This is, quite possibly, the best soup I have ever made. 'Nuff said.
Here's the ingredients:
1 bunch carrots, peeled and chopped
2 head fennel, julienned
1 onion, julienned
3 clove garlic (not pictured because I forgot them)
2-3 cups chicken or veggie stock (not pictured because the husband had not returned from the store yet)
1/2 cup cream
1 bunch tarragon, chopped fine
To start I heated the oven to 450 degrees and lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil (the foil isn't necessary unless you're lazy like me). Once the oven was heated, I tossed the carrot with a little olive oil, salt and pepper then put them on the sheet in the hot oven to roast for 10 minutes (I just wanted to give them a little head start).
Next I tossed the onion, fennel and garlic with a little more olive oil, salt and pepper, then added them to the pan. I returned this to the oven for another 30 minutes.
While the veggies cooked I added the cream and tarragon to a blender and gave it a whiz for a few seconds. My thought was that this would chop the tarragon, but it didn't do as good a job as I would have liked. So, when I make this again (notice the when, not if) I will chop the tarragon before adding it to the cream. However, I would still whiz it in the blender for a few seconds because it thickened the cream ever so slightly, which was nice (just don't let it go for too long or you'll end up with butter).
Once the veggies were soft I put a few of them into a blender and added just enough broth to cover them (not too much, because you can always add more later it you need too).
I put each batch through a mesh strainer (the fennel was really fibrous, so the texture before straining was not so nice) into a sauce pan for a little reheating. When it was time for dinner I ladled up a little soup and topped it with the tarragon cream.
Best. Soup. Ever. Maybe a little more labor intensive than I like my soup (I did after all have to get out a blender instead of using my stick blender) but totally worth it. I'm going to make this again and again and again ...Labels: almost vegetarian, fall, soup
A couple of years ago I spent a week participating in the Farm Culinary 101 program at Quillisascut Farm School in Eastern Washington. The first night that we were there, the chef on staff prepared a delicious meal that started with courgette soup. At the time, I didn't have a clue what a courgette was, all I knew was that I was eating some of the best soup that I have ever tasted. When I returned home, I looked up courgette to find that it is the British term for zucchini (duh).I set out to create my own version of this delicious soup. Over the last couple of years I have refined my recipe into the version that I make today. The additional step of roasting the squash seems to be the real key to making this soup really shine.This summer this recipe has come in especially handy. Two of my three weekly clients have been growing their own vegetables this year. If you've ever grown your own zucchini, you know that at some point you are going to be swimming in zucchini (and there is only so much zucchini bread that one person can make). This soup tastes great and freezes nicely (it's a nice little blast of summer flavors in December or January).This soup is best made when the zucchini are little so the seeds are small and the skin is tender. If, though, your zucchini got away from you and ended up really big, once you have cut them in half you can simply scrape out the seeds, then once the zucchini are roasted, scrape the flesh out of the tough skin and discard the skin.Here's the ingredients:
2.5 pounds zucchini (or any other summer squash)1 Walla Walla Sweet onion (other onions work well here too, but a sweet onion make it extra delicious)3-4 cup chicken (or vegetable) stock1/2 cup cream (totally optional but it gives the soup a nice mouth feel)olive oilsalt and pepperTo start I preheated the oven to 450 degrees. I also lined a sheet pan with aluminum foil (because I'm lazy and it make clean-up a snap). Next I cut the ends off of each of the zucchini and then cut them in half lengthwise. I arranged these on the sheet pan and drizzled them with olive oil and salt and pepper. Then I julienned the onion, spread it over the cut zucchini and drizzled with a bit more olive oil and salt and pepper.
I popped the pan into the oven. Forty minutes later the onions were slightly caramelized and the zucchini were roasted through.
I put the whole mix into a stock pot added the cream and enough stock to almost cover the veggies (you can always add more stock later, and I did, but if you add to much at this point the soup can get too thin).
Next I took the stick blender to it.
Keep going...
And...done. At this point I checked for seasoning and added just a little more stock so the soup was a good consistency.
