Tomato soup

 

New recipe in da house, and one to stay, for sure.

My hot zoupp'a'day new year commitment was failing today as I had little in the fridge to work with, so I improvised, and added a twist to my childhood favorite tomato soup.

If in California do as Californians, and put those lovely organic citrus form the yard to a good use. Our Navel orange trees are ripening, so I added the zest of half a large navel orange, and to help the taste blend I went over-and-above, and added a dash of vodka. Shhhh... no need to tell hubby, he doesn't touch any alcohol, it would be hard to explain myself why I spike his soup. 😅

Ingredients (yields a little less than 3 liters / quarts)

vegetable oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pot + 1/4 cup (60 ml) more to make the roux

1/2 large or a medium yellow onion, chopped

1 liter (4 cups of chicken broth)

2 cans of 400 g, 14.5 ounce canned diced tomatoes

1 heaped tbsp (add 2 as you please), of minced green bell pepper paste (or Ajvar)

1 tbsp butter

3-6 garlic heads

zest of 1/2 orange

1 dash of vodka (1 liquid ounce, or 30ml, basically a Hungarian "kupica")

4 heaped tbs all purpose flour

1 tbsp dried lovage leaves or chopped dried or fresh celery leaves. If none available you could probably use parsley or basil, but I'll be honest, I haven't tried.

salt & pepper

To serve

yogurt, 1/2 - 1 tpsp / plate to be added when served

For topping and sides there are MANY options. Tonight I will use baguettes with toasted provolone, Swiss or Gruyere cheese on top.

My grandma also served her tomato soup with a heap of mashed potatoes placed on one side of the soup bowl and poured the soup on top.

 You can also reuse already cooked rice and quinoa from the fridge, or add 1/2 cup to the broth when you leave it to simmer,

Boiled potato wedges and simple croutons will also work wonderfully. Try them one by one!

 

In a large pot that accommodates 3 liters heat some oil and saute the onions.

When glossy, or lightly browned at the edges add the broth, the 1 tbsp pepper paste, 1 flat tsp salt, 2 cans of tomato, including the sauce, the orange zest, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Bring to boil.

Add the vodka and simmer for 15-20 minutes. 

In a small pan heat the 1 tbs butter and add 3-6 garlic cloves, brown the lightly, and add them to the simmering soup.

While the soup is simmering prepare the roux. 

 

Heat 1/4 cup of vegetable oil of you preference ( I like avocado or sunflower, but olive oil is great, too) add 4 heaped tbsp all purpose flour, and on medium - high heat fry them to a nice creamy color, stirring constantly.

Add 1 liter of cold water, use an immersive blender to make a smooth broth. Add the 4 tbsp of roux, and bring it back to boil stirring constantly, until the roux cooks and thickens the broth.  Adjust saltiness. I had to add 1/2 tsp salt.

 

Serve while warm, with your chosen topping and side.

Bon appétit!

Green tomato - sorrel soup

 

Very excited about this one, not only all main ingredients came from my yard and raised beds, it is also a very fond childhood memory, us, kids, picking sorrel

It is a new soup for me that I tried once and immediately fell in love with. As with everything I'm not a person of recipes, I will prepare how and what I feel good for my own taste.

Using what I have is my main priority. I get frustrated of complicated recipes, and well, basically I never follow any recipe for cooking, like I definitely do for baking.

Soo.. long story short, don't forget this is home cooking, twist it to your taste. The ony trick, if you haven't gotten one yet, go get an immersion blender like... yesterday, but latest now..

Here is what I used today.

Ingredients (for about 2 liters - 2 quarts) of soup

50 g (half a stick) of butter

2-3 tbspoons of vegetable oil 

1 shallot , I used half of those giant onions that sell around here

300 g green tomatoes

200 g of sorrel 

750 ml (3 cups) of  broth (I used chicken-little beef and veggies broth I made in the InstaPot)

500 ml + 500 ml (4 cups) of water 

2-3 boiled yellow gold potatoes (or 4-5 tbsp Idaho potato flakes)

salt and pepper

Greek yogurt (any yogurt, really) for serving

 

Boil the potatoes (or microwave them for about 10 minutes using a lightly closed plastic bag, reuse one from the veggie packaging), peel and chop them into smaller chunks.

Chop the onions, small enough to saute fast, but don't fret about the size, they'll be pureed.

Chop the tomatoes into small chunks, or you can use a turmix to puree them slightly. 

Chop or tear the sorrel into smaller pieces, like half or a third of a leaf.

Melt the butter, add the onions and start sauteing, adding small amount of oil as needed, not to stick the onions to the bottom.

When glassy add the tomatoes and the sorrel, saute them for about 2-3 minutes, and 500 ml (2 cups) of water. Add the broth, salt and pepper to taste, and when starts boiling reduce the heat to low / medium low to just simmer, coverand simmer for 25 minutes. Add the remaining 500 ml of water.

