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Sat 30 Jan, 2010 10:18 pm
I'd read some recipes about leeks lately. I've cooked leeks a bunch of times and have found them too leeky, nothing I craved for. But I didn't actually hate them.
I tried them again, this time in a soup that turned out wonderfully.
So:
3 leeks: I cut them midway through the not very dark green part, put the green parts in the compost bag (hmmm..), and sliced the remainder of the leeks into approx 1/4 inch slices, getting rid of the root area. I washed them first. Also smushed the slices to make many leak circles.
1 carrot, in this case peeled, chopped
3 tbs butter, 3 of olive oil
sauteed them for a bit, added
6 small brussels sprouts, sliced thin
two fat garlic cloves, flattened and chopped, or minced
Added cleaned and cut up kale, except for the big stems, kept sauteeing - from a large bunch of kale.
added seven cups of water or more, maybe ten in all
some chicken soup granules. Better to add real chicken stock/vegetable broth...
added 4 diced peeled red (boiling) potatoes
two bay leaves, 1 big sprig of dried thyme and one of dried rosemary.
added about 1/4 small head of green cabbage after things had simmered down. I tend to add cabbage late in the game.
Threw in about 4 'slices' of previously sauteed and frozen bacon, cut up.
Optional..
The secret ingredient at the end - a 14 oz can of Hatch (New Mexico) medium enchilada sauce. In lieu of that, I'd add similar sized tomato sauce and some chile)
This might all be too bitter for some but I love the balance, the talk among the vegetables. In that case, I guess I'd omit cabbage and add spinach towards the end.
Your veggie or not entirely veggie soup?
There you go again, sneaking in brussel sprouts . . .
The BEST soup mixes on the market are the ones from Frontier Soups, out of Illinois. All natural, just add meat and chicken broth for most of them. Each one is named after a state. The Illinois Corn Chowder is awesome.
But . . . just to fill your request, here's my instant clam chowder
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can stewed tomatoes (with zesty mild chilis or garlic & basil)
1 10 oz. can diced clams with juice
sauteed chopped up celery and onions
add any other seafood, leftover salmon, tiny shrimp, cod . .
couple shots of hot sauce
parsley and basil and garlic to taste.
@sullyfish6,
That sounds good, supermarket cioppino.. good flavors. I make similar except that my potatoes aren't from soup, and sometimes they aren't even potatoes, but the equivalent in pasta.
I'm not opposed to cans, as you can see from the Hatch enchilada sauce above, and my tomatoes are mostly canned, as I like them better than miserable produce section tomatoes.
On canned clams, I learned somewhere to separate the clams from the juice, as clams cooked too long get a bit chewy.. so I usually add them at the last minute, just enough time to heat them. I learned this the hard way. Some sunny day, I'll try this kind of thing with fresh clams.
Mmmm, corn chowder.
@sullyfish6,
sullyfish6 wrote:
There you go again, sneaking in brussel sprouts . . .
She's a sinister and crafty demon chef!
Brussel sprouts are still and always be
Satan's gumdrops!
@ossobuco,
That sounds good, osso.
Might well give it a go when I'm back into soup mode, when it's colder. I like all the greens in this one.
@tsarstepan,
tsarstepan wrote:
Brussel sprouts are still and always be
Satan's gumdrops!
That was true when my mother cooked them... awful.
I posted this mostly vegetable, Japanese soup-ish recipe to the dinner thread last week:
All ingredients are approximate (of course - it's me after all). Both the miso and the bonito are very salty, so consider starting with less and adding more if want to.
Start with about 3 cups of water set at a simmer and add a teaspoon of bonito flakes and maybe a half teaspoon of minced ginger. Let this simmer (not boil!) while prepping the rest. I saute about 2 tablespoons chopped onion by sticking it in a microwave with just enough canola oil for a minute or two and add it to the pot. Add a teaspoon of red miso and a little more of the chicken paste. Chop rinsed kale/bok choy/etc and add 1-2 cups of it to soup and turn off heat. Add cooked soba noodles.
If you make it, let me know what you think!
@littlek,
I noticed that one. I need to get some bonito flakes (possible, maybe, the asian sections in markets here are slim to less slim). Would it work with barley miso (what I have)? I'll try it anyway.
I'll also add that it has never occurred to me to cook chopped onions in oil in the microwave. Learn something new on a2k all the time..
@ossobuco,
I don't think it matters what type of miso you use. If you know how to do a fish broth, you won't need bonito flakes.
@littlek,
(or add two smushed tinned anchovies.. or clam juice.. or a mashed sardine.. )
Which brings up, apparently fermented anchovies are part of the charm of Worstershire sauce..
Anyway, that sounded good, I'll play with it.
@littlek,
Knorrs used to make fish bouillon cubes, the derivation of which I don't want to know about, but they were useful. Off the market now, far as I can tell. If I cooked with shrimp more often, I'd use broth from the shells..
I used to use vietnamese fish sauce sometimes, but this doesn't show up in my local market.
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