Dark Days Soup with Sprouts

In February my fancy turns to sprouts.  The seed catalogs are busy teasing us with their endless varieties of tomatoes and basil and I'm itching to grow something---anything!  So I sprout, usually mung beans and alfalfa though I keep meaning to branch out with radish or broccoli seeds.  I do not recommend the mixed bag of sprout seeds, they always turn out yucky.  Last year I made a lot of egg foo young omelets with my mung bean sprouts but yesterday Penny's stomach was bothering her and so I decided to make a small pot of soup instead.

This is my Dark Days meal for the week and includes home grown mung bean sprouts, 9 Bean Rows pac choi and onion, garlic from The Saturday Farmers Market at the Village and beef bone broth made from Gallagher's Centennial Farm.  The process was nothing fancy: melt frozen broth, add sliced onion and garlic along with salt to taste and ginger, bring to a simmer, add chopped pac choi and return to a simmer, remove from heat, pour into bowls and top with mung bean sprouts and if desired a squeeze of lime, a splash of fish sauce and maybe some chili oil.

P.S.  Check out this nice article on Gallagher's Centennial Farm.

Visit Not Dabbling In Normal on Sundays for the round up of Dark Days meals.

Dark Days Sausage and Greens Soup

We were given an extra challenge for this week and it was to make a soup or one-pot meal.  This was timed well to coincide with the snow and drop in temperature.  I made a batch of my Sausage and Greens Soup.  This batch is made with leeks from The Saturday Farmers Market at the Village, kale and turnip greens from 9 Bean Rows homemade Hubbell Farm chicken broth and my homemade apple/anise pork sausage, made with pork raised on Bare Knuckle Farm.

Visit Not Dabbling In Normal on Sundays for the round up of Dark Days meals. You can also visit our coordinator at Unearthing this Life to see some of our Midwest group entres.  

Dark Days Pumpkin Soup

This week's Dark Days meal is a holiday detox one. Even though I didn't eat huge amounts, the refined sugar and rich food I did eat have me reaching for comforting vegetable dishes. Lots of parsley, arugula and kale salads and for lunch today this soup.

Usually I spice my pumpkin/winter squash soups with curry or warm spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc.  But in a search for "winter" books for Alex I found a gem of a cookbook at our library.  It's called The Winter Harvest Cookbook.  Way ahead of the current locavore movement this 20 year old book was reprinted last year and it is full of ideas on how to cook winter produce.  What I like the most about it is that even though meat, dairy and grains are present in the recipes the focus really is on bringing out the best of the seasonal vegetables.

So this time I made my pumpkin soup a little different by following a recipe in the book that called for juniper berries.  I cooked leeks and onions in turkey shmaltz, added cubed pumpkin and a little ground juniper berries.  These softened together for 10 minutes and then I added chicken stock and cooked it for 30 more minutes.  To finish I pureed the soup and tasted for seasoning.  All the vegetables were local and the chicken stock and turkey shmaltz were from local birds as well.  And the apple is from Rennie Orchards.  A perfect little lunch for a Dark Day.

Visit Not Dabbling In Normal on Sundays for the round up of Dark Days meals. You can also visit our coordinator at Unearthing this Life to see some of our Midwest group entries.  

The Winter Harvest Cookbook by Lane Morgan

The pumpkin I used was a Jarrahdale pumpkin

The kids on Christmas morning
Alex is showing Penny the gems he got and Penny is holding the doll I made her.  Alex's new rockhound paraphernalia surround them.

Dark Days Borscht with Goat

We went downstate for a quick visit this weekend.  While there my mother served us a delicious borscht that reminded me that I've been making roasted beets too often, some soup was overdue.  For mine, I added some goat meat we bought from friends.  Though the kids have mostly been uninterested in it, John and I were surprised how much we liked the goat.  I have a lamb order from Starlight Hill Farms that will be filling my freezer by the end of the coming week so I decided to finish off the rest of the goat before it arrives.  I'm sure this would be good done with lamb, beef or vegetarian.

