Beer Cheese Soup

In Portland, there are a lot of big brewpubs, little brewpubs, or just pubs that serve craft beer scattered throughout the city. Every neighborhood has at least one. Now before you go thinking that us Portlanders are just a bunch of alcoholics or rather beeroholics, understand this, Portland is known for it's beer and the city and citizens pride themselves on the quality and quantity of their breweries. In fact, Portland has more microbreweries within city limits than any city in the world. So you see, we've earned the right to take our beer seriously! The abundance of pubs also has a lot to do with the weather, which is often grey, drizzly, or just downright rainy. A warm wooden booth and a pint offer a nice refuge for anybody wanting to relax, by themselves, with friends, or with family. I am not trying to make this post become a travel advertisement for Portland (and trust me it is not, especially if you are a hipster or man that wears skinny jeans, please stay away, thank you!) I am simply trying to get across to you this whole culture of  cozy pubs with yummy food and delicious beer. Due to the fact that I am a stay at home mommy of two (or you can use the all encompassing job title: Domestic Goddess), it is not always possible to hop down to the pub for a beer whenever I get the hankering. So, on weekend afternoons when the chill never seems to quite leave, and the rain starts to fall, I like to recreate a pub atmosphere in my own house. This generally involves a pint of something good and a warm bowl of beer cheese soup. (See this is why I prefer Domestic Goddess!) Hopefully the next time you are in the mood for something comforting, you will make this soup and enjoy a bowl too!

Beer Cheese Soup
Adapted from The Taste of Oregon Cookbook
Serves 4-6

1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup carrots, finely diced
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
salt & pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces extra sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (I use Tillamook Extra Sharp Vintage)
12 ounces FLAT beer (I used Widmer Citra Blonde, but Hefeweizen would work well too.)
Make sure to have all ingredients prepped BEFORE you start cooking, because the process goes fast! Melt butter over medium heat in a large soup pot, when butter starts to froth (not brown!) add vegetables. Saute until tender, about 10 minutes. Slowly stir in flour, turning heat down if necessary, add salt and dry mustard. Cook the mixture until it begins to brown, 3-5 minutes. Add cayenne pepper. Add chicken broth and turn the heat to high. Add the cheeses, stirring constantly. Add beer. As soon as soup reaches a boil, reduce the heat to medium low. Let soup cook to desired thickness, generally 5 minutes more. Serve immediately!

Cream of Asparagus Soup with Applewood Smoked Bacon

The best meal I've had in my life (so far) was in Reims, France, at a restaurant called Le Continental. I hadn't researched the place, heard of the place, nothing. By luck and lack of patience, (not wanting to wait in the long line at the restaurant next door) I just wandered in. Only 18 and a bit naive, I could have cared less about being in Reims and didn't expect much. To me, it was just a stop on the way to grand old Paris. It was New Year's Eve, I was hungry and they had a table, that was good enough. When walking into the dining room I was actually feeling disappointed because the sign outside only had 2 stars (I didn't realize they were Michelin stars, I had been accustomed to my mom's AAA guides where only 2 stars meant sort of sh**ty in American standards.) The waiter took full advantage of the fact that I didn't speak a lick of French and shortly thereafter I was served duck pate on raisin toasts, a dozen oysters, salad with champagne vinaigrette and fromage blanc, poached lobster tail sauteed in a mushroom champagne sauce, fillet of beef smothered in some other mushroom sauce followed by a course of cheeses that I am ashamed to say I can not recall the name of a single one, except for the fact that they were utterly delicious. It wasn't until my return home that I actually read a guidebook and realized that Reims was in the heart of Champagne country in France. Talk about traveling blind..........

The magical thing about traveling blind is that it can lead to what I like to call "stumbleuponedness" (I know, that's not an actual word, thank you.) The stumbleduponess factor is quite often the most memorable thing about traveling. When you stumble upon something truly special, you get that wonderful feeling of the excitement of discovery combined with comfort and happiness, because you swear it seems like you've been waiting to find that spot your whole life and then wa-la! there it is. For instance I will never forget getting lost in a maze of medieval streets on a snowy day in Marburg Germany and stumbling my way into a bowl of creamy asparagus soup. I could have sat there forever in that cafe, my bowl of soup, my little miniature coca cola bottle, people watching, wondering if I was going to miss my train but not wanting to leave that place.

