Italian Wedding Soup

November 09, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking with the Contessa

Each week I follow along with Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa) and attempt to recreate one of her dishes in my tiny New York City kitchen. The catch? This is my version of cooking school and I’m making these recipes for the first time. I’ll share both my successes and um, challenges, along the way and we’ll see if I can keep up with the Contessa!

Episode: “Food with Love”

The Set-up: Ina and Jeffrey are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary with a special dinner and a trip down memory lane.

The Menu: Italian Wedding Soup, Brownie Pudding, Campari Orange Spritzer

0:42 – Ina is full of plans for her 40th wedding anniversary with Jeffrey, who true to form is stuck at work so it’s up to Ina to get the preparations under way.

1:18 – First up: Brownie Pudding. Brownies have a special place in the Garten relationship since Ina used to send them to Jeffrey at college.

2:33 – The recipe comes from Ina’s friend Anna Pump who owns a store called Loaves and Fishes, and wrote a cookbook, which I will now add to my Christmas list…

3:25 – Pro Tip #1: a tablespoon of framboise in the pudding mixture will add a subtle depth of unexpected flavor.

4:12 – Ina has apparently been getting some flack for her butter usage, but she is firmly pro-butter maintaining that “anyone who tries to make brownies without butter should be arrested!”

5:40 – Interesting, this is a pudding baked in a water bath so that it cooks very slowly and Ina says it can be made ahead of time.

6:06 – Oooh, Jeffrey has claimed he has to work but it’s all a cover for a romantic mission to locate a tent similar to the one they had on their camping trip through France. That is 1,000 brownie points (pun intended) in the making!

7:19 – We’re back with Ina as she talks us through the different liqueurs she uses in cooking and baking – framboise, coffee, cognac, it’s all quite boozy.

9:37 – On to the Italian Wedding Soup which Ina is making with chicken instead of beef or another red meat.

10:28 – A fun fact and Pro Tip #2: Using fresh bread crumbs will make the meatballs softer than dry bread crumbs.

11:51 – Ina is seasoning the meatballs with parsley, garlic and a combination of both parmesan and pecorino cheese. I’m surprised that she’s not doing her usual technique of grinding the cheese in the food processor.

12:14 – Can I just say how excited I am that these meatballs are baked not cooked in oil on the stovetop?!

13:39 – A quick check in with Jeffrey as he seeks out the tent. Alas, it won’t be very much like the original orange pup tent, but he’s assured by the proprietor that even a child could set it up. Sold.

14:43 – Moving on with the Italian Wedding Soup, it’s time to prep the vegetables to season the stock. Ina says as she chops that she doesn’t know the secret to a good marriage – she and Jeffrey just want each other to be happy. Simple.

18:56 – Vegetables are softened and now it’s time to add the chicken stock and a little white wine.

19:32 – A few more words of reflection from Ina – she says Jeffrey is the smartest person she knows, but that she balances him out by being “the practical one.”

20:07 – Well, now the absent minded professor is out in the backyard with the tent. Here goes nothing… He’s doing an excellent job of getting tangled up in the nylon shell. It’s close enough and that he better get back to his desk before Ina checks on him.

21:25 – Now for some cocktails. Campari Orange Spritzer with fresh orange juice and bitter liquor. Ina is going to bring one to Jeffrey and I bet after his struggles with the tent he could use a drink…

22:40 – He makes it just in time, she comes in the library just as he sits down at his desk. A split second later and he’d be caught!

23:58 – With the cocktails is a DVD trip down memory lane compliments of the production team splicing together some I+J greatest hits from past shows. They are just so darn cute!

26:16 – Back to put the finishing touches on the Italian Wedding Soup, meatballs are in, now some fresh herbs.

27:21 – I love with idea of wilting baby spinach into the soup at the last minute, I bet that tastes really fresh and wonderful. Ina isn’t kidding about this being a soup worthy of the main course.

