Next Enrichment Meeting!

Hi ladies,

We will be holding our next meeting on February 10th at 7 pm, Multi-purpose room. This month's theme: Chocolate:

Nobody Knows the Truffles I've Seen.

Who is interested in doing a demo of chocolate dipping?

Jeannie's Potato Kale Soup

POTATO KALE SOUP

2T butter
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 clove of garlic minced
7 cups fat free chicken broth
4 cups coarsely chopped and peeled potatoes
1/4 t salt
1 bay leaf
6 cups chopped fresh kale
1 t dried basil

Gruyere or Swiss cheese grated for top of soup

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat, add onion, cook 8 minutes until tender, stir freq. add garlic cook 30 sec. stir constantly. Stir in broth, potato, salt, and bay leaf, bring to boil, cover, reduce to simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender.

Stir in kale and basil. Cover and simmer 10 minutes or until kale is tender.
Discard bay leaf. Partially mash potatoes. Serve with cheese on top.

Jeannie's Minestrone Soup

ROBUST MINESTRONE SOUP WITH BROWN RICE AND LENTILS

Serves 6

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium leeks (or I’ve used onions), white parts only, halved lengthwise and chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chopped Savoy or green cabbage
1/3 cup uncooked brown rice
1/3 cup dark-green Puy-style lentils (or regular work fine)
1 large bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
7 cups cold water or canned vegetable or chicken broth
Chopped fresh Italian parsley, basil, or chives, for garnish
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish

In a large, heavy soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the leeks. Sauté them, stirring constantly, until they are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté, stirring, until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds more.

Add the carrots, celery, tomatoes, cabbage, brown rice, lentils, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and thyme. Stir them together briefly, and then stir in the cold water or broth. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook the soup for 1 hour.

Alternatively, if using a pressure cooker, heat the pressure cooker over medium heat. Add the oil and sauté the leeks until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the garlic and stir briefly; then, stir in all the remaining ingredients except the garnishes. Bring to a boil, secure the lid, and bring to high pressure, following the manufacturer's instructions. Then, turn the heat to low and set a timer for 20 minutes. When the cooking time is up, turn off the heat and release the pressure, following manufacturer's instructions. Continue simmering with the lid off until the soup is thick but still fairly fluid, about 10 minutes more.

Before serving the soup, adjust the seasonings to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into heated serving bowls and garnish with parsley, basil, or chives and grated Parmesan.

- Chicago Tribune Media Services

Alexis Dorny's Chili

Easy & Mild Chili

1 to 1 ½ lbs ground meat, browned and drained (I use ground turkey)

16 oz tomato sauce

30 oz chili beans

30 oz light red kidney beans

season to taste with dried onions, granulated garlic, salt & pepper

Combine all ingredients in large soup pot.

Bring to boil over med-high heat.

Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve over rice or with tortilla chips, shredded cheddar and sour cream.

Ingrid Hall's Carrot Soup with Pesto

Creamy Carrot Soup with Pesto
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup sliced carrots
1/4 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup cubed, peeled potatoes
1 small bay leaf
2 Tbsp buttermilk
2 Tbsp pesto

In large saucepan cook onion in hot butter for 1 minute. Add carrots, thyme, and garlic; cook about 10 minutes or till tender but not brown.
Add broth, potatoes, and bay leaf. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or till vegetables are very tender. Remove bay leaf.
Transfer about half of the mixture to a blender container or food processor bowl; cover and blend/process till smooth. Repeat with remaining soup. Return all to saucepan; add buttermilk and heat through. Spoon into soup bowls. Top each serving with pesto; swirl to mix. Makes 4 side-dish servings.

Ingrid Hall's White Bean Chili

White Bean Chicken Chili
3-15 oz cans Great Northern Beans (white)
3 cups chicken broth
1 garlic clove, minced (or 2 tsp garlic powder)
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1-7 oz can diced green chili peppers
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cups cooked, diced chicken breast
2 cups sour cream
2 cups grated Jack cheese

In large stock pot saute onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Add all ingredients except chicken, cheese & sour cream. Simmer for about 2 hours on low heat. Add chicken last 1/2 hour. Just before serving, add sour cream & cheese. Do not boil after adding sour cream & cheese.

Alexis Dorny's Speedy Gazpacho Recipe

Speedy Gazpacho

1 English hothouse cucumber, peeled and cut into large chunks

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks

2 cups (or more) tomato juice

1 can diced tomatoes

1 ½ cups salsa

1 cup roasted red peppers from a jar

½ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients. Working in batches, process in blender or food processor, using the pulse button to finely chop and blend vegetables (you do not want a puree). Season to taste with salt. Cover and chill for 2 hours. Stir in more tomato juice if needed to reach desired consistency.

Notes from Enrichment January 09

This is the first of our series of Enrichment meetings and thanks to all those who attended!! The notes here include the four topics of our group that we will discuss each month: Season differences in the food, ways to make the food healthy, ways to simplify the food, and ways to incorporate it into your food storage. If you have any suggestions or edits, please leave a comment below.

Seasons
Summer Soups:

• Gazpatcho (cold tomato soup)
• Melon soup (also served chilled)

Fall Soups:

• Squash
• Chili
• Stew
• Chowder
• Potato
• Cheese
• Carrot Pesto
• Clam Chowder
• International/Thai

Healthy
Tips for making your soups healthier:

• Use broth instead of an oil or roux base
• Replace potatoes with turnips
• Add cabbage or cauliflower
  
• Take all that extra zucchini from summer gardens, grate it, then freeze it. Add it to your fall soups for extra nutrients
• Add blended beans to thicken your soup

Simplify!

