Summer Harvest Soup with Rice

Another delicious soup that is made with fresh local ingredients. Only drawback, as is the case with most soups or stews, is that it requires a lot of slicing and chopping. After more than 30 years of owning original Cuisinart and for the last 3 years its small brother, the Mini-Chopper, I still hesitate in using machines for soup vegetables even though it would make the job of chopping 10 times faster. Still, I do have a certain knife skills and I like the uniformity of knife chopped vegetables so I just keep slicing, dicing and chopping.

In this version I used onions, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, parsley and thyme from my garden and from road-side farm stand I used corn and new small potatoes. Rice, oil and chicken stock came from my pantry.
Use any vegetable combination to suit your taste and have them chopped and ready. Heat oil in Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot. Sauté onions and garlic till garlic is fragrant and onions are translucent. Add rice and cook till lightly brown making sure that onions and garlic do not burn. Do not use more than a 1/4 cup of rice for 4 servings (rice triples in volume when cooked)! Add rest of vegetables and stock, bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with freshly ground pepper (I always use white), fresh or dried herbs and salt if needed. Serve and enjoy!

Coq au Vin – My Way

I was hesitating what to call this meal that I have made with skinless-boneless chicken thighs, root vegetables and served over pasta. I had to come up with a meal whose main ingredient was chicken thighs. It was a case of checking what else is in pantry and vegie drawer in refrigerator. I didn’t want potatoes as a side and I didn’t feel for tomato based sauce either but wine based sauce sounded great. For vegetables, I picked carrot, celery, parsnip, shallots and garlic and as a side I wanted some dry pasta shapes. Coq au vin usually starts with rendering salted pork. I didn’t have any but I had bacon which I did use. The idea was to render the bacon, remove the crispy bits and use them as a garnish at the end. That was a plan, anyway. The problem was that this beautiful, crispy bacon was sitting next to the stove and every time I went by the stove, which was often, I had a nibble. Half way through cooking there were no bacon bits left for garnish. Next time I will hide the bacon in toaster oven. Even though only seasoning I used was salt and pepper the sauce has incredible depth from the vegetables and wine. I used Chardonnay.

This recipe is for 2 people using only 2 chicken thighs.

Ingredients

2 skinless and boneless chicken thighs, fat removed and seasoned with pepper and salt.
3 slices smoke bacon, roughly chopped
3 shallots or 1 small onion, chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped parsnip
Salt and pepper
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 cups white wine

Directions

In sauce pan, render the bacon until crisp, remove the bits to paper towel and pour off bacon fat leaving only 1 tsp. Save the extra bacon fat for other use.
Brown the chicken thighs on all sides, remove and keep warm while you cook the vegetables. In the same pan cook onions and mushrooms until they start to brown and then add all the vegetables and sauté until they start to caramelize. Pour in a cup of wine and scrape all fond (food that browned and stuck to pan) from the bottom. Put the chicken back in pan and simmer until almost all the wine has reduced. Add remaining 1 cup of wine and keep simmering until sauce is thick, about 30 minutes. Just before serving add ice cold butter to the sauce, stir till all the butter is absorbed by the sauce, then cook for 3 minutes. Serve over cooked pasta and garnish with reserved bacon bits.

Oriental Chicken and Noodle Salad

Oriental noodle salad is my favorite food that I go for at any food court in a mall that has a Chinese fast food joint. It is so simple to make! The regular noodle salad has only chow mein noodles and julienned carrots, celery, red pepper and sprouts but I wanted something a wee bit more substantial so I have added cooked chicken thighs but I have also omitted sprouts for a simple reason – I didn’t have any.  And yes, it is fast food, 20 minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients

2 bundles of dry chow-mein noodles
2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
Salt and pepper
1 Tbs. peanut oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 carrot, julienned
1 celery stick, julienned
2 green onions, julienned
1/2 red pepper, julienned

Dressing
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. Hoisin sauce
1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. Sesame oil

Coriander for garnish

Directions

Cook noodles till al dente, plunge in cold water to stop cooking, drain, cut into shorter pieces and set aside.
Cook the seasoned chicken pieces in hot frying pan with peanut and sesame oil for about 5 minutes or until done and set aside.
Mix all dressing ingredients in a mixing bowl then add vegetables, chicken and noodles and toss until everything is well combined.
Serve at room temperature garnished with chopped coriander.

