Weekly Wrap- Up 3/11-3/17

Wednesday 3/14/12: Corn Chowder

One of my favorite restaurants is a place in North Liberty called Red's. They have amazing food (including a burger that my father claims is the "best he has ever had"!), an incredible beer selection, and the most glorious patio. But, the greatest thing about Red's, at least according to Tim and me, is their amazing bacon and corn chowder. It is sweet from the corn, salty from the bacon, creamy (from what I assume to be cream), and has just enough bite in the form of fresh scallions. I have been promising Tim that I would try to recreate the chowder at home, and on Wednesday I decided to give it a shot. I also decided that I would try to make a healthy version (i.e., less bacon, and milk instead of cream). I started by crisping the bacon, and sauteeing garlic, scallion, and a chopped poblano pepper in the rendered fat. Then I added in some yukon gold taters, and covered it with chicken stock and brought to a boil, then reduced to a simmer. Once the taters were soft, I threw in a bag of frozen corn (this would be SO MUCH MORE AMAZING with fresh corn), enough 2% milk to make it creamy, and then I added a few tablespoons of polenta (b/c I don't have any corn meal) to thicken and bump up the corn goodness. I served it with scallions, cheddar cheese, and greek yogurt to garnish. 

At least it looks pretty! 

This would have been pretty good (not as good as Red's, but pretty good), but I was an idiot and walked away from the kitchen for a few minutes and when I came back the chowder was boiling, the milk was scalded, and the bottom of the pot was burned. I was so mad I couldn't even enjoy it... but Tim liked it, so that's good!

*Note, this is gluten free, and if the bacon was omitted entirely, it would be vegetarian and honestly it would still taste good! 

Thursday 3/15/12: Spicy Stir-Fried Tofu with Kale and Red Peppers

Last week for "vampire club" I decided to make a recipe that I had been eyeing on Pinterest for awhile. I followed the recipe pretty closely, except I doubled the "sauce", and I used this amazing marinated tofu that I get at the Coop. Also, I'm not sure what type of kale they used in the original recipe, but I used red kale which is just a bit more delicate than the other varieties, and it is super gorgeous (it should be called "purple" kale, but whatever). I only slightly wilted it, so it still had a ton of texture which is visible in the photo. I served the stir-fry with some rice noodles, but it would be amazing on its own too. 

This recipe was so amazing that I'm actually going to make it again this week, and I think I actually might succeed at getting (tricking) Tim to eat tofu! He is officially not afraid of kale anymore, and he likes red peppers, so I'm hoping if I jut call this "Stir Fry" and put it in front of him that he will be a happy camper. 

* Note,  I used chicken stock, but if I had used veggie this would be completely vegan, also it is gluten free! 

Friday 3/16/12: Fettucini with Shrimp and Bell Pepper

Friday evening, I threw together a quick dinner that turned out pretty great. I had a red bell pepper leftover from the stir fry, and some frozen shrimp leftover from last week's scampi, so I sauteed them up with some garlic and spring onion, and then tossed them with fresh fettucini noodles, some lemon infused olive oil, and fresh parm. It doesn't look that special in this photo, but it was pretty delish.

"Vegetarian" Tortilla Soup

I love soup. It can take on many flavors, textures, and temperatures but it is always soothing and comforting. Soup makes you feel like home, no matter where you are or how lousy you feel. This is why I love not only making and eating soup, but taking soup to my friends who are feeling ill or down. No other food has magical healing and cheering powers like soup! And I especially love soup because it is so easy to make.

Thursday night was a perfect soup night-- it was a chilly and rainy day, at the (almost) end of a frantic shortened week, and most importantly I was hungry and needed something fast! As I said, soup is incredibly easy to make, especially when you cheat and use lots of canned ingredients as I did (see below); but with the inclusion of just a few fresh ingredients you can make each pot of soup special and unique. Plus, you can use up leftover produce with soup before it goes bad!

"Vegetarian" Tortilla Soup serves two (or one with lunch the next day!)
 First off, a note-- I call this "vegetarian" because I did not actually use chicken in the soup, but I used chicken stock (because I had it on hand). This could easily be made with vegetable stock to make it truly vegetarian, or you could make it truly chicken tortilla soup by adding diced or shredded chicken.

