a large mixing bowl.
Add the egg and mix it together.
Add the bread crumbs, roasted garlic, shallots (or onions)
Add some  Kosher salt - a teaspoon or to taste.
Mush it together, but don't overdo it.
Place it in a baking dish and form it into a loaf.
Spread ketchup over the top.
Place in oven for about 20 minutes
Spread frozen corn around the Beyond Beef loaf and put back in oven for about 15 minutes.
When the corn is hot, remove from the oven

Let it sit for at least 15 minutes.  Eat it now, or when it cools, refrigerate it and have it later.
Yum!

Hot Buttered Rum

Ingredients:

·       2 cups water

·       1 teaspoon cinnamon

·      Between 1/8 and ¼   cup dark brown sugar depending on how sweet you like it

·       1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

·       A ‘pinch’ of cayenne pepper (optional)

·       4 Tablespoons butter

·       ½ cup dark rum

·       ½ cinnamon stick per cup (optional)

Preparation:

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan

Lower to a simmer

Add brown sugar and stir until dissolved

Add nutmeg and butter

When butter is almost melted add the rum.

Stir a few times and remove from the heat.

Stir until the butter is melted.

Pour into cups and add the cinnamon stick

Lemon Orzo Soup Recipe - Avgolemono

I usually go for thick, full meal type of soups, but this one made me rethink that. But this isn't a thin brothy soup.  The combination of the egg yolks and lemon thicken it perfectly.

Note - if you use store-bought broth and you decide not to buy low-sodium broth, at least check the ingredients to ensure that salt is at the bottom of the list. You can add your own salt as you need it, but no soup can be good with a stock made with mostly salt.


Ingredients:                                              Difficulty rating: easy

·      2 Tablespoons of olive oil

·   2 Medium carrots, diced *

·   2 Medium stalks of celery, diced * 

·      1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (optional)

     

·      1 medium leek, the white and like green parts only. *

o  Cut it in half lengthwise and cut the halves into ½ “ pieces

·     1 32 oz. package of organic vegetable broth 

o  Use organic chicken broth if you prefer

·      2 organic eggs

·      2/3 cup orzo or 2/3 cup white basmati rice

·      Juice and zest of 2 lemons **- plus some lemon wedges to serve with soup for people who really like the taste of the lemon (like me)***

·      Kosher salt (to taste)

·      Black pepper (to taste)

* Note - when I'm in a hurry, I don't add the carrots, celery or leek, I just depend on the vegetable broth for the taste.  Sometimes you are just cold and don't want to wait for a delicious way to get warm! Just remember, nothing beats a homemade broth.

** Note - DO NOT use store bought lemon juice.  Use real lemons, the soup depends on that.

*** Note - I like to serve it with wedges of preserved lemons if I have them.

Preparation: 
Add the olive oil into a 3 quart pot over a medium flame. 
If using the Aleppo pepper, add it now.  (When it's a souper cold night this can really warm you up)
Add the leek and stir frequently until it is translucent. 
Pour the broth into a 3 qt. pot. 
Cover and bring it to a boil.

Whisk egg and broth together

Once it boils, turn the heat down so it is no longer at a rapid boil, but to a simmer and add the orzo or rice, and cook until it is al dente (firm to the bite).  The orzo has a faster cooking time than the rice.

Pouring orzo into the broth

While waiting for it to the soup to cook, break the 2 eggs, add add the yolk into a medium bowl.  Whisk them together and slowly add lemon juice, whisking for about 45 seconds to 1 minute - until they look smooth.  This makes the soup a bit thick and silky.

SLOWLY add 1 cup broth of hot broth from the soup to the eggs, a little bit at a time and whisk.
(You don't want egg drop soup, so this should be well whisked).
This should take about 2 minutes, until there is a good froth on the top.

Incorporate this into the soup pot with the rest of the soup slowly.

When the orzo or rice is al dente (a bit firm 'to the teeth', not mushy), 

When the broth comes to a boil, uncover it pour the egg, lemon mixture in a steady stream into the broth.  

Add the lemon zest before turning off the flame.  

If necessary, add more lemon, salt and pepper.  

Put the lemon wedges or preserved lemon on the table so people can add more lemon as they chose.  I always add more lemon, because I prefer the lemony tang, but being mindful of others, I give them the choice.

Tuscan Bean Soup (Ribollita) Vegetarian soup or with an Italian ham.

