Vegetarian

50 Women Game-Changers in Food – #41 – Elizabeth Andoh – Udon Soup with Vegetables and Tofu

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I’m always on the lookout for beautiful, delicious food that is also healthy.  To say nothing of the delight in making a meal that didn’t empty the wallet at the check-out.  Enter this sweet and toothsome goodie, “Udon Soup with Vegetables and Tofu,” that’s just as far away from your capital T-typical noodle soup as it can get without falling off the edge of the comparison.   Add vegetables, lovingly cut PREE-cisely teensy of course,  a nice slew of tofu, and you’re eating a recipe from Elizabeth Andoh, who is number forty-one on Gourmet Live’s list of 50 Women Game-Changers.

Living in Japan for for decades,  Elizabeth Andoh attended Yanagihara Kinsaryu School of Traditional Japanese Cuisine (Tokyo), wrote several Japanese cookbooks (scroll down for list), and for years served as Gourmet magazine’s Japanese food writer.  She also teaches cooking classes in Tokyo if you’re ever out that way.   Most recently, Andoh published Kibo: (“Brimming with Hope)  Recipes and Stories
from Japan’s Tohoku…

 

This cookbook is a heartfelt and fascinating tribute to the food, traditions, and courage of the people of Japan’s Tohoku region before and after the devastation of the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. It features traditional recipes such as Miso-Seared Scallops, Pinched-Noodle Soup with Pork, Salmon-Stuffed Kelp Rolls, and basics like rice, stocks, and sauces, along with sake pairings and essays on Japan in recovery from journalists and food writers.

courtesy amazon

If you’d like to give the Udon Soup a whirl, it’s yum, but I’ll give a few heads’ ups:

1.  Read the recipe all the way through so you have a sense of the order in which the steps take place.   For instance, you’ll need 30-60 minutes to soak shiitakés for the broth before you really begin.
2.  Plan on going to the Asian market or substituting some ingredients.  
3.  While it looks quick, and doesn’t really take long, the chopping of the ingredients
is all to matchstick-size or shredded in the case of the mushrooms.  Plan your time accordingly.
4.  If you taste the soup before adding the greens and grated ginger, you’ll think it needs seasoning.  The fresh ginger, however, is the kicker here.  Warm and giving, it folds the whole bowl together with its pungent heat.  
5.  My soup had little broth and I added a bit of vegetable broth toward the end of the cooking.

 Here’s how:

udon soup with vegetables and tofu

   courtesy New Asian Cuisine and Andoh’s book  KANSHA: Celebrating Japan’s Vegan and Vegetarian Tradition

serves 4
.
3 or 4 large dried shiitaké mushrooms
3 cups water I thought there was too little broth; you could increase the water here.
11/2 ounces daikon tops, kale, or other leafy greens, loosely tied in a bundle with kitchen twine
3 sheets thin fried tōfu (page 282)
4 ounces fresh mushrooms, preferably maitaké (page 272), trimmed and hand shredded into 1/2-inch lengths
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon saké  Had no saké.  Used white wine.
1 slender carrot, about 2 ounces, scraped and cut into matchsticks
2 ounces daikon, scraped and cut into matchsticks
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon light-colored soy sauce
2 sheets hoshi yuba, softened (page 261) and coarsely shredded, or 1/4 cup finely broken hoshi yuba (1/4-inch bits)  I could not find this and didn’t add it.
11/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
Cooked udon noodles, for serving hot (page 55) Easy to find, but you could sub whole wheat linguine.
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Extract a stock from the dried shiitaké mushrooms: Break off the stems and set them aside for making stock on another occasion. Here you are using only the dried shii¬také caps to make a stock (and to cook later with the other vegetables). Soak the caps in the water in a bowl for at least 30 minutes and preferably for 1 hour or more. Remove the caps from the water and rinse them to remove any gritty material, then squeeze gently. Pour the soaking water through a fine-mesh strainer (or disposable coffee filter) into a clean bowl to remove unwanted bits that may have settled at the bottom of the bowl. Set the stock aside. Slice the dried shiitake caps into very narrow strips.

Bring a small saucepan filled with water to a boil. Blanch the bundle of leafy greens for 30 seconds, or until they wilt and turn a vivid green. With long chopsticks or tongs pull them from the pot and set aside. Blanch the tōfu slices in the same pot for 1 minute, or until oil swirls on the water’s surface. Drain, cut each slice lengthwise in half, and then cut each half crosswise into short, narrow strips. Blot away excess oil from the strips. When the greens are cool enough to handle, squeeze out excess moisture, chop coarsely, and set aside.