Borscht with Goat
In a soup pot, brown goat stew meat (~10 ounces) in some bacon fat. (Did I mention I obsessively save animal fat?) Remove the goat meat with a slotted spoon and set it aside.  Soften an onion, two medium beets, and a small celery root in the bacon fat, seasoning them well with salt and pepper.  The onion I diced but the beet and celeriac I cut into small batons.  Of course wash and/or peel the vegetables first.  Add the goat meat back into the pot along with 4-6 cups of water or stock, a pinch of allspice, a tablespoon of vinegar and a tablespoon of dried dill weed.  Stir and adjust seasonings as needed.  Bring the soup to a simmer and cok for 20 minutes, or until the meat is tender.  Add a couple of cups of shredded cabbage and cook just until the cabbage is done to your liking. I like the cabbage still a little crunchy. Taste before serving and add more salt, pepper or vinegar if needed.

Dark Days Challenge Info:
The goat meat came from friends who raised the animal themselves.  The bacon fat is from either my homemade bacon or Gallagher Centennial Farm's bacon.  The onion, beets, celeriac and cabbage are from various vendors from the Saturday market at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons.  The vinegar I used is Eden Foods Ume Plum Vinegar.  Eden Foods is a Michigan company although I do not know where they source the ingredients for this product.

This Sunday will be the first Midwest roundup at Not Dabbling In Normal.  You can visit our coordinator at Unearthing this Life to see some of the entries so far.  

Penny has discovered a box of her brother's old animal figurines

And Alex got a haircut!

Dark Days Fast Leftover Turkey Pumpkin Chili

A super quick version of pumpkin chili to use up leftover pumpkin puree from pie making and turkey from Thanksgiving.  This is made with local ingredients, except the spices.  It was a perfect way to make use of the turkey that we feel obliged to have every Thanksgiving but no one in our family really loves.

Fast Leftover Turkey Pumpkin Chili
Makes about 3 servings

3 cups cubed roasted turkey meat
1 1/2 medium onions, diced
~1 green pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 tablespoon turkey schmaltz (or oil)
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1 pint jar crushed tomatoes
2-3 tablespoons ancho chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
smoked salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

-Cube your turkey meat into ~3/4 inch cubes.  All dark meat would be my preference but I used both white and dark meat in this and was surprised that the white meat was saved by the chili spices.
-Soften the onion, green pepper and celery in the turkey schmaltz along with salt and pepper.  If you're not like me and don't almost religiously save fat from roasting meat then by all means use a neutral oil.
-Add the spices and cook about a minute until fragrant.  Add the pumpkin and tomatoes. Season to taste with smoked salt and black pepper.  The smoked salt really does add depth and improve this quick dish.
-Add the turkey meat and bring to a simmer.  Do not let it boil!
-Simmer for 10 minutes, check seasonings and serve.

I'm adding this to the Dark Days of Winter Challenge.  Recipes will be recapped on Sundays at Not Dabbling In Normal.  Also visit our Midwest coordinator at Unearthing this Life.

Dark Days Challenge info: We got our turkey from Hubbell Farm.  The onion and green pepper are from my garden (I actually used two tiny peppers left from a bunch that I saved right before the hard frost and were left neglected in the crisper). The pumpkin and the tomatoes were both from the farmers market but I don't remember who grew them, the tomatoes I canned in August.  The celery stalk and the spices are not local but all but the cumin was organic.

Other pumpkin chilis I've bookmarked lately:
Primal Pumpkin Madness
Pumpkin chili with venison

The kids were reading Christmas books together.  I love this time of year!

Creamless Celery Soup with Rosemary

I usually kill rosemary plants when I try to overwinter them and have in past few years chosen not to fight it and treat the plant in the garden like an annual.  I do try and remember to dry a big bunch so that it doesn't go to waste so I was all ready for this month's Spice Rack Challenge from Mother's Kitchen.

