We have lots of stew left so tonight's meal was a total no-brainer.
Leftover Stew
How to Reheat Stew
Just put it back in a pot with a bit of water and reheat on medium. Stir often to prevent burning.
Cold stew from the fridge
Showing posts with label Soups & Stews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soups & Stews. Show all posts
Monday, September 28, 2015
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Vegetable Stew with Dumplings
Day 344
With only 3 weeks left in the life of this blog, I'm happy to present another amazing vegetable stew.
With only 3 weeks left in the life of this blog, I'm happy to present another amazing vegetable stew.
Vegetable Stew with Dumplings
Vegetable Stew with Dumplings
Every ingredient from our garden, except the onion, barley, water, salt and butter. Oh, and the dumplings.
Garden veggies
Ingredients
1 tbsp butter
1/3 cup pearl barley
4 L water
Chop:
Potatoes
Rutabaga
Carrots
Cabbage
Parsley
Onion
Remove from stalks:
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
Oregano
Dumplings
Directions
Melt butter and sauté the onion in a stew pot. Add all other ingredients and cook until vegetables are tender.Add the dumplings, cover and continue to boil 15 more minutes.
Vegetable stew
Reviews/Comments
Good.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Leek & Potato Soup with Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
Day 316
The blog is to be over on October 18, 2015 to complete the one year of blogging. That leaves only 49 more meals. Are you sad? Or relieved? I intend to continue blogging anything worthwhile in either a new blog or in my Favorite Recipes blog but will not be continuing this one. No more Egg Salad Sandwiches - unless we stumble across a new, ingenious recipe for them that I feel must be preserved.
Veggie Broth
7 - 8 cups water
3 small onions, halved
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of rosemary, snipped up
3 sage leaves, snipped up
2 large sprigs of oregano, snipped up
6-inch frond of fennel
8 celery leaves plus a bit of stalk
2 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces.
Simmer 1 hour, strain. Pick out the carrots and onions, throw in blender with 1 cups of water.
Vegetables
Saute in 2 tbsp olive oil:
4 leeks, sliced thinly
2 large shallots, minced
Cook separately and strain when tender:
2 cups fingerling and tiny red potatoes, diced
Add the broth to the sautéed leeks and shallots. Cook the potatoes separately until tender and add at the end.
Remove 2 cups of the soup and puree in the blender; add back to the soup.
Toss in:
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley
Add:
2 cups coffee cream
Laura used this recipe but added the following to it:
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp finely-snipped chives
3/4 cup cheddar
Then she used about 1/4 cup melted butter and 2 cloves garlic, mixed, to baste the top of each biscuit because she didn't feel as though JP's version was quite sinful enough.
Reviews/Comments
Laura did not let me down. I was super excited for this tonight, as it combined two of my favorite things: soup and potatoes. These were the best damn biscuits Laura has ever made!
Me: 10
Laura: 10
Missy: ?
Leek & Potato Soup with Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
Blogging
Back to regular blogging. I sort of schwagged out this summer, and I can't say I would commit to a blog during the summer months again, because summer is busy, and non-routine, and hectic. Some days we didn't even eat supper, and many meals were had without a single thought of snapping a photo, notably when I wasn't eating at home, or was grabbing something quick to have before taking off to do stuff.The blog is to be over on October 18, 2015 to complete the one year of blogging. That leaves only 49 more meals. Are you sad? Or relieved? I intend to continue blogging anything worthwhile in either a new blog or in my Favorite Recipes blog but will not be continuing this one. No more Egg Salad Sandwiches - unless we stumble across a new, ingenious recipe for them that I feel must be preserved.
The Garden of Laura
So, we have been eating a lot from the garden. There is just so much food out there, it's actually challenging to not let it go to waste. We are just about to get into some serious pickling and preserving and the freezer needs to be cleaned out to make room for whatever we can freeze. But, mainly, we're eating it. Like, every day.
The garden
Leek & Potato Soup
Everything in this soup is from our garden, with the exception of the olive oil, cream and water! Which is good, because after paying bills there wasn't much left for groceries in this cheque.
Prepping veggies
7 - 8 cups water
3 small onions, halved
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of rosemary, snipped up
3 sage leaves, snipped up
2 large sprigs of oregano, snipped up
6-inch frond of fennel
8 celery leaves plus a bit of stalk
2 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces.
Fresh herbs
Carrots
Leek & potato soup in progress
Vegetables
Saute in 2 tbsp olive oil:
4 leeks, sliced thinly
2 large shallots, minced
Chopped leek & shallot
Leeks (on top)
2 cups fingerling and tiny red potatoes, diced
Fingerling (& other small assorted) potatoes
Remove 2 cups of the soup and puree in the blender; add back to the soup.
