Fennel and Swiss Chard Soup

It finally froze yesterday in the wee hours. In my garden remained two things that needed harvesting right away: Fennel and Swiss Chard

So, I picked the veggies from the back yard and got out the old Google to see what I could make with it. Food Network had a nice recipe for vegetable plate and another site had a soup. But the flavors were similar. I thought, "It's cold. Soup sounds good."

And I began my usual changing of what looked like a vegan recipe into one I thought I might prefer (and used what I had around the house).

This soup is hearty. It can be a whole meal by itself.

You will want to prepare the swiss chard ahead of time. Note that the quantities on all the vegetables are approximate. It's soup. It will be ok if the amounts vary.

• 2 bunches swiss chard (based on how my grocery store sizes the swiss chard)

Wash the chard if its not totally grit free. Reduce the amount of water on the leaves by drying or shaking or whatever.
Cut out the stems by slicing the leaf parts right where they attach to the main stem. The leaves go in one pile. The stems go in another pile.
Chop the leaves into 1 inch squares.
Slice the stems into 1/4 inch lengths.

Saute the following until the onion wilts thoroughly in a large pan. I use my dutch oven:

• 1 T olive oil
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 c chopped onion (I used yellow onion. The recipe called for the whites of scallions/green onions.)
• 1/2 c chopped fennel bulb (remove stems, cut the bulb in half and cut out the core before chopping)
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• pinch of salt

Then add and continue to saute until some browning occurs:

• 2 c swiss chard stems, chopped
• 1/4 tsp salt

Remove and set aside. Saute until wilted:

• 2 T butter
• 4 c swiss chard leaves (chopped into 1 inch squares)

Add and simmer until the stems and leaves soften (about 20 minutes)

• 1/4 c white wine (or a Tbsp sugar)
• 6 cups broth (I had broth I made from recently roasted turkey's bones -- very little oil)

Remove from heat. Add

• 1 1/2 c baby spinich leaves

Blend the result. I use my tiny, little immersion blender. If you use a regular blender, do it a cup or two at a time to avoid sloshing all that hot liquid around the kitchen violently. Put it back in the pan with:

• 1/4 tsp anchovy paste (about 2 inches from a tube)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3 Tbsp fennel fronds, chopped

Adjust the taste as needed with salt, sugar and/or garlic powder.

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and its ready.

Serve with a dash of heavy cream in the center of the bowl and a sprinkling of fennel fronds on top.

Options:

Add 8 oz cream to the soup after removing the soup from the heat instead of serving it in the bowl. (You could replace it with 1/4 c olive or coconut oil if you want to avoid the dairy.)

Use a vegetable broth if you want to avoid eating meat. (The butter can be replaced with additional olive oil, too.)

I suspect adding chopped bacon when sauting the onion would be tasty.

Turkey Enchiladas for One

This is a variation on a theme. I use it to turn leftover turkey into tasty lunches. This recipe serves one hungry person or two smaller appetites.

You will need one Ziploc (or other brand) rectangular plastic container. The one I have is about 4" x 6" x 1.5 ". Its in the picture.

Prepare the tortillas below by snipping off the opposing sides of the tortillas with scissors so they fit flat in the bottom of the plastic container. Then fry them in some sort of oil just a little to take out the rawness and to keep them from absorbing liquids and getting soggy.
If you don't want the oil (which can be butter, bacon fat, olive oil or anything) dip them in warm water or chicken broth.
A third alternative is to toast them over a flame, such as your gas stove burner or outdoor propane grill.

• 3 corn tortillas

Mix the filling ingredients together in a mixing bowl:

• 1/4 lb shredded colby longhorn cheese (save back a tiny bit to spread on top)
• 1/2 c diced green chile
• 1/2 can cream of mushroom soup (or cream of chicken)
• (optional: a large dollop of sour cream)
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground onion
• 1/8 tsp ground mexican oregano
• NO salt (there's plenty in the soup)

Now take out a little of this filling mixture and spread it on one of the tortillas. This will be the top tortilla.

Take out a little more filling and spread it in the bottom of the plastic container.

Now add this turkey and mix thoroughly.

• 1 c diced turkey (cooked)

Form the enchiladas, flat New Mexico style, in the plastic container with these layers. This list is ordered from bottom to top, first in to last on. There should already be a little of the filling mixture in the bottom.

