Mr. Lesley Cooks

How sick are we?

Isn’t that the big question that people have been asking all our lives, or at least mine?  For today the answer is pretty damned sick still.  We held each other up going to the grocery store to get more soup makings.  Before I go back to bed, here is one of the results:

 

 Low Carb Mixed Mushroom Soup

 

3/4 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms

4 tablespoons butter

2 large onions, chopped

1 pound fresh button mushrooms, stems chopped, caps sliced

6 large garlic cloves, chopped

6 cups beef or vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup heavy whipping cream

 

Remove stems from shiitakes, add the stems to the broth and heat to boiling.  Let simmer 20 minutes.  Only Linda would use vegetable broth in this since it is so much better with homemade beef broth.  Slice the shiitake and button mushrooms caps pretty thin while you are waiting for this to simmer.  You will probably have time to prep the other veggies as well.

 

Melt butter in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add onion and button mushroom stems; sauté until onion is golden, about 10 minutes.  Then add garlic and stir for a minute or until you start to smell the garlic. Stir in broth with shiitake stems. Cover; simmer until soup is slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.  Remove shiitake stems and use emersion blender to help thicken soup some more.  If you don’t want to bother with a blender, you can add 1/4 cup of flour right after the garlic is done and then cook for a couple of minutes longer before you add the broth;  make sure you add the broth slowly if you use flour.

 

Add shiitakes and sliced button mushroom caps to soup and simmer just until button mushroom caps are slightly wilted, about 5 minutes. Add cream and simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.)

 

Serves 8.

 

Tom

Lesley’s Second Day Cure

 

Yesterday’s chicken stew was pretty good, but poor Lesley is still ill.  Here is today’s attempt to cure her.

 

Cabbage Soup or Is It Stew

 

4 carrots, chopped

4 celery stalks, chopped

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bell pepper, chopped

1/2 teaspoon paprika

2 tablespoons olive oil

10 cups chicken broth

1 10 oz can original Rotel tomatoes

1 medium head cabbage, shredded

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Tabasco sauce to taste.

Parmesan and/or feta

 

Saute first nine ingredients in olive oil until tender.   Add chicken broth, tomatoes, and cabbage.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and cook for 30 minutes or until cabbage is as done as you want it.  Correct seasoning and add parsley.  Top with parmesan and feta.  Serve with hot sauce and rice if you want to.

 

 

 Tom

A Magic Cure

Poor Lesley is sick again.  I think our recent trips to NY, DC, CT, and TX have lowered her resistance and she has caught a bug.  I have been fixing soup for her.   Yesterday it was a kind of chicken stew.

 

 Get Rid of That Bug Chicken Stew

3 carrots, chopped

4 celery stalks, chopped

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced

2 quarts chicken broth

12 oz canned diced tomatoes

3 lbs each chicken breasts and thighs

24 oz. sour cream

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Tabasco sauce to taste.

Salt chicken part all over and then brown on all sides in a large pot with 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Do not crowd pot, but do this in several batches.  Set chicken aside and remove all but 3 tablespoons fat. Saute first seven ingredients together until the veggies are soft, then add mushrooms.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook for a few minutes until mushrooms cook down. Add 2 quarts chicken broth, tomatoes and chicken and simmer for 45 minutes or until chicken is done.  Remove chicken to cool.  Cover and set pot aside.  Bone chicken and return to pot.  Remove bay leaves. Add sour cream.  Heat and adjust seasoning.  Add parsley and serve.  Don’t forget the hot sauce This is good as is or with steamed rice. 

 

Tom

Cleaning House

For the last couple of weeks, my mom has been going through all the things she brought with her when she moved in with us.  She says she is going to die before too long and doesn't want me to have to go through a lot of her "junk".  I reminded her that for her 70th birthday she wanted a carry-on bag to take with her when she flew, telling me that it didn't have to be anything too good since, "I won't be using it much longer".  This was in 1987. 

She has always told me not to look through the things she is tossing, and I haven't, so far. Yesterday she told me that she was afraid that she had thrown away something she needs.  I asked her what it was and she told me the awful truth.  She had inadvertently thrown away the two toothpicks she has been using for the last month.  Well, call me a wastrel, but I gave her six brand new ones. 

Mom doesn't think she needs to go to the dentist anymore, since any work they do will be a waste of good money.  Have you noticed that nothing is a waste of bad money? 

Well, if she loses her teeth, she can eat this soup.

Cream of Celery Root Soup

2 tablespoons butter
2 1 pound celery roots, peeled, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 medium onions, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine or 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar with enough water to make 1/2 cup
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup whipping cream
Chopped fresh chives or celery leaves


Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add celery roots, onions and celery. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Add garlic, celery seed and cayenne pepper and stir 1 minute. Add vermouth and boil until most of liquid evaporates, about 8 minutes. Add stock. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes. Puree soup in blender in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan. Add cream. Simmer until thickened to desired consistency, about 5 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls. Sprinkle with chives and serve.

 Makes 6 servings.

It Sure Was Cool At The Beach That Year

I'm trying to remember when this happened.  Maybe it was 9 or 10 years ago.    Lesley and I went to the beach for our vacation.  We usually go in September, since the rates are cheaper and it is not as crowded. Her birthday is also in September.  I had tried to pick out some things that I thought she would like for her birthday.

What I didn't know was that she had come up with this idea that I was going to ask her to marry me.  Now this was back in the day when I just knew I would never get married again.  Twice was enough for me.  Anyway, I got her these nice fluffy bedroom shoes and some high-falutin' bath salts from a resort we had gone to.  I know there was more, but I'm not sure what else.  Nothing besides a ring would have mattered anyway.

