I saw an episode of Ultimate Tyler today. He's one of my favorite chefs from the Food Network and also the Cooking Channel. EVERYTHING that I've made of his has been delicious and this didn't fail. He made a Minestrone Soup that got great reviews. Being that Alyssa isn't feeling well, I figured that this would be good for her for dinner. It's actually an easy recipe but it works best of you get the ingredients out ahead of time. The full recipe will be at the bottom.
First you saute the Sage, Thyme and Rosemary in the oil to flavor the oil. Add the 'tube' of breakfast sausage and break apart the pieces. Next, you chop up the carrots, celery and onion in the food processor. Dump them into the pot and cook for a few minutes.

While that is cooking, heat up the chicken broth and garlic in a pot. I used homemade chicken stock. The garlic BULB can just be thrown in because you're only using it to flavor the broth.


add the crushed tomatoes, bay leaf, beans etc.
Take the garlic out of the chicken stock. Add the chicken stock to the sausage mixture.
Cook the macaroni, drain and keep separate. I don't add mine to the soup until I'm ready to serve it. Otherwise the macaroni will soak up all of the broth. I also used garlic toast that we had on hand. I guess you can tell that I like garlic! The soup doesn't taste garlicky at all.

Hunter's Minestrone

by Tyler Florence
Serves:

6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1 head garlic, halved
• 1/2 pound small rigatoni
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 fresh sage leaves
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 tube of frozen breakfast sausage or Sage sausage that's used for making stuffing, thawed
  
• 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery ribs, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed plum tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 (28-ounce) cans cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley leaves, finely minced
• Coarsely ground black pepper
• 12 slices baguette
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

Combine the stock and halved garlic head in a big saucepan and simmer for about 15 minutes to give the stock a nice, garlicky taste; strain out the garlic. Keep warm.

Bring a pot of salted water to boil for the rigatoni.

Pour 1/4 cup olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the sage, rosemary and thyme and warm the oil over medium heat to infuse it with the flavor of the herbs, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the sausage with the side of a big spoon until well browned. Chop the carrots, celery, and onion in a food processor. Add to the saucepan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned.

To the pan with the sausage stir in the crushed tomatoes, bay leaf, cannelloni beans, and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

Cook the rigatoni in the boiling water for 6 minutes; it should be slightly underdone. Drain and stir into the simmering soup. Add the parsley, and salt and coarsely ground black pepper, to taste. Discard the bay leaf and herb sprigs.

To serve, preheat the broiler. Put the baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the Parmigiano and broil until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Ladle the soup into bowls and float a couple of the baguette slices on top.

HOT & SOUR SOUP

Last night I made an Asian dinner. It included Hot & Sour Soup. I found a recipe online that sounded good so that's what I used. It was really good but needed some more HEAT and actually some more SOUR! But the overall flavor was very good. Instead of me tweaking the flavors, I let PJ and Alyssa adjust it to their liking any way they wanted. Alyssa used Sweet Chili Sauce that was actually spicy! She had 3 or 4 bowls of the soup!!!
It wouldn't be typical Lynn if I followed the recipe without making some changes so I'll post them in RED.

Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

(makes enough for 4 light meal sized servings, I doubled it! )

Ingredients:

6 dried tree ear mushrooms (also known as wood ear mushrooms) I didn't used either of these mushrooms but substituted about 2 cups of chopped shitaki mushrooms

6 dried black mushrooms

8 dried lily buds (otherwise known as golden needles)skipped these

1/2 cup bamboo shoots

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar I didn't have that so I increased the rice vinegar

4 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon oil

4 ounces pork loin (optional, cooked and shredded) I skipped the meat

4 cups Asian chicken stock (or chicken stock or vegetable stock)I used Veg Stock

1 package tofu (cut into small pieces)

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

1 teaspoon black pepper (ground)

1 teaspoon white pepper (ground)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons chili oil (to taste) oops... I didn't see that!

