(y)our food choices

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We cook a lot in our tiny kitchen and love it! Baked bread, simmering soups and homemade pizzas are just a few of the staples in our apartment. We are constantly experimenting with recipes and love a challenge. We’re not Iron Chefs but we do respect the men and women who are and their dedication to the craft. We’re just two men who are trying to get back into the simple ways of life. We’re all about farmer’s markets and grass fed beef. We believe that the food we eat is sacred, even if we are not of the religious state of mind, and that with every bite we take or every drink we consume we can all make a difference, for good or not so good. We hope you enjoy reading about what we are eating, peruse the pictures we take of our food, and tell us about what your eating and drinking. In the future we will be linking this blog to a new blog called Your Food Choices where we hope to get some lively discussions about food and how it affects us all. Cheers! Steve & Jason

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day. A beautiful green broccoli soup.

Veggies tend to build up in our refrigerator. With the very best of intentions, we subscribe to a CSA produce box that arrives every other week. In the off weeks, we wander over to the Sunday farmer’s market to supplement. Certain that we will gorge ourselves on fresh produce, we accumulate food we know we should be eating. Once in a while we fall out of cycle because of meals out or travel and all our good intentions catch up with us.

We recently received a beautiful head of broccoli in our farm box that, after a week in the fridge, needed attention before it faded and became compost. Jason recommended soup and since we had a fresh batch of chicken stock on hand, it was the perfect solution. Mind you, the chicken stock was made from the leftover bones and carcass of a roasted chicken from Limon Rotisserie which means the resultant stock was ultra savory. But while the Limon bones aren’t something everyone has access to, you can make extra savory soup broths by simmering lots of aromatic vegetables, fresh and dry herbs and plenty of spices. With just the right amount of sea salt, a decent broth can be made extraordinary.

So, the leftover broth went into a soup pot where it was brought to a simmer on the stove. Once hot, we added the broccoli stems to cook before adding the florets which can lose their color if cooked too long. With this soup, we let the stock and stems cook down to concentrate the flavors. In went the florets and a little water before covering the pot to bring it back up to temperature. The broccoli needed to cook long enough to become tender without turning khaki. It probably took about 10 minutes for it to soften enough before going into a blender where it was pureed until smooth. My first instinct was to strain the puree through a fine mesh sieve, but I wasn’t happy with the consistency of the watery soup it produced so I added the pulp back to the pan along with the liquid. The puree was fine enough that there were no unpleasant fibers in the finished soup so why waste the nutrient dense broccoli?

While tasty, the soup seemed to be missing something and for a minute I considered adding vinegar or lemon juice, both of which would have been fine, but it wasn’t what I was looking for. Then it hit me – BUTTER! Not just any fat would do. Extra virgin olive oil would certainly add flavor, but it was the wrong flavor for this delicate vegetable soup. No, this needed what any good professional kitchen would consider indispensable and that’s plenty of sweet, unsalted butter. So, back into the blender the soup went. Still steaming hot I separated it into two batches and then blended each with two tablespoons of butter. The finished soup was velvety and rich without being oily. It was perfect!

Broccoli Soup

6 cups savory chicken or vegetable stock (or a combination of broth and water)

1 large head broccoli, stems and florets separated

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Bring the stock to a boil and add the stems of the broccoli. Cook for about 10 minutes than add the florets. Cook for another 10 minutes. Transfer ½, or so, of the soup to a blender and puree until very smooth. Add two tablespoons of cold butter and continue to puree for another minute. Transfer to a new pot and do the same with the remaining broccoli and stock. Warm the soup slightly before serving.

Top (Left to Right) Spinach Fettucini, red peppers and shiitake mushrooms. Asian Noodles with bok choy and mushrooms. Bottom (Left to Right) Fettucini with summer squash, basil and tomato. Asian soup with rice noodles and shredded Napa cabbage.

How many times have you come home from grocery shopping feeling hungry, looked at what you just purchased and asked yourself “What is there to eat?” If you purchase bulk items – vegetables, beans, rice – you know, the staples, you always need to factor in some time to prepare your meals from these basic ingredients. Making dishes in large batches and then storing them in meal-sized portions makes a lot of sense and takes the guess work out of weeknight meals. We used to keep soup and other items stored in the freezer for just this occasion, but since going plastic free we have had some difficulty finding a substitution for Zip-loc bags. If anyone has a non-plastic freezer-safe suggestion please let us know.

There is always one go-to item that’s easy to prepare, can be made in a variety of ways, and takes less time than heading to the nearest fast-food joint (unless of course you live just above one). I’m talking about pasta! That wonderful, versatile, shape-shifting, flour, water (and sometimes egg) concoction with names like ziti, penne, and spaghetti. With a range of flours and grains used to make this unique and tasty food, everyone can enjoy what has been a staple in so many food traditions around the world for centuries. The invention of pasta is often credited to the Italians but cultures around the world have been making their own version for thousands of years. While debated, the noodle likely made its way to Italy via trade with Arabs in the Middle East. Recent archeology suggests the Chinese were first to the noodle making craft. The Japanese have soba and ramen noodles. The Chinese have chow fun noodles. The Vietnamese have bun (rice vermicelli). In Europe, the Italians aren’t alone in their adoration of the noodle. The Germans have Spätzle which is very pasta-like and takes to a myriad of sauces.

With some dried pasta and a few items from your cupboard a wonderful meal can be prepared in the time it takes to cook the pasta. Olive oil, anchovies, olives, capers, lemon zest, and parmesan cheese make a wonderful and salty sauce. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan, add the anchovies, olives and capers. Mix in the cooked pasta with a little pasta water add the lemon zest and grated parmesan cheese and Voila! You’re eating like an Italian.

Want a quick hearty soup? Heat up some broth, add soy sauce, throw in a mixture of equally sized cut vegetables (carrots, broccoli, zucchini, squash, celery, etc.), and heat until the vegetables are cooked. Throw in some left-over chicken or beef, or even a raw egg or two that will scramble in the broth, then add some cooked soba or ramen noodles, and a handful or two of green leafy vegetable, such as spinach, or watercress. Top with a drizzle of sesame oil and enjoy.

If you want soup but don’t want to go the soy route, add savory herbs like oregano, thyme or sage and a bay leaf to the broth instead (dry herbs work just fine here) and toss in a handful of orzo, pan fried broken spaghetti or any short shaped pasta and you’ve got yourself a bowl of something reminiscent of the Mediterranean. With a dusting of fresh chopped parsley and a little extra-virgin olive oil drizzled on top, you’ll think you’ve just plated something special from your favorite Italian trattoria.

These aren’t really recipes. It’s called making do with what you have in your kitchen. Be creative and try new things. Read recipes for inspiration and then break the rules. Be fearless! It’s only food after all. Just make sure you eat what you make and don’t be wasteful.

A good rule of thumb is that almost anything goes well with pasta, even peanut butter! The peanut noodle recipe that follows is a household favorite around here. The sauce is so simple to prepare but the flavors of the finished dish are rich and complex. We’d take this Asian inspired comfort dish over microwave dinners any night of the week.

Peanut Noodles

Spaghetti or Rice Vermicelli

¼ cup peanut butter (best to use a non-sweetened, organic variety)

3 tbsp soy sauce

Hot water

1 clove fresh garlic, mashed

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp rice vinegar

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 cup diced or julienned cucumber, seeds removed

While pasta is cooking, heat water and add all sauce ingredients to a mixing bowl and stir until sauce is thick but fluid enough to coat pasta. Once pasta is cooked, be sure to reserve some of the water and then drain. Place pasta back into the pan and toss with peanut sauce. Place in bowls and top with cucumber.