Instant Pot™ or Pressure Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup

The other day, I decided I wanted a "dump and cook" chicken soup that could be done in the Instant Pot™.  My wife suggested chicken and rice, which was a great idea, since rice normally cooks great under pressure (and in no time at all).

I'll admit the first attempt wasn't perfect.  For reasons I can't explain, I decided to let it release pressure naturally, even though I know very well that rice is a quick-release ingredient.  I also added way too much rice.  The result was mushy and thick, but nonetheless delicious.

The recipe below makes corrections for those two mistakes.  I haven't actually tested it yet, so I present it with caution, but I'm pretty sure it'll work just fine.

Instant Pot™ Chicken and Rice Soup

Note: This recipe uses white rice.  It can be done with brown rice, but the cooking time would need to be longer (about 20-25 minutes).

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1 pound of boneless skinless chicken
1/2 cup of white long-grain or jasmine rice
1 large onion
3/4 pound of carrots
2 large ribs of celery
salt and pepper
olive oil

1. Wash, peel, and cut all ingredients into spoon-sized chunks.
2. Switch the cooker to saute on high and heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of the pot.  Saute the vegetables with a pinch of salt until they begin to soften.
3. Add the chicken to the pot, stirring.  Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add the rice, stirring, followed by the liquid.  Make sure all the rice is scraped off the sides and submerged into the liquid.
5. Place the lid on the cooker.  Switch to pressure cooking high pressure and set the timer for 6 minutes.
6. As soon as the cooking cycle completes, perform a quick pressure release.
7. Open the pot carefully, letting steam flow away from you.  Stir the soup and give it a taste.  Adjust seasoning and serve hot with nice crusty bread or cheesy toast.

Instant Pot™ is a trademark that I use and mention without permission from the trademark owner.  Most of my Instant Pot™ recipes can be made in any similar multi-cooker or a stove-top pressure cooker, provided it can handle the settings described in the recipe (typically, high pressure for a designated amount of time plus saute/browning).

Pork "Beef" Stew

A couple weeks ago, I had a hankering for beef stew.  It had been cold and snowy and beef stew was one of my Mom's specialties when I was growing-up.  Unfortunately, my wife doesn't like beef.  In fact, she doesn't eat much in the way of red meat at all.  One of the few red meats she will eat is pork and only when prepared in certain ways.  She happens to really like the Halloween Stew that I make, so I thought maybe I could just try to make a beef stew and substitute some pork butt (boneless shoulder) meat instead of the beef.  And that's how this recipe was born.

It turns out that pork is an excellent and economical stand-in for beef in a beef stew recipe.  It also turns out that my wife doesn't much like this stew.  Oh well, more for me...

Pork "Beef" Stew

2 pounds boneless pork butt (aka "Boston Butt" or Boneless Shoulder Roast)
1 large onion, cubed
3-4 carrots, sliced into thick coins or half-inch cubes
2-3 stalks of celery, sliced into half-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 quarts beef broth or prepared beef bouillon
1 pound red bliss potatoes, washed and cubed
1/2 cup red wine, un-oaked like a Merlot (optional)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
olive oil
salt & pepper

1. Cut the pork into 1-inch cubes and season generously with salt and pepper.
2. In a large pot or dutch oven, working in batches, brown the pork and remove it to a plate.
3. Adding fresh oil to the potk, saute the onions, carrots, and celery until they begin to soften.  Add the garlic and saute briefly.
4. Add the wine (if using) and scrape-up any bits on the bottom of the pot.  Allow the wine to simmer a few moments until the strong alcohol flavor dissipates.
5. Add the potatoes, broth, meat, and any meat juices collected on the plate.  Scrape-up any remaining bits on the bottom of the pan.
6. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Simmer gently until the pork and vegetables are tender, 30-45 minutes.
7. Prepare a slurry of 1/2 cup of flour and approximately 1 cup of water.  Stir it well or shake it in an airtight container.  It should be smooth and the consistency of a pourable cinnamon bun icing.
8. Drizzle half of the flour slurry into the hot soup, stirring constantly so that no lumps form.  Bring the stew back up to a slow boil and check the thickness of the broth.  If you prefer it thicker, add more slurry.
9. Serve with crusty bread and butter.

Pressure Cooker Variation
Prepare as directed in the base of your stove-top pressure cooker up through step 5.  In step 6, close the pressure cooker and bring it up to full pressure.  Cook for 25 minutes.  Quick release the steam and return the pot to the stove.  Finish the rest of the recipe steps to thicken the broth.

