Classic Beef Stew

Stew... is a loose term. For some people, throwing a few extra chunks of potato into a soup turns it into stew. And then you have people who use that annoying term that Rachel Ray coined - "stoup." Seriously lady... it's bad enough that you can't be bothered to say the words "extra virgin olive oil" but c'mon... make a decision! It's either soup or it's stew... it can't be both. Amiright?

Me, I like my stew THICK. Like so thick it hardly has any broth left. So thick that it's basically meat and vegetables in super-thick, super-delicious gravy. That, to me, is stew.

And fewer flavors lend themselves better to a thick, hearty stew than beef. Beef stew is just... classic. Like apple pie and chocolate chip cookies, everyone needs a beef stew recipe! This one is about as classic as it gets... chunks of savory beef, generous pieces of potatoes and carrots, and thick beefy gravy. Serve it up with a buttery, flaky biscuit, and you've got the perfect cold weather meal.

Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon & Rosemary

How can you go wrong with soup? I would wager that you can't... it's downright impossible. It's warming and calming and comforting... it does for your soul what a blanket and a fuzzy pair of socks do for your body. Soup is nourishing, too, usually full of stuff that's good for you and will keep you going. Plus it's a good way to stretch the food budget... add more water, and you've got more soup.

Well this right here is the stuff chicken soup for the soul is made of... in tomato soup form, of course. It's a creamy blend of wonderful tomato flavor, with a few rich elements that you may not be expecting. For instance, I bet you'd never guess that there are beans in this soup. They're in there! ...just hiding from plain view. And the savory whipped cream is certainly an unexpected detail. Have you ever had savory whipped cream? I hadn't, until this recipe. And I almost skipped it... but I'm really glad I didn't. 

No friends, don't skip the whipped cream. Yes, the soup is perfectly wonderful without it, but why not go the extra mile, just this once? With just a hint of lemon and rosemary, it really is the perfect cool complement to the warm fragrant soup. Perfect for a cool October evening... with flavor that will have you coming back to it all winter long.

Summer Corn & Vegetable Soup

Let's face it, when the temperature outside begins to approach 100 degrees, soup is probably the last thing on your mind for dinner. But I encourage you, friends, don't rule it out! This soup is great for the summer because it uses a wide variety of fresh summer veggies, it can be served luke-warm, and it doesn't require hours of simmering on the stove. In fact, it only needs to boil once, and the whole thing can be ready from start to finish in about 30 minutes! Who doesn't love that? And the flavor cannot be beat. This soup is light and fresh, with a lovely creamy consistency and just a hint of sweetness from the summer corn. I highly encourage you - especially if you've got a garden at home threatening to take over your backyard - make this soup! It just might be the most surprisingly satisfying meal you'll have this summer.

Tuscan Tortellini Soup

I love making (and eating) soup. No matter whether it's blowing snow or scorching heat, I'll never turn down a good bowl of soup. There are just so many reasons to love soup. Let's explore this.

1. What's more comforting than a bowl of warm broth and a hunk of crusty bread? Ok, maybe a cup of hot chocolate is a close second, but let's be honest here.
2. The combination possibilities are endless. You can take the most random ingredients and flavors and throw them in a pot together, and 9 times out of 10 you'll get something delicious.
3. If it's homemade and broth-based, you can almost guarantee that it's healthy. It's pretty hard to screw up broth and vegetables. (Just be sure you always use low sodium canned ingredients whenever you can.)

The thing is, I used to think making soup was all-day ordeal. Soup, to me, meant something that needed to simmer on the stove for an hour or two to taste good (and granted, some do). But this soup took that idea and blew it out of the water. It can be ready in a just half an hour. Oh trust me, it still tastes like it took that two-hour bath, but without all that waiting. Who knew you could have something comforting, filling, and healthy - and this damn delicious! - for dinner in 30 minutes? Rachel Ray would certainly be proud.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

My apologies for being gone so long! With my birthday last weekend and the spring semester starting this week, things have been a little busy around our place. I've barely had time to cook, let alone to blog, and I'm sorry to say that this may be the way things are this semester. My goal is to post at least once per week, so let's hope that school and work don't keep from maintaining that!

Last week I mentioned that I'd be making Butternut Squash Soup, and indeed I did! This is a soup that I had never even tried until a few months ago... and even though my only experience with it had been the kind out of a V8 box, I've been in love with its smooth texture and sweet flavor since my first sip. I'd been wanting to make my own since the first time I tried it, and I even asked for an immersion blender for Christmas just so I could make my own. Thanks Mom, for obliging me! 

Since I'd never made a soup like it before, I searched for a relatively simple recipe. As usual, I settled on a recipe by Giada de Laurentis (my foodnetwork favorite, by far). I was drawn to this one mostly by the list of ingredients... pungent, earthy sage, plenty of garlic, and chicken stock. Many of the other recipes I'd seen called for cream - which I'm trying to avoid these days since my wedding is only 7 months away now - so I was very excited when I discovered that this recipe called for a much lighter yet equally flavorful liquid. And the cream was not missed at all... the soup still turned out sweet and creamy and packed with savory goodness. Somehow it tasted better knowing I didn't need to feel guilty about it. :)

Giada simply cubed the squash and allowed it to cook as the soup boiled, but I opted to roast mine before making the soup. This is, of course, totally optional, but I thought it really brought out the flavor of the squash and added just a little somethin' extra to the dish. The extra step is totally worth it if you have the time. 