Heat a wok or a large, heavy skillet over high heat. Toss in the tōfu and allow the pieces to sear for a moment until lightly browned at the edges. Add the fresh mushrooms, then the slivers of softened dried shiitaké and stir-fry for about 1 minute, or until any excess liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are aromatic. Sprinkle with the sugar and continue to stir-fry for 30 seconds longer. Add the saké and stir-fry until the pan is dry.

Add the stock (it will sizzle and sputter a bit, so be careful) and lower the heat to maintain a steady but not-too-vigorous simmer. Skim away the first large cloud of froth that appears with a fine-mesh skimmer. More froth will appear (this is normal when using shiitaké mushroom stock) as you continue to simmer. Cook for 5 or 6 minutes, then skim away the froth again.

Add the carrot and daikon, season the soup with the mirin and light-colored soy sauce, and continue to sim¬mer for 2 or 3 minutes, or until the vegetables are firm but tender and the flavors are melded.
Add the yuba and stir to distribute, and then add the soy sauce. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and cold water. Add the mixture to the pan, raise the heat to high, and stir until thickened and glossy. The final soup will have the consistency of a thin sauce.

Divide the noodles among 4 warmed bowls, then divide the soup evenly among the bowls. Top each serving with some of the chopped greens and a small mound of ginger. Serve immediately.

Read Amy Sherman’s 2010 interview on Epicurious with Elizabeth Andoh

Check out the list of lovely cookbooks available from Elizabeth Andoh

 ~~

Want to read more Elizabeth Andoh recipes?  Check out the great blogs below:

