Week 5: Beef & Barley Slow Simmering Soup

I'm starting this blog post a little early, as I wait for the soup to simmer (slooooowly). Since my family doesn't love soup as much as me, I've decided to let them pick their favorite soup. My dad, the traditionalist, asked, "Can't you just make beef soup?" So this is for you, dad.

I like beef but I'm not super jazzed about the beef soup, and I intended to stay away from it since beef is costly, but I also need people to eat my soup, so here I am... cooking and blogging, while I wait for the soup to simmer.... slowly.

This is another busy week, so I'm going by the suggestion of the cookbook and from what I've learned in the last month of making soup and make this a day ahead. Good thing because this soup requires 2 1/2 hours of cooking time and another 20 minutes to chop all the veggies. It better be worth it! At least I can blog while I wait.

Something I am jazzed about, though. I am able to make the soup for a lot less than I thought I could. I have to brag about my savings. Thanks to my dear coupon-cutting friend who gave me a $2.00 off coupon for beef, my Safeway Club Card, the ever-awesome Real Produce and the Campbell's website, I was able to make 8 servings for under $24. That's $3.00 per person for a hearty meal!

So to begin this soup, I cubed the beef to 1-inch pieces and trimmed off extra fat. I also peeled & chopped the carrots, parsnips, celery and onions to 1/4-inch thick slices; potato to 1/2-inch slices and sliced the mushrooms. Once the prep was done... there was more prep. Per recipe, I patted meat dry with a paper towel. In a deep pot, I heated olive oil to coat the pan and added enough meat to cover a single layer. I stirred often to brown all sides for 4-5 minutes and repeated until all the meat was browned then transferred the meet to paper towels to drain oil.

Next step was to wipe the pan of excess oil and add meat, broth, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, 1 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper. I brought the soup to a simmer, covered and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours. And now that I write this I realize I could have multi-tasked and used this cooking time to cut the veggies rather than do it at first, but I did get to do all my dishes, so I guess that's ok too.

With the meat cooking, I sauteed the carrots, celery, parsnips and onion with oil for about 5 minutes, until softened and transferred to a bowl. In the same pan, I sauteed the mushrooms with oil until lightly browned for about 4 minutes. After 1 1/2 hours of simmering, I added carrots, celery, parsnips, potato, barley and thyme. After looking in the pot, I decided to add more barley. In all, I probably added 1 1/2 cups barley. And then... simmer for another 45-60 minutes. Stir occasionally and add more water if the soup becomes too thick. Add mushrooms at the end and simmer until heated through, about 3 minutes.


And now it's eat soup day! I invited over my aunt & uncle to help me eat soup. I reheated the soup over medium heat. The soup had absorbed much of the broth, so I did thin it with water and more broth. I added salt, pepper and minced garlic to taste. The beef stayed very tender and tasty and the broth had a good flavor.

I served the soup with salad and sourdough bread. The family loved it, even went back for second helpings! I'm not sure I've had barley before, but Dr. Oz swears by it, and it really added some heartiness (and nutrition) to the soup. The veggies were yummy, I loved the mushrooms and wish I had added more --can there ever be too many mushrooms????

Overall, this was a great recipe. I'm not a huge beef eater, so I still rank last week's cauliflower soup #1, but the family loved it and it was a great hearty meal for a winter night. Definitely comfort food. I think I would make it again if I can get another awesome deal on the beef!

And thank you familia for eating soup with me!

Prep time: lots
Cook time: 2 1/2 hours
Servings: 8
Taste: 4 stars
Prep: Took a looooong time
Cost: $23.89
Ingredients
4 lbs boneless beef chuck / $9.75 /Safeway
Olive oil / from home
8 cups beef stock / 2 @ $3.49 (- $1.00 off coupon) = $5.98/ Safeway
Extra beef stock / $1.39 / Safeway
1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce / from home
1 teaspoon soy sauce / from home
kosher salt / from home
Freshly ground pepper / from home
3 medium carrots / $0.79/lb = $0.62 / Real Produce
3 ribs celery / $1.69 / Real Produce
2 medium parsnips / $0.79/lb = $1.41 / Real Produce
1 medium onion / $1.74/lb = $0.25 / Real Produce
8 ounces sliced mushrooms / $0.59/lb = $1.76 / Real Produce
1 large Yukon gold potato / from home
1 cup pearl barley / $1.04 / Safeway
1 teaspoon crushed, dried thyme / from home

Souper Bonus!

