The Houndstooth Gourmet

 

This week’s WaPo Wednesday recipe comes at the perfect time of year. Summer’s produce is still going strong, and this soup highlights corn, peppers and onions by enhancing their flavors on the grill. Basil infuses into the soup, and serves as a fresh garnish. But, for now, a bit of a chill has crept into the air. It’s cloudy and occasionally raining, and that always puts me in the mood for soup.

My soup, adapted from this recipe from The Washington Post, gets a boost of homey comfort by adding shredded cheese. Feel free to leave the cheese out if you like, as the soup is plenty hearty without it.

 

Grilled Chicken and Corn Chowder

serves 8-10

Ingredients

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2-3 ears corn

1 large onion, red or yellow, peeled and sliced into 3/4 inch thick slices.

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

8 cups good chicken stock, low-sodium preferably

3 medium potatoes, yukon gold or russet, peeled and diced into 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces*

large handful fresh basil leaves (about 1 cup loosely packed), chiffonaded

olive oil or vegetable oil to coat vegetables and chicken

1 teaspoon dry thyme (you can substitute 2 teaspoons fresh thyme)

kosher salt

pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup shredded cheese, such as cheddar or Monterey Jack

Directions

Coat chicken, corn, onions and peppers with about 2 tablespoon2 of oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sprinkle thyme over chicken. Grill chicken to cook thoroughly. Great grill marks are a plus for taste and presentation. Grill vegetables on all sides to develop grill marks and a bit of a char, cooking all the way through. Try to keep onions intact when flipping. For the peppers, find the hottest spot on your grill and char until the skin is blackened all the way around. 

Place the peppers in a sealable bag to that they may steam for 8-10 minutes. This will allow you to easily peel off the skin.

While the peppers steam, heat chicken stock and potatoes until they come to a gentle boil. Cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes.

Dice chicken, remove kernels from corn cob, dice onions and dice skinned peppers. Place chicken, corn, peppers and onions in pot. Add half of the fresh basil.

Simmer with lid slightly cracked open for another 10 minutes.

Add cream and continue to simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Do not bring to a boil after adding cream. This could “break” the soup.

Add cheese and stir until melted through.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Server garnished with fresh basil. 

*you can dice the potatoes ahead of time-up to 4 hours. Place diced potatoes in water and cover. This prevents them from browning.

The Wrap-Up

This recipe takes a bit of time and effort due to grilling, but the resulting depth of flavor is well worth the effort. I liked the combination of flavors and textures, with the crunchy corn, and velvety potatoes. Now, if you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can char the peppers in the oven under the broiler, and use a grill pan to get grill marks and develop flavor.

I think what I’ll enjoy most about this soup is taking it out of the freezer in the winter, and tasting summer’s goodness.

Sources- I must admit (hides head in shame) that this week I did not get to any farmers markets (calms shaky hands) so all of my ingredients came from the (gasp) grocery store. And actually, t’was not bad, I have to admit!

Tags: corn, peppers, Recipe, savory, soup, WaPo Wednesdays, Washington Post by Ramona
No Comments »

 

Before I post about my weekend farmers markets, I wanted to share this simple recipe for shell pea soup. The season for shell peas is nearly over, and I feel as though I’ve really missed it, having this purchase be my first this year. Hopefully, it won’t be my last-or your last! If you are able to get to any of our area markets this week, seek out shell peas-they are very easy to prep, and are a far cry from frozen. Not that I don’t like frozen. I have a package of frozen peas in my freezer at all times, just waiting to be plucked by the handful and thrown into dishes such as rices or pastas.At the Dupont Farmers Market, I purchased a box of peas for $6. Once shelled, I had a little more than one cup of peas. This was enough for 4 small, or 2 large servings of soup. Shell pea soup is a wonderful way to begin a summer meal. I served this soup just warm, and despite the summer heat, the yogurt and fresh chives made this soup quite refreshing. Enjoy!

