Scallion Soup Redux

Sunday dinner is something special at our house.  We both work on the meal, each one making a significant contribution.  This evening we wanted to try another recipe from one of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Cookbooks.  Jim chose to make Steak Diane from Al's Restaurant.  It was heaven!  My contribution was a fresh salad with lots of ingredients purchased from the farmer's market visit, a cup of scallion soup (that morphed into true delicate deliciousness overnight in the fridge, so forget what I said yesterday about adding another potato to the recipe, I wouldn't change a thing), a crusty roll, and glass of wine.  It was a delicious meal, beautifully and lovingly presented. 

I wish you could have joined us!

Scallion Soup

As mentioned in yesterday's post, while at the farm stand I picked up five bunches of scallions in order to try a new recipe that I've been wondering about for some time, Scallion Soup, cookbook author Colman Andrews's variation on vichyssoise.

  

Today I made the soup, using my own homemade chicken stock from the freezer, the farm fresh scallions, and a medium-sized russet potato. It's really very easy to put together, the most tedious part is cleaning and thinly slicing the scallions. I sampled it both hot and cold and I think I like it better chilled.

                                            

The texture of the soup became thicker when chilled making it feel a bit heartier than when warm, and it also provided a better base for the scallion garnish, that kept sinking to the bottom of the warm soup. The taste was light, the flavor uniquely scallion, but my thought was that it could have benefited from one or two more potatoes. When push comes to shove I prefer a warm soup over a cold one and this just wasn't quite thick enough for me.

Will I make it again? Yes, I think I will, it would make an excellent soup for a springtime luncheon, but I'll add more potato, replace 1/2 cup of stock with white wine (added at the end), and a pinch of cayenne.

SCALLION SOUP

5 large bunches scallions

2 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 russet potato, peeled and thinly sliced

6 cups chicken stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Trim and thinly slice scallions; set aside 1/2 cup in a small bowl for garnish, and cover with plastic wrap.

2. Melt butter with olive oil in a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add scallions, and cook, stirring often, until soft but not browned, about 20 minutes. Add potatoes and chicken stock, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until potatoes begin to disintegrate, 35–40 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Allow soup to cool slightly; then purée in an electric blender or food processor until smooth. Stir in cream, mixing in thoroughly, and adjust seasonings. Serve hot or cold, garnished with reserved scallions.

This recipe was first published in Saveur in Issue #47

Lion's Head soup bowl: Sur la Table

Green underplate: Fiestaware

Green handled spoon: Fiesta flatware

A Trip to the Farm Stand

There are two places I like to go in the fall; one is driving up the Great River Road to see the eagles and the beautiful scenery, the other is visiting farmer’s markets and farm stands. Today we did the latter. It was a gorgeous day for a drive out to the country and we were richly rewarded with so many visual delights. Instead of describing everything in great detail, I’ll let you have a look at just a few of the over 50 photos I took today. We came home with bags of fresh produce, a huge mum in a wine color, but nary a pumpkin despite the many displayed.

This charming sign greeted us as we approached the store.  While taking pictures I made a point to try to get at least one that would make a great cover shot for my Halloween cards this year.  I think this one might be it!

It's probably best to have a plan in mind when shopping farmer's markets, but we had none, we just kept wandering, and oohing and ahhing at all that was available.  As usual when I'm without a list, my mind went blank, but I did remember to pick up 5 bunches of scallions to try the new recipe I have for scallion soup.  It's supposed to be a variation on vichyssoise.

Look at the size of these radishes!  I had Jim hold up a bunch to try to give them some scale, but their grandeur still cannot be fully realized in this picture.  The largest one here was about the size of a small baseball.  We bought these.  They were just too odd not to buy them. 

We were sucked in by the gourds as well.  Have you ever seen anything more colorful?  And such variety!  I had not seen some of the unusual types that they had here.  At 3 for $1.00 we bought a dozen.  I'm hoping they'll look wonderful in a bronze leaf dish that resides on the coffee table in the living room.

Look at these pumpkins!  HUGE! Way too big for either of us to lift.  We really liked the oddball shapes and the fact that some of these looked so gnarly and had weird growths on them.  PERFECT for Halloween!  I was really looking for a small sugar pumpkin though, and what they had were more decorative than for culinary use.

When it comes to charm, Thies Farm and Greenhouses in Maryland Heights, MO has it over most of the others in the area, I think.  It is a fifth generation farm that has been in business since 1885.  The "Pumpkin Land" set up for kids took up an area about the size of a football field, and had one clever activity station after another.  Loads of kids were having a blast there today; my ears are still ringing from the squeals of joy.

For more colorful farm stand photos, please see my Flickr photostream. 

Have a great weekend!

