Week 17: Risotto Soup

I've been curious about this soup since the first time I looked over the recipe. But I was a little afraid to make the risotto and it also called for a homemade broth, which takes time but is usually worth it. But since I made some extra broth last week, all that was left was learning how to make risotto...

For the broth, I used "short-cut chicken broth" that I had frozen from last week. I simmered 8 cups canned chicken broth with 1 1/2 cups onions, 2 celery stocks, 2-3 medium carrots, 2 sprigs of Italian parsley and 1/2 teaspoon thyme. After 20 minutes, strain and then it's ready to go, much tastier than the canned stuff.

The risotto was not so easy. Definitely a dish to make while drinking a glass (or 2) of wine! It's not hard so much as time consuming and requires a ton of attention and pretty much non-stop stirring. Simmer 3 1/2 cups broth in a separate pan. Saute shallots in butter until cooked and translucent. Add rice and cook until opaque (about 3-4 minutes). Add 1/2 cup broth to the rice, stirring constantly until all liquid is dissolved. Continue to add broth 1/2 cup at a time, each time ensuring the broth has been absorbed. Stir often so that rice does not stick. The rice was still a little under cooked for me by the time the last of the broth was used up. I used a bit of water to cook the rice longer until the desired texture. Lastly, I added parmesan cheese.

The final step was to bring the rest of the both to a simmer and add the veggies. I used asparagus, mushrooms and green onions. These cooked quickly in the broth.

I served each bowl with a scoop of risotto in the middle and ladled in the broth and veggies. Sooo yummy. The broth was definitely worth the extra time. The risotto kept a nice texture in the broth and the asparagus and mushrooms were awesome too. The original recipe actually called for snap peas cut thinly for this soup, but the snap peas didn't look very good at the store and asparagus was on sale, so i opted for that. Glad I did. This was a hearty meal in itself, but a smaller portion made for a great first course. My girlfriends and I ate it with chicken in a mushroom sauce and the whole meal was delish! Can't wait to make this again, even with the stirring. And making the risotto wasn't too bad, but glad I gad that glass of wine and my girlfriends to keep me company through all the stirring.


Prep time: 10 minutes (not including broth)
Cook time: 40 minutes (not including broth)
Servings: 5-6
Taste: 5 stars
Prep: takes some attention
Cost: $7.49 for broth, $8.58


Ingredients

Chicken Broth:
8 cups chicken broth / $2.49 / Smart & Final
2 onions / from home
2 celery stalks / $2.00 / Farmer's Market
2 medium carrots / 6 for $2.00 / Farmer's Market
2 Italian parsley sprigs $1.00 per bunch / Farmers' market
1/2 tsp Thyme / from home

Risotto Soup:
1/2 cup shallots / @2.99/lb = $1.76 / Whole Foods
1/2 pound asparagus / $3.99/lb = $0.84 / Whole Foods
1 bunch green onions / $0.99 / Whole Foods
4 oz crimini mushrooms /$4.99/lb = $2.30 Whole Foods
Grated parmesan cheese / from home
1 cup Aborio rice / 2.69 / Whole Foods


The girls eating Risotto Soup

Week 16: Penne & Aspargus in Parmesan Broth

Given my love for cheese, I've been looking forward to making this soup for weeks. The only thing stopping me was the fact that I'd have to make the broth and track down what I thought was going to be a hard-to-find ingredient. But all-in-all, this soup wasn't too hard to make and eating it was sooooo worth any trouble.

First off, this soup is all about the broth. Luckily, my awesome cookbook gave me an idea on how to doctor up a store bought broth, and it works amazingly. Basically just simmer regular store bought broth with onions, carrots, celery stalks and Italian parsley and thyme for 20 minutes. I even made and extra batch and froze it for future brothy soups.

This soup broth, though, calls for parmesan cheese rinds to add an incredibly interesting flavor to the broth. Not knowing that I could just purchase the rinds, I almost used the back up plan the cookbook offered and spooned in grated parmesan once the soup was ready to serve. I was worried I'd have to buy several full pieces of cheese with rinds in order to have enough to flavor the broth, and that would have cost a fortune. But I figured, I wanted the full effect, so I called up Whole Foods and they said they did sell Parmesan with the rinds (Nob Hill, Trader Joe's and Safeway did not). Once I got to Whole Foods, after walking around the cheese section looking confused but too stubborn to ask, I caught a glimpse of a huge parmesan display with just rinds for sale in a little container. Jackpot! And this helped keep the cost down too! The rinds simmered in the store-bought broth with the veggies and herbs for 20 minutes. I strained the broth and then it was ready to go! The smell was amazing and the broth was delicious enough to drink on its own. Not sure what the effect of just sprinkling in grated parmesan before serving would have been, but I can't imagine it would have been the same. This came out too good to skimp the next time I make it.

