Now that we know our family and friends in South Carolina are safe, I can turn back to doing a little more blogging. Some of them had minor damage to homes, but everybody is healthy and back home. That was the important part. They were all out of their homes for 5-6 days and some returned home to no electricity. I think by last night that was remedied, and now they can set out to the difficult task of clean-up.
Today was the first day that has really felt like fall in Kansas City. The high temp was fifty-nine degrees and tomorrow morning it is supposed to be thirty-nine. The trees are just starting to turn and it is time for some home-made soup. Last night I had a meeting at 5:30 PM that went until about 7:30. I got home to find that Jan had made a big pot of Cabbage soup. I know that cabbage is not a favorite of some, but don't knock it till you have tried this delightful soup. Jan found the recipe in Taste of Home. It came from a woman named Nancy Stevens in Morrison, Illinois. It is really simple to make and at 80 calories per serving is a dieter's delight. Serve with some crusty bread and a glass of creamy chardonnay and I know you will love it. ( You saved all those calories with the soup so the wine and bread are OK.)
Another of my favorite fall recipes is Parmesan Broth with Swiss Chard and White Beans. This is a deeply satisfying soup that can compete with chicken noodle as a fall/winter cure-all. This recipe comes from Sara Jenkins of Porsena and Porchetta restaurant in New York. I got it out of a newspaper a number of years ago and have made it often, both as a first course for a formal dinner or as a main course for a simple soup supper.
Cabbage Soup
Ingredients:
1 medium head cabbage - chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
8 cups water
1 tsps beef bouillon granules
1 TBSP salt
2 tsps black pepper
11/2 Lbs. ground beef - browned and drained
2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 TBSP brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
Preparation:
In a stockpot, cook the cabbage, celery and onion in the water until tender. Add bouillon, salt, pepper, browned ground beef and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in brown sugar and ketchup; simmer another 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
Parmesan Broth with Swiss Chard and White Beans
Ingredients:
8 cups chicken stock
8 Oz. parmesan rinds
1 clove garlic - smashed
2 TBSP olive oil
1 dried red chili - crushed
4 cups loosely packed Swiss chard - stems removed and leaves cut into thin ribbons
2 cups canned cannellini beans
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsps lemon zest
Baguette- sliced and drizzled with olive oil and toasted in the oven
Preparation:
Over low heat steep the chicken stock with the parmesan rinds for about 45 minutes, until the rinds are very soft. Strain the liquid and reserve. Throw away what remains of the rinds. In a heavy bottomed soup-pot, saute' the garlic in the olive oil until the garlic just starts to turn golden. Add the crushed red chili. Add the Swiss chard ribbons and stir to coat with the olive oil. Add the reserved strained chicken stock and the cannellini beans and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the lemon zest. To serve, ladle soup over a slice of toasted baguette and drizzle with olive oil. The lemon zest in the soup really makes the soup pair nicely with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. The citrus flavor of the wine and the very subtle citrus in the soup are a great match.
Hint: To clean the Swiss chard wash each leaf thoroughly under running water and lay out to dry on paper towels. Lay one stalk at a time on a cutting board and run a sharp knife along each side of the center rib. Throw away the ribs and you will have two leave halves remaining. After all of the ribs have been removed lay 5-6 leave halves on top of one another and roll up tightly on the long axis, so that the roll resembles a short cigar. Using your sharp knife, cut across the rolled up leaves. This technique is called chiffonade. Chiffonade is the french word meaning ribbons. I like to make my cuts somewhere around 1/4" . You will end up with a pile of very thin long ribbons of chard. I generally cut the ribbons up a little so that they are not so long they are difficult to eat when put into the soup.
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