Tuscan Bean Soup

The lovely Andrea bought some Kale the other day. She does that, she buys things she has never cooked and says "here, you cook this!"  But I don't mind, I get to try out different recipes that way.  Kale is one of those leafy green vegetables that are so good for you, rich in vitamins and minerals, but they can be very bitter if not cooked correctly. Swiss Chard, Mustard Greens, Escarole, Collards, there are many varieties of this ilk, but I think you can interchange them all into this recipe for a delicious and hearty meal.

I am giving you the quick version of this and, in my opinion, it is just as good as the long version. But if you want to use dried beans you can soak them overnight and cook them with a bay leaf, keeping them covered by an inch of water until tender.  (Remember, when cooking dried beans, do not add salt until they are fully cooked. Otherwise they will come out tough instead of soft and creamy.)

Tuscan Bean Soup

2 quarts homemade chicken stock or store-bought broth

1 bunch fresh kale

2-15 oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed in cold water

6 cloves garlic, sliced

1- 5 oz. can tomato paste

1 medium onion chopped

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

4 sage leaves, each cut into 3 pieces

2 tablespoons of olive oil, plus a bit more

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon or more sea salt

1/4 teaspoon or more ground black pepper

1 teaspoon fresh basil (optional)

grated Pecorino Romano (optional)

Wash your kale, trim off and discard the stems, or save them for making stock. Chop the leafy parts and set aside.  Meanwhile, in a saute pan on a medium flame, heat chopped garlic and crushed red pepper flakes in two tablespoons of olive oil. When garlic starts to brown slightly add tomato paste and lower the heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or more. Do not allow the garlic to burn.

Bring chicken stock to a boil in a 4 quart or larger soup pot. When broth begins to boil, lower to a simmer add the kale and the cannellini beans and about a teaspoon of sea salt, spoon the tomato and garlic from the pan to the pot with the beans and kale. Add the thyme to the soup, stir gently. Place the chopped onion to the saute pan, add a little oil if necessary, and increase the flame to medium and add sage. When onion begins to caramelize slightly, scrape remaining contents of the saute pan into the soup and stir gently.

If you want to add basil, do so at this point as basil is a tender herb and its flavor is best when not overcooked.  Taste and adjust seasoning, stir and cook for a couple more minutes and serve hot. 

Garnish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a little grated Pecorino Romano cheese, if you like. Great with a crusty Italian bread and a glass of wine.

We had a Pinot Grigio with this meal and it paired quite nicely.

We are having leftovers tonight, but no one is complaining...

If you try this recipe, please, let me know how it turns out.

Comfort Food, Episode 2

I have many dishes that fit in the category "comfort food", maybe that's why I can't seem to lose weight. We have all heard the old adage, don't trust a skinny cook.  But my being "built for comfort, not for speed", as has been my physique for a number of years now, you can be certain that you can trust me.

Dad and Mom 1935

I have heretofore discussed Meat Loaf as a comfort food, Pot Roast is yet one of those foods that keeps me in a comfortable state, so to speak. My earliest memories include Sunday mornings before we went to church, when Mom would start the roast and Dad's "job" while we were at 12 o'clock Mass was to watch over the pot.  We would always have an early supper on Sundays, around 3:00 or 3:30pm. So the smell of the slow cooking pot roast that was emanating from our kitchen all afternoon really helped stoke my appetite as it was ingrained into my soul. Thank you Mom and Dad, for that wonderful memory.

My recipe for Pot Roast is guaranteed to give off the same extraordinary aromas as the one my wonderful Dad watched over all those many Sundays ago...  I hope you can create the same kind of memories...

3 lb boneless chuck roast                                            click on pics to see larger images
1/4 cup flour
Kosher salt & black pepper
garlic powder
1 or 2 bay leaf
4 whole cloves
3 onions
3 cloves of garlic
several carrots, cut into chunks
2 or 3 potatoes, quartered
2 stalks celery cut into 3 inch pieces
1 sprig fesh rosemary (optional)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (optional)
1 cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon beurre manie (equal parts butter and flour, rubbed together, used as a thickening agent.)


Pre-heat oven to 350

Salt, pepper and sprinkle garlic powder on your roast. Dredge the meat with flour and brown it in hot Dutch oven or large cast iron frying pan with olive oil on a medium high flame,on the stove-top, about 5 minutes each side. 

 

 







Stud one onion with the bay leaf and clove,  Place the studded onion in the pan along with the garlic cloves. 





 

Pour the wine and chicken stock into the pan, the liquid should reach half way up the side of the meat. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pan with foil and.place the pan in the oven for one hour. 














After an hour add the rest of the vegetables, and herbs, check the liquid level, taste liquids to see if you need to add a little more salt or pepper. Cover with foil again and place back in the oven for another hour, or until meat is fork tender.









Remove the pot roast and the vegetables to a serving platter, keep warm. Reduce pan liquids over a high flame with burre manie mixture, whisking until slightly thickened, adjust seasoning.









Strain thickened gravy over pot roast and veggies and serve with either egg noodles or a nice crusty baguette.

Home-made Italian sausage

Every Autumn we participate in the local Rib-Fest and Pie contests that are part of the Village of Northfield's "State Fair".  Our friends Phil and Marsha usually chip in and help us get it together and this year they bought a case of babyback ribs.  I trimmed those ribs and saved the scraps, freezing about 5 lbs of pork fat and lean meat for later use.  Sausage!

A couple of months later Mike and I give it a go with my Grandpa Tony's sausage maker, a meat grinder with a sausage stuffer attachment. The Sausage stuffer is basically it is a tube that helps you stuff the casing. Casing is pork intestine lining that is cleaned and washed and used to give the sausage its tubular form. 

So lots of mashed garlic, Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, fennel seed and hot red pepper flakes get mixed into the ground pork and about 45 minutes later we have some pretty tasty hot Italian sausage!  

Surviving the blizzard of 2011...

We planned it perfectly. 

Our flight left O'Hare Airport on the 30th of January, bound for Naples, Florida. We had made plans to meet up with my niece Ana and her husband Brad. The storm hit Chicago 3 days later. After 6 days of 80+ degree weather, we flew home to fairly decent road conditions and a perfectly clean driveway. Thank you, son! ( I told you that over-sized snow blower would pay off one day.)

I've experienced every big storm that has hit Chicago in the last 55 years, 1967, 1978/79 and all the others in between or after, and I think I prefer the way I survived the Snowmageddon of 2011 best of all. On the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico in South Florida!

 

We had a great time. Good food, fantastic weather... And none of the snow or ice that paralyzed the Midwest while we were gone...