Bon appetit
It is that time of year again: the time when we crave comfort food and hibernate. Probably not the best thing for our figures…..however, at this time of the year my favourite thing to do is to make soup, serve it with a salad, crusty bread, and have a glass of wine (some good company is nice too!). Like my Yoga – cooking involves practice – you will never become a good cook unless you practice cooking – I love cooking and I love finding new recipes. Below I’ve listed some of my favourite (mainly vegetarian ‘cold weather’) recipes. Enjoy and comments are always appreciated. Play around with these and if you have any questions feel free to e-mail me.
********************
This recipe is from my son’s father’s side of the family – yes it has beef in it – however if you are a vegetarian you can do this strictly with just the veggies and it will still turn out well.
Grandpa’s soup recipe (takes 2 days time)
Ingredients:
1 good large beef soup bone
1-2 lbs stew meat (optional)
1 very large sweet onion (1-2 medium onions) chopped in big pieces
4-5 large carrots (whole)
4-5 stalks celery (try to make sure you also use the leaves on the stalks)
1 large can tomato puree
1 large bay leaf
Oregano to taste, salt, pepper to taste
1/3 cup acini de pepe pasta (orzo can be substituted) - if you want more pasta in your soup you can adjust accordingly.
Preparation:
In large stock pot, place soup bone, whole carrots (or break them in half), celery stalks, onion (chopped). Cover with water and put in tomato puree and seasoning (you can play around with the seasonings – I actually don’t add salt or pepper to this soup as it is very sweet and very rich on it’s own). (Note: if you want to use more meat cube stew meat and brown in pan before adding to soup mixture – add before you put in the puree). Cook over medium heat covered for 3-4 hours. Let cool and then place vat in refrigerator. Keep in fridge overnight(the purpose of this is to let the fat rise to the top of the liquid and the next day you would skim off the fat). Take the pot out of the fridge, skim off all the fat, take out the vegetables and bay leaf. Begin to re-heat the soup and bring slowly to a boil. Add the acini or orzo (note if you use orzo it will take longer to cook but it hold up better than acini does). Cook until pasta is al dente.
Serve in a bowl, sprinkle with GOOD parmesan cheese. To make is a complete meal make yourself a nice salad, have a nice piece of good hearty (Italian) bread and a glass of good red wine. Salut!
**************
The next recipe is from an old friend of my brother’s (actually). This was the best vegetarian chili recipe I have ever had.
Lisa’s Vegetarian Chili
Ingredients:
2 large (or 3 medium) onions, diced
3 large, (or 4 medium) cloves of garlic, finely chopped (you can use the pre-chopped garlic in a jar for this – follow instructions on jar)
2 green peppers, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
4 tomatoes, diced (or 1 large can of diced tomatoes)
2 cans of pinto beans
2 cans black beans
3 tsp chili powder or ground ancho
3 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
4 tbsp (approx.) vegetable oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste
Shredded cheese and diced onions to top off
Tortilla chips
Sangria (optional)
Preparation:
In large sauce/stock pot, sauté onions in oil until soft, adding garlic when onions are close to being done. Add peppers, and cook on low heat until peppers become soft (you can cover the pan to speed up cooking time and draw more liquid out of peppers). Add spices at this pint and let cook for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and continue to simmer (depending on amount of juice in the tomatoes, you may have to add water to thin the chili later. Mash pinto beans thoroughly and then add to pot, continuing to simmer. Add black bean and cook on low, stirring from time to time – cook for at least an hour.
Serve with tortilla chips, you can top off chili with shredded cheese and diced onion if you like.
******************
This next recipe is from a famous old restaurant here in Cleveburg: Sokolowski’s University Inn
It is for their wonderful Mushroom Barley Soup (again it calls for beef consume or bullion however you can get around this by adding wine or vegetable soup base).
Mushroom Barley Soup
Ingredients:
1/3 cup of barley
3 lbs mushrooms, sliced
4 oninons, diced fine
Butter
2 quarts whipping cream or half-and-half or milk (Colette’s note: use the cream dambit!)
2 lbs sour cream
4 tbsp granulated beef base, (vegetable soup base – can be found in health food stores or organic markets) or 8 beef bouillon cubes.
1 tsp white pepper
White wine (optional)
Preparation:
Rinse barley thoroughly until water runs clear. Put barley in large stockpot with enough water to cover, cook for approx. 25 minutes, adding water as needed. Sauté onion in pan with no oil or butter – just until water leaves the onions. Then continue to sauté in butter, NOT margarine. Add onions to barley. Add mushrooms. Cook for another 25 minutes. Add whipping cream. Add sour cream to taste. Add beef base (veggie base) or bouillon cubes and continue to cook, stirring continuously. DO NOT BOIL. Add white pepper. When soup is warmed through, serve (with crusty bread and good white wine if you like).