Slow Cooker Variation
Prepare pork and vegetables as described.  Instead of browning the meat and sauteing the aromatic vegetables, place the vegetables in a microwave safe bowl.  Coat with olive oil and a pinch of salt.  Microwave on high 3-5 minutes until they have started to soften and the onions lose their pungent odor.  Place the vegetables, meat, and broth into the slow cooker, omitting the red wine.  Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.  Remove 2 cups of the broth to a saucepan and thicken it into a stiff gravy using the instructions in steps 7 and 8.  Stir the gravy into the slow cooker.  Alternatively, it can be left as liquid and tastes delicious.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Last month, I posted about a silky, creamy tomato bisque that I made for my birthday.  Truth be told, I've never really been a fan of thin almost drinkable soups.  For me, soups had to have some substance or chunks to make it a hearty meal.  But my views changed after that bisque and I started to envision other beautiful puree'd soups.

Fast-forward to this weekend when Asparagus was a good price at Whole Foods.  I picked-up about 2 pounds, thinking maybe I'll roast half and turn the other half into a creamy, velvety soup.  When I placed the milk delivery order this week (we have old-fashioned glass bottle milk delivery service), I tacked-on a pint of half & half and planned to make the soup tonight for dinner.  It was delicious!  And we finished the whole pot between my wife and I.

I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we did.

Creamy Asparagus Soup
Makes 4-6 Meal-Sized Servings

Note: The step of putting it through a fine-mesh strainer is frankly a bit of a pain and totally optional.  However, it does make the difference between a velvety soup and one that's a little gritty--especially with asparagus.  And don't skip the butter.  It gives it a little something extra in texture and flavor that you don't directly notice but it's obvious something is missing when it's gone.

2 pounds thin asparagus
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 cup white wine
water or chicken stock, heated to a simmer
3/4 cup of half & half or heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper

1. Wash the asparagus and trim off the woody ends.  If all you can find is thick asparagus, consider peeling the bottom third of each stalk with a vegetable peeler to make straining the soup easier.  Slice into thin rounds.
2. In a large pot, saute the asparagus and onion in olive oil with a heavy pinch of salt until it begins to soften.  Add the garlic and cook a moment until the garlic softens.
3. Add the white wine and simmer a minute or two until the harsh alcohol smell goes away.
4. Add enough water or stock to cover the vegetables completely.  Bring to a low boil and cook until all the vegetables are completely soft.
5. Remove the pan from the heat.  Using an immersion blender or a jar blender, puree the soup until it's as smooth as you can get it.
6. Working in batches, pour the soup into a fine-mesh sieve.  Using the back of a ladle or large spoon, press the soup through the sieve until only a little bit of fibrous material remains.  Scrape the bottom of the sieve to make sure all the pulp that passed through ends-up in the bowl.
7. Return the soup to the pot and bring to a simmer.  Stir-in cream and butter until it is well incorporated.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.  If the soup is too too thin and watery, simmer a bit until it thickens.

We like to serve this soup in a shallow bowl with cheesy toast, croutons, or soup crackers, and a dollop of sour cream in the center.  A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese never hurt, either.

Tomato Bisque

As promised, below is the recipe for the Tomato Bisque I made for my birthday dinner.  Bisque is really just a fancy name for an exceptionally creamy, silky soup.  I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.

Creamy Tomato Bisque

Note: This general technique works equally well with just about any vegetable that will puree smoothly once cooked.  You can even add fruits like apples or pears.  Just a week after I made the tomato version, I used-up some leftover carrots, purple sweet potatoes, celery, and onion to make a mixed vegetable bisque with a gentle purple hue and delicious creamy flavor.

2 28-oz cans Whole or Crushed Tomatoes
2 sprigs fresh basil
4 cups chicken broth
1 small onion, minced
1/2 cup heavy cream or half & half
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

1) In a large soup pot, heat olive oil and saute onions and a pinch of salt gently until they begin to soften.

2) If using whole tomatoes, crush them with your hands.  Add all tomatoes and the entire sprigs of basil and stock to the pot.

3) Simmer mixture, stirring occasionally, until well cooked and the tomatoes are soft (about 30 minutes).  Remove from heat and fish-out the basil leaves and stems.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4) Using a handheld blender or working in small batches using a jar blender, blend the mixture into as smooth a puree as you can.  Move the puree to a bowl or another pan and clean-out the original pan.

5) Working 1 or 2 ladlefuls at a time, pass the mixture through a fine mesh sieve back into the original pan.  Use the bottom of the ladle to push as much tomato flesh through the mesh as you can.  Discard any stubborn bits of flesh remaining in the sieve.