Val – More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn – Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan – The Spice Garden
Heather – girlichef, Miranda – Mangoes and Chutney, Amrita – Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary – One Perfect Bite, Sue – The View from Great Island, Barbara – Movable Feasts
Linda A – There and Back Again, Nancy – Picadillo, Mireya – My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica – My Catholic Kitchen, Annie – Most Lovely Things, Jeanette – Healthy Living
Claudia – Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce – More Time at the Table
Kathy – Bakeaway with Me, Martha – Simple Nourished Living, Jill – Saucy Cooks
~~~

If you liked Udon Soup with Vegetables and Tofu, you might like:

Green Onion Pancakes

Sing a new song, make a new soup!
Alyce

Curried Cauliflower Soup or The Rite of Spring on Bach’s Birthday

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Hot lunch on a cold spring day

 Outside the window in the new/old (1915) St. Paul house, it’s fairly gray.  Everything’s gray, in fact.  Melting snow, sky, sun, trees…even the birds appear kind of gray.  But spring it is!

Jack Sparrow and Friend

When you’ve moved, the chores are myriad.  It seems you’re always running to the hardware store for a light switch cover or to Target for garbage bags and peanut butter.  If you’re not running, you’re on the phone with the phone company or recycling folks.  If you’re not on the phone, you’re looking at paint samples or asking where the post office is.  (What happened to phone books?)

Sooner or later, plates seem to be on shelves and towels are clean and folded in the bathroom.  You know where to turn the light on for the basement and have figured out what that horrible sound is between the floors or in the walls. (Hot water pipes.)  You have the turn to your house memorized and don’t have to count houses from the corner anymore.  And one day, you start making meals again–hardly noticing the skipped nights or that you’re in a different kitchen.  Well, I wouldn’t go that far.  I am definitely in a different kitchen, though I’m feeling the similarities as I get things squared away.

I had things to do this morning like

  • clean the back porch
  • scrub the basement stairs (honest-to-God linoleum)
  • wash rugs and bathmats
  • bleach down the bathrooms, one of which has an old-fashioned claw-foot tub

 Cool thing was, these are typical house chores–not moving chores.  We’ve been here long enough for the bathrooms to need a scrub.

So when I got done with the morning work-out, I wanted real food for lunch.  I was sure my hard-working husband wanted some, too.  Scouting out the frig and pantry (still not full, of course), a big cauliflower reared up its head called me by name.  A quick look around the counter and I located onions, shallots, garlic, apples and one lone pretty ripe pear.  I thought I’d throw most of it in the oven to roast while I did one last chore and then puree it all with some chicken stock and curry powder.  Here it is just for you.

As Dave and I sat down to eat, Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” (1913) came on the local NPR and the day just came together.  A spring-like light, but warming soup with a kick.  I just couldn’t figure out how Bach’s birthday figured in, but it’s today, too.  Happy Birthday, Johann.  And thanks for Bach, God.

Curried Roasted-Cauliflower Soup
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 apple, peeled and cut up into eighths
1 large onion, same drill
4t olive oil, divided
Sprinkle of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 shallot, cut in large pieces
1 garlic clove, same drill
1 small carrot, minced
1 stalk of celery, minced
1 ripe pear, peeled and cut up
1 t curry powder, divided
Pinch each cinnamon and crushed red pepper

1 qt chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 c each white wine and water (or 1 c water)
1/3 c parsley, chopped
1/8 t cinnamon
1/4 t kosher salt
1/8 t white pepper, ground


  Preheat oven to 350 F. On a large baking sheet, place cauliflower, onion and apple.  Drizzle with  2t oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place sheet in oven and roast for about 30 minutes.

 Meantime, in a small soup kettle (4qt),  saute shallot, garlic, carrot and celery in the other 2t olive oil about 5 minutes over low heat, taking care to not burn the shallot and garlic.  Add pear,  1/2 t of the curry powder, parsley, cinnamon and crushed red pepper.  Stir and saute another minute or so.  Add stock, wine and/or water, cinnamon, salt and pepper and stir.  Bring to a boil and lower heat to a bare simmer.

When cauliflower, apple and onion are roasted, add them to the stockpot and stir.  Bring soup up to a boil and lower heat to a slow boil.  Add rest of curry powder.   Let cook 5-10 minutes.  Puree with immersion blender or in batches in the food processor (carefully).  Taste, adjust seasonings and serve hot with a piece of buttered whole wheat toast.

 Easier yet:  Roast everything, add to stock and puree.  Leaving out fruit, celery, carrot, etc. will produce a more pronounced cauliflower-tasting soup, but also makes things simpler.

Now I’m off to Ace to buy a mesh strainer for the end of the washing machine hose.  Oh well.

Sing a new song or warm up your fingers and give Bach a whirl,
Alyce

Pico de Gallo Halibut on Warm Rice Salad with Bacon Pintos

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Pico de Gallo Halibut on Warm Rice Salad with Bacon Pintos



