Emily the Cook

Inspired by today’s 101 Cookbooks blog entry in which Heidi described a rice and lentil soup, I spontaneously decided to try my own fall soup, but it turned into more of a stew, with glorious browns, greens, reds and oranges!

1 large onion, chopped
head of shallot, finely chopped
olive oil
can of tomatoes (sliced in the can)
fresh tomatoes, chopped or whole (depending on size)
chicken-y herbs
chicken broth
yellow split peas
green lentils
short grain brown rice
winter squash, (acorn, butternut, delicata), peeled and cubed

I began, as she did, with slowly caramelizing some onions and shallots in olive oil in my 7-qt LeCreuset pot, with some herby spices, salt and pepper. Meanwhile I put on about 2-3 quarts of water with some Trader Joe concentrated chicken broth added for flavoring.

When onions were done, I added a large can of stewed whole tomatoes, breaking them up a little. I added the water, about a cup of yellow split peas, about 3/4 cup of French green lentils (washed and picked through), and half a cup of short grain brown rice. After about 15 minutes, I added some cubed peeled acorn squash and an unidentified winter squash from my garden.  I also added the last of my sungold tomatoes.

I let it all simmer till the legumes were soft and split open, and the rice was full and plump. As it sits and simmers, this is definitely turning into a stew! Add more broth for a soup!

It is a warming and nourishing low-fat dish, to which you can add the flavorings of crumbled feta, hard boiled eggs, sliced French nicoise olives.
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Why on a hot summer day would I want to be making a fish chowder? Well, I came across a pound of salmon tails and carcasses at a local fish shop (Housewives’ Market, downtown Oakland) for $1.50. Add to that a couple of filets of red snapper (about 1 lb), some clam juice, and a large can of clams, and there’s enough chowder here for 10 people. It was actually very nourishing to have after the sun went down and the evening breezes were just beginning to stir.

VEGETABLES

• 2 huge leeks, tough greens removed, split, washed, and chopped
• 4 medium Yukon potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
• 3 or 4 small organic carrots, scrubbed and chopped
• 3-4 stalks of celery, sliced
• canola oil (2-3 tbsp)
  

• Salmon carcasses
• 1 small onion
• celery stalk and leaves
• As much clam juice as you can find
• other flavorings as desired
  

• 1 lb red snapper or other firm white fish (easy to debone)
• 1 large can of clams and juice
  

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Phil Gelb served this at a recent In the Mood for Food dinner:


First course: cold cucumber avocado soup

Second Course Roasted apricots with salted radish and cucumber salad with cherry balsamic dressing

Third Course: Cannelloni (homemade pasta filled with homemade allmond ricotta with eggplant tomato sauce)
     accompanied by
Sauteed rapini with olives

Fourth Course: Rosewater peach cake with cherry-peach-vanilla ice “cream”

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Ragout: "A well-seasoned meat or fish stew, usually with vegetables."

[from the French, from ragoûter, to revive the taste, from Old French ragouster : re-, re- + a-, to (from Latin ad; see ad–) + gost, taste (from Latin gustus).] (from Answers.com)

Fresh and wild red snapper spotted at Oakland's Laurel District (original) Farmer Joe’s meat and fish counter inspired me to do a variation of what my father used to do. He’d chop some vegetables (onions, mushrooms, peppers) and place them in a baking pan with the red snapper, and pour orange juice over it all to poach it.  This recipe was inspired by the very fresh looking small leeks I found, bright red bell peppers, and of course, the wild fresh snapper. In this variation, the more classic white wine is used to moisten the vegetables and help create the juice, along with tomatoes. Leeks, instead of onions, form a milder base. The lemon peel condiment I rediscovered in my cupboard provided unexpected heat - but still subtle (must have had a bit of cayenne in the mix!).

This will make two meals for two or feed four....the leftovers, gently heated in microwave, will have an improved flavor! I recommend even starting the ragout the day before, provided you make sure the vegetables are only partially cooked.

Ingredients:

A little over a pound of fresh red snapper, rinsed, patted dry, oiled with olive oil lightly
4 small to medium leeks, dark green removed, split in half lengthwise, and washed carefully, then chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
Half red bell pepper, seeded, chopped
Half medium zucchini, halved, quartered into spears, then chopped crosswise
1 small can diced tomatoes and juice
About 8-10 medium white mushrooms, sliced
1/4 c. white wine
dried lemon peel (commercially available condiment has a bit of cayenne in the mix), dried parsley (or fresh, chopped)
salt and pepper

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare fish and acorn squash (instructions below) while the vegetable ragout cooks.

In a heavy stewpot, such as a 4 quart LeCreuset, start sauteeing the leeks and garlic in some heated olive oil.
Give them a headstart for 5 minutes and then add red bell pepper and cook another 5 minutes.
Add zucchini and cook 5 more minutes. Moisten the ragout with the wine at this point and continue to stew a few minutes.
Add spices, salt and pepper, and tomatoes and continue to simmer for 3 minutes.