6) Stir-in cream and adjust seasoning to taste.  Add more cream if you wish.

7) Re-heat the soup gently so that the cream doesn't curdle and serve hot in a shallow bowl.  Optionally garnish with a dollup of sour cream, crackers, or homemade croutons.

Slow Cooker Tips and Tricks

I've had a few friends post lately that they're dusting-off their slow cookers and they're either

looking for recipes or dissatisfied with the outcome of the first recipes they've tried.  Since I've been around the block a few times with my own slow cooker, I thought I'd do a post with some do's and don't's based on hard food science and personal experience (and a whole lot of trial and error).

Tip #1 - Choose the Right Cooker
You'd think all slow cookers are created the same, but that's not the case.  The original Crockpot brand cooker your mother had was probably a simple heating element underneath a permanently fixed ceramic crock with a dial that had three settings: Low, High, and Off.  Also, it was probably no larger than 5 quarts.

Today's high-end cookers are upwards of 7 quarts and made of all kinds of materials.  Many have fancy computerized controls and timers, probe thermometers, removable pots (for easier cleaning), and non-ceramic ones often have "browning" settings or can convert to a fast-cooking electric stew pot.

My recommendations are middle-of-the-road.  You want a cooker that heats evenly since you're after a "low and slow" cooking method.  This means you should look for a ceramic crock, not a metal insert.  A timer with an automatic "keep warm" setting is nice since you probably want to be away from the house as it cooks and having it slow-down the cooking before you arrive home is usually a must with today's work schedules.  You won't usually find a browning setting on a ceramic model (ceramic will crack if heated fast), so that usually knocks that feature out of the running, but it's a reasonable price to pay for more even cooking.  I'd rather have a pot that does one job well rather than multiple jobs in a mediocre fashion.  Here's how I chose my favorite cooker.

Tip #2 - Choose the Right Recipes
We've all seen those quick 1-minute "dump, stir, cook, voila!" videos that float all over social media.  It looks so quick and easy and the results are usually gorgeous and look delicious.  Ever tried to make those recipes?  They usually end-up as a muddy-colored, dull-flavored mess on a plate.  They're also usually not as easy as they look because they leave out footage of all the chopping and prep work.

In order to understand what recipes work best, you need to understand what a slow cooker is designed for.  Slow cookers were designed to mimic the behavior of bean pots and dutch ovens, which sit over low heat or in a low oven (200 degrees or so) for long periods of time (4 to 8 hours).  Many foods don't stand-up well to that long of a cooking time like lean meats (fish, chicken breast, lean beef, pork tenderloin and loin, etc.).  Contrary to popular belief, they will dry out even if submerged in a flavorful liquid.  If you're going to cook lean meat in a slow cooker, be sure your recipe makes a nice gravy or sauce to re-moisten the meat at the table.

Slow cookers are best at braising and the best cuts of meat for slow braising have fat, marbling, or protective skin coatings.  Things like chuck roasts, pork butt (aka "Boston Butt), pork shoulder, chuck stew meat, whole chickens, chicken or turkey thighs and legs, and so on.  They contain natural fat, collagen, and connective tissue that will break-down and improve in texture and flavor with a long, low, slow cooking.  Hearty soups, stews, and chili are other excellent candidates.

Tip #3 - Maximize Flavor
One thing about long slow cooking is that all of the flavors in the dish will muddle together into a uniform, kind of flat taste.  It'll be savory, but lack dimension and one strong ingredient, like onions or garlic, may take-over the dish.  You can work around this in a variety of ways.

First of all, season your dish well upfront.  Use plenty of salt and pepper.  Add flavorful liquids like chicken stock or wine instead of water.  And make sure you include aromatic vegetables (celery, onion, carrot, garlic) and herbs and spices.  Depending on what you're making, you may want to use sacrificial aromatic veggies that will be removed or puree'd into a sauce and add fresh veggies close to the end of cooking to be eaten whole.

Second of all, adjust seasonings or make a sauce towards the end of cooking.  You may want to pour off the liquid, strain it, and make a simple gravy on the stove.  You may want to puree the softened vegetables into a sauce and add some cream.  Or maybe it needs a tablespoon of vinegar or a squeeze of lemon.  It may also need more salt and pepper or fresh herbs.

Thirdly, consider browning meat in a skillet before cooking.  Contrary to popular belief, browning does not "seal in juices," but it does create flavor, texture, and color.  If your schedule doesn't permit browning in the morning, meat can be browned the night before and all other ingredients measured and prepped and then stored in the fridge overnight.  In the morning, it becomes a dump-and-stir operation.

