Smokey Quinoa Chili

Last week SSSal's laptop got sick.

Really sick.

She started getting warning messages about the XPAntivirus2010 virus. The warning about the virus was actually the virus itself. This particular virus is something called scare-ware; it's designed to scare you into buying the alleged Microsoft anti-virus fix. The software has nothing to do with Microsoft and buying it only shuts off the virus that they just gave you. In it's own way it's an elegant scam.

Of course we didn't buy the "fix" but set out trying to purge it ourselves. I gave it a shot, no luck; CrabCake2 gave it a try to no avail. We tried calling Geek Squad, their answer: "Bring it in; it'll be at least 7 days and at least $200."

Really, 7 days and $200 from the supposed leaders of on-demand computer help.

"Look, we're really busy, maybe I can look at in 5 days."

No thanks.

The next place we called said 3 days and $300 or 7 days and $200. Ah, pay extra for faster service, what a concept! We live in Ann Arbor Michigan, home to the University of Michigan; there are kids roaming the streets who can build a nuclear reactor out of 2 burritos, 6 Gummi Bears and a case of Red Bull and we had to wait 5 - 10 days to fix a computer?!? It didn't make any sense.

And then light dawned on Marblehead.

"Call the University Computer Store" said I.

"But you need to be a student or an employee to use them" said she.

"No, no, we're not going to use them per se. We're going to ask them if they know someone who might be able to help us" said he, "and make sure you act a little frantic and close to tears when you talk to them".

A five minute phone call, a few conspiratorially whispers and a brusque, "Call Beagle Brain in Nickels", CLICK, and we were saved. Seven hours and $90 later the machine is running like never before; after they were done I swear we were picking up a live feed from a secret Russian Cabinet meeting.

Beagle Brain

Nickels Arcade

Ann Arbor, MI

734.623.9000

Ask for Joel

Well when you're sick you need something hearty to bring you back to life. Chili I say. Smokey Quinoa Chili is a vegetarian recipe that can be easily saved by introducing some sauteed ground beef. Today I'm going to present the recipe as is and then let you folks adjust. Quinoa (pronounced: what the hell is that), is a seed that looks like a cereal that is packed with fiber and protein; it makes for a great base to this chili. So, take a risk and enjoy...

Smokey Quinoa Chili

from Peggy Lampman, AnnArbor.com adjusted by Crabby & SSSal

2 TBSP olive oil

1 yellow onion, diced

2 teaspoons minced garlic, about 3 cloves

2 celery stalks, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced or 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

1 TBSP chili powder, smoked if available

1 teaspoon cumin

1 15-ounce can kidney beans*

1 15-ounce can pinto or black beans*

1 15-ounce can cannellini beans*

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup quinoa, (red, black or white) rinsed and drained

2 cups vegetable, beef or chicken stock (have more available to thin the chili if necessary)

1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels

Sour cream, avocado slices and lime wedges for garnish

Heat the oil in a large heavy-duty pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Saute the onions, garlic, jalapeno, celery, chili powder, cumin and a pinch of salt for 7-8 minutes or until the vegetables are limp and slightly browned.

Add all the beans, tomatoes, stock and quinoa; bring to a boil. Stir.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 35-45 minutes. Have additional stock available if the chili becomes too thick.

Stir in the corn and simmer until heated.

Serve with sour cream, avocado slices and lime wedge garnish.

*Note that Peggy touted Eden Foods organic beans from Michigan which are fabulous. If you use organic beans, you don't need to drain or rinse the canned beans.

There. Pretty hearty if you remember to throw in some sauteed ground beef. The best part about this recipe is that no beagles were harmed during its preparation.

OK crablings, I'm outta here. Always use protection with your computer and remember, you can do it, you can cook.

Ginger Udon Noodles with Mushrooms, Snow Peas & Beef

Well "The Big Game" is over. Saints fans are happy, Colts fans not so much. Of course most us us are just wondering how long it's going to take to work off consuming a quart of guacamole, 6 beers and 2 half-pound pulled pork sandwiches. "The Big Game"? More like "The Big Gain".

Now enter the vast wasteland that is winter sports on TV. Yeah, yeah, I know the Olympics are coming up, but I just don't get that excited about people going sledding. And please don't talk to me about the Opening Ceremonies.

"Wow Matt, look at that flag!"

"Oooh, you're right Anne, and check out the hats on the Tagalog Curling Team! What a particularly festive use of straw."

Face it, the Opening Ceremonies are about watching people in weird clothes walking.

For 3 1/2 hours.

Where I come from we call that golf.

How can anyone possibly suffer from insomnia?

Ah well, I know I'm outnumbered on this so I'll just float along. Best thing to do is make some soup, hop onto the couch and hope I finish it before falling asleep watching the Parade of Nations. Ginger Udon with Mushrooms, Snow Peas & Beef is my jazzed up version of a "healthy" recipe that SSSal found. Quick, easy and filling. So crank up the TV and enjoy...

Ginger Udon with Mushrooms, Snow Peas & Beef

from Cookstr.com with adjustments and additions by Crabby

6 cups chicken broth

8 ounces uncooked buckwheat (udon) Japanese noodles

2 TBSP cooking oil, separated

1 TBSP dark sesame oil

2 TBSP soy sauce

2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

2 cups (approx. 4 ounces) fresh snow peas

8 ounces portobello mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed and thinly sliced

4 scallions, thinly sliced

Pepper to taste

1 strip steak (approx 12 ounces) trimmed of fat and sliced thinly across the grain

Have all the vegetables and beef cleaned and prepped.

In a large soup pot, bring the broth to a boil. Add the udon noodles and cook per package instructions.

While the udon are cooking, heat a saute pan or wok over high heat. When hot add 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and the sesame oil. Add the mushrooms, snow peas, ginger and soy sauce, reduce the heat to medium-high and cook until the snow peas become crisp tender, about 3 minutes.

Add the vegetables to the pot containing the udon.

Reheat the wok and add the remaining tablespoon of cooking oil. When hot add the sliced steak and saute for 90 seconds, tossing occasionally.

Add the beef to the soup pot.

Ladle the beef and noodles into bowls making sure to add some broth. Garnish with the sliced scallions. Serve.

There you go, a souper bowl, great for a cold winter's night or an interminable parade. Until next time crablings, remember you can do it, you can cook.

White Bean Soup

Now that wasn't so hard was it?

I post. You say something. Everybody's happy. It's a snap!

There was a range of comments, from the satisfyingly obsequious "we're so sorry for not commenting" types, to those with some helpful suggestions. Let me take some time to respond.

