My Dad's Spaghetti Soup (sans spaghetti)

My dad's soup was such a big hit in my house that when I stopped at Whole Foods on my way home from a trip to the city, I snagged another pound of the grass fed ground beef so I could make another batch.

However upon starting the batch, I realized that I was out of thin spaghetti. Hence the substitution. It still came out nice and it's a bit easier for my youngest children to eat. Upon soaking up in the fridge a bit, it's more like an "American Chop Suey" stew. I put two bags of it in the freezer. Yum.

My Dad's Spaghetti Soup (hopefully)

I haven't had my dad's spaghetti soup in years and over Christmas we were discussing it when he mentioned what he planned on making once he had his kitchen back (it's being remodeled). He instructed me on how to make it verbally and I figured I could probably work it out so that it was hopefully at least 75% as good as how my father makes it.

His instructions (as best as I remembered them, I'm sure they're not exact):

Cook onions and a little olive oil in a large pot as if you were going to start a spaghetti sauce (I also added a clove of garlic minced). Add ground beef and brown. I seasoned the beef with pepper, salt, oregano, basil, and one bay leaf. I'm not sure of when he said to add the sauce spices but this worked for me. Add two cans of Pastene Kitchen Ready (these are the only canned tomatoes I use. The flavor is out of this world and it's not concentrated. I also read that they don't line their cans with the plastic bpa coating which is an added bonus for me.) Add four cans of water and cook for a while. Adjust seasoning to taste. You can tell when it gets that "sauce" flavor and the kind of tart flavor smoothes out. Add 1/2 box thin spaghetti (he said thin spaghetti or angel hair but I prefer thin spaghetti) breaking it up into lengths of about 2-3 inches. Simmer until spaghetti is cooked through. I turned the heat off and let it sit for about 15 minutes before having a bowl. The spaghetti was just perfect at that point. Top with shredded parmesan (or whatever you have).

Tofu Corn Dogs

I'll start this by declaring that while these were loved by the children, there is definitely room for improvement. To start, the batter was too thin. I should have made the batter a little thicker. Also, I fried these and I should have either used a less shallow pan, or I should have baked them. As you can see, they tended to widen a bit when they cooked.

We used "smart dogs" veggie protein links. They do look, smell, and taste a lot like hot dogs. The texture leaves something to be desired. As the only carnivore in my spousal relationship, what I really miss is that snap of biting into a real hot dog. These are a bit..."soft". That being said, the kids ate a ton of them and my better half would have enjoyed them more if I had baked them instead.

Next time I will try making the batter thicker to hand form it around the dog and baking it to help keep it's shape.

Vegetable Pot Pie

Wow did this come out good. Even our niece Christine said that you couldn't tell that the gravy wasn't meat gravy. A few tweaks to add more green veggies and less potatos and I think we're good. Since this meal was lacking a bit in the protein area we also served it with both vegetarian "meatballs" and regular meatballs (for those of us who are still a little bit carnivore).

The Crust (makes two medium sized pies or one pie of traditional size):

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 stick plus 2 TBS butter

1/4 cup to 6 TBS cold water

Mix together flour and salt. Cut butter into small cubes and toss with the flour to coat cubes. Using a pastry blender (or two knives) cut butter into flour until bits are about the size of a pea or even a bit smaller. Sprinkle cold water 2 TBS at a time onto the mix and fluff until it is coated and when pressed will stick together. Mixture should not feel wet but it should stick together.

Refrigerate dough for at least 20 minutes.

Divide into the number of crusts you need (no more than four) and roll out each section on a well floured surface. Add crust to pan and press into bottom and sides if air pockets puff it up. Fill with vegetables and gravy(etc) and then cover with top crust. Press and roll in the sides. Remember that it doesn't have to be perfect. The best pie crusts are the ones that look kind of funky.