Adding the pureed veggies back to the soup
Toss in:
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley
Add:
2 cups coffee cream
Leek & Potato Soup
Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
JP's Big Daddy BiscuitsLaura used this recipe but added the following to it:
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp finely-snipped chives
3/4 cup cheddar
Then she used about 1/4 cup melted butter and 2 cloves garlic, mixed, to baste the top of each biscuit because she didn't feel as though JP's version was quite sinful enough.
Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
Reviews/Comments
Laura did not let me down. I was super excited for this tonight, as it combined two of my favorite things: soup and potatoes. These were the best damn biscuits Laura has ever made!
Me: 10
Laura: 10
Missy: ?
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Leftover Stew
Day 244
We added barley and lentils so it's even better. Plus, stew is always better the 2nd day.
We added barley and lentils so it's even better. Plus, stew is always better the 2nd day.
Veggie stew & roll
Monday, June 22, 2015
Beefless Stew
Day 243
Ahhhh...mmm...comfort food at its finest. Laura had decided what we were going to have for supper before I even got home from work, after having seen this posted on Devin DeGray's Facebook page. Since he had already posted the recipe, she didn't even have to ask for it! Thanks, Dev, for taking the guesswork out of supper.
Original recipe
Ingredients
1 organic onion, chopped
6 Eco-spuds* potatoes, cubed
6 organic carrots, cubed
3 portobello mushrooms, cubed
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups peas
1 can tomato paste
5 cups water
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Directions
I guess this meal was made in the usual way of stews, with a lot of washing, chopping and then cooking vegetables until soft, etc. I did take some pics while she slaved, but couldn't give you a play by play. I do know there was some blending involved. Laura says she followed the recipe with the exception of omitting the celery and altering amounts of a couple things.
Here's what I would do to make it a 10. I would add 1/2 cup lentils to thicken the broth and add that extra level of flavor and nutrition, and I would also add some barley for heartiness. Next time it will be perfect.
Laura says she would add an extra 1/2 cup potatoes and blend them to thicken the broth.
Ahhhh...mmm...comfort food at its finest. Laura had decided what we were going to have for supper before I even got home from work, after having seen this posted on Devin DeGray's Facebook page. Since he had already posted the recipe, she didn't even have to ask for it! Thanks, Dev, for taking the guesswork out of supper.
Beefless Stew
Beefless Stew
The best thing about this one is that Laura made it, not I. All I had to do was go to Sobey's and fetch some carrots, portobellos, tomato paste, a bag of peas and a fresh bulb of garlic. We wouldn't have even had to buy peas but there was an incident the other night...
Spilled peas
Ingredients
1 organic onion, chopped
6 Eco-spuds* potatoes, cubed
6 organic carrots, cubed
3 portobello mushrooms, cubed
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups peas
1 can tomato paste
5 cups water
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Chopping carrots
Sexy portobellos
Cooked cubed potatoes
Chopped onions
Fresh-from-the-garden herbs
Directions
I guess this meal was made in the usual way of stews, with a lot of washing, chopping and then cooking vegetables until soft, etc. I did take some pics while she slaved, but couldn't give you a play by play. I do know there was some blending involved. Laura says she followed the recipe with the exception of omitting the celery and altering amounts of a couple things.
Carrots, garlic & onions cooking
Beefless Stew
Reviews/Comments
Does it taste like beef stew? No. It's better than that. It tastes like what it is, vegetable/mushroom stew. The fresh herbs were wonderful in it. I give it a 9.5. Laura rates it a 10 as well.Here's what I would do to make it a 10. I would add 1/2 cup lentils to thicken the broth and add that extra level of flavor and nutrition, and I would also add some barley for heartiness. Next time it will be perfect.
Laura says she would add an extra 1/2 cup potatoes and blend them to thicken the broth.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Creamy Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese
Day 188
I wanted tomato soup but didn't want to have canned soup, so Laura found me a recipe and I made some.
9 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
2 tbsp butter
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cube frozen basil (frozen in ice cube trays)
5 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
10 whole cloves
Several sprigs of oregano
3 basil leaves
1 1/2 cups coffee cream
Compliments Garlic Cheddar Croutons
Melt the butter in a stock pot and add the chopped carrots and onions. Cook on medium low heat while you chop the tomatoes and add the tomatoes as you get them chopped.
Then add the salt, sugar, vinegar, cloves and vegetable broth. Boil for 20 minutes to let flavors meld.
Cool the mixture a bit and remove the cloves,
then blend in batches, adding each batch back to the pot.
Bring to a simmer then turn heat down and stir in the frozen basil and fresh herbs.
Add the cream last and serve.
Butter
3 slices processed cheese
I wanted tomato soup but didn't want to have canned soup, so Laura found me a recipe and I made some.