Place lightly oiled fish in bottom of glass lasagne pan.

Vegetables should be fragrant.  Add mushrooms to the vegetable ragout and cook 5 minutes or so.  
Stir the ragout while cooking. The idea is not to cook the mushrooms all the way as they will finish cooking with the fish in the oven.

Spoon the ragout all around and on top of the fish, and place in oven for about 20 minutes.

Test the fish to see if it flakes easily -- and serve, carefully removing sections

Season if needed, with  preferably fresh ground coarse sea salt, and fresh ground pepper.


Serve with acorn squash.

Squash: If you are in a hurry, cut the squash and clean out halves. Place upside down in a plate in the microwave with a bit of water in bottom, and cook on high for several minutes at a time, testing to see if almost soft. This can be done while ragout cooks on the stove. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cinnamon, a bit of olive oil, a pat of butter and a sprinkle of coarse turbinado sugar. Then bake in the oven with the fish, on a separate baking sheet, cut side up.

If you have room, enjoy with a small, fresh, and colorful salad:
Red romaine, with sliced-on-the-diagonal snap peas, shredded red cabbage, the rest of the bell pepper, and a gourmet dressing.

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Recently I went to the new supermarket, Mi Tierra, (on High and above International) that people have been talking about, in Oakland’s “barrio”. It was close to Cinco de Mayo and the music was festive, the colors were bright, racks and racks of flayed chickens were being grilled out in front of the store, and I left there calling it “the happy store.” The butcher cases were full of organ meats, chicken feet, and many cuts of meat I didn’t recognize. There was a huge case of Mexican style cheeses, and two cases of prepared foods. I couldn’t figure out how to order but was content to just look at everything. And in the vegetable/fruit department, I found a bag of already prepared and diced nopales. The spiny cactus leaves would usually have to be shorn of spines and scrubbed with a green nylon scrubbing pad, then diced. I got a bag, probably a half pound  for $1.79.

1 bag  (half pound) prepared diced nopales (cactus)
1/2 large onion
3 cloves garlic
1 red bell pepper
oregano, salt, pepper

2/3 c. quinoa

rotisserie chicken
asparagus
yellow beets

I sauted onions till soft, added garlic, then bell pepper. When these were well along, I added the nopales. The red and green made it look very Christmasy. I sprinkled oregano, salt and pepper over the mixture, and let it cook on low for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally while I prepared the quinoa.

I added boiling water to generously cover the quinoa in small sauce pan and kept an eye on it while it simmered, for 10-12 minutes. When it was close to being done, I drained the extra water, and then let it steam with the heat off and cover on for another 10 minutes.

Serve the nopales mixture over quinoa. The pleasing graininess and chewiness of the quinoa seems to go well with the slightly slippery texture of the nopales. I served a rotisserie chicken from Mi Tierra with the quinoa and nopales, and we had steamed asparagus and marinated yellow beets on the side.

Supermercado Y Carniceria MI Tierra: No 1
1470 High St
Oakland, CA 94601
(510) 536-6328

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Thanks to a friend who made a feast for her neighbors with a 4 pound “Arctic char” that she broiled....I have these two methods of preparation that will become part of my repertoire.

First recipe – appetizer:

Locate a handmade style of tofu that is so delicious it can be eaten with a spoon:
San Jose Tofu, is one style, and can be found at Berkeley Bowl or Tokyo Fish Market (East Bay)

Instructions to serve:
Cut it into handsome chunks, place in pretty small bowls, serve with a dollop of pureed ginger, and some drops of soy sauce. Helpful to have a special ginger grater that makes a fine puree.

Second recipe – fish course:

Note: I broiled some tilapia, because Berkeley Bowl didn’t carry the char. This is a delicate whitefleshed fish. Cook just until done and serve with pureed daikon and soy sauce.

Instructions:
First, oil  the filets lightly. Then  (optional) sprinkle with shredded ginger, chopped scallions and cilantro, and a little soy sauce or lemon flavor soy sauce – Ponzu. Broil for a few minutes on each side on aluminum foil, turned up to hold in the juice.

In the meantime, I grated some Daikon, again with the ginger grater that makes a fine puree, and put some soy sauce into a little pot.

Redecorate the fish with fresh cilantro, slivered scallions.

The filets can be served with the daikon and sprinkle of soy sauce – refreshing and simple.


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I was inspired by a recipe on a UK site...my additions are the shitake mushrooms, a little cinnamon, and the butter and flour instead of cornstarch.

2 c. kasha or buckwheat groats (coarse)
1 med. cauliflower, washed and separated into small florets
5 small leeks or 2 large, washed and chopped
5-6 fresh shitake mushrooms, washed, and sliced
1/2 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese
cornstarch or...
2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp flour
salt and pepper
dash cinnamon or nutmeg

Cook 2 cups of kasha in as little water as possible , about 3 cups, simmer or steam for about 15-20 minutes, adding water only if needed, and set aside (can be cooked previous day)

Put on 2-3 cups of milk (2%)  to simmer.
Saute leeks in a saute pan a few minutes and then add mushrooms. When softened, add to milk, with cauliflower.
Simmer  the vegetable mixture in milk  till vegetables are done, keep from boiling over. Season with salt and pepper and a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg.