28:35 – Ina says making Italian Wedding Soup is “corny,” but I think it’s so sweet. Embrace the corn! Brownie Pudding with ice cream is next and Jeffrey suggests having dessert outside… It’s surprise time….

29:48 – Ina can’t believe that Jeffrey put the tent together and they decide they should climb in and have dessert there. So much giggling and then the clincher: “If this tent be a rocking, don’t come a knocking.”

Final Thoughts:
I should try Campari sometime, it seems like it would be right up my alley.

I love Ina’s take on Italian Wedding Soup – it seems simultaneously more satisfying and lighter than the traditional version.

Oh Ina and Jeffrey, the two of them are just too much!

Lessons Learned:
I’ve made meatballs and I’ve made chicken soup, but never together and I was really curious to see how the process would work. Also, Italian Wedding Soup sounded like the perfect weekend dinner, so there’s that. Here’s what I learned…

Meatball Ingredients – I was a little worried about finding both ground chicken and chicken sausage and decided that pork sausage would be my back up plan, but thankfully both seem readily available in my grocery store. Bread crumbs are a different story – some stores sell bags of fresh bread crumbs in the bakery section but if those aren’t available and you don’t have a food processor, then use dried plain crumbs and add a bit more milk, starting with a tablespoon or two.

Meatball Mixing – Like with a cake, I’d recommend mixing the dry ingredients - breadcrumbs, cheese, and seasonings - together before adding the wet ingredients – ground meat, milk, and egg. I find that the mixture comes together more evenly and helps prevent over mixing. A fork is definitely the way to go to keep the meatballs light; a dense meatball is no one’s friend.

Portioning – Forty meatballs in 10 cups of broth, plus vegetables and pasta seemed like a lot especially because pasta tends to absorb a lot of moisture. So, I halved the meatball ingredients, but kept everything else in the recipe as written. When measured with a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop I yielded 24 meatballs which was perfect.

Vegetable Prep – Completely up to your preference, but I cut my vegetables slightly larger than called for in the recipe because I like them to keep their shape and still be firm after cooking. I also sorted through the fresh baby spinach and trimming off any slightly browning or particularly long stems. Much nicer to eat that way!

Pasta – I subbed Ditalini because it was the smallest pasta I could find. The only note here is to make sure to read the package directions for cooking time, especially if you’re using something else.

Small Kitchen Friendly?
Yes and no. It depends on whether you plan to make your own bread crumbs, if so then you’ll also need a mini food processor. At the minimum, I needed a large mixing bowl, two rimmed baking sheets, and a 5.5 qt French oven. I also used a medium cutting board, chef’s knife, tongs, a microplane grater, and a wooden spatula along with measuring cups and parchment paper. A 1 tablespoon cookie scoop isn’t essential, but will make portioning the meatballs much easier.

The Verdict:
Featuring meatballs and pasta I expected Italian Wedding Soup to fall firmly in the category of comfort food, and was surprised to discover that the chicken broth and vegetables actually make this soup quite fresh. The meatballs set the tone balancing depth of flavor from the sausage and cheeses against lean chicken, baking them instead of sautéing in oil – the results are light but satisfying. This soup is also one that can be made in stages as needed. I prepared everything up to the point of cooking the pasta one day, stored the meatballs and soup separately and finished assembling just before we were ready to eat. Perfect.

Reading Material: Daylight Savings Edition

November 06, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Reading Material

Ever have one of those weeks when it’s just hard to get going? I wake up, head full of all the things I’m going to accomplish – recipes to test, errands to run, posts to write. It starts innocuously enough – just a little light lingering over morning coffee which quickly spirals into a morning spent futzing around on the Internet. (If that’s what you’re doing here right now, don’t worry I won’t tell!) All of a sudden it’s lunchtime and that perfectly reasonable to-do list, well let’s be fair, maybe it was a bit ambitious, has gone out the window.

Let’s blame the time change or the busy October we just wrapped up, because it was that kind of week around here. Some progress was made but I’m afraid I procrastinated a bit. Whoops. It’s good news for you though, since I’ve done the heavy lifting you can futz in a slightly more focused way. You’re welcome.

