More soup weather last weekend

Saturday and Sunday were two of the coldest weather days we have had in Kansas City in years.  In fact,  Sunday was the third coldest day of all-time for December 18th.  I know that if you live in Minnesota our -6 degrees doesn't sound so bad, but that just doesn't happen here.  I knew the cold weather was coming so I went out early Saturday morning, before it got too cold, and bought all of the ingredients for a couple kinds of soup.  I have written about my love of homemade soup before, but when the weather gets really cold, soup is pretty tough to beat.  The temperature started to drop about 10:00 AM Saturday morning and just kept getting worse all day and into Sunday.  I spent most of Saturday afternoon making two kinds of soup.  It was nice and warm in the kitchen and when you live in a condo someone else does the snow shoveling, so I was right where I wanted to be.

The first soup I made is called Plaza III Steak Soup.  The recipe came from a cookbook called Kansas City Cuisine.  The book was first published in 1990 and is a sampling of KC restaurants and their recipes.  The authors are Shifra Stein and Karen Adler.  The Plaza III is an old line steak house that is still in business in the same location as it was in 1990 and this is their recipe.  This makes a very thick beefy soup that is quite rich and filling.  I actually made a double recipe.  

Plaza III Steak Soup

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

4 TBSP butter
1/4 Cup flour
2- 10 Oz. cans beef consomme'
1/4 Cup diced carrots
1/4 Cup diced celery
1/4 Cup diced onion
1/2 Cup chopped canned tomatoes
3/4 tsps Kitchen Bouquet
1 beef bouillon cube
1/4 tsps black pepper
5 Oz. frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 pound ground beef steak - browned and drained

Preparation:

Place butter in a soup pot over low heat and melt without allowing butter to brown.  Add flour and stir to form a roux.  Cook the mixture for three minutes over medium heat without browning, stirring constantly.  Add consomme' to the roux and stir until smooth and slightly thickened.  Bring to a full boil.

Add the fresh vegetables, tomatoes, and seasonings and allow to return to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are just barely tender (20 to 30 minutes).  Add frozen vegetables and the browned ground steak.  Simmer an additional 15 to 20 minutes until everything is heated through and the flavors have blended.  

My next soup was chicken noodle.  I have never really had a recipe for chicken noodle soup, but I have been making it for a long time. This is what I do and it always turns out to be quite tasty. Sometimes I start with the turkey carcass from Thanksgiving or Boil a whole chicken, but lately I have been buying a roasted chicken and using the meat in the soup and the bones to make my broth.  It is a pretty easy way to get a real tasty broth.  Experiment a little and see what you like.  


Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

For Stock

1- whole roasted chicken - I like the ones from Costco
1-large carrot- peeled and sliced thinly
1-stalk celery - diced
1/2 large onion - diced
several fresh sage leaves - chopped
leaves from several thyme sprigs - chopped
leaves from  several tarragon sprigs - chopped
2-3 quarts water- enough to cover chicken bones in a pot
3 chicken bouillon cubes

For Soup

2 carrots peeled and sliced
1 stalk celery diced
1/2 large onion diced
1 TBSP chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 32Oz. boxes reduced salt chicken broth
1 lb. extra wide noodles

Preparation:

Remove skin from roast chicken and discard.  Remove meat from bones and cut into 1/2" dice.  Set meat aside.  Place chicken bones, the first sliced carrot, celery and half onion in a 4 Qt. pot.  Add two to three quarts water, the three bouillon cubes and the chopped sage, thyme and tarragon.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer for one hour.  Pour contents of the pot through a strainer into a larger soup pot.  Discard all of the contents of the strainer.  You will have about two quarts of homemade stock in the bottom of your large soup pot.  Add the 2 sliced carrots, the diced celery and diced onion to the pot, along with the parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Supplement your homemade stock with as much of the boxed chicken broth as you need to fill the large soup pot to about 2/3 full.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes, until vegetables are just beginning to get tender.  Bring pot back to a boil and add roasted chicken pieces and as many noodles as you like.  I like thick soup, so I use a whole pound of noodles in a large soup pot, but you may want to start with half a pound and see what you think. You can always add a few more.  Cook noodles in the boiling soup per package directions for time.  Don't overcook the noodles.  Reduce heat to low and season soup with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.  You can substitute rice for noodles if you prefer chicken rice soup.  Feel free to add any other vegetables you desire too.  I just happen to like the old standard trinity of carrot, onion and celery.  If you want to freeze some of the soup, remove the amount you want to freeze from the pot before you add the noodles. Then when you thaw the soup to reheat, add the noodles.  I think that works better than reheating frozen noodles.  Experiment.  It will be fun.  

