Faux Pho

Grammy is in town and she let the grown ups out on a date night!! We rocked and rolled; we ate well, we drank better; we quickly caught a cold. We are so out of practice. Enter Faux Pho. Pho is a total cure-all in our house - spicy, gingery, brothy, clean... but you have to - oh-goodness-no - leave the house for it and sometimes that's a deal-breaker. I've started making this Faux Pho to fill the gap when we need the good stuff, but cant face getting out of our jammies.

Faux Pho - inspired by lots of fave pho spots
Serves 4

6 cups chicken broth (I use "Better Than Broth" soup starter)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 pound chicken - chopped into 1 inch pieces (I used boneless, skinless thighs)
4 ounces firm tofu cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup sliced celery (3 medium ribs)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup sliced green onions (3 large green onions - whites and greens)
1 serano chili
1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli
1 package rice noodles
bean sprouts
limes

In a large pot, start the broth to simmer. Add chicken broth, fish sauce, soy sauce, half the green onion and minced ginger. In a frying pan over high heat (or wok if you're lucky enough to have one!) start chicken, celery and chili pepper.

When the chicken is about half way cooked through, add the broccoli to the broth. I wanted it to cook through, but not be limp. About the same time, add the tofu to the chicken pan. 

When the chicken is cooked through, add the cooked chicken, half of the cilantro and the rice noodles to the broth. Turn the simmering broth down even farther - just keep it hot. The rice noodle need to sit for at least 5 minutes in the hot broth. Test occasionally.

Add bean spouts to four serving bowls and top with hot soup. Sprinkle on the remaining cilantro, green onions and garnish with lime slices. Add Sriracha if you like things spicy. We do!

A few things about this recipe...

I don't always use tofu, but I think this soup would be good with just tofu and no chicken. Use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth for a meat-free meal. 

Rice noodles can get gummy. I think whole-wheat spaghetti noodles cooked and rinsed would be delicious added to this soup.

Enjoy!

 

Cabbage Soup

It’s still really cold outside in New York.  Actually, we just got like 3 inches of snow…ugh.  Yet, St. Patty’s Day is right around the corner.  So what better to eat than a hot bowl of flavorful cabbage soup???  Here’s a recipe you are sure to love and is perfect for this time of year.

I saw Rachael Ray make this on Food Network a couple of years ago.  She made it look so delicious!  I felt like I could smell all of those wonderful ethnic seasonings (allspice, smoked paprika, and coriander) through the TV!  I have made this many times.  It’s always delicious and is one of my go-to soups.  The best part about it is you get tons of veggies but it’s thick and hearty due to using less stock and adding meat.  Rachael Ray actually calls it “stoup” because it is somewhere between a soup and a stew, which speaks to its heartiness. 

Cabbage Soup

Ingredients:

1c raw white rice

salt (to taste)

pepper (to taste)

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 lb ground turkey

½ tsp allspice

1 ½ tsp coriander

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 bay leafs

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large carrot (or 2 small) , thinly sliced w/ vegetable peeler

1 head of savoy cabbage, sliced

~40oz chicken stock

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1c tomato sauce
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic salt
½ tsp crushed red pepper

Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

3 tbsp dill, finely chopped

Cook rice in rice cooker per directions.  Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a deep pot over medium-high heat.  Add the oil.  Once hot, add meat and begin to brown (2-3 mins).  Season the turkey with allspice, coriander, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.  Add bay leafs, onions, garlic and carrots.  Cook veggies 2-3 mins to begin to soften them, then add cabbage and cover to wilt it down a bit.  Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and stock.  Stir and cover.

Note: Rachael Ray uses ground meatloaf mix (beef, pork, and veal) for her cabbage stoup.  I chose to use ground turkey to reduce the saturated fat.

Add onion powder, garlic salt, and crushed red pepper.  Stir to combine.  Raise the heat to high and bring the soup to a simmer.  Simmer for about 10 mins.  Reduce heat to low and cook on low until near ready to serve.  Stir in parsley and dill once it is removed from the heat.