Chicken Breast with Vegetables and Noodles

After all the comfort food that I have cooked over the Christmas it was about time to come up with something light. I had some vegies left over from our traditional Friday night thin crust veggie pizza and a chicken breast so I had lot of choices as to how to prepare it. In the end I settled on sort of sauté with wide egg noodles. I had parts of white onion, zucchini, red and green peppers, cremini mushrooms and Roma tomatoes, excellent base for a sauce. At the end just before plating I stirred in a bit of balsamic vinegar and large pinch of dried basil (from my garden). Freshly grated Parmigiano and sprinkle of chopped parsley on top finished the plate.

 

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups of julienned red and green peppers and zucchini

1-1/2 cups sliced mushrooms and onions

1 cup chopped Roma tomatoes

1 chicken breast cut into strips and tossed with salt, pepper, hot pepper flakes and olive oil

1/2 cup Marsala wine

1 Tbs. Balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. dry basil

Spread the chicken breast strips in hot non-stick frying pan and cook for about 3 minutes on each side. Remove to preheated bowl or plate and place into 250 °F toaster oven. Cook noodles, toss in butter and keep warm.

 In same frying pan add 1 Tbs. of olive oil and sauté mushrooms and onions until lightly colored, about 5 minutes.

 Add julienned zucchini, peppers and tomatoes, stir and cook for 5 minutes, covered. Remove cover and stir in Marsala. Cook uncovered until the sauce thickens. Stir in balsamic vinegar and basil.  

Mix in previously cooked noodles and toss so that all the noodles are coated with sauce. Serve on preheated plates or shallow bowls, place chicken strips on top and sprinkle with cheese and chopped parsley.

Saumon en Papillote

Salmon in Parchment Bag

We love salmon, it can be served in so many ways! Iwanted to write “cooked” but since salmon in sushi, sashimi or as a tartar israw…you get the picture. I have served salmon in every possible way includingsimmered in fish chowder. One method, however, stands apart: en Papillote or inpaper bag. Very classical and sort of high end presentation. I used to prepareit quite often but later I prefer to serve salmon raw or medium rare with super crispy (charred?) skin. I bought two salmon fillet portions without a skin so crispy skinmethod was out and I didn’t feel for sushi so one of the alternate ways was to bake thefish in paper bag. This method can also be used for other fish like cod, seabass, trout etc. and even chicken breast. Seasonings used with salmon is quitevaried as well: Asian with Enokitake mushrooms, green onions and sesame oilcomes to mind, or my preferred way with julienned red and green pepper,zucchini, lemon, butter, sea salt and Herbes de Provence. Simple and yet veryelegant meal.

Ingredients

2 Salmon fillet portions, skinless and boneless

2Tbs. softened butter

1/2 tsp. Herbes de Provence (recipe below)

1-1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

1/2 tsp. freshly cracked or ground black pepper

3 thin slices lemon (1/8”) cut in half

2 pieces parchment paper cut into 15”X17” oval

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 °F.

Lightly butter center of parchment paper and placesalmon just below the center. Sprinkle sae salt and black pepper on top and topwith 3 lemon slices followed by julienned peppers and zucchini. Mix butter andherb mix together and dot the vegetables with small pieces of herbed butter,about 1 Tbs. for each fillet.
Fold the paper towards you and start folding oneside if the fold. Continue folding until you reach other side of fold and thebag is completely sealed. Tuck the last fold under to keep it closed.
Place oven on baking sheet and bake in preheatedoven for 10 minutes for medium rare. It will keep cooking after being removedfrom oven. Cut diagonal slits on top of bag with scissors being careful not toget scalded by steam. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice in a bag or you canremove the salmon and veggies from the bag and serve it on preheated plate.

Start folding...

Last fold is placed under the packet

Another serving option is removing contents of the papilotte on plate.

 

Herbesde Provence

2 tablespoons dried savory

2tablespoons dried rosemary

2tablespoons dried thyme

2tablespoons dried oregano

2tablespoons dried basil

2tablespoons dried marjoram

2tablespoons dried fennel seed

Directions

In a small mixingbowl, combine all the ingredients together. Store in an air-tight container.

Oven Baked Chicken Thighs and Veggies

Yes, another chicken recipe, but this time using most flavorful part of chicken, the thighs. They take much, much longer to cook then a breast but they are also so much more flavorful.