Lastly, bloom your spices and sweat your vegetables.  Place the aromatics (onions, celery, etc) and any dry spices into a bowl, coat with a little oil, and microwave until the vegetables begin to soften.  This does two things.  First, it cooks some of the sulfuric bite out of the onions and brings out the sweetness.  Without pre-cooking, onions can take over a pot of soup and make it acrid and inedible.  Secondly, it blooms the spices.  Most spices in your cabinet are oil soluble, meaning their flavor carries best in oil, not water.  Cooking them for a short time in oil brings out their best flavor.

Tip #4 - No Peeking!
Slow cookers cook best when a small head of steam builds-up inside the pot, which creates slightly increased pressure (similar to a pressure cooker, but not nearly as powerful).  Every time you open the pot, you're releasing that steam and it has to build-up again, which will add to the cooking time.  Open the pot as infrequently as possible.

Tip #5 - Size Your Recipe or Pot Correctly
Slow cookers are designed to work best when the pot is half to 2/3 full.  This is because the pot needs area for a head of steam to build-up and help with the cooking.  If you overfill the pot, there won't be enough extra room.  If you under-fill the pot, it'll take too long to recover when the lid is opened.  Also less of the food will be in contact with the heated sides of the pot.  You also may lose the cooking water and scorch the bottom of your meal.  If you're going to be cooking for 2 people on a regular basis and want to make smaller recipes, consider buying a smaller cooker or having two sizes.

Tip #6 - Spray the Crock
I have a cooker with a dark-colored crock and every time I'd cook something, I'd end up with "ring around the crock," a white haze that lines-up with water line of the cooked food that was impossible to scrub off, even when soaked in vinegar.  I believe this is a mineral residue, from hard water, chicken bones, etc.  If you spray your crock with cooking spray prior to adding the food, this will never happen.  Even if you're doing a soup that's all liquid, still spray the pot.  Your scrubbing arm will thank you later.

Tip #7 - The Amount of Liquid Matters
Slow cookers actually don't need a lot of water to cook.  An inch or so is plenty for large cuts of meat.  One of my favorite recipes is a chicken cooked in a slow cooker where you add the chicken dry, season it, place a few veggies around it, then start cooking.  The chicken releases just enough juice to do the cooking and makes a really concentrated flavorful gravy for serving with it.

Here are a few of my Favorite Recipes that work in a Slow Cooker:

• Halloween Pork Stew
• French Chicken in a Pot - Skip browning step, cook for 8 hours on low.
• Chili
• Beans
• All Day Red Sauce - Use your favorite recipe.
• Meatballs in Red Sauce 
• Overnight Breakfast Casserole
  
• Braised Pork Short Ribs
• Pulled Pork Sandwiches
• Steel-Cut Oats
• Apple Butter

Here are some great Slow Cooker Resources:

• FoodInJars.com - Great recipes for Slow Cooker Fruit Butters
• Slow Cooker Revolution - By America's Test Kitchen
• Slow Food Fast - By Bob Warden
• Serious Eats
• Hamilton Beach Set 'N Forget Programmable Slow Cooker - My Favorite
• 365 Days of Slow Cooking Blog
• A Year of Slow Cooking - By Stephanie O'Dea

Halloween Pork Stew

This year, Halloween happened to fall on a Saturday and both sets of Grandparents wanted to come over to go trick-or-treating with the little one.  I was trying to figure out what to serve for dinner that wouldn't interfere with our candy-acquiring activities and I happened across an interesting recipe a few weeks before that I had been wanting to try.  It fit the bill and turned out absolutely amazing.

The recipe is based on a "Pork and Pumpkin Stew" recipe from Williams-Sonoma.  It requires a well-stocked spice cabinet, but is totally worth it.  I've modified it slightly to use butternut squash, which is much easier to find year-round and easier to peel since it has no bumps in the skin.  I also substituted a few ingredients that were clearly there to encourage sales of obscure Williams-Sonoma products (like 2 tablespoons of chicken demi-glace).

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.  I've made it twice, now.

Halloween Pork Stew

Note: This recipe would clearly work best with a fatty cut of pork such as boneless pork butt or shoulder, which gets soft without drying out.  However, I had lean pork loin on-hand and it worked just fine.

2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound peeled, diced butternut squash or pumpkin
1 yellow onion, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
1 (9oz) can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar  

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon corn starch 

3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1) Heat oven to 325 degrees F.

2) In a small bowl, mix the spices (ginger, cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, cloves, pepper flakes) and corn starch.  Set aside.

