Ribollito, Stale Bread Soup

Rachel Ray Ribollito

Fantastic for having food on hand that reheats quickly and is tasty as leftovers.  Very hearty.

My version:

Cook beans as I usually do.
In soup pot cook mirepoix as usual.
Add other vegetables and herb bundle
Add broth, tomato paste, and beans.  4 cups broth?

Do the cool Rachel Ray thing,  The soup is like a soup concentrate.  To serve, add 2 parts soup, 1 part more broth, and the bread.

1 pound of Maine Cattle Beans.  Soaked overnight and cooked.
broth--vegetarian Better The Boullion
3-4 garlic cloves crushed
1 onion
8 inches leftover french bread
Olive Oil
5 carrots
4 ribs celery
2 teaspoons CRP
Herb bundle of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme
1 bunch Tuscan Kale
2 zucchini, or was it one?
2 cans tomato paste

At the table: parmesan cheese, diced raw onion, olive oil

Fish Tacos

Fish Tacos
this time: tilapia, slaw, wheat tortillas, salsa, sriacha-mayo or yogurt.
slaw: red cabbage, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper

White bean Kielbasa soup

Where other people have meatless Mondays, I'm most likely to serve a meat dish on Mondays when the committed vegetarians are out at activities.

I sautéed onion, carrot, and celery, then added the leftover flageolet white beans, kielbasa, tomato, and kale, and a cup of broth to thin it, for a simple rainy day skillet stew.   We added Tabasco at the table.

Cheesy broccoli potato soup

I made a double batch of Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup, which seemed just right on a rainy night after a heavy diner cheeseburger lunch.  In the interest of my own nutritional goals, I put in less than half the cheese called for, and served lots of shredded cheese for individuals to add.

I offered hot wheat rolls and corn chips as sides.  They went untouched, so perhaps everyone really was still full from lunch.  But I must do something in order to send them off to bed--dinner was already held off until 7pm.

The littlest one said she wasn't hungry and only ate one bite.
The middle one still has a sore mouth from new braces, bravely ate one bowl and then his leftover cheeseburger chopped to tiny bits in the food processor.
I liked it.  Other adults liked it.

Nevertheless, nine cups of leftover soup is kind of discouraging.  They all are going to have to find the love for this stuff over the next couple days.  Perhaps parmesan croutons on the leftovers when they're presented.

Food pairing software

Harvest is but a memory in the slough of winter, but what goes with zucchini? I would have said tomatoes, mushrooms, bell peppers and/or cheese. Also soy sauce--I had a friend who used to marinade long slices of zucchini in soy sauce, but frankly I would say the marinade never penetrated; she was kidding herself.

Now an outfit called "Sense for Taste" out of Belgium has an online food pairing calculator. Just the thing when I'm looking at the end-of-the-week ingredients that somehow didn't make it into any dinners. I'm intrigued but sometimes skeptical of the food pairing suggestions for zucchini, a food which can be a bountiful summer challenge.

http://www.foodpairing.be/FoodPairable.aspx?f=Zucchini

We'll be skipping the tea and Chardonnay, I add, wiping my hands on my apron.

Whether or not this internet toy leads you to your next culinary invention, or causes your frozen food conglomerate to hire them, Food Pairing is fun to play with. There is a long list of set foods, by category, on the right-hand column (you may have to click an arrow triangle to see them). The search box doesn't work for me and my machine--I don't know if that's because their coding is broken or because an ASPX database only interacts with Microsoft products.

Zucchini with ginger? maybe. Zucchini with apricot? Two ingredients I'd never have thought to combine.

Make Naan

Nothing sells dinner like a bread baked that day: whether we're talking actual loaves, or rolls, tortillas, biscuits, or naan.  All over the world, or among our ancestors, bread baked that day was UNUSUAL.  That's why being a bakers is the third oldest profession, and that's why so often a village has only one oven, and it's shared.

 That said, if today's a day you want to bake a bread, here's this great recipe for naan I've been using.  Note well: plan on three+ hours for the rise.

http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2007/05/22/naan-bread/

Onigiri

Cute like sugar cookies, without actually being a dessert.  
We like it as an afternoon snack or in a packed lunch.

Leftover rice, about 2 cups
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar

I spread the rice out on a plate.
I mix the vinegar, salt, and sugar to make a dressing.
I sprinkle the dressing on the rice.

I pack the rice into molds to make shapes, using my rice paddle to push the rice into the mold and level it.  I've got a little onigiri mold with three little shapes, which I bought in a japanese market a few years back.  Before that I used to just mold with a 1/4 cup measure.

Real onigiri would have something hidden in the middle, like pickled plum.  I've never met a pickled plum.  We usually just make them plain--haven't come up with a filling that interests any of us.

Do you make onigiri?  Is your vinegar-salt-sugar dressing different?  Do you put a little filling in the middle?