Seafood Pasta and Roasted asparagus salad

Jan volunteers at Children's Mercy Hospital on Friday afternoons and it was too cold for me to play golf, so I did a little cooking 
today.  Here is what our dinner looked like:

I think it is very attractive and it was tasty too.  I had no recipes.  I just improvised but remembered what I did, so I am sharing it with you.  

Seafood Pasta

Ingredients: (serves four)

1 Lb. - thick spaghetti or linguine
1 stick (8 TBSP ) butter
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Shallot - finely diced
6 cloves garlic - finely diced
1 cup dry white wine - I used a good Chardonnay
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
8 fresh sage leaves - finely chopped
Leaves from several sprigs of thyme-finely chopped
1 Lb. Shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 Lb. Mussels, scrubbed 
12 Little-neck clams, scrubbed and soaked in cold water 
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Boil pasta al dente per package directions.  While pasta is cooking, melt the butter over a low flame in a large skillet with a lid.  Add the olive oil to the melted butter.  Saute the garlic and shallot in the garlic and butter until they are tender and translucent.  Add the wine, parsley, sage and thyme  to the pan.  Increase heat to medium. Add clams to the pan and cover. After four or five minutes add the mussels to the pan and cover.  When the mussels and clams just start to open add the shrimp.  Cover and cook until all of the mussels and clams are open and the shrimp are pink and tender.  Do not overcook the seafood !!  Discard any clams or mussels that don't open.  In the meantime, drain the pasta and sprinkle it with a little extra virgin olive oil.  Put a portion of spaghetti in a pasta dish and ladle a generous amount of the seafood and the white wine and butter sauce over the pasta.  Serve with crusty bread and chardonnay.  One thing to remember, when cooking with wine, "If you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it".  I never use cooking wine from the grocery store.  When making this dish, I used a cup of the same chardonnay in the sauce that I was serving with the dinner.  

Roasted Asparagus Salad

Ingredients:

I Lb. Fresh asparagus, trimmed
3 mini multi colored peppers - cut into rings 
1 TBSP minced garlic
2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
Coarse ground sea salt
4 cups spring green salad mix
1 small jar artichoke hearts
Block of Parmesan Reggiano Cheese to shave
Garlic Expressions Salad Dressing or any vinaigrette

Preparation:

An hour or two prior to serving, preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place asparagus in a glass baking dish.  Toss with the minced garlic, the pepper rings and the olive oil.  Roast at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until asparagus is crisp tender.  Remove from oven and sprinkle lightly with the coarse ground sea salt.  Set aside to cool.  

When ready to serve, put about a cup of greens on each of four salad plates.  Top with several spears of the roasted asparagus and peppers.  Add a few leaves of artichoke heart.  Shave some of the parmesan reggiano over the salad and drizzle with the dressing.  I love the Garlic Expressions salad dressing which is available in most grocery stores, but if you can't find that, just mix up a simple vinaigrette using 2 parts olive oil and one part balsamic vinegar.    

Rolled Oven Omelet

We are just getting back in the groove after spending Thanksgiving week in Hilton Head with our entire family.  All three of our kids, their spouses and our six grandchildren shared a big house near the beach for the week.  There was lots of cooking, lots of food and lots of fun.  I even celebrated my birthday while we were all together. It doesn't get much better than that. 

We spent this week getting caught up on laundry, restocking the kitchen at home and doing the Christmas decorations.  Decorating for Christmas brought to mind some of the great times we have had celebrating that special holiday and some of the meals we have shared.  I always enjoy doing a special breakfast for a big crowd and this recipe is always a crowd pleaser.  We got the recipe a few years back from one of Jan's school friends.  It is very easy to make and you can do two or three versions for a big group.  Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

6 Eggs
3/4 cup flour
3 TBSP butter - melted
11/2 cups milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Suggested Fillings:

Ham, chives and Swiss Cheese

Cooked and crumbled bacon, tomato, and sauteed onion with cheddar cheese

Cooked and crumbled sausage and green chilis with Monterrey Jack cheese

Sauteed mushrooms and brie cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to  350 degrees.  Line a large jelly roll pan with aluminum foil.  Spray the foil well with cooking spray.  Whisk together eggs, flour, butter and milk.  Season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture into foil lined pan.  Sprinkle with fillings of your choice except cheese.  

Bake for 18 minutes, or until omelet puffs and eggs are set. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese of your choice.  Using a spatula and the foil as aids, roll the omelet into a log.  Transfer to a platter and sprinkle the top with additional cheese, chives, parsley, etc.  Serve by cutting the log into slices.  