3) In a large heavy oven-safe dutch oven, heat the oil and brown the chunks of pork.  Remove the pork to a plate to rest.

4) Add onion to the pan and more oil if needed.  Sauté over medium heat until the onion begins to soften.  Add garlic, tomato paste, and spice mixture.  Sauté until the spices bloom and begin to smell but do not burn them.  Add the chicken stock and use a wooden spoon to scrape-up any bits on the bottom of the pan.

5) Add the tomatoes, squash, pork, and vinegar to the pan.  Stir well.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

6) Cover, bring to a boil, and transfer to the oven.  Cook until the pork and squash is fork-tender, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

This is best served in a shallow bowl over white rice or with nice crusty bread or toast.

Leftover Turkey Chili

So your Dad and your Aunt Edna are the only ones who eat dark meat at Thanksgiving.  I think we can all sympathize with that (even if we don't all have an Aunt Edna...I don't).  That's why turkey breeders in the U.S. breed birds with massive breasts.  Most of us reach for the white meat (and then thoroughly cover it in a pool of gravy...amiright?).

So what are you supposed to do with all that leftover drumstick and thigh meat?  A 20-pound bird can sometimes yield as much as a 2 to 3 pounds of it and it's usually much darker than dark chicken meat.  For years, I tucked it into the freezer.  I might use a couple pieces here and there in a turkey stew, but my wife usually finds them and picks them out.  Eventually, I'd have a block of unrecognizable freezer-burned brown meat and into the garbage it would go.  What a waste.

Enter my recipe for Turkey or Chicken Chili.  It's a loose interpretation of a recipe from Cook's Illustrated magazine for beef chili made from ground beef.  One day, I discovered that you could swap out the ground meat for chunks of dark meat turkey and by the time it was done stewing-down in tomatoes, it'd taste like rich pulled pork or beef.  A real bonus is that it can be done in the slow cooker.

Leftover Dark Meat Turkey Chili

Notes: The amount and kind of meat is flexible here.  If all you have is a pound and 3/4, that's fine.  If it's over 2 pounds, that's fine, too.  Turkey works well, as does chicken, or even chunks of uncooked pork butt or pork shoulder (you can pull it out, shred it, then put it back in at the end).  You can also mix dark and white meat.

This recipe makes a mild, tomato-flavored chili.  If you like it spicier, double-up on the pepper flakes and cayenne.

2 Pounds Cooked Dark Turkey Meat
2 (15-oz) cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 (28-oz) cans crushed tomatoes
2 medium onions, chopped coarsely
1 red bell pepper
6 medium cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, to taste

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1) In a small bowl, mix the spices (chili powder, cumin, pepper flakes, oregano, cayenne, salt).  Set aside.

2) In a sauté pan, sweat the onions and pepper in oil over medium heat until they begin to soften.  Add the garlic and spices.  Stir well (it'll look like a brown mess), allowing the oil and heat to release the flavors in the spices.  Remove from heat before it burns.

3) Place the meat, beans, vegetable and spice mixture, and tomatoes into a 6-quart slow cooker.  Stir well.  Cook on low 6 to 8 hours until mixture is well cooked and darkens in color.  If it is not thickening and you like a thicker chili, remove the cover during the last hour or two.

4) Serve in bowls with classic chili toppings such as a dollup of sour cream, shredded cheese, or chopped scallions.

Stove-Top Method:

1) For step #2 above, use a heavy-bottom dutch oven instead of a saute pan.

2) For step #3 Pour remaining ingredients into the dutch oven.  Cover, bring to a boil, reduce to a slow simmer and simmer 4 hours.  Uncover, stir, and simmer 3-4 more hours until mixture darkens and thickens.

Recipe: Chicken Escarole Soup

Growing-up in Rhode Island, it was impossible to avoid Italian-American influences on everyday life, especially those that centered around food.  The fact is that Italian families ran most of the "Family Restaurants" in the area and still run the better ones.  As a result, many of the food customs we take for granted around here stem from Italian culture.

One of those cultural mainstays is the knowledge that if you order chicken soup with your meal, it's most likely going to have floating bits of a hearty green in it called escarole.

I don't know much about the history of Chicken Escarole soup, but I suspect that it's a direct descendant of "Italian Wedding Soup," which is more or less the same thing but usually contains tiny meatballs in lieu of the chicken.  There's also Venus de Milo soup, a variation containing ground beef that is still served at the Venus de Milo restaurant in nearby Massachusetts (Emeril once worked there).  In any event, I'm sure Chicken Escarole was probably born of thrift, with many restaurants wanting to make use of the previous day's leftover roast chicken instead of hand-rolling little meatballs.