Yum. A client favorite and a chef favorite. This made a lot of soup, about eight cups in all. I stashed a bunch of the soup in the freezer for quick meals come winter (and had a bit of it for lunch). The roasted sweet onion really makes this soup sing (but it really is good with regular onions too). I can hardly wait for winter when I pop this out of the freezer.Labels: almost vegetarian, soup, squash, summer
Every once in a while, the people packing the CSA box seem to lose track of where they are on the packing list. A couple of boxes ago, this resulted in getting two packs of red raspberries and no red radishes. This week, it resulted in a double helping of purple carrots. Look how pretty.
I decided to use the carrots to make soup. Often times the quantity of veggies included in the box isn't enough to make soup, but with the double helping I though it would be enough.Here's the ingredients for the soup:
2 bunch purple carrots, peeled and chopped3/4 Walla Walla sweet onion, chopped1-2 cups chicken stock (veggie stock would work too)salt and pepperI started by heating just a little olive oil in a sauce pan. To this I added my onion and let it sweat for about five minutes (sweating cooks the onion through, but doesn't color the onion at all). Once the onion was cooked, I added the carrot and then added just enough broth to cover the veggies. I let this simmer until the carrots were tender, about 10 minutes.
I blended the soup in a couple of batches until is was very smooth, then I returned it to the pan. At this point I decided the soup was a little thick, so I added more chicken broth until it was the consistency that I wanted.While the carrot soup was simmering, I decided to make a little cream sauce to further flavor the soup. With a search through the crisper drawer I came up with some English Peas and thought that the green of the peas would contrast nicely with the purple carrot soup. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been making a Pesto Pea Soup for some of my clients, and thought that a take on this soup would be good for the cream.Here's the ingredients for the Basil Pea Cream:
1 pound English Peas, shelled (this resulted in roughly one cup of peas)1/4 Walla Walla sweet onion, chopped2 clove garlic, smashed1/2 cup cream1/2 cup chicken broth (again, veggie stock would work too)a bunch of fresh basilsalt and pepperBasically, the pea cream followed the same steps as the carrot soup, with the addition of the cream to the pan for simmering. 
I added the basil to the cream when I put it in the blender.Once the soup and the cream were both done, I ladled the carrot soup into the bowl and then spooned on a bit of the basil cream (giving it a little swirl for good measure).
How was it. Delish! Both the soup and the basil-pea cream were wonderful on their own, but together they were great. My only disappointment was that I expected the carrot soup to be purpleyer (is that a word?) but the flavor more than made up for it.
Of course the carrot soup could easily be made with orange carrots instead of purple. Or you could get really crazy and make orange carrot soup, purple carrot soup and then the green basil pea cream. That would be really striking.Labels: almost vegetarian, Full Circle Farm, root veggies, soup
The last few days, I have had no desire to eat at all. Which is really, really weird for me. Last night however, I finally got my appetite back, so I decided it was time to cook.I took a look in the refrigerator and found some items that looked like they would make great side dishes, but no main dish candidates. The husband saw me staring into the fridge and made a suggestion, potatoes.I found a few Yukon golds lurking in the back of the crisper drawer and decided to use them to make my main dish, a potato cake kind of similar to Pommes Anna.Here's the ingredients:4 Yukon gold potatoes2 Tablespoons butter3 or so cloves garlic
I started by melting the butter over very low heat along with the garlic.
While it melted I used a mandolin to slice the potatoes (very carefully because that thing is wicked sharp).
I sliced the potatoes about 1/8" thick (traditional Pommes Anna would cut the potatoes to about 1/16" thick).
Next I got out a 9" nonstick cake pan, brushed it with the garlic butter then added a layer of sliced potatoes.
Then I brushed this with more garlic butter,
and sprinkled it with a tiny bit of salt. I repeated this process a total of three times. I would have preferred it be a little thicker (more layers), but I really needed a 6" or 7" pan to accomplish this, and the only pan I have that is that size was not deep enough.I put this into a 400 degree oven and let it bake for 45 minutes.While the potatoes were in the oven, I started on the side dishes. Here's the ingredients.