Mags, you're right, I do need to make a better effort to post on other sites and any story about farting nuns is sure to increase your traffic.

To YesicanCook, I'm glad you enjoy the writing. While I was quite pleased with myself over the usage of hirsute and messianic, I have to admit I thought the linguistic-obtuse high point came with suzerain.

Of course not all the comments were sweetness and light. Anonymous (you know who you are) took a bit of a professorial tone with yours truly. Anony suggested that part of the issue was that I don't post often enough and that perhaps my claw-like persona gives commenters pause. Well crablings, you have nothing to fear from me. I am both patient and beneficent when it comes to my flock. I admit that immediately after reading Anony's comments my thoughts turned to the best way of remorselessly eviscerating him/her, but then SSSal pointed out that such an approach might be counter-productive to my goal of increased commentary.

Sigh.

But let me address one of Anony's points. Posting more often presents problems. Five paragraphs five days a week with five recipes projects out to very bloated writing and a very, very bloated Crabby. I could just post something short but Hi-Can't Haiku. So, for now, two posts a week it will remain.

Alright, enough of that. It's cold out and there's a limited prospect for warmth anytime soon. This recipe is from a Williams-Sonoma Catalog page. I always wondered what a recipe from a catalog would taste like. As it turns out, pretty good. Easy and warming, enjoy...

White Bean Soup

from some random Williams-Sonoma catalog

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup chopped pancetta

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 cans (15 ounces each) cannelini beans, drained & rinsed

5 cups chicken broth

3/4 teaspoon finely chopped thyme

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Salt & Pepper to taste

12 baguette slices

1 cup jarred roasted red peppers

2 TBSP finely chopped flat leaf parsley

1 teaspoon sherru vinegar

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon honey

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy duty pot or Dutch Oven. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy, about 5 minutes.

Add the onion, carrot and celery. stirring occasionally, cook until softened, about 8 - 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute.

Add the cannelini beans, broth and thyme. Bring to a rolling simmer.

Cover, reduce heat to low and cook until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it reaches your desired level of smoothness. Stir in the cheese, adjust the seasoning. Keep warm.

Heat a cast iron grill pan or broiler to medium-high heat. Brush both sides of the baguette slices with olive oil. Season with salt. Toast the bread turning once; about 2 minutes per side.

Roughly chop the jarred red peppers. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in 1/2 teaspoon salt, the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, vinegar, parsley, red pepper flakes and honey. Top each baguette slice with red pepper tapenade.

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with 1 or 2 baguette slices.

Tada. Warm again. Really a very easy recipe, perfect for those nights when you know you need to eat but don't want the hassle of a full-blown meat-and-two-veg extravaganza. Don't skip the baguettes though, they really make the meal and are easy using jarred peppers.

OK crablings, keep the comments coming. Until next time, remember you can do it, you can cook.

White Bean & Pasta Soup

CrabCake 2 has the flu.

My symptoms are trailing his by about 2 days.

Around noon Monday CC2 said his head hurt and he had a scratchy throat. By 4PM he had a 102 fever, a hacking dry cough, headache and runny nose. You don't need a medical degree to see flu.

Of course we talked to the doctor's office and it's the usual answers, rest, plenty of fluids, Tylenol and Motrin staggered by a couple of hours, call us if it gets worse. Worse!?! He's got a 102 fever! How much worse do you want? Well if he's still feverish on Thursday bring him in.

Thursday morning breaks but his fever hasn't. So after once again running through the doctor's automated phone gauntlet of choices and after having the same conversation as Tuesday with the "phone triage nurse", we were given an appointment.

We got there at 4PM. As soon as they realize we are a "potential flu case", both of us are immediately issued face masks and ushered to an isolated waiting area. This is a waiting area that's over the river and through the woods, past all the doctors' and nurses' lockers and down by the business offices. We are quarantined folks, pure and simple.

In the waiting area are other masked "potential flu cases". We are our own little pod of Typhoid Marys, ready to wreak havoc on the countryside by simply breathing. We waited. I was just about ready to rouse the rabble by throwing off our masks and gleefully running through the halls threatening to talk to everyone unless we got some help, when the nurse arrived. I think she was a nurse but I'm not really sure, she was covered head to toe in plastic. Plastic cap, plastic goggles, gloves up to the elbow and a plastic gown that can best be described as baby blue Hefty bag. Quite attractive really, very slimming.

We were ushered to an examination room where she took CC2's vitals and then used Purell disinfectant on her gloves, which she then threw away, before sending in the doctor. The doctor walked in wearing the same get-up; she looked more ready to knock off a bank than perform a diagnosis. I couldn't resist asking, "Why the get up? Are patients spontaneously combusting?" "Just precautions", but she sheepishly conceded that to date none of her patients had actually exploded.

After a ten minute exam she conclude that CC2 had the flu and I was probably coming down with it. Wow, four years of med school told you that huh? She said CC2 was through the worst of it so just keep getting plenty of rest and drinking lots of fluids. That's it? You greet us and treat us like we're carrying Ebola and the best you've got is, go back to bed and have some soup?

Here's a tip for all the kids out there: Forget Medical School, just get a good Soup cookbook.

Soup! You gotta be kidding me! Well here's Crabby's contribution to National Health Care and the recipe's free. All this cure costs is the price of the ingredients and the time it takes to prep it. White Bean & Pasta Soup is pretty easy to make and if you have leftover chicken lying around you can throw it into the pot, so pull up a box of Kleenex and enjoy...

White Bean & Pasta Soup

from Bon Apetit, October 2009 with a few tweaks from Crabby

3 TBSP Olive Oil

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped carrots

2/3 cup chopped celery

3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock

2 (14.5 ounce) can white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large tomato, seeded and diced

1 cup cooked pasta, I like elbow shaped

1/3 cup chopped scallions

Extra olive oil for drizzling

Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery. Saute the vegetables until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute an additional minute.

Add the chicken stock, beans and tomato and bring to a simmer. Cook for 25 minutes. Roughly puree part of the soup with a stick blender.

Mix in the pasta.

If the soup is too thick add water 1/2 cupful at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

Ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on some of the chopped green onion.

There you go, you're cured. I'll be billing your insurance companies $1,000 each. For what it's worth, I have the same symptoms as CC2 except for the fever. Seems as though old crabs like me get the flu but with far less severe effects. I'm off to bed crablings, I'll be back next week. Until then remember you can do it, you can cook.

Gazpacho

I'm in full deluge mode: hip-waders, mask, snorkel, forklift. The garden is in its final run. Things are ripening at a frightening rate. I can actually hear the deck groaning under the weight of all the vegetables.

