bostonzest

Tag: soups

  • Escape Your Cooking Rut with Inspiration from Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Matrix

    Mark Bittman's Kitchen Matrix is a wonderful addition to your cookbook collection whether you are an experienced cook or a just beginning to build your skills in the kitchen.

    Sm Kitchen Matrix cover copy

    Let's face it, we all find ourselves making and serving our family and guests the same list of favorites. It can be even more of a problem for new cooks who may be afraid to venture beyond the recipes they have made that were big hits. 

    IMG_9528 - Version 22016-03-22bittman-kitchen-matrix© 2014 Penny Cherubino

    Summer is coming and you may have a basic gazpacho recipe you've been making for years. Or you could be hoping to surprise those around your table by coming up with a new twist on this chilled soup. Kitchen Matrix comes to the rescue with a chapter on gazpacho 12 ways!

    You'll find other sections that cover chicken wings, soups, asparagus, stir fries, and other ways we look at food and feeding our friends and family.

    The Publisher Says…

    Related articles
    Healthy Alternatives for July 4th Cookouts, Pot Lucks, or Picnics
    A Busy Season Resource: Our Poached Chicken Links

  • Learn How to Cook on a Continuum with The Kitchen Ecosystem by Eugenia Bone

    Cooking meals on a daily basis can be daunting or it can be relaxing depending on your approach. I recently discovered the book The Kitchen Ecosystem. Author Eugenia Bone helped me see why it might be easier for longtime cooks to prepare daily meals while the same task could be stressful for the occasional cook.

    Small Kitchen ecosystem jpg

    Having Stuff on Hand

    One crisper drawer in my refrigerator is devoted to my cooking basics: celery, carrots, parsley, cabbage, lemons, and apples. With the stocks in my freezer and the onions and garlic in my pantry, I have the beginning of many soups, stews, braises, and salads.

    The Kitchen Ecosystem is arranged by 40 common ingredients. For each one, the author provides recipes for dishes that star that ingredient and follows with ideas on what you can make to add to your pantry with not only the leftovers, but also the scraps. (e.g., Who knew that apple peel stock could be handy to have when you need a bit more pectin in a jelly or jam?)

    Preserving foods by fermenting, canning, and freezing are part of the author's repertoire. But even if you're not ready to make your own sauerkraut or can chicken, you can make stocks to freeze and prepare a dish that will let you turn the leftovers into a sequence of meals.

    6a00e54fc42bb88834010536d47043970c-800wi

    Tired of Leftovers?

    If you or your family quickly tire of the same food after a day or two, think about preparing a basic version of something and then creating variations on a theme. I do this all the time with chicken soup. I’ll make a big pot of simple chicken soup and then serve it at future meals with different starches like rice, pasta, noodles, dumplings, barley, grains, cubes, etc. In the photo above, I used polenta cubes.

    Whenever I have leftover, falling apart, tender meat from a pot roast or braised lamb shanks, I’ll shred the meat and turn it and the braising liquid into a chili by adding beans, chilies, and seasoning then simmering until the flavors blend.

    6a00e54fc42bb888340154388bc473970c-800wi

    Repurpose

    When I make chicken soup, I use enough chicken to have extra poached chicken. This can become the curried chicken salad you see above. That's a cool, crisp, spicy change of pace.

    Every few weeks, I make a big batch of homemade dog food for my Westie Poppy. The recipe I use calls for a wide assortment of vegetables and there’s always half a cauliflower, half a cabbage, and a few other things left when I’m done. These become a soup for the human members of the family. One version is the cabbage and kielbasa soup shown below.

    6a00e54fc42bb888340148c878977a970c-800wi

    If you shy away from buying a whole head of broccoli, cabbage, or cauliflower because you’ll only eat part of it and waste the rest, consider soup on day two. It can be vegetarian or you can add meat or sausage to the mix. You might even consider making the soup on one burner while you’re cooking the meal that will have cauliflower as a side dish on the others. Most soups taste better on day two when the flavors have had an opportunity to harmonize.

    The Boston Public Library has a copy of The Kitchen Ecosystem that you might want to borrow to start thinking about cooking on a continuum. The book is also available in an ebook format. 

    What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

       

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino. Cover art courtesy of the publisher, Clarkson Potter.

    Related articles
    A Busy Season Resource: Our Poached Chicken Links
    Rich and Luscious Lamb Shank Chili
    Healthy Alternatives for July 4th Cookouts, Pot Lucks, or Picnics

  • Learn How to Cook on a Continuum with The Kitchen Ecosystem by Eugenia Bone

    Cooking meals on a daily basis can be daunting or it can be relaxing depending on your approach. I recently discovered the book The Kitchen Ecosystem. Author Eugenia Bone helped me see why it might be easier for longtime cooks to prepare daily meals while the same task could be stressful for the occasional cook.

    Small Kitchen ecosystem jpg

    Having Stuff on Hand

    One crisper drawer in my refrigerator is devoted to my cooking basics: celery, carrots, parsley, cabbage, lemons, and apples. With the stocks in my freezer and the onions and garlic in my pantry, I have the beginning of many soups, stews, braises, and salads.

    The Kitchen Ecosystem is arranged by 40 common ingredients. For each one, the author provides recipes for dishes that star that ingredient and follows with ideas on what you can make to add to your pantry with not only the leftovers, but also the scraps. (e.g., Who knew that apple peel stock could be handy to have when you need a bit more pectin in a jelly or jam?)

