beef soup with noodle squares

a few pictures

a hearty beefy soup, wit the addition of a thickening agent, a stew

a beef soup/stew for the instant pot

prep the following:

egg noodle semolina recipe, roll out and cut into good size noodle squares, set aside

prep veggies, onion, carrot celery, a pinch of oregano, paprika, parsley and thyme, a bit of tomato paste and a few garlic cloves minced

leaf a few brussell sprouts, slice mushrooms

slice and cube beef season with salt, pepper and marinate if possible

set instant pot to saute, high and let come to temp

with a bit of oil, brown beef, remove from pot

add to pot onion, celery and carrot mixture with your seasonings

cook till wilted and soft

add sprout leaves, mushrooms and tomato paste to pot

mix and cook several minutes

return beef to pot, with broth top to fill line of pot.

cover, reset and set to stew soup setting about 15 minutes low pressure

at end of cycle release pressure , remove cover, reset to saute high, add noddle squares when the pot begins to boil

cook the noodle squares till tender, reset and set to keep warm setting

add more broth if necessary.

serve with crusty bread

 

 

 

 

 

The best stew

One of the best stews I’ve made recently (when the weather was cooler) required a variety of meat. Over several weeks of shopping I accumulated the required ingredients.

Otherwise known as a cassoulet,  a classic french dish, the melding of the flavors is fantastic. I made sausage and duck a requirement along with smoked pork shanks.

It could also be constructed as a Baeckeoffe, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baeckeoffe

a recipe from Hubert Keller here: http://www.hubertkeller.com/recipes/recipe_details9500.html?show=TV-Episode-103-B

The process and assembly is more or less self explanatory.

Main ingredients

Duck quarters, carrot, mushrooms, livers, sausage, pork shank, beef, chicken necks, onion, bay leaf, Brussels sprouts.

 

Layering

The cooking vessel is sealed with dough

I didn’t have a large enough pot so it was split between two, keeps well in fridge.

Done, the dough seal is a crunchy treat.

I’ll collect ingredients for another baking, already have some chicken feet and pigs trotters in the freezer.

Roasted vegetables

Eat your vegetables! Is a phrase we often hear as we grow up. I don’t have an issue with that as long as they are prepared the way I like them.
Roasting is an alternative to sautéing them. Once the chopping prep is done that’s all the heavy lifting you’ll be doing!

As usual, a lot of photos to tell the story!

ok, now that all the work is done, making a dressing to go with the veggies, that is something based with olive oil and your fav flavorings. Butter , herbs etc.

toss the dressing with he veggies. A bit of refrigerated wort (unfermented beer) went in there.

onto a sheet pan lined with parchment, a small sample of the salad is tasted at this point, as if you didn’t know that, sea salt sprinkles are optional.

into a 325 degrees oven don’t rush it, let the flavors meld. An hour or two. Oops almost forgot , caramelization!

the completed vegetables, now would you resist this if you had to eat all your vegetables to get dessert!

Bacon, potato and greens

A quick skillet meal.

Render some bacon slightly

 

Grab a spud,clean skin, small dice with skin

sauté with the bacon, season 

throw in some garlic

 

add some Brussels sprout greens to the pan, cover, let them wilt

Done

 

  

Quichza

sort of a cross between a quiche and a pizza. since it’s been awhile since I baked pizza, I wanted something simple and different.

obtain or make your favorite pizza dough and form it into a deep cast iron skillet. Push it up the sides.

 

Let it rise….

Sauté some white and sweet onions in butter, slowly not to brown…

add some greens, in this case from the Brussels sprout plant in the garden, some leafy greens from the stalk.

clean , dice add to the onions… a bit of salt and pepper to taste… That’s all …

cook the onions and greens over low heat to wilt and soften them, the dough should rise… a thick crust and billowy sides to hold the mixture..  just a touch of smoked hot red pepper flakes….added to the onions and greens for background…..