This time of year is a reminder that no good deed goes unpunished. I have so many bits of self-produced produce I'm running out of places to store it. I don't "do" canning. Canning is just putting off the inevitable. If I'm not going to eat the stuff now, I'm certainly not going to eat it in February. No, there will be no exploding jars in the Crabby household. We grow now, we eat now.

This time of year that leads me down a path perilously close to vegetarianism. I'm constantly on the look out for recipes that consume huge amounts of vegetables. The family is getting sick of fresh pasta sauce and after 8 loaves, no one in their right minds wants to look at another zucchini bread.

The one consolation is that I know that it's not too long before the oven's going to be cranking out all sorts of roast beasties. So fatten up my ovine, bovine, porcine and avian friends, Crabby's going carnivorous very, very soon. But not today.

Today's recipe is Gazpacho. Gazpacho is one of those recipes that seems to have a million variations. I interpret that to mean, no matter what you do, you can't screw up. I prefer a smoother texture, so I run most of the tomatoes through a food mill but I leave the other vegetables bite size. It's a nice combination of textures and it plows through a heck of a lot of produce, so please enjoy...

Gazpacho

adapted and adjusted by Crabby from a number of different recipes

Necessary Equipment: A Food Mill

3 pounds ripe tomatoes

2 cups tomato juice

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 medium red onion, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and minced

1/2 green pepper, seeded and chopped to small dice

1/2 yellow pepper, seeded and chopped to small dice

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 TBSP balsamic vinegar

1 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Optional Garnish/Serving Ingredients

5 large basil leaves in chiffonade

Sour Cream

Ripe Avocado slices

Choose 1 pound of the largest tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. When the water boils, immerse the 1 pound of tomatoes and return to a boil. As soon as the skin on the tomatoes splits, remove them from the water and allow to cool on a small plate. Optionally, if you don't own a food mill, you can prep all the tomatoes this way, though it is much more time consuming and messy.

After they have cooled for five minutes and working over a large bowl, carefully pick up the tomatoes and remove the skins by hand. Transfer the tomatoes to a cutting board and roughly chop the flesh, removing any seeds.

Transfer the chopped tomatoes and any collected juices to the large glass bowl.

Quarter the remaining tomatoes. Working in batches over the glass bowl, pass the quartered tomatoes through a food mill, capturing the meat and juices. Discard the residual skins and seeds caught by the food mill.

After processing the tomatoes add the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate the soup and allow it to sit for at least 2 hours. The flavors will mesh over time. Adjust seasoning just prior to serving.

How about that! Now I'm not going to lie; I have a hand crank food mill and this soup can be a messy workout, but the results are worth it.

Alright crablings, I'm outta here. Until next time, remember you can do it, you can cook.

Chilled Beet Soup

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

Growing up my father worked on a steam locomotive, helping his father, the engineer. He often traveled with his father, and on February 13th, 1945 they pulled into Dresden Germany. His father was killed in the first night's bombing, and if not for a passing soldier, my father would have died, burned, at 14.

His home country, Lithuania, first overrun by the Nazis and now occupied by Stalin, held nothing for him. So he made his way to a refugee camp where he finagled a job as a food server. He knew that being close to the food meant you would eat.

Every day a 7-year old orphan came through the line and, for whatever reason, my father gave him an extra scoop of food. The orphan said, "Thank you, I'll remember this". One day the orphan didn't show up for dinner and my father went to find out what was going on. He learned that the boy had left for America, he'd been "sponsored", bought for adoption really, by a widowed English teacher from Framingham Massachusetts.

A year passed and my father was approaching his 16th birthday. At the time, 16 year old males were offered automatic Australian citizenship if they agreed to immediately join the military. My father wanted out of the refugee camp and he wanted to be a citizen somewhere. He had the forms ready when he was called to the Red Cross tent.

"Would you like to go to America?"

My father, recognizing Fate tapping him on the shoulder, said "Yes!"

The ocean crossing was rough, but he made it with the clothes on his back and nothing more. The ship docked in Boston on his 16th birthday. Disembarking, he saw a small crowd at the end of the gangway, a few people, a reporter, a photographer, and in the middle of the group, a now 9-year old boy.

"See, I told you I'd remember."

True story.

It's Fourth of July and the Statue of Liberty is back in business. America is a country of immigrants and visitors. I can't think of a better time to post a recipe from the "old country". This is Boonsta's version of chilled beet soup. Now I know this recipe is going to be controversial. This is NOT borscht! This is a cool, refreshing, slightly tart summer soup, perfect for a hot night. Enjoy...

Chilled Beet Soup

by Boonsta

serves about 6

1 pound beets

1 cup half & half

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups water

2 TBSP fresh dill, chopped

1 small sweet onion, diced

1 pickling cucumber, thinly sliced

salt & pepper to taste

2 sliced hard boiled eggs for serving

Wash the unpeeled beets to remove any dirt. Place the beets in a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender (a sharp knife should easily pierce the flesh), depending on the size of the beets, this could take 20 to 40 minutes.

Drain, allow to cool slightly, then peel. The tough outer skin should slide off easily.

When the beets are cold, grate them on a box grater or in your food processor. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the half & half, buttermilk, water and sour cream. Mix well to combine.

Stir in the beets, sliced cucumber, dill and diced onion. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

When cold, ladle into serving bowls and garnish with slices of hard boiled egg.

Peasant food, simple and flavorful. For a smoother texture, add the beets and onion to the liquid and use a stick blender to puree the soup. Then add the cukes, dill and eggs.

OK crablings, I'm off to sit in a lounge chair and watch some fireworks. Until next time, remember, you can do it you can cook.

Sauerkraut Soup & The Bitter Taste of Defeat

"Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily."

Well, the results are in, and the people have spoken, the bastards.

Your fearless leader suffered a good old fashioned butt-whoopin'. After a week long polling, Crabby failed to capture the title of Best New Food Blog over at the Well-Fed Network. I made a run late in the polls but it wasn't enough. What part of "vote early" was difficult to understand?

"Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan."

No, no, I'm not going to be bitter. I'm not going to dwell on the rather indifferent response from Crab Nation. I refuse to wallow in a pool of recrimination, spewing invective at my so called support. I will congratulate the victor and wish them "Bonne Chance", reminding them that leading is so much more difficult than winning.

"It's better to have the skunk inside the tent peeing out than outside peeing in."

I feel so, so...Republican.

I tried to think of a recipe to go with the results, something that matched the mood of the country and your vanquished leader. It is a time to reflect, to lick our wounds and to begin the process of healing, of course that means soup. What better soup than one from my youth. A potent and bittersweet concoction from the Boonsta. Many of you will turn your noses up at this recipe, you will be making a mistake. So, even though we are angry, maudlin and morose, please try and enjoy...