Reading Material:

Recipe alert! Deb Perelman of the fantastic blog Smitten Kitchen once again, has intuited what we all truly need in our lives. This time it’s a recipe for Oven Fries and I can’t wait to try them!

Bon Appetit has a formula to help determine how much counter space we really need. Filing this away in case I ever get to design a kitchen that has more than one work space…

I almost overlooked this interview with legendary cookbook and literary editor Judith Jones in Eater and I wouldn’t want that to happen to you! Want more JJ? Check out her memoir The Tenth Muse to learn how hugely influential she was in introducing world cuisines to the U.S.

Speaking of careful editing – Paste Magazine is fed up (pun 99% intentional, so I’m part of the problem) with this list of words they wish would disappear from food media. Do you agree? Or do you nom nom nom?

A strong cup of coffee in the morning is one of life’s small pleasures, but the lovely writing of this piece makes a compelling case for bad coffee. (via Serious Eats)

Thai Chicken Coconut Curry with Chickpeas & Rainbow Chard

November 04, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking

I must have curry on the brain these days because it seems like everywhere I go: there it is! Okay, something of an exaggeration, but this does seem to be Unofficial Curry Week around here – first Thai delivery on Sunday, then Ina’s curry influenced soup, a date with a friend who has promised to take us to eat amazing Tibetan food this weekend, and now this recipe which I pinned ages ago and just dusted off to actually try.

The tricky part about curry mixes is that they’re all different depending on the source – one might be firey lava hot while another is gentler on the taste buds. I’ve linked to the specific brands I used, but if you’re trying something different I’d recommend tasting them before adding the amount I suggested to see if it fits with your preferences.

I love curry, but I tend to be a spice lightweight so I approached the original proportions with some trepidation and started with significantly less of the curry and chili paste to create a milder version. The coconut milk does help smooth out any spikier edges, so if you prefer something quite hot then add more of the chili and curry pastes.

Chicken Coconut Curry with Chickpeas & Rainbow Chard (serves 6)

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced
1/3 cup (1 large) thinly sliced shallots
1 1/2 teaspoons (1 1/2 inch piece, peeled) grated fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon (1 large clove) grated garlic
5 teaspoons green curry paste
2 1/2 teaspoons sambal oelek chili paste
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 can (14 ounce) coconut milk
2 cups water
1 can (14 ounce) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3 cups (1 bunch) Rainbow chard, cleaned, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 cup unsalted, toasted cashews

Instructions:
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot or French oven over medium heat. Add in the sliced shallots, reduce the flame to low, and sauté for 4-5 minutes until they begin to soften. While the shallots are cooking, thinly slice the chicken breasts horizontally, across the grain in 1/4 inch pieces.

Next, add the grated ginger and garlic to the pot and sauté for one 1 minute. Stir in the curry paste, chili paste, and kosher salt to form a thick sauce and cook for 1 more minute. Add the sliced chicken to the pot and stir to coat with the sauce. Sauté over medium heat until almost fully cooked, about 6-7 minutes.

Stir in the coconut milk and one can (about 2 cups) of water. Bring to a boil and the reduce to low to simmer for 20 minutes. While the curry is simmering, drain and rinse the chickpeas and prep the Rainbow chard. Slice each leaf along the central rib to remove and set aside. Chop the ribs into 2 inch pieces. Next, roll the leaves vertically and slice across the roll in 1/4 pieces to create ribbons.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, add in the chickpeas and stalks and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes until the stalks soften. Wilt in the chard ribbons and stir in the toasted cashews. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning according to taste. Serve alone or with basmati rice, pita bread or naan with extra chili paste on the side.

Re-written and adapted from The Crepes of Wrath’s Green Chickpea Chicken Coconut Curry with reference to this article in The Guardian (UK).