Seafood Lasagna

As you can tell from some prior posts, I love seafood and this seafood lasagna is one of my favorites.  I developed this recipe by starting with a basic recipe that came from Paula Deen.  The end result is unique enough that I think I can call it my own recipe.  I have made it using the "no-boil" lasagna noodles as well as the old fashioned kind that you cook first.  I prefer the type that require boiling before use.  They are easier to trim to the right size and I think taste better and have nicer texture.  This recipe will serve twelve people, but if you don't need that much lasagna you can do 3/4 of the quantities and it will work fine.  

Ingredients:

18 Lasagna noodles
41/2 TBSP unsalted butter
1 Small onion, finely chopped
3 Cloves garlic, minced
41/2 TBSP all purpose flour
33/4 Cups half and half
11/2 Cups Grated Romano cheese
3/4 tsps salt
3/8 tsps black pepper
2 TBSP chopped parsley
1 TBSP chopped tarragon
1 Lb bay scallops
1 Lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 OZ. canned crab meat
3/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
pinch of nutmeg

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a lasagna pan with vegetable oil cooking spray.  

In a large pot of boiling water cook the lasagna noodles per package directions.  Drain and lay out on wax paper until ready to use.

Melt the butter in a large heavy skillet.  Add the chopped onion and saute' over low heat until very tender.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so, until the garlic is translucent.  Turn heat to medium low and stir in the flour with a whisk, then gradually add the half and half a little at a time, allowing the sauce to thicken slightly before you add more of the half and half.  When the sauce has thickened to the consistency of whipping cream, add the Romano cheese and stir well.  Add the salt, pepper, parsley, nutmeg and tarragon and stir well again.  Add the scallops and cook for three to four minutes.  Add the shrimp and cook just until the shrimp turn pink.  Turn off the heat and stir in the loose crab meat. The canned crab is already cooked.  

Using some of the sauce without including any of the seafood, put about three TBSP on the bottom of the pan.  Now cover the bottom of the pan with four of the cooked noodles, laying them side by side.  Spoon about 1/4 of the seafood sauce mixture over the noodles and spread evenly.  Layer four more noodles and again ladle the seafood sauce over the noodles.  Repeat again with four more noodles and sauce.  Cover with the final four noodles and spoon sauce over the noodles, without including any seafood in the sauce used for the top layer of noodles.  Tuck in any loose edges of noodle and top the entire dish with Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, uncovered, until hot and bubbly.  Allow to sit for ten minutes before serving.  Enjoy with a green salad and chardonnay.  

Brunch at Succotash

I love to go out for brunch after church on Sunday morning.  Our service gets over at 11:30, so we have a brunch for lunch.  My favorite spot is the Genessee Royale.  I wrote about it a little while back.  Right up there on the top 5 list, probably in second place, is Succotash.  This funky spot is located at 26th and Holmes in midtown Kansas City.  I think it is fair to call Succotash a hangout for young counter-culture people.  Let me just say that Jan and I generally stand out in the crowd, especially when we go in our "church" clothes.  Both the staff and the crowd tend toward lots of ink and piercings.  All of that said, the staff is super friendly and the service is excellent.  Generally on Saturday and Sunday there is at least a thirty minute wait to get in, but there is a big urn of coffee sitting right outside the door.  We have also discovered that if we volunteer to sit at the counter, we can usually get right in.

Succotash is only open for breakfast and lunch.  They close at 2:00 PM on Monday and Tuesday and at 3:00 PM the rest of the week. While the menu may not be quite as extensive as an East Coast Greek diner, it does run for several pages.  They have a host of vegetarian and vegan options as well as gluten free entrees like gluten free pancakes.  Just in the Pancake section of the menu there are ten options ranging from plain pancakes, to wild blueberry and pigs in a blanket, to my personal favorite, Swedish pancakes. With the diet, I had to skip those today, but Jan couldn't pass them up. This delightful dish consists of four very light and fluffy Swedish pancakes, each folded in two and stuffed with lingonberries.  They are dusted with a little powdered sugar and served with two eggs cooked to order and two slices of what I consider to be the best bacon in Kansas City.   Believe me, this dish is worth the trip !

If you have a BIG appetite, you can go with the Burrito of Love; scrambled eggs, cheddar and bacon wrapped in an over-sized buttermilk pancake.  And if you have an even BIGGER appetite there is the Sumo Wrestler; three eggs, bacon, roasted red peppers, onions, home fries and cheddar all wrapped in a giant pancake and topped with sausage gravy.  Eat that and you get your name on the wall.

