Spinach Cream Soup

I think I could write a whole series on how to make use of Costco/Big Box stuff without getting tired of it.

I bought a big bag of spinach at Costco the other day. First I made our favorite San Francisco's Little Joe's Special. Tonight I made this soup from Twelve Months of Monastery Soups. It's a bland soup but good somehow, if that makes sense. I actually added 1 cup or so of cooked rice to it, since I had that sitting in the frig. Served with some tuna melts. The original recipe called for rubbing garlic on slices of bread, putting the bread in a bowl and serving the soup on top. Since we were having tuna melts I left that out. Here's my version:

4 Tbs olive oil
2-3 big handfuls of fresh raw spinach, chopped
1 onion, chopped
7 cups chicken or turkey stock (I used turkey tonight)
1 cup leftover cooked rice (or add raw rice earlier in the process)
3 eggs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan or so
salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste


Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or stockpot. Cook the onion and chopped spinach for 5 minutes or so, until softened and wilted. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer 30 minutes, then cream it all together with an immersion blender. Add cooked rice here if you want to make it a more filling soup.

Blend the eggs, cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl. Pour into the soup, stirring, and simmer another 8-10 minutes.

Bean Sprout Salad

We all like bean sprouts. My girls are happy to just eat them raw. I like something done to them. Previously, I've done this bean sprout and garlic stir-fry, which I love, which is also from Simple Chinese Cooking. I thought perhaps the girls would enjoy this more raw salad. I liked it, but they'd still rather just eat them raw!

1 pound bean sprouts

2 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup sliced green onions/scallions
1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 Tbs peanut oil

Bring a pot of salted water to boil and add the bean sprouts, cooking at a simmer just a minute or so. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again, squeezing to remove any excess water.

In a small bowl mix the soy sauce, sugar, green onions, and sesame oil.

Just before serving, heat the peanut oil in a pan, then pour into the dressing ingredients and stir. Pour this all over the cooked and drained bean sprouts and serve.

Vegetarian Sweet & Sour Tofu

On of my nephews is vegetarian, has been for years. I'm hoping he'll come join us for dinner one evening (nudge nudge Taylor!), plus the girls are interested in eating more "consciously", so I bought a new cookbook.

This is basically from Better Than Peanut Butter & Jelly: Quick Vegetarian Meals Your Kids Will Love! Revised Edition. We're not vegetarian (hence the last post on pulled pork!) but we do like vegetarian meals. And we're trying to eat more "consciously" (although I wonder that you never see free-range pig advertised? Is that because they're ALL free range? I somehow doubt it.)

Anyway, I bought this cookbook on a whim, although I think it' s geared towards younger children (start 'em young!). That said, both my carnivore-tending teenagers liked this "except for the peppers." I know they don't like cooked peppers. In fact, I cut the peppers in half, and served the other half of the red pepper sliced and raw, which they happily ate. They did like the tofu, carrots, pineapple, and sauce.

1 15.5 ounce can pineapple chunks (reserve the juice)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine vinegar (rice vinegar would probably work too)
1 tomato, cut into wedges
2 1/2 Tbs cornstarch mixed into 1/4 cup water
1 tsp ground ginger
1 10.5 ounce package extra firm tofu, drained and cut into 1" cubes
2 Tbs sesame oil
1 green pepper (I used just 1/2), cut into thin strips about 2" long
1 red pepper (I saved half to serve raw) cut into thin strips
1 carrot, cut in half lengthwise, then cut into thin half circles

Mix pineapple juice, soy sauce, vinegar, tomato, cornstarch mix, and ginger into a small bowl.

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. (Note: original recipe says over low to medium heat but we like our fried tofu with browned sides!) Stir fry the tofu for 10 minutes or so, until lightly browned on all sides.

Add the peppers and carrots and stir fry another few minutes.

Stir in the soy sauce mixture and cook about 5 more minutes, until thickened. Add the pineapple chunks and heat through.

I served this with a bean sprout salad. Like I said, my kids were happy to eat the tofu, carrots, and pineapple but would rather eat their peppers raw. I liked it as noted.

Easy Pulled Pork in the Crockpot

When I buy a roast, I usually cook half and save half, either whole, sliced, or chopped. I vacuum seal it and throw it in the freezer for a bit. I was in the mood for some pulled pork sandwiches but didn't feel like paying as much attention as my regular recipes call for. (But if you feel like doing a bit more here's another recipe for pulled pork.

For last night's dinner, I went the easy route, defrosting the pork roast (which was cubed already) and dumping a bottle of barbecue sauce on it. You can make your own barbecue sauce or use store-bought.

When it's falling apart done, shred with some forks. Serve on buns with coleslaw.

Sliced Oranges with Cinnamon

I got this idea from one of those fundraiser cookbooks. I love those! This was one on Mexican cooking that my nephew was selling a few years ago for his high school Spanish class.

Peel some oranges and slice crosswise (so you end up with circles of oranges). Put them in a bowl. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Refrigerate an hour or so if you have time, but it's almost as good if you do this just before serving.

