Albondiga's Soup

One of the dishes I prepared for the cooking demo I did last May was Albondiga's Soup.    I was first introduced to this soup when I was living in Malibu.   We'd go 'over the hill' to a restaurant called La Paz, which was a Yucatan style Mexican restaurant in Calabasas.      And you were brought a little bowl of this soup with three (always three) meatballs in it, alongside the potatoes and carrots.   Plus a little dish of Escabeche (pickled carrots and jalapeno's).   I got hooked on both.   And have made Albondiga's soup for us from time to time over the years.  

Albondiga's Soup

1 lb. Hamburger

½ cup rice, uncooked

½ teaspoon Oregano

½ teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon Salt

¼ teaspoon Pepper

Mix above ingredients together and form them into small balls, about 1 inch in diameter or the size of a walnut. Place into refrigerator to firm up for a half hour or so.   This makes about 12-14 meatballs.  We actually like them a little smaller, I just have trouble making them smaller, I think I just get into a nice little zen space and the next thing I know, those meatballs are getting bigger and bigger and bigger, sorry, got off the subject there.   Cook in just enough of the chicken broth to cover, for about an hour or so.  It does take that long for the rice to plump up and cook thoroughly.   You can also add cooked rice instead, but I like using the uncooked rice.  It doesn't mush into the meat.   Also, I would recommend using an 85/15 mix, cause the last time I used really, and I do mean really lean meat, they were a touch dry.

  

Then add them to a pot with the following:

1 clove garlic, minced

1 coarsely chopped white onion

Saute in a couple of tablespoons oil, then add with the rest of the ingredients.

3 Carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch slices or coins

6 Yukon Gold or Red Bliss potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

* 2 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces.  (optional, I don't like celery in the soup).

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, with liquid

2 tablespoons chopped Fresh Mint Leaves

2 tablespoons Fresh chopped Cilantro

½ teaspoon Oregano (I like Oregano so I add a touch more here as well)

½ teaspoon Cumin, (more to taste if needed, I usually use more).

2 quarts Chicken Stock, (low sodium, home made is best)

Fresh chopped cilantro on the side for garnish.

Add all the above ingredients together and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are tender and the meatballs are cooked. Serve with some fresh chopped cilantro on the side as a garnish.

And if you happen to have a nice crusty loaf of french bread, that tastes good with this soup as well. 

Serves 4-6 people, or 2 people for dinner and 1 person for 3 or 4 lunches. 

Boat Club for November

Monday night was Boat Club, which if you are a regular or semi regular or just happened upon this blog, is our monthly potluck gathering.   We always have great food, always a wide variety of foods, and best of all, we get to catch up with each other's lives.    This month was no exception.  We welcomed back a friend, who'd been out of town working for a few months, and the food, well let me just say this, YUM.
There were Jello shots (I'd never had one before, so it was fun to try it)

 Stuffed peppers, and if you know me, you know I scarfed up a couple, gotta have that heat.

 There was this very interesting Bean Salad.  Corn, Black Beans, Lime, Avocado, really unique. 

 Potato Cheese Soup, and you could top it with Bacon Bits and Cheese.

 Gumbo, and this was HOT, and soooo good.
I have no idea who brought it, but I want the recipe.  HINT!

 And who doesn't love these?   And my mind just went blank on the name though.    Similar to Spanakopita, little bundles of spinach wrapped in Phyllo dough.  I managed to get one before they were all gone. 

 And one of these days Kathy will remember to give me the recipe for this Chicken dish.   She calls it Cuban Chicken and the crust is actually corn and eggs you pour over the filling and then you bake it.  It's also got olives and other good stuff inside. 

 Really awesome chili, and it was served correctly with some onions on the side to garnish it with.  Gotta have those onions.

 I love Red Cabbage, the danish style that is, but this one, well, it was really yummy and I know who brought it so I can get the recipe.  She'd spiced it with some cloves, star anise, cinnamon and other spices.   Very nice.

 Chile Relleno Casserole.  I love it when Robin makes and brings this.  It's very good, and usually disappears rapidly.  

 Ham, and not just baked Ham, but this time Quinn put some orange marmalade on it, and wow was it good.  (I snuck back and had a second slice when no one was looking, don't tell anyone, OK?)

 Something new, Sweet Potato Fritters, and they were so good.   I'm going to be begging for this recipe, they were served with a lime dipping sauce, but honestly, they were so good on their own, they really didn't need the sauce, but it did elevate it a little.

 Lime sauce for the fritters.

Meatballs, I love meatballs.  These were coated in a nice BBQ sauce and I noticed people were eating them.   (one person told me they put the meatballs in the Potato Cheese soup and ate them like that, and it was good).

And last, but not least the Kringle.   I'll be sharing the recipe in the next few days, but I noticed it disappeared rapidly as well.    I do love me a good Kringle, in fact I usually have one in the freezer in case of unexpected guests.  Hmmmm, I think I have an idea.   

 

That's the roundup of dishes that we ate this month at Boat Club.  Can't wait for next month to see what is offered.    But best of all, we get to visit with friends, catch up and just hang out.  How nice is that?  

SRC - Creamy Peas and Walnut Sauce for Pasta

This is my third post for the Secret Recipe Club.   My assignment this month was a very interesting blog, From Arepas to Zwetschgen  This lady makes and posts dishes from all over the world.   And I thought I was pretty good at making foods from different regions, but I don't do it to her extent.   I got to travel all over the world just by reading her cooking adventures.   One quibble though, even though there were lots of dishes featured, too many of them had a 'recipe coming soon'  message below the picture and I'm just not that good at sussing out how to make something from a picture. So those recipes got eliminated rather quickly.  