I recently decided to try my hand at making Chicken Escarole soup and it came out absolutely delicious.  Escarole, if you're not familiar with it, is a hearty lettuce that can stand-up to a little cooking.  Its flavor is mild, tasting slightly like spinach, though not nearly as bitter.  I think it'd actually taste quite good as part of a garden salad.

Justin's Chicken Escarole Soup

3-4 large carrots
1 small onion
3 ribs celery
1 head escarole
1/2 pound cooked chicken, shredded or diced
1 quart chicken stock
1 quart water
2 cups tubettini pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper

1) Dice the onion, celery, and carrot into spoon-sized pieces.

2) Remove the core from the head of escarole and chop the greens into bite-sized shreds.  Wash well and allow to drain.

3) Saute the onions, celery, and carrots in the olive oil and a pinch of salt until the onions begin to soften.

4) Add the stock, water, chicken, and pasta.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper at this time.

5) Simmer until the pasta is just undercooked.  If the box has a recommended cooking time, cook for one minute less than specified for "al-dente."  Add the escarole and stir it in.  It may not look like it will all fit, but it will.

6) Continue to simmer until the escarole wilts and is heated through--about 2-3 minutes.

7) If the soup is too thick, add additional water and re-adjust the seasoning.

Serve hot with a bit of crusty bread or cheesy toast.  Soup keeps well refrigerated for 3-4 days.  Freezing works, but may alter the texture of the pasta.  If the soup thickens because the pasta absorbs more water during storage, add more water prior to reheating.

Weeknight Meal: Bean, Veggie, and Chicken Soup

A couple of weeks ago (yeah, I know...I'm way behind), we had one of the first few chilly nights of the autumn season.  What screams dinner on a chilly evening more than soup?  The following recipe is something I pulled out of thin air (or rather from the depths of the pantry and refrigerator) and it tasted fantastic, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Bean, Veggie, & Chicken Soup

1 can small white or navy beans
1 can (12 to 16 oz) chicken or vegetable broth
2-3 fresh tomatoes, finely chopped
1 small zucchini, diced
2-3 carrots, diced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken
olive oil
salt & pepper
water (as needed)

1) In a large pot, saute the onions and carrots in olive oil and a pinch of salt until they begin to soften but do not brown.
2) Add the zucchini and cook 2-3 minutes until it starts to soften as well.
3) Add the tomato and cook 1 minute, stirring.
4) Add the broth and beans.  Add water if necessary to get to a good soup consistency (watery, not thick--it will cook down some).  Add salt and pepper to taste.
5) Simmer 15-20 minutes until beans and all veggies have softened.  Add the chicken and cook until heated through.
6) Adjust seasoning to taste.  Serve with toasted crusty bread.

Roasted Tomato Soup

I could have sworn I posted my recipe for roasted tomato soup last year but after searching, it looks like I never quite got around to it.  Since that's yet another thing that came out of that infamous 3/4 bushel of tomatoes, I thought I'd take the time to post the recipe.

Ingredients:
- Enough quartered tomatoes to fill 1-2 half sheet pans (one layer each)
- Handful of fresh basil
- 1 sweet onion, roughly chopped
- 2 ribs celery, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- olive oil
- salt & pepper

Place all vegetables and basil on a pan and toss with a little olive oil.  If you're planning to can this soup, don't go crazy with the oil as it can cause the jars to go rancid in the pantry and it's not recommended by the National Center for Home Food Preservation.  Season liberally with salt and pepper and half the sugar.  Toss to coat evenly.

Roast in a 300 degree oven until the tomatoes start to shrivel and brown and some of the liquid is released and dries-up.  This may take up to 2 hours.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle.

Use a food mill to puree everything and strain out the seeds and skins.  Adjust the seasoning and add more sugar as needed.  You're looking for a flavor profile much sweeter than tomato sauce (unless you like eating straight-up tomato sauce with a spoon for lunch).

Serve immediately (with grilled cheese, of course), store in a refrigerator for up to a week, or can using a pressure canner.  You'll want a processing time of 35 minutes at 10psi for up to 16 oz jars.  I like to can them in 8 or 12 oz "jelly jars".  DO NOT can using the boiling water bath method.  The addition of vegetables makes this a low-acid food, which means BWB canning won't guarantee the removal of botulism spores and those suckers are deadly!