3 eggs and some milk…whisk together…..

spoon the  sautéed onion and Brussels greens in to the crust, pour in the egg mixture ……

  

That’s it ! Keeping it simply for this recipe….

500 degrees for about 13 minutes…

 

Tick …Tock… Tick ….Tock……. Tick…..Tock    Tick…. Tock   DING !….

DONE !

What a meal !!!

how about a dollop of sour cream for garnish !!!!!!

Ok, so I could have added things like cheese, sausage, some other type of meat and herbs, that’s right, there was no garlic in this recipe!!! BUT , this was sort of a test recipe to keep the flavors basic. It was a success. Yes, maybe the next time around I’ll add the garlic, cheese and meat, but for now the greens and onions were excellent to taste. And the crust bountiful, to hold it all together.

Chinese Meatball Soup

I didn’t have time to write the recipe. Some soy sauce and spices were used and most likely diced sautéed onions and carrots.  It has some of the brussell sprout leaves in it from the garden and the first time that I successfully made spaghetti noodles. The trick was to have the pasta dough at the right consistency and the rollers well floured.

  

Made on or about 12/21/2011

Tomato Sauce with pasta and veggies

I’ve come to the point where I’ve read way to many recipes and blogs, books, and watched countless cooking shows over the years………so………. My posts are going a more descriptive route rather than a standard measured ingredients and directions format…..  and most likely I’ll refer to them in the future for repeats of some of the dishes I love with variations. Reading other peoples blogs  and cookbooks have influenced me also to go the more narrative style, better a little story of the actual  meal preparation. Thanks to all the bloggers I follow, excellent work!

Blogging right after eating has it’s advantages….

Two sausages from the the freezer along with frozen peeled whole tomatoes,  frozen prepared garlic cubes, frozen vegetable stock. On the fridge side, some defrosted tomato juice, carrots and onions, a bit of bacon fat, 1/2 a can of tomato paste, prepared pasta dough. Frozen sausage goes in the fry pan with 2 cubes of  frozen stock and brought to a boil covered,and then simmered, till sausage is defrosted and stock evaporates, brown the sausage,  I now have a small black and Decker food chopper that was orphaned, now  a new addition to the kitchen, I f*** with it, as adding too much carrots at once  causes it to jam and the blade lift and stop rotating , so some of the carrot is removed till the little chopper does the job and I add the rest of the carrots incrementally ,no problem with it processing  the onions ,add the diced onions and carrots,  and garlic with a dab of bacon fat. More of a tomato vegetable sauce, as one of the Frug’s recipes I recalled. If i have veggies like this available ,celery, green pepper etc., they can be sautéed and added to bulk up the sauce, a good way to get veggies into the meal.

Now in the garden a large green plant that is either broccoli or most likely, looks like Brussels sprouts, when I started them from seeds I didn’t keep track exactly what they are and where they were planted, but one of them is forming a small cauliflower,  frost is forecasted towards the end of the week ,maybe they will survive . The one I picked from closely resembles Brussels sprouts as the stalk is covered with small leafy projections that tightly formed would be Brussels Sprouts only these are less dense but have the definite taste of sprouts. Crisp, green and earthy.

Out of the frying pan goes the sausage to a pot, add tomato paste to the fry pan with the semi defrosted whole tomatoes and than some more frozen stock and season to taste, some thyme purchased for thanksgiving , dried basil and dried oregano . Now it gets poured in the pot with the sausage, simmered and sweetened with a touch of simple syrup and a splash of apple cider vinegar for balance.

Boil water for the pasta and roll out with the machine to noodles, boil and plate them. With the greens in a small pan pour out the pasta water over  the greens  to blanch, drain and plate next to the pasta. Spoon tomato sauce over pasta and greens,(take a photo) top with one half of a sausage, grated cheese.

Eat…………………………E X C E L L E N T ……!……. OOPS, no wine for now.

Now I’m thinking of Brussels sprouts pasta or ravioli after I finished my plate, a good meal, but that will be another kitchen encounter. Christmas looms ahead….