I was looking for something with fewer calories today and went for a salmon wrap.  It was two scrambled eggs with caramelized onions and wrapped in a spinach wrap with smoked salmon, goat cheese and fresh spinach.  It was delicious and a little less like dessert than Jan's Swedish pancakes.  

Other options range from slow roasted pork hash to Monte Cristo sandwiches to crab claw omelets.  

You get the picture.  All fresh squeezed juices, lots of options for the vegan and vegetarian and a host of options to please almost any taste.  An eclectic crowd as well as an eclectic menu.  If you are up to an inner city adventure and happen to be in Kansas City, give it a try.  Succotash is well worth it.  

Grandpa is on a diet

For my few faithful readers you will have noticed that I haven't posted any recipes or blogs for about a month.  That period of time coincides directly with my latest effort to lose weight.  I have struggled with weight all of my life and having wine and cooking as hobbies aren't particularly helpful.  Watch the chefs on TV and you will generally see them expand as the years go by.  I call it the Chef's disease.

I have been recording everything I have eaten for the last 32 days and am trying very hard to keep my calorie count below 1800 calories per day.  That isn't  much for a big guy, so you can see perhaps, why my enthusiasm for food writing has been dampened somewhat.  The good news is, the weight is starting to come off. Oh well, life must go on and I still love food and wine, so I will get back at it starting now.  I just need to learn to use a little moderation.

One of my favorite restaurants in the Hilton Head area has always been Sigler's.  Jan actually hosted my 60th birthday there.  Sad to say that was more than ten years ago.  Owner and executive chef Michael Sigler opened his restaurant in Bluffton in 1996 and it has been going strong ever since. Michael has been recognized as "One of America's Outstanding Chefs" by the National Chef's Registry and has also been featured in "Bon Appetit" magazine.  Here is Michael's family recipe for oyster souffle.  This makes a great side dish on the Thanksgiving table.

Ingredients:

1 Pint - shucked oysters in their juices
Crumbled Saltine crackers - as needed
Italian seasoned bread crumbs - as needed
Grated Parmesan cheese - as needed
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Butter and whole milk - as needed

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a two quart casserole dish. Layer a thin layer of the crumbled saltine crackers in the bottom of the casserole. Top with a thin layer of oysters and their juice.  Add salt and pepper to taste and a light dusting of parmesan cheese.  Dot with butter.  Moisten a little with whole milk.   Repeat layers until all of the oysters are used.  Top final layer with butter and the Italian seasoned bread crumbs.

Bake in the 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to one hour.  Let stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.  

Pear, roasted Beet and Blue Cheese Salad

A few years ago I had a salad in some restaurant that I have long since forgotten.  I thought it was delicious and so I came home and created this recipe.  I made it tonight and enjoyed in once again.  It isn't the kind of salad that you would want for an entire dinner but it is really good as a first course or side salad.  The first few times I made it, I roasted the beets and made the honey mustard dressing from scratch, but since then I have discovered that Costco has roasted whole beets in a shrink-wrap container, that are as good as any you can roast yourself .  I also now use over the counter honey mustard dressing.  I like Cardini's.  If you don't have a Costco nearby, almost any cookbook will tell you how to roast beets.  It isn't hard to do, but getting the skin off is a little messy and I recommend wearing rubber gloves or you will have red stains all over your hands.  And If you decide to make your own honey mustard dressing, I like the recipe in the good old Betty Crocker cookbook.  Here is what the salad looks like: (click on the picture and you will get a larger version)

It is very simple to make, especially if you can find the pre-roasted beets.  Give it a try.

Ingredients for four:

2 cups Spring Greens
2-3 Whole roasted beets - rolled on paper towel to absorb liquid and diced into a 3/8" dice
2 Pears - peeled, quartered and cut into 3/8" dice
Small Piece Maytag or other similar Blue Cheese - cut into 1/2" dice
Candied Walnuts (available in most grocery stores)
Cardini's Honey Mustard Dressing

Preparation:

Distribute a thin layer of greens on each of four salad plates.  Starting on one side of the plate mound a few pieces of diced beet.  Next mound a few pieces of diced pear adjacent to the beets.  Now add a few cubes of the Blue Cheese.  Starting from the other side of the plate, mound another few pieces of beet and then pear, so that you meet at the blue cheese in the middle of the plate. Sprinkle with some of the candied walnuts.   Drizzle with the Honey Mustard dressing and you are done.  The result is unique, beautiful and tasty.  I had a glass of buttery chardonnay with the salad and it went together nicely.  Enjoy !!