• one tortilla
• half of the turkey-chile-cheese filling
• one tortilla
• the rest of the turnkey-chile-cheese filling
• the top tortilla
• cover with shredded cheese
• sprinkle with flaked mexican oregano

Put the lid on the container, squashing down as needed, and put in the refrigerator overnight or in the freezer until needed. (Thaw before heating to eat.)

Place thawed container in microwave and heat on high until hot. It seems to take about 3 minutes in my microwave. It takes a bit more at work.

Bread and Butter Pickled Jalapenos

I saw a guy doing something similar -- Bread and Butter Pickled Jalepenos -- on the Food Channel -- Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I have an old bread and butter pickle recipe from an ancient Farm Journal cookbook. So I thought it might be good and it is. This recipe makes about a quart.









Put the following in a mixing bowl. Note that if you touch the sliced peppers very much, your hands will begin to sting. Use a rubber glove, at least on the hand you don't hold the knife in. Do not rub your eyes or skin elsewhere.

• 1/2 half pound fresh Jalapeno peppers. Select firm ones. Avoid the rubbery ones. Avoid those with thin skins. Slice into round sections a little less than 1/4 inch (5 mm). Discard the ends and stems. I leave the seeds and the white, center part.
• (optional) 3 or 4 colorful habanero (scotch bonnet) peppers. Slice into rounds as thin as you can cut them without them falling apart. Discard the ends and stems. (Habaneros will make the result very spicy hot.)
• 2 Tbsp salt - sprinkle over the jalapeno rounds

Stir to distribute the salt. Cover with ice and let set for 2-3 hours. Add more ice as needed.

When the time is over, remove the ice, if any is left, and drain. Add the following and stir together:

• 6-8 green onions - slice the white part and some of the green.

Heat the following to boiling in a 2 qt pan:

• 1 c apple cider vinegar
• 1 c white sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp celery flakes (or 3/4 tsp celery seeds)
• 1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 juniper berries
• pinch ground white pepper

Simmer for 10 minutes.

Drain the peppers and onions one more time and add the mixture to the pan. Stir and bring back to a boil.

Move the peppers and onions to a quart mason jar with a slotted spoon. It should fill the jar. If it does not, add some random vegetables to fill the jar. (I like baby carrots.)

Pour the hot vinegar mixture into the jar. Add some water if you need and make sure all the vegetables are covered. Seal the jar.

If you are going to store it, process it in boiling water for 15 minutes. 

Turn the jar over on a counter and let it cool to room temperature (or so). If you didn't process with the boiling water, you will need to refrigerate now.

I like these over a cracker with a small slice of blue cheese. Other creamy cheeses work too.

Or you can just use them over foods where you would use standard salsa.

Chicken Enchilada Cassarole

This has roots in an old Kathy Williams recipe from before any of us had kids.

First you prepare the chiles.

• 2 fresh green Poblano chiles (you can use the long thin ones like Anaheim, New Mexico or Hatch but you will need 4 of those as they are smaller)

Heat up the gas grill. I know mine is ready when the temp reads over 300 F.

Put the chile peppers on the grill and roast, turning as needed until the thin skin is charred pretty much over the entire surface. I would guess about 5 min for the first side and 3 for the other side (or other two sides depending on the shape of the chiles.

Remove from the heat and pop them into a paper bag. (You can use a pan with a lid or a bowl with a plate on top.) Let them set, which will loosen the charred skin. (You can do this ahead of time or let it set while the onion starts to saute, but only if you can do two things at once.)

Running them under water, slide the skin off the chiles. You can use a knife the scrape if you are careful. Cut off the stem and the seedy lump inside. Wash off the seeds though a few won't hurt.

At this point, its a good time to toast the tortillas on the grill. (You can use store-bought tortilla chips but they will add a lot of salt to the end product.) Use the gas grill AFTER the chiles have completed.

• 12 corn tortillas

Lay them flat on the grill. Leave them just long enough to get a little toasting and/or grill marks on the down side and then turn them. The 2nd side goes faster. If one starts puffing up, they are done. I can't fit all 12 on my grill at the same time, so repeat after stacking the done ones.

Saute on a low heat the following in a 4 qt (or larger) pan on the stove. (No lid needed.)

• 3 Tbsp olive oil (or pretty much any oil)
• 1 med onion, chopped coarsely. (I like the sweet yellow ones.
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• the roasted chiles (prepared above) chopped

When the onion becomes translucent, add the following spices:

• 1 tsp ground cumin
• pinch of ground mexican oregano (or any oregano, ground or flakes)
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• (optional: a small amount of salt. Note that other ingredients have plenty of salt so you may not need any.)