    Preserving foods by fermenting, canning, and freezing are part of the author's repertoire. But even if you're not ready to make your own sauerkraut or can chicken, you can make stocks to freeze and prepare a dish that will let you turn the leftovers into a sequence of meals.

    6a00e54fc42bb88834010536d47043970c-800wi

    Tired of Leftovers?

    If you or your family quickly tire of the same food after a day or two, think about preparing a basic version of something and then creating variations on a theme. I do this all the time with chicken soup. I’ll make a big pot of simple chicken soup and then serve it at future meals with different starches like rice, pasta, noodles, dumplings, barley, grains, cubes, etc. In the photo above, I used polenta cubes.

    Whenever I have leftover, falling apart, tender meat from a pot roast or braised lamb shanks, I’ll shred the meat and turn it and the braising liquid into a chili by adding beans, chilies, and seasoning then simmering until the flavors blend.

    6a00e54fc42bb888340154388bc473970c-800wi

    Repurpose

    When I make chicken soup, I use enough chicken to have extra poached chicken. This can become the curried chicken salad you see above. That's a cool, crisp, spicy change of pace.

    Every few weeks, I make a big batch of homemade dog food for my Westie Poppy. The recipe I use calls for a wide assortment of vegetables and there’s always half a cauliflower, half a cabbage, and a few other things left when I’m done. These become a soup for the human members of the family. One version is the cabbage and kielbasa soup shown below.

    6a00e54fc42bb888340148c878977a970c-800wi

    If you shy away from buying a whole head of broccoli, cabbage, or cauliflower because you’ll only eat part of it and waste the rest, consider soup on day two. It can be vegetarian or you can add meat or sausage to the mix. You might even consider making the soup on one burner while you’re cooking the meal that will have cauliflower as a side dish on the others. Most soups taste better on day two when the flavors have had an opportunity to harmonize.

    The Boston Public Library has a copy of The Kitchen Ecosystem that you might want to borrow to start thinking about cooking on a continuum. The book is also available in an ebook format. 

    What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

       

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino. Cover art courtesy of the publisher, Clarkson Potter.

    Related articles
    A Busy Season Resource: Our Poached Chicken Links
    Rich and Luscious Lamb Shank Chili
    Healthy Alternatives for July 4th Cookouts, Pot Lucks, or Picnics

  • A Stir Fry with an Eastern European Twist: Kielbasa, Cabbage, and Apple

    Once you master the technique of making a stir fry, you can take that cooking method out of Asian cuisine and apply it to another culture. 

    Kielbasa-cabbage-apple-onion-

    Kielbasa, cabbage, and apple stir-fry.

    One of my favorite cool weather stir fries is this one with cabbage, kielbasa, apple, and onion. A bit of apple cider creates a broth. Some garlic, juniper, and mustard seeds add some spice.

    Where will you take your stir fry skills? Do you toss together a dish that is basically a stir fry but is inspired by a culture other than Asian? Please, share your ideas with us.

    The pan in this photo has become the work horse of my kitchen during the past year. It just fits our cooking-for-two lifestyle. It's the All-Clad Stainless Steel 4 Quart Essential Pan with Lid. It works for stir fries, soups, and stews.

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny Cherubino
    Photos: ©2013 Penny Cherubino 

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

  • A Stir Fry with an Eastern European Twist: Kielbasa, Cabbage, and Apple

    Once you master the technique of making a stir fry, you can take that cooking method out of Asian cuisine and apply it to another culture. 

    Kielbasa-cabbage-apple-onion-

    Kielbasa, cabbage, and apple stir-fry.

    One of my favorite cool weather stir fries is this one with cabbage, kielbasa, apple, and onion. A bit of apple cider creates a broth. Some garlic, juniper, and mustard seeds add some spice.

    Where will you take your stir fry skills? Do you toss together a dish that is basically a stir fry but is inspired by a culture other than Asian? Please, share your ideas with us.

    The pan in this photo has become the work horse of my kitchen during the past year. It just fits our cooking-for-two lifestyle. It's the All-Clad Stainless Steel 4 Quart Essential Pan with Lid. It works for stir fries, soups, and stews.

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny Cherubino
    Photos: ©2013 Penny Cherubino 

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

  • A Stir Fry with an Eastern European Twist: Kielbasa, Cabbage, and Apple

    Once you master the technique of making a stir fry, you can take that cooking method out of Asian cuisine and apply it to another culture. 

    Kielbasa-cabbage-apple-onion-

    Kielbasa, cabbage, and apple stir-fry.

    One of my favorite cool weather stir fries is this one with cabbage, kielbasa, apple, and onion. A bit of apple cider creates a broth. Some garlic, juniper, and mustard seeds add some spice.

    Where will you take your stir fry skills? Do you toss together a dish that is basically a stir fry but is inspired by a culture other than Asian? Please, share your ideas with us.

    The pan in this photo has become the work horse of my kitchen during the past year. It just fits our cooking-for-two lifestyle. It's the All-Clad Stainless Steel 4 Quart Essential Pan with Lid. It works for stir fries, soups, and stews.

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny Cherubino
    Photos: ©2013 Penny Cherubino 

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.