The Houndstooth Gourmet

I thought I’d end this week’s blogging with a recipe using some of the produce I bought from Dupont Market last week. Tat Soi, deep green and vibrant looked to beautiful too pass by. It can be prepared like any green and the most simple methods are probably the best. I simply sautéed the tat soi in a bit of olive oil and butter, seasoned it with salt and pepper and added a pinch of nutmeg. The tat soi was wonderful right out of the pan but also worked well as a garnish to my soup.

With a couple sprouting yukon potatoes idling away in my cupboard, I decided to use them up along with the 4 kohlrabi bulbs I purchased from Next Step Farm. The method of preparing this soup is very similar to a potato leek soup and is very simple and quite versatile. Raw, kohlrabi is akin to cabbage, radish and turnip. Once cooked, it takes on a nutty artichoke flavor, and blends well into a smooth texture for the soup.

I served the garnished soup with toasted and buttered sourdough bread from Atwater’s Bakery. Lastly, this recipe can be made vegetarian by substituting vegetable stock for the chicken stock.

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Tags: vegetarian, soup, Recipe by Ramona
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Sopa de Mani is a traditional peanut soup served in Bolivia. It can be a starter or a main course. It’s slightly thickened with peanuts, has a kick from red chili pepper flakes, while sliced carrots impart sweetness to the soup. Sopa de Mani usually takes a long time to make since homemade beef stock is traditionally used. Here, I’ve taken a few liberties and shortcuts given the ingredients I had on hand.

In particular, the soup calls for ground raw peanuts, while my recipe uses roasted and salted peanuts to add crunch. I added a couple teaspoons of raw peanut butter to add creaminess. In under an hour, you can have a hearty soup made from ingredients found in your pantry.

For more information on Bolivian cuisine in our region, check out my Tuesday post on http://www.dcfoodies.com. In this post, I delve into the salteña- a savory stuffed pastry which is a staple of Bolivian cuisine, and can be found here if you know where to look!

Enjoy.

Tags: nuts, tomatoes, soup by Ramona
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First, if Thai Carrot Soup sounds appealing, you can find the recipe over at DC Foodies. It’s very easy to make and has a wonderful peanut taste with a bit of heat from the addition of a jalapeño pepper. Enjoy.

Next…..

This past weekend was sort of busy so unfortunately there is no farmers market update. On Saturday, Frank and I caught the Annie Liebowitz exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. We had no tickets, but stood in line with the rest of the 10am ticket holders and members. We thought there was a chance that if we joined as members, we could see the show which was otherwise sold out. Our gamble paid off and we joined as members (which we’ve been meaning to do for like-years now) and strolled in.

The exhibit was extraordinary and very inspiring to me. Liebowitz is, at her very best in the natural extemporaneous environment where spontaneous expressions and actions are lauded over posed studio subject matter. It made me imagine a lifetime of capturing moments in time- life and death. I am new to blogging, but not exactly new to photography. I was very interested in taking photographs when I was in high school. I remember my mother buying me a Canon AE-1 for my high school graduation. I took many photos with that camera, most of which are lost in some black hole of the universe-victims of too many moves in too few years. The camera remains however and from time to time I load up a roll of film and snap away, clumsily trying to think beyond the point and shoot era when focal points and depth of field mattered.

More recently with my food blogging, I have become interested in taking photos again-good photos. Digital technology can make anyone look good these days. Paired with PhotoShop and Picasa, I can turn out a decent likeness. But I want to capture the food and scenery as my eye sees it. To that end, my goal is to learn photography in the field and through more real study of books and the works of masters. Which brings me to my Sunday.

With the waning light that accompanies winter, my food photography has been pushed earlier into the day to capture the best light of all; sunlight. But short of eating dinner before 4 pm I decided to pony up some money and buy a light box in order to properly illuminate my subjects-as best as artificial light can do. Doing a google search on “light cubes”, “light boxes” and “studio in a box”, I came across a bunch of posts describing how easy and cheap it is to make your own light box at home. Here is the site which I used to guide me through this easy exercise. Basically you just need a box cutter, a cardboard box suitable for your needs, some poster paper, tissue paper and a light source with full spectrum bulbs (I used GE). The lights (from Home Depot) are cheap clip-on lights used by construction workers to illuminate low-lit places.

Here’s the box:

Here’s some still life shots:

So, if you’re inspired to make your food look as good as it tastes, make one of these light boxes- for around $20 you can do it!

Tags: DC Foodies entry, vegetarian, soup, Recipe by Ramona
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Many foods are eaten on New Year’s day with the hope that they bring us good luck for the rest of the year. In Italy, lentils are eaten because they symbolize money. Cotechino con lentichie is  a traditional dish of sausage over lentils. The sausage is thought to symbolize abundance with it’s fatty richness. In hopes of inspiring you to make your own New Years traditional meal (perhaps you already have one), here is a soup with combines lentils with kielbasa, a Polish sausage, reflecting my husband’s Italian heritage and my Polish roots.

Lentil Soup with Kielbasa

Ingredients

1 lb. lentils rinsed 

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion diced small

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 carrot diced 1/4″

3 large leaves kale chopped fine

1/2-3/4 lb. smoked kielbasa diced 1/2″

3 bay leaves

2 tsp. cumin

2 cups diced tomatoes, drained

1-32 oz. box chicken broth

6 cups water

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Over medium high heat, add olive oil to large pot. Add onions and carrots. Saute 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic and stir to combine. Cook mixture an additional 2 minutes. Add cumin and stir to coat. To pot, add lentils, chicken stock, water, bay leaves, 1 tbsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper. Lower heat to simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Add kale, kielbasa and tomatoes. Simmer covered an additional 45 minutes, or until lentils are soft. Salt and pepper to taste.Remove bay leaves.

Tags: Kale, Lentils, soup, Recipe by Ramona
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So it’s been damp and chilly here in the DC area this weekend. Aside from doing a whole bunch of Holiday baking, I wanted to make something savory and soothing to eat. I recently came across a rockin’ DC foodie blog called Foodrockz. His cooking and writing are outstanding (check it out- I’ve added it to my blogroll) and his recent potato leek soup entry got me to thinking about making it. I have had a huge leek from Next Step Produce in my refrigerator for about 2 weeks now (they store beautifully in a plastic shopping bag placed in the veggie drawer)some Keswick Creamery cheddar and russet pototoes, so I got inspired.
Here’s an equally easy and delicious recipe for creamy thick potato leek soup that will be sure to warm you heart and soul.

Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. butter
1 large leek- white part only, sliced and thoroughly washed (leeks are notoriously sandy0
3 russet/baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small onion, peeled and diced
2 cans chicken stock
1 cup cream or half and half
1/2 cup good cheddar, grated
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and leeks and salt and pepper lightly. Saute for 3-5 minutes until softened, but not browned. Add potatoes and chicken stock. Simmer, covered until potatoes are softened, about 25 minutes. Blend soup with stick or standing blender until completely smooth. Add cream and grated cheese. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Serve with freshly grated Pecorino cheese and hearty bread.

Tags: soup, Recipe, potatoes, Markets by Ramona
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