1 tablespoon chili sauce (to taste)

4 green onions (sliced)

Directions:

1. Soak the tree ear and black mushrooms in boiling water until softened, about 20 minutes, and shred them. didn't do

2. Soak the lily buds in warm water until softened, about 20 minutes, and shred them. didn't buy them

3. Cover the bamboo shoots in water, bring to a boil, drain and shred. I just opened the can, rinses them and cut them julianne style

4. Mix the vinegars, soy sauce, salt and sugar in a bowl.

5. Mix the cornstarch into the water in a bowl.

6. Heat the oil in a large pot.

7. Add the pork, tree ear and black mushrooms, lily buds and bamboo shoots and saute for a minute.

8. Add the broth and tofu and bring to a boil.

9. Add the vinegar mixture and the cornstarch mixture and stir until it thickens.

10. Pour the eggs into the soup in a thin stream while stirring the soup.

11. Stir in the peppers, oils and chili sauce.

12. Serve garnished with green onions.

Tonight I made Louann's recipe for
French Cream of Onion Soup Shots with Bacon Swizzle Sticks.
This is a very FUN to serve recipe! Besides that... It was delicious!!! I took this picture before we actually ate dinner with what I think is a sherry glass. I don't have shot glasses and didn't want to ask Alyssa where her's are! I served them then in soup crocks because we wanted a lot! PJ had 3 BOWLS of it! The picture doesn't do it justice!!!
The recipe is VERY easy and uses basic ingredients. The bacon is really a great addition to this soup.


FRENCH CREAM OF ONION SOUP SHOTS W/ BACON SWIZZLE STIX

3-4 onions, sliced
4 TBSP Butter
1/4 c. flour
2 c. broth (any kind; vegetable, beef, chicken)
2 c. milk
3 egg yolks lightly beaten
1/4 c. heavy cream (can substitute fat free 1/2 & 1/2)
1/2 c. grated parmesan or swiss cheese

In a large saucepan, saute' sliced onions and cook gently in butter until tender and golden. Sprinkle with the flour. Add broth and cook for about 20 minutes. Strain or puree in a blender, working in small batches. Return to the saucepan. Stir in the milk. Add a little of the pureed mix to the egg yolks, whisking to incorporate; but not scramble the eggs! Add mixture to the soup and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk until thickened. Stir in cream and cheese. Serve in "shot" glasses with Bacon Swizzle Stix as a garnish.

BACON SWIZZLE STIX

1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 ts. cinnamon
24 slices of bacon (I only got to use 8 slices for some reason!)
24 wooden skewers, soaked in water
Broiler pan

Preheat oven to 350. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Lay strips of bacon flat (wax paper is a good idea) and rub with 1/2 of the sugar mixture. Turn over and repeat with the remaining sugar mixture. Wrap each piece of bacon tightly around a skewer. Transfer to a broiler pan (do not use a cookie sheet, it will NOT work. ** See note at bottom) Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer bacon to a wire rack. These can be served warm or at room temperature. Arrange on a napkin - lined dish... which I didn't do.
** I used a cookie sheet that had a wire cooling rack on top of it. I haven't used my broiler pan in 5 years and I'm NOT about to start now! This method worked out fine. I think you need the air distribution from the top and underneath to make the bacon crispy.
ENJOY!!!

YUMMY BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP!

We bought a HUGE Butternut Squash from Sauders Market, the Mennonite market that we love by Seneca Lake. It was just sitting on my counter waiting for that special recipe to come along.

I found a recipe on allrecipes.com that had great reviews. I decided that we would be having Butternut Squash Soup along with our Chili for dinner.

I'm glad that I read the reviews because i did change some of the ingredients to go along with what the reviewers suggested. I will mark those in RED. Butternut Squash Soup


INGREDIENTS
6 tablespoons chopped onion
4 tablespoons margarine
6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash ( I just cubed the whole thing without measuring)
3 cups water
4 cubes chicken bouillon (I used homemade chicken broth that was seasoned in the amt of the water)
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram (didn't use)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese (as recomended, I only use 4 oz, not 16!)

DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan, saute onions in margarine until tender. Add squash (I actually roasted mine 400 for 45 min. I then threw the cubes into the hot broth for 5 minutes), water, bouillon, marjoram, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Bring to boil; cook 20 minutes, or until squash is tender.
Puree squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan, and heat through. Do not allow to boil.

as Julia would say....BON APPETIT !!!!!!

Today I made Julia Child's recipe for French Onion Soup. Along the way, I learned a few things. I had read somewhere that if you keep some type of flame lit near where you are cutting onions, you won't get teary eyed. I decided to try it.

I sliced up 6 POUNDS (4 HUGE) of onions ......

and it completely filled up the dutch oven. Guess what?????? Not one tear!!!!!!
The second thing I learned today was that you shouldn't put so many onions in too small of a pot. Mine was filled to the top and all it did was steam the onions. It took about 2 HOURS before they started to carmelize. CRAZY! I did add more onions than what was called for though.

I had to keep waiting for the liquid to go away so that the onions would finally carmelize.

