Matt Farrell's Potato Leek Soup

Growing up in a Scottish/German household meant being exposed to a variety of culinary delights... most of the time. Brussel sprouts, in my case, being the exception. In many instances, I have kept the recipes as they were taught to me. In other cases, often with regards to root vegetables, I have tried to find ways to perfect them.

Soups were, and continue to be, a source of comfort food in our family. On hand, for you never know when the moment calls for soup, are the basic ingredients to pull together a quick, easy, and delicious soup: onion, potato, carrots, celery, frozen peas, leeks, garlic, chicken stock (or bullion cubes - I prefer Knorr), and cream. It also doesn't hurt to have fennel, chicken or beef, beets, cauliflower, broccoli, assorted root vegetables - just for variation.

The best soup that my father makes is potato leek soup. This is a great soup served piping hot with crusty bread, but is equally delicious served cold on a hot summer day with a dollop of sour cream.

Potato Leek Soup

1. Cut off the tops and bottoms of three leeks (and throw these away), then slice the remaining bases in half, length wise.



2. Chop these up, then rinse underwater in a colander for about a minute. *Leeks can be substituted with one and a half large onions.*



3. In a large pot, begin to saute leeks in 3 tbs butter. Cook for about three minutes, stirring occasionally. Your kitchen will smell amazing.




4. Next, pour in either: a) 12 cups water or b) 12 cups chicken stock. - Here at Mo's house, we like to add water and add chicken bullion to taste.



5. Begin peeling potatoes. We're using 10-12 small golden potatoes, but the type used will change the taste and the consistency of the soup. Golden and butter potatoes tend to make a creamier soup, while russet potatoes will be less so. Also, the more potatoes you use, the thicker the soup will be. Experiment to find your favorites!



6. To make a creamy soup without using cream, add two-three tablespoons of flour to the leek/butter mixture (pre-water or chicken stock) and stir. Here at Mo's house, we love cream. But if you want the taste but don't want the calories... then go ahead and add the flour.

7. Chop the peeled potatoes into cubes. Don't worry about being to precise, as these will be blended in the soup later.



8. Add the potato pieces to the pot, adjusting the heat on the stove to bring the water to a boil.



9. If you used water, add chicken bullion cubes. We put in 5 Knorr cubes (1 cube for 2 cups), but this will depend on the amount of water.


10. Boil for about 15-20 minutes (until the potatoes are soft). Take pot off the stove.

11. Using either a Smart-stick Hand Mixer or a blender, blend the soup until it is smooth.



12. Dish up, drizzle with heavy cream, and serve with salt and pepper to taste.



13. Enjoy!

Love, Mo

A Shout Out to the Brussels Sprout

As a general rule, my friend Mo and I agree on how we feel about food, that is to say, we like it. However, there is one notable exception to our otherwise perfectly aligned palates and that is the brussels sprout. Sadly, Mo is not the only person to hold this venerable vegetable in low esteem. Many people are sproutaphobes and, it is my opinion, that this stems from the fact that they have never had them properly prepared. It is my mission here to rectify this situation.
In pursuit of my mission, I will first impart a few "does and don'ts" to observe when selecting and preparing this vegetable.
First, don't use frozen brussels sprouts. Just don't do it.
Second, do select fresh sprouts that are on the smallish side and a nice green color. Generally speaking, the smaller the sweeter. Drab green sprouts may have been on the shelf too long.
Third, do not over cook brussel sprouts. They get mushy and can start to emit a rather strong odor. Who likes mushy, stinky food?
Fourth, do give them a little squeeze at the store. They should be firm.

Armed with the above information, anyone should be able to select and prepare wonderful brussels sprout dishes of all sorts. Besides being delicious, they are just so darn cute.



Brussels sprouts are versitile and can be made in millions of ways. The following is a common brussels sprouts saute treatment that I enjoy. Hope you do too!!!

First, as with any vegetable saute dishes worth eating, chop up a couple of cloves of garlic (or as many as you like).

Wash about a pound of sprouts and remove any outer bruised leaves.



Cut off the bottom part of the stem that is tough or discolored and slice in half lengthwise.


Steam the sprouts for a couple of minutes. This is not intended to cook them. They should remain firm.


Throughly drain the steamed veggies and allow to dry on a paper towel for a minute or two.





Heat about 2-3 T of olive oil and a nob of butter (or as much as you like) in a roomy saute pan on medium high until it is "good 'n hot," as my Mom used to say (but not smoking).



Place sprouts in pan, sliced side down. Remember, a crowded pan inhibits browning and the objective of this exercise it to create a nice, dark crust.



Sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and about a teaspoon of brown sugar (or as much as you like of either). The balsamic should sizzle but not smoke. If the pan seems too hot, lift it off the burner for a sec, turn the heat down a bit (not too much) and then return it to the heat. After the sprouts have cooked undisturbed for a minute or so, sprinkle in the chopped garlic and cook until you smell it, about 30 seconds. Flip a couple of the sprouts to see if they are a deep, dark brown. If so, stir the pan generally and allow the vegetable to cook for a couple of minutes more or until crisp, tender and delicious.


Give it a try, what can it hurt? If you like those, wait 'til you taste shredded brussel sprout stir fry. MMMMMMMMMM.