Shell Pea Soup With Mint

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 leek, thoroughly washed and sliced
• 1 cup fresh shelled peas (you can substitute frozen)
• 2 cups low sodium chicken stock
• 5-6 mint leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• Greek or plain yogurt, thinned with milk or cream (or anything in between) and placed in a squeeze bottle (you can also just dollop the yogurt on top)
• Croutons-any kind you like
• Chives

DirectionsHeat a pan over medium heat. Add butter and allow to melt, not brown. Add leeks and sautee until leeks are softened, about 5-10 minutes. Add peas and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover pan and allow to cook until peas are softened, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and add mint. Blend soup with stick blender, or process in a blender until completely smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer soup into individual serving bowls. Squeeze yogurt mixture onto soup in concentric circles, starting from them middle. Using a toothpick, drag through the yogurt, from the center outwards to make pattern. Garnish soup with croutons and chives.

Tags: peas, Recipe, soup by Ramona
No Comments »

OK. This isn’t a new recipe, or culinary breakthrough (in a home-cook kind of way). Or, maybe it is. I mean, sometimes we learn from our mistakes. But did I make one? You tell me.

This weekend I pulled a quart of French Onion Soup out of my freezer. I made a big batch several weeks ago, and was underwhelmed because my onions did not brown and caramelize as I would have liked-as they always had before in fact. We ate bowls of the French Onions Soup that day, and I saved the rest because as you can see, the recipe calls for ingredients that can add up if you don’t have them on hand. Why, I thought. Why are my onion so bleh?

The first thing that I can think of is that I used large Mayan onions; a sweet, white variety. I bought them in bulk at Costco and thought that not only would they be cheaper, but easier because I would have far less peeling and just less onions to process (as opposed to peeling far more smaller, yellow onions). We all hate the crying when chopping onions, right? I don’t know about you, but I’ve tried lighting a candle, running cold water, peeling as close to my range hood on full suck, in addition to biting on a wooden spoon (thanks Mario B. but as much as it works, I drool, so that’s out).

So, there’s the matter of a different type of onion. Maybe the water and sugar content of Mayans differs from yellow and red onions. The next thing I might have screwed up was adding salt to the pan shortly after I put the onion in. The onions seemed to release a lot water, lending to them steaming vs. browning. No matter how I adjusted the heat and gave it more time, those onions just were not going to caramelize. Shoot.

I went ahead and made the soup (which has been my favorite for years) but it lacked depth of flavor, and some of the onions just felt a bit slimy. It didn’t ruin the soup to the point that I ditched it, plus well, you put enough melted cheese on top of anything and it tasted good.

If anyone has insight into this less than stellar result with my onions, I would love to hear your opinions and experience with your favorite French Onion Soup recipe. I think perhaps next time, I will make Thomas Keller’s recipe from the Bouchon tome, or one of yours.

Thanks!

Tags: soup by Ramona
10 Comments »

 

Happy New Year everyone! This year, you can look forward to a strong focus onseasonal cooking with fresh, local ingredients. I will bring you what’s in season at the farmers markets in the Northern Virginia and Washington DC region, and share with you how ingredients inspire me to eat better and make real food with real ingredients–all year round.

Let’s start with a visit to the Dupont farmers market in Washington DC!

It seemed as though many DC area folks had the same idea as me-get to the farmers market and start the year off right with amazing produce and goods. The Dupont Farmers Market was elbow to elbow by the time I arrived on Sunday, shortly after the 10am opening bell (the market starts an hour later in winter so sleep in!). With a few vendors taking the winter off, the remaining produce stalls had people lined up for things goods such as root vegetables, leafy greens and apples.

Heinz at Next Step Produce was at the market this week. He will be at Dupont every other Sunday through the winter and seemed genuinely excited to answer produce question, from how to store to how to prepare the bounty that was at his stall. A surfeit of sunchokes were nested in the middle of the stall. These large ginger-like knobs are chock full of good-for-you stuff. Just read here!

Over a pound of sunchokes, a leek, and greens from Hakurai turnips had me looking forward to getting home into my kitchen and making this soup.

