Cream of Mushroom Soup

I have to confess something.  When I'm not feeling well, I want cream of mushroom soup.  I mean the stuff that comes in the red and white can.  Growing up, it was always my favorite comfort food... even as an adult, it was my guilty pleasure.  That is, until Ann of Thibeault's Table shared her recipe for real cream of mushroom soup.  It's so good and so easy.  Real sliced and sauteed mushrooms, not those tiny, little gray cubes that come in the canned stuff.  This can be as rich and thick as you want it to be.  Today I kept it a little brothier.  Some crouton or crostini, and I've got a wonderful meal.  I don't even miss the red and white can!!

Cream of Mushroom Soup

3 - 4 tablespoons butter
2 - 3 cups of sliced mushrooms
1 large shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 sprig of fresh thyme
4 cups chicken stock/ broth
2 cups milk
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon, (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
3 - 4 tablespoons flour, (optional)

Saute sliced mushrooms in butter.  Add shallot, cooking for 2 - 3 minutes, until shallots are tender but not browned.  Add minced garlic and thyme, and cook 1 minute.  Add broth and bring to a boil.  Add milk and simmer for 30 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and tarragon, if using.  If a thicker soup is desired, mix flour with some milk in a jar, and slowly stir into soup, continuing to cook until soup thickens.  Optional - coarsely puree soup with an immersion blender.


Serves 4


Source:  Ann Thibeault

Gnocchi with Sage Butter

Before I learned how to make gnocchi, I was extremely intimidated by them.  I'd order these little potato dumplings occasionally in Italian restaurants.  (By the way, there are also semolina gnocchi, traditionally circularly shaped.  Can't wait to tackle them sometime!)  Good gnocchi is light and tender.  Bad gnocchi is heavy and/ or mushy... I've had my share of bad gnocchi!  Well, I finally decided I wanted to try my hand at making them about a year or so ago.  After looking up several recipes in books and on the internet, I finally came up with a recipe that always works for me.  They turn out exactly the way they're supposed to.  They're great with a little tomato sauce, or sauteed in an herb-browned butter sauce.

If you like gnocchi, don't be shy about giving these a try!!

Potato Gnocchi

3 russet potatoes
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Boil the whole, unpeeled potatoes for approximately 35 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender when pierced.  Drain and let potatoes cool until they can be handled easily.

Mix egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Set aside.

Once potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel (often you can pull the skin right off the potatoes pretty easily with your fingers).  Put potatoes through a ricer (or push through the holes of a metal colander).  Mix riced potatoes with egg mixture.  Knead in flour, about 1/2 cup at a time.  On a lightly floured surface, knead dough, adding flour a little at a time if necessary, until dough is smooth and no longer sticky.

Divide dough into sixths.  Roll each piece of dough into a long rope, approximately 3/4-inch to 1-inch in diameter.  Cut rope into 1 inch pieces.  On a floured gnocchi paddle or back of a fork, roll each piece down the ridges (or tines) lightly with thumb, until dough curls on itself and is ridged. Place raw gnocchi on a floured surface.  Repeat with rest of dough. 

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add gnocchi.  When gnocchi float to top of water, continue cooking for another 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Remove from water with slotted spoon.  Serve with sauce or melt butter with sage in skillet over medium-high heat until lightly browned.  Add cooked gnocchi to butter sauce and saute lightly for a minute or so.  Serve with grated Parmigiana-Reggiano.

Thanks to Michael over at Designs by Gollum for hosting Foodie Friday!  Visit her site to see all the wonderful dishes everyone has made this week!! 

Tablescape Thursday - Golden Autumn

I'm not much of a "yellow" person, but I love the amber yellows of autumn.  The leaves, the fruits and vegetables... They're muted and warm, rich yet mellow.

I bought these plates several years ago from a shop in Duncan, BC (Canada) called Pots and Paraphernalia.  I had seen  similar plates used by Ann of Thibeault's Table, so Ann got the phone number of the store and business was done!  I love these plates!

 

 I found these bowls at Tuesday Morning for a mere 99 cents apiece.  The cream-colored salad plates were also found there for about $1.50 apiece.  I love a bargain!

I was so taken by this matelasse tablecloth several years ago, that I bought a second, smaller one for one of my bedside tables.   I believe they came from Horchow's.

The napkins were another Tuesday Morning find.  I was so happy to find a set of napkins to go so well with my Canadian dishes!

Guess where I found this bowl??  I'll give you a hint:  it's initials are "T" and "M"...

I've had these candlesticks for a hundred years...  It was love at first sight!

Besides cooking (and tablescaping!), one of my favorite hobbies is crocheting.  I have so many afghans all over my house!  I thought these afghans, which I made a year or so ago, would look nice draped over the back of a couple of the chairs for this setting.

 

Many thanks again to Susan of Between Naps On the Porch for hosting Tablescape Thursdays!!  Please visit her site to see the labors of the many inspired (and inspiring!), talented tablescapers!