• 1/2 a red (because that's what I had) onion, diced
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1/2 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can Rotell tomato & chile (you could also use a can of tomatoes and a can of green chiles... or fresh tomatoes and fresh chiles... or some combo of any of these things)
• Enough chicken (veggie?) stock to make the soup as broth-y or chunk-y as you like (I am a chunk person)
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, rough chopped, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 avocado chopped (the other half of my avocado was all black and rotten)

Garnish:

• cilantro
• poblano yogurt I made yesterday
• tortilla strips (I don't like limp tortillas, so I pan fried them in a teaspoon of oil for about 90 seconds)
• 1 TBSP shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

The base of most soups is some combination of onion or celery. In this case, I had half a red onion and no celery so I just went for it. I sauteed the onion for about 5 minutes and then I dumped in the corn, beans, and tomatoes, and poured broth over it all. Typically I add a lot of seasonings to my soups, but the rotell tomatoes have decent flavor and spice so I honestly didn't add anything. I brought the soup to a boil, then I removed it from the heat and stirred in the cilantro and avocado (I wanted the flavor but didn't want to cook it too much). To serve it, I garnished it with the leftover cilantro, a dollip of my poblano yogurt from yesterday (which promptly sunk to the bottom, whoops!), tortilla strips, and a bit of cheddar cheese.

Despite taking only 10  minutes to prepare and requiring hardly more than a can opener, this soup was flavorful, filling, and definitely made me feel warm and cozy inside just as soup should!

pumpkin soup

Not only is Pumpkin Soup one of my favorite Kate Nash songs, but it is one of my favorite dinners as well. The original incarnation of this was a pretty basic spicy pumpkin black bean soup recipe I saw on Rachel Ray's website, with a ton of garnishes and condiments to serve on top. The soup turned out okay, but the next day, the leftovers (with all of the garnishes and toppings mixed in) were a beautiful marriage of flavors and textures. Since then, this new version of the soup has been a go-to dish every fall and winter. It's not exactly spring-y, but I had exactly one can of pumpkin left in my cupboard and felt inspired!

Drastcally adapted from Rachel Ray--
1 medium sized onion (yellow or white), chopped
1 TBSP olive oil
1 chipotle pepper (canned, in Adobo sauce)
1 TBSP cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 (Mexican, preferably) beer
1 can pumpkin
1 can chicken/vegetable stock
1 can black beans, drained
1 apple, peeled and diced
1/4 cup (or so) roughly chopped cilantro plus more for garnish
1/4 cup diced red onion, divided
sour cream for garnish
salt and pepper to taste

Sautee chopped onion in olive oil until translucent. Add in one chipotle pepper (diced) and one teaspoon of Adobo sauce from can. This pepper has a lot of punch so start with one, and if you like spice you can always add more. Sautee for 3-5 minutes. Pour in the beer and simmer until reduced by half. Add in spices, pumpkin, broth, and black beans. Stir and cook over medium heat. Immediately before serving, add in apple, cilantro, and about half of the red onion (adding these at the last second keeps incredible texture). Serve garnished with sour cream, cilantro, and red onion. Tortilla chips also make a good garnish.

at least I enjoyed it!

This soup is flavorful, healthful, extremely filling, and delicious!

I made it Friday night, and sadly Tim didn't like it. But bless his heart, he tried it. Little by little I'm working on him to be an adventurous eater. Everyone else who has tried the soup has enjoyed it, especially people who like a little spice.

soup for the sicky-poo

I've got a sick honey. And even though he's taken care of himself just fine for 29 years, I am convinced that if I don't make him soup and bring him orange juice that he will die. Also I am going to Florida tomorrow and feel guilty that I will be lounging on the beach while he is coughing on his couch.

So, like a good girlfriend, I made him some soup. It was mostly a "clean out my fridge/freezer" kind of soup and the only thing I needed from the store was chicken stock.

I did a base of onion and celery, then added salt, pepper, chicken stock and a bunch of chopped up chicken breast meat. After that was cooked through I added carrots and red potatoes and other seasonings (bay leaf, two shakes of cayenne, a bunch of basil). Right before I took it off the stove I added a crap load of spinach and a can of northern beans. One thing I did today that was different from usual was I added lemon zest and a bit of lemon juice (I don't remember where in the timeline I did this, but it was done). I got the idea from Giada at Home (great show) and thought I'd try it out.