Now, I would normally not put sugar on a sweet fruit. And I've done this before with just the cinnamon, which is nearly as good if you've got sweet oranges. But for whatever reason our oranges are a bit tart this year. They turned orange earlier than normal, so we made a few batches of great candied orange peel for Christmas. And they make great juice for breakfast, much easier since I bought a juicer kind of like this one, Black & Decker CJ525 CitrusMate Plus Citrus Juicer. Mine was a Krups but I don't see one on Amazon these days. Anyway, with a tree full of oranges right now, we're juicing and slicing pretty much every day!

The juice is great in the morning, but the fruit is just tart enough that it's a bit tough to eat on its own yet. But slice and sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on it and it makes a fantastic dessert.

When You Need Beef Gravy In a Hurry

This is from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook: Anniversary, still one of my all-time favorites. One of those "if you could only pick one cookbook..." types. Luckily I don't have to, but still, when you're stuck for ideas this is a great resource.

So the dinner situation was eldest was having her final driving lesson (yikes! Test coming soon!). I had leftover steak from a fantastic dinner I forgot to blog about (maybe later). I had leftover roasted red potatoes from same dinner. I had a few other things I did not use for tonight's dinner which will most likely show up in soup (like leftover creamed spinach).

I thumbed through a few books for ideas. Thought about burritos, fried rice, broccoli (from the garden) and beef stir-fry, hash (always a favorite), pannini sandwiches (also always a favorite for using up leftovers), soup of course... I settled on making a Beef Pot Pie, but had no gravy. I followed the recipe for "Improvised Gravy" from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook: Anniversary and it came out great. Definitely something to keep in mind. You can make chicken gravy by using chicken broth or beef gravy by using beef broth. Pretty similar to "Make Your Own Cream of Soups" of course, as it's basically a flavored white sauce.

2 Tbs minced onion (or shallots or scallions)
3 Tbs butter
3 Tbs flour
1/4 cup red wine or dry vermouth (I used the vermouth)
1 1/2 cups beef or chicken broth (depending on what kind of fake gravy you want!)
leftover drippings if you have some or another tablespoon of butter
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion in the butter 5 minutes or so, until soft and translucent. Stir in the flour and cook a few minutes, stirring constantly. Add the vermouth or wine and 1/4 cup or so of the broth, stirring until smooth. A whisk works well for this.

Add the rest of the broth gradually, stirring so it mixes in. Heat another five minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in leftover pan drippings or another tablespoon of butter if you don't have any. Taste and season.

Pot Roast and Chicken Pot Pie

Normally, I'm happy giving recipes here, understanding that if I put the directions in my own words and since I usually adjust the ingredients a bit, I'm okay with the copyright conventions and laws. But I just cooked two different recipes from the same book and they both came out totally fantastic so I'm feeling a bit at odds. I've already blogged about the pork tenderloin recipe, although actually I combined a great marinade with her cooking suggestions. And one of the best recipes for smaller turkeys comes from here as well. And I like my regular chicken pot pie recipe, but we all agreed hers was best when I cooked it the other night. I usually start with leftover cooked chicken, which might be key, as she has ha you poach boneless skinless chicken breasts in chicken stock (although I used turkey because hey, we just had Thanksgiving so the freezer is full of turkey stock!).

I'm talking about CookSmart: Perfect Recipes for Every Day. I also like her The Perfect Recipe and How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart. I know some people get obsessed with Rachel Ray. I think I could get obsessed with Pamela Anderson.

Two nights ago I followed her directions for the perfect pot roast and oh my was it good! Browning the pot roast, then cooking up onions, then adding red wine, return the chuck roast to the pan and cover with foil, bring back to a simmer, then pop in the oven at a high temperature. Mmmmm!

I made up some cooked carrots and mashed potatoes to go with. A big hit of a dinner.

Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens

This has become our New Year tradition even though we're not from the South (at least not in recent generations). I've made this using a ham bone, ham hocks, and salt pork so don't despair if you don't have a ham bone lying around. Last night, in fact, I made it with about 4 ounces of salt pork because I was cooking the ham at the same time so didn't have the bone yet! (But I always try to keep some salt pork or ham hock in the freezer for "emergencies" like this!)

This mostly came from Mark Bittman's version, although he calls for a meaty ham bone. I had bought his How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food: 2008 Day-to-Day Calendar as an emergency gift but since I didn't need to give it away to anyone I'm keeping it for myself! This was the first recipe in it, of course.

Adding the collard greens is optional but I like the "one pot" idea and they came out great.

1 ham bone or ham hock or 4 ounces salt pork
1 pound (2 cups) black eyed peas (dried)
water
1 pound collard greens, roughly chopped
2 onions, chopped
pepper to taste (1/2 tsp to start?)

Soak the dried peas for a few hours in a few quarts of water. You can do this overnight if it's easier. Drain and rinse the peas, then put in a stockpot and cover with water (about 2 inches higher than the peas). Put the ham bone, hock, or salt pork in and bring to a boil. Add the onions, collard greens, and pepper. Reduce heat and cover the pot, leaving the top ajar a bit. Simmer for at least 1.5 hours, until the peas are softened. (Yes, the collard greens get cooked that long too!) If you used a meaty ham bone, remove that and let it cool so you can take the meat off it, Chop the meat and return to the pot.

Serve with vinegar and hot sauce.