Dinner Party: Winter Minestrone

Hot soup is always a comfort. Whether you're sick with the flu or simply trying to beat the winter chill, even a can of hot condensed soup will do the trick. But this soup... this is no meager can of chicken and stars. This soup is hearty.

With its large chunks of carrot, celery, and potato and the creamy cannellini beans, this soup is almost more like a stew, and it'll keep hunger at bay for hours. The pancetta adds a deep, savory flavor that takes this dish from a decent vegetable soup to a flavorful work of art. Serve with a hunk or two of crusty bread and you've got a hearty, comforting meal, that I'd wager would even melt the icy heart of the abominable snow man.

Turkey and Noodles

Welcome to the holiday season! I love this time of the year... the beautiful snow, the extra excuses to get together with family and friends, and the excessive amounts of food! This season is also bursting with traditions for many of us (which may or may not be a blessing, depending who you are and how you feel about such things, haha). One of the biggest traditions around Thanksgiving for a lot of Americans is what has come to be known as "Black Friday." Millions of people go crazy, getting up ridiculously early to get to their favorite stores in the hopes of getting a killer deal. But not us (and especially not me... I worked too many holiday seasons in the retail industry to ever want to set foot inside a store on Black Friday again). No... while most of America is busy fighting each other for the best deal on socks and flat-screen TVs, my mother and I are usually busy in the kitchen with our own Black Friday fun.

And I present...

...turkey and noodles.

The day after Thanksgiving, everyone is in the same boat... bloated and sick of turkey, with way too much turkey leftover to justify not eating turkey again for the rest of the weekend. But fear not, for there is a better solution than dry turkey sandwiches.

The meal I present to you is my all-time favorite. If I were on my deathbed and faced with choosing my last supper, I would choose turkey with homemade egg noodles without even having to think about it. It is the ultimate comfort food. Warm and filling, with chewy noodles and salty broth, and big chunks of turkey that'll make you beg for a slice of pumpkin pie to follow.

In this recipe, it's all about the egg noodles, baby. Sure, you could settle and make turkey soup with store-bought egg noodles, but don't cheat yourself. Take the time to make your own with love and affection, and trust me, the noodles will love you back.

Start with the eggs. The amount of noodles you want will determine the number of eggs to use. We wanted enough to last all weekend, so we used 5 eggs this time. Whisk the eggs, add a generous pinch or two of salt, then add flour half a cup at a time. There's really no measuring with this step... you just have to feel the dough.

Just keep kneading the flour into the eggs, half a cup at a time, until the dough is no longer sticky and forms a nice ball.

Now it's time to roll.

Make sure your surface is good and floured before beginning this or the dough will stick mercilessly to it. Continue to add flour to the dough as needed... we want it good and dry. Roll the dough until it is very, very thin.




Oh, and don't be ashamed if you wind up wearing some flour...

...it happens to the best of us, haha. :)

And now we roll some more! Only this time, we're rolling the dough up. Flour the surface of the dough one more time, to keep it from sticking to itself as you roll.

Once the dough is rolled all the way up, cut it into thin ribbons. This is what is to become our noodles.

Next, separate the noodles. Spread them out over your counter and let them dry until they feel a little crunchy (technical, I know).






Meanwhile, prep the rest of your ingredients. Chop up some onion, celery, and garlic... the amount will depend, again, on how much you are making. We used about 3 stalks of celery, 1/4 of an onion, and 2 cloves of garlic for the amount we were making. Shred some of the leftover turkey, as much as you'd like... we used about 2 cups. Saute the onion, celery, and garlic in a little olive oil and add a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Next, add some chicken broth... we used approximately 1 small can and 1 32 ounce carton. Season with a pinch of herbes de provence, sage, or whatever suits you at the time. Add the turkey, and allow the mixture to simmer for about 5 minutes. Mom also likes to add some of the leftover turkey gravy... we added about half a cup this time. This, of course, is completely optional, although it does add tremendous flavor to the broth.

Add the noodles to the broth in small chunks, separating them with a pasta fork once in the water. It's important not to add them all at once or they will stick together and you'll wind up with a big blob of what should have been your noodles. However, don't go too slowly... these noodles cook very quickly and if you're too slow the first batch of noodles will be done before you get the last bit into the broth. Once all of the noodles are in, stir tenderly to separate but be careful not to break the noodles, and feel free to add more broth if the soup is too thick. The noodles will soak up a lot of (in fact, most of) the broth, so if you want any broth left by the time you eat it don't be afraid to add more! Allow everything to simmer for a few minutes, season to taste, then turn off the stove. There's no real specific time to cook the noodles... tasting is the only way to tell if they're done. A done egg noodle will still have a little bit of bite, without being doughy. Feel free to serve right away, or let it sit for a while to let the noodles soak up all of that yummy broth. It will inevitably thicken (and become even more delicious!) as it sits. This is definitely one of those meals that gets better after a day or two in the fridge. All the more reason to make a lot, haha!

Margo Oliver once said, "There comes a time when you must count the blessings and ignore the calories." This is definitely one of those occasions. And as I sit here, with my warm, fulfilling bowl of turkey and noodles and the snow falling heavily outside my window, the blessings feel so immense and the calories so insignificant. :)