Heading out with a big soup urn shortly-- I'm hoping that this hearty, healthy, and flavorful soup will help cure my sicky-poo!

so many carrots

Sunday evening I had a pot luck to go to for prospective students in my program. Out of laziness and forgetfulness I made nothing. I pathetically stopped at the grocery store on the way to grab baby carrots and hummus and pita chips. Well, it turns out nobody likes carrots because I came home with the entire 2 lb bag.

Since I'm going on vacay tomorrow (jealous?) I needed to clean out my fridge and these darn carrots were just staring me in the face. So I decided it was a night for carrot soup.

I've never met a bowl of soup (homemade I mean) that I didn't like, and I have tried a bunch of carrot soups over the years. Some broth-y, some creamy, some chunky. Based on the other ingredients I had on hand (shallots, beef stock, and 2% milk) I decided to make a sweet and rich carrot bisque (well, I don't know if it was really a bisque but it was creamy and thick and smooth and whatever).

Here's how I did it:
First, I finely chopped two shallots and caramelized them in a skillet with 1 TBSP butter. Once they were done, I added a big glug of sherry to de-glaze the pan and then I scraped it all into a big soup pot and added around 1.5 pounds of baby carrots. I didn't even bother to chop them. Usually I prefer real carrots, but obviously I had these on hand. After about 5 minutes, I dumped in most of a big container of beef stock (it was in my fridge from last wednesday's dinner) and some spices-- nutmeg, which I add to apparently everything lately, and coriander for kicks.

Once the carrots were soft, I blended it until smooth and poured it back in the pot and turned it on verrrrry low. Then I added some milk (maybe 3/4 cup?) and a teeny bit more beef stock until it was a better consistency. Right before serving, I sprinkled on some parsley. I wish it was fresh, but I didn't have any so it was dried. Still added just a nice bit of bitter to counterbalance the sweetness of the rest. Also, this could totally use vegetable broth/stock instead of beef if you want to make it vegetarian (hence vegetarian label) and I think it would even be better-- especially if it was mushroom broth or something... and, if you're vegan you could do without the milk too. It's creamy enough!

I thought the soup was good. It wasn't the best... and I think that sweet carrots are better left whole. I guess I realized I like my soups to be salty? Anyway, it was decent but I don't think I'd want to make it exactly the same way again. Also, I couldn't bring myself to eat the leftovers today so that wasn't good. Tim didn't really love it either, which is disappointing since he loves carrots. Mostly I think he was weirded out that this pale and fluffy soup tasted like carrots. Silly.

Hmm... what's in my fridge?

I have just not done any cooking this week. It's weird, but true! Monday was Valentine's day so the boy and I went out for Mexican food (we're so classy), and I can barely even remember Tuesday.

Last night, I was just too lazy to go to the store, so I knew it was going to be one of those nights that I create something out of the contents of my fridge and pantry. The result, in this case anyway, was not half bad!

I'm not sure what to call it. Chunky beef noodle soup? Something like that.

Here's how I did it:

• 1 lb "stir fry" beef (tenderized stew meat from what I can tell, but it was on sale). I coated the pieces in flour, and dropped them into the bottom of a hot dutch oven (with a swirl of olive oil). Once browned, I removed them with a slotted spoon and then added
• 1/2 chopped onion (mine was yellow)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• approximately 4 stalks of celery finely diced
• Once everything was translucent, I poured in a Guiness to deglaze the pan and I let it boil down about half. 
• Then, I threw the beef back in, along with 6 chopped carrots, a cup of frozen peas, a can of diced tomatoes, a few tablespoons of tomato paste, and a big carton of beef stock. 
• I added a bunch of spices at this point:
• dried parsley (b/c I had no fresh)
• a palmful of paprika
• a dash of cayenne
• fennel seeds
• Once the carrots were soft I added about half a box of spiral noodles and boiled them for a good 11 minutes.

The result was something like beef stew, something like soup, and something like goulash. There was just enough liquid that it was appropriate to use a spoon. I added a dollop of sour cream on top for good measure and devoured it. Tim liked it too and even requested some leftovers go home with him.

Not bad for an impromptu meal!