Small Kitchen Friendly?
Surprisingly, yes! This is a classic one-pot dish and I used my faithful 5.5 qt Le Creuset French oven, along with a chef’s knife, two* medium cutting boards (one for vegetables, one for chicken), measuring spoons, a microplane grater, and a wooden spatula.

*If you have just one cutting board, hopefully it’s a plastic one that can be run through the dishwasher. Prep the chard, ginger, etc. first and set aside before cutting the chicken.

The Verdict:
Mike and I both really liked this recipe and it has the dual benefit of pleasing two people who have verrrry different ideas of what’s considered spicy. It’s easy to stir in a bit more chili paste or leave it as is just spooned over basmati rice. The addition of fresh ginger and garlic brightens up the coconut milk and since I’m obsessed with having a bit of crunch the cashews are perfect. Only one problem and a note of caution: I may have cooked my way out of Thai takeout…

Maple Oatmeal Scones

November 02, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking with the Contessa

Episode: “Feature Flavor”

The Set-up: Ina is creating recipes for a shoot in New York that highlight specific ingredients.

The Menu: Butternut Squash Soup with Curry Condiments, Maple Oatmeal Scones, Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp

0:52 – As always, Ina is on a quest for more flavor – this time she’s jazzing up Butternut Squash Soup with Curry Condiments and a little extra spice.

1:07 – Oooh, yum instead of just plain butternut squash Ina is roasting the vegetables with apples and onions too.

2:26 – Interesting, I’m devoted to my Blendtec, but Ina says she likes to use the food processor for pureeing; I suppose it depends on what texture you’re seeking.

3:30 – Ina says when she’s participating in a photo shoot she wants the food to be the real thing, not something painted up just to look good. We agree 100% - no tricks around here, just delicious food.

4:38 – Now for the curry powder, and since the blend from brand to brand varies Ina recommends trying a few until you find the one you like. She’s so conscientious!

5:10 – Hmmm, I’ve eaten a fair amount of curries, but I’ve never seen banana as a condiment or ingredient, but Ina seems to like the combination.

6:03 – Ina said she’s working with Quentin Bacon (photographer), Cyd McDowell (food stylist), and Philippa Brathwaite (prop stylist) on this shoot, so naturally I had to pause the recording to go follow all of them on Instagram.

7:22 – Over to NYC where the team is set up in a studio with everyone buzzing around cooking, choosing just the right cutting board, and spooning soup into rustic bowls. So. much. fun.

10:14 – Back to Ina to retest a classic Barefoot Contessa recipe: Maple Oatmeal Scones which she says is inspired by memories of oatmeal with maple syrup.

11:29 – Looks like even with the maple syrup these scones will still be relatively savory, not much sugar is going into the dough. Butter is another story….

12:35 – Ina and I are so on the same page when it comes to mixing in liquid measuring cups, which is a pro stance. Why dirty another bowl?

13:01 – Man, I love Ina. She tells a quick story about getting a call from The New York Times inquiring about whether Barefoot Contessa had scones other than plain. Her answer (a small fib): “Oh, yes. We make cranberry, apple, maple oatmeal, etc.” And then, had to spend the next week actually figuring out more flavors.

13:16 – Reminds me of Winston in Ghostbusters, “Ray, when someone asks you if you’re a god, you say: YES!”

14:44 – While the scones are in the oven it’s time to mix up a maple syrup-based glaze to drizzle over the top.

15:37 – A quick visit to the photo studio where the team has decided a simple basket lined with a red napkin is the way to go for these scones.

19:40 – Recipe number three for the article is Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp and I have to agree that boiling shrimp is no longer something I’m interested in doing!

20:58 – The timing on this recipe is perfect, the shrimp take just 6-8 minutes in the oven and cappellini is a really quick-cooking pasta.

21:32 – A double hit of lemon for this sauce, both zest and juice, just the way we like it! Reminds me of a similar recipe I made last summer that includes tomatoes too.

22:43 – Styling nerd moment, I just realized that Ina has done both plated, process and vessel shots. How well rounded!

23:21 – Both Ina and the shoot team are reaping the perks of working with good food: good eating once the shot is captured!