With the exception of mushrooms and chicken, of course J, all other ingredients that formed the sauce were from my garden: onion, eggplant, red and green peppers, tomatoes and garlic. Prep time is reasonable 20 minutes or so of chopping and slicing. As is the case with all of my recipes amounts given are for 2 people plus good leftovers for next day lunch. I served it with orzo (rice shaped dry pasta) but it can be served with any other dry or even fresh pasta, boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes or rice.

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs (bone in and skin on)

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. butter
1/2 medium onion
1 Oriental eggplant or 1/2 regular eggplant
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
2 Roma tomatoes
1 cup sliced cremini or white mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. butter
Salt and pepper
1 tsp. dried basil or 2 tsp. fresh chopped basil

 Preheat oven to 350 °F and place rack in middle.

Generously sprinkle salt and pepper on all sides of chicken thighs and set aside.
Slice or chop onions, eggplant, tomatoes and peppers.
In oven-proof skillet (avoid non-stick pans) heat oil and add butter. When the foam subsides place thighs skin side down and cook until skin starts to brown little bit. Turn the chicken thighs over and cook another 3 minutes. Remove to plate and cover with foil.

In the same skillet, drop in onions and cook until they start to caramelize, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits.

Add eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, garlic and mushrooms and stir to mix all vegetables.
Return the chicken thighs with accumulated juices back into skillet, cover and place in the oven. Check every 15 minutes if there is any juice left. If it looks too dry add white wine or chicken stock.

Meanwhile, cook your side (pasta, rice or potatoes).

After 30 minutes remove the cover from skillet and raise the oven temperature to 400 °F. Add the basil and cook for 10 more minutes or until the chicken skin is gold and crisp.

Serve immediately.

Chicken Breast Strips with Vegetables

All the veggies I used in this recipe were from my gardenand it did taste very fresh. From start to finish it took just little under 30minutes.

Main thing is to do all the prep first, start boiling waterfor pasta and you are on a roll. Also, I just do not like mushy vegetables,texture is terrible, they are tasteless and void of any vitamins, so I cookthem just until they are al dente or “soft to the tooth”. Same goes with the chickenbreasts, they are so easy to overcook. I just cook them till juices run clearwhen pierced with sharp point of knife or if there is no pink meat when you cuthalf way in.

I served this meal with wide noodles but I could have used gnocchi,rice or even potatoes with this sauce.

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts cut into 1” strips across

3 shallots or 1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 cup of chopped eggplant

2 red peppers, seeded and chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped or small can whole tomatoes

1 tsp. dry basil or 1 Tbs. fresh chopped basil

1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

2 Tbs. olive oil

Wide noodles or gnocchi,rice or even potatoes

Season the chicken breast strips with salt and pepper andcoat with 1 Tbs. of olive oil. (I like to use small but deep stainless steelbowl.)

Cook pasta, toss in tablespoon of butter and keep warm.

Heat remaining oil in medium hot frying pan or skillet, dropin the chicken strips and cook on all sides. Test if they are done and removeto bowl. Set aside and keep them warm.

In the same skillet sauté shallots and garlic until shallotsare translucent and garlic is fragrant, then add eggplant, peppers and tomatoesand cook on medium high heat until peppers feel soft, about 5 minutes.

Add basil and balsamic vinegar and stir to mix.

Add pasta, chicken strips and mix till pasta is coated withthe sauce and chicken and pasta are reheated.

Serve on warm plates and garnish with extra basil.

Char Siu Pork with Crispy Noodles

Chinese Barbecue Pork Chow Mein

Even though the actual stir-fry takes about 3 minutes to make the two main ingredients take a bit longer. The Char Siu pork can be done few days ahead and noodles will take just over half an hour and they too can be done ahead.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 cup Char Siu pork, shredded into larger pieces 1/4” thick

3 Chinese mushrooms

1/2 carrot, julienned

16 – 20 Snow peas, ribs removed

2 green onions, sliced diagonally

1 large clove of garlic, chopped

1” piece of ginger, chopped

2 tsp peanut oil

Sauce:

1/2 cup mushroom soaking liquid

1 Tbs. Hoisin sauce

1 Tbs. Oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp corn starch

In a small bowl mix all ingredients till well combined

Noodles:

Chinese egg chow mein noodles, 2 bundles

1 Tbs. peanut oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

Boil noodles according to instructions on a package drain well and divide into 2 equal bundles.

