eG Foodblog: lovebenton0, Pam R, snowangel - North of the 30th paralle

[snowangel]

Good morning! I'm fortifying with coffee before I get Heidi up and the household has it's morning buzz of activity.

It's zero and windy, and as soon as I find my gloves, Ill retrieve my stock from the outdoor fridge. It chilled rapidly last night. Chilled as in frozen.

Shaya, Diana has requested Kao Soi, and I have a hankering for ba mi, so one of those will be on the menu this week (I think!).

[snowangel]

What does everyone do with that layer of fat they remove from the chilled chicken stock?

[CaliPoutine]

What does everyone do with that layer of fat they remove from the chilled chicken stock?

Thats is the beautiful shmaltz. I save it for Matza Balls( I put it in a small canning jar and chuck it in the freezer). Its great for frying potatoes too.

[Priscilla]

[...]Plus, I can't stand even looking at a banana that has any black spots or stripes on the skin.  Give 'em to me firm and ever so sligltly green, please, if you must.

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Bless you! And I am in your camp, banana wise: don't like them much, and hate them speckled. But, as I said, you won't think "'Nanas!" when you taste the soup.

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Who will speak for ripe, speckled bananas? Me! Although I am a lone voice on this even in my own household.

I've made Nero's One of Each Soup many times, and it is not identifiably bananey -- the banana just supports the overall sweet veg flavor of the other one of eaches, I find.

[lancastermike]

What does everyone do with that layer of fat they remove from the chilled chicken stock?

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Perfect stuff for frying spuds. Susan Fahning, my favorite blogger!!! Go get them Susan. Your bread is great. Sourdough can be such a pain. And the wetter you dough the better. This is the single most important thing I have learned from Rinehart. And minimal kneading and long rests give great bread. It goes against everything I thought I knew about bread.

The frigid northland will never be cold in your home with that great soup and great bread.

[Pam R]

Good morning. It's a very bright, very frigid day today. When I left the house it was -25 C (-13 F) - factoring in the wind it's -37 (-34.6 F).

eta: But it's a dry cold!

Before I left the house, I put all of the borscht ingredients into the slow cooker. I'll have full photo coverage later on. Breakfast was leftover quiche and the other half of yesterday's grapefruit.

Great blog, all.  It's warming my cold bones just reading about all the great soups you are creating.

Pam, your quiche dinner looks perfect.  I love the idea of using phyllo as a crust.   I definitely don't use phyllo enough.  Your kreplach are beautiful too.  I've never had them, it's not part of our sephardic culture, but now I know why I'm always drawn to making piles of tortellini (or as Hathor re-named them, shaya-llini).  Your kreplach look a lot like my tortellini!

Thanks for the comments Shaya. The phyllo is a great way to get it in the oven quickly. I started dinner prep at about 5:30 and the quiche had to bake for 45-50 minutes. With no pre-baking it comes out really crisp and golden brown. Very easy.

You should make kreplach. Your tortellini are beautiful, and these will be a snap for you.

I was also looking at the color of your chicken stock - you make it look so easy, I love the pictorial format you are using - and notice it looks a lot more yellow than mine.  With the meaty version you seem to leave the skin on (I remove it) - do you think this is the reason for the bright yellow color?  Did your version with only bones have a paler color?

It is easy. Really. I do leave the skin on - I think it adds flavour. But the colour of both stocks was comparable. I'm not sure why I get the yellow colour - but it happens all the time (carrots? fat?). I know some people will add the yellow onion skins to their soup to add colour, but I don't.

What does everyone do with that layer of fat they remove from the chilled chicken stock?

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Fry onions.

Who will speak for ripe, speckled bananas?  Me!  Although I am a lone voice on this even in my own household.

I've made Nero's One of Each Soup many times, and it is not identifiably bananey -- the banana just supports the overall sweet veg flavor of the other one of eaches, I find.

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Don't get me wrong. I think a ripe, speckled banana is great - for banana bread. Or banana muffins. Soup? I'm not so sure...

[snowangel]

Hmmm. Never occurred to me to leave the skins on the onions. I'll have to do that next time.

My stock has thawed, and been defatted (do I just freeze that fat or do I have to do something to it first?).