26:15 – On to a little Ask Ina action which is all about flavor today (surprise!) First question: Marcy wants to know how to store parmigiano reggiano so that it doesn’t go bad? Ina says she divides a large piece in two, wraps them both in plastic, and keeps one in the freezer until she needs it.

27:24 – Janice doesn’t like cilantro and needs a substitution. Ina’s with her (not a fan) and says she either leaves it out, or replaces with fresh parsley.

28:36 – Tom is hoping for a great and easy marinade recipe. Ina suggests this Chicken Marinade and recommends reserving half the marinade (no contact with the raw meat) to pour over the chicken after it’s cooked as a double hit.

29:58 – The last message is from the photo studio where everyone is tucking in to soup, pasta, and scones. Ina sees the finished results of the photos (gorgeous) but decides that next time she wants to be in on the fun in person!

Final Thoughts:
Amazing how just a small change like adding a second type of flour, or roasting can amp up the flavor.

Now that I’ve been reminded of my shrimp & pasta recipe, I’m craving it!

Wonder if the photo studio team (or Ina) need an extra pair of hands….?

Lessons Learned:
I admit, I have made scones before on more than one occasion (see here and here along with some blueberry scones that didn’t make the blog for some reason), but Maple Oatmeal Scones were my first attempt with a plain scone, ie. one that doesn’t have fresh or dried fruit mixed in. I will say that if you’re a scone beginner it is easier when you don’t have to worry about bruising and smushing tender strawberries or trying to ensure even distribution of dried cranberries.

Very Cold Ingredients – As I’ve seen better and better results from keeping the ingredients cold I’ve become more conscientious about maintaining a cool temperature throughout the process. I’d recommend leaving everything in the refrigerator until the last minute and popping the bowl with the butter/flours mixture in to chill while you’re measuring and mixing the buttermilk/egg/maple mixture. Side Note: I’ve now taken to mixing dough with a fork and folding the ingredients together, which I think really helps to keep a light texture and prevent over mixing.

Very Cold Equipment – Call me crazy, but I’ve also started putting my baking sheets in the freezer while I mix scone and biscuit dough. They get really chilled and keep the finished scones cool while I portion the remaining dough.

Flavor – The depth of the oats and whole wheat flour lends a lovely mellow flavor that’s very lightly sweet (depending on how heavy-handed you are with the glaze.) However, even with a really high quality syrup the maple flavor doesn't come through as much as I'd like. I'm thinking about fiddling with the recipe a bit to include some granulated maple sugar (PS: Merle Maple is my mom's family's maple syrup company!) or maybe maple extract to punch up the mapley-ness. To counter balance some of the sweetness I also added just a light sprinkle of flaked sea salt to some of the scones and really loved the addition.

Portions/Yield – I could tell from the ingredient amounts and the approximate yield that this recipe as written makes a very large batch. Perfect if you’re having a big group or if the scone is meant to be a substantial element to a meal. I wanted something more moderate, so I cut the ingredients in half and still was able to yield 16 medium-sized triangular scones (4-5 bites.) Something to keep in mind!

Small Kitchen Friendly?
Yes, totally. As always, I skip the stand mixer when I can - it's just too heavy to haul out! Instead, I used a large mixing bowl, a pastry cutter, and a table fork to mix the dough instead. I also used two rimmed baking sheets, a 1-cup liquid measuring cup, dry measuring cups and spoons, a rolling pin, a bench scraper (a chef’s knife will sub too), and parchment paper.

The Verdict:
I’ve had my eye on Maple Oatmeal Scones, but it wasn’t until we were invited to a Halloween brunch party (thanks Alex!) that I found the perfect opportunity. I’ll speak for myself and say that once Mike and I did a little quality control check it was tempting to stay home and stuff ourselves with scones.… Alex’s friends seemed to enjoy them too and I can say with great confidence that unless you just don’t like maple that these will quickly become one of your favorites. Light in texture, surprisingly delicate in flavor, so flipping good.