Boonsta's Sauerkraut Soup
By Crabby's Mom

1 can (28 oz.) Sauerkraut
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 can (14 oz.) low-sodium chicken broth
2 cans (14 oz. each) vegetable broth
1/2 cup tomato juice
1 pound "country style" spare ribs
1 bay leaf
6 peppercorns
Salt to taste

Put all the ingredients in a large, heavy-duty soup pot over medium heat. As the broth begins to boil, turn heat down to a low simmer and cook for 60 minutes.


Serve with boiled potatoes.


There you have it. This is a sweet-tart soup. Those of you who like a sharp bite in your food will love this. You can round out the tanginess of the sauerkraut by sauteing it along with a sweet onion in some butter before adding it to the stock pot. Just make sure and let the kraut brown slightly, it will dramatically mellow the vinegar taste and bring out some of the sugars.

Well crablings, I'm off to my hole in the coral. Time to drown my sorrows in tequila and coconut rum. Until next time, remember, you can do it, you can cook.

Oh yeah, Crabby Quiz: There are three quotations in the body of this post, identify the speakers.

Pho Bo, Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup

We've never lived in Alaska.

Visited once on a cruise ship. Spectacular place; I highly recommend it.

But we've never lived there.

The closest we've come to living in that kind of environment is Minnesota. While the landscape doesn't compare, the weather can be uncomfortably similar.

Bitter sub-zero temperatures for weeks on end. Savage keening winds and snow; endless snow.

We loved it there.

We found intriguing ways to pass the time. There was a very small pond in our neighborhood. One January all the neighbors decided to have a "cookout" on the pond. Dads plowed so the kids could skate. Moms prepared salads and "hotdish" to share. We set up a few grills and had a party.

Of course that day the air temperature was -10F, (-23C). The grills were used as much for warming fingers as for cooking. The high point came when I went to get some accouterments for my grilled sausage. The sauerkraut and the fork in it were a frozen mass. The mustard was more icicle than steady stream. Even the beer had turned slushy.

Ah, good times.

It's getting colder here. So it's back to another soup. While living in Minnesota we started visiting Vietnamese and Hmong restaurants. CrabCake 1, at the ripe old age of 9, fell in love with Pho, a Vietnamese/Cambodian Beef Noodle Soup. Here's a recipe that comes close to getting the seasoning right, please enjoy and warm up to...


Pho Bo, Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup
from Gourmet magazine and a few tweaks by Crabby

6 cups beef broth
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 slice of ginger (1 chunk)
2 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
3/4 pound boneless beef sirloin, trimmed of fat
8 ounces dried rice noodles
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (available in the Asian section of most supermarkets)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup fresh bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
1 baby bok choy (or small napa cabbage), thinly sliced
1/4 cup minced scallions
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, washed and roughly chopped
1 small red or green Asian (Thai), chile, sliced very thin
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
Lime wedges for garnish


In a large pot, bring the broth, ginger, star anise and cinnamon stick to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When boiling, add the rice noodles and cook according to package directions. When finished, drain and set aside.

While the broth is simmering, cut the sirloin into thin slices, making sure to cut across the grain of the meat. Set aside.

After the broth has simmered, removed the star anise, ginger chunk and cinnamon stick.

Return the broth to a low boil and add the fish sauce, NOTE: If you cannot find fish sauce, substitute clam juice, which should be available in your supermarket.

Add the chopped bok choy and simmer for 1 minute.

Add the beef, bean sprouts, salt and pepper. Boil for 30 seconds.

Remove from heat.

Place noodles into serving bowls. Ladle soup over the noodles. Sprinkle scallions, cilantro, chilies and basil over the soup. Serve with a lime wedge garnish.


Pretty simple actually. What's nice about this soup is the variety of spicy flavors. It's a nice change of pace from standard beef noodle soup. One thing, the Thai chilies can be quite hot, so if you're sensitive to that, drop down to a jalapeno or Anaheim pepper.

OK crablings, The temperature is really going to drop this week, so I'm off to build a fire and wrap myself up in wool sweaters. Until next time, remember, you can do it, you can cook.

Mushroom Soup, Comin' Down The Christmas Homestretch

Car, store, argument, line, pay, home.

Car, store, argument, line, pay, home.

Far and away the worst part of Christmas is finding that "perfect gift". For the "people in your life" you have to show some creativity. Presents from a list are great, but to really impress, you have to come up with something they haven't thought about. Something that shows you know them better than they know themselves.

Welcome to our store, enjoy your shopping experience here at Stress & Aggravation.

Life has gotten simpler now that the CrabCakes only want cash or gift cards. As for SSSal and I, we muddle through. We sort of tell each other what we want and then pick one thing and ignore the rest. I still bop downtown and stroll the shops, but it's just so much more relaxing knowing that you don't have to actually buy anything.

I usually pick a cold day for my foray into retail battle, mostly so I can look forward to getting home and cooking something easy and warming. Today it's another soup. I know we had one a week ago, but it's that time of year. Here's a simplified Mushroom Soup, not one of those overly creamed types, just something with good flavor and warmth to take the edge off mall mayhem. Enjoy...


Mushroom Soup
by Crabby with help from Giada, Ina and Julia

1 pound white mushrooms
1/2 pound crimini (baby bella) mushrooms
Juice of 1 lemon
2 TBSP unsalted butter
3 TBSP shallots, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
Zest of 1 lemon
1 TBSP chopped parsley, for garnish

Clean all the mushrooms, trimming any tough stems. Roughly chop the 'shrooms, sprinkle with lemon juice and set aside, (alternatively, you could put the mushrooms into a food processor and lightly pulse until you get the desired sized chunks).

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and lightly saute the minced shallots. Add the mushrooms and thyme. Saute over medium high heat until all the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated, approximately 10 minutes.

Add the salt, pepper, chicken stock and cream and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Salt and pepper to taste. Serve in warm bowls with a sprinkle of parsley and lemon rind.


Tada!! Another fairly quick recipe. While this soup does contain cream, it has a fairly thin texture. If you're looking for a thicker soup you have two choices: 1) take a little cold water, say 1 tablespoon, and mix it with a teaspoon of cornstarch. Add the slurry to the soup during the last 10 minutes of simmering, or 2) drop the amount of chicken stock by a cup and increase the amount of cream to compensate; your cardiac care team will love you.

OK crablings, Christmas is two days away. Relax, cook a little and enjoy the time with family and friends. The best gift I can give you is to remind you that you can do it, you can cook.