Blueberry Pancakes with Warm Blueberry Sauce

You will learn if you read this blog with any regularity, that I LOVE breakfast, specifically pancakes and waffles.  Well, also scones and biscuits, and pretty much any other high carb item that you can imagine would be great with a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee -- OMG! Krispy Kreme Pumpkin Spice Donuts! -- but I digress.  Lately, however, my interest has been strongly leaning towards pancakes and waffles and the vast amount of varieties there seem to be.  I was stunned, for example, at the very large number of books on the subject.  I've checked out as many as possible from the library in order to give them my personal review so I know just which one(s) I want to add to my ever-growing collection of cookbooks. My plan, of course, is to try EVERYTHING! So far I'm leaning toward the Dorie Greenspan book, Pancakes: From Morning to Midnight, I mean how wrong can you ever go with Dorie?  But I guess the reason this one appeals so much is the nostalgia factor.  The thought of pancakes for dinner takes me back to my young days when my father would go out of town and my mother, too weary from her day to make a big dinner for the two of us, would make pancakes and bacon.  It was one of my favorite meals and always softened the blow of having my dad leave town.

In the meantime, when I want something that I know will be great, I turn to Ina, who has not once let me down. This morning’s breakfast was a recipe of hers that appeared as a part of a column she wrote for Good Housekeeping Magazine. The pancakes were delicious! Light, fluffy, beautiful little works of art that lifted off of the Griddler in berry-studded perfection. The sauce was equally good, though considering the blueberries we’ve been buying this time of year have been a bit on the tart side, I did double the amount of sugar. The recipe made a pile of pancakes, the rest of which are now in the freezer for future mornings when I want pancakes, but not the effort it takes to make them.

Blueberry Pancakes with Warm Blueberry Sauce

2 tablespoons water

½ teaspoon cornstarch

3 ½ cups blueberries

5 tablespoons sugar (divided)

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon grated orange zest*

½ teaspoon salt

1 ¾ cups buttermilk

4 tablespoons butter, melted

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Place cookie sheet in oven.

Prepare blueberry sauce: In 1-quart saucepan, combine water, cornstarch, 1 1/2 cups blueberries, and 2 tablespoons sugar, and heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Boil 1 to 2 minutes or until berries burst. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice.

Prepare pancakes: In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, orange zest, salt, and remaining sugar. Stir in buttermilk, butter, and eggs just until flour mixture is moistened. Stir in remaining berries. Lightly grease griddle or nonstick 12-inch skillet; heat over medium heat until very hot. Drop batter by 1/4 cups onto hot griddle, spreading batter gently to make 4-inch rounds. Cook pancakes 2 to 3 minutes. (Pancakes are ready to turn when batter begins to set, bubbles start to burst, and edges look dry.) Turn pancakes over, using a wide spatula. Cook 1 to 2 minutes longer, until puffy and undersides are a rich golden brown. Transfer pancakes to cookie sheet in oven; keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter, greasing griddle if needed. Serve pancakes with blueberry sauce.

*The orange zest is my own addition. I tend to think that all pancake recipes benefit from a tiny bit of citrus zest, either orange or lemon.

PRINT RECIPE

Have a great morning!

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Is it time for a cookie?

I thought it just might be. After all, you've been so patient reading through recipes for savory things that I thought a cookie just might be in order, and these are particularly good. While in appearance they look like just ordinary chocolate chip cookies, they are so much more than that. Imagine a chocolate chip cookie, kicked up with the added addition of honey-roasted peanuts and peanut butter cups. Did I mention peanut butter?  It's in there too.  Oh yeah, now that’s a cookie!

Awesome Blowouts

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened (unsalted or regular)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

3/4 cup honey roasted peanuts

3/4 cup coarsely chopped bite-size chocolate-covered peanut butter cups (about 15)

Heat oven to 350°F.

Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and peanut butter. Add sugars, baking soda and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla extract. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer, then stir in remaining flour by hand. Stir in chocolate pieces, peanuts and peanut butter cups. Drop by generously rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets, placing cookie dough about 2 inches apart.

Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees F or until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack. Yield: about 2 1/2 dozen

NOTE: Wrapped peanut butter cups may be frozen for an hour, then unwrapped and chopped.

This recipe is just one of about 45 others that currently make up the new mini mystery cookbook that I recently created called Murderously Good Morsels. Others include: Badass BLT Dip, Dark & Stormy, Dracula's Favorite Tomato Bisque, C.S.Ice Cream Pie, and many more.  It’s a fun little cookbook of tried-and-true recipes with a mystery slant.

Split Pea Soup

Pumpkin display at Bowood Farms Garden Center, St. Louis, MO



I am not a fan of peas per se, and was never a fan of pea soup until a couple of years ago when a dear a friend brought me a vat of it when I was recovering from a long illness. Too tired to cook, I warmed up her soup, baked some crusty rolls, and sat down for a meal that was unexpectedly delicious. The soup, much to my surprise, was heaven! Rich and smoky and flavorful and so comforting that one bowl called for another.

