Soup's On!

Friday night, we got the warning:  Freeze! 

With the frost announcement, we jumped into action, bringing in the plants we planned to over-winter in the house and turning on the heat.  The first time this Fall, it became clear that Winter was indeed going to come.  Gone will be the warm days and slightly cool evenings.  Soon, there will be snow and ice and all those things.  

But between now and then, we do have a space of time with bright orange and red leaves falling from the sky, landing on the sidewalks, ready to crunch under our feet.   Baking seems feasible, even delightful.   Soup seems just right. 



I don't get a lot of time during lunch to cook, so I was thinking about making some quick pasta and sauce.  On went the pot of water, in went a box of ditalini, which are easy for our son to grab with a kid spoon (or more frequently his hands).  But as the pasta boiled, I realized I'd misjudged the amount of water.  The pasta was almost at the top as it boiled, and I realized it looked like there was a lovely noodle soup in the pot.  I changed gears, added several teaspoons of no-sodium chicken broth powder, some smoked paprika and basil, and a can of red kidney beans including its water.  I let it come back to a boil, added some chopped up greens for the last few minutes, and.... hey presto:  Pasta e Fagioli!   If you want to (and can), this is great with a little parmesean shredded overtop. 

Quick Pasta e Fagioli

2 Quarts water, boiling

1/2 a 1 lb box (8 oz) Ditalini (if you're using rice pasta, try Tinkyayada elbows or mini shells)

1 12-oz can of  red or pink kidney beans, or cannelini beans, with water

2 T no-sodium chicken broth powder, or enough dissolved boullion cubes to make 2 Q of broth.

1 t dried basil

1 t smoked paprika

Large handful of chopped greens: spinach, kale, chard, etc. 

salt and pepper to taste 

drizzle olive oil, optional

1. Boil the water
2. Add the noodles and cook until nearly tender.
3. Add the broth powder, basil and paprika and stir until dissolved.
4. Add the can of beans and simmer until warm, just a couple minutes.
5. Add the handful of greens and stir until they are cooked to a bright green, again only a couple minutes.
6. Serve in warm bowls with salt and pepper to taste, a optionally a drizzle of olive oil and/or a few shreds of parmesean

Note: If you're using rice noodles, this is just as easy to do, but I recommend straining the pasta first.  Add to 2 Q of warm chicken broth (from bullion cubes, powder, home- or pre-made)



Polenta! Simple, not easy. OK maybe easy.

 "Thee the soft nations round the warm Levant

Palanta call, the French of course Polante;

E'en in thy native regions how I blush

To hear the Pennsylvanians call thee Mush!

On Hudson's banks, while men of Belgic spawn

Insult and eat thee by the name suppawn.

All spurious appellations; void of truth:

I've better known thee from my earliest youth,

Thy name is Hasty-Pudding!

“

”

The Hasty-Pudding, Joel Barlow, 1793

 

You know that game, Othello? No, not the Shakespeare play... the game. It's tagline is "A minute to learn, a lifetime to master"

A lot of things fall into this category. Watercolors, planting things, doing cartwheels. And, making polenta. I mean, how hard can something with about 3 ingredients be? And at its simplest, you could make this with only 2: water and corn meal.  Of course, generations of polenta makers would shake their heads at me for saying so.  They learned over the course of centuries that this simple concept - boiled corn meal - can take so many forms.  Soft, rich mush can be served with savory dishes like sausages.  Mix it with sugar, milk, vanilla and cinnamon and you've got a Latin breakfast porridge.  Spread it out in a flat pan, let it solidify and either pour maple syrup on it like they do in the midwest, or serve with pasta sauce, cheese and herbs like they do in Italy.  It's like a food canvas! 

I've been a bit nervous about using polenta even so, because I'm never sure about whether the grain is cross-contaminated with others.  It's the old shared-equipment quandry.  Was it ground on equipment as wheat?  nuts?  other scary things?   One never knows for sure.  But if you can find a good brand*, or know that the brand only does corn ... well, then this is the food for you.  Easy, fast, and a little goes a long way.  It's a simple to enjoy starchy part of a wider meal.  It can be used as part of the main dish, or sliced in little bars for a quick carry-around finger food snack.  And, well, it's yummy.  

For kids, these are so versatile. Cut in squares or little bars and they're easy finger food for on the go.  Cut with cookie cutters for fun shaped plates at home.  Make them sweet or savory, dip in sweet sauces or ketchup.  (yes, my friends, ketchup). 