Merry Christmas.

Tuscan Bread Soup, Pappa Al Pomodoro

Wracking coughs, runny noses, shuffling slippered feet; a very unpleasin' sneezin' and wheezin'.

A trip to pick up Grandma from the old folks home?

No.

It's Winter and the weather has brought out a tornado of sneezes. Colds, like noses, are running throughout the house. SSSal has it the worst, but we're all a little sniffy.

There's only one real way to do battle with the common cold. Soup.

Soup warms. Soup heals. Soup wraps your insides in a warm blanket. Will soup cure the common cold? Maybe not, but it can't hurt.

I save chicken noodle soup for the flu; for a major disease like that you need the heavy artillery. For the common cold I like things a little heartier. So today it's Pappa AL Pomodoro, Tuscan Bread Soup. Like all good soups, the work is in the chopping and prep, after that's done it's sit back and relax. This soup has the greatest topping around so don't skip it unless you're really pressed for time.

Crank up the fireplace, grab some tissues, wrap yourself up in a warm blanket and enjoy...


Tuscan Bread Soup, Pappa Al Pomodoro
by Ina or Giada or Emeril or Marcella, or Biba or ...

1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onion (about 2)
1 cup carrots, peeled and diced (about 3)
1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups (1 inch) diced Ciabatta bread cubes, crust removed
2 large cans (28 ounces each), Italian plum tomatoes
4 cups low sodium chicken stock
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup chopped basil leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese


For Topping

3 cups, 1-inch dice, ciabatta bread cubes
2 ounces thick sliced pancetta, chopped
24 whole basil leaves
3 TBSP Olive Oil


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Have all your vegetables chopped, diced and fully prepped.

Heat 1/2 cup of olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. When hot, add onions, carrots, fennel and garlic. Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until tender.

Add ciabatta cubes and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Put the tomatoes in a food processor and pulse until they are coarsely chopped, (alternatively, squish them in your hands, not as fast, but much more fun). Add the tomatoes to the pot along with the chicken stock, red wine, chopped basil, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons of pepper.

Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, then allow to simmer, partially covered for 45 minutes.

For the topping:

Place the pancetta, ciabatta cubes and basil on a large baking sheet. The sheet needs to be large enough to hold everything in a single layer, use two sheets if necessary. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake in the oven, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until all the ingredients are crisp.

When the soup is done, check to be sure that all the ciabatta cubes disintegrated. If not use a wire whisk or stick blender to break up any remaining pieces of bread.

Stir in the Parmesan cheese and serve, topping each bowl with some of the ciabatta crouton, pancetta and basil garnish.


There you go crablings, a nice hearty soup that will not only help the "sickies" in the house get better, but will also satisfy the healthy residents. So until next time, zip up your coat, put on your hat and mittens and remember, you can do it, you can cook.

Thanksgiving Day Prep #8 - Menu & Shopping List

"Luck favors the prepared mind." - Louis Pasteur.

(He actually said, "Chance favors the prepared mind", but we can all stand a little editing.).

OK crablings, game day is almost here. The only way to get through the big event is to have everything ready to go; I'm talking about even mirepoix. So let's get started.

If you don't have turkey yet, get one today. If you pick it up tomorrow, makes sure it's nearly fully thawed. A 15-pound turkey feeds a lot of people depending on the number of sides. But if your 375 pound Uncle Herb from Sheboygan or three college aged males are coming to dinner and you like a lot of leftovers, then go big, just adjust your cooking time.

You'll need things to nibble on during the day prior to dinner. My suggestions are:

A platter of assorted crackers and cheese.

A large batch of Butternut Squash & Apple Soup. Keep it on a low simmer and have a small bowl or two as a break throughout the day.

The Main Event

Brined Roast Turkey
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Celery Root, Fennel & Potato Mash (alternate)
Leek, Mushroom, Bacon & Buttermilk Bread Stuffing
Bird's Eye Frozen Peas
Braised Brussels Sprouts in Maple-Mustard Sauce (barely acceptable alternate)
Cranberry Sauces
Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce (multiple cans)
Gravy

Quick Apple Tart with Ben & Jerry's Vanilla Ice Cream


Thanksgiving is wine hell but here are WWBob's best suggestions:

White Wine: American Gewurztraminer (Fetzer), or Trimbach Hugel from the Alsace
Red Wine: American Pinot Noir (Smoking Loon, Mark West, Bogle or AtoZ), also 2007 Italian Barberas.


As a public service to Crab Nation, I've put together your shopping list:

Butternut Squash Soup
1/2 pound bacon, chopped before cooking
1 medium onion, chopped roughly
1 large leek, white part only, washed well and roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 large butternut squash, seeded, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 medium tart apple, peeled and roughly chopped
32 ounces chicken stock, approximately
2 TBSP heavy (whipping) cream

Roast Turkey

1 (14 to 16 pound) young turkey, (if frozen, full thaw)

Brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon ice water

Aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil


Garlic Mashed Potatoes

2 heads of garlic
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon olive oil

1 pound russet or Yukon gold potatoes peeled and roughly diced
3 TBSP Butter
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cream
Salt


Celery Root, Fennel & Potato Mash

1 large celery root (celeriac), peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
2 large fennel bulbs (1 1/2 lbs total), stalks discarded, bulbs quartered
1 pound boiling potatoes (2 large), peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice, divided
1 whole star anise, ground
4 large garlic cloves, minced (about 1 1/2 TBSP)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 TBSP chopped fresh parsley


Leek, Mushroom, Bacon & Buttermilk Stuffing

1 1/2 loaves of store bought buttermilk bread (approx 36 ozs. total), crusts trimmed and cut into 1/2 " cubes
1 pound of sliced bacon, cut into 1/2 " pieces

4 TBSP grapeseed oil
5 cups chopped leeks, (white and a small bit of the green parts), approx. 4 large leeks
1 1/2 pounds button mushrooms cleaned and chopped
12 oz. shitake mushrooms cleaned and chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 TBSP dried tarragon
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 TBSP butter


Braised Brussels Sprouts in Maple-Mustard Sauce

2 TBSP Olive Oil
1/4 cup minced onion
4 cups (approx. 1 pound) Brussels Sprouts, cleaned and halved lengthwise
Salt to taste
5 TBSP water
1/4 Dijon mustard
2 TBSP good quality Maple Syrup (the real thing if you can get it)
Fresh ground Pepper, to taste


Cranberry Sauces

Cranberry, Quince & Pearl Onion Compote
1/2 lb pearl onions (preferably red; approx 2 cups)
2 cups apple juice or cider
1 cup sugar
2 TBSP cider vinegar
6 cloves
1 tsp coriander seed, ground
2 quinces, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 (12 oz.) bag of fresh or frozen cranberries (not thawed if frozen)