The gravy:

1 TBS paste style vegetable boullion

3 cups water

3 TBS clarified butter (you can use regular butter)

3-5 TBS flour

Mix boullion into 3 cups warm water until dissolved completely. Set aside. In a saucepan, make a roux by melting clarified butter on medium-low heat and whisking in the flour to make a semi wet paste. When paste forms, add broth and turn heat to medium-high. Whisk steadily until gravy thickens. If gravy does not form to your liking, you can add a pit more flour pre-mixed with water slowly to thicken it.

Pies should bake at 425. Start checking after 25 minutes. This pie took about 35 minutes but I like my crust slightly on the darker side.

If you do try this, let me know how you make out with it. Usually our vegetarian meal substitutes are tasty and passable (like shepherdless pie) but this one we all devoured and we honestly were hard pressed to tell the difference in flavor between this and a meat pot pie.

A Picture is Worth

Favorite Oven Fries

These excellent fries have been part of a near weekly ritual since my oldest started Kindergarten. His school offers a fast food lunch twice a week and after discussing compromise options with him, he sticks with the pizza lunch on Fridays and we send our own homemade chicken tenders and fries on Wednesdays. These are usually made the night before and I pack them in his sandwich container with chicken strips I've made and frozen previously and the school heats it up for him.

Oven Fries:

8-10 small to medium round style potatoes

1/4 cup canola oil plus 2 TBS olive oil

salt and seasonings to taste

Wash and cut potatoes into thin wedged shaped pieces. Toss slices in a large bowl with oil and other seasonings. (I use a blend of rosemary, pepper, sage, thyme, sea salt, orange rind, lemon rind, garlic and onion). Arrange slices into single layer on cookie sheets and bake at 425. Start to check them in 8 minutes and then every 3 minutes after. When golden brown on one side, flip them and bake again starting to check after 5 minutes. Blot with paper towels if desired.

related links:

http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

Husweh (Syrian Lamb Stuffing)

One of my favorite food memories about my first Thanksgiving with my dad is falling in love with this amazing stuffing. I'd never had anything like it before and I'd probably ever only eaten lamb once or twice in my life. The combination of flavors in this stuffing is hard to describe and if it's something you're not used to, it can be a bit of an adjustment. With an earthy and slightly cinnamon flavor, it's hearty and perfect for any meal where "harvest" is an undertone. It's a beautiful dish that I've made part of my own adopted traditions and it's a dish I make with warmth in my heart.

What is that yellow stuff? It's clarified butter (or ghee). I made this particular block last fall, probably while I was on the phone with my aunt Dolores asking her the best way to get the milk and salts out of the butter without swirling it back in. I probably called her every time I made clarified butter. We lost her in May and I think about her every day. I don't think I'll ever saute pine nuts without picturing her standing at my father's stove tossing them in the Calphalon pan he uses every single year for this purpose. This is my dad's recipe and I only adjust it slightly to my own preferences. Note: If you don't like lamb, you can use beef. I probably do about 50% of the time when I make it if I can't find decent lamb. I'll admit though, it's not as good unless you use the real thing.

Husweh (Hush-weh)

1 lb ground lamb (my father uses up to 1.5 lbs and it's delicious either way)

1/2 tsp black pepper1/2-1tsp syrian pepper (purchased at stores where they sell middle eastern foods, and I've found it online although have not purchased it that way)

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

2-2.5 cups poultry broth/stock
1 cup white rice

approx 1 TBS clarified butter

approx 1/2 cup pine nuts (pignoli nuts)

Saute ground lamb in a large saucepan, breaking it up as it cooks. When lamb is mostly browned, add black pepper, syrian pepper, salt, and cinnamon. Saute for a few minutes longer until all lamb is brown. Add broth and simmer on med/low for about 30 minutes. Add rice and turn heat to medium. Cover and boil until rice is cooked or until you can stand a fork in the middle and it stays put. If it starts to dry out before rice is cooked (I find that this rarely happens) you can add a bit more broth.

