Spicy Sofrito and Black Bean Soup

Thinking back on my childhood, I think I pinpoint my now sister-in-law's entry into our family as the moment where our culinary world expanded. I refer to both an exposure to new foods and flavors and to the culture around sharing food. Growing up, my mother and my sister-in-law's parents made almost every meal from scratch. My guess it was both family tradition and economically driven. It's much cheaper to feed your family home cooked meals than pre-made ones (well, it was. Now I'm not sure if that is still the case). During college my sister-in-law would get a craving for something my Mom would make and tell my brother that they needed to buy celery so that they could make "white people food." It was and still is funny because so many of our meals growing up really did start with a base of onions, celery, ground beef, and salt and pepper. My sister-in-law's family, being Puerto Rican, started most dishes with sofrito, adobo, oregano, cumin, and a smattering of other seasonings. Despite eating a lot of Puerto Rican food over the years and watching both my sister-in-law and her parents cook, I still haven't been able to capture the flavors properly in my own house.

When it came to dinner time, we always sat down as a family to eat, as I believe my sister-in-law's family did as well. In our home, someone would serve up food for each person, giving them the amount they wanted. If we wanted seconds, we served ourselves. In my sister-in-law's family, someone serves the food, but typically gives you more than you ask for. When your plate nears empty, someone offers you more. My sister-in-law told me that one of the first times she ate dinner at our home, she left hungry because while she wanted more food, she was never offered any more and she didn't feel comfortable serving herself more even while the rest of us grabbed seconds. Over the years, we have shared many meals and while our tendencies in how we gather and share food may not have changed much, we have become more accustomed to our differences, small as they may be.

As we all grow and explore the world around us, we have been exposed to more styles of cooking and have incorporated those into our lives. My brother and sister-in-law lived in Japan for a couple years and brought back a passion for the Japanese style of cooking. Growing up, we almost never ate fish because we lived in Wisconsin and nobody in my family went fishing. After they returned from Japan, the family started eating fish with more regularity and occasionally we will make miso soup, ginger chicken, or tonkatsu. I lived in China, where a friend and her mother taught myself and a couple other foreigners how to make baozi. For the last couple years, my family has made baozi for our Christmas Eve dinner. This time intensive meal goes quickly when everyone is chipping in to help roll the dough and form the buns. My other sister-in-law, wife of my younger brother, is a vegetarian which has introduced more non-meat options to our family gatherings. When you grow up with every meal being based on a meat and starch, learning to cook delicious vegetarian meals definitely has a learning curve.

As I drove to the grocery store tonight pondering what to cook for this week, I had a craving for Puerto Rican beans. But, me being me and me not really having mastered Puerto Rican food, I made up my own style of sofrito. Below is the recipe for the sofrito and the black bean soup.

Spicy Sofrito

2 medium tomatoes, cored and quartered
1 bell pepper, cored and quartered
1 head of garlic, peeled
8 small shallots, peeled
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo
2 cherry peppers, stems removed and halved
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch cilantro

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Place in jars and either refrigerate or freeze.

Black Bean Soup

1 c spicy sofrito
1 1/2 tbsp tomato sauce
1 small jar pimentos with juice
2 tbsp slices green olives with juice
2-4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
adobo to taste
3 28 oz cans of low sodium black beans
2 cans of water
2 tsp chicken better than bullion

Place spicy sofrito, tomato sauce, pimentos with juice, green olives with juice, oregano, cumin, and adobo (sprinkle back and forth across the bottom of the pan twice) in the bottom of a large stock pot. Turn heat to medium-high and cook until fragrant. Add the black beans, water, and chicken bullion. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook at a low boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully use an immersion blender to blend smooth. Serve hot.

Chili

I went to the store freezing from the cold (hello winter, bit of a late arrival there) and knowing I wanted to make a soup or stew. I ended up getting the ingredients for chili (and for what I hope will be an awesome attempt at edamame hummus and ingredients for berry smoothies).

Chili

2 tbsp bacon grease
1/2 lb ground grass fed beef
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
3 large garlic cloves, peeled, smashed and sliced
1 fresno pepper, top removed, quartered lengthwise and sliced
1 1/2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 5 oz container sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 14.5 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
42 oz water
1 tsp beef bouillon
1 yam, peeled and cubed
4 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp thyme
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 pinches allspice
6 shakes smoked paprika
salt to taste
diced avocado

In a large stock pot, heat bacon grease over medium heat.
When melted, add beef and stir until browned.
Add onion, garlic, bell pepper, and fresno pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly soft.
Add shiitake mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms look moist.
Add both cans diced tomatoes, water, bouillon and seasonings.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.
Ladle into bowls and top with diced avocado.

Potato Leek Soup

A while back I made this soup and posted it to my social networking profile so that I wouldn't forget it. I'm now moving it over here for others to enjoy.

6 yukon gold potatoes, washed and cubed
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 large leek, dark green part and roots removed, chopped fine and rinsed
1/3 c celery, washed and chopped
6 cups chopped kale, washed
2 tsp chicken flavor better than bouillon
salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, put potatoes and garlic clove. Cover generously with water and put over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender. Drain, reserving the liquid.
While potatoes are boiling, put porcini mushrooms in a 2 cup measuring cup and fill with hot water. Let soak. When tender, remove porcini mushrooms and dice. Reserve the liquid.
Once potatoes are draining, return soup pot to the stove and put over medium heat. Add olive oil and butter. When butter is melted, add leek and celery and cook until very tender. Add porcini mushrooms and kale and cook until kale is wilted but still bright green.
Return potatoes to the pot, pour in reserved mushroom liquid. Then add reserved potato liquid. You want to cover generously with liquid, so you may need to add additional water. Add bouillon, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cook for a few minutes, then remove from the heat. Using an immersion blender, very carefully blend the soup until smooth (depending on how finely you chopped the leeks, celery and kale, this might take a while). Once blended, return to heat and bring to temperature desired for serving.