So just because I'm eating soup once a week, doesn't mean I ONLY eat soup once a week. This week I tried Cream of Zucchini soup from Flames downtown AND homemade pho prepared by my girlfriend, Cat. I usually stay away from cream based soups since they are high in fat and calories, but I was at a working lunch and the options were beef soup or zucchini and the others at the table were raving about the zucchini so I gave in. I ordered the half soup and sandwich and it came with a small serving of soup, so I didn't feel too guilty. Plus, the soup was delish! Possibly even worth the calories, but since I don't know exactly how many calories, I can't confirm that.

For our girls night dinner which coincided with Vietnamese new Year, my lovely friend Catherine made us her awesome pho with all the fixings. Soooo good. I felt like I was in a pho restaurant. She even had chopsticks and those deep spoons! Yummy yum yum!

3 soups in one week and it's only Thursday! Awesome!

Week 4: Cauliflower & Parmesan Soup

Mmmmmmmm.... My favorite soup so far.
I think I'm going to have to add a star to the Souper Challenge rating system.

I have to say, I chose this recipe because it seemed really easy to make, and this is a busy week for me. But I do love cauliflower and I'm all about prosciutto & parmesan, so this had to be good. Also, I think the true secret to soup is to make it the night before and reheat, finish & enjoy the next day because the soup transformed over night into pure, melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness--- and yes, I'm still talking about cauliflower. I did tweak the recipe a tad, adding extra parmesan and a bit of fresh squeezed lemon juice and glad I did. Can't wait to finish the leftovers.

As for the cost of the soup, everything came out to a little over $20. If you want to cut costs, I'm not sold on the creme fraiche, so that could have been substituted for plain sour cream or a heavy cream, or maybe even cream cheese. Also, I did not get the chance to stop by the farmer's market this week where leaks are $1 a bunch, so instead I purchased them at Safeway where I paid almost $5... Ouch! But with better planning, I could have saved a few bucks and kept the cost down. A cost saving tip: I froze the remainder of the broth I did not use, so I still have 4 cups of broth for next week, so technically, I could cut the cost of the broth in half, and that eases my conscience for over paying for leeks.

To make this soup, saute leeks in a bit of butter til softened. Then add cauliflower florets, chicken stock, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer, covered for 20 minutes or until cauliflower is very soft. Puree soup in batches and return to pot. Whisk in Parmesan cheese to taste, the recipe calls for 1/2 cup, but I'm pretty sure I put in at least twice that amount. Also whisk in the creme fraiche. You can purchase creme fraiche in the cheese section of the grocery store (I found mine at Safeway); or you can make your own using heavy cream & sour cream. I figured that by the time I purchase both ingredients I may as well buy it all ready made and save myself some time. Also, it has a pretty long shelf life, so I will be able to use it again. If you do choose to make this, whisk 1 cup cream with 1/2 cup sour cream and let stand at room temperature for 6 HOURS, then refrigerate it. Still, I'm not sure this really added much in terms of taste, so if you don't have any and don't want to buy any, I'm sure there is a substitute you could use. After the creme, season with salt. Keep in mind the Parmesan and prosciutto add saltiness too, so don't over do it. At this point, the soup was pretty good, but I felt it needed a little something. At first I added a touch more of cayenne, but quickly decided I wasn't feeling a spicy soup this week. Then I remembered about the awesome lemons my aunt brought over from her tree, so I added the juice from half of a really big, juicy lemon. The citrus gave it a little tang without being overpowering. I'll definitely keep the lemon in the recipe.

