Snacko Backo

This is my new comfort food.  Takes about 5 minutes to make.  Such a simple idea- but I never would have thought of it.  Until, I can’t quite remember how,  I came upon a 2006 NY Times recipe for poached scrambled eggs and egg & rice soup.  I was intrigued, but fyi just scrambled eggs poached in water are not so flavorful.  And recently, Bittman wrote about this egg drop variation in his NY Times soup matrix.   This recipe can be varied as you wish.  I really like it without the sesame oil and soy sauce too- and I call that Chicken & Egg soup.  And have added rice to that. Great w. sriracha (thai hot sauce).

4 cups chicken stock, as Ina always says, homemade is best
2 eggs
optional: soy sauce, sesame oil, scallions, sriracha, rice, chicken etc.
salt and pepper to taste

Bring stock to a boil in saucepan.  Beat eggs well in a little bowl. Lower heat to a simmer. Use fork to create a whirlpool in broth.  Pour eggs into center of whirlpool and keep whirling around for 1 to 2 minutes.  Eggs will be light and cooked- and delicious. I have made the mistake of adding too much soy sauce and sesame oil- which has a very strong flavor.  So maybe start w. a teaspoon of soy sauce and half a teaspoon sesame oil and add more to taste.  Add salt & pepper to taste.

Delicious simple soup.  My mom used to make this for holidays- Thanksgiving, I think.  When I was young, I thought orange soup was weird.  But now I think it’s pretty.  Terry, a longtime friend of my mother and a great cook herself, recently gave me an immersion blender.  This was my first shot at using it- and i’ll say that it is pretty dope.  If you aren’t familiar with these- they are basically like a blender wand (Micah argues it should just be called this- as it a more apt and cool term).  So just stick the blender wand into your pot- and you don’t have to worry about transferring to a food processor.  A Silver Palate recipe, of course.

6 tablespoons butter (3/4 stick)
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 minced garlic cloves
1/4 cup finely chopped ginger
7 cups chicken stock (or veg stock)
1 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 pounds carrots, cut in 1/2 in pieces
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
pinch of curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
chopped chives or parsley to garnish (optional)

Melt butter in a large pot.  Add onion, ginger, and garlic and simmer for 15-20 mins.  Add carrots, stock and wine- bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for another 45 minutes.  Blend/food process the soup until smooth.  Put back in the pot, stir in curry and lemon. Salt and pepper to taste.

Check out the new section- Inside The Tiny Kitchen!!

Make your own stock. So much better than the store bought kind- what’s in those bullion cubes anyway?  This particular recipe simmers for 4 hours but there is very little effort required- you don’t even have to peel and chop the vegetables.  I learned a couple things while making this the second time around.  First, I bought this thing called a soup sock (got it at the co-op, obvi) but it is basically just a mesh bag.  It doesn’t look like it can fit very much but it stretches- I put the whole chicken, all the vegetables and peppercorns in it.  Last time I made it, it was a bit of a struggle straining out the chick & veg–this way, you just lift out the whole bag.  Next, I used a small saucepan lid as a weight to keep the bag submerged- so I didn’t have worry about flipping the bag over or smushing it down.  Also, I decided to refrigerate this stock in the big pot which, makes skimming the fat off easier.  Then, when you are dividing it into container for freezing, measure out the amount that fits in each tupperware (use a measuring cup as ladle so it is not an extra step.) That way, when a recipe calls for 4 cups of stock you know how many containers you have to defrost.

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa.  I halved the original recipe because her’s requires a 16-20 quart pot– and I only have an 8.  She uses three chickens and takes two out after an hour and shreds breast meat for chicken noodle soup- and returns carcasses to pot.  After 4 hours of simmering, just throw the chicken & veg out.

1 chicken, about 3 pounds, rinsed
1.5 onions, quartered, unpeeled
3 carrots, unpeeled and halved
2 celery stalks, cut into thirds
10 fresh parsley sprigs
7 fresh thyme sprigs
10 fresh dill sprigs
1/2 head garlic, cut crosswise
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Put everything in the pot.  Fill up pot w. water.  Bring to boil.  Lower and simmer for 4 hours.  As water cooks off, can add more water. When done, strain.  Chill.  Skim off fat. Divide into Tupperware and freeze. (You can see stock comes out pretty dark– but oh so delicious)

A perfectly fall soup. For those of you with abundant CSA shares, this is a great way to use your squash and apples. The apples make it a little sweet and the curry a little spicy.  I topped mine w. some grated apple and toasted butternut squash seeds.  You will need a food processor, a blender or a food mill.  According to America’s Test Kitchen, a blender is the best way to go— but as I don’t have one, I used a food processor.

Adapted from Ina, the Barefoot Contessa
3 to 4 pounds butternut squash (about 2 medium/small squash), peeled and seeded (save seeds for toasting)
2 yellow onions
2 apples (it says core and peel- but I did not bother peeling)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2-4 cups chicken broth (can substitute veg stock)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder (I used 1 teaspoon)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425.
Chop butternut squash, onions and apples in 1-inch chunks.  Toss with olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  Split among 2 baking sheets- spreading vegetables in a single layer. Bake for 35-45 minutes until vegetables are very tender.  Meanwhile, heat stock to a simmer.  When vegetables are done, put them in food processor/blender/mill and add a couple ladles of stock.  Process in batches.  Add soup back into a pot.  Stir in a couple ladles of stock.  Let it absorb– and add some more– stopping when you have the consistency you want- should be a thick soup.  Add curry powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  Taste for seasonings, be sure there is enough salt to bring out curry flavor.  Can top w. a couple grates of apple.

To toast butternut squash seeds– place on baking sheet.  Add some olive oil and sprinkle liberally w. salt.  Toast for about 7 minutes.  While these taste good on the soup, I like to just to snack on them.