********************
This recipe is from my son’s father’s side of the family – yes it has beef in it – however if you are a vegetarian you can do this strictly with just the veggies and it will still turn out well.
Grandpa’s soup recipe (takes 2 days time)
Ingredients:
1 good large beef soup bone
1-2 lbs stew meat (optional)
1 very large sweet onion (1-2 medium onions) chopped in big pieces
4-5 large carrots (whole)
4-5 stalks celery (try to make sure you also use the leaves on the stalks)
1 large can tomato puree
1 large bay leaf
Oregano to taste, salt, pepper to taste
1/3 cup acini de pepe pasta (orzo can be substituted) - if you want more pasta in your soup you can adjust accordingly.
Preparation:
In large stock pot, place soup bone, whole carrots (or break them in half), celery stalks, onion (chopped). Cover with water and put in tomato puree and seasoning (you can play around with the seasonings – I actually don’t add salt or pepper to this soup as it is very sweet and very rich on it’s own). (Note: if you want to use more meat cube stew meat and brown in pan before adding to soup mixture – add before you put in the puree). Cook over medium heat covered for 3-4 hours. Let cool and then place vat in refrigerator. Keep in fridge overnight(the purpose of this is to let the fat rise to the top of the liquid and the next day you would skim off the fat). Take the pot out of the fridge, skim off all the fat, take out the vegetables and bay leaf. Begin to re-heat the soup and bring slowly to a boil. Add the acini or orzo (note if you use orzo it will take longer to cook but it hold up better than acini does). Cook until pasta is al dente.
Serve in a bowl, sprinkle with GOOD parmesan cheese. To make is a complete meal make yourself a nice salad, have a nice piece of good hearty (Italian) bread and a glass of good red wine. Salut!
**************
The next recipe is from an old friend of my brother’s (actually). This was the best vegetarian chili recipe I have ever had.
Lisa’s Vegetarian Chili
Ingredients:
2 large (or 3 medium) onions, diced
3 large, (or 4 medium) cloves of garlic, finely chopped (you can use the pre-chopped garlic in a jar for this – follow instructions on jar)
2 green peppers, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
4 tomatoes, diced (or 1 large can of diced tomatoes)
2 cans of pinto beans
2 cans black beans
3 tsp chili powder or ground ancho
3 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
4 tbsp (approx.) vegetable oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste
Shredded cheese and diced onions to top off
Tortilla chips
Sangria (optional)
Preparation:
In large sauce/stock pot, sauté onions in oil until soft, adding garlic when onions are close to being done. Add peppers, and cook on low heat until peppers become soft (you can cover the pan to speed up cooking time and draw more liquid out of peppers). Add spices at this pint and let cook for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and continue to simmer (depending on amount of juice in the tomatoes, you may have to add water to thin the chili later. Mash pinto beans thoroughly and then add to pot, continuing to simmer. Add black bean and cook on low, stirring from time to time – cook for at least an hour.
Serve with tortilla chips, you can top off chili with shredded cheese and diced onion if you like.
******************
This next recipe is from a famous old restaurant here in Cleveburg: Sokolowski’s University Inn
It is for their wonderful Mushroom Barley Soup (again it calls for beef consume or bullion however you can get around this by adding wine or vegetable soup base).
Mushroom Barley Soup
Ingredients:
1/3 cup of barley
3 lbs mushrooms, sliced
4 oninons, diced fine
Butter
2 quarts whipping cream or half-and-half or milk (Colette’s note: use the cream dambit!)
2 lbs sour cream
4 tbsp granulated beef base, (vegetable soup base – can be found in health food stores or organic markets) or 8 beef bouillon cubes.
1 tsp white pepper
White wine (optional)
Preparation:
Rinse barley thoroughly until water runs clear. Put barley in large stockpot with enough water to cover, cook for approx. 25 minutes, adding water as needed. Sauté onion in pan with no oil or butter – just until water leaves the onions. Then continue to sauté in butter, NOT margarine. Add onions to barley. Add mushrooms. Cook for another 25 minutes. Add whipping cream. Add sour cream to taste. Add beef base (veggie base) or bouillon cubes and continue to cook, stirring continuously. DO NOT BOIL. Add white pepper. When soup is warmed through, serve (with crusty bread and good white wine if you like).
posted by Colette at 11:56 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home