One of my favorite versions of this is the Italian style polenta squares.  Cornmeal, cheese, oil, and herbs spread out into a pan, then cut into squares and served with pasta sauce.  I also like the squares fried in butter, but I try not to think about that too much. 

Simple, yes, but not as easy as it seems at first.   Deceptively simple.  Add cornmeal to boiling water, stir, and it's done.  Right?

But if you add the cornmeal directly into the hot water without stirring, you get lumps of half-dry goo.  If you don't stir like crazy, you get lumps. It burns and spatters.  It dries out on the pan to the consistency of cement.  Oy. 

There are a couple tricks.  The best one that I've ever read was on Cooks.com's recipe.  Put the cornmeal in some cold water first and stir it up before you add it to the boiling water.  It's the same principle as adding flour to cold water before adding it to gravy to avoid lumps. 

So, my basic recipe:

3:1 Water to Cornmeal

For this example:
2/3 cup corn meal,

2 1/4 water

2/3 cup of cheddar-style Daiya cheese

Put 2/3 of the water into a pan and begin to boil

Meanwhile, pour the cornmeal into the rest of the water, and stir it up until smooth.

  

Once the water's boiling, add the cornmeal & water mix in while stirring, stirring, stirring.  Keep stirring until the mixture become more and more solid, a couple minutes.

Add anything else you want to add (cheese and herbs, or sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and milk) 

Here, I'm using non-dairy Daiya cheddar style cheese. Turn off the heat and keep stirring.  

Pour onto an oiled or non-stick bar pan and spread out evenly -- a casserole dish, brownie pan, whatever you have that's flat with edges.

Cover the pan with something, be it plastic or a lid of some sort and refrigerate until firm.  Cut into whatever shapes you like! 

If you would like an even cheesier version, cover with another 2/3 cup of cheese and put in the broiler for a few minutes. 

* Bob's Red Mill has a gluten-free cornmeal.  Here, though, I used fine cornmeal from our local latin store and it appears to be fine - no reactions, no nothing! 

The Warm Yummies: Sausages with Apple Cabbage

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
(The Walrus and the Carpenter from Carroll's Through the Looking Glass)

I love cabbage.

It always reminds me of my mom making holupkes (no idea how to spell it). They're cabbage rolls stuffed with a beef-rice filling and simmered in tomato sauce -- it was one of my dad's favorite childhood dishes, brought over by my great grandmother from Hungary or Czechoslovakia, or the Czech Republic ~ or wherever her ancestral home ended up in the fray of the twentieth century. Essentially, it's Eastern European comfort food. I keep intending to make it... and will, since it's certainly allergy friendly!

But one day, craving warmth, I only had access to a head of cabbage, a few apples, and a package of frozen chicken sausage. Hence... this!  


Chicken Sausages with Apple Cabbage

 With the mixture of apples, onions and cabbage sauteed with apple cider and just a hint of savory mustard this was a hearty, warm dish just right for a cold night.  Perfect for Fall or Winter!  We just chopped the sausage pieces a little smaller for our son to eat as finger food, and it was a hit.   And not bad for Mom and Dad, either...



Chopping!



So... simple recipe: 

Chicken Sausages with Apple Cabbage

Oil for frying (I used olive)

1 large apple (I used macoun), diced

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 head cabbage, chopped into ~ 1" pieces

1/2 cup apple cider or juice

1 tsp stone ground mustard (optional)
1 package chicken sausages *



Sauteing the apples, onions, and cabbage!

1. Sautee the sausage in a little oil, turning over every few minutes to ensure they're evenly cooked, usually around 8 - 10 minutes.  Set aside. 
2. In the same pan, sautee the onions with a little bit more oil until translucent, around 2 - 3 minutes. 
3. Add the apples and sautee until slightly soft
4. Add the cabbage and sautee for about 5 minutes, until slightly soft. 
5. While cabbage and applies are cooking, slice the sausages into 1" pieces.  
6. If you're using the mustard, mix it into the apple cider or juice. 
7. Either way, to deglaze the pan once the cabbage starts to brown slightly, add the cider or juice, then the sausage pieces.   
8. Cover and simmer for around 5 minutes to fuse the flavors and ensure the sausage is fully cooked.

* Check the sausage ingredients carefully to ensure no allergens are present! Sometimes they hide in commercially prepared foods, especially those mass-produced.  We found some that were a local producer but in our regular supermarket, and no more expensive than the name brands.  Delicious and locally made!