   Yes, my jeans are tight.  I’m sure they shrank.   Didn’t yours last month?
Whatever–I’m working on lighter meals, like this halibut, to make up for things like whole baked potatoes with butter and sour cream (Did I do that???  I did.) at MacKenzie’s Chop House.
  I’m also working on a series of meals that will use each of a dozen great foods (a la Dana Jabobi’s 12 BEST FOODS COOKBOOK) and do double duty–decrease my waistline and make me tres healthy.  How about you?  You could get in on it, too.
The list of the twelve best foods reads like this:
  1. Broccoli
  2. Black beans
  3. Tomatoes
  4. Salmon
  5. Soy
  6. Sweet potatoes
  7. Oats
  8. Onions
  9. Blueberries
  10. Walnuts
  11. Spinach
  12. Chocolate
We used sweet potatoes in the Potato Gratin with Rosemary Crust (last post).  One down.  
Next is tomatoes and tomatoes we have here in abundance with our halibut.  Onions is another and we’ve got onions in two places here.  3 down, folks.  Ok.  Let’s talk fish for the halibut.  Bad joke from the Three Stooges. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
Halibut, well, it’s just an incredible fish.  Meaty, bright, filling, flexible, dependable.   Currently not cheap.   Good with nearly anything.  I had (bad me) frozen two pieces that just weren’t going to get cooked last week.  I also had a quart of pico de gallo (the first I’ve ever bought instead of made) that said, “Use within 14 days of opening.”  (The 14th day was fast approaching.)  It seemed the pico and the fish were meant for one another.  Add to that I had some rice from an old favorite dish (rice with creamed pork tenderloin and mushrooms) that also needed a home and this easy, fresh  mid-week meal was born.





Warm Rice Salad in process.

If you never cooked beans, you don’t know how non-descript they can look in the pot while all the while tasting scrumptious.  Definitely not my photographic skills, right?  And, yes, they take a while at altitude.   They’re good in the microwave, though.  I cooked these earlier in the afternoon so they were very tender by dinner time.  You could choose canned beans, unsalted or drained and rinsed very well indeed.

The beginning of cooking the halibut–salted and peppered, it just goes into a very hot skillet with some olive oil.  Cook it for 4 minutes, turn and throw it into the oven (400 F) for about 6 minutes and it’s done.

Cilantro, tomatoes and avocado for the rice salad.

When the halibut is cooked, pull it out and top with pico de gallo, thus warming the salsa.

Add the rice “salad” to warmed bowls or plates, top with fresh tomatoes, cilantro and avocado and lay the fish w/ salsa on top.  Spoon some beans along side and squeeze fresh lime over all.  Maybe a quick dust of black pepper?  Eat while it’s hot.

Pico de Gallo Halibut with Warm Rice Salad and Bacon Pintos    serves 2
Beans:   (Follow directions below or use canned, drained and heated beans.)
1/2 # pinto beans (you’ll have  alot left over for huevos or chili)
2 onions, chopped (divided–1 for the pintos and 1 for the rice)
3 cloves garlic, minced (divided–2 for the beans and 1 for the rice)
4 thick-cut pieces of bacon, diced
Fresh ground pepper
Tabasco
Kosher salt 
Warm Rice Salad:
1 T olive oil
(onion and garlic from above)
1 Medium zucchini, diced
1 Yellow squash, diced
2-3 c cooked rice
1/2 c fresh cilantro, divided
1 Roma tomato, diced
1 Avocado, ripe, diced
1 Lime, divided
Halibut:
2 T olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 pieces (4-6 oz) fresh or unthawed and patted dry halibut filets
1/2 c pico de gallo, home-made or store-bought 
Directions: 
  1.   BEANS   —  In a 6 qt. kettle, place picked over and cleaned pinto beans and cover with water.  Bring to a boil over high heat and boil for two minutes.  Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for an hour.  Drain and replace beans in pot; pour in about 4 qts of water.  Add 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves of garlic minced, all of the bacon, the pepper and several drops of Tabasco (or a whole, fresh jalapeno).  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2-3 hours until beans are tender.   While beans cook, check pot regularly and add water if needed.     When done, cover and keep warm  or cool and reheat when needed.  Taste and adjust seasonings before serving.
  2. WARM RICE SALAD —  In a large saute pan or skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and add onions and squashes.  Cook, stirring frequently, for five minutes or so until nearly tender. Stir in garlic and continue to cook until all vegetables are tender.   Add rice, stir, and season well with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with most of the cilantro, saving a little bit for garnish at the end.  Squeeze the juice from half of the lime over the rice and stir.   Turn off heat and cover to keep warm while you cook the fish.   Add the fresh tomato, cilantro and avocado right at serving time.
  3.   HALIBUT  —   Preheat oven to 400 F.  Heat a medium skillet over medium- high heat with 2 T olive oil.  Season fish well with salt and pepper and place skin side up in hot pan.  Do not disturb for 3-4 minutes until well-browned.  Turn fish over and place  skillet in oven for about 6 minutes until fish is firm and flaking.  Remove from oven and spoon salsa on top of each piece.  Let fish sit a minute or so.
  4. TO SERVE:  Spoon rice onto warmed plates or large shallow bowls (pasta bowls are nice) and top with halibut and salsa.   Add the tomato, the avocado and cilantro to the top of the rice.  Spoon some beans to the other side of the rice and fish.  Squeeze the other half of the lime over all of the food in each bowl or plate.  Dust with pepper if you’d like.