I figured something this good must be the result of a well-guarded old family recipe that had evolved into such deliciousness at the hands of many generations of women leaning over soup pots testing various combinations of herbs and spices until they finally got the recipe just right. As a consequence I wondered if she'd be willing to share, and it was with great trepidation that I called to make my humble request. Was she ever! The "secret" it seemed was a Honey Baked ham bone and package of split pea soup mix! The simple recipe is on the back of the box, and calls for little more than making the purchase of both bone and mix, and chopping up some vegetables that you no doubt have in the crisper of your fridge.

When you try this, and I insist that you do, be prepared for a heady fragrance to fill your home as it begins to simmer. Be sure to get the meatiest bone offered, the butt end, if possible, and prepare yourself for some nibbling once the bone is removed and lies cooling on the plate. I dare you to resist!

I consider the soup-making ritual one of the most pleasant of all of the harbingers of fall, and consider this soup in particular as the official marker. What soups do you make and what feelings do they evoke?

Green plate:  Metlox Lotus, gift from my mother

Yellow plate:  Fiestaware, Macy’s

Orange spoon:  Fiesta Flatware, Macy's

Soup cup:  Konitz Cappuccino Cups (for which I find INNUMERABLE uses), Amazon





Kirby’s Grandmother’s Meatloaf with Wild Mushroom Demiglace

I like meatloaf. I always have. As a kid, meatloaf night seemed like putting one over on mom because I always topped my slice with mustard and pickles and told myself I was getting away with having a hamburger for dinner. Like most kids back then, hamburgers were my favorite food; my dream meal was a hamburger, red Jell-O, and chocolate milk. I cringe at the thought today, but still love a good burger – cheeseburgers now -- and I still enjoy meatloaf. But unlike the tomato-topped loaf served to me as a kid, I’m now in search of the perfect meatloaf, the one with the most sophisticated combination of tastes, a firm texture, and topped with a sauce of complex and exotic flavors, a “company worthy” meatloaf that people feel privileged to consume. A meatloaf so good that even non-meatloaf lovers clamor for the recipe.  (Okay, maybe not clamor, but request with zeal.) I have found such a recipe, and by a rather circuitous course. Not only are the ingredients unique, but the method of cooking is as well (we’ll talk about this one later), but despite having found the meatloaf to end all meatloaves, I still search for something to exceed this level of perfection. I’ve come close, but so far my recipe is the winner. I do enjoy the hunt though, and even today while trying a recipe from a well-regarded local restaurant and thoroughly enjoying it, I can smile smugly knowing mine is still better.

Last night’s dinner was thick slices of Kirby’s Grandmother’s Meatloaf with Wild Mushroom Demi Glace from the Eleven Eleven Mississippi Restaurant in St. Louis, MO. It was relatively easy to prepare, but did call for a number of ingredients we don’t normally stock, including Veal Demi-Glace that I ended up getting as a gift for my birthday last week. It may sound lame, but this little jar goes for a whopping $30 at Williams-Sonoma, so was a thoughtful gift indeed for a foodie like me. From what I hear from people who’ve actually made their own veal stock, it’s well worth every penny.

The recipe for this dish came from one of my favorite cookbooks called More Special Requests, a publication of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and volume two of a compilation of the most requested area restaurant recipes. It’s a wonderful cookbook. A beautiful color picture accompanies each recipe, and I find this a must in a really good cookbook. Directions are clear and concise, so it’s easy to create restaurant quality food at home. I’ve been slowly working my way through this book as well as the original, simply entitled Special Requests, ever since I received the duo in the mail a couple of months ago. As a third volume, I’m told, is in the works, so buying these two now is a great deal because if you buy the second edition, you get the first one free. To purchase both, go to the online Post-Dispatch Store, and your cookbooks will soon be winging their way to you. I assure you, you will not regret it.

I like to assemble all needed ingredients before I start. I find this speeds up the cooking/baking process and will ensure I don’t forget anything. (This brings to mind the birthday cake incident of 2002, something I’ll share with you later.)

I cut the recipe in half since there’s just the two of us and not only did we have ample portions this evening, we’ll have meatloaf sandwiches for lunch tomorrow, and will freeze the remainder and extra demi-glace for a nice winter meal at some point in the future. I did not, however, shorten the cooking time, so if you make this, do let it go the full 90 minutes to assure doneness.

The amount of bacon seemed a bit hefty, but surprisingly there wasn’t a lot of excess grease after the meat had cooked, just a very flavorful, very moist loaf.

If you can’t read the recipe from the picture below and would like to have it to try this out for yourself, please email me and I’ll send it to you.

Bon Appetit!

You can also find this recipe and many more at Cookbook Sundays.