Reduce from the heat, use the immersion blender and blend it all together, add 2 potatoes and blend well. Check consistency, if prefer thicker add the extra potato. Same with the potato flakes, add 4 tbsp potato flakes first, and add more to adjust consistency of needed.

Serve with yogurt and your favorite bread or crackers. I love Finnish rye bread buttons, lightly toasted naan, or toasted bread cubes, anything you have in the cupboard, really.

Bon appetite!

Basque Cheesecake

 

Creamy, probably the best cheesecake I've eaten recently. Also, probably the easiest to make, and the most provocative looking cheesecake with it's burnt top. It was actually it's burnt top that caught my eye in the 2020 July Food and Wine, our family tends to like the burnt bits :). I decided to translate it to real measurements, but I'll share the cups and spoons, too, if that's what you prefer.

Ingredient

1 kg (36 Oz) cream cheese

300 g sugar (1 2/3 cup)  

6 large eggs

1 egg yolk

450 ml (2 cups)  heavy whipping cream

50 g (3 tbsp) flour

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Serving

some sour berry or sour cherry fruit compote.

Preheat the oven to 230C (450F). Line a 10" springform pan with 2 piece of parchment paper to overlap at the bottom, and overhang by about 5 cm (2").

In a mixing bowl combine well cream cheese and sugar until creamy using the paddle attachment.

Start slowly, and increase the speed, beating it for about 5 minutes.

Whisk together the heavy cream and the flower in a medium bowl, and slowly incorporate it into the cream cheese mixture.

Add the eggs + egg yolk one at a time, beating them in at medium speed until well combined.

Add the vanilla on low speed until well blended.

Pour the mixture into the springform.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top is dark brown and the middle is still very wobbly.

 

Remove from the oven and let it chill on the counter for 3 hours (some residual cooking will happen from the heat), and in the fridge for another 4.

I recorded it with the wobble wobble :D, just for fun.

Before serving remove from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 min.

Enjoy!

Beef-asparagus patties

I made some rice with asparagus to accompany chicken thigh for school lunch from Costco-s frozen asparagus but the bottom end of the asparagus was too fibrous for anyone's liking. Well, at least some of them.
For "safety", eg not to have the school lunch returned uneaten, I ended up chopping of the bottom third, but really didn't feel like throwing it away. I decided they'll go into some patties, especially that I already had minced beef at home.
After school I manually picked out the "bad" ones, they looked more yellow than the rest, and chopped them into very small, max 1/2 inch pieces, well, most of it.
It all weight about 90g..

Ingredients (serves 4)
300g lean minced beef 
about 200 g dry-ish bread (stone hard my take long to soften, but works, too) soaked in water and lightly squeezed
90-100 g asparagus, boiled and chopped
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt (adjust the salt to your liking)
pinch of minced chili, absolutely optional
avocado oil for frying

Serving
Basmati rice, in my case, but would go well with the potato salad, or most of potato side dishes really.


I washed and boiled the Basmati rice. How to do it.. follow the instruction on the packaging, I might add a short post later. (It takes 15-20 minutes starting with washing until it is cooked).
While the rice is cooking soak the bread, chop the asparagus, chop the garlic, and the parsley. 
Place the meat in a medium sized bowl. 
Squeeze most of the water out from the bread, add it to the meat, add the chopped asparagus, parsley, salt, pepper, mixed until evenly combined, and at the end mix in the egg.

Add about a generous quarter inch of avocado oil in a frying pan, and heat the oil. Reduce the heat back slightly, and form about 80-90g patties adding them straight to the pan. Mine were about 1.5 cm, or 1/2 inch thick.

Fry them about 3 minutes each side, or 4 if you like them more well done. They should be slightly springy when done.
Remove from the pan, on a paper towel lined plate, and serve while hot.
I offered soy sauce on the side with the rice as my family is big fun of it, but it is up to you. Potato dishes definitely don't need soy sauce.
It would definitely go very well with a mustard sauce, I'll come up with some variations next.

Gluten free pannukakku - old fashioned milk pie

Ingredients 

Milk pie/porridge base

1 dl porridge rice (about 0.5 cup)
3 dl water (1.3 cup)
5 dl milk (2.1)

Pie base

2½ dl heavy whipping cream
½ dl almond flour (blanched)
3 eggs

3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cardamom seeds (minced)
½ tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of cinnamon (optional)

Serve with 

Vanilla ice cream

berry jam (raspberry, strawberry or mixed berries) or you can go with fresh berries

Preparation steps

Step 1: prepare the porridge base. 

In a pot add the water and the well rinsed rice, and boil until the water evaporates and the porridge thickens, about 10 minutes. Add the milk, and boil for an additional 40 minutes, mixing occasionally.