  5. Serve immediately while hot.   

What I’m Reading, Listening to, Working at or Doing around the ‘Hood:

Had neighbors for dinner Sunday night at the spur of the  moment.

Enjoyed my husband at home…no travel this week.

Wondered about a job for me..did some work on that.

I’m reading DEVIL’S TRILL by Gerald Elias (I told you that.) and ordered DANSE MACABRE,  too.   Ah, violin mysteries.

 I also picked up, and started, THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE.  (I know–you read this in ’03)

I’m still reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s AN ALTAR IN THE WORLD.  Superb.
.
THE ART OF CURATING WORSHIP by Mark Pierson arrived, but I haven’t started it yet.

The book club book is Isabel Allende’s DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE.  Not yet, either.  Nope, I haven’t begun it.

I taught piano lessons and learned alot.  I let a student choose a piece to work on and it was Bach. 

I did my best to listen to myself playing and singing old standards.  Piano bar retirement plan.  You know those jars that say, “Piano Player’s 401K?”  They’re real.  Put something in them, please.
.
As I write, I’m listening to Patti Digh’s 37 DAYS, which you can listen to, too, right on her blog of the same name. (Link on my blog)  What would you do if you had 37 days?  Patti travels and speaks…if you can get her.

We watched “Did You Hear What Happened to the Morgans?”  Glad it happened to them, though the bears are here, too-so that wasn’t so funny to me.
.
I played through/listened to the new Lenten cantata from Pepper Choplin/Lorenz.  Hm.  Jury is out there.

I think I finished washing all of the linens from Christmas.

I’m looking at local hunger issues for examiner.com and figuring out a series of articles on same. 

There’s a second article about where to drink just a glass of wine in Co. Springs in the works as well.

I played with the dogs every chance I had.

Today–reupping my “Y” membership.

Talked to my daughter on the phone twice and texted back and forth to Jeanne…several times.

Spent a long time on the phone with Sue..,..such a treat.  A treat to have the time and a treat to have Sue.  Prayers here and now for Sue’s father-in-law, in the last stages of cancer in Virginia.   Also praying for friend, C, recovering from surgery.

Kept up with my family via fb.  My nephew is deer hunting and I wish I could get some sausage.  One of my nieces  is on the way to new health after a long New Year’s hospital stay.

Went out for supper at old-time family Italian Luigi’s  to share a pizza and salad with Dave in front of their fireplace.  Listened to his work stuff and was grateful my jobs don’t involve that kind of stuff.  The tough ones for me are getting mah, may, me, moh, mooo right.  Or answering questions like, “I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t sing that hymn this Sunday.  You tell me why?”  I get to help make people happy, healthy and wise as they sing their hearts out or cook yum food for loved ones. 

Nice work if you can get it.

Healthy… yes. 

Thanks, God.
   
Two-Dog Kitchen

 

Be well in 2001 as you sing a new song,
Alyce





Potato Gratin with Rosemary Crust or Get a Pedicurist Who Cooks

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Having my toes done is one of the guilty pleasures in life.  I guess you might call it getting a pedicure.  I go every month in the summer, sit with my feet soaking, and allow someone to trim and paint my feet.   And I love it.  I do it in the winter, too, but not so often.
There’ve been a few toe-artists over the years, but the latest may be the best.  She’s great at what she does, but also likes to cook.  Double dose of fun for me.

Over Christmas, when my toes always turn bright red (called “I’m Not Really a Waitress” though I was for years of high school and college), she described this gratin that’s baked in a crust.   In fact, she described it so well (after a story about her new pans) that I knew I could go right home and make it.  Being able to describe a dish and its prep that well is a definite talent.
Still, by the time I got around to making it (after Christmas!), I thought I’d see if I could find the recipe online.  Search, hunt.  Well, well.  The recipe came from SOUTHERN LIVING (which I knew), a notoriously fattening publication, but the award-winning food blog, The Bitten Word had blogged it and I got the recipe there. 
Clay Dunn and Zach Patton of The Bitten Word blog (photo-Chris Leaman/CC)
I’ll share it here, but note that it calls for store-bought pie crusts and I like to use my own.  Si place, as my conducting instructor (Angie, Angie)  at University of St. Thomas would say.  It means, “Do as you like.”  I have nothing against store-bought crusts, but can make a crust at home faster than I can drive to the store.   And I do like mine better.
This is a show stopper dish.  Touted as a side for tenderloin or something equally luscious at holiday time, it could also be a brunch dish or a lovely vegetarian lunch with a big crunchy salad.
I’m leaving the pics all in a row for you to see…
While it was quite a process, it wasn’t difficult, and was well worth the effort.
I agree with The Bitten Word that it needs to bake longer than the recipe allows, but then again, I’m at altitude.  I’ve made notes for adjustments.
