wedding soup

Long a treat widely available up north and on the east coast, I assume because of the presence of Italian populations, wedding soup is something I haven't seen anywhere down south.  There are several different versions on various recipe websites, but I used to eat my favorite version in a dive restaurant in Erie, and I wanted to try to replicate, and improve on, the way they made it.

I started with the meatballs

I made a panade of a couple of slices of bread, some crushed fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt, and about a half a cup of milk, all ground up in the food processor.  To that I added some sweet Italian sausage, mixed it all up, and rolled little meatballs about three quarters of an inch in diameter. Someone asked me how I keep the size so consistent--a small melon baller and a cup of water. Scoop a dollop of meat in the melon baller, round the top, and dump the little meatball on the baking sheet. After about every third meatball, swish the melon baller in the water, washing away residue that can make the meatballs stick.

rolling the little meatballs was a bit tedious, but I 

knew I would have enough to freeze some for later

The meatballs baked in a 350 oven in about twenty minutes.  For aromatics, I sauteed diced onion, and carrots cut into matchsticks.   The carrots could just as easily been diced, but I like the look of the matchsticks, and I don't care for big bites of cooked carrot.  Besides, I have a handy little tool that shaves the matchsticks right off the carrot.  It looks like a vegetable peeler with teeth.

I lightly sauteed the vegetable in olive oil before adding the broth

Sauteing the veggies first is really just habit.  They could have just as easily been simmered in the broth--the soup cooks long enough for them to soften.  For broth I used my new favorite, outside of homemade stock--Swanson no salt-added cooking stock.  It has a clean flavor, and I love being able to control the salt level myself.    Along with the broth, I added about a cup of vermouth, and a boneless, skinless chicken breast, which I cooked at a bare simmer, and took out as soon as it hit an internal temperature of 165.  Chicken breast can get tough and dry if it is cooked too long.  It took about 20 minutes to cook through.  I took the breast out of the stock, added about two cups of water to the broth, and added in a half a cup of orzo pasta--the little pasta shaped like grains of rice.  Any small pasta shape would work.  The addition of water assures that the pasta won't soak up all the broth.  I brought the heat up to medium hi, and while the pasta cooked, I shredded the chicken breast to be stirred in at the last minute.  As soon as the pasta was al dente, I stirred in a full bag of arugula.

looks like a lot of greens, but they cook down a lot--

spinach would work, too, but I like the spicy bite in arugula

The greens cook in about two minutes.  After they cooked down I added about a third of my meatballs, and the shredded chicken.  I tasted for salt, added a bit, and served.

this is a pretty soup hearty enough to make a meal

cioppino

Italian influenced seafood soup fits right in with my food goals for the new year.  I want foods with more veggies, more seafood, simple preparations, and big, bold flavors.  And seafood soup checks that list off in every aspect.  Veggies?  Check.  Tomatoes, onions, shallots, garlic, peppers.

a quick saute of the veggies builds a base for the soup

I happened to have some cooked garden tomatoes from last summer in the freezer, though canned tomatoes would work as well.  But I have to admit that there is nothing quite like the flavor of home-grown tomatoes in January.  A little thyme, some dried tarragon, ground fennel seed, orange zest and juice, some red jalapeno, and a dash of salt and pepper rounded out the broth, which I thinned with a bit of seafood stock, available at most groceries.

tomato soup of the gods, slightly spicy with peppers, rich with vegetables,

and scented with orange and fennel

All I needed was some seafood to round things out.  I wanted some mussels, but the ones at the grocery didn't look that great, so I settled for scallops, shrimp, and flounder.  The beauty of cioppino is that what goes in just needs to be fresh.  Doesn't matter what it is.  Mussels, clams, fish, shrimp, crab.  Who cares?  Whatever looks good rules the day.  The end result?  A fragrant, rich, tomato broth brimming with tender seafood that takes just minutes to prepare.

the seafood poaches to perfection in the broth in just minutes over very low heat

praise for the braise

A braise does three things, particularly for the lazy cook.  It provides a nearly hands-off cooking method, lends tenderness to sometimes finicky large cuts of meat, and it makes its own sauce.  Jim loves pork, but pork sometimes frustrates me.  Either it is too fatty or not fatty enough, depending on the cut.  And it can become dry and flavorless, if it is overcooked.   So I was intrigued when I saw Debbie Mazar's husband Gabriella cooking a pork loin braised in milk the other day on the cooking channel.  A little research lead me to believe that they may have fudged the results a little on the show, because the traditional pork braised in milk results in an odd curdled sauce that I suspect is an acquired taste.  But I haven't had anything resembling a milk gravy in years, so I thought I would take a whirl at making my own version, hoping for a result similar to what I saw on the show--a tender sliced pork roast with a creamy, silky sauce.