I could tell that something was not exactly right, but it was not until some time later that she told me what it was.  A couple of years after that I actually did propose, and it was a huge surprise.

EASY SPLIT PEA SOUP

 

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped peeled carrots

1 1/2 pounds smoked pork hocks

2 teaspoons dried leaf marjoram

1 1/2 cups green split peas

8 cups water

 

Melt butter in heavy large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery and carrots. Sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 8 minutes. Add pork and marjoram; stir 1 minute. Add peas, then water, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Partially cover pot; simmer soup until pork and vegetables are tender peas are falling apart, stirring often, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

 

Transfer hocks to bowl. Puree 5 cups soup in batches in blender. Return to pot. Cut pork off bones. Dice pork; return pork to soup. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Refrigerate until cold, then cover. Rewarm before serving.)

Serves 6.

Tom

When Is That Awards Ceremony?

I spent most of Sunday waiting to find out when I would receive the AHMoH that I casually mentioned in yesterday's post.  You know, AHMoH, the Art Husband Medal of Honor.  I was sure I had earned it.

Of course, a modest, humble person like myself never asks or even makes the slightest hint about something as delicate as the timing of an award.

I think I would have been better served to make this soup instead.  I certainly would have received more attention, even if might not have been the kind I anticipated.

ROASTED GARLIC SOUP WITH PARMESAN CHEESE

26 garlic cloves (unpeeled)
2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
2 1/4 cups sliced onions
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
18 garlic cloves, peeled
3 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
4 lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place 26 garlic cloves in small glass baking dish. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake until garlic is golden brown and tender, about 45 minutes. Cool. Squeeze garlic between fingertips to release cloves. Transfer cloves to small bowl.

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and thyme and cook until onions are translucent, about 6 minutes. Add roasted garlic and 18 raw garlic cloves and cook 3 minutes. Add chicken stock; cover and simmer until garlic is very tender, about 20 minutes. Working in batches, purée soup in blender until smooth. Return soup to saucepan; add cream and bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat, stirring occasionally.)

Divide grated cheese among 4 bowls and ladle soup over. Squeeze juice of 1 lemon wedge into each bowl and serve.

Serves 4.

Tom

I Can't Believe I Fixed a Low Fat Recipe

I found this recipe in an old cookbook for folks with high cholesterol.  Actually it's pretty good.  Just forget it's one of those healthy things. 

My grandma always said that they found her under a cabbage leaf when she was born.  She had a lot of other sayings, one of which was, "Bread is the staff of life".  Ma never had a drivers license, but that never stopped her from telling my grandpa how to drive.  He was not actually my grandpa, since he married my grandma after her first husband, my real grandpa, died.  He was the only grandpa I knew, though.

Ma would tell stories about how they would be driving down the interstate, both in their 80s, and how friendly the truckers were.  "Why, they just wave and wave at us",  she would say.  And I'm sure they did.  There was never a stop sign that they came to that she did not say, "You'd better stop here and wait a minute, Charlie."

We were headed to a family dinner at Aunt Evelyn's one year.  My mother was driving us and we got behind a long, slow line of cars.  Sure enough, there were my grandparents at the head of it all.  When Mom mentioned it to them, Ma said, "I told Charlie that we were going to be early, so drive slow."

Cabbage Soup

8 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 chopped onion
2 medium taters cubed with skins on
3 ribs celery, sliced
1 large mater, peeled and chopped
1/2 tablespoon celery seed
1 small head of cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Salt to taste
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Some more fresh ground black pepper

Put everything except last three ingredients in a large soup pot and heat to boiling.  Cover and simmer 30 minutes or so until veggies are tender.  Add water if too thick, then season with salt and pepper.  Top each serving with some Parmesan cheese.

Serves 8.

Tom

 

Those Dogs Have Done It Again

An instructor from kindergarten puppy training years ago said something that I have never forgotten, that dogs will embarrass you whenever they get the chance.

Maggie and Clancy, our goldens, came straight from their mom into our family almost eight years ago when they where just a few weeks old.   When I would let them out to answer calls of nature they used to run all over the neighborhood.  After many hard talks and more than one time out, they  have learned to just go out and come right back.  Lucy, our mixed breed, has not been with us that long, so I take her out on a leash.

Last Saturday, we all went out into our unfenced backyard together, and things went fine until Clancy and Maggie heard our elderly next door neighbors on their screened in porch.  They were just sitting down to eat.  So they ran over to say hello, inspite of my frantically calling them back.  Maggie ate all the breadcrumbs that had just been put out for the birds and Clancy relieved himself in a very bad way right in from of our neighbors.

We all go out with leashes now. 

 

Loaded Potato Soup

1 pound bacon

8 large baking potatoes (7-8 pounds), peeled and cubed

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter

3 quarts half and half

1-1/2 cups sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1-1/2 cups chopped onion

2 tablespoons minced garlic

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Bake potatoes in the oven at 450 for an hour, or until done. If you are in a hurry, you can microwave them until done after you peel and cube them, but the soup won't taste as good. Fry the bacon until crisp and set aside. Save ALL the bacon fat. Sauté the chopped onions along with the garlic (add the garlic near the end) in the bacon fat until soft and a little tan. Set aside. Melt butter in a large pot. Add half-and-half. Heat at low to medium just until boiling. Add sour cream, 1-1/2 of the cheddar cheese, sautéed onion and garlic, salt, pepper, to taste. Add potatoes and cook on low to medium, for a few minutes, stirring occasionally with a wire whisk. Serve in bowls topped with crumbled bacon and the remaining grated cheddar cheese. Recipe can be doubled, tripled, or whatever. Makes 7-8 quarts as is.

Tom