The weather combined with going lower carb and wheat free has me craving soup.  In addition, the local chickens at our co-op Oryana are HUGE, +7lbs!! and I have been butchering the whole birds I buy myself to make them stretch into at least three meals.  This creates a lot of chicken carcasses that are helping me replenish my freezer stash of stock.

Celery soup with rosemary seemed a great pair since celery is a vegetable that has an assertive enough flavor to stand up to the resinous quality of rosemary.  No real cow's milk cream in our house right now so I "creamed" my soup with celeriac, the tasty root version of celery.  I thought it was fantastic and John (a noted celery hater) liked it a lot, which must be due to the Mediterranean influence of the rosemary.  Penny liked it as well but Alex was on the fence.  He's getting to be quite the picky one lately.

Creamless Celery Soup with Rosemary
Makes 4-6 servings

1 large leek
1 large celery root (celeriac)
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoons crumbled dried rosemary, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
6-8 cups good stock (chicken or vegetable)
6 stalks celery with leaves, chopped
salt and pepper (white pepper preferably) 

-Remove the greens from the leeks and save for stock making.  Dice the leeks and rinse and drain.  If the leek is especially sandy then repeat the rinsing a few times.  Peel and slice the garlic.  Peel and dice the celeriac into 1/2 inch cubes.
-Cook the leek, garlic and celeriac in the olive oil along with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the rosemary over medium heat in a medium soup pot.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook until the leeks are limp.
-Add 6 cups of the stock to the vegetables and bring to a strong simmer.  Simmer for around 20 minutes until the celery root is cooked through.
-Transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth.  Use caution when pureeing hot liquids, this will probably need to be done in at least two batches.  If you own a immersion blender, you can puree the soup in the pot. 
-Return the soup to the pot and add the chopped celery and celery leaves.   Add more stock if needed to get your desired thickness.   Bring to a simmer and cook for around 10 minutes until the celery is tender. 
-Crumble the final 1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary into the soup and check for seasoning, add more salt and pepper as needed.  Serve hot.

Anyone else notice that there have been way too many dog pictures here lately?
Abbie is on house arrest after disappearing for 10 days before Thanksgiving.  We were sure she had been gobbled up by a coyote!  So far she hasn't protested too much but will probably give us trouble when the snow is gone.

Sausage and Greens Soup

Sausage and Greens Soup
I started making this variation on quick sausage soup last fall. I think it is best with turnip greens but kale, collards, Chinese cabbage and even radish tops all work well.  The key is freshly crushed anise seed that you toast in the fat rendered from the sausage.
Makes 4-6 servings

1 to 1 1/2 pounds pork sausage, I use the links from Gallagher's Centennial Farm
2 teaspoons crushed anise seed
1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 bunches (~1/2 pound) greens, chopped
2 quarts vegetable stock (or water and two vegetable bouillon cubes)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

-Heat up a medium soup pot.
-Use a clean pair of kitchen scissors and snip the sausage into 1/2 inch slices directly into the hot pot.  Brown the sausage well.
-Add the anise seed and a few grinds of black pepper, I crush whole seeds in a mortar and pestle right before using. Stir to toast until the anise is fragrant.
-Add the crumbled sage, onion, celery and a good pinch of salt.  Cook until the vegetables have softened.
-Add the greens and stir until they wilt down some.
-Add the stock or water and bouillon and bring to a simmer.  Before you walk away taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.  
-Simmer 30-45 minutes and serve.

Pak Choi and Squash Hot Pot

Ah my beloved DVR, how I love that you allow me to catch the five to ten minutes of valuable information left in the hour long debacle known as the Martha Stewart Show. Without you, I wouldn't have been able to sift through the product plugs and celebrity prattle and I would have missed the segment featuring Japanese hot pot meals from this week.

This gave me a new way to use up the pak choi I've been struggling with from my farm share. Plus, I used up local shiitake mushrooms that I dried this fall and butternut squash left from my garden. Hot, comforting and ridiculously fast and easy to make, this hot pot has me adding yet another cookbook to my Amazon wish list.

