I made two soups recently which surprised me. I forget where the first was from, but it entailed sauteeing some leeks in olive oil, and then adding chicken broth with romaine lettuce and snow or snap peas (I get them mixed up). Cook it for a little while, put through the blender and strain. When I decided to make, I paid full price for the ingredients, of course; but the second time I made it I used onions, and had the lettuce and the peas on hand - they were wilting, and it was very handy to know this recipe.
The second one was something from August's British Country Living - a Sicilian recipe which actually called for zucchini leaves for the greens! And fresh tomatoes. You chop up two onions and cook them in olive oil, then put in water! yes, plain water, one and a half liters, (or litres) with a pound of your greens, a pound of tomatoes, skinned and seeded and two garlic cloves, chopped. Cook for a while with 125 grams of really small pasta - like alphabets - until the greens are tender and serve with plenty of Parmesan. Do I need to tell you that I used spinach (frozen), and did not skin or seed my tomatoes? The surprise was that we really liked it!
It tasted flat, as you can guess, but that's why the Parmesan. I tell you, I feel that I learned something from making it, and hope I remember that a tasty soup can come from almost nothing of interest. (well, zucchini leaves are very interesting, but we're not growing any this year, and I doubt if I'd have a pound of them, anyway.) This whole thing reminds me of the Stone Soup folktale - basically a soup made out of very little, but still good.
my meatballs are never round
This afternoon I started to make some meatballs, and I've been using the same method for quite a while now. But today I went into the fridge looking for things to put in and use up. I found a mostly empty bottle of capers with less than two tablespoons left. Then, a container of hummus - roasted red pepper - which had perhaps one third cup in it, so I scooped that in. At this point I thought I wouldn't need salt or pepper, but I dumped the end of the Italian seasoning bottle in - a teaspoon, maybe, but didn't dare add anything more. The bread I included had it's own flavor and the meatballs turned out quite good. I haven't made up my own recipe for that in a long time.
So I tend to go back and forth, trying new recipes and spending more than perhaps I should in the making, but that's the price you pay for learning something new. The trick is remembering the ones worth remembering. Now for a while I'll spend less and stick to the familiar.
". . .a tasty soup can come from almost nothing of interest." This is just what I love about making soup. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think it matters in the least whether meatballs are round, of course, but a few years back, I suddenly became curious as to how other people get them to stay round, and I learned that rolling them in the pan as you fry them a bit--just until they're browned a bit--is what does it. The constant rolling as they cook. After that, I transfer them to the oven to bake about 20-30 minutes, and then onto a paper towel to drain, and then (finally) into the slow cooker to continue cooking in the sauce. It's a long affair when I make meatballs, but I love the way mine taste now--even Grandma would be proud, and she made the best meatballs--and they do remain round. :)
I love hearing about other peoples' cooking and baking discoveries.
And now to race off to work! Have a good night and weekend, Lisa. :)
Your meatballs must be quite delicious, Val! You take so much trouble over them. I bake mine - never fry them, but I have wondered if I should. They are hard to get browned just right in the oven. Then, I simmer them in some (jar) spaghetti sauce for a while.
DeleteI've rarely met a meatball I don't love. :) 'm sure yours are delicious too. :) I was never happy with mine and thus made it a bit of a kitchen mission a few years ago to figure them out--and to figure out the staying-round issue too. It was a learning process, for sure--and a constant learning process as you mention to Clare below here. Simmering them in the sauce makes a big difference, yes.
DeleteI found this post so interesting! Recipes are really useful and I always try to follow them properly the first time I use them. After that I feel I can adapt - or not - depending on what I've got in the cupboard. I do like experimenting though; I like to add sweet things like fruit to savoury dishes and I like to add different textures to make the food more interesting. Most well-know dishes started off as poor peoples' food - a housewife trying to make a filling meal out of the few things she had in the cupboard or her vegetable patch, and this makes me laugh at the celebrity chefs who insist on the best cuts of meat and all the expensive delicacies they add to their meals! My meatballs are never round either!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Clare - from a good recipe, you're learning something beyond just following directions; also a new technique which will be helpful for you another time. And I fully agree with you about the chefs. The challenge is to use what you have, know what you're doing, spend as little as possible and eat as well as you can! But it's a constant learning process. You sound like a good cook!
DeleteThank-you Lisa! I try very hard to make my dishes as tasty and nutritious as I can but I cannot say I really enjoy cooking - it is a chore I could well do without most days.
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