Recipe: Easy Lentil Soup

My home state of Rhode Island is home to a lot of Italian-Americans.  One of the more traditional meals served in Italian-American homes around this time of year (or so I'm told) is Lentil Soup.  Why?  Well, most Italians are Catholic and we'll soon be entering the season of Lent.  Lent is a time of fasting and sacrifice, usually involving certain days when the faithful are not supposed to consume meat and in special cases, limit food intake to "one large meal a day."  As a result, good hearty vegetarian meals are a must in many cultures centered around the Catholic faith.

Aside from the religious aspects, lentils are cheap--dirt cheap, and they're incredibly healthy for you as they're high in protein, fiber, and vitamins.  Unlike most other legumes, they cook-up in about 20 minutes and do not require pre-soaking, which makes them a great weeknight meal.

About a week ago, I made my first successful batch of Lentil Soup and we absolutely loved it.  I think my wife ate leftovers for lunch 5 days straight because she enjoyed it that much.  The recipe is based on some verbal instructions given to me by a former co-worker who comes from a true Italian family, so I think it's fairly authentic.  I hope you enjoy it.

Incidentally, this recipe is not only vegetarian, but it's vegan too (minus the serving suggestions involving cheese).  If you have any vegetarian/vegan friends, make this for them and I guarantee they'll be thrilled.

Easy Lentil Soup

2 cups onion, diced
2 cups carrots, diced
2 cups celery, diced
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes
6 cups filtered tap water
2 cups green or brown lentils
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons olive oil

1) Heat olive oil in a heavy-bottomed dutch oven.  Saute onions, carrots, and celery, a pinch of salt, and the bay leaf until vegetables begin to soften.  Add garlic and cook 30 seconds, stirring.

2) Add the white wine and stir.  Cook 1-2 minutes to let the alcohol dissipate.

3) Add the tomatoes, water, pepper, lentils, and salt.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Simmer covered 20-30 minutes or until the lentils have softened but still retain their shape.  Add hot water if soup gets too thick.

4) Taste and adjust seasonings.  Remove the bay leaf.  Optionally serve with toasted crusty bread and a good-sized grating of Parmesan cheese on top of the soup.

Optional Canning Instructions

1) In step 3 above, only simmer 10-15 minutes and add 2-3 more cups of water.  This will par-cook the lentils but prevent them from becoming mushy during canning.  The extra water will be absorbed by the beans during canning.

2) Prepare jars, lids, and rings in the normal manner.  We like to use Ball 12-oz "Jelly Jars" because they most closely mimic the serving size of a commercial can of soup.

3) Fill jars, leaving a generous 1-inch head space and making sure the jar is filled with no more than 2/3 solids (the rest should be broth).  The lentils will absorb a *lot* of water during the canning process (remember, they're only half cooked).  Clean rims and close.  Process in a pressure canner for 75 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.

4) If the lentils absorb all of the liquid in the jar, no worries.  As long as the jar seals, it's safe to eat.  When you open it, add water before reheating.  You may need to add additional salt as well.

Disclaimer: This is not a commercially tested canning recipe.  Canning times were based on times for similar bean soup recipes, most of which involved a meat product (this one does not), so it should be overkill if anything.  Use at your own risk and as always, use your own good judgment about what's safe for you and your family.

Winter Cooking: Soups, Chowders, and Stews

Here in New England, Mother Nature is up to her old tricks again. We had a couple of weeks after the holidays of decent weather where it wasn't biting cold and we didn't have much in the way of snow or freezing rain. I'd just started thinking we were through the worst of it.

Then, she layed it on thick, with a few good windy storms, some heavy precipitation, and a couple of nights where it felt like 10 below with the wind-chill factor.

Brrr...

Nothing fights back at the winter cold quite like a steaming-hot bowl of soup, chowder, or stew. Soup is one of those wonderful things that I look forward to making each year as the weather gets colder. There's just something special, rustic, and homey about it.

I thought I'd share one of my basic recipes for soup today. Make yourself a batch, ladle-out a big coffee mug of it, and curl-up on the couch with a good book. Enjoy!

Tomato, Veggie, & Chicken Soup
This quick and easy recipe is a great base for what I like to call "refrigerator soup." You can easily clean out the fridge and toss in any veggie leftovers and it'll taste great and be relatively healthy. It's an incredibly flexible soup. Play around with it and enjoy!