While rice is cooking, saute pine nuts in clarified butter on low heat until well toasted.

Arrange rice stuffing on platter and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts. This dish is extra tasty with a bit of turkey gravy on it.

Butter Biscuits

I'll be honest. I've been cheating. With my oldest starting Kindergarten and some work exhaustion I've been feeling my midnight baking has turned more into 9PM baking over the past couple of weeks. I've accomplished quite a bit, however, remembering to take photos hasn't been my strong suit so there are definitely a few things I will have to make again (like managing to actually make a decent pie crust lately).

I have one thing to say about these butter biscuits...and it's that if you make them, you might be tempted to never buy another can of biscuits again. Since discovering this recipe, it's probably been a few years since Pillsbury cans have found their way into my fridge. These are preservative free, tasty, and a fraction of the price if you buy your butter on sale. They take me about 2 minutes to mix and about 8 minutes from start to oven. You don't need to roll them and the kids usually eat about half the batch as soon as they come out of the oven.

Butter Biscuits:

2 cups unbleached flour (if using whole wheat, use no more than 1/2 cup wheat flour)

1 TBS sugar, brown sugar, or honey

1 TBS baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 stick butter (the real stuff) quartered and cut into small cubes

3/4 cup milk

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees

Together in a bowl mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Sprinkle a few cubes of butter into the mix and toss. Repeat until all cubes are integrated into flour mix. Cut in butter using two knives or a pastry mixer until mixture is the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can use your bare hands if you find the knives clumsy to work with and you don't have a pastry mixer. Add milk and stir together until well coated.

Dump ball of dough onto a floured surface and dust the top with flour. Using your hands, press the mix into a disc about 1/2-1/3 inch thick. Use a round cookie cutter to cut biscuit shapes and lay the circles on an ungreased cookie sheet. I use 2.5 inch diameter circles but you can use any size that you prefer. Gather dough together and repeat the pressing and cutting process until all the dough is used.

Bake biscuits about 12 minutes until golden. Adjust accordingly for the size of the cutter you use.

These are delicious warm and while they are super buttery already, a little pat of fresh butter after splitting is absolutely amazing.

Mini Quiches Start: 10:32 PM End 11:31 PM

The last thing I thought I wanted to do tonight was cook. But at 8:45, I found myself getting home ridiculously late from the Magic Show/Surprise-all-the-kids-get-free-ice-cream-sundaes bash at the library and I still had two loads of laundry to finish. That's when I figured to throw caution to the wind and make quiche. It's breakfast. It's lunch. It's options.

I'm not a very good pie crust maker but months ago after getting a handheld pastry tool I stubled upon a recipe that mixes all of the ingredients into one bowl and presses it into the pan. No rolling involved and no dusty flour counters. My hands get really greasy using this method but the crust is buttery and rich and exactly the way it should be in the end.

My crust is:

1.5 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 stick of butter

2.5 tablespoons milk

Mix everything into one bowl until it's completely blended. I have a pastry tool that helps me but honestly, you can do just as well and even better by kneading the whole thing with your bare hands. With this mix, you don't have to cut the butter into pea sized pieces and you don't have to roll it at all which eliminates the dreadful "roll as soon as it starts to stick together" method of traditional crusts.

When fully mixed press into pie pan to evenly cover bottom and sides. I prefer to use a coated muffin tin and it's the same method for each muffin cup.

My quiche filling base is:

4 eggs

1 cup milk

Beat together well and pour into molds. Before this step, you'll want to add whatever ingredients to the empty pie shells. Tonight I just added shredded cheese. Often I make it with cheese and spinach. It's important to add the non-egg ingredients first and then fill with the egg.

Baking time varies. I usually bake at 375 until edges are golden and egg is set. I finish off with 5 minutes at 450 just to get the top done a little more. If you are doing these in muffin tins, they'll come out rounded like cupcakes but as they cool they'll set nice and flat.