Stock making (I did this yesterday) and the stock is reducing now (to save on container/freezer space). I'll post photos of the reduced stock later:

While I normally use stewing chickens from Whole Farm Coop, I neglected to order any in time for the blog. What I love about these chickens is that many times, the label has the name of the kid who grew it for a 4-H or FFA project! But, this time, chickens from Costco. They were $.69/lb, and they come in two-packs, and this month there was a BOGO coupon. I had raided the breast off of one of the chickens for chicken pot pie on Saturday.

There are the feet! plus a bag with some gizzards and a neck that I found in the freezer (that's another story). I also added a package of gizzards that fell on my foot when I opened the freezer door.

The boys in the 'hood get such a kick out of seeing a chicken foot poking out of the stock (almost as big a kick as they get out of smoking butt conversations). Time to skim!

I hate skimming stock. And, it was at this point that I remembered to add celery.

I never add carrots to stock. In fact, other than roasted carrots, raw carrots or a carrot/leek/horseradish gratin I made, I hate carrots. In fact, I hate root crops in general.

Which brings me to another point. I am not big on sweets, so we almost never have dessert. If I'm eating pancakes or waffles, they are naked or topped with a tart lingonberry sauce or fried egg. My true exception to the sweet rule is chocolate milk.

I like Nestle's Quik the best, and really like this liquid stuff better than the powdered stuff. Mixed in much better.

The potholders on the left were from my greatgrandmother, and I've dug out some sugar and cream yarn to knit a few more for myself because as you can see, these are in sorry shape. I also have a pair of the silicone potholders, which are great for pulling smoked meat off the grill, but I find that they are not flexible enough for general use.

Not only do I have hand-knit potholders, but I always have a day-of-the-week flour sack dishcloth hanging on the oven handle.

as well as a couple of other towels. I'm picky about my towels, and I think my family finally understands that the flour sack ones are for dish drying, and the terry ones are for drying hands. But, the terry ones are not for use as a napkin. Wash your hands or face first, please!

Back to the day-of-the week towels. When I got married, I got four sets of them from various older relatives, who considered these a traditional shower gift. I made and gave sets to my closest friends for wedding showers as well, and now that they've all been married for a while, I give new sets to them for 20th anniversaries. Yes, Aunt Martha's hot iron transfers are still available, and while not readily available in the Twin Cities, small town Ben Franklin, five and dime, etc. stores still have lots of them. I think I like the Dutch Girl pattern the best, although I'm pretty fond of the animated dishware series.

Off to do laundry, clean (finally) and ponder dinner.

Oh, I also had a grapefruit for breakfast (which I forgot to photo). Unlike Pam, I like to peel and eat mine.

[Pam R]

I hate carrots.  In fact, I hate root crops in general.

How very un-northern of you.

I wonder if anybody else feels the same way...

[MarketStEl]

My major concern with the crock pot for soup is that liquid doesn't really evaporate and so perhaps my tendencies for amount of liquid, etc. will result in a not-so-tasty soup.  MarketStEl, I am wondering how you made the turkey stock in your crock pot.

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Start with the carcass of a roasted turkey (which should clue you in to when I make turkey stock). I usually remove large chunks of meat from the bones and leave on bits of connecting tissue and shards of meat too small to bother with.

Separate the bones so they'll fit in the Crock-Pot (mine has a 4-quart vessel).

Slice one large or two medium onions, two carrots and one rib of celery.

Put the bones in the Crock-Pot and add the veggies.

Optional: Sprinkle some Old Bay (about two teaspoons or so) over the solid ingredients.

Pour water over everything (eight cups usually fills my Crock-Pot). Add salt to taste (I usually omit this step to keep the sodium content down).

Cover and cook on High for 8 to 10 hours.

If your Crock-Pot is close to full, the water will reach a low boil after about 3 hours, and some of it will boil off as steam, forcing itself through the crevice between lid and crock. My own slow cooker (a roughly 30-year-old Hamilton Beach "Crock Watcher" with removable crock) has a feature where it will cook on High for the first two hours, then shift to Low for the rest of the cooking time. I sometimes use this setting instead of cooking on High for the entire time.

Strain liquid and allow to cool.

[snowangel]

I hate carrots.  In fact, I hate root crops in general.