Pak Choi and Squash Hot Pot
Serves 3-4
Based on the recipe for Kabocha Pumpkin Hot Pot from "Japanese Hot Pots: Comforting One-Pot Meals" by Tadashi Ono (Note: these adaptions are made to fit what's in my pantry and what needs to get used up)

8-10 dried shiitake mushrooms
1-2 pieces of kombu*
1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari*
1/2 cup mirin*
8 oz (~2 cups) diced, peeled winter squash (butternut, kambocha, etc)
6 oz cubed firm tofu
3-4 cups pak choi, chopped into 1-inch pieces
4-5 green onions, chopped into 1-inch
1 (1.6 oz package) of rice noodles or raman noodles, like these from Thai Kitchen
1 cup boiling water + 4 cups water

*These ingredients are available from the Michigan-based company, Eden Foods, though of course no one is harvesting kombu anywhere near here.

-Cover the mushrooms with a cup of boiling water and let set for 5-10 minutes. You could soak them in all of the cold water overnight but who thinks ahead like that?
-Remove the mushrooms from the hot water, trim the stems and cut any large mushrooms in half. Add the mushroom water to 4 more cups of water, the kombu, soy sauce and mirin in a heavy soup pot, like an enameled cast iron pot. Bring to a boil.
-When the broth is boiling, add the squash and mushrooms and return to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook covered for 5-6 minutes.
-Uncover and add the tofu, pak choi, green onions and noodles. Push the ingredients into the broth, cover and turn the heat up to medium-high. Cook for ~3 more minutes or until the noodles are done. Remove the kombu before serving (or see how long your dinner companions will chew on it, LOL!)

Notable variation:
When I made this earlier this week I didn't feel like noodles so I made some sticky rice, IE unseasoned sushi rice. Then I poured the finished soup with the vegetables over a pile of the rice in a large bowl. It was as good or better, depending on your mood.

This week's 9 Bean Rows winter farm share: (clockwise from top middle)
white pak choi, purple pak choi, Leelanau Cheese fromage blanc, wheat boule, potatoes, more potatoes, eggs, lacinato kale, walnuts and Swiss chard

Extra link: You can watch the Martha Stewart Show segments on hot pots, HERE

Butternut Squash and Brown Rice Porridge (congee-style)

Before diving into making Christmas sweets I needed some detox food to recover from my Thanksgiving indulgences. My mother made a wonderfully simple squash and rice soup for our Black Friday brunch and I couldn't resist playing with the idea when I got home. I used up one of my smaller butternut squash with short grain brown rice. After they cooked together to make a creamy porridge I topped it with green onions, fresh ginger, soy sauce and fried locally-grown shiitake mushrooms. It was savory and comforting and was the perfect stomach healing food I craved. I also tried out a variation with brown sugar and Earth Balance margarine for my son. Alas, he objected to the squash, which is usually a favorite vegetable of him. I thought it was pretty tasty myself but not as appealing as the savory version. Here is what I did:

Butternut Squash and Brown Rice Porridge
Based on this recipe for Yum Yum Brown Rice Congee
Makes 4 servings

1/2 cup short brown rice
4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup peeled and diced (1/2 inch dice) butternut squash, other squash or pumpkin
toppings (suggestions listed at the end)

-Add the brown rice, salt and water to a small soup pot. Bring to a boil, stir and then reduce the heat to a strong simmer. Cook covered for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
-Add in the squash and bring back to a strong simmer. Cook covered for another 30-45 minutes until the squash is tender.
-Top with your desired toppings and serve warm.

Optional toppings:
-sliced green onion, fried shiitake mushrooms, freshly grated ginger, soy sauce, chili oil
-brown sugar and butter (or EB)
-if I had some I would have tried some kim chee and a poached egg or maybe

Another variation with brown sugar and Earth Balance margarine
(real butter or a splash of cream would be even better if you can have them)
This week's 9 Bean Rows share: (clockwise from top)
bok choi, parsley and rosemary, rye bread (my favorite), apples, potatoes, salad greens and kale
*note the cat tail and rear, they were eager to be fed
It's been ages since I posted a shot of Abbie.
She likes to annoy me by sitting on the counter, where she isn't supposed to be, and chewing on the squash stems.

