soup

Mother’s Chicken Escarole Soup with Matzo Balls

July 16, 2012

Author: Joan Nathan

My ninety-eight year old plus mother loves order and hates chaos. She is precise and unwavering about everything – the way she runs her family, her house, her kitchen. And for her, there is only one way to prepare for holidays: she cooks a week, two weeks, sometimes a month ahead, freezing the rugelach, the chicken, the plum pies, but never, never the matzo balls.

Just before she turned 90, my mother switched from using a whole chicken, to chicken legs in her chicken soup because she finds more flavor in the legs, and besides, the legs are often on special in her supermarket. From an Italian restaurant in Providence, she learned to swirl in escarole at the last minute, before she adds her matzo balls.

Ingredients:

6 whole chicken legs

20 Cups water

2 celery stalks sliced into 2 inch chunks

2 whole carrots cut into 2 inch chunks

1 large onion peeled and quartered

1 parsnip cut into 2 inch chunks

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

8 Ounces escarole

 

Matzo Balls

3 Tablespoons chicken fat or vegetable oil

6 Large eggs, separated well beated

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 3/4 Cup(s)s matzo meal

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

12 Cup(s)s water

Preparation:

To Make the Soup:

1. Put the water in a soup pot, add the chicken legs and bring the water to a boil Simmer slowly for 2 hours, uncovered, skimming off the fat and foam as they rise to the top of the soup.

2. After 2 hours, add the celery, carrots, onion, parsnip, dill and parsley. Continue cooking slowly, uncovered, for another hour.

3. Set a strainer over a large bowl and strain the soup. Season it to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate the soup, covered, overnight.

4. The next day peel off the layer of fat that has formed on the soup’s surface. Bring the soup to a boil in a large pot (or freeze it for another day). Before serving, swirl in the escarole and add the matzo balls (recipe follows), cooking for a few minutes.

To Make the Matzo Balls:

1. In a medium bowl, mix the chicken fat or vegetable oil with the eggs, salt, nutmeg, matzo meal and parsley. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

2. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Take the matzo mix out of the refrigerator and, after dipping your hands into a bowl of cold water, gently form balls the size of large walnuts. Add salt to the water, and drop in the balls. Simmer slowly, covered, for about 20 minutes, remove from water with a slotted spoon, and add to the soup.

 

 

 

 

 

Shiitake Mushroom and Barley Soup

December 26, 2012

Author: Akasha Richmond

Akasha is a self-trained chef and artisan-style baker who has been cater­ing events in Los Angeles and other parts of the coun­try for over twenty years. She began her pro­fes­sional career at the Golden Temple, a now defunct but once pop­u­lar veg­e­tar­ian restau­rant in Los Angeles. It was in this kitchen that Akasha dis­cov­ered her pas­sion for mak­ing deli­cious dishes with good-for-you ingre­di­ents. After the Golden Temple she became Michael Jackson’s per­sonal and con­cert tour chef. AKASHA is her first restau­rant ven­ture, the result of a vision she has had for many years.

Her cook­book HOLLYWOOD DISH includes tales of Hollywood’s 100-year pas­sion for organic foods and healthy lifestyles and sto­ries of her favorite cook­ing expe­ri­ences: mak­ing hol­i­day din­ners for Billy Bob Thornton, cater­ing par­ties for Pierce Brosnan, pro­duc­ing events at the Sundance Film Festival, and work­ing as a pri­vate chef for Barbra Streisand.

She lends her time and exper­tise to groups such as Share Our Strength, Environmental Media Association, Common Threads and Pediatric Aids. She has appeared on The Food Network (The Best Thing I Ever Ate), Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, Planet Green, and nation­wide news programs.