Just when I know you needed salads or stir fries (frys?)….here’s something gooey, warm, heartening, and fattening.  Sorry.  Check out examiner.com (Colorado Springs Entertainment–Food and Drink) for a healthy Chicken Minestrone–quick version I published yesterday if you need something slimming.  Meantime, this should be shared. Dave and I ate it twice and then I shared it with my book club.  I froze a little bit just to see how it’d hold.  I couldn’t throw it out.
P.S.  As is sometimes the case, the Gruyere was cheaper at Whole Foods than at King Soopers.  (This is true of chicken broth, orange juice, other cheeses and other stuff, too.)

Here goes… I forgot to photograph making the pate brisee (pie crust made with butter) in the food processor.

I made my own version of pate brisee in the food processor.  Carefully possible.  You might want to wait to put the rosemary and cheese on until after you put the first crust in the pan.  See pic below as I roll the crust onto the pin.
Do buy Gruyere.

Grate the cheese in the food processor if you have one.  Save your hands.

This is one way to move a crust from the counter to the pan–wrapped very loosely around the rolling pin.

The edge of this crust is purposely quite thick and will be very crunchy.  There’s no way to get it looking perfect.  (Though is will taste that way!)

Get a kitchen scale.  Don’t guess at weights. Scales at groceries are inconsistent.  3 potatoes can weigh 3/4# or 1.5#, depending on their size.

I slice most potatoes in the food processor.  The mandoline, while perfect for some, is dangerous for me!

Warm the cream and garlic in the microwave.  Buen idea!!!

After removing foil and before second baking.  Looking yum already.

Oh dear.

 

Ready for its closeup.

Once more for grins and giggles.

And now that you’ve gained a pound just looking, you’re done.  Hey, let me know if you make this.  It’s not any harder than scalloped potatoes really…and the presentation is just WOW.  Here’s the recipe:

Total: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Yield: Makes 10 servings
Ingredients

  • 1  (14.1-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts* (I make my own–recipe at end.)
  • 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground pepper
  • 2  cups  (8 oz.) shredded Gruyère cheese, divided (Grate in food processor)
  • 1 1/2  pounds  Yukon gold potatoes
  • 1 1/2  pounds  sweet potatoes
  • 1  teaspoon  kosher salt
  • 2/3  cup  heavy cream
  • 1  garlic clove, minced
  • Garnish: fresh rosemary sprigs

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 450°. Unroll piecrusts on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle rosemary, pepper, and 1/2 cup cheese over 1 piecrust; top with remaining piecrust. Roll into a 13-inch circle. Press on bottom and up sides of a 9-inch springform pan; fold edges under. Chill.
2. Meanwhile, peel and thinly slice Yukon gold and sweet potatoes. (Slice in food processor.)
3. Layer one-third each of Yukon gold potatoes, sweet potatoes, and salt in prepared crust. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese. Repeat layers twice, pressing layers down slightly to fit.
4. Microwave cream and garlic in a 1-cup microwave-safe measuring cup at HIGH 45 seconds; pour over potato layers in pan. Sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Cover pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place on a baking sheet.
5. Bake at 450° for 1 hour.  (I added 10 minutes here.) Uncover and bake 25 minutes (I added 5 minutes here) or until potatoes are done and crust is richly browned. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes. Carefully transfer to a serving plate, and remove sides of pan. If desired, carefully slide gratin off bottom of pan using a long knife or narrow spatula. Garnish, if desired.  Note:  At altitude, I still though this could have used an extra 10-15 minutes.


Alyce’s Double Pate Brisee Crust Made in the Food Processor


2 2/3 c unbleached white flour
1/4 t kosher salt
12 T salted butter, quite cold, cut into chunks
1/2 c ice water (you might need a tad more if flour very dry)

In the bowl of your food processor, blend flour and salt.  Add butter and pulse until some pieces are pea-sized, some are smaller and some are bigger.  With machine running, pour water through food tube and process until dough comes together.  Stop machine and remove dough.  Carefully pat together into a ball and divide in half.  Sprinkle counter with some flour* and place one half of the dough on it.  Sprinkle dough and rolling pin liberally with flour.  Quickly (trying to keep it cold here), roll out into 12-13″ circle.   Roll the dough loosely around the pin and place crust in pan.  Sprinkle crust with the cheese and rosemary.  Refrigerate pan.  Roll out other crust, roll it around the pin, and place on top of refrigerated crust.  Press top crust into bottom briefly and turn edges under, trimming crusts if needed.   Pinch edges of crust together quickly; don’t spend long on this.  Continue as above.

* You can also roll dough between  two pieces of waxed paper (some of the crust will escape!) and leave out the floured counter entirely:

First–dampen the counter by wiping it well with a very damp cloth.  This insures the waxed paper will stay put and not slip around.  


-Place half of the dough between two sheets of waxed paper, place “package” on damp counter and, with rolling pin, roll out (start at center, roll to edge, and repeat- Go around the crust clock-wise) until crust is 12-13″…

–  Flip the crust over, quickly give one roll with the pin on that other side, take off that paper, flip again and, as you gently ease the crust into the pan, peel off the second piece of paper. 