Creamy Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese
Creamy Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Original recipe here9 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
2 tbsp butter
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cube frozen basil (frozen in ice cube trays)
5 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
10 whole cloves
Several sprigs of oregano
3 basil leaves
1 1/2 cups coffee cream
Compliments Garlic Cheddar Croutons
Directions
Wash and chop your veggies. I soaked the tomatoes in a water/vinegar solution for 20 minutes.
Tomatoes, carrot and onion
Melt the butter in a stock pot and add the chopped carrots and onions. Cook on medium low heat while you chop the tomatoes and add the tomatoes as you get them chopped.
Sautéing vegetables
Then add the salt, sugar, vinegar, cloves and vegetable broth. Boil for 20 minutes to let flavors meld.
Vegetables boiling
Cool the mixture a bit and remove the cloves,
then blend in batches, adding each batch back to the pot.
Blending tomato soup
Bring to a simmer then turn heat down and stir in the frozen basil and fresh herbs.
Tomato soup, sans cream
Add the cream last and serve.
Creamy tomato soup
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Ingredients
Demster's Quinoa breadButter
3 slices processed cheese
Grilled cheese
Grilled cheese & soup
Dinner for two
Tomato soup with croutons & grilled cheese
Reviews/Comments
Well, not sure I can ever go back to canned tomato soup after this. Ever had the real deal? Sooo good. I gave it a 10.Sunday, April 12, 2015
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Day 174
Cream of mushroom has been a favorite of mine all my life. Plus, it's one of those foods that serves as an ingredient in so many other dishes. Some of the things we like to use cream of mushroom soup in are pasta and rice casseroles, potato scallop and green bean casserole.
Ingredients
28 oz organic white mushrooms
8 oz shitake mushrooms
4 oz portobello mushrooms
2 yellow onions
1 shallot
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 boxes vegetable broth
2 cups coffee cream
Directions
You can make this with any kind of mushrooms. I got a bunch of different kinds each of which contribute in their own way: Shitake for health. White mushrooms for bulk. Portobello for flavor.
Wash and chop the mushrooms and onions and sauté them in the butter and seasonings in a large pot until most of the liquid is cooked out. Tip: Salting them will quicken this process.
Set aside about 1 1/2 cup of the mushroom/onion mixture.
Add the remaining mushroom/onion mixture to the blender in batches, adding a cup or two of the veggie broth with each batch. Return the pureed mushrooms to the soup pot, and add the reserved mushrooms and the rest of the vegetable broth.
Heat until it comes to a boil, then turn heat to low and add the coffee cream.
If you like canned cream of mushroom soup, you'll love this stuff.
We served some of this soup with wheat rolls. The rest will be used for the above-mentioned casseroles, etc later this week.
Cream of mushroom has been a favorite of mine all my life. Plus, it's one of those foods that serves as an ingredient in so many other dishes. Some of the things we like to use cream of mushroom soup in are pasta and rice casseroles, potato scallop and green bean casserole.
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Cream of Mushroom Soup
I made a double batch of this soup today. I make it a lot, but I don't think I posted the directions for it yet.
28 oz organic white mushrooms
8 oz shitake mushrooms
4 oz portobello mushrooms
2 yellow onions
1 shallot
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 boxes vegetable broth
2 cups coffee cream
Directions
You can make this with any kind of mushrooms. I got a bunch of different kinds each of which contribute in their own way: Shitake for health. White mushrooms for bulk. Portobello for flavor.
Packaged mushrooms
Portobello mushrooms
Shitake mushrooms
Organic white mushrooms
Minced shallot
Wash and chop the mushrooms and onions and sauté them in the butter and seasonings in a large pot until most of the liquid is cooked out. Tip: Salting them will quicken this process.
Mushrooms & onions sautéing
Add the remaining mushroom/onion mixture to the blender in batches, adding a cup or two of the veggie broth with each batch. Return the pureed mushrooms to the soup pot, and add the reserved mushrooms and the rest of the vegetable broth.
Mushroom soup (before adding cream)
Heat until it comes to a boil, then turn heat to low and add the coffee cream.
Cream of mushroom soup
We served some of this soup with wheat rolls. The rest will be used for the above-mentioned casseroles, etc later this week.
Cream of mushroom soup with roll
Reviews/Comments
I give this a 10. Laura gives it a 9. She thought the shitakes should all have been pureed (none reserved) because they're a bit tougher than the other kinds.Saturday, March 7, 2015
Vegetable Stew
Day 140
If you've been following this blog at all, you'll know that I'm a big, big fan of comfort food. Especially when it involves potatoes. So, stew is one of my favorite meals, right up there with roasted veggies.
1. She is really particular about the size of the vegetables; they all need to be pretty much the same size so they all cook at the same rate, and none are mushy and others too firm.