Ingredients:

2 cups water

2 ounces dried porcini or other dried mushroom

1 tablespoon butter or olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 large or 2 small shallots, finely chopped

2 leeks, pale green and white parts only, cleaned, and finely chopped

8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems wiped clean, trimmed and sliced

2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock

2 celery ribs, finely chopped

1 large carrot, diced

1 large parsnip, diced

1/2 cup whole barley

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Kosher salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Chopped flat leaf parsley, for garnish

Preparation:

Bring the water to a boil in a 1-quart saucepan. Add the porcini mushrooms, turn off the heat and cover.

Let sit for 20 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft. Drain, reserving the liquid, and finely chop the mushrooms.

Heat the butter in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, shallots, and salt. Cook for

about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent and fragrant. Lower the heat to medium, add the

leeks, and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the shiitakes and the soaked porcini and cook another 5-8

minutes, stirring often, until the mushrooms are well cooked.

Add the stock, celery, carrots, parsnips, barley, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for one hour or until the barley is tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with the chopped parsley.

Ida Richman’s Poor Man Soup

February 6, 2013

Author: Alan Richman 

 

 

Ingredients:

• Two six-ounce packages Manischewitz or Streit’s Split Pea Soup Mix (Beware of other brands, the ones where the peas are not finely cut and don’t get soft enough.)

• Four or five beef shin bones, 1-2 inches thick, with marrow

• Two medium yellow onions, grated

• Two medium carrots, grated

Preparation:

1. Bring nine cups of water to a boil. (The Manischewitz recipe calls for 5 cups for a six-ounce package. The Streit’s recipe calls for 4 cups for an identical six-ounce package. If you were adding only the ingredients of the packages, Streit’s would be more right than Manischewitz. But you’ve got more going into the pot, so up it a little.)

2. Add the peas. Stir.

(Each package comes with a little cellophane packet of seasonings. They are to Jewish soup what MSG is to Chinese food. The Streit’s directions call for the contents to be added after 45 minutes of cooking, 15 minutes before the soup is done. Manischewitz says to add the contents during the last 10 minutes of cooking. I can’t believe my mother was that patient. My guess she added them at the start. Here’s what I do. After about a half-hour, I add the seasonings, but not all of them. It’s too much. If you think the soup needs more salt or pepper, add to taste. Anyway, an hour isn’t nearly long enough to cook this soup. It requires two hours, minimum.)

3.Add the soup bones, the grated onion, the grated carrots. Stir well. Cover. Lower temperature to simmer.

4.After about an hour, if you’re hungry, remove the bones. Dig out the marrow. Serve on white toast, with coarse salt. After the bones have cooled, give them to your dog.

5. Eat the soup when the peas are dissolved and the broth is creamy, about two hours, sometimes more. Stir well before serving.

This post was submitted by Alan Richman. (His mother, Ida, is second from left in the photo.)

 

Beef Barley Soup with a Secret

April 4, 2014

Author: Liz

My grandmother, Bertha Scher, was a believer in the slow sauté. Chopped onions and garlic, sautéed over the lowest flame, still releases the familiar memories of so much of the food she joyfully prepared for 8 grandkids. We all loved the sweetness and depth of flavor in her cooking and of course, never gave it much thought.

It occurs to me, now, that she teased it out with another kitchen basic. This common and distinctly American condiment added a toasty honey hue (yup, she knew about eye appeal, too) to countless bowls of her veggie soup and equally irresistible potted meatballs.

The secret ingredient was ketchup.

And while Nanny may have knowingly reached for ketchup for a little zest and tang, I rarely do. But, anticipating yet another snowfall last week, I channeled her slightly sweet and perfectly uncomplicated cooking with this easy, long simmered, beef barley soup. I am sure she would have loved this “bowl of health”.

 

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

6 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

one pound beef flanken, chopped or stew meat (not too lean)

8 oz. white, organic, mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced

1 cup pearl barley, rinsed

1 cup homemade beef or chicken stock

10-12 cups beef or veggie broth (organic, preferably)

3 Tb. ketchup

a generous handful of fresh dill, chopped

salt and pepper

Preparation:

Sautee onion and garlic, 7-10 mins.