1 handful green beans trimmed and cut into 1" pieces truffle oil3 slice bacon, chopped6 mushrooms, sliced1/2 cup white wine2 teaspoon fresh tarragonI tossed the green beans with some truffle oil and a little truffle salt. I considered sauteing the beans, but since the oven was on, I decided to roast them alongside the potatoes. I put them in the oven when there was 20 minutes left on the timer.Once I put the green beans in the oven I cooked the bacon in a saute pan until it was nice and crispy, then I removed it from the pan and put it on a paper towel to drain. I left a little bit of the bacon fat in the pan and added the mushrooms to the pan to saute.
When they were cooked through, I added the white wine and let it simmer until all the wine was gone.
At this point I added the fresh tarragon and the bacon.
When the potatoes were done cooking I removed the pan from the oven.
Then I turned the potato cake out onto a cutting board.
To plate, I cut the potato cake into quarters, put two on each plate and then spooned on some of the green beans and mushrooms to each plate. Alongside I served a salad made with red and purple radishes, cucumber, fresh mint, feta cheese and a splash of sherry vinegar.
At first I tried each thing individually. The potatoes were creamy and sweet on the inside, but the outside was so crispy and delicious (like yummy french fries). The truffle oil was a perfect accompaniment to the greens beans and the tarragon was delicious with the wine-infused mushrooms. Next I started mixing and matching flavors, a little mushroom with a little potato, a little mushroom with a little green bean, etc. It was all good and it was all good together. The husband liked everything too (especially the potatoes) which is good, because the whole thing started as his idea.Labels: almost vegetarian, mushrooms, potatoes
I was really excited when I saw that we would be receiving corn in our box this week. In my opinion, corm is one of summers greatest gifts.I decided to use the corn, along with several other items from the box (and my garden) to make a nice cool salad for the hot summer day we are experiencing.Here's the ingredients for the salad:
2 ears corn2 yukon
gold potatoes, diced into 1/2-inch pieces, par cooked for 3 minutes in the microwave12 or so green beans, cut into 1/2-inch pieces4 green onions, chopped1 red bell pepper, chopped4 slices bacon, diced and cookeda handful of lettuce (I used red lettuce from my garden), chopped1 ounce goat cheeseI started by grilling my corn right on the grill (meaning not wrapped in foil or anything) until it was cooked through (it changes color as it gets done) and charred a little.
Once it was done I cut the kernels off the cob.
Then put them in the refrigerator to cool.
While the corn was on the grill I cooked the bacon until it was nice and crispy.
Then I removed the bacon from the pan and then sauteed the green beans in the remaining fat for about 30 seconds (until they were crisp tender).
Then I removed the green beans (to the fridge to cool) and sauteed the par cooked potatoes until they were nicely browned. 
Then I put them in the fridge to cool.While everything cooled I put together the dressing. Here's the ingredients:
1 clove garlic, minced,1 orange, juicedmost of a lemon, juiced1 teaspoon Dijon mustard1 Tablespoon mayonnaise1 handful basil, juliennedsalt and pepper2 teaspoon key lime honey (not in the picture)I whisked together all the ingredients. Tasted for seasoning and decided that it needed a little sweetening, so I searched the pantry and came up with key lime honey (score), so I added it to the mix.Once the dressing was seasoned to my liking, I stirred in all of the salad ingredients (except for the goat cheese) and tossed the salad together.I put this into the bowls and topped it with the goat cheese.
This was pretty tasty. Nice and light for the summer. A couple of tomatoes would have been a great addition to the mix. The husband said it was pretty good, but a little tangy for his taste. Overall, I'll give this dish a solid "B" (although the dressing get's an "A"). Room to improve, but not bad in any sense.Labels: almost vegetarian, salad, summer
1 bunch carrots, peeled and chopped 
Next I tossed the onion, fennel and garlic with a little more olive oil, salt and pepper, then added them to the pan. I returned this to the oven for another 30 minutes.
While the veggies cooked I added the cream and tarragon to a blender and gave it a whiz for a few seconds. My thought was that this would chop the tarragon, but it didn't do as good a job as I would have liked. So, when I make this again (notice the when, not if) I will chop the tarragon before adding it to the cream. However, I would still whiz it in the blender for a few seconds because it thickened the cream ever so slightly, which was nice (just don't let it go for too long or you'll end up with butter). 