My first departure was the cut of meat, but that was just the product of a poor selection of roasts at the grocery store, and no desire to tack a trip to another store onto my errands.  The store had one pork loin roast, and one pork butt roast.  The butt roast was a bit smaller, and looked better, so it won.  The result would be that the meat wouldn't be as pretty when sliced, and there would be more fat to contend with in the sauce.

the pork roast needs a heavy coating of salt and pepper, 

best added about an hour ahead of time

The braise starts with some oil to brown the roast, along with some aromatics.  In this case I used sage and rosemary that are still hanging around in the garden (very mild winter here so far) along with a few cloves of garlic, skins and all.  The sauce gets strained, so there's no need to get fussy with the herbs.

nothing could be simpler than tossing whole herbs in a pot

browning the pork roast is not necessary, but it does add

flavor and color

Once the pork was browned off, I added a cup of white wine, a couple cups of chicken stock, and the lid.  Then the pot went into a 275 degree oven to be neglected for the next two or three hours.  About 30 minutes before we wanted to eat, I quartered some baby dutch yellow potatoes (my current favorite for grilling and pan frying), some onion, sweet baby bell peppers, and a yellow squash.  I browned the potatoes a bit first, then just added in the rest of the veggies along with some salt and pepper.

 my mineral pan is starting to look like a real cook uses it--

the uglier it gets, the more non-stick it gets

I pulled the roast out of the oven, put it on a board to rest while the veggies cooked, and strained the braising liquid into a gravy separator, a ten dollar tool that is unsurpassed at getting excess fat out of pan drippings.  I think I've had mine for twenty years or more.  Once I got rid of the excess fat, I put the pan dripping back in the pot, and over high heat to reduce them a bit.  I made a slurry of a couple of teaspoons of flour and a cup or so of whole milk, cut the heat off under the reduced drippings, and added the slurry to the pot, stirring it and letting it simmer in the residual heat of the cast iron roaster.  The result was a delicious silky sauce for the roast.  If you want to cut the calories, just reduce the defatted drippings and call it a day.

a yummy dinner with the side benefit of tender pork left over 

for sandwiches

I love this soup

Pho.  It's my favorite soup.  The flavors are clean and enticing, it comes together in minutes, it is low in calories, high in interest, and satisfying any time of the year.  I like mine the best with beef, but chicken or shrimp are also excellent.  I haven't tried a vegetarian version, but I have no doubt it would be excellent.  Just for the record, there's no way my version is authentic, and I don't care.  It's tasty, easy to prepare, and gorgeous to look at.   My first experience with this soup was in a Lubbock, Texas defunct doughnut shop that an immigrant couple had converted into a Thai eatery.  The soup was delicious, cheap, and addictive.

It starts with beef broth that is infused with aromatics.  Here I used cinnamon sticks, Szechuan peppercorns, star anise, and galangal root, which is a spicier cousin of ginger.

infusing the broth with warm spices takes about fifteen minutes

This is an ideal soup for a busy weeknight.  While the broth infuses with the aromatics, the veggies can be prepped.  I use broccolini, green onion, bean sprouts, and hot red pepper along with very thin slices of beef.

that's cilantro in the far right corner--it goes in at the last minute

So, the drill is soak the rice noodles (oops, forgot to take a pic) in hot water while the broth is steeping with the aromatics.  Slice the veggies and meat, drain the aromatics out of the broth, and put the green onion, hot pepper, and brocollini in the pot.

once the brocollini turns bright green, add the soaked noodles,

the beef, and a drizzle of sesame oil if you have it

Everything will be cooked in about five minutes.  Season for taste with salt, and add the bean sprouts and cilantro.  Ladle everything into big bowls.  I like to garnish with chopped peanuts for flavor and crunch, which is certainly not traditional.  The upshot--a delicious soup in under 30 minutes.

yum--I love this soup