This was the point I refrigerated the soup overnight. It was pretty good when it went in the refrigerator, but, OMG, soooooo good reheated the next day. Reheat over medium heat. Sautee prosciutto strips until crisp and browned. The prosciutto was totaly completed the soup by adding a more savory taste. Although this soup was amazing, it's definitly more of a starter and not so much a meal. Just like you wouldn't eat a head of cauliflower for dinner, this soup is pretty much pureed cauliflower & cheese but SOOOO yummy! I think Parmesan is one of the least fatty cheeses (though I'm afraid to really check and confirm this), and the amount of creme in the large bowl of soup is minimal, but the flavor is very strong, so a small bowl of soup before our entree was perfect. The girls agreed and even said they would make this on their own. Yay for soup and a great week for the Souper Challenge!

Prep time:
Cook time: 20 min
Servings: 6
Taste: 5 stars!!!!
Prep: super easy
Cost: $20.66
Stores: many, but could have been just 1

Ingredients4 tablespoons butter / from home
3 cups chopped leaks (4 leaks) / $2.99 / lb = $4.81
12 cups cauliflowe florets (2 large heads) / 2 @ $1.79 = $3.58 / Real Produce8 cups chicken broth / $2.49 / Smart & Final
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper / from home
1 cup + Parmesan / from home
1/2 cup creme fraiche / $5.79 / Safeway
juice from 1 lemon / from home
salt / from home
4 ounces sliced prosciutto (more if desired) / $3.99 / Trader Joe's

Week 3: Tomato, Dill & White Cheddar Soup

Yay! Made it to week 3! And another yummy soup. And this time I got to share it with my awesome girlfriends at La Tasa.


So Tasha picked out this soup for Wednesday girls night. It was an easy soup to make in the middle of the week, very little prep and cooked super fast. Also, I'm finally getting the hang of where to get ingredients at the best price. After googling "broth coupons" for what seemed like forever, I finally got the idea to go to a bulk store. Since I don't have a Costco membership I headed over to Smart & Final. Jackpot! Ya, some of the food is a little sketchy, and I'm not sure I would venture passed the canned foods items, but for tomatoes and broth, this is the place to go. But it you aren't convinced, here is a coupon for Swanson broth.

And then I felt the need for fancy ingredients, so I went to Whole Foods to pick out the cheddar. It was sooooo worth it. I picked out a sharp white farmhouse cheddar, and it was amazing. Went great with our red zin too, but I generally believe that everything goes well with a zin.

So, back to the soup. Really easy to make --can't wait to get an immersion blender though. I pretty much LOVE LOVE LOVE tomato soup. This one had a different flavor than what I'm used to with the oniony flavor from the leeks and cool taste of the dill. Oh, and then I dumped a ton of cheddar cheese into it and AWESOME. My girlfriend Cat made us some grilled cheese sandwiches to help us scrape up the soup from the sides of the bowl, and, of course, the wine. Even our friend's kid liked it (soup -not wine).

So I would definitely make it again, especially at the affordable price. Glad to have plenty of leftovers. It was especially yummy the next day too. Oh, and don't forget to comment about which soup I should make next. If your lucky, I might make it for you.

Directions

Saute leeks with olive oil until soft (about 3 minutes). Add in tomatoes, broth, dill, cayenne, and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 20 minutes, until tomatoes are very soft. Puree soup in batches in a food processor. Or if you are lucky, use the immersion blender and avoid the hot soup exploding on you like it did on me. Return the soup to the pot and add sour cream. I dumped a bunch of cheese in the pot and let it melt as well as garnishing with the cheese. But we are cheese lovers so I suggest you add cheese to taste or let your guests add their own. Oh, and my friends suggested I add garlic next time, but I'm thinking it would kill the dill flavor, so I'm fine with no garlic and didn't miss it.







Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 6
Taste: 4 stars (1 = yuck, 4 = yum)
Prep: super easy
Cost: $16.95
Stores: 4

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil / from home
3 cups chopped leeks (about 4-5 leeks) / 2 @ $1.00 = $2.00 / farmer's market
4- 28oz canned, chopped tomatoes and their juices / $2.49 + $1.59 = $4.08 / Smart & Final
4 1/2 cups chicken broth / $2.79 / Smart & Final
6 tablespoons chopped dill / $1.00 / Farmers Market
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more to taste / from home
1 teaspoon salt / from home
1/2 cup sour cream / $1.79 / Trader Joe's
4 0z white cheddar / $5.29 / Whole Foods

Week 2: Spicy Pork Chili with Cumin Polenta

This week was kinda intense. For a second, I thought my soup challenge would end early because it seemed like the soup was going to be terrible. I even had to cancel on a friend who was supposed to come over and eat the chili with me since I didn't want to eat it myself!

But I took an overnight break, went wine tasting, and was inspired to add a few things. And what do you know, the chili ended up pretty darn good. I think I would even make it again, but change it up just a tad. This was my first time eating polenta and first time eating chili with no beans, so to be honest, I'm not sure how it was supposed to taste, but either way, it ended up yummy.

The polenta had an interesting texture and I think it helped me to not miss the beans. Letting the chili sit refrigerated overnight ended up really working out. The flavors magically appeared once I heated up the soup and the chili thickened up a lot. The highlight was the slow-cooked pork. It was so tender and delicious. I was worried the reheating would toughen it up, but nope. It was fabulous.

Well, I wish my friend could have tried it after all. And I'm glad to continue my souper challenge. Now I'm even more excited! Oh and my trying to stay close to the recipe... ya, not so much. I changed this one up just a tad, and it turned out great. The next time I make this, it will definitely be spicier!!!


Can't wait for next week! Don't forget to read my last post and pick the recipe you are interested in. Who knows, you might even get invited over to test it with me.

Here's the recipe (that I've adapted) in case you are curious.

Chili

Heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. When hot, add 1 1/2 cup onion and 1 cup diced carrots and saute for about 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons minced serrano peppers (I would use more than that next time); cook for 1 minute more. Remove from heat and set veggies aside. Reserve pot.

Put the cubed pork in a large ziplock bag. Add 1/2 cup flour and salt and pepper. Seal and shake to cover pork with flour. Return pot to medium-high heat, adding enough oil to coat the pot. Add one layer of pork to the pan (do not crowd). Brown pork, turning, for 3 - 4 minutes. Transfer pork to a paper towel to drain. Repeat until all pork is browned.

Return all pork to the pan and add garlic. Cook and toss for 1 minute more. Return veggies to the pan. Add tomatoes (I used a second can of tomatoes, very glad I did since I felt the chili needed to be thicker), juice from 2 limes, and 4 cups broth. Bring mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes, then cover and cook until meat is quite tender, for 50 or 60 minutes more. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Chili can be prepared to this point for up to 2 days. I recommend this since it brings out the flavors. I also added an additional serrano pepper sliced in half lengthwise. This was the point I was really worried about the chili. The broth was very oily and there was zero flavor. I added more salt, pepper, the extra serrano chili and some cumin. I let it cool and refrigerated it till the next day. I reheated over medium heat, and added a tad more salt and pepper.

Polenta

Combine 4 cups chicken stock and 2 teaspoons cumin in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Add cornmeal gradually, stirring constantly for 6 - 8 minutes or until thickened. Stir in 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and 1/2 cup whole milk. Taste and add salt as necessary.

To serve, spoon about a 1/2 cup serving in a soup bowl. Ladle the chili over the polenta. The recipe called for a sprinkle of cilantro, which I purchased, but forgot to add. Oppps!