My Vegetable Chili, the nostalgic version

Back in the days when my now husband and I started dating one of our favorite restaurants was the Sourdough Cafe. Located only a few miles from his work in the an open court of Summit Place Mall in Pontiac, Michigan, we loved their soups in sourdough bread bowls and great salads. Ok, I probably was the one loving the salads; John loved the bread bowls. I was vegetarian at the time and there was always a vegetarian soup available but what we both really loved was their vegetarian chili.

I've since made a million versions of this chili taking cues from their combination of ingredients but I'd like to think that I'm improved on their recipe. The key to the versions I make at home is the textures. By adding a few of the ingredients towards the end you get a better finished dish. In my chili, I add fresh green beans and corn at the end. Another more recent change I've made is to use Mexican oregano. Mexican oregano is mintier than Italian oregano and different from Greek oregano, which is more resinous. It works so well with the chile powder it's worth getting a hold of. However, the batch of oregano I have has lots of woody stems that don't soften when cooked. So I crumble the oregano and rub it through a sieve before adding it to the pot. I do this to only the amount I need and just before using because the flavor stores better in larger pieces. For another version of my chili with a similar method see last year's Kitchen Cleanout Chili, but here is the variation that reminds me of those first months dating.

Mexican oregano (from right: as purchased, sifted, stems removed by sifting)

My Vegetable Chili
Inspired by the chili at the Sourdough Cafe Pontiac, Michigan circa 1995-96.
Makes ~6 generous portions

1 large onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon neutral oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons chile powder (not the kind with other ingredients, I like ancho)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika (Pimenton de la Vera)
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano *see tip in text above
cayenne pepper to taste, optional
1 (28 oz) can of whole tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can of whole black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can of garbanzo beans/chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 (15oz) can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups water
1/4 cup polenta or grits
2 cups chopped fresh green beans
2 cups frozen sweet corn kernels

-In a large soup pot, cook the onion, celery, peppers and garlic with the oil and salt over medium heat. Stir often and make sure you cook these ingredients down until they are very soft and stop giving off liquid. This should take at least 10-15 minutes.
-Leave the heat on medium and add the spices. Stir to distribute the spices.
-Lower the heat and add the tomatoes, beans and water. Use your hands to crush and tear apart the tomatoes.
-Then add the polenta while stirring, to prevent lumps. The polenta adds a corn flavor as well as thickens. Taste for salt and heat, add more smoked paprika or cayenne for more heat.
-Bring to a boil and then immediately turn down to a strong simmer. Simmer uncovered at least 45 minutes.
-Shortly before you are ready to serve add the green beans. Bring the pot back to a strong simmer and cook until the green beans are tender, approximately 10 minutes.
-Add the corn, stir, taste again for seasoning and serve. The frozen corn does not need time to cook, it should remain crunchy to add a contrasting texture.

This is my entry to Weekend Herb Blogging, a food blogging event created by Kalyn's Kitchen. The event is now run and documented by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything Once.

This week's guest host is Rachel from The Crispy Cook. Visit her site at the beginning of next week to see the roundup of posts.

You can also find Rachel at Book Trout (her bookstore blog) and the Cook the Books Club. I read the Cook's the Books Club first book, La Cucina, but didn't have time to make a post about it. I'm now halfway through the second book pick, The Language of Baklava, and enjoying it tremendously. The hard part will be picking something to make from it, everything sounds so delicious.

Stock tip

Fall has officially arrived and that means there is cider in my fridge. The first thought I had when I saw the cider is that I need to make some chicken stock. Whenever I have cider in the house I add some to my stocks, either chicken or vegetable. The touch of sweetness and acid help make the tastiest soup broth. I gathered up all of the old and wilting aromatics in the fridge, picked some herbs and with a whole chicken I had made a big pot of stock. I added a splash of cider at the beginning and then at the end I tasted it for seasoning and added another small splash. It'll make your soup stocks fantastic!