The funny thing about food memories is that sometimes they don't surface again for a very long time, years actually. It was in fact exactly 10 years later when my asparagus soup food memory overtook me and man, oh man, I just had to have some. I don't know if this recipe is similar or resembles anything like the soup I had in that Marburg cafe, but when I fix it, it warms me right up and takes me back to a simpler time when I didn't have any agenda but escaping the snowfall.

Cream of Asparagus Soup with Applewood Smoked Bacon
Serves 4

8 oz Applewood Smoked Bacon, chopped
1 Bunch asparagus (roughly 1 lb) cut into 2 inch pieces
1 Yellow onion, chopped
2 Garlic cloves (kept whole)
4 Cups chicken stock
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
Salt and pepper
In a large soup pot over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp. When bacon is crisp, remove from pot and set aside to cool on paper towels. In the same pot, saute onion and garlic cloves in leftover bacon grease until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add asparagus and saute until tender, about 5 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper.  Add chicken stock, increase the heat, bringing the soup to a boil. Simmer (not boil) soup for 30 minutes. Stir in cream. Using an immersion blender (or regular blender, but be careful it's hot!) Puree soup. Season with salt and pepper. Top soup with bacon pieces. Serve with hot buttered sourdough bread!

Bacon "crisping"

Asparagus, onion, & garlic sauteing!

Ramen

Trying to knock myself out of the winter doldrums, I have been on a big Asian food kick lately, craving Thai curries, fusion stir fries, and Japanese Ramen.  I used to be afraid of cooking any type of Asian food, but as with any cuisine that is foreign to you, all that is needed is a little research. Like all cooking, once you familiarize yourself with key flavor combinations and ingredients, it's actually pretty easy.  There is also the added reward of satisfying your taste buds at home, rather than going out to eat, which isn't always plausible with 2 children, especially if you have a 3 year old with a taste for sushi. !$$$$!

I struggled with wanting to call this post " Semi-Homemade Ramen" but decided against it because I really can't stand that particular food network show. I'm sure Sandra Lee is a nice enough person but her tacky kitsch decorating that goes along with every single one of her blue cocktails topped with shredded coconut meals really creeps me out..... However, the truth of the matter is that this ramen is not the "authentic" ramen you would get from a Japanese chef. I don't make my own noodles, and my broth isn't homemade dashi, however I think it still tastes better than other versions I've had in a few restaurants (that will remain unmentioned) around town. 

Locally, I like to shop for Asian ingredients at Uwajimaya. However, you can find all these ingredients in any well stocked market. The great thing about cooking Asian style food is that once you load your pantry up with a few essential ingredients, they'll last you a long time. An important ingredient in Asian cooking is actually sesame oil, just a little goes a long way in developing lots of flavor. Make sure to use sesame oil in your stir fries too, rather than vegetable oil, it makes such a difference!

Udon Noodles, Chili Garlic Sauce, &  Ginger

This ramen is pretty inexpensive, costing around 5 dollars to make. But if you are anything like my husband you are probably thinking to yourself "What, the Ramen I made in college only cost 15 cents!" Of course this tastes so much better, but besides all that do you really want to eat the way you ate in college??

Ramen
Serves 2-3

1 Tablespoon pure sesame oil
2 Garlic cloves, minced fine
1 Tablespoon ginger, minced fine
1/2 Tablespoon Thai chili garlic paste
4-5 Cremini mushrooms, sliced thin
4 cups low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 package original flavor Udon noodles, plus seasoning packet
2 eggs

Note about ingredients: I love my ramen extra spicy, so I actually add a whole tablespoon chili garlic paste, but only do this if you like a lot of spice. If you prefer no spice, just omit the chili garlic paste all together!

In a large soup pot heat the sesame oil over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, and chili paste, mix together until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms, cook another minute or two more. Add your broth and bring to a slow boil. When water is boiling, add noodles and udon seasoning packet, stir. Add eggs, dropping in one at a time. (you are basically poaching the egg in the broth). Let everything cook about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately!

And on a completely unrelated note, meet my Eva, the newest addition to our clan. Isn't she cute?