 

Sunchoke Soup

(serves 6 with serving suggestions)

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 leek, thoroughly cleaned and rough chopped
• 1 carrot, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 3-4 pieces celery hearts with leaves, rough chopped
• 1 1/4- 1 1/2 pounds sunchokes, cut into 1 inch pieces*
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 32 oz. box (4 cups) good quality chicken broth**
• 1/2 cup half and half, or cream
• 2 Tablespoons Mascarpone cheese at room temperature
• Kosher salt and pepper

Directions

In a heavy bottom pan (I use a Lodge enameled cast iron), heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add leeks, carrots and celery, along with a pinch of salt and a couple grinds of pepper. Saute for 5 minutes. Stir frequently

Add chopped sunchokes. Add another pinch of salt and a couple grinds of pepper. Saute for 5 minutes.  Stir frequently.

Increase heat to med/high. Add 1/2 cup of dry white wine and allow wine to cook off until most of it is evaporated, about 3-4 minutes. Add thyme, marjoram, bay leaf and chicken stock.

Bring to simmer. Cover pot and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the sunchokes are tender.

Add half and half or cream, and return to a slow simmer for 5 minutes, uncovered.

Remove bay leaf.

Transfer soup to a blender (in batches) and carefully blend for 1-2 minutes, until fully pureed.

Strain through a chinois or fine mesh strainer.

Add room temperature mascarpone and whisk to incorporate fully.

Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve soup surrounding seared scallop atop sauteed greens with rendered bacon or pancetta.

Place a piece of crostini, or toasted brioche bread in soup bowl, with a poached egg sitting on top. Pour soup around and break egg, allowing yolk to enrich the soup.

*Peel skin from sunchokes and immediately submerge whole pieces in water that has been acidulated with the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Remove from water and cut just prior to adding to the pan.

** I use Pacifc natural foods organic free range chicken broth.

Until the next At The Market, eat and buy local when you can.

Tags: District of Columbia, farmers markets, Recipe, soup, Washington by Ramona
11 Comments »

 

Oh boy, I know I’m going to get flack for using a Rachel Ray neologism, but there you have it. This soup is thick-really thick like a stew and takes about 30 minutes to make. Now, I promise that I didn’t say EVOO, grunt mm, mm, mm or gesticulate wildly while creating this stoup. But hey, if you want to, that’s alright with me.

Tuscan Stoup is loaded with flavor and nutrients, using dark, leafy, phytonutrient and anti-oxident rich greens and tomatoes, protein-rich cannellini beans, Parmesan cheese and  ok, there’s sausage too. That’s just decadent and delicious-and we all deserve that. This stoup is de-lish (somebody stop me….).

My inspiration for this soup was coming across beautiful tatsoi at Spring Valley Farm’s stand at the Alexandria Farmers market. Tatsoi is delicious raw or cooked, but like any green, it wilts down significantly so a little won’t go a long way. It’s more like a lot goes a long way. If you can’t find tatsoi, you can substitute greens such as spinach, kale or escarole.

Tuscan Stoup

makes a lot of stoup

Ingredients

• 1 lb. bulk Italian sausage
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs
• 3 large bunches of tatsoi (about 6 cups) washed thoroughly and chopped
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, more for passing
• 2 cans cannellini beans, drained and 1 can mashed until creamy
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 8 cups good quality chicken stock
• 1/2 cup small pasta such as arancini or ditalini

Directions

In a heavy-bottom pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute for 4-5 minutes, until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add sausage and cook through (do not brown), crumbling it into small pieces as you cook. Add shredded tatsoi and cook until wilted. Add a pinch of kosher salt and several grinds of fresh black pepper. Add Parmesan cheese and stir to incorporate.

 

 Add tomatoes and beans. Stir to incorporate. Add the chicken stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Add pasta and stir. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until pasta is throroughly cooked and plumped. Adjust seasoning to taste. Serve with parmesan for passing at the table.

Tags: Recipe, soup by Ramona
7 Comments »