Cranberry-Tangerine Conserve

2 tangerines (oranges are acceptable in a pinch)
1 (12 oz.) package fresh or frozen cranberries
1 tsp grated peeled ginger
1/2 cup golden raisins (chopped roughly if large)
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar (more if you like a sweeter taste)



Gravy

1 15 lb. Turkey (same one you're making for dinner)
2/3 cup onion roughly chopped
1/3 cup carrots, roughly chopped
1/3 cup celery, roughly chopped
32 ounces, no-salt/low salt chicken or turkey stock/broth
1 14 1/2 oz can of chicken stock (on standby, for thinning purposes)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Butter
Salt & Pepper


Quick Apple Tart
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17 oz package), thawed
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2 TBSP (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 TBSP cinnamon sugar (2 TBSP sugar mixed with scant 1/2 tsp cinnamon)
1/4 cup apricot jam, melted



Assorted Cheese and Crackers
Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce
Bird's Eye Frozen Peas
Wine


There you go crablings. Highlight and print off the shopping lists to whichever recipes you're going to prepare. Obviously there is some overlap in recipes, e.g. butter, so combine the lists and go to town.

At some point every great meal hurtles towards disaster. If you're properly prepared it's much easier to keep control of the situation. Remember, you can do it, you can cook Thanksgiving dinner. On Wednesday or Thursday I'll post my Ode to Thanksgiving, until then, get prepping.

Butternut Squash & Apple Soup or Getting Blood From a Turnip

MARKETS CRASH AROUND THE WORLD!

HOUSING PRICES COLLAPSE!

MASSIVE LAYOFFS EXPECTED!

DOGS LIVING PEACEFULLY WITH CATS!

PARIS HILTON BACK!

Every time I pick up the newspaper the headlines get worse. I get it!!! I'm poor! You're poor! We're all poor! Every last penny, pence, drachma and centavo has disappeared from the face of the Earth, sucked up by the evil financial genius, Lehman Defaulto.

I already have a new job search plan. I'm going to put on a sign that says "Will work for mortgage payments" and then stand at the end of the closest exit ramp to a highway. Of course, my plan involves standing in the middle of the ramp, at night, wearing all black. There are some flaws to this plan, but I feel chances are good it will accomplish my ultimate goal.

Come on folks, let's relax a little bit. One share of Ford Motor Company stock now costs less than a grande latte at Starbucks. Am I the only one who thinks that 's a bit odd? Remember, if all goes well, the sun will come up tomorrow. Most of us will still have jobs and life will go on. Maybe life won't be quite as fancy as it once was (like say, last month), but it will go on.

So for the rest of this post I'll assume we've all lived to see another day and that we're hungry. Cooking for yourself instead of going out to dinner can save you a lot of money. Some of the recipes here, like Fettuccine with Prosciutto are amazingly inexpensive if you make a substitution or two, (it's ridiculously cheap if you know how to make your own pasta, but that's a post for another time).

When things get really bad, there's one word that immediately comes to mind: soup. You have a bad cold? Soup! It's cold outside? Cuddle up by the fire and have some soup. Late at night and don't know what to eat? Have a bowl of soup.

Here's a recipe for butternut squash soup. Inexpensive to begin with, but if you make your own chicken or vegetable stock, it would be even cheaper. So take a deep breath, lean back and enjoy...


Butternut Squash & Apple Soup
originally from Gourmet, October 1994, with major adjustments by SSSal

Prep Note: This soup is completely pureed so there is no need to precisely chop the vegetables.

1/2 pound bacon, chopped before cooking
1 medium onion, chopped roughly
1 large leek, white part only, washed well and roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 large butternut squash, seeded, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 medium tart apple, peeled and roughly chopped
32 ounces chicken stock, approximately
2 TBSP heavy (whipping) cream

Accompaniments for serving
Finely sliced apple
Sour Cream or Creme Fraiche
Crumbled bacon, from above

In a dutch oven (Le Creuset) cook bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels, reserving 1 to 2 TBSP bacon fat in the pan. Add the onion, leek, garlic and bay leaf and cook over medium heat until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add squash, apple and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 2 more minutes to mingle flavors.

Add stock to the pot so that it covers the vegetables by an inch. Simmer over medium heat until the squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Turn off the heat.

Use a stick blender to puree the soup completely. Otherwise transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and puree in batches. Return to the pot. If soup is too thick add stock to achieve desired texture. Stir in the cream.

Serve topped with a dollop of sour cream, apple slices and crumbled bacon.

Note: You can easily make this a vegetarian dish by eliminating the bacon and substituting olive oil for the bacon fat. Use vegetable stock in lieu of chicken stock.

Double the ingredients for a large crowd. The soup can be made in advance and reheated as you need it. It also freezes well.

Serve with crusty bread and a salad and you have a nice lunch. Consume the entire pot and you have a filling dinner.


OK crablings, try not to let the news get you too down. You still have to eat, so remember, you can do it, you can cook.

Vichyssoise - Cool Leek & Potato Soup and The Arrival of Fall

Most mornings I get up and walk the dog. We live in a fairly wooded area, so quite often we meet up with the local wildlife. We've run into ornery woodchuck, hissing possum and anti-social skunks. Of course we've also seen Mallards with their ducklings and mother deer guarding wobbly legged fawns. We also get to watch the slow march of the seasons.

Today was a chilly morning, maybe 40 degrees. The saving graces were the riotous colors that accompanied the rising sun and the mist hugging the low lying ground. In Summer it takes me forever to get out of bed and get started, it seems that Fall does the same to Mother Nature. Days start cold and never quite get up to full heat. It's as though the Earth doesn't want to get out of bed and shake off the mist. Morning dew, Nature's top sheet.

Autumn starts me thinking about root vegetables and roasts. But I can't quite give up the ghost of summer. So today I present a "cool" soup, Vichyssoise. Leek & Potato Soup is rich but refreshing; it's a great first course or, served with a small salad, a nice lunch. Normally this soup is served cold in chilled bowls. But, much like a Fall afternoon, I prefer it closer to room temperature.

There are thousands of Vichyssoise recipes out there, but none better than Julia Child's. I like using heavy cream and keeping a tiny bit of the green parts of the leeks, they add color and a little bite. If you're in a hurry, skip running the soup through a sieve, the end result will be a bit thicker but just as satisfying. Enjoy.