Top with a scoop of rice.  Garnish with extra dill.

I served this with roasted garlic bread and it makes a complete meal.  It’s great to make on the weekends and have soup for lunch all week.  And…as with any soup or stew, it’s even better the next day :)

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

We spent the holidays at "home home" in California. It was sunny and gorgeous and warm... and other people cooked the whole time! I made this bread once, and that's it. We ate at some of our fave local spots (not enough though,) we ate some amazing home-cooked meals and the baby ate a lot of beach sand. It was a delicious vacation. Getting home from the airport was overly eventful with a lost cell phone, a parking shuttle chase and a road-raging psycho driver. Needless to say, today was a reset day and we needed a quiet, at home, comforting dinner. I've made this broccoli cheddar soup a few times now. I use WAY lighter ingredients than a lot of other recipes I've found online, (milk, not cream and less sharp cheese, rather than a lot of milder cheddar) but it's still soup made with cheese, so it's never going to be calorie free... but I don't believe in fat free cheese... I like this in-between version.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup - inspired by Panera and lots of Googling.
Makes 4 hearty portions

12 ounces broccoli florets - about 4 cups
2 medium carrots grated - about 1.5 cups
1 medium onion chopped fine - about 2 cups
2 small potatoes chopped - about 2 cups (potato is totally optional)
2 garlic cloves chopped - about 1 tablespoon
6 ounces grated cheddar cheese - about 1.5 cups
4 tablespoons butter - divided
1/4 cup flour
2.5 cups milk - I use whole milk
2.5 cups chicken broth
Salt and Pepper

In a large, high sided pan melt 2 tablespoons of butter and add onion, garlic, carrots and potatoes. Cook until onions are becoming translucent and veggies are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and melt onto veggies. Sprinkle in the flour and stir to coat veggies. This will make a sort of roux that will thicken the soup since we are using milk, not heavy cream. Cook for about 2 more minutes.

In a small pan, heat the milk and broth until warm - do not boil. Add the warmed milk to the veggies and stir to combine, make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to incorporate all of the sort-of-roux.

Add in the broccoli and gently simmer the soup for about 10 minutes or until the veggies are tender, but keeping their shape and texture. Make sure not to boil - the soup will thicken slowly.

Add in the cheese and cook on low for 5 more minutes. The cheese will further thicken the soup. Season with salt and pepper.

A few things about this recipe...

I've used an immersion blender to partially puree this soup - it's just as good and still looks pretty! 

Because we are using milk, it's really important not to overheat this soup. It will separate. Just heat gently and slowly. The veggies will cook and soften in no time. Promise.

The potatoes are totally optional, but especially good if you use an immersion blender, they really make this soup nice and thick. 

Enjoy!

 

Sausage and Lentil Soup

I pack my lunch everyday. My husband just read that and frantically waved his BS flag. OK. My husband packs my lunch everyday. It's true. He's a saint. On the rare occasions that I eat at work, I'm lucky enough to work at a place with a wonderful cafeteria. I recently had a spicy sausage and lentil soup that I really wanted to recreate. Sometimes, when the stars align and the moon is in the seventh house, I cook ahead on the weekends and make my saint-husband's life a little easier. Last weekend was such a weekend.

Sausage and Lentil Soup

Makes 5 hearty servings

1 cup chopped onion - about 1/2 a large onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

3 cloves minced garlic - about 2 teaspoons

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes - adjust to your tastes! This was medium heat

1/3 pound sausage - I used mild Italian sausage. Adjust the red pepper flakes if you use spicy sausage.

2 cups lentils

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

32 oz broth + 1 cup - you may want more

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper

Saute onion, celery and carrots in 2 tablespoons of butter. Cook until vegetables start to get tender - about 5 minutes. Add in sausage and cook until browned all over. Add in garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 2 more minutes. Add the bay leaf and cook another 2 minutes.

Add broth, stir to scrape up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in lentils, tomatoes and tomato paste. 