I put each batch through a mesh strainer (the fennel was really fibrous, so the texture before straining was not so nice) into a sauce pan for a little reheating. When it was time for dinner I ladled up a little soup and topped it with the tarragon cream. 
Best. Soup. Ever. Maybe a little more labor intensive than I like my soup (I did after all have to get out a blender instead of using my stick blender) but totally worth it. I'm going to make this again and again and again ...
2.5 pounds zucchini (or any other summer squash)
I popped the pan into the oven. Forty minutes later the onions were slightly caramelized and the zucchini were roasted through.
I put the whole mix into a stock pot added the cream and enough stock to almost cover the veggies (you can always add more stock later, and I did, but if you add to much at this point the soup can get too thin).
Next I took the stick blender to it.
Keep going...
And...done. At this point I checked for seasoning and added just a little more stock so the soup was a good consistency.
Yum. A client favorite and a chef favorite. This made a lot of soup, about eight cups in all. I stashed a bunch of the soup in the freezer for quick meals come winter (and had a bit of it for lunch). The roasted sweet onion really makes this soup sing (but it really is good with regular onions too). I can hardly wait for winter when I pop this out of the freezer.
I decided to use the carrots to make soup. Often times the quantity of veggies included in the box isn't enough to make soup, but with the double helping I though it would be enough.
2 bunch purple carrots, peeled and chopped
I blended the soup in a couple of batches until is was very smooth, then I returned it to the pan. At this point I decided the soup was a little thick, so I added more chicken broth until it was the consistency that I wanted.
1 pound English Peas, shelled (this resulted in roughly one cup of peas)
I added the basil to the cream when I put it in the blender.
How was it. Delish! Both the soup and the basil-pea cream were wonderful on their own, but together they were great. My only disappointment was that I expected the carrot soup to be purpleyer (is that a word?) but the flavor more than made up for it.
I started by melting the butter over very low heat along with the garlic.
While it melted I used a mandolin to slice the potatoes (very carefully because that thing is wicked sharp).
I sliced the potatoes about 1/8" thick (traditional Pommes Anna would cut the potatoes to about 1/16" thick).
Next I got out a 9" nonstick cake pan, brushed it with the garlic butter then added a layer of sliced potatoes.
Then I brushed this with more garlic butter,
and sprinkled it with a tiny bit of salt. I repeated this process a total of three times. I would have preferred it be a little thicker (more layers), but I really needed a 6" or 7" pan to accomplish this, and the only pan I have that is that size was not deep enough.
1 handful green beans trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
When they were cooked through, I added the white wine and let it simmer until all the wine was gone.
At this point I added the fresh tarragon and the bacon.
When the potatoes were done cooking I removed the pan from the oven.
Then I turned the potato cake out onto a cutting board.
To plate, I cut the potato cake into quarters, put two on each plate and then spooned on some of the green beans and mushrooms to each plate. Alongside I served a salad made with red and purple radishes, cucumber, fresh mint, feta cheese and a splash of sherry vinegar.
At first I tried each thing individually. The potatoes were creamy and sweet on the inside, but the outside was so crispy and delicious (like yummy french fries). The truffle oil was a perfect accompaniment to the greens beans and the tarragon was delicious with the wine-infused mushrooms. Next I started mixing and matching flavors, a little mushroom with a little potato, a little mushroom with a little green bean, etc. It was all good and it was all good together. The husband liked everything too (especially the potatoes) which is good, because the whole thing started as his idea.
2 ears corn
Once it was done I cut the kernels off the cob.
Then put them in the refrigerator to cool.
Then I removed the bacon from the pan and then sauteed the green beans in the remaining fat for about 30 seconds (until they were crisp tender).
Then I removed the green beans (to the fridge to cool) and sauteed the par cooked potatoes until they were nicely browned. 
Then I put them in the fridge to cool.
1 clove garlic, minced,
This was pretty tasty. Nice and light for the summer. A couple of tomatoes would have been a great addition to the mix. The husband said it was pretty good, but a little tangy for his taste. Overall, I'll give this dish a solid "B" (although the dressing get's an "A"). Room to improve, but not bad in any sense.