Saute 2 or 3 more minutes, then stir in the following:

• 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
• 1 can Cream of Chicken soup
• chicken meat cut into 3/4" chunks or shredded (I use the meat of one rotisserie chicken precooked at the grocery. You can also cook about 4 chicken breasts and use that. 

Stir as needed to avoid burning until the whole mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat.

Build the enchiladas in a cassarole dish (12" x 16" or so). I use some spray oil to avoid sticking. 

The layers numbered from bottom to top:

1. 4 tortillas spread across the bottom. They can overlap depending on the exact size of tortillas and pan.
2. 1/2 of the mixture from the pan.
3. 8 oz sour cream
4. 4 oz grated cheese
5. 4 more tortillas
6. the other 1/2 of the mixture from the pan
7. 1/2 cup green chiles (either canned chopped green chile or use "505 Flame Roasted Green Chile" which is chile with garlic and cumin. It has a blue label to distinguish it from their other products.)
8. 4  more tortillas
9. 8 oz grated cheese

If you heat it right away, it only needs about 15 minutes at 300 F. If you keep it in the refrigerator, or freeze it and then let it thaw, it will need 30-45 minutes at 350 with foil over it except the last 15 minutes.

Cream of Green Bean Casserole Soup

I just woke up in the middle of the night one night. I was getting ready for the Christmas Party at my house and I suddenly knew I needed to make soup -- Cream of Green Bean Casserole soup.

The only problem is that I had never heard of it before. When the same thing happened with Cranberry Mustard, I went online and found hundreds of recipes.

The ingredients (my recipe) for Green Bean Casserole are basically Cream of Mushroom soup concentrate, French Fried Onions and Green Beans.

I had made some Cream of Mushroom soup a long time ago. But it was much better than the canned variety. I figured I could make some more and then blend in some green beans and be done with it.

So I started with Ina Garten's recipe for Mushroom Soup (Original: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cream-of-wild-mushroom-soup-recipe.html) and, of course changed it just a bit.

Start by making some mushroom broth. Prepare

• 16 oz mushrooms (the original has cremini, portobello and shitake and its very good)

Pop out the stems (break them where the stem meets the cap or cut them). Set the caps aside for the soup itself. Chop the stems and saute in the bottom of a stock pot or similar pan over medium-low heat until soft (perhaps 10 min) in:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp butter

Option 1: Add

• 1 large onion - cut in large pieces
• 1 large carrot - cut into a few pieces
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 peppercorns
• pinch of thyme (a little more if its fresh)
• 6 cups of water

Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes

Option 2: Cover with

• 6 cups of vegetable broth

Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes

Whether you choose option 1 or 2, when the broth has simmered 30 minutes, strain out the veggies and reserve the liquid. If there is less than 4 cups, add some water. Set aside for use later

Now for the soup itself. Cook in a large pan or dutch oven over low heat for 15 - 20 minutes until beginning to brown

• 1/4 lb butter (1 stick)
• 2 cups leeks - chopped coarsely including the white and the more tender green parts. One or two leeks will provide you with 2 cups.

Meanwhile prepare the mushroom caps (all that's left of the 16 ounces from above) by slicing them up.

Add the sliced mushrooms to the leeks and cook 10 more minutes. The mushrooms will become soft and maybe a little browned.

Add and stir without stopping for a minute or two:

• 3/4 c flour

When no longer raw or lumpy, add and stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to get all that flavor into the soup:

• 1 c dry white wine

Add in:

• 4 c mushroom stock (prepared as described above)
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 14 oz cans of green beans - drain thoroughly first. Use a good quality of green beans that don't have stems, leaves or woody parts.

and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and use an immersion blender to make it into a smooth soup. An ordinary blender will do if you are very careful to blend about a cup at a time with the lid on. Keep it covered so the hot liquid stays in the blender and off of you.

Note: Some people like it better if you hold back half of the green beans and add them after blending, It makes a different texture and color but I prefer the whole thing to be smooth. Similarly, you could top with a few crumbles of french fried onion rings sprinkled on the surface once the soup is in a bowl.

Finally, stir in:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley (the finer the better)

If the blending and the cream have cooled it down, warm gently. Do not boil. Do not simmer. Just get back to being hot.

Then remove from the heat and top with

• 3 pats of butter - leave them floating on top to melt slowly with the lid on

Serve hot. Serves 5 or 6.