2. She also likes to have an even ratio of vegetables so it's not potato heavy or carrot heavy, etc. She usually uses two cups of each.
3. Another thing she does that I haven't seen anyone else do, is to cook the potatoes separately. There are 2 reasons for this: (a) so that the starch gets drained off before it goes into the stew and (b) so that she can control the amount they cook since she doesn't like overcooked potatoes.
4. She knows how to season a stew. Some people might try to wing it, or stick to salt and pepper, but Laura knows the kinds of herbs that bring out the best flavors. This time she even had some bay leaves that we dried a few weeks ago.
5. She makes the best dumplings. She makes little tiny ones, that are soft and chewy instead of the big, fluffy, doughy ones, and they're super good.
Vegetables
4 or 5 potatoes
5 or 6 carrots
1 turnip (actually rutabaga)
2 parsnips
1 onion
Broth
1 box vegetable broth
1.5 - 2 liters of water
Seasonings
4 bay leaves
1/4 tsp sage
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp pepper
Add the turnips, carrots and parsnips with the vegetable broth and water and boil about 20-25 minutes until tender.
In a separate pot, boil the potatoes and cook about 15 - 20 minutes until tender. Drain off the starchy water.
Add the dumplings (recipe below) and cook 15 minutes, covered. Stir in the potatoes last.
Laura made two and a half batches of this recipe.
1 tbsp and 2 tsp baking powder
2-1/2 tsp white sugar
1-1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp and 1-1/2 tsp butter
1-1/4 cups milk
Drop in the boiling stew and cover. Cook for 15 minutes.
This is too hot to eat right away. It's best to turn off the heat and let it sit for 15 or 20 minutes before eating. But of course that's torturous, so we don't, and we burn our mouths instead.
If you've been following this blog at all, you'll know that I'm a big, big fan of comfort food. Especially when it involves potatoes. So, stew is one of my favorite meals, right up there with roasted veggies.
Vegetable Stew
Laura's Vegetable Stew
Laura makes a really fabulous stew and there are a few different reasons:1. She is really particular about the size of the vegetables; they all need to be pretty much the same size so they all cook at the same rate, and none are mushy and others too firm.
2. She also likes to have an even ratio of vegetables so it's not potato heavy or carrot heavy, etc. She usually uses two cups of each.
3. Another thing she does that I haven't seen anyone else do, is to cook the potatoes separately. There are 2 reasons for this: (a) so that the starch gets drained off before it goes into the stew and (b) so that she can control the amount they cook since she doesn't like overcooked potatoes.
4. She knows how to season a stew. Some people might try to wing it, or stick to salt and pepper, but Laura knows the kinds of herbs that bring out the best flavors. This time she even had some bay leaves that we dried a few weeks ago.
5. She makes the best dumplings. She makes little tiny ones, that are soft and chewy instead of the big, fluffy, doughy ones, and they're super good.
Stew Ingredients
3 tbsp peanut oilVegetables
4 or 5 potatoes
5 or 6 carrots
1 turnip (actually rutabaga)
2 parsnips
1 onion
Stew vegetables
Broth
1 box vegetable broth
1.5 - 2 liters of water
Seasonings
4 bay leaves
1/4 tsp sage
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp pepper
Stew seasonings
Directions
Peel and chop all the vegetables. (Laura didn't use all the turnip nor all the potatoes I peeled, stopping when she reached the 2 1/2 cup mark to meet the ratio requirements. She had 1/2 cup chopped parsnip.) In a large stew pot, heat the oil and cook the onions until clear. Add the bay leaves and seasonings.
Onions, herbs & bay leaves
Add the turnips, carrots and parsnips with the vegetable broth and water and boil about 20-25 minutes until tender.
Boiling vegetables
Potatoes boiling
Add the dumplings (recipe below) and cook 15 minutes, covered. Stir in the potatoes last.
Pot of Laura's stew
Dumpling Recipe
Original recipe hereLaura made two and a half batches of this recipe.
Ingredients
2-1/2 cups flour1 tbsp and 2 tsp baking powder
2-1/2 tsp white sugar
1-1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp and 1-1/2 tsp butter
1-1/4 cups milk
Directions
Mix the dry ingredients and cut in the butter. Stir in the milk until a soft dough is formed. Pull small pieces of dough off the ball and roll in flour.
Making dumplings
Drop in the boiling stew and cover. Cook for 15 minutes.
This is too hot to eat right away. It's best to turn off the heat and let it sit for 15 or 20 minutes before eating. But of course that's torturous, so we don't, and we burn our mouths instead.
Hot stew
Reviews/Comments
Personally, I don't mind overcooked, or mushy, vegetables. I'm pretty tolerant when it comes to food. But, I have to admit, that Laura's stew is perfect. Absolutely perfect. Perfect 10.
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