Now, on to my second thought upon seeing the cider...I need caramel apples and donuts!

*Update: I haven't made the trip to either place yet but I called and you can get unpastruized cider at Verellen Orchards in Romeo, as well as Dexter Cider Mill for those closer to Ann Arbor.

Creamy Tomato Soup with Smoked Paprika

Creamy tomato soup with grilled cheese is a nostalgic meal for me. When I was young my mother and grandmother would serve them together always with pickles on the side. My mom was creative with her variations of cheese and bread. One of my favorite combinations she would make was Swiss cheese with Jewish rye. I'm sorry to say that I haven't really carried on this tradition. Alex can't have dairy and doesn't like tomato soup. I make him grilled Chreese sandwiches but skip the soup. I love tomato soup still but grilled cheese sandwiches just don't feel worth the calories. I'd rather have a cookie with a salad instead.

Well, I finally created a tomato soup worth making just to have a good bowl of soup. I was stuck with a bunch of over ripe tomatoes. It's so hard not to buy way too much when everything at the farmer's markets looks so nice. Plus, my own tomato plants are still producing like crazy. The tomatoes were way too soft for a salad so I came up with a quick tomato soup with smoked paprika. It was a great way to use up mushy tomatoes and I loved the smoky taste. I've made it twice more to figure out the ideal amount of paprika. My parents came over to help me finish off the plum dumplings and got a batch with way too much paprika, whoops! I use a little soy milk in the soup but cow's milk would do just fine instead. Today wasn't a great day for photography, hence the limited amount of pictures. It's cloudy and drizzling and perfect for a warm bowl of soup. I made Alex a grilled Chreese and had a slice of crusty bread with marinaded bocconcini on the side for myself. He thinks the soup "tastes too much like tomatoes" (duh) but I got him to try it by telling him it was just like ketchup. Maybe he'll like it after a few more times?

Creamy Tomato Soup with Smoked Paprika
Makes 2 large bowls

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
5 medium over ripe tomatoes, quartered
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (I used Dulce for this)
1/2 cup soy milk* (or cow's milk)
*I suggest Silk Enhanced Omega-3, it's one of the creamiest.

-Add the oil and garlic to a pot. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the garlic is fragrant and starts to sizzle just a little. Don't brown or burn the garlic.
-Add the tomatoes, salt and paprika and cook on medium high for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to tomatoes to break down most of the way.
-Remove from heat and place the soup in a blender.
*If you've never blended hot liquid BEWARE. You need to crack the inner cap a small amount and cover it with a dishtowel. The spinning hot liquid will create a lot of steam and if you don't have a way to release it the top will blow off and cover you in pain. Also do NOT fill the blender more than halfway. If you choose to double the recipe or have a small blender do this step in smaller batches.
-Blend the soup until it reaches an even consistency.
-Add strain to remove the skins and seeds and add the soy milk.
-Add more soy milk and salt to achieve the desired seasoning and consistency. If the soup has cooled too much place it back in the pot and rewarm over medium heat. Optional: If the tomatoes aren't over ripe then you might want a pinch of sugar or a small amount of agave nectar.
-Serve hot with bread or grilled cheese/Chreese.

Abbie came to see what's cooking.

Pork Meatball Soup with Mushrooms and Cabbage

I'm generally not one to worry about spending a little more money on food but some of the prices lately are a little shocking. I was at the meat counter trying to decide what to get that was inexpensive and not my standby, chicken leg quarters. I saw some pork steaks and thought they'd do well for soup. Using the bones for the stock and grinding the meat for meatballs was a way to fully utilize the three dollar purchase and stretch it into enough soup for several meals. I used Stephanie's Top Chef recipe for meatball soup as inspiration and borrowed some directions from this photo recipe for wonton soup. My version gives you Asian flavors with less work and using items I usually have on hand. I already had dried mushrooms, green onions, cilantro and some savoy cabbage in my kitchen. You could definitely make use of other vegetables and any mushrooms you have on hand for a similar effect. If you can't find bone-in pork steaks you use any pre-made stock and enhance it with mushrooms and make the meatballs from ground pork. The smell of the broth simmering had my mouth watering but I know from first hand experience that you can cheat and make any old vegetable stock ten times better by adding in dried mushrooms.