Vichyssoise, Cool Leek & Potato Soup
from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Child, Bertholle & Beck

3 cups peeled, sliced potatoes
3 cups sliced white of leek (or leave a little green for an intriguing green tint)
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock

1/2 to 1 cup whipping cream
Salt & White Pepper

2 - 3 TBSP minced Chives

Simmer the potatoes and leeks in the stock. Puree the soup using a stick blender or food processor. Pass through a fine sieve.

Stir in the cream. Season with salt and white pepper, to taste, (Oversalt slightly as salt loses its savor in a cold dish). Chill.

Thirty minutes prior to serving, remove soup from refrigerator. Serve soup in slightly chilled bowls, garnishing with the chopped chives.


How easy was that? Now some of you are going to complain about the whipping cream. Fine! You could try it with whole milk, but anything "lower " than that and you're on your own. But come on; how many times are you going to make this soup? Why not go for the whole enchilada the first time and then decide if you want to cut back in the future.

Alright, I'm outta here. Don't know what I'll post next time, but remember, you can do it, you can cook.

Fresh Tomato Soup, When Simple Becomes Complex

I'm not handy.

I'm not one of these guys who, on a Saturday, buzzes over to Home Depot, spends a couple hundred dollars, comes home and whips up a 4-bed/3-bath gazebo with a peeing cherub fountain. Whenever I go over to Home Depot I spend most of my time vacantly roaming the aisles, slack-jawed and confused by all the tools, claps and vices.

If I do take on a project there are a few Crabby truisms that you can count on. One, it will take twice as long as the average person to complete. Two, I'll have to make three times the number of trips to the store just to finally come up with the right parts. Three, it will ultimately cost four times more than if I had just paid someone to do it in the first place. And four, I'll have at least five injuries to show for my efforts. For me, its not do-it-yourself, it's do-it-to-yourself.

All that changes when I walk into the kitchen. There, I'm very comfortable; in there I'm Master of my Domain; in there I control the events and the outcomes. Well, usually. Occasionally, the Crabby Gravy Train derails, from time to time the vegetables don't get pureed, I do. Every once in a while that simple little recipe turns ridiculously complex; not hard exactly, just "involved".

Today's recipe is that day.

Fresh Tomato Soup is about taking the extra time and effort to get it right. I've skipped the blanch, peel and seed step before only to be greeted by a vapid soup later. If you try to shortcut this recipe, you'll be sorry. You'll be making an extra trip to the market for more fruit and it'll take three times too long. Trust Crabby on this one, no shortcuts. Don't count on a food mill to save your soup. Do it right the first time.


Fresh Tomato Soup
by Crabby, based on the Italian classic Pappa al Pomodoro

1 medium onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 TBSP olive oil
5 pounds ripe fresh tomatoes ("seconds" work just fine)
Salt & White Pepper
5 oz. stale bread
Chicken Stock (up to 14 oz. - more on that later)
10 basil leaves, cut into chiffonade

Grated Parmesan (optional)
Creme Fraiche (optional)
Olive Oil for serving (optional)


Bring a large pot of water to a boil. With a serrated knife, cut a shallow "X" into the bottom of each tomato. Working in batches of 4 - 6 each, blanch the tomatoes until the skins start to peel, approximately 30 - 45 seconds per batch.

Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and allow them to cool slightly. The skins should now peel away very easily. Warning: This is a messy job, so do it over a large bowl so as to collect any juices. Discard the peeled skins.

Quarter the tomatoes, remove the stem core and seeds.

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat, add the onions and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

Turn down heat to medium-low. Add the tomatoes and any collected juices, to the onion/garlic mixture along with a big pinch of salt and some white pepper to taste. Cook for 15 minutes.

Tear the stale bread into small pieces and add to the soup in stages. The bread will absorb the excess juice and give the soup a "rustic" consistency. Using a stick(hand) blender, puree the soup. At this point add chicken stock to adjust the consistency. Depending on your preference, you may add as little as a quarter cup of stock for thicker soup, to the entire 14 ounces for a thinner result.

Serve with any combination of the following ingredients (or none of them for that matter): shredded basil leaves, a dollop of creme fraiche, grated Parmesan cheese or a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Note: If you want a seed free soup, run the blanched, peeled and mostly seeded tomatoes through a food mill prior to cooking.


Whew! I know, kind of fussy for a bowl of soup, but the result has all the tastes of summer. Just don't take any shortcuts and you'll be OK. Until next time crablings, remember, follow the recipe and you can do it, you can cook.

To Winter's End and Roast Onion Soup

In an earlier post, (Asparagus & Victoria's Secrets), I wrote that in the Upper Midwest spring is binary, and that this year the switch has been firmly in the off position. Spring has made a few half hearted attempts to establish itself, but it seems unwilling to truly take charge. So tomato plants stay inside, I need a jacket to grill and, when it gets really bad, my thoughts turn back to soup.


I love French Onion Soup, I just hate making it. It's time consuming and if you turn away for too long, an hour's worth of work turns into lightly burned mush. When I have the time and the patience, I'll make Julia Childs' recipe, (I'll post that one in the fall), it's far and away the best; but today I'm going to show you a recipe, while not as unctuously savory, it still makes an acceptable product.

Over the years I've made a few fruitless attempts to come up with a way to make a quick onion soup. My forays have always centered around oven roasting the onions instead of the attention devouring approach of caramelizing on the stove top. What appears below is a combination of an "Eating Well" magazine recipe with an Emeril Lagasse recipe with some Crabby adjustments. Try it, enjoy it and remember to cover up the tender plants during every frost warning.


Roast Onion Soup
by "Eating Well" magazine, Emeril Lagasse and Crabby

4 Large Red Onions, halved and the n thinly sliced
1 Large Sweet Onion, (Vidalia, Walla Walla type) halved and then thinly sliced
3 Large Shallots, peeled, halved, then thinly sliced
4 Garlic Cloves, peeled and halved
2 TBSP Olive Oil
4 Cups Chicken Stock, low sodium variety or homemade if possible
2 Cups Beef Stock, low sodium or homemade if possible
1/4 cup cognac (optional)
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
Salt & Pepper to taste

8 (1/2") slices of French Baguette
1/2 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese (more for those who like a lot of cheese)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Place the sliced onions, shallots and garlic in a large roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Toss the vegetables using your hands and then arrange as a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper (I suggest 1 teaspoon of each).

Pour the broth into a heavy soup pot or dutch oven and warm over low heat while the vegetables are roasting.

Roast the vegetables for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. NOTE WELL: Depending on how thinly you sliced the onions, how hot your oven runs and how caramelized you want the onions, this step could take as little as 20 minutes or as much as 45 minutes. I prefer closer to 45 minutes but it's up to you.