Strain out vegetables, pouring the nicely flavored milk into another saucepan.
Make a bechamel sauce in the original pan by melting butter, stirring in flour, and adding the warm milk, stirring continuously.

(A UK recipe said to thicken milk with cornstarch but it didn’t work so well).

When thickened, add vegetables back, and taste for seasoning.... mix in cheddar cheese till melted.

Pour the lovely cauliflower-leek-cheese sauce over the warm kasha in a serving dish.

This is comfort food par excellence!

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For a blustery March day:

I marinated a big chunk of pork sirloin in
soy sauce, grated onion, cayenne, dash of balsamic vinegar, tsp of sugar, salt and pepper.
I put it in a 300 degree oven for 1.75 hours.
I put in another dish of cut up potato, sweet potato, golden beet, onion, and apples, rolled in olive oil, sage, salt and pepper.

After 1 hour I will check on vegetables. Usually I roast at high temperatures, but this time I am being patient and slow.
After 45 minutes, things are beginning to smell pretty good around here.
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I attended a post-Thanksgiving feast and the hosts gave me the remains of the turkey! I’m so happy!

So I’m executing this recipe right now, as a break from schoolwork.

You’ll need:

• Turkey carcass, giblets and neck and liver, if available.
• Onions and celery and carrots.
• Vegetable or chicken broth
• Paprika, curry, oregano, salt and pepper
• Minced garlic (and whole garlic for soup stock).
• Porcini, if available, or could fry up button mushrooms and add towards the end.
  

1. Roast pieces of a turkey carcass in roasting pan at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or so.
2. Meanwhile, bring to boil water and veggie broth (10 cups or so), with big chunks of onion and celery and garlic cloves, (reserving part of onion, garlic, and additional celery stalks to dice and sautee separately), pepper corns, and salt.
3. In cast iron pan, fry up giblets and turkey neck in butter and olive oil and garlic, if you haven’t already used that for gravy, seasoning with salt and pepper.
4. If also frying liver, remove when done (this is to be eaten, with salt, or sliced and placed on crackers), finish browning the rest, then remove and add to simmering soup.
5. Fry up diced onions and celery and carrots in the same pan, season with paprika, curry, oregano, salt and pepper. Reserve to add to soup about 20 minutes before end.
6. Rinse, and soak some dried porcini in hot water.
7. Remove the large vegetables from soup that were added for flavoring stock after letting simmer about 50 minutes.
8. Check to see if meat is falling off the bones. If so, remove with slotted spoon, let cool a bit, and debone all the meat.
9. Reserve the meat.
10. Add rinsed wild rice to the soup and let cook 30 minutes or to taste.
11. 10 minutes later, add the sauteed diced onions and celery, and softened porcini, with soaking water.
12. Add reserved turkey meat back, and add more from your post-Thanksgiving leftovers stash!
    

Check for seasonings, adjust, and enjoy.

Possible variations: add 1/2 cup of white rice, or Japanese sweet rice, to help thicken the soup.
Add other vegetables towards the end of cooking time, possibly chopped chard, zucchini, cubes of butternut squash, or pasta instead of rice?
You’ll have enough to freeze quite a few portions!

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While taking a break from writing a paper, I made this by minimally defrosting a chicken breast in a few minutes in the microwave, chopping some vegetables quickly while the chicken is being seared, and basically using what was on hand, including some wine that nobody liked very much but it worked well here — Smoking Loon.

Ingredients:
 
1-2 chicken breasts, still cold or slightly frozen in center (not flattened)
olive oil, salt and pepper
yellow bell pepper, cubed
½ onion, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
pitted kalamata olives
1 cup white wine
heated water from a tea kettle on standby
 
Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and fresh ground pepper. Heat olive oil in nonstick pan and sear breasts on both sides. Then add peppers, fry for a few minutes, and then add onions and garlic to pan.  After onion is softened and translucent, add zucchini. Add dried (or fresh if you have it) basil and oregano. Let sauté a couple more minutes. Add wine to start poaching chicken and vegetables. Chop and add olives. Add ½ c. 2/3 c.  cracked bulghur to liquid and vegetables  in pan and stir. (Remove chicken if it looks like it is almost done, depending on thickness). Add hot water as needed to make sure bulghur continues to steam, covering pan in between stirring.  Chicken should now sit (or add it back) in a nice bed of bulghur, and yellow, green and black vegetables.  Cover pan and steam for perhaps a total of 10 minutes till bulghur is tender, adding moisture if necessary.
 
Serve your instant chicken paella – a one dish wonder!
Bulghur cooked in simmered wine is quite good!

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