Add beef and brown.

Throw all ingredients into slow cooker, stir to combine and simmer on low for 8 hours. Alternatively, simmer, covered, on stove top for 2 hours.

Enjoy this rich and old fashioned soup on a freezing winter day!

Tips: The best dishes use homemade chicken, beef or vegetable broth. I keep a container for each, clearly labeled, in my freezer. When I have leftover gravy from roasted chicken or cooking liquid from wokked or steamed vegetables, I cool it and add it to the appropriate container. These long simmered gravies serve as rich, complex bases for winter soups.

 

Posted in Soups and Stews

Tags: barley, Beef, carrots, celery, grandparents, ketchup, Mushrooms, Soup

 

 

 

 

 

My Grandmother’s Borscht Soup

May 2, 2014

Author: Mark Lieberman

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cups beef broth or vegetable broth

1 medium russet potato, peeled and diced

1 cup shredded green cabbage

1-teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1⁄2 tsp allspice, ground

1 smashed garlic clove

1 1/2 cups roasted & diced beets

3 teaspoons red-wine vinegar

1/4-cup sour cream

1 tablespoon freshly grated horseradish

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, lightly chopped

2 tablespoons fresh dill, lightly chopped

Preparation:

In a medium saucepot, heat the oil and add the onions. Cook the onions until translucent. Add the broth, potato, cabbage, and salt. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the diced beets, black pepper, garlic clove, allspice and black pepper. Cover with a lid again and cook for another 25 minutes.

Add the vinegar, then turn off the heat and stir in the parsley and 1⁄2 the dill. Taste and add additional salt and pepper as desired.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls; top with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of fresh horseradish and dill.

Grandma Salazar’s Albondigas Soup

May 5, 2014

Author: Traci Des Jardin

 

 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ground pork (or not!)

1/2 lb. ground beef

1/2-cup Short grain white rice

2 eggs

2 white onions, peeled and diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1/2 lb. tomatoes, blanched, peeled and diced or 12 ounce can peeled and crushed tomatoes

1 medium zucchini, diced

1 bunch cilantro, picked and chopped

3 sprigs mint leaves, chopped

1-teaspoon ground cumin

1-tablespoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)

4 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

Vegetable oil

Preparation:

Bring to a boil 1 cup of water and pour over the rice, let soak for 20 minutes and then drain. Sweat 1/2 of the onion in scant vegetable oil until soft, let cool and then add to the meat. Add the soaked rice, egg, ½ of the cilantro, ½ of the mint, the cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Blend everything together very well and form into 1 inch meatballs.

In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, place two tablespoons of oil into the pan and brown the meatballs lightly, remove from the pan and add the onions, garlic, celery and carrots, sweat slightly and add the tomatoes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer, add the meatballs and the mint. Simmer for about 1 hour, season to taste with salt and pepper, add the zucchini and cook for another 10 minutes, garnish with remaining cilantro and serve.

Posted in Soups and Stews

Tags: cilantro, JCCSF, Meatballs, mint, San Francisco, soup, zucchini

 

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Grandma Fela's Real Jewish Chicken Soup

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June 16, 2014

Author: Linda Cohn

 

 

Grandma showed me this recipe directly. The real Jewish penicillin is the marrow bone. It’s what makes you better when you’re sick. Watcher her with her spoon with small holes skim off the froth and discard.

Ingredients:

Onion (whole), discard after water

Celery, chopped

Parsnip, whole, discard after

Chicken, Kosher

Carrots, chopped

Bone marrow, Kosher

Salt and pepper

Pinch of sugar at the end

Preparation:

Put all ingredients in boiling water for 20 minutes.

Boil, then simmer for 40 minutes.

Take off froth and discard

For serving w/ Matzah Balls next day

(Separate broth into pitcher) and skim off schmaltz – discard and put rest of ingredients back in.