To complete the soup I cooked the pasta for 5 minutes less than the package directions. I then added the asparagus and green onions and cooked for a few minutes more. Finally, I added the peas and cooked for another few minutes. While this was happening, I sliced some prosciutto and crisped it in a fry pan until crispy. This can be added with grated parmesan for a garnish. And that's it. Soup's on! This soup is 5 stars all the way. Even my dad, Mr. Meat & Potatoes loved it. AND my dear friend who is less than experimental with his food was pretty impressed too... AND my foody girlfriend Cat came and took some in a tuperware to heat up for her lunch that day. I appreciate the shout out she gave to me on Facebook, but also kinda wish I had kept that last serving for myself. Hahaha.
I can't wait to make this again. Although the broth is intended to be the star of this dish, I did add more pasta and peas than the recipe called for to make more of a hearty meal. I would also increase the asparagus next time too. I will also try a different kind of pasta too because my penne was a little big and hard to eat with a spoon.

The soup was a little pricier per serving than the last few, but considering this was a meal in itself, $26 for 6 servings is a pretty economic meal. Also, I was out of parmesan and ended up not even needing it since the broth was flavorful enough without it, so that can be skipped to cut cost if you don't have it on hand. I served it with a yummy ciabatta bread too!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 6
Taste: 5 stars
Prep: Easy
Cost: $25.84
Nutritionals: calories 242, fat 2 grams (per serving)


Ingredients
8 cups chicken broth / $2.49 / Smart & Final
2 onions / from home
2 celery stalks / $2.00 / Farmer's Market
2 medium carrots / 6 for $2.00 / Farmer's Market
2 Italian parsley sprigs $1.00 per bunch / Farmers' market
6-8 ounces parmesan cheese rinds /$3.96 / Whole Food's
2-3 cups uncoooked penne pasta / $0.99 / Trader Joe's
1 pound asparagus / $5 / Farmer's Market
1 bunch green onions / $1 / Farmer's Market
1-2 cups frozen peas (defrosted) / From home
5 ounces prosciutto (for garnish) / $3.99/ Trader Joe's
Grated parmesan cheese (for garnish) / $3.41.Trader Joe's



Feeding the troops soup!
A-bay loves his soup!

Week 13: Asparagus Soup with Tarragon Cream

I can't believe it's been 13 weeks already! And I can't believe I'm not tired of eating and making soup. Maybe I'm getting better, but each week seems to be easier and faster! This week I was finally able to enjoy the weather and make it to the Farmer's Market for my ingredients. My typical farmer's market routine is to do a lap to see what's there and do a second lap paying attention to prices and make my purchases in my final lap. This time around, the asparagus were calling to me to take them home. I got distracted by some amazing oranges and forgot to look for the tarragon, but I was able to pick up a few shallots too.

To make the soup, I cut the asparagus into 1/2" pieces, and sauteed the shallots. A note about the shallots: This is the first recipe that called for shallots rather than onions. I've never used a shallot so I figured I'd stick to the recipe since they were easy to find at the farmer's market and not real pricey (although in comparison to an onion they are a little pricey). I even thought I might get a break from burning, tearing eyes this week --no such luck. In the end, I couldn't taste the difference, so if you don't have shallots on hand, a plain old onion would probably be fine. If you are interested in learning more, my friends at Good Housekeeping have more to say on the subject.

Back to the steps...
So after sauteing the shallots in butter for a few minutes, I added the asparagus for a minute more. I then added broth, a sprinkle of cayenne, salt and rice. I covered and let simmer for 20 minutes, until the asparagus were very soft.

In the meantime, I whisked the creme fraiche with the chopped tarragon. A note about the tarragon/creme fraiche: This was another unfamiliar ingredient to me. But loving fresh herbs and being stubborn and never measuring, I may have overdone it a tad. I'm not entirely sure how much tarragon I used, but next time I would add a little at a time to taste before dumping it in. Also, the last time I used creme fraiche, I recall not being too impressed by the taste considering the high price and similarity to plain, cheap sour cream, but this time I found the creme fraiche at Trader Joe's much cheaper, so I used it. However, this is another ingredient that can be easily substituted and still come out with a great soup.

Once again, back to the steps...
After vegetables are soft, puree the soup and whisk in the creme fraiche/tarragon mixture. I returned the soup to the stove and kept on low heat until we were ready to eat. The licorice flavor of the fennel subdued a tad, I think. Or maybe I just got used to it.

Overall the soup was yummy! It was actually even quite good before adding the tarragon, so if you aren't a fan of the licorice/anise flavor, this can be skipped and enjoyed just as well. My friends loved the soup and went back for more! Even my fried who was stunned by the strong flavors of the tarragon ended up having a second helping later. The moral of the story, is don't rule out the tarragon right away. Give it a chance and you will LOVE this soup!

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds medium asparagus /2 bunches = $6 / farmer's market
2 tablespoons butter / from home
1/2 cup chopped shallots / $1.50/lb = $0.75 / farmer's market
4 cups chicken stock / from home
salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper / from home
1/3 cup long grain white rice, uncooked / from home
1/2 cup creme fraiche / $3.49 / Trader Joe's
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh tarragon / $1.99 / Whole Foods

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Taste: 4 stars
Prep: easy
Cost: $12.23

Can't wait to see what's at the Farmer's Market next week!