-- Jo

Pasta Miss Joselle

A few years ago, Jo and her husband John, myself and my family were all living in Moscow, Russia. Jo was getting ready to celebrate a special birthday, but had no real plans (as her husband was going to be away). We were heading to Tuscany, Italy, for a week long vacation in a villa that we had rented. After a bit of convincing, Jo agreed to join us. Lucky for us for after 2 days in Italy, my husband Paul was also called back to work. That left Jo, Mo, and three kids to take on Tuscany. We explored Florence and neighboring towns, wineries, open markets, churches, shops, etc. One evening, we decided to eat in. We didn't have much in the way of supplies but managed to come up with a bottle of fresh olive oil produced by the owners of the villa, garlic, a can of anchovies, and fresh rosemary from a bush out front. This is the dish that Jo made for us that evening and that we have been eating at least once a week since that time...


This easy dinner has become a family favorite here at Mo's house!

Pasta Miss Joselle (4-5 Servings)

• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (E.V.O.O.)
• 5-6 cloves garlic
• 1 sprig of Rosemary (optional)
  
• 1 two ounce can Anchovies (fillets packed in Olive Oil)
  
• 1 box Linguine pasta (or any other kind of noodles you have laying around the house!)
  

1. Begin heating water in a large pot, adding the noodles once the water reaches a boil.

2. Finely chop 5-6 cloves of garlic.

3. Begin heating about half a cup of E.V.O.O. -- give or take -- (by sight, dont worry about being too exact!) on medium heat.


3. Finely chop a small handful of rosemary sprigs -- use as much or as little as you like (our family is crazy about fresh herbs, so we tend to use more rather than less).
4. Open a 2 ounce can of anchovies (fillets in pure olive oil) and finely chop. We put our anchovies into a small bowl -- it makes it easier to slice them up! Anchovies may not sound (or look) like the most appetizing addition to a pasta, but I promise they add a delicious salty dimension to the meal. Maybe just don't tell any picky eaters that they're in the pasta...


5. After the E.V.O.O. is heated, add the garlic and cook until golden brown. Be careful not to burn it!Mmmm... look at that crispy, golden garlic.


6. When the garlic is a nice golden color, add the anchovies and rosemary. Cook for several minutes -- the anchovies should dissolve into the olive oil.


7. Pour your sauce over freshly drained noodles -- serve with ground black pepper and lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese! If you have some fresh parsley, throw that on too!

We always eat this pasta with a leafy-green salad and crusty french bread. Yum.

Enjoy!

Love, Mo

Tamale Feast!

I was talking to neighbor from Mexico City about tamales yesterday morning as we were shoveling our driveways. Next thing I know, she came over and gave me some of her homemade chicken and pork tamales. It is a tradition to have tamales at Christmastime in Mexico, a tradition which carried over to my native Texas.

As a result, we had a delicious tamale feast last night, which I complemented with tacos made from leftover chicken that I cut up and stewed in some chipotle chilis in adobe and a teeny bit each of chicken stock and bbq sauce. Then I charred corn tortillas on my gas burner and topped the tacos with roasted poblano chili strips ("rajas"), a Mexican queso fresco, sour cream (always drain the watery stuff of the sour cream), chopped cilantro, razor-thin, chopped cabbage (very Mexican), and chopped red onions. To round out the meal, I spiked up some canned black beans. That is, I drained them of their canning liquid and replaced that with a bit of chicken stock then added cumin, oregano, garlic powder and the stems from the chopped cilantro. All in all it was a delicious dinner, thanks to the inspiration of my lovely neighbor, Adriana.

-- Jo

Blackeyed Pea Soup!

Happy New Year Mo! Did you know that I love blackeyed peas? My mother grew them in her garden in Texas and we spent many happy hours watching TV and shelling peas. Mom always picked the pods when they were young and the peas were still green. We ate them in the late summer and put them up in the freezer for the winter. If you have never had fresh blackeyed peas, it might come as a surprise that they are actually green. The frozen, dried or canned ones sold in most grocery stores are a sort of a pale, beigy color. Moreover, flavor-wise, they are a pale imitation of the fresh, home-grown variety of my youth. Nonetheless, it is a must to eat blackeyed peas at the beginning of each New Year for good luck and, as I have no better option, I use the grocery store, frozen ones. They can be doctored-up into a fairly good side dish such as Hoppin' John. This year, I improvised a soup which was quite tasty, the recipe for which follows so that, in the event you have not had your good luck blackeyed peas yet, you can give these a whirl. (Now, I know many people are not fond of blackeyed peas. In fact, I recall a children's song with the lyric "I'd rather eat boogers than blackeyed peas." Obviously, whoever wrote that song never had fresh blackeyed peas.) So without further adieu:

Blackeyed Pea Soup

• One bag of frozen blackeyed peas
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup cubed, smoked ham (or as much as you like, a nice Kielbasa would also work)
• 1 tsp salt
• tons of fresh ground pepper
• chipotle flavored Tabasco sauce (as much as you like)
• 1 T cumin
• 1 t dried oregano
• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups of cooked broccoli rabe (I used some I had leftover from another meal)
• Olive oil for sauteing garlic

Bring water and broth to a boil and add peas. Bring back to a boil then lower heat and simmer, adding ham, salt, pepper, tobasco and other dry spices. Cook until tender, which takes about 20 minutes or so. Meanwhile, chop up and parboil the broccoli rabe until firm-tender, drain and dry off a bit. Heat 2-3 T of olive oil in separate saute pan and saute garlic for about 30 seconds, add broccoli rabe until tender but not mushy and add some salt and pepper. Use some of the liquid used to parboil the broccoli rabe, if necessary to keep it moist while sauteing.
Combine the tender broccoli rabe with the blackeyed peas and simmer for 10 minutes or so to marry the flavors. Adjust seasoning and add more hot sauce, if you like. Good with a little splash of apple cider vinegar. Better the next day. Good luck in the New Year!!

-Jo