–  Throw that paper away, get new paper and repeat procedure. 

Reading, Listening, Viewing, Whatever else and Cooking Currently:

I’m so late.  I just finished THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN by Garth Stein for book club.   I love the idea of a dog talking, but wish he’d re-write this in 20 years.  The club, over all, liked the book and, I think, all of them read it! 

I am reading -all at once!- DEVIL’S TRILL by Gerald Elias (2009), THE APPRENTICE  by Jacques Pepin (biography) and MATHILDA SAVITCH by Victor Lodato.  I continue to read Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book, AROUND MY FRENCH TABLE, as well as Melissa Clark’s In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite.     Want cookbooks?  Buy these gems.

I am listening to Hildegard von Bingen…a Christmas gift.

We saw “The King’s Speech” last weekend and were bowled over.  Stunning film.  Go.
This week, I made a point to find out when “Glee” was on and watched an episode.  Interesting, but I couldn’t figure out what all the hoopla was about.   Maybe because I’m a choir director.

I am playing things I haven’t played in months.  Did Advent intervene here?  Maybe.  But I spent an hour playing and singing last night before I read DEVIL’S TRILL.  Singing your heart out is good for you.  Remember singing around a camp fire?  Or on a road trip?

I am not dreaming this week (I’m not a big dreamer), but I did wake up over and over one night thinking about a new job I’ve applied for.  As I glanced out the windows in the dark, I saw (and  I’m near-sighted) a white bird–a big one–fly into a tree in the wildwood between our house and Mike and Sara’s.  I laid there a minute or two, wondering if I’d imagined it and finally got up to put my glasses on and peer out into the gloom of early morning.  No bird then, but there was a falling star!! I haven’t seen one since Emily and I beat it up the road of the campground in Brown County, Indiana to hit the outhouse in the middle of one long night.

I talked to Tina from Prive (lovely, lovely Oregon winery)  today about our upcoming shipment.  While they did make wine, they made a lot less.  Oregon weather just didn’t cooperate for a large yield.  A cool fall meant delaying and delaying picking, though they had pruned hugely in September and knew they might not get much, but they’d get tasty.  And so it happened.  She’s concerned that the wine being shipped now (last year’s) will travel through places with temperatures under freezing, thus not just compromising, but ruining the wine–blowing the corks for the cardboard to drink the fine Pinot.  Tina and her husband Mark have a capital T Teensy vineyard in Oregon Pinot country, where they make boutique Pinot Noir (there’s another name, I’m thinking) from their own on-site grapes and also a couple of other wines  from grapes they borrow and whip into shape from Washington (a Syrah and a red blend).  Between the pristine, reminiscent of France winery and their house is a comfortable patio replete with tables, chairs, plants, flowers and, the piece de resistance, an outdoor pizza oven.  Now I envy Mark his vineyard and Tina her winery, but what I really covet is the pizza oven.  Wineries like Prive sell pretty much on futures only; you must buy ahead (barrel tasting that vintage sometimes) or  you get no wine.  These wines don’t appear in stores or restaurants often, though you might have a better chance in Oregon itself.  So our wine, waiting for shipment in her cellar, is well worth the wait for good shipping weather.   It’ll keep just fine right there.  Our Sunday weather promises a snow storm and -12.

Our friends (and students)  Jacque, Tom, Joel and Miss Ellie moved this last week.  Current cooking includes a big pot of bean soup (I do this a couple of times a winter and make 20 qts or so), a slab of corn bread and hazelnut brownies (with Valhrona chocolate frosting)  I’ll take to them tonight for dinner.  A big, fat bottle of Cotes du Rhone goes with it, along with some sparkling apple cider for the kiddoes.

For dinner, I’m trying a halibut with pico de gallo in the oven in foil.  Yes, I actually do have to stop eating things like Potato Gratin with Rosemary Crust.  Let you know how it comes out.

Two-Dog Kitchen–

Was this a self-indulgent blog?  Surely was, but it’s been a while since I did one.  Thanks for putting up with and reading as you
Sing a new song,
Alyce

Ribollita to Drool for, Sing for, Dance for

/ More Time at the Table / Leave a comment

What’s Ribollita? Hmm… Mmmm… Well, in Italian, it means reboiled. It means what???? Doesn’t sound very appetizing, does it? In reality, it’s a lovely simple, but hearty vegetable soup (think minestrone) that you made a day or two ago and mayyyyyybe don’t have quite enough of to go around tonight. The idea is to heat it up, make a few additions and pour it over some toasted bread. Great (grate!) parmesan on top and you’re in business. You’re in love. You gotta have this. There are many, I repeat, many ways to make such a soup.1. You can make it from scratch. You have the time; it’s wonderful! (If you’re really into learning about Italian soups–there are so many super ones—read ESSENTIALS OF CLASSIC ITALIAN COOKING by Marcella Hazan. Lots of Italian cookbooks out there over the last ten years –I’ve read one or two; how about you!–and so many are tasty, tasty (think TRATTORIA by Patricia Wells), but I often go back to the not-too-distant classics. Why reinvent that pot? Do try any of the Marcella Hazan books or even ITALIAN COOKING by Elizabeth David.) Anyway, find a delish recipe for minestrone, make it, refrigerate it overnight and the next night, add the bread as in my versions.)