Heat 1/2 Tbs. of peanut oil and 1/2 tsp. of sesame oil in nonstick frying pan, add noodles and spread evenly. Cook till light brown crust forms on bottom. Turn over and crisp up other side. Place on cookie sheet lined with paper towel and place in 200 °F oven. Repeat with second bundle of noodles.

Stir fry:

Soak the mushrooms till soft, remove stems and julienne. Reserve soaking liquid for sauce.

Heat oil in a wok till very hot. Add oil and coat sides of wok with oil using steel spatula. Add garlic and ginger and stir fry for few seconds. Add mushrooms and carrots and 1 Tbs. of soaking liquid. Stir fry for few seconds then add shredded char siu, snow peas and sauce. Cook till sauce thickens a bit and snow peas turn light green.

Place noodles on preheated serving plates, pour wok contents on top and garnish with green onions.

Broccoli Soup with Tomato

Actually, it is sort of cream of broccoli but without cream being added. I had a small head of broccoli and pot of ham stock on hand so it wasn’t hard to figure out what I will do with it.

Ingredients:

4 cups stock

1 head of broccoli, stalk and head chopped very fine

1 small or 1/2 large carrot, chopped very fine

1 small onion, chopped very fine

1 baking potato, peeled and chopped very fine

1 tsp. curry powder

2 ripe Italian tomatoes, coarsely chopped.

Bring stock with all vegetables to boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 1 hour. Place pot into sink and liquefy with submersible blender or transfer to blender and liquefy.

Put soup back on burner, reheat and season with curry to your taste.

Pour into individual bowls and garnish with tomatoes.

Root Vegetable Soup with Ham

This soup is truly a full meal, especially if you use a lot of ham as I did. As is usual with any dish done from scratch the mise en place is a bit tedious because of all the chopping but after that it is a breeze.

Ingredients:

5 cups ham stock

1 Tbs. olive oil

1/3 cup each of chopped onions, carrots, parsnip, green beans

2 Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 cup chopped ham

1 cup cooked barley

1 clove garlic, crushed and chopped

1/3 cup Acini de Pepe or other small shape pasta

1 Tbs. chopped parsley

1/ 2 tsp dried basil

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbs. chopped parsley for garnish

Direction:

Heat olive oil in heavy bottom pan and add onions and garlic, sauté till translucent. Add rest of vegetables except tomatoes and barley and sauté briefly.

Add hot stock, pasta and bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add ham, barley, tomatoes and parsley and simmer additional 5 minutes.

Check if pasta is cooked and serve garnished with chopped parsley and few drops of olive oil.

Rice vermicelli with vegetables

 

This is another Chinese restaurant and shopping mall food court favorite and now you can even find it in a supermarket deli counter. And no wonder. It is fairly healthy, depending on amount of oil used, and quick and easy to prepare. As with most Chinese dishes the hardest and most tedious part is julienning all the vegetables. If you want a decent looking dish it just has to be done by hand. If you don’t care what the dish looks like a grater does a decent job. I use my trusty super sharp 40 year old Chinese clever and have it chopped in no time. Again, use any vegetable you have on hand but every version should have carrots, green and cooking onions, ginger, garlic and scrambled eggs.

Ingredients in today’s version:

Chopped: Ginger, garlic, coriander

Sliced: Cooking onion, green onions, Napa cabbage leafs

Julienned: Carrot

Egg, sesame oil, peanut oil, Hoi sin sauce, soy sauce, stock (few tablespoons) sugar, hot sauce (optional)

Rice vermicelli

Method:

Soak vermicelli in very hot salty water for 15 minutes, drain, separate strands and sprinkle with sesame oil and toss to coat.

In a hot wok or non-stick frying pan heat 1 tsp of peanut and few drops of sesame oil. Pour in egg beaten with little salt and scramble. When egg is still moist remove to large preheated bowl and reserve.

Add another scant tsp. of oil into wok and stir fry carrots for 2 minutes then add cabbage or bean sprouts, cooking onions, half of coriander and half of green onions. Add Tbs. of Hoi Sin sauce, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 Tbs. soy sauce and 1 Tbs. stock or water.

When hot, add vermicelli and combine all ingredients. Stir fry till vermicelli are soft but still with a lot of bite. Add stock or water as required. Remove to bowl with egg and combine.

Serve and sprinkle with remaining coriander and green onions.