Let the porridge cool.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 200C, 400 F.

Lightly mix the eggs with the sugar, add the almond flour, vanilla extract, cardamom, salt, and the porridge base until the cooled porridge base.

Pour the mixture into a 10x16, at least 2 inch deep pan. (I add a sheet of parchment paper to make sure I don't have to scrape the pie out but rather it will lift easily.

Bake the mixture for 30 minutes, or until it feels jelly-ish to light shaking, and the top gets a lovey golden color. If the top browns too fast, throw a foil to the top to protect it from burning, and let it thcicken.

Let is cool, cut into squares, and serve as soon as it reaches room temperature with your favorite toppings.

Bon appétit!

Red wine braised D'Anjou pears

They also go by poached pears.
I was eyeing with this dessert for some time, but postponed making it for ..  well, actually no reason.
Yesterday we had some great friends visiting, and this pear seemed to be the one to be worth making it to our table..
My friend is the best cook I know and she goes to the moon and back when we visit, so it's always a bit of excitment  to cook for her.
I feel the challenge, cook something Hungarian, but also special, and with not so much cream and sour cream, which by itself is a challenge, as we put a dash of paprika and sour cream in EVERYTHING!
For this occasion my choice fell to goulash, as the main course, and I thought of making some ile flottante, but she makes a lot of cream englese, so I decided to go with the pears, which I never tried before.. But I'm so glad I did!
They were pretty well received by everybody, which was such a great feeling!
I trullyrecommend this dish for the "colder" autumn days due to its "cozy" flavors of cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla.
Enjoy warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
My family was asking for them the next day for breakfast, and lunch, and.. I even had to listen to my youngest's complains: "Now I know mon what we don't have for everyday meals: desserts!"
Spoiled bastards!!! :D Home cooked lunch and dinner almos every day is not enough..there still should be dessert..
Maybe they are right... we will see, but for now, here is the recipe for the peard

Ingredients
6-8 D'Anjoy pears depending on size
1 bottle of fruity wine, I used Smokin Loom's Cabernet Sauvignon
10 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks of 1 flat tsp minced cinnamon
1 vanilla bean cut in half leghtwise 
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 - 2 cups water (350-500 ml), eough to almost cover the pears

I chose to leave the pears as is. You can peel and core them. I would probably core them next time to let the flesh soak in some color, plus it also helps with the boiling time, eg shortens it, but they were good as is.
Place the pears to the bottom of a deeper pot, enough to hold the "standing" pears plus 2".
Pour the wine, water and sugar over the pears, throw in the spices and cover the pot with a lid.
On low heat simmer them for about 20 minutes if cored, and 30 if unpealed, whole.
Poke something sharp in them, and if it slices into the fruit's flesh with some, but not too much resistanve, they are done. If the inner parts of the pear still feel "crunchy", simmer for 5-10 more minutes.
Remove the pears and let them cool (preferably covered with foil).
Place the liquid back to the stove and conitnue to simmer for an additional 20-30 minutes, until the wine-sugar-water mixture will be reduced to half.
Serve while still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Choose a mild ice cream, not too sweat, it goes better with the taste.

Bon appétit!

Chanterelle mushroom stew

One of my favorite mushrooms is the chantarelle mushroom. Oh my.. Part of the fun is of course picking them, and we did for so many years in Finland's beautiful forests about this time of the year, however now we have to live with what we get in a Costco down here in Southern California.

On top of its deliciousness it's also very easy to prepare, and requires very few ingredients, as most of the finnish recipes have mild flavoring.
Head to Costco this weekend and surprise the family with something different.

Ingredients
1 pound, (450-500g) chantarelle mushrooms
1 large onion
4 tbsp oil
2 garlic heads
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp flour (optional, I don't necessarily like the thick sauce, so I leave it most of the time out)
approximtely 1 cup (200 ml) half/half 
salt to taste
pinch of black pepper

Clean and cut the mushrooms in desired sizes. My advise is not to chop them too small. They look and taste better in larger, crunchier bits.
Chop the onion in small cubes, and saute in the 4 tbsp of oil until golden in color and transparent.
Add the mushroom, salt to taste, start with 1/2 tsp, and the pinch of salt, and let is saute for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile in a small skillet heat the butter, and add the garlic heads (cleaned and smashed, to release the taste). Fry until a bit golden and released the lovely garlic flavor, add the flour, let it fry just a bit, like 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Pour the half-half in the butter-garlic-flour mixture, and stirr until you get that creamy, smooth texture.
Transfer the half-half mix to the mushroom, taste, and adjust saltiness as desired and simmer at very low heat for an additional 2 minutes.
Cover, and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Serve with boiled potato wedges, or your preferred rice.

Bon appétit!

OBS. If yiu serve it with potato wedges boiled in their skin without salt, you'll need to add some extra salt in the mushroom stew.