Cioppino

Hello? Is anybody still reading me? Probably not, and that's understandable. It has been about 15 months since my last blog entry. No, I didn't go to rehab, to prison, or stop eating, though that seems to be pretty fashionable these days. I was pregnant, we moved, and then we welcomed our little blessing into our new home. So now that I am no longer sleep deprived or wine deprived, I'm back. But I didn't want to come back and start off with just "any" blog. I wanted an "amazing" dish, and that dish would be cioppino.

I'm not sure if cioppino is my absolute favorite dinner or not, but it will definitley be involved in my last meal (when i'm 103, of course) right next to the BLT on sourdough and chocolate shake.
This is my grandma's cioppino. She makes it every Christmas and Christmas just isn't the same without it. One year I couldn't make it down to California for Christmas, and I was also on bedrest and couldn't cook, so my sister made it for us; that way we still felt like we had a little bit of Grandma on Christmas. Jon (my hubby) looks forward to this every Christmas now too, and I love seeing the excitement on everybody's faces as the cioppino is about to be served. It's not just food that ties us together, but the traditions that go with it. My grandma knows this better than anybody. She is one smart lady.

My grandma turns 70 on Groundhog's Day, but you wouldn't know it. She even text messages. Now how many people have a grandma that texts? Yep, she's that cool. My grandma is the best cook I know, she just understands flavor and even makes leftovers taste like a gourmet meal. When I think of a woman with great character that I love and admire the most, I think of my Grandma. My cousins, sister and I are all convinced that we are each her favorite, arguing over our lists of reasons why. We all fervently believe that we are the favorite, because she makes us all individually feel that way. Now that's one good grandma.

Happy 70th Birthday Grandma Londa !!
This is P & G. After 53 years, a picture of my grandma without my papa is next to impossible to find.

Now go make this cioppino. This recipe can be easily doubled, or tripled, just make sure you have a big stock pot. This recipe is also best when served to all your "favorite" people.

Cioppino (Serves 6)
Note: Use a big soup/stock pot. Use whatever fresh fish and shellfish you like. Sometimes my grandma adds clams and mussels and sometimes she just uses shrimp, fish, and crab. Lots of crab.

1/4 cup good olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 red or green pepper, finely chopped
1 28 ounce can stewed tomatoes, chopped up
2 cups tomato juice or clamato (if you like it spicy, use 1/2 tj, 1/2 spicy clamato)
2 cups dry red wine (decent)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
16-24 clams/mussels or both in shells
1 large halibut, rockfish, or snapper steak or thick fillet (skinned and boned)
1 large dungeness crab in shell
1 lb sliced fresh musrooms

Lemon wedges for serving
Hot, buttered sourdough bread


Heat oil in pot over medium heat. Saute peppers, onions, and garlic, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, liquids and seasonings. cook covered, for one hour. Remove bay leaf. Refrigerate until shortly before serving time. (I like to do this the night before, it lets all the flavors meld.) Devein and shell shrimp (keeping tails on). Clean, clams and mussels in salt water, rinsing several times to get rid of grit.) Remove crab legs, break body into sections, save any loose body meat. Cube fish into 1-2 inch pieces. Twenty minutes before serving time bring tomato mixture to a boil and add mushrooms; simmer 10 minutes. Add Crab and shellfish, simmer 10 minutes, then add shrimp and fish. When shrimp curl up and clams all open, cioppino is done! (Discard any unopened shells) Serve with lemon wedges, and hot sourdough bread!

Tomato Orange Soup

Have you ever had one of those cooking moments where after tasting a dish in a restaurant once or twice (or in this case for years) you manage to go home and recreate the dish in your own kitchen? These moments of accomplishment are some of the best around. I was lucky enough to have one of those moments tonight and with this soup…..

For several years I have been buying quarts of Tomato Orange Soup from Elephants Delicatessen in Portland. I love this soup. Even when I was in college, if I was in Portland I would always manage to pick up some and take it back with me to Corvallis. Now a days, I like to stop by and grab a cup on my way to play at Washington Park for the afternoon. But lately, I have been frustrated with the service at the delicatessen. There are always plenty of staff but they never seem to be organized and as a result there are a lot of customers left waiting. I don’t mind waiting for good food. However, I do mind waiting when all I want is a pint of pre-made soup, there is nobody in line in front of me and employee after employee keep walking by but not assisting me in spending my money. Not to mention a toddler on my hip who wants “DOWN!” So on this day, after not being helped in above manner, I left with toddler in tow, and headed up to the park frustratingly soup-less. I might not have had any soup with me, but I still had that pesky tomato orange craving hanging around…..