Here's the recipe, best eaten while watching Tampopo:

Cabbage and Pork Meatball Soup
Rich mushroom scented broth, flavorful pork meatballs and crunchy cabbage.
Serves 4-6

1 1/2 lbs bone-in pork steaks or 1 lb ground pork + 3 1/2 quarts of pork or vegetable stock
1/2 cup dried wood ear mushrooms (my package calls them dried black fungus)
1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons of grated ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2-3 cups cabbage (savoy or napa are best), shredded
5 scallions, thinly sliced
more salt and pepper to taste

-If you are using pork steaks: remove the meat from the bones and place in a 6-quart pot. Cover the bones with 3 1/2 quarts of cold water and bring to a simmer. Simmer for at least one hour, skimming the foam/scum from the surface. Grind the pork meat in a meat grinder or food processor.
-If you are using premade stock: bring 3 quarts of the stock to a simmer in a 6-quart stock pot
-Mix the cilantro, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, 3/4 teaspoon salt and pepper into the pork. You can microwave a small ball to taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Refrigerate this mixture covered until the stock is ready.
-Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for at least 15 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the water and add the mushroom water to the stock. Make sure you leave out any grit that is at the bottom of the mushroom liquid. Remove the stems from the shiitake mushrooms and chop into quarters. Add the shiitake mushrooms to the stock pot and cook for at least a half hour. Slice the wood ear mushrooms into ribbons and set aside, throw away any tough looking parts.
-When the shiitakes have cooked in the stock for at least a half hour remove the bones and add the wood ear mushrooms and bring to a good simmer. Add at least 1 teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of pepper, taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.
-Spoon in balls of the meat mixture into the simmering broth one at a time, stirring occasionally. I made balls about 1 1/2 tablespoons each but you can make any size. Add the cabbage and bring back to a full simmer.
-Add the scallions and serve.
-Optional: If I had them I would have used bean sprouts as a garnish. Other vegetables and/or noodles would be good as well.

Kitchen cleanout chili

I made an unexpectedly good version of veggie chili today while cleaning out my fridge and cabinets. I had a bison steak that I added but with all the veggies I'm sure it would have been just as great without the meat. Do try and add the crushed corn chips. They're my favorite trick to give a corn flavor and better consistency to quickly cooked chili.

Bison Veggie Chili w/ a Vegan Option
Serves 8
10 minutes prep time, 50 minutes cooking time
Ingredients
~14 oz bison steak, trimmed and cubed*
1 red onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
spray oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoon pimenton, smoked Spanish paprika
1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder, more to taste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (14.5 oz) can of diced fire roasted tomatoes with green chili**
1 (15 oz) can of black beans
2 cups washed chopped collard greens, or other dark leafy green
1/4 cup crumbled corn tortilla chips, optional
2 cups frozen peeled edamame (green soybeans)
2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 1/3 cup cool water
*substitute 1 tablespoon oil for vegan version
**any diced tomatoes would work as well
Directions
1. Heat a large heavy bottomed soup pot over medium heat until nice and hot. Quickly brown the cubed steak in batches and remove to a bowl on the side.
2. Spray the pot bottom with oil or for the vegan version add your tablespoon of oil to the hot pot. Add in onion and pepper and cook til softened.
3. Add garlic and spices and heat until you can smell their fragrance, toasting the spices slightly.
4. Add the browned bison, tomatoes, tomato paste, black beans, collard greens, and corn chips. Add just enough water to submerge all the ingredients. Bring to a simmer and simmer uncovered for ~45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add edamame and corn starch with water (slurry) and bring up to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
6. Serve hot.

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