Summary
Spicy Pork Chili with Cumin Polenta
Prep time: 15 minutes to dice veggies
Cook time: 2 hrs day 1, 20 minutes day 2
Servings: 6
Taste: 4 stars (1 = yuck, 4 = yum)
Prep: easy
Cost: $21.27
Stores: 2
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons vegetable oil / from home
1 1/2 cups onion / from home
1 cup diced carrots / $0.86/lb = $0.85 / Lucky's
2 - 3 tablespoons minced serrano peppers / $1.99/lb = $0.34 / Lucky's
3 pounds boneless pork loin, fat trimmed, cubed / $2.49/lb = $8.84 / Lucky's
1/2 cup flour / from home
kosher salt / from home
ground pepper / from home
2 - 3 tablespoons minced garlic / from home
2 28 ounce cans plum tomatoes (organic) / 2 @ $1.99 = $3.98 / Lucky's
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice / $1.00 / Lucky's
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth / $1.99 / Trader Joe's
2 tablespoons chapped fresh cilantro / $0.89 / Lucky's
2 - 3 teaspoons ground cumin / from home
1 cup yellow cornmeal / $2.19 / Lucky's
1 tablespoon butter / from home
1/2 cup whole milk / $1.19 / Lucky's

Winter Soups

What to make next????

Leave a comment to vote for the next soup

1. Potato Chowder with Caraway Cheese
2. Tomato and Fennel Soup with Pernod Cream (Week 6)
   
3. Cauliflower Soup with Prosciutto and Parmesan (Week 4)
4. Cream of Chicken and Fennel Soup
5. Tuscon Minestrone
6. Celery Bisque with Stilton Toasts
7. Spicy Pork Chili with Cumin Polenta (Week 2)
8. Tomato, Dill and White Cheddar Soup (Week 3)
9. Gulf Coast Shrimp Gumbo
10. Fennel x Two Soup
11. Mama Veli's Pozole (Week 8)
    
12. Black Bean Soup with a Hint of Orange (Week 7)
    
13. Russian Vegetable Soup
14. Beef and Barley Soup (Week 5)
15. White Bean Soup with Chorizo and Kale (week 1)
    

Week 1: White Bean Soup with Chorizo & Kale

For my first soup of the year, I choose to make White Bean Soup with Chorizo and Kale. I choose this recipe not only because it is the first in the Winter section of the cookbook, but I was excited about the familiar flavor of chorizo mixed with the new flavors of white beans and kale, two ingredients I have never cooked before.

First off, collecting the ingredients was somewhat of a challenge. Though my freezer is stocked full of Mexican Chorizo, I did not know where to find the Spanish cousin. After some Yelping, I found Goulart Sausage Company not far from my office. I drove there on my lunch break and I was in and out in minutes.

Next challenge: Salt pork. Since I didn't really even know what this is and where I could buy it, I did some general Googling. Turns out it's similar to uncut bacon and very salted. Substitutes include bacon, ham and panchetta, but I choose to at least try and find it. I figured if I couldn't find it or it was way too expensive, I would substitute it for the bacon I already had in my fridge. I made a few calls to the fancy grocery stores along my route home. Turns out that the Nob Hill by my house had a ton and it only cost me $2! (Whole Foods was out, by the way). After a trip to Trader Joe's and Real Produce, it was time to go home and cook!

Preparation & Cooking

The first step was to clean and soak the beans. Though I 'm used to soaking my beans for several hours or overnight, i crossed my fingers that this method of quick soaking would do the trick. I tried to follow the directions and ingredients closely, even though I'm always tempted to put my own spin on food. But I figured I'd stick to the book for at least the first recipe. In retrospect, I would soak the beans the way I'm used to next time, since they ended up taking quite a while to cook. Nevertheless, I cleaned the beans, placed them in a heat resistant bowl and covered them with 8 cups boiling water for 1 hour.

While the beans soaked, I sauteed the onions, carrots, and celery with the olive oil and then added the garlic after the veggies were softened. I rinsed and cut the salt pork in 4 pieces. Since I only needed a fourth of the salt pork, I cut it in smaller pieces and froze the rest for another recipe.