When I got home, my hankering still had not eased, so I decided to do a little internet research to see if I couldn’t come up with a comparable recipe. To my delight I found out that the soup was so popular at Elephants Delicatessen in 2002 (which coincidentally is right around the time I discovered it as well) that they let the Oregonian run the recipe. So I had the exact recipe for the soup at my fingertips! Better yet, the ingredients were very simple and I had everything I needed right in my pantry to make the soup. I did change the recipe a little bit, using what I happened to have on hand. The most notable change was that I didn’t use any cream. I was able to create a whole pot of soup for less than $5 and it tasted incredible! If you think tomato and orange don’t compliment each other, think again! I even thought my version tasted better than the original, in that completely satisfied way you can only get from making something yourself…..

I served this soup with Tillamook Pepper Jack Grilled Cheese sandwiches for dipping of course!

Tomato Orange Soup
Serves 4

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
½ tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
28 ounce can Muir Glen Organic whole peeled tomatoes in juice*
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 cup fresh orange juice
¼ cup whole milk

* you don’t have to use Muir Glen brand but I feel like they are the best tasting , readily available canned tomatoes.

Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add fresh thyme, tomatoes , baking soda , salt and pepper. Bring soup to a boil and simmer uncovered until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth.* Add cup of orange juice and stir. Bring the soup back up to a gentle simmer, add whole milk and stir until blended. Season to taste. Serve!

*You can use a blender or food processor, but be careful, hot liquid expands when blended and this part can be tricky. I highly recommend buying an immersion blender it will make your soup making so much easier!

White Bean & Garlic Soup - Legume Recipe # 3

So I know I am overdue to post Legume Recipe # 3. As I mentioned, we were all battling the stomach flu last week so cooking anything with beans did not sound appealing. But by Sunday night we were all on the mend, so this soup was calling my name. When I was pregnant my girlfriend Julie told me about a version of this soup she had made and how wonderful it was. Being a fan of all things Giada, I couldn’t believe I had missed this recipe in her first 3 cookbooks ( I think it was because she hadn’t posted a picture until her 4th book, Giada’s Kitchen , I guess I am just a sucker for photos…) So having seen that she had printed this recipe in all of her cookbooks, I figured she was trying to tell us something, like maybe, “make this“….The first time I made this soup it was great, but I felt like it needed a little something, so I added some dried rosemary and it gave the soup a much better depth of flavor. I also don’t add the cream, the soup is creamy enough, and I don’t miss it, plus no cholesterol! Which means Jon can eat bowlfuls without the guilt......gotta keep my man from wasting away! I always serve this with hunks of sourdough, ciabatta , or crostini for dipping!

Makes 6 Servings
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Shallots , Chopped
2 Sage Leaves
2 (15 oz) Cans Cannelini (White) Beans, Rinsed & Drained
4 Garlic Cloves, Peeled & Halved
4 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
½ Tsp Dried Crushed Rosemary
Salt & Pepper

Place soup pot over medium high heat. Add the butter, olive oil, and shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are softened about 3 minutes. Add the sage, beans, garlic, rosemary and stir additional 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook about 15 minutes until the garlic is softened. Use immersion blender (you can buy a decent one for as little as $10, and they are great for all things soup! I have a fancy Kitchen Aid one (Thanks Mary!) and they are a great kitchen tool.) if you don’t have an immersion blender then use a real blender but be careful, because the soup will be very hot and expand. Blend until creamy and smooth (about a 30 seconds). Season with salt and pepper, add more rosemary if needed. Serve with hot crusty bead and a little olive oil!

Pasta e Fagioli *Legume Recipe # 2*

This spring has been a typical Oregon one, cold and wet. Needless to say I have been making a lot of soups. This recipe for Pasta e Fagioli will help take the chill off. This recipe is from Giada de Laurentis, but of course I changed some things around a bit. Sofia loved it and ate a whole bowlful and didn’t throw one bite on the floor ( a big deal at her age!)