How very un-northern of you.

I wonder if anybody else feels the same way...

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Yes, Pam, it is very un-northern of me, but it's about the only food(s) I dislike. Remember, I had my first raw pork larb at age 8 (or was it 9) and have never looked back.

Carrots in stock. Makes the stock odd tasting to me, and doesn't transform into an Asian soup nearly as well.

I'm thinking soup tonight that is a family favorite, and very bread worthy. You'll see Asian later this week because the pickings at my Asian market get better later in the week.

[Pam R]

Let's play the Good News (GN) Bad News (BN) game.

GN - not only do I have soup cooking at home for dinner, I made a pot of soup for lunch.

BN - The batteries in my camera died and I forgot to bring extras.

GN - My cell phone has a great camera, so I took pictures with that.

BN - I need my regular camera to upload the photos from the cell phone.

Potential GN - I'm going to try to run out and pick up some batteries - and at the same time I may get a treat that Winnipeg is known for - even in the winter (hint hint). Any guesses?

[lovebenton0]

a bit late checking in today. evidently feeling so tired early last evening was the lull before the truck hit. one moment i was feeling tired, but fine, and the next i was burning up, chilled to the bone, sneezing and coughing, one big ache.

so this morning didn't start until after 11am and the first order was getting oh so patient quinn out for a walk in 11f sunny and very windy weather [-6f wind chill]. we always walk over to one of the parks on the lake, my landlady has four kids so we stay out of our own yard. it was a rough walk this morning.

started today with a big pot of all the herbal tea i could scrounge out of the pantry and a giant mug ice water. haven't been able to think of eating food as yet.

but... i think this is the perfect day to try out a new soup idea i had. so i have two roasted turkey wings and some other miscellaneous turkey parts thawing. today will be a pressure cooker [pc] soup day. i plan to use the wings to make a bit of stock in the pc, with onion and carrots. yes, i love carrots. i'll keep out a bit of the turkey meat to add into soup later with dried rosemary from my tx garden. a good shot of fresh ground pepper. then spoon the soup over a toasted sourdough bread round from the loaf i made yesterday and top with dried cranberries.

i'll try to get pics as i go along... or at least at dinner. just one of those days when even in the flat with shades drawn i have to wear my sunspecs to stand any visuals. bear with me, it will be a low posting day for me today.

[srhcb]

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Now that's just plain gruesome!

SB

[snowangel]

I had not intended to leave the house today, but Heidi's teacher called and wanted me to drop something off, so I did. And, as I walked from the car through the parking lot in the bitter and ferocious wind, all I could think of was that theme song from the movie "Top Gun" -- "Take My Breath Away." Wowsa.

So, since I was out, I stopped at the supermarket (two blocks from Heidi's school, and on the way home) to get some snack items for her at school, per the teacher's request on yesterday's slip -- I got her animal crax and some graham cracker snacks that are small. This means that the staff doesn't have to break things up for her since she cannot physically take a bit out of a cracker.

But, while I was at the supermarket, I realized I needed a few other things -- things that weren't on the list. I was almost out of rye flour and saltine-type crackers, and while I was there, something else caught my eye:

What does anyone know about that Harvest King Flour? The main internet thing that came up when I searched was this, but it doesn't tell me very much. Interesting that most foods need all sorts of disclaimers, but flour sacks don't need to tell you very much.

Now, to the crackers, we've tried the major brands. There's Nabisco's Saltines, Keebler's Zestas and Sunshine's Krispys. We like the Krispys the best. What do you prefer? Anyone but Peter and I like them with butter? (This type of cracker is essential for thickening soup for Heidi.)

[lovebenton0]

Now, to the crackers, we've tried the major brands.  There's Nabisco's Saltines, Keebler's Zestas and Sunshine's Krispys.  We like the Krispys the best.  What do you prefer?  Anyone but Peter and I like them with butter?  (This type of cracker is essential for thickening soup for Heidi.)

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i do... my two fav simple smears for krispy crackers are butter and jalapeno mustard.

[srhcb]

Now, to the crackers, we've tried the major brands.  There's Nabisco's Saltines, Keebler's Zestas and Sunshine's Krispys.  We like the Krispys the best.  What do you prefer?  Anyone but Peter and I like them with butter?  (This type of cracker is essential for thickening soup for Heidi.)