I added the thyme from my garden... (I saw her use it on her show but it's not in the recipe)

and 1/2 a day later.... we have soup!

I shredded some Emmentaler Cheese (like Swiss, one that Julia mentioned goes well with the soup)

I toasted the bread, then put the soup in the bowls, topped it with cheese and put it in the oven to melt the cheese. I didn't want to broil it because one of the soup crocks (we had 3 different kinds) didn't say it can go in the oven so I didn't want to push my luck.

The soup was delicious and will be gone by tomorrow... if not tonight for someones midnight snack!

JULIA CHILD'S FRENCH ONION SOUP

Julia's Onion Soup
(Paraphrased from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child et al, Volume I)
Serves 6 - 8.

5 C yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 1-1/2 lb)

3 T butter

1 T oil

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

3 T flour

2 qts boiling brown stock (recipe follows) or store bought beef broth (I used store bought)

1/2 C dry white wine or vermouth

salt

French baguette, cut in 3/4" thick rounds

olive oil

1 clove garlic

Cook the onions slowly with the butter and oil in a heavy covered saucepan for 15 minutes. Add the salt and sugar, raise heat to moderate and cook 30 - 40 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions have turned a deep golden brown. Sprinkle in the flour and stir 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Bring the stock or bouillion to a boil and blend into the onions. Add wine, season to taste, and simmer partially covered 30 - 40 minutes, skimming occasionally. Correct seasoning. If not served immediately, return to a simmer before serving.
Bake the bread rounds on a baking sheet in a preheated 350º oven about 30 minutes, till hard and lightly browned, basting them with olive oil after 15 minutes, and then turning them and basting the other side. When baking is completed, rub each piece with a cut piece of the garlic. Spread one side of each piece with the grated cheese, dribble on a little olive oil and brown under the broiler. Add the hot bread rounds to the hot soup immediately before serving.


Brown Stock
(Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child et al, Volume I.)
Makes 2 - 3 quarts.

about 6 lb meat, scraps and bones, chopped to 2-3" pieces (veal, beef, poultry)

2 tsp salt

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut up

2 medium onions, peeled and cut up

2 medium celery stalks, cut up

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

6 parsley sprigs

2 unpeeled galic cloves

2 whole cloves

option: 2 washed leeks

Roast the meat, scraps and bones with the carrots and onions in a preheated 450º oven about 30 - 40 minutes, turning occasionally to insure uniform browning. Place the meat and bones in a kettle. Drain out the fat from the roasting pan and deglaze with water, scraping the bits and juices into the kettle.
Add the celery, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, garlic, cloves, optional leeks and water to cover. Simmer partially covered 4 - 5 hours, skimming and degreasing occasionally, and adding more water if necessary. Strain through a fine sieve or cheesecloth and degrease before using.

OUR NEW ORLEAN'S FEAST...

Scott commented to us that he missed Red Beans & Rice so we thought it would be nice if we made New orlean's favorites and let Scott & Alyssa invite some of their friends over to enjoy it with us. We decided that 'Saturday night' would be perfect.

I didn't realize it when we picked the date (August 29th) for this feast but today is the anniversary of when Hurricane Katrine hit New Orleans. What a perfect day to honor the people and part of what makes them special.
On the menu...
Corn & Crab Soup
Gumbo
Jambalaya
Red BeansRice
Shrinp Etouffee
Corn Bread

Alyssa made the Gumbo.
Making the roux is the toughest part. You need to stir that stuff for like an HOUR before it gets to the proper color! Talk about a labor of love!

Corn Bread in my favorite cast iron pan.

Jambalaya

Shrimp Etouffee

Red Beans

I put labels on the table so everyone would know what they were eating.

My plate!

I have to say... I was very impressed with our efforts. It was a lot of work but everyone enjoyed themselves and had a great food experience. Most of the kids had never had this kind of foods so it was great to have them try them. I think my favorites were the Gumbo and the Shrimp Etouffee. YUM!!! Good times!!

Here's the recipes:

SHRIMP ETOUFEE (or Crawfish)

½ pound butter
¼ cup flour
1 cup green onions, chopped
1 cup yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup green pepper, chopped
½ cup celery, chopped
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon basil
8 oz. tomato sauce
½ teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 tblsp. Worcestershire
Tabasco to taste
2 cups water
2 pounds Shrimp (1 kilo)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tblsp. grated lemon rind
¼ cup minced parsley
2 tablespoons cognac

1. Make a walnut-colored roux with ¼ cup butter and flour.
2. Add green onions, yellow onions, garlic, green pepper, celery, bay leaf, thyme, basil and the rest of the butter. Sauté uncovered, over medium flame for 30 minutes.
3. Add tomato sauce, white pepper, salt, Worcestershire, Tabasco and water. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer slowly, uncovered, for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
5. After 1 hour, turn off fire.
6. Immediately add shrimp, lemon juice, lemon rind, parsley and cognac.
7. Serve over white rice or with French bread.