Butter Bits

This recipe came from a wonderful friend of my family who passed away several years ago.  She was a sweet Italian woman, always kind, with an amazingly warm personality.  She gave my mother this recipe when I was a little girl, and they were my favorite cookie for a long time.  Mom would change them up a little sometimes, by placing half of a maraschino cherry or chocolate chips on the top of each cookie before going into the oven.   I'm very sentimental about these little cookies...  My thanks to Kay and to my mom for knowing a great but simple cookie when she sees it!!

Butter Bits

1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Mix all ingredients.  Place walnut-sized ball of dough on parchment- or silicone mat-lined baking sheet.  Flatten in criss-cross pattern with floured fork.  Bake for 15 - 18 minutes.  (Mine browned a little too much this time.)

When completely cooled, lightly sprinkle with confectioners's sugar before serving.

Yield:  1 to 1-1/2 dozen cookies

Asian-Lime Ribs

I love ribs.  It took me a long time to cook them myself, though.  I was very intimidated by them.  I have friends who have smokers just for their ribs.  I have no smoker.  I have friends who have secret recipes for marinating their ribs.  I have no secret recipes for marinating ribs.  What's a rib-loving girl to do??  Knowing I could never grill ribs as well as my friends, I came across a recipe for these Asian-Lime Ribs.  These were different.  They had a very different flavor than any I'd tasted before.  And the recipe is easy to follow and takes the guess work out of cooking ribs.  The sauce is sweet and spicy with an Asian flair.  They're delicious!  In fact, they're now my favorite ribs!


Asian-Lime Ribs

2 racks spareribs, trimmed

Rib Rub:
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon ground coriander

Asian-Lime Sauce:
3 tablespoons ginger, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons garlic, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

Dock meat between rib bones for extra flavor.

Combine ingredients for rub, and apply to ribs. Place in pan and cover tightly foil, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Double-check the foil to make sure it fits snugly around the pan. Slow roast the ribs in a 250 F. oven for about 2 hours, checking the ribs after about 1-1/2 hours. (You want the meat to pull away from the bones.)

Stir together ingredients for sauce. Brush on roasted racks of ribs before grilling.

Grill over medium-high heat a total of 15 minutes. Serve ribs with Asian-Lime Sauce.


Source:  Cuisine at Home

Spaghetti & Meatballs

I love Italian food.  Growing up in an area full of Italian-Americans, great Italian food was always readily available.  And since my best friend was/ is Italian, I learned how to make good Italian food!  My mother inherited several great recipes from her friends there and passed them down to me.  While I do like pasta, I love meatballs.  Not just any meatballs but the ones my mom taught me how to make.  I did make one slight change to the recipe, though.  Instead of frying them, I now bake them.  It's my preference, though if you want to fry them, by all means, knock yourself out!

One of the keys to great meatballs is to simmer them in the sauce for at least 30 minutes before serving.  It makes all the difference!  When my daughter started making them, her complaint was that they didn't taste like mine.  First question I asked her:  Did you simmer them in the sauce before serving?  Not realizing how important that was to their flavor and texture, she hadn't.  NOW she makes great meatballs, too!

Meatballs

3/4 pound ground chuck (I often use all ground chuck, or 1/2 pound ground chuck and 1/2 pound ground pork)
1 cup fine dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix all ingredients (I find it's easiest to do with my hands - clean hands, of course!) Shape into balls, a bit bigger than golf balls. I usually get 12 - 15 meatballs out of one batch. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet. (The parchment isn't necessary, but it makes clean-up MUCH easier!)

Bake for 30 minutes. Place in simmering spaghetti sauce for at least 30 minutes before serving.

For Printable Recipe, Click Here

Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup. I always thought that it was so called because it was traditionally served at Italian weddings. A little research uncovered that while Italian-American weddings may include it as a favorite part of the menu, the actual origin came from the way the flavors of the dish marry so well together.  My favorite part of Italian Wedding Soup are the tiny little meatballs.  They're so tender from being cooked in the broth, and, in return, they impart such a wonderful flavor to the broth.

A couple of years ago, I tried Rachael Ray's recipe for this soup.  As her recipes promise to be, it's quick and easy.  And though that's not necessarily a prerequisite in my kitchen, it sure is nice when I'm tired but want something healthy and filling.  What a great way to end the week!

Mini-Meatball Soup (Italian Wedding Soup)
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: --
Cook Time: 27 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 big servings

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bay leaves, fresh or dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground beef, pork and veal combined (I used 1/2 pound ground sirloin and 1/2 pound ground pork)
1 egg, beaten
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, a couple of handfuls
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs, a couple of handfuls
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
6 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups water
1-1/2 cups dried pasta, rings, broken fettuccini or ditalini (I used orecchiette)
1 pound triple washed fresh spinach, coarsely chopped (I used arugula)

In a deep pot over medium heat add oil, chopped carrots, celery and onions and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cover pot and cook veggies 5 or 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the veggies cook, combine meat, egg, garlic, grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg.

Uncover your soup pot and add broth and water to the pot. Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil. When soup boils, reduce heat a bit and start to roll meat mixture into small balls, dropping them straight into the pot. You are making meat dumplings that will cook in the broth. When you are done rolling the meat, add pasta to the soup and stir. Cover and simmer soup 10 minutes. When pasta is tender, stir in chopped spinach in batches. When spinach has wilted into the soup, the soup is done and ready to serve. Adjust your seasonings.