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I prefer Nabisco Saltines.

The holes are just the right size to make what we used to call "Jellystone Park".

You take a Saltine, cut a 1/8" to 1/4" thick slice of Velveeta to fit, add a drop of yellow mustard, and top with another Saltine, pushing down just hard enough to force mustard through the holes, but not so hard as to break (crack?) the crackers.

SB (also has molds and recipe for homemade animal crackers )

[snowangel]

Potential GN - I'm going to try to run out and pick up some batteries - and at the same time I may get a treat that Winnipeg is known for - even in the winter (hint hint).  Any guesses?

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I'd say either the Folk Fest (which means summer!) or kolachies (sp?) which seem more wintery than summery.

[snowangel]

I forgot to eat lunch yesterday, which was a mistake, so on my list today was to eat lunch. Well, I had lunch, but not what you'd think. On my way to stop at Heidi's school, I ran to Costco (1.5 miles from my house; I'll often stop at Costco for just eggs and milk or cheese because it is so close) to see if they had mussels. I was there about the time that the sample ladies were ready to pack it up, so they urged the few of us that were there to load up on samples. Disclaimer: I am lucky in that I can get there during the weekdays. I have been to Costco once on a Saturday, and never again.

Back to the samples. There was prepared tuna salad. I can't imagine why in the world a person would make tuna salad, but the sample(s) wasn't bad. There was cheese. THere were boca burgers. There was plain canned tuna and plain canned turkey on ignorable crackers. There was their own take-out pizza. Some sort of yogurt juice. And, then there was the cioppino, which I've not had in years and makes me think that should be on the menu this week.

So, what do you put in cioppino? Lobster need not apply (I makes Heidi and I both have a case of the horks). Let's talk about cioppino.

Meantime, I need to drink another gallon of water. Most of that prepared stuff they give you in samples at Costco is so damned salty...sodium overload!

[lancastermike]

I forgot to eat lunch yesterday, which was a mistake, so on my list today was to eat lunch.  Well, I had lunch, but not what you'd think.  On my way to stop at Heidi's school, I ran to Costco (1.5 miles from my house; I'll often stop at Costco for just eggs and milk or cheese because it is so close) to see if they had mussels.  I was there about the time that the sample ladies were ready to pack it up, so they urged the few of us that were there to load up on samples.  Disclaimer:  I am lucky in that I can get there during the weekdays.  I have been to Costco once on a Saturday, and never again.

Back to the samples.  There was prepared tuna salad.  I can't imagine why in the world a person would make tuna salad, but the sample(s) wasn't bad.  There was cheese.  THere were boca burgers.  There was plain canned tuna and plain canned turkey on ignorable crackers.  There was their own take-out pizza.  Some sort of yogurt juice.  And, then there was the cioppino, which I've not had in years and makes me think that should be on the menu this week.

So, what do you put in cioppino?  Lobster need not apply (I makes Heidi and I both have a case of the horks).  Let's talk about cioppino.

Meantime, I need to drink another gallon of water.  Most of that prepared stuff they give you in samples at Costco is so damned salty...sodium overload!

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I made cioppino just a couple weeks ago. I had shrimp, clams; nice little ones, king crab legs from Costco and fish of a variety I don't recall. Nice tomatoey broth with a good bit of pepper flakes for some heat. Good crusty rolls and it was wonderful. I have also used scallops and mussels or whatever I can find. I did not use lobster, more because I did not have access to any I liked than any other reason. Even after we ate all the seafood I still had some of the broth left and I had that and bread for a meal. I love this stuff. Is it a stew or a soup? Not sure , but it sure is good.

[Pam R]

Judith - I hope you feel better soon. At least we have a soup theme.. and not a.. oh.. sushi theme? (Sushi when I'm sick is not a pleasant thought.)

I never buy mussels - but I would never have thought of Costco. Did they have any Susan?

This morning I had to stop at Safeway on my way into work - so I sat down for a couple of minutes before I left the house to write a grocery list (and a 'take home from work' list'):

While I was there I picked up a Pom Wonderful lychee/pomegranate Iced Tea. I like it - I can really get a hint of lychee, and it has a bitterness I don't mind.