Ingredients                                                                      Difficulty Rating: Easy               

-  2-3 Tablespoons  Olive Oil 

-  1 ½ Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil for the bread 

Prosciutto di Parma
Optional

-  If you eat meat, add  2 – 4 slices of prosciutto or capicola or 

     speck (please don’t call capicola ‘gabagul’ like they did 

     where I grew up in New Jersey. “Gabagul” is not an Italian word 
for anything and no Italian person will know what you’re talking 
 about) if you eat meat, if you don’t then leave it out – cut into 1” pieces.

-  2 medium sized shallots or ½ onion, chopped

-  4 minced garlic cloves plus 2 whole peeled garlic cloves for later

-  ¼ teaspoon pepperoncino flakes (dried hot red pepper flakes) – use more or less depending on your taste, if you’re not sure, use less and next time use more if you think you’d like a little more kick

-   2 carrots, thinly sliced

-   2 stalks of celery, thinly sliced

San Marzano
 Tomatoes

-  1 15 oz. can Cannellini beans

-  1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes.  I usually try to buy San Marazno tomatoes.  They’re grown in the volcanic soil at the base of Mount Vesuvius (Monte Vesuvio) which is where they get their sweet, very low acid taste.  But if you can't find them in your grocery store, this soup will still be delicious with most other Italian diced tomatoes.. 

-  4 cups vegetable broth (if you’re a meat eater you can use chicken broth) – I prefer to use organic, unsalted broth

-   Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano – if you like it, use 2 Tablespoons, if you love it, (like I do) use as much as you want.  

*Hint: Add a Parmigiano-Reggiano rind into the soup if you have one.  Don’t throw those out, keep them. Put them in a freezer bag and pop them in the freezer after you grate your last bit of cheese.  They’re great to throw into soup for extra flavor

-   Kosher salt

Escarole

-   Freshly ground black pepper

-   Escarole, rinse it very well – remember, this really shrinks when you cook it so you can easily use 1 small head of escarole and it won’t take over the soup.  I’ve tried this with Kale and if you like Kale and want to use it, fine, but Kale is so overused now that I’ve grown to hate it. 

-    4 thick slices of a hearty Italian bread, plus more for dunking in the soup.  Pane integrale (whole grain Italian bread, not whole wheat sandwich bread) would be OK with this soup of you prefer it.

Preparation

Enamel Coated Cast Iron 
Dutch Oven

Cast Iron Dutch Oven

-   - Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to a heavy bottomed pot.  I usually use a good size black Cast Iron Dutch oven or an Enamel coated Dutch Oven

- Add the onion first and when it starts to soften add the garlic.  If you add them at the same time there’s a good chance the garlic will burn.  Stir it

As soon as the garlic starts to become translucent add the meat if you’re going to use it.  I don’t eat meat, so I skip that part. 

- Add the carrots and the celery and stir for about 5 minutes or until it becomes al dente (not mushy).

*Hint – sometimes I cheat and  put the carrots and celery into the microwave with just a touch of water or broth, just to get them to the point of al dente..  Then I add them to the pot, together with the tiny bit of liquid.  It’s faster and I get impatient stirring, even for 5 minutes.

- Add the Cannellini beans to pick up all the flavor in the pot.  Stir them gently for 1 minute.

- Add the diced tomatoes, and the broth.  Stir

- Add the Parmigiano rind now if you have one. Stir

- Simmer until the carrots and celery are tender, about 20 minutes.

- Remove the Parmigiano rind.

- While the soup is cooking, it’s time to make bruschetta.  (Bruschetta (pronounce Bru-sketa) is really just toasted Italian bread.  Most of us think of it as toasted Italian bread topped with a tomato mixture, but really bruschetta is really just the toast, the rest are toppings.)

Bruschetta

Pop-up toaster

- For a pop up toaster:

          Put the bread in and toast lightly
          Drizzle just a little of the bread with some extra virgin olive oil on both                sides (make sure it’s over a plate or it gets really messy.
          Rub both sides of the bread with the whole garlic clove

     -  For a toaster oven or broiler:

          Drizzle just a little of the bread with some extra virgin olive oil on both                sides  (make sure it’s over a plate or it gets really messy).

Toaster Oven

          Rub both sides of the bread with the whole garlic clove
          Remove it from the toaster over when it’s slightly golden on both                  sides

Or toast it any way you'd like

-  After simmering the soup for about 20 minutes, add the escarole – you can tear it into   
    pieces first if you’d like

-  Let it simmer in the soup for about 5 – 7 minutes

-  Put the soup into bowls and add a piece of the bruschetta on the top. 

To make it extra special sprinkle some Parmigiano and drizzle the remaining olive oil on the top of the bread. 

Be sure to make some extra bruschetta for dunking!