• Keep chopped veggies in the fridge or freezer
• Make extra soup and freeze it later (except cheese-based or pasta soups)

Storage

• Store dehydrated ingredients you would find in the soup (carrots, onions, etc.)
• Buy beans in bulk and then layer them in jars for storage (17 bean soup, etc.)
  

Jeannie Sprague's Potato Kale Soup

Potato Kale soup

From: Jen Gay

2T butter

1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion

1 clove of garlic minced

7 cups fat free chicken broth

4 cups coarsely chopped and peeled potatoes

1/4 t salt

1 bay leaf

6 cups chopped fresh kale

1 t dried basil

Gruyere or Swiss cheese grated for top of soup

• Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat, add onion, cook 8 minutes until tender, stir freq. add garlic cook 30 sec. stir constantly. Stir in broth, potato, salt, and bay leaf, bring to boil, cover, reduce to simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender.
• Stir in kale and basil. Cover and simmer 10 minutes or until kale is tender.
• Discard bay leaf. Partially mash potatoes. Serve with cheese on top. Yummy!!!

Jeannie Sprague's Pea Soup

easy split pea soup Bon Appétit | May 1996

Serves 6

Patricia Murray: County Kerry, Ireland (with additions from Allrecipes.com SUBMITTED BY: bluebayou)

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped peeled carrots
1 1/2 pounds ham bone
2 teaspoons dried leaf marjoram

1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups green split peas

8 cups water

1 potato, diced

In a large stock pot, cover peas with 2 quarts cold water and soak overnight. If you need a faster method, simmer the peas gently for 2 minutes, and then soak for l hour.

Melt butter in heavy large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery and carrots. Sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 8 minutes. Add marjoram; stir 1 minute. Add peas, ham bone, then water, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Partially cover pot; simmer soup until pork and vegetables are tender peas are falling apart, stirring often, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Transfer hocks to bowl. Puree 5 cups soup in batches in blender. Return to pot. Cut pork off bones. Dice pork; return pork to soup. Add potatoes and cook additional 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

(Can be made 1 day ahead. Refrigerate until cold, then cover. Rewarm before serving.)

Karen Frostad's Thai Coconut Soup

Thai Coconut Soup

Adapted from http://www.shiokfood.com/notes/archives/000025.html

(check out their tips before making the soup)

*=Optional

• Chicken stock or broth - 1 cup
• Coconut milk - 1 cup
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Garlic 1 cloves sliced
• Lemongrass - 1/2 a stalk (only the bottom white part (about 6 inches) discard the woody grass part of it)
• Galangal - fresh - 6 slices 2mm thick
• Red curry paste – 1 teaspoon
• *Kaffir Lime Leaves - 2 (this is supposed to be a key ingredient, but I’ve never used it)
• *Thai bird's eye chilies (or Serrano chilies) - 2-3 (big slices so you can avoid them easily)
• Fish sauce - 1 tbsp (The saltiness can vary a lot across brands, so start with less always!)
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• *Boneless chicken breast - 50 gm (chopped)
• *Straw mushrooms (or regular button mushrooms) - 4 (sliced)
• Lime juice - 2 tbsp
• *Coriander (cilantro for the Americans) leaves - 2 tbsp

Note: All of the unique ingredients can be found at Indo-China near Kmart and possibly other Asian markets. You can vary the meat and vegetables (try tofu, shrimp, bell peppers, shallots, zucchini, etc.)

With the flat side of a cleaver or a heavy object, pound and bruise the lemongrass so it releases the flavour. Cut into 2 inch segments.

Saute garlic, galangal, lemongrass, and lime leaves in oil for a couple minutes, add chicken stock and curry paste and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 8 minutes. Strain out the flavored broth and discard the galangal, lemongrass, lime leaves.

Add the coconut milk, sugar, chillies, fish sauce to the broth and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Finally, add the chicken and mushrooms and cook till the chicken is just cooked. The moment you see it turning all white on the outside, it's 90% done.

Turn off the heat, add lime juice and garnish with coriander leaves. Test for saltiness and sourness. You should get the earthy flavour of galangal, noticeable amount of saltiness, sweetness from the coconut milk, and a fair bit of lime flavour, with a hint of chilli in the background. If required, adjust with more fish sauce (salt) and lemon juice (sour).

Alexis Dorny's Red Pepper Soup

Creamy Red Pepper Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
6 cups chicken broth
2 (12-ounce) jars roasted red bell peppers in water, drained and coarsely chopped
1 russet potato, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, garlic, and thyme and saute until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, bell peppers, potato and sugar. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low. Partially cover and simmer until the potatoes are very tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Cool the soup slightly.

Using an immersion hand blender, puree the soup in the pot until it is smooth. Alternately, working in batches, puree the soup in a regular blender, taking care while blending warm liquids. Season the soup, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Welcome!

This blog will host the recipes that individuals bring to Enrichment Group. For those who forget to bring a recipe, or decide to contribute one later simply submit it here on the blog--you don't have to be a member, just go ahead and post it!

The first meeting is Thursday January 22nd featuring soups. Our first set of recipes will be posted afterwards and you can track the ingredients and categories with the little label cloud that will show up shortly!