Bring to a soft boil and then reduce to a low simmer. Simmer for an hour. Test lentils and veggies. If they are soft enough for your tastes, you're done! If they are still a little firm, add another cup of broth and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes. Test again.

A few things about this recipe...

This is a really thick soup. If you want it thinner and soupier, just add more broth as you cook the lentils.

I used only a tiny bit of meat - just to add flavor and the occasional bite of meat. 

This reheats really well! It made great lunches for a whole week.

Enjoy!

As you may know, this blog is written by two friends - one in Portland, OR and one in NYC. Antoinette and her husband are doing OK in the wake of Sandy and are home safely. We both send our thoughts and prayers out to those affected by the Sandy storm.

Chicken and Herb Drop Dumplings

It has been ugly, cold, and rainy in NYC…ugh.  As much as I dislike the weather during this time of year, the food seems to make all of those feelings go away.  I guess that’s why they call it comfort food, right?  Well, supposedly my mom makes a MEAN chicken & dumplings.  I wouldn’t know because, for some reason, I’ve never had it (no hard feelings mom!).  However, after some recipe research and a half hour lesson on her recipe over the phone, I think I found a way to make it my own.

My mom makes more of a Southern chicken & dumplings but she grew up on drop dumplings.  Southern dumplings are rolled out, cut into strips, and dropped into the boiling soup.  They tend to be more “doughy” and dense.  Drop dumplings are easier because you don’t have to roll them out, and fluffy because you drop them onto the soup and they cook on top.  I may try the Southern recipe one day but honestly, I don’t see a reason after making this.  I couldn’t get enough of these dumplings.  They were fluffy on the inside and creamy on the outside.  The addition of herbs gave them just a little hint of something extra.  I must say, for my first time making chicken & dumplings, I knocked it out of the park! 

Chicken and Herb Drop Dumplings

Stock Ingredients:

8c water

1 small bunch of sage

1 small bunch of thyme

1 small bunch of rosemary

1 rotisserie chicken carcass, chicken reserved

2 bay leaves  

1 small onion, quartered

2 large celery stalks, halved

1 large carrot, quartered

3 whole garlic cloves

1 ½ tbsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

Soup Ingredients:

Stock (from above)

1 rotisserie chicken, torn into pieces (carcass used in stock)

2 carrots, chopped

2 large celery stalks, chopped

½ large onion, chopped
3/4 c frozen peas

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

Dumpling Ingredients:

2c baking mix

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 tsp Italian seasoning

2/3 c reserved stock (from above)

Milk (if necessary)

Using your hands, tear chicken off bone and into small pieces.  Set aside.  Once all chicken is removed, place remaining carcass in a stockpot.  Fill stockpot with ~6c water or up to desired level.  Add remaining stock ingredients to pot.  Bring to a boil and cook for 30 minutes.  Once finished, add more water if necessary and return to boil.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.  Strain stock and return liquid to pot.  Discard carcass and all remaining strained ingredients.

Note: If you want to shorten time and don’t want to make your own stock, you can use store-bought stock.

Heat stock to medium-high heat.  Add torn chicken and remaining soup ingredients to the pot.  Bring to a boil.  While soup is heating, combine baking mix, baking powder, and salt.  Sift flour mixture into a mixing bowl.  Add Italian seasoning and stir until well-mixed.  Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add reserved stock to the center.  Stir dough until evenly wetted.  If mixture is too dry, add a little milk to ensure the proper consistency.  Do not over-mix. 

Tip: Sifting the dry mixture makes the dumplings lighter.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto boiling soup mixture.  Soup should be well covered but not too much where the dumplings stick together.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 mins uncovered.  Cover and cook another 10 mins.  Serve hot.

Rotisserie chickens can be used for a multitude of recipes that call for shredded chicken and is great for soups, enchiladas, sandwiches, etc.  We seem to always have one stashed away in the fridge.  I intend to make homemade stock every time I buy a rotisserie chicken.  It’s just too easy and too good not to!