Best if made the day before or early in the morning. Cover & refrigerate. Reheat quickly, without boiling.

CORNBREAD
1 1/3 cups Flour
2/3 cups Cornmeal (yellow)
2/3 cups Sugar
½ cups Corn Flour (use ¼ Cup Flour and ¼ Cup Cornmeal)
5 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups Milk
5 tablespoons unsalted Butter, melted
1 Egg, beaten

In large bowl, mix Flour, Cornmeal, Sugar, Corn Flour (see note), Baking Powder, and Salt. Mix well, breaking up any lumps.
2. In another bowl, combine the Milk, Butter and Egg.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, blend just until mixed and large lumps are dissolved. Do not overbeat.
4. For Bread: Pour into a greased pan and bake at 350 F until golden brown, about 55 minutes.
For Muffins: Spoon mixture into 12 greased muffin cups. Bake at 350 F until golden brown, about 45 minutes

Red Beans & Rice
1 pound dried red beans
1 meaty ham bone
1 ¾ quarts water (enough to cover ham bone)
3 cups chopped Bermuda onion
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup parsley, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tablespoon salt
Dash red pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon sugar
Dash Tabasco
¼ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon thyme leaves
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
Seasoned salt to taste
Cooked Rice
Soak beans overnight in water to cover. Drain. Cook beans and ham bone in water slowly for 3 hours. Add all ingredients except seasoned salt. Cook slowly for 1 ½ hours. Cool. Reheat and simmer for 1 hour. Add seasoned salt to taste. Served over cooked rice. Serves 8.

The other recipes will be added when I have more time!

Lynn's Version of CRAB AND CORN SOUP... SURPRISINGLY PRETTY GOOD!!!

Today is the 31st anniversary of PJ and my first date!!! (9-9-77) Normally he says Happy Anniversary first but this time I remembered first! I called him at work and he was very surprised that it was already the 9th! He was taking 1/2 a day today to take care of legal things with his mother so I decided to surprise him with a nice lunch. He brought tomatoes home from Saratoga the other day that need to be used so I made BLT sandwiches with them. BUT to make it extra special, I made my version of Crab & Corn Soup, one of our favorites. I had the ingredient list from Maxie's Supper Club in Ithaca (they won't give you the actual recipe). So I decided to wing it. We had 3 ears of corn left over from last nights dinner that I roasted on the grill so they had a nice smokey flavor. They would be perfect for this. I don't have a recipe for this soup. It's a little of this and a little of that all thrown together.

I started by cooking some bacon for the sandwiches and saving a little for the soup, including a few TBS of the grease to add to the oil and butter. Then I diced 2 ribs of celery and 2 shallots. I put 1/2 of a stick of butter in the pan, with a little veg oil so the butter doesn't burn on medium heat. I threw in the celery and onions and cooked them for about 10 minutes, making sure not to burn them. This brings out the sweetness in the onions. I added the leaves (chopped up) of about 3 sprigs of Thyme from my garden. Then, and I think this is what made it taste so good, I added about 1/4 of a cup of JOE'S SEASONINGS. This is from the New Orleans Cooking School. http://shopping.nosoc.com/

It's a low salt, no MSG, no preservatives all purpose seasoning, so really I guess any will do, but low salt would be best.

I stirred this through and cooked for a couple of minutes more. I added some flour, probably about 1/3 of a cup, and kept stirring for a few minutes more. I had about a quart of water that I froze from when I made corn in a pan so it has that delicious corn flavor. I dumped that in and kept stirring. I then added about 2 cups of 2% milk and kept cooking and stirring occasionally for about 10 more minutes. I then went to the fridge to get the 3 ears of corn. They were no where to be found! Chris must have eaten them in the middle of the night! I ended up finding some frozen corn, throwing that in and I even added a can of creamed corn! I cooked it for about 10 more minutes and it was basically finished. I spooned it into bowls and added chopped scallions and a little more Thyme to the top. DELICIOUS!

PJ was so impressed! He had the sandwich and soup and went back for a second bowl of soup!