While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the croutons. Lightly brush one side of each baguette slice with olive oil. Arrange the bread, olive oil side up, on an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet. Cover each slice, liberally, with grated Parmesan cheese. You might also want to consider using a mixture of cheeses, say adding some grated Comte. Set aside.

When the vegetables are done, remove, and turn the oven to broil.

Place the roasting pan on your stove top. Ladle in one cup of broth into the pan. Stir the mixture while scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the roasting pan. It will help to turn a burner on under the pan. As the broth boils it will help loosen the bits.

Transfer all of the mixture into the dutch oven and simmer for 10 minutes. If you are going to add any cognac, now is the time. The simmering will burn off most of the alcohol.

With approximately 5 minutes to go, place the cookie tray with croutons under the broiler. Watch carefully so that they don't burn (though I like that flavor of slightly crispy cheese). NOTE WELL: Depending on the strength of your broiler it may takes more or less than 5 minutes to get good looking croutons.

Just before serving add the thyme and sage. Serve soup in individual bowls with two croutons each.

There you go. This recipe is a bit labor intensive, not tough but you have to be hanging around the kitchen every 5 minutes or so. The resultant soup is quite nice though the broth lacks that thick, non-greasy oily mouth feel that "real" onion soup has. But hey, it'll warm you up while you watch the robins shivering on the bird feeders.

Until next time, just remember, you can do it, you can cook.

Desperate Soup

Seashell Sal and I have two sons. CrabCake 1 is a junior at the University of Miami in Coral Gables Florida, ( yeah, I know, what a life.), and CrabCake 2 is a high school freshman. Before CC1's arrival, like most new parents, we spent weeks preparing the house. We painted rooms. We bought clothes. We bought furniture. We bought books and magazines to tell us which paint, clothes and furniture we should buy.

We also bought a couple of jars of baby food.

We knew that CC1 wasn't going to be needing any jarred baby food for awhile, but in that moment of idyllic preparation frenzy, we decided to pick up some pureed chicken and pureed fruit, just to see what it was like. One day, just before CC1 was to move off formula, SS Sal and I tried some of the chicken. It was vile. It smelled bad, looked worse and tasted like crap. It was at that moment that Seashell Sal decided she was going to make all of CC1's food. It was at that moment that CC1's and CC2's fates were sealed. From then on they would be "picky" eaters. Not picky bad, but picky.

Sundays were spent preparing food. All sorts of vegetables were boiled. Countless fruits could be found percolating on the stove. After they had properly cooled, they would be "plopped". Dropped onto cookie sheets or into ice cube trays and then frozen. Once rock hard they were transferred to plastic freezer bags to await consumption. Any leftovers that SS Sal and I had from our dinners would also get the puree, plop and freeze treatment.

We had Gerber on the run.

Neither of the kids ever ate a jar of baby food.

The kids got to be very picky eaters.

The kids got to be better eaters than most of our adult friends. As they got older, they never really cared for fast food burgers or those chicken-finger-nugget things that all their friends seemed to love so much. To this day we rarely have pizza, and if we do, CC1 wants it to be topped with basil pesto and fresh tomatoes. CC2 eats sandwiches from home for lunch everyday. Corned beef, cheese and pickle. Pastrami. And, occasionally, mozzarella, pesto and balsamic syrup on toasted whole wheat. Lord save me.

The real problem is not the pickiness. It's not the cost or the time it takes to prepare good food. No, it's what do you do about dinner when your coming home late from a practice or a rehearsal and you don't want to wait an hour or so for dinner. Enter soup. Specifically, Desperate Soup.

Desperation creates inspiration. This is my version of a jazzed up lentil soup. Though if you don't have or want lentils it can be made with beans (cannellini are my favorite) or with noodles. This is also a great way to clean out any leftovers in the fridge. With a little bit of advanced planning you too can pull off this meal sized soup in less than an hour. My all time record for preparing this recipe is 40 minutes from walking into the house to sitting down to eat. No time is no excuse crablings. So stop whining and start cooking.


Desperate Soup



28 oz. (2 small cans) chicken stock (low sodium if possible)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (with juices)
1 tsp Olive Oil
1/2 package smoked kielbasa sliced to 1/2 " rounds (or any leftover meat you may have on hand)
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, chopped
pinch red chili pepper flakes (optional)
1 cup red lentils or 8 oz dried pasta
1 large carrot, large dice
1/2 small bag frozen vegetables of your choice

Pour the chicken stock and diced tomatoes into a large pot and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. While the liquid is coming to a boil, slice and dice the kielbasa, mushrooms, onion, and carrot. Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a saute pan over high heat. When hot but not smoking add the kielbasa. Step away from the pan, it will sizzle. After one minute, toss the kielbasa so that most pieces are turned over. There should be a nice caramelization on the sausage. After one minute add the kielbasa to the pot with the liquid. Next, bring the saute pan back up to heat and add the mushrooms. Walk away for one minute and pour yourself a glass of wine. Come back and toss the mushrooms. Walk away for one minute. After the additional minute, add the mushrooms to the soup pot. Return the saute pan to heat and add the onions. Walk away, have a sip of wine. If desired, add the chili pepper flakes to the onions and toss, sauteing for another minute. Add the onions to the soup pot.


With the soup boiling add the lentils to the pot and stir, trying to get all the lentils off the bottom of the pot. Turn the heat to medium and have the soup cook at a rolling simmer (a light boil). Stir every five minutes to keep the lentils off the bottom of the pot. After 20 minutes add the carrots and cook for five minutes. After that five minutes add your frozen vegetable of choice and simmer for 5 more minutes. Test the lentils to see if they're done. They should be a little mushy. Adjust salt.

You're done. Serve in bowls with a little grated parmensan cheese if you have it (or a squeeze of lemon juice). If you have some crusty bread that's also a great addition.

The soup will be a bit thick, almost stew like. If you like it thinner add another can of chicken stock half way through the boiling process. If you don't have or want lentils, substitute pasta and boil for the amount of time mentioned on the box. (N.B., Pasta will absorb a great deal of liquid, you may want to add additional broth when making this soup with pasta. Also, if using egg noodles, they turn to mush very quickly so somewhat undercook the egg noodles, they'll finish in the bowl.)

Freeze whatever you don't finish for another desperate night.

Alright crablings, a new recipe to try.

PrepTime: 10-15 minutes
Active Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes
Passive Cooking Time 30 Minutes
Clean-Up: Light to Moderate, you can do the knives and cutting boards while the soup finishes, though the soup pot make take some work.

Just remember, you can do it. You can cook.