Makes 6 Servings:
4 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
2 Sprigs Fresh Rosemary
1 Bay Lead
(If you don’t have fresh, use dried.)
1 Tb Olive Oil
1 Tb Unsalted Butter
1 Med Yellow Onion, Chopped
3 Slices Bacon, Chopped
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
6 Cups Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
1 Cup Elbow Macaroni
2 (15 oz cans) Red Kidney
Parmesan Cheese
Pepper

Heat olive oil and butter, in a large pot, over med heat. Add the onion and bacon, sauté until onions are tender about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, sauté 1 minute. Add the broth, beans , and herbs. (You can make a sachet of herbs but since I am normally cooking with a baby on my hip, the whole sachet thing doesn’t work for me. If you don’t use a sachet, just pick the herbs out at the end.) Bring to a boil over high heat. Then decrease heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. In a blender, puree 1 cup of the mixture until smooth, then return puree to saucepan. Bring the soup to a boil. Add the macaroni noodles and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally. Discard herbs. Season with pepper. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve!

Note: The leftovers may need to be thinned with a little more broth.

Maximizing Your Budget

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone! Don’t worry this won’t be an Irish recipe…..there is a very good reason the Irish are famous for their whiskey and Guinness..... This post is about making the most out of your food budget, so hopefully you will have enough money left over for that pint of green beer! Slainte!
Recently, I was watching a DVR’d episode of Oprah and she had (Iron Chef) Cat Cora on talking about how to get the most value out of your grocery shopping. Chef Cora said when you “don’t eat leftovers or let produce go bad it is like folding up a $20 bill and throwing it away.” That really rang true with me! In a time where every dollar counts in most households, it can be challenging to make it out of the grocery store under budget and still have tasty meals. So I decided to do a 2 part blog about how to get the most out of leftovers by stretching a simple rotisserie chicken into 2 different meals. The idea is to utilize the same protein two nights in a row, but use completely different flavors & textures, so as not to feel like you are having two boring (ugh!) chicken dinners in a row. Rotisserie chickens can be found in just about every market these days, but I prefer to buy mine at Costco when I can. (At Costco they are priced at $4.99 versus the supermarket which is usually more in the $7 range.) The first thing you will want to do with the chicken when you get home is separate the white meat from the dark. Put the dark meat in a Tupperware container and save it for tomorrow’s recipe : Black Bean & Chicken Empanadas. Put the white breast meat aside and choose which recipe you are going to make: Chicken Salad with Lime Vinaigrette or Chicken Soup, Mexican Style.

The chicken salad is very simple, it really is what you want to make of it. What makes it special is the vinaigrette for the salad. I “borrowed” the fresh lime vinaigrette recipe from my friend Gavin, who is the author of the blog the Haute Kitchen. See sidebar or go to http://thehautekitchen.com/the-simplest-vinaigrette-ever/ for more details. For this salad, I mixed baby romaine, cherry tomatoes, avocado , cucumber , croutons and then topped with the vinaigrette. I just used what I had on hand, there is no real “recipe” to the salad. We like a lot of dressing on our salad so I doubled Gavin’s original recipe below:
Fresh Lime Vinaigrette:
Juice of 1 lime
4 TB Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar
½ c Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
*Whisk together until well blended!

Chicken Soup, Mexican Style:
4 Tb Olive oil
1 Yellow onion , chopped
4 Cloves garlic , minced
2 Jalapenos , seeded & diced
1 (28 oz) can chopped tomatoes
Shredded Cooked Chicken (2-3 cups)
4 Cups low sodium chicken stock
1 Tb Worcestershire sauce
1 Lime
1 Tb Dried oregano
1 tsp Cumin
1 Cup cooked rice
Optional Toppings: Sour Cream & Cilantro
Heat oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add onion & sauté for 2 minutes until translucent. Add jalapeno & cook another 2 minutes. Add garlic , cumin & oregano and cook another minute. Add tomatoes , chicken , Worcestershire & chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and cook 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook up 1 cup rice in a separate pot. (Instant is fine). After 20 minutes, squeeze the juice of the lime into the pot. Add cooked rice and simmer another 5-10 minutes. Season with S&P. Garnish with sour cream & cilantro. Enjoy!
Any extra white meat chicken that wasn’t used can be added to the Tupperware of dark meat chicken. Check back tomorrow to see how to use the leftover chicken in Black Bean & Chicken Empanadas!