After the beans soaked, I drained and rinsed the beans and added the beans and salt pork to the vegetables. I stirred in thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and 10 cups broth. The recipe actually called for chicken stock, but I went with Trader Joes's Low-sodium chicken broth instead.

I let the pot simmer for 1 hour, covered. I tasted the soup at this point, and sadly, was not impressed. I then wished I had used the stock which would have given the broth more flavor. I didn't give up though; there was still a few ingredients missing.

I let the pot simmer fo another hour with the chorizo. The recipe called for "30 minutes, until beans were tender" but the were definately not tender after 30 minutes. Maybe if I had soaked them longer... but who knows. This is my first time cooking white beans. Once I was satisfied with the beans, I removed the salt pork and threw it away. The recipe up to this point can be made a day or two ahead, so I tooka advantage of that. I let the pot cool and refrigerated it until the next day. Oh, and the broth had become much tastier after the addition of the chorizo. I also added more salt and pepper before refrigerating.

The next day, I reheated the pot over medium heat and added the kale to the simmering soup, cooking for about 3 minutes until wilted. And that was that. I served the soup with Parmesan cheese and Pilsbury Crescent rolls.


Eating

Overall, this recipe was pretty easy to make and it came out pretty good. The family enjoyed it, and they had a ton of questions about the chorizo. I wasn't too excited about the flavor of the kale, and I think spinach leaves would have also been yummy. But the flavor of the chorizo in the broth was quite yummy and gave the soup a little kick (along with the red pepper flakes). Not sure I'm in a hurry to make this again, but I will enjoy the leftovers.

Summary

White Bean Soup with Chorizo and Kale
Prep time: 1 hour (to soak beans and chop veggies)
Cook time: 2 hours on night 1, 20 min on day 2
Servings: 6
Taste: 3 stars (1 = yuck, 4 = yum)
Preparation: easy
Cost: $26.82
Stores: 4
Ingredients:
1 lb dried great Northern beans / $1.34 / Nob Hill
1 4-ounce piece of salt pork / $2.69/lb = $2.02 / Nob Hill
3 tablespoons olive oil / from home
2 cups shredded carrots / $0.69/lb = $0.69 / Real Produce
2 cups chopped celery / $1.19 / Nob Hill
2 cups chopped onion / $1.79/lb = $1.56 / Real Produce
freshly ground black pepper / from home
1 tablespoon dried thyme / $1.99 / Trader Joe's
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes / from home
5 large garlic cloves peeled and chopped / from home
10 - 12 cups chicken stock / 3 @ $1.99 = $5.97 / Trader Joe's
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more if needed / $1.79 / Nob Hill
8 ounce Spanish chorizo / $5.00 / Goulart Sausage Company
5 cups loosely packed, chopped kale, stems removed / $0.99 / Real Produce
Parmesan cheese (for garnish) / $3.29 /Trader Joe's

What is a Souper Challenge???

I love soup. Eating it, smelling it, cooking it. I love wandering around at a farmer's market until the seasonal veggies call to me to take them home and dump them in a pot of boiling water... So when I found a new cookbook with a soup recipe for every week of the year using seasonal ingredients, I felt a self-challenge coming on.

This is my attempt at making 1 new soup recipe per week for 2011:

My Souper Challenge!

The name of the cookbook is Sunday Soup by Betty Rosbottom. She deserves the real credit. There are a few more than 52 recipes, so I will pick and choose from each season. I'm hardly a chef so many of these ingredients will be new to me both preparing and tasting, but I like to live dangerously that way. Also, the book provides several shopping and technical tips which is great for a novice like me.

In this blog, I hope to record the ingredients I used, where to find them and how much they cost. I hope readers will learn along with me and maybe try some of the recipes. I can't promise they will all turn out good, but I do promise to be as honest as I can when describing the final results. So if you love soup, please check back frequently to see how I'm doing with my Souper Challenge. Your comments, encouragement and tips are greatly appreciated.