I did run across her Creamy Peas and Walnut sauce for Pasta, and decided to try my hand at that.

 I kept the original instructions pretty intact as I have a scale I use when I'm baking or making my Danish food.   So it was easy for me to do it that way.    However I did convert the measurements to cups for ease.      I also cut the recipe in half, and found out I had more than enough sauce for my pasta.   

Creamy Peas and Toasted Walnut sauce

Ingredients:
500 g pasta of your choice  (2 cups uncooked)
75 g chopped walnuts   (3 oz or about 1 cup)
250 g green peas (fresh or frozen)  (1 lb or 2 cups)
4 slices bacon
1 large onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, smashed
175 ml white wine  (3/4 cup)
125 ml heavy (or light) cream  (1/2 cup)
125 ml low-fat milk   (1/2 cup)
salt
pepper
cornstarch (optional)

Prepare pasta as per directions. While the pasta is cooking prepare the walnuts by roasting them in a skillet without oil over medium-low heat until fragrant and golden brown, about 7-8 minutes.  Drain the cooked pasta, and reserve.  (I kept a little of the pasta water, just in case) Place the walnuts in a heat safe plate and let cool. While they are cooling, bring 1/2" salted water to a boil, add peas, and cook for 5-6 minutes until soft. Drain and set aside. Cook the bacon in a medium skillet or oven until crisp. Drain on paper towels and crumble. Discard all but 2-3 tsp bacon fat. Saute the onions in the bacon fat until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.  Add wine, cream, milk, bacon, and pepper to the onions and garlic and heat through for
about 5 minutes. Add the peas and cook for an additional minute.

 Thicken with cornstarch if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve pasta with sauce and top with walnuts.

***If I make this again, I will probably add some Mushrooms to it as I think it would complement the entire dish very well, and would probably also eliminate the bacon so I can serve it to my vegetarian friends.   I found also that the onion totally overpowered the sauce.   I think a shallot would be much better in this dish.  

Home Made Beef Stock

I love my own home made stock, whether it be Chicken or Beef or Pork.   There is just nothing that can compare to this for making your own soups.   I was rummaging around in the freezer, and found lots of good stuff that could be used for soup makings, including two rib bones from a rib roast I made a few months back.   I'd labeled them to use for stock, but then it got warm outside and soup and stock were far from my mind.

But since I only had two rib bones, I wanted to get the maximum flavour out of them.   So I used a trick I learned when I worked as a waitress in an all night diner.   The cooks there would make gravy out of roasted bones.   They would literally roast the beef bones until they almost looked charred, then soak them for awhile, cook them up and let the stock reduce and use that for the gravy.  And it was good.   They didn't use a whole lot of pre-prepared stuff in that place, everything was from scratch that they could make from scratch.   From the pastries (I still dream about them) to the gravy on the meat, it was good food, simple but good.  Sorry I got side tracked there.  

I took my two bones and placed them on a baking tray along with a couple of carrots, cut into chunks, some onions, garlic and celery, drizzled a little olive oil over them all and threw them all in the oven at 400 degrees.   I would have liked to have roasted them a little more, but got into a time crunch so had to pull them out a little earlier than I would have liked. 

 And see the brown stuff on the pan, I poured a cup of water over it, and put the whole pan back into the oven to let it soak off and then added that to the pot as well.  That fond has some serious flavour in it.
 
Put them all in a large pot and put in enough water to cover them all, and let it simmer.   I also had some frozen bits and pieces of leftover tomatoes so I threw them in as well.   Plus some onion skins, but they are for color, not the flavour so much.

Stuck the lid on and let them simmer for a couple of hours, then took the lid off and let it simmer for another half hour before I took out the vegetables and bones and let the stock reduce a little more.

I didn't salt the stock because I want to be able to season it to taste later on.  I also didn't add any herbs because I wanted to have a blank slate to work with when I make soup later on.   All I wanted was that wonderful beefy stock.    I'm planning on making some Albondigas soup later on this week, so I can then add the herbs I want as well as salt.   

Tomato Bites

I really had fun with making stuff for Tapas last month, but I just couldn't focus on just one thing though.

 I made the Onion and Mushroom Tart with Goat Cheese,

 Steamed shrimp
and served them, made a couple of Hot Cheese spreads,

and then I made these.

Tomato Bites and it's all Paula Deans fault.   If I hadn't been half listening to her show, I would never have made either of the Cheese spreads or these.   And they were pretty darn tasty. 

Oh and if I hadn't had that other sheet of puff pastry handy as well, which helped, cause I used it, for these.

No real recipe for this, just follow the directions.

1 sheet Puff Pastry, thawed and unfolded.  Take your rolling pin and just press it out a little.

Next slice some Roma Tomatoes, fairly thin, and set aside.

Grate some Parmesan Cheese or use the prepared stuff, either one is good. 


Take a fancy round cookie cutter and cut rounds out of the pastry dough.   

Place the tomato slices on top of each round and then top that with about a teaspoon (or more) freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.   Put them on parchment covered backing sheet and sprinkle with some Italian Seasoning and bake in a 375-400 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the pastry is browned and done.   The Parmesan cheese will have melted down into a nice crusty explosion of yum.   Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Don't they look yummy? They were.   I will be making these again, so simple, easy, and good.   Next time I might just put a teaspoon of cheese under the tomato, or even use a combo of Mozzarella and Parmesan to top them.   So many possibilities.