The Houndstooth Gourmet

 

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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Nothing satisfies like a hearty soup. As you may know, I think soup ought to be a food group. It’s comforting and can be very nutritious. This borscht is packed with goodness including carrots, peppers, beets, onions, cabbage, potatoes and of course, small bite-size chunks of beef. This recipe makes a lot of soup which can feed an army, or be frozen to sustain you well into the new year. It also reheats beautifully.

Best beef borscht is perfect to make on a cold weekend day, allowing it to simmer over the course of a couple hours to get the potatoes soft and have the beef become “melt in your mouth” tender. It’s best to practice your mis en place skills too, because once you’ve chopped and prepped all of the ingredients, it comes together very quickly and you can then sit back and enjoy the aromas as they fill your home.

Best Beef Borscht

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2-2 1/2 lbs. beef for stew, cut into bite-sized pieces
3-32 oz. cans/boxes beef broth
32 oz. water
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 medium beets, peeled and cubed
2 large carrots, diced
1 rib celery, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 green pepper, diced
1 lb. saurerkraut (can or bag) drained
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, juice included
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. dried thyme
1 Tbsp. caraway seeds (optional)

Sour cream and dill for garnish

Directions:

Salt and pepper beef. In heavy bottom pan, heat vegetable oil until the first wisp of smoke rises. Add beef cubes in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan and cause the beef to steam. Brown quickly on all sides and transfer to a bowl. Once beef is removed from pan, add onions, celery, peppers and carrots. Stir to combine and sautee for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Add vegetables to bowl with beef.

Increase heat under pan and deglaze pan with 1 cup of the water.
Transfer beef, vegetables and deglazing liquid to large stock pot. Add remaining water, beef broth, tomatoes, beets and sauerkraut. Stir to combine.

Add in red wine vinegar, honey, thyme, brown sugar and caraway seeds (optional). Add about a Tbsp. of salt and several grinds of fresh cracked black pepper. Bring soup to a strong simmer, then lower to slow simmer and cover. Simmer for 2 hours or until beef is very tender. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and dill,  your favorite bread (preferably slathered with a bit of butter!)

*Weekend Herb Blogging is a fun weekly event sponsored by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. This week’s WHB is being hosted by Simona from Briciole.

Tags: soup, Recipe, beef by Ramona
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See my recipe for this delicious starter for your Thanksgiving meal on DC Foodies. Check back there every Tuesday for my recipies and other musings about the food scene in the DC area.

Tags: DC Foodies entry, soup, Recipe by Ramona
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Having a cool Saturday to make a pot of french onion soup and watch college football is relaxing and enjoyable. This soup, embraced and enjoyed by many, comes in a myriad of variations on the same theme: lots of sauteed sliced onion, beefy broth, wine, a large crouton, and a mound of melted cheese. What tends to  differ are the type(s) of cheese(s) used to top the soup, and what wine or alcoholic beverage is added to the broth.

This recipe, adapted from Williams-Sonoma The Best of Taste cookbook, uses a combination of chicken and beef stock and adds a cocktail of spirits to the broth, providing a complex yet sweet note at the finish. It’s topped with gruyer cheese and adds pecorino romano cheese to the crouton, but you may use any melting cheese you’d like, such as Swiss, emmenthaler or a combination of cheeses (see below for addendum).

French Onion Soup

serves 6

Ingredients:

Soup

 2 T. butter

1 T. olive oil

 2 1/2 lb. onions, peeled and sliced thin

3/4 c. dry white vermouth

3/4 c. dry white wine

3 c. chicken broth

3 c. beef broth

bunch fresh thyme, tied with cooking string

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 c. dry sherry

2 c. gruyere cheese, shredded

Croutons

6 slices baguette, slice 1 inch thick

olive oil for brushing

salt and pepper

6 T. grated Pecorino Romano Cheese (optional, or you could use Parmesan cheese if you have it on hand)

Directions:

Peel onions and slice thinly (I used a mandoline to get the job done quickly. I still teared up a bit!). In a heavy bottomed pot add olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add onions and turn the heat down to low. Stir to coat all onions. Add a pinch of salt and allow to caramelize slowly over a period of approximately 2 hours. Stir every 10 minutes or so.