2.You can also make it from deli-counter minestrone or…
3. I have a great 30-40 minute version for any night. Below, read on; I give you the last two quicker options.
First a couple of hints for the meal.

Have this in the spring?? Ribollita sounds like a typical great winter-night soup and it is. But why not make it on a cool spring night and eat outside? I made this last Thursday for a good friend who LOVES anything Italian and we were thrilled to eat it under my blooming cherry (sour-I know I’m blessed) tree.Of course, cool spring nights abound in Colorado.

Wine: California Nebbiolo is so happy on the tongue here (especially if a dear friend brought you a bottle) Any rough (regular, everyday) or classic Chianti would also be just fine. The price about doubles from regular Chianti to classico. If it’s a birthday or special occasion, get classico. California zin would even work if that’s what you have in the house and you can’t get to the store.

Dessert: Why not be traditional American-Italian and have a wee serving of spumoni or tortoni? Another option: some great vanilla ice cream with amaretti cookies crushed and crumbled on top and drizzled with Amaretto.
Coffee: Yes, make some espresso. (You barely had to cook.) Freshen it with a twist of lemon.

So, here are the two choices on how to make your Ribollita–make sure you say it like this: ree-boh-leeeee-tah. Surely all Italian food names deserve to have those vowels drawn out forever. Practice saying it out loud. Very sweet sound. Raise the pitch of your voice on “leeee” and you’ve got it right. (I make my piano students say “piaahhhno” VERY softly; you get the idea.) Anything that tastes this good should sound as good as it tastes.
So, first, see if you’ve got any opera on your ipod or in your cd collection.. No? How about a “3 Tenors?” Put on whatever has something Italian in it and THEN BEGIN! Sing along!

Ok : Option #1 The Very Fastest Ribollita of All
Serves four ( or two very hungry people)
2 quarts deli minestrone soup
A few dried herbs or some garlic… maybe
1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans (or any canned white beans)
4 ciabatta rolls or four slices baguette
4 tsp. olive oil
Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese-about 1/2 cup divided
Hot sauce, your choice

Heat oven to 350 F.
Gently pour the minestrone into a 6qt saucepan and heat on medium. Taste for seasonings. (Add a little oregano, or some pepper, a teense basil, a tad garlic, even any Provencal herbs out of that gorgeous jar you bought last year –it’s hidden way in the back of the cupboard) You don’t need to add salt; I can just about guarantee that one. Open the beans, drain and rinse to remove extra salt. Add them to the pot and stir. Meantime, slice the ciabatta rolls in half and brush them lightly with olive oil. Put them on a cookie sheet and slide them into the oven for around five minutes. Longer if you’re at altitude like I am.When they’re toasty, remove from oven and place them in the bottom of each of four soup bowls. I like pasta bowls for this. Ladle hot soup over the toast and top with cheese. Pass extra cheese and hot sauce at the table. Laugh; this is good!

Options: Need heartier soup?
Add some julienned ham or sliced leftover Italian sausage
Sliced meatballs stirred in right at the end are great
You could even chop up some toppings from your takeout pizza
leftover from last night; pitch the crust or give to the dog, honey

Option #2 Ribollita from ” Scratch Today” in, oh, 40 min
Serves 6

2T olive oil (I use regular olive oil for cooking)
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 large carrots, diced
4 slices bacon, pancetta or ham, chopped
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 28oz can Italian tomatoes, such as Cento
2 boxes (6 cups) low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1 cup shredded and chopped cabbage
1T basil
1T oregano
1 bay leaf
1 t herbs de Provence
1 parmigiano reggiano rind (small is fine)
2 15 oz cans white beans of choice, drained and rinsed
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
6 ciabatta rolls, sliced or 12 slices baguette (buy extra if you’d like toserve more bread at the table)
6 t olive oil
1 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated, divided
1/4 cup chiffonade (sliced very thinly) fresh basil leaves for garnish, opt.
Hot sauce for table

Heat oven to 350 F. Brush ciabatta with olive oil and toast for five minutes or so. Set aside.
In 10 or 12 qt soup pot, heat olive oil to medium heat and add onion, celery, carrot, garlic and ham. Saute, stirring often, until vegetables are tender. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, broth, spinach, cabbage, herbs and parmigiano-reggiano rind. Bring to a boil and then lower heat. Simmer, stirring often until spinach and cabbage are tender. Add beans and stir. This soup should be thick, but if it’s too thick for you, add some broth or water. Taste and adjust seasoning using salt and pepper. Place bread in bowls and ladle soup over top. Sprinkle with half of cheese and top with fresh basil if desired.Pass rest of cheese and hot sauce at table.

Options: See above for meat additions.
You could add a small zucchini or two, chopped
Shredded Swiss chard could replace the spinach
What veg have you got? Add it. See what you think.

Are you still singing?

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