1 quart (32oz) chicken broth or stock
1 pint (16oz) water
1 15oz can stewed tomatoes
2 cups pulled or diced cooked chicken
1 medium onion
2 large stalks celery
3 carrots
1 cup (dry) tube, elbow, or egg noodle pasta
1 can red or white beans, rinshed (optional)
olive oil
salt & pepper

1) Pre-cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse and cool.
2) Peel and chop carrots and onions into chunky pieces that are similar in size and will fit on a spoon.
3) Clean and slice celery stalks cross-ways into spoon-sized slices.
4) Heat a heavy-bottom pot on medium-high heat with just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add onions, carrots, and celery. Stir, cooking until veggies start to soften but do not brown. Adjust heat as necessary. This is an important step for flavor...don't skip it!
5) Add chicken broth, water, tomatoes, and beans. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to gently bubbling simmer. Cook until the beans soften slightly and carrots are cooked through.
6) Reduce to a slow simmer. Add chicken and cooked pasta. Simmer 3-5 minutes and serve.

Thrifty Cooking - A Hill of Beans...

A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing through the farmer's market when I happened upon a table devoted to selling products grown by farmers who can't make it to the market or grown by farmers from outside of Rhode Island. I was particularly intrigued by some yellow-spotted dried beans labeled, "Yellow-Eyed Beans," grown by Freedom Bean Farm in Maine.

After chatting with the girl behind the booth about the beans, I purchased a small bag, plunking down a mere two or three dollars--quite a bargain, even if I didn't know quite what to do with them.

I've always been intrigued by beans, as legumes are probably one of the most healthful items you can get for a buck a bag. Vegetarians know this, of course, getting most of their protein intake from beans and relatives of beans. However, one of the thing that's always frustrated me is that most bean recipes, aside from a few soups and classic "Boston Baked Beans," center around strong "Tex-Mex" and middle eastern flavors. I've never been a huge fan of ingredients like cilantro, cumin, and curry. My palate just can't seem to appreciate them.

A week or two later, Susy over at Chiot's Run (one of my favorite and most inspiring blogs) just happened to post about beans and a couple of her favorite bean recipes. Wanting to hear more from someone with more bean experience than me, I posted in the comments, asking for more recipes--in particular, some without the flavors I'm not a big fan of. Apparently, I'm not the only one who asked and it soon turned-into a whole other post of people sharing their bean recipes.

A special thanks goes out to Susy and her readers. And now, I'd like to share two of my favorite bean recipes with you.

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Tuscan-Style Rosemary & White Bean Soup
Loosely based on a recipe from Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa)


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1 medium onion diced (1/2-inch pieces)

2-3 Carrots peeled and diced (1/2-inch pieces)

2 16-oz cans of Small White Beans drained and rinsed

4-6 cups (1.5-2 quarts) of chicken broth

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 sprig of fresh Rosemary (or 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed)

1-2 cups shredded cooked chicken (optional)

salt and pepper

1) Heat olive oil in a heavy-bottom pot on medium-high
2) Add carrots and onions to the pot. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the veggies and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and carrots start to soften.
3) Add white beans, chicken broth, chicken (if using) and rosemary to the pot. Liquid should cover beans by ¼ of an inch. Add water and additional salt if necessary.
4) Cover and bring to a boil.
5) Uncover. Turn heat down to a high simmer.
6) Remove rosemary sprig once it appears wilted. Leaving it in longer will only make the soup more “woody” tasting.
7) Let soup simmer for 20+ minutes until beans and veggies soften further. Soup should thicken slightly.
8) Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Vegetarian Version: Substitute College Inn vegetable broth in place of chicken stock and omit the chicken. I specify the brand because I've tried other brands and most either taste bland or have MSG in them.

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Bean Dinner Salad
This salad is very flexible in terms of ingredients and quantities. Adjust to your personal preference or just use what you find in the refrigerator. I made up the recipe one night as an easy meal and a way to use the yellow-eyed beans mentioned above.

1-2 cups canned or cooked light-colored beans (white, navy, canellini, etc.)
2 cups shredded cabbage or other greens
1 carrot, washed, peeled, and shreded with a box grater
2 cups home-made crisp bread croutons
2-cups chicken or firm cooked fish (salmon, tuna, swordfish) in 1-inch cubes, at room-temperature (optional)
Any other veggies you desire

1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1/3 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup brown sugar or honey
1/4 teaspoon corn starch
salt & pepper

1) If using canned beans, rinse beans thoroughly in a collander to remove the thick packing liquid. Allow excess water to drain for a bit.
2) In a glass jar or a container with a tight-fitting lid, combine vinegar, olive oil, sugar, corn starch, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Close the container and shake vigorously.
3) Toss all other ingredients well in a large mixing bowl. Pour half of dressing over mixture and continue tossing to coat. Add more dressing as needed until all vegetables are well coated.
4) Serve at room temperature for a great light evening meal or lunch.

Tip: If preparing ahead, dress vegetables and add croutons 10 minutes before serving.