Next - pictures from lunch.

[Pam R]

It's funny. I don't know about the rest of you, but I find that I get myself into a soup rut. There are a handful of soups that I seem to make over and over again. Though they're good, and I enjoy them, it's nice to rediscover old favorites that have stopped making appearances at the lunch or dinner table. So last night, I went through my book and photocopied a bunch of recipes that I forgot about.

Soup is such a forgiving dish. A little extra liquid - just let it simmer for a while and it will reduce. Not enough liquid? Add some water, stock, juice, etc. Not tasty enough? Add some seasoning. Too salty? Add some potatoes or barley. Etc. Most often, I don't cook soups by recipe - but I'll use what I have on hand, or pick up some ingredients that I think I'll enjoy together. Today I used one of my old recipes - and remembered how much I enjoyed it. I'm going to try to use a few more of them this week.

Mushroom Eggdrop Soup

Ingredients are: onion, oil, button mushrooms (I was going to get some fresh shitake or crimini this morning, but the store didn't have any), garlic, ginger, chicken stock, black pepper, soy sauce, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, green onions, cornstarch (and water), eggs and toasted sesame oil.

(not too bad for cell phone pictures)

Easy to make. Sweat the onions and mushrooms in oil until they start to release their juices. Add garlic and ginger and cook another minute. Add stock, water chestnuts, bamboo, pepper and soy. Bring to a simmer and simmer about 5 minutes. Mix the corn starch with cold water, pour into simmering soup. Simmer another minute (it'll thicken) Beat the eggs together with the sesame oil and slowly pour a thin stream into soup - wait a few seconds and stir. Check seasoning and serve with green onions and extra sesame oil, if you like.

[Pam R]

Potential GN - I'm going to try to run out and pick up some batteries - and at the same time I may get a treat that Winnipeg is known for - even in the winter (hint hint).  Any guesses?

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I'd say either the Folk Fest (which means summer!) or kolachies (sp?) which seem more wintery than summery.

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Maybe treat wasn't a good choice of words on my part. Tasty, cool beverage would have been better.

Winnipeg is known as the Slurpee Capitol of the world. (Slurpee.com facts) Winnipeggers consume more slurpees than anywhere else on earth. Which is shocking, considering our winters (the cold doesn't seem to stop us.) A guy named Alex is even working on a Slurpee documentary up here.

[artisan02]

And, then there was the cioppino, which I've not had in years and makes me think that should be on the menu this week.

So, what do you put in cioppino?  Lobster need not apply (I makes Heidi and I both have a case of the horks).  Let's talk about cioppino.

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I made cioppino just a couple weeks ago. I had shrimp, clams; nice little ones, king crab legs from Costco and fish of a variety I don't recall. Nice tomatoey broth with a good bit of pepper flakes for some heat. Good crusty rolls and it was wonderful. I have also used scallops and mussels or whatever I can find. I did not use lobster, more because I did not have access to any I liked than any other reason.

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Crab (and in Cioppino's case, a Dungeness crab) is the crustaceon of choice instead of lobster. Can you find any of those anywhere? Mussels are also very good in cioppino. The cioppino I make has a tomatoe, red wine base.

Christine, a former resident of the SF bay area.

[snowangel]

Potential GN - I'm going to try to run out and pick up some batteries - and at the same time I may get a treat that Winnipeg is known for - even in the winter (hint hint).  Any guesses?

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I'd say either the Folk Fest (which means summer!) or kolachies (sp?) which seem more wintery than summery.

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Maybe treat wasn't a good choice of words on my part. Tasty, cool beverage would have been better.

Winnipeg is known as the Slurpee Capitol of the world. (Slurpee.com facts) Winnipeggers consume more slurpees than anywhere else on earth. Which is shocking, considering our winters (the cold doesn't seem to stop us.) A guy named Alex is even working on a Slurpee documentary up here.

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Interesting. 7-11's have pretty much disappeared from here, having been replaced by SA (Super America). Not being a fan of frothy drinks, I'll have to see if they have them when I stop for gas (insert little boy giggles here!).

[Pam R]

American slurpees and Canadian slurpees are not the same thing.

Yours are frothy, ours are icey. Much better here. Maybe that's why we drink so many more!