When onions are deep golden to light brown, transfer to another bowl. Increase heat to high and deglaze pan with vermouth and white wine. Scrape up any brown bits on bottom of pan and allow liquid to reduce by half. Return onions to pot and add chicken and beef broth. Add bay leaves and thyme. Partially cover pot and allow soup to simmer for 20 minutes. Add sherry and continue to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove bay leaves and bundle of thyme. You’ll notice that many of the thyme leaves are now in the soup. Salt and pepper to taste.

For the croutons, turn on broiler and slice baguette. Place croutons on baking sheet. Oil each side with olive oil, and sprinkle salt and pepper. Place croutons under broiler and brown on each side.

Leave broiler on and place one crouton into individual oven proof serving crocks. Add 1 tablespoon of grated pecorino on top of each crouton. Ladle onion soup over croutons to 1/4 below the rim. Add shredded gruyer to the top of each crock. Put crocks back on baking sheet and place under broiler until cheese is melted and bubbly.

*Weekend Herb blogging is a weekly event sponsored by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen.This week it is being hosted by Kalyn herself!

 

Addendum- This soup tastes even better the second day! I reheated the soup and toasted a piece of sourdough loaf for the crouton. Then I topped it with some remaining gruyere and shredded cheddar and melted the cheeses under the broiler. I topped it with diced chives. Terrific and even more cheesy than last night. Anything goes!

 

Tags: weekend herb blogging, cheese, onions, soup, Recipe by Ramona
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Hi, I’m Ramona and I’m a herbaholic. And a spiceaholic. Yes gentle readers, in my cupboards and drawers (and even in my freezer) is an enormous collection of dried herbs and spices and I can’t stop. With each new cuisine I endeavor to cook and with every visit to a store, I seem to add another bottle, tin or bag of olfactory pleasing herbs and spices. While I’m at it, I’ll also admit that I’m not all that dedicated to replacing them when I should. I usually wait until my red pepper flakes are looking brown, or my thyme is past it’s time to act.

 

That said, I love cooking with them. No onions on hand for the marinara sauce? No problem! I substitute dried onion flakes and perhaps some garlic powder. It works well and it’s good to have a backup plan for when I don’t have fresh ingredients on hand.

Not that fresh herbs aren’t wonderful. There’s nothing like fresh basil in a caprese salad or for tearing over a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Pizza Margherita just couldn’t be made without it. But after the summer herb garden goes to ground with the cold, I successfully use dried herbs in soups, stews, braises and sauces.

Pasta e fagioli, meaning “pasta and beans” is an Italian peasant dish. Like so many other peasant dishes, it is comforting in it’s simplicity. Cannellini or borlotti beans are commonly used. Tomatoes, tomato sauce or leftover marinara is also added to some versions of the recipe. Whatever you have on hand is fine. The basics, beans and pasta, can be embellished as you wish. Here, I make this soup quickly and simply with ingredients from the cupboard, including dried herbs.

This soup is made with chicken stock but could easily become a vegetarian dish by substituting vegetable stock. If you happen to be fortunate enough to have a Parmesan rind around, feel free to throw it in as the soup cooks.

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth

2 cups water

1 t. dried basil

1 t. dried oregano

1/2 t. dried thyme

2 t. dried onion flakes

1/2 t. dried shallots (optional)

1/8 t. dried red pepper flakes

2 cups cannelloni beans, drained

3/4 cup elbow macaroni (or other small pasta such as ditalini)

1 cup frozen chopped spinach

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan or pecorino cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

To saucepan, add chicken stock and water. Increase heat to medium and add pasta, herbs, beans and spinach. Bring to a low boil and skim any “scum” off the top (some herbs will come out with it, but that’s OK). Lower to simmer and cover. Cook soup with pasta for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cheese and combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with freshly grated cheese on the side.

*Weekend Herb Blogging is a weekly event for bloggers all over the world to submit their recipies and pictures featuring herbs. Join Kalyn at Kalyn’s Kitchen for the doubly delicious 2 year anniversary celebration of this event!

Tags: soup, Recipe, pasta by Ramona
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