Singapore Noodles

Singapore Noodles are without doubt one of the most popular dishes in Chinese restaurants, take-outs or food courts and they vary widely in quality and taste. Most of them are oily, some taste powdery, some are totally bland…

Same can be said about home versions as well. Been there, done that. I have no problem with taste, heat or oiliness, my problem is the vermicelli. It took some serious Googling and testing to come up with technique that works and that is repeatable. The secret is the soaking time in hot water. Less then 10 minutes and vermicelli will fragment into little pieces, longer then 15 and they will be mushy. Overcooking is another no-no. One can’t forget that food keeps cooking even when removed from heat.

Ingredients are as varied as there are cooks that prepare it. Besides vermicelli, curry and oil there are only 2 other ingredients that appear in all recipes: egg and garlic. Everything else is optional be it vegetarian or with meat and/or seafood. Give it a try.

6 oz rice vermicelli

12 shrimps peeled

6 oz pork, shredded (chicken will do as well)

1 fl oz rice wine

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp corn starch

2 fl oz vegetable oil

1/2 onion sliced

1 small carrot, shredded

1 handful bean sprouts or shredded Napa cabbage

1/2 red pepper sliced

1 spring onion sliced

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp grated ginger

2 eggs whisked

1 1/2 tbsp Madras curry powder

salt and white pepper

Optional:

Shitake mushrooms, soaked and julienned, sliced water chestnuts, shredded celery and few sprigs of coriander for garnish

§         Soak vermicelli in hot water for 15 minutes prior to cooking. Drain, separate strands, sprinkle with sesame oil, toss and set aside.

§         Combine the pork and shrimp in the same bowl and add the soy sauce, fish sauce, rice wine, and the corn starch. Mix together thoroughly and let it marinade for at least 10 minutes.

§         Add little vegetable oil to the already hot wok. Add the pork and shrimp with as little of the marinade as possible and cook for a minute or two. When everything is more or less cooked, add the marinade, continue to cook for a few seconds more and then remove the pork and shrimp from the wok. Remove to bowl and wipe the wok clean.

§         Add a little bit more oil to the wok and drop in the onions, cooking them for a half minute or so. Next, add the red pepper, garlic, ginger, spring onions, bean sprouts or Napa cabbage and any other vegetable you are using, and stir. Stir fry together briefly and remove from the heat. Remove vegetables to the bowl with pork and shrimps and keep warm.

§         Separate the strands of vermicelli once more. Again, add a smidge of oil to the hot wok. Add the eggs, let them set and stir briskly to scramble them. Add the noodles and stir. Next, combine the curry powder, sugar and season with salt and pepper and combine with eggs and vermicelli. Toss till well combined.

§         Finally, add the vegetables, the shrimps and pork to the wok. Toss everything together, cooking just enough to blend the flavors and heat everything through. If vermicelli are still hard add a little bit of stock or water and toss.

§         Place on individual preheated plates, garnish and serve.

Minestra di Pane & Ribollita

Minestra di Pane is a fresh bean and vegetable soup and Ribollita is same soup reheated and slices of bread added. Actually, this is my take on this classical Tuscan peasant soup. Mind you, even in Tuscany they can’t agree what is a true Ribollita but one thing they do have in common is that it is best when reheated. I used whatever root vegetables I had on hand and since I was out of dry navy beans but had one can I run with that. Also, no Italian bread on hand except Ciabatta so decision was made to toast slices and rub both sides with garlic and serve along side instead in soup itself.

Minestra di Pane.

1 leak, light green and white parts, chopped

1 small onion, peeled and chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 small carrot, peeled and chopped

1/4 small Savoy cabbage, chopped

1 Russet or Yukon Gold potato

3 Roma tomatoes or small can chopped tomatoes

1 small parsnip, peeled and chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 can white beans, drained and liquid reserved

6 cups chicken stock

2 Tbs. olive oil

Sprig of rosemary

In a heavy pan or Dutch oven sauté leak, onions, carrots, celery and parsnip in olive oil till soft but not discolored. Add stock and liquid from beans and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Add cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes and garlic and simmer additional 15 minutes and then add beans and rosemary. Simmer to warm up the beans.  Now it is ready to be served as Minestra di Pane.

To serve as Ribollita add stale rustic Italian bread cut into cubes and place into serving bowls. Pour reheated Minestra di Pane on top and it is ready to serve. You can grate Parmigiano-Reggiano on top if you wish.

Pacific Cod with Rice

With Christmas and New Year behind us it is time to start cooking and eating light. Fish and rice fit the bill very nicely. All I did was steamed the rice in a rice cooker, sautéed the cod in a teaspoon of butter and tablespoon of olive oil. At same time in another frying pan I quickly sautéed julienned red pepper and zucchini and sliced sweet onion. The cod and veggies were done at the same time, about 5 – 7 minutes. I served thinly sliced cucumber in honey and rice vinegar dressing on side. Definitely goes on a repeat list.

Potato Salad (Czech)

I just can’t imagine Czech Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Easter or Name Day without potato salad. Absolutely unimaginable. (Yes, Europeans celebrate Name Day and my "svátek" is on April 27th.) The salad is eaten as is, on open sandwiches (Chlebicky) as a spread, with schnitzel or with breaded and fried carp (traditional Christmas Eve dinner). Finely chopped potato salad is also stuffed into halves of tomatoes and eggs. Czech potato salad is truly symphony of textures and tastes. You have soft potatoes and peas, crunchy celery, pickles and onions and carrots and celeriac somewhere in between. Then you have sweet (carrots, peas, celeriac), sour (pickles) and acidic (mustard, onions). What a treat, it’s just too bad that it is so labor intensive. There is a lot of chopping involved and food processor would just make royal mess of all the food.

Ingredients
Potatoes, 5 baking
Carrots 2 – 3 carrots, finely chopped

Celeriac (celery root) half, finely chopped
Celery stalks – peeled and finely chopped
Onions (according to taste) – finely cut (see Tips)
Pickles (baby garlic kosher), 7-8 or more to your liking – finely chopped
Hard Boiled Eggs, finely chopped
Canned or frozen peas (1 cup)
Salt
Pepper
Mayonnaise

Dijon Mustard

Preparation
Cook unpeeled potatoes in unsalted water. Cook the carrots, celery root and parsley root until al dente, do not over cook. When done, peel the potatoes and chop. When rest of root vegetables are cool dice them and put them in large mixing bowl. Add chopped celery stalks, onions, peas and pickles. Finally, add boiled eggs finely cut or pressed through the slicer. Add salt, pepper, mustard and mayonnaise, taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
 Tips:

·        I cook my potatoes in microwave oven, it has a program for potatoes, but I remove them before program ends, otherwise they would be too soft.

·        I also cook my root veggies in microwave with just a tablespoon of water.

·        To remove acidity and harshness from raw onions I chop them, put them in colander and blanch them by pouring boiling water over them and then plunge them in cold water, let them sit in water for about 15 minutes, then drain and dry them before mixing them with rest of vegetables. It works great!

·        Don’t even think of using frozen carrots and other frozen vegetables except peas. Since you can’t buy fresh peas the frozen ones have better texture then can ones. Frozen veggies have no texture and are totally void of taste. It is an awful mush.

Try to chop all veggies into same size.

Potato salad chopped to spread like consistency and used on open sandwiches (Chlebicky) and halved tomato.

Cauliflower and broccoli soup

Cauliflower and broccoli soup is one of the most delicious comfort soups. Even though it is a bit tedious to make since there is a lot of vegetable peeling and chopping involved it is definitely worth the 45 minutes of prep time. Next time I’ll give my Cuisinart some workout, I think.

It is pretty well mix and match of what vegetables besides cauliflower, broccoli and onions you have available and what you like.
Potato, sweet potato, parsnip, leeks, asparagus and even turnip are some of other vegetables that I could have used.

In my last reincarnation of this soup I had about:

½ a head of cauliflower

½ head of broccoli

½ white onion

6 shallots

1 zucchini

2 stalks of celery

1 carrot

½ a head of medium celeriac

4 cloves of garlic

All finely sliced or chopped and totaling about 8 cups.

Heat 6 cups of chicken or beef stock in a pot.

Melt 1 T butter and 1 T olive oil in heavy bottom Dutch oven and add shallots and onions and sauté till translucent and then add rest of vegetables and sweat them for about 10 minutes. Add 1t (or to taste) of curry and mix well.

Add hot stock, cover and slowly simmer for about an hour. Using submersible blender puree to consistency that will leave some vegetable chunks intact. Taste for salt and add 35% cream, again, to taste and bring back to simmer. Remove from stove and serve with some toasted baguette slices rubbed with garlic.