And an alternate option:

Alteration: Replace porcini mushrooms with 3 cups fresh cremini mushrooms, chopped. Sautee mushrooms with leek and celery. One downside is that the mushrooms float and take a while to blend. It might be a good idea to process with an immersion blender before adding liquid and potatoes back to the pot (or with only a small amount of liquid). When using cremini mushrooms, add extra water to replace mushroom liquid.

Where My Ego Takes Over

This past weekend was practically perfect. I went to a friend's camp on Thursday night and we had some wine, enjoyed the weather, and built a fire. Friday started off warm, but overcast, so we read for a while on the dock. Once the sun came out, it was hot and lovely; perfect for sunning and swimming! In the afternoon, a storm rolled in and we went inside to watch the pouring rain. On Saturday, I biked to the beach with another friend. Even though we didn't do much swimming (the water was thick with tiny red seaweed), we laid in the sun. It was very hot, but the wind kept us from getting overheated. Sunday I went back to camp for more sun (slightly less humid and definitely more windy) and swimming. I am now more than relaxed; it's almost like I was on vacation.

I also picked up my farm share on Friday. This week I received:

1 gallon tatsoi
1 quart green beans
1 very full gallon of lettuce
3 small zucchini
1 gallon kale
1 gallon chard
1/2 gallon carrots
fresh herbs (cilantro, basil, marjoram, thyme, oregano, parsley, chives)
fresh cut flowers

The farm also raises sheep, pigs, and chickens; so I picked up some lamb steaks, bacon and eggs. I made some bacon on Saturday morning. It's interesting, not quite as salty and smokey as bacon usually is, but still really good. This was my breakfast on Saturday:

Herbed Scrambled Eggs, Greens and Bacon

3 strips bacon
2 cups mixed greens (spinach, tatsoi, and kale)
1 tsp butter
2 eggs, beaten
pinch of salt and pepper
1 tbsp fresh basil, cut into thin strips
toast
strawberries

In a heavy skillet, place the bacon strips and turn to medium-high heat.
Once bacon starts cooking, turn the heat down to medium-low and continue cooking, turning frequently.
While bacon is cooking, melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat.
Beat eggs well, then beat in salt, pepper and basil.
Once butter is melted, pour eggs into skillet. Allow to cook for a while, then stir gently, allowing uncooked egg to reach the bottom of the pan. Continue this method until eggs are cooked but not dry. Remove to a plate.
Once bacon is done to your liking, remove to a cooling rack (put paper towel under the cooling rack to catch any drippings).
Drain most of the grease from the pan (put in a heat-safe pyrex dish to save for later use).
Add greens to the pan and cook until wilted, then transfer to plate.
Serve bacon, eggs, and greens with toast and fresh fruit.

Besides my wonderful breakfast, I also experimented with carrot soup. I really like cooked carrots and raw carrot sticks are a great snack, but with all the carrots I got this week, I knew I was going to have to try something new. I decided to try making a ginger-carrot soup, but since it's so hot, I wanted to chill it. I ended up with a fresh tasting, simple soup that is perfect for a hot summer day. Served with a plain green salad and bread with butter, it was another mark of happiness in a wonderful weekend.*

Chilled Ginger Carrot Soup

1 tbsp bacon grease (or olive oil)
2 to 3 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 c red onion, grated
2 c carrot, grated
3 c water
1 tsp chicken Better than Bouillon
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp cilantro, rinsed and chopped

In a soup pan, melt bacon grease over medium heat.
Add ginger and onion and cook until onion is translucent.
Add carrot and cook, stirring for 3 minutes.
Add water, bouillon, salt and pepper and turn heat up to high.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Pour soup into a blender and blend on high until smooth.
Pour soup into a serving bowl, stir in cilantro, then place in the refrigerator until chilled.
Serve with green salad and bread.

*As noted, I forgot the ego bit. I meant to say how I couldn't believe the amazing deliciousness of the soup. It was just so perfect! And I made it without starting from another recipe. It's all me and all wonderful. (There, ego boost).

Caution: Hot

It's been hot and humid here in Maine, which is unusual. For example, for a good portion of June I still needed to wear a jacket and leggings on my bike ride to work. I'm enjoying the heat and hope it lasts long enough for me to want it to go away. I have to say, this summer has been absolutely beautiful. While it may not have been hot in June, it didn't rain all month like last year. I'm not sure if a lack of rain (well, it's rained, but not constantly, day after day) is affecting the farm. They mentioned in the last newsletter that it's been dry enough for them to dry and bale hay. And the vegetables are still coming. They think next week they will also have flowers in the pick-your-own section, which is cool.

So, where am I with my vegetables from last week? Mostly gone, though I still have some napa cabbage, a small cabbage, some lettuce, and the zucchini left. Perhaps I'll make some coleslaw inspired salad this weekend. Most of the remaining vegetables went into my dinner last night, a hot and sour soup inspired stew. The hot and sour soup recipe I use is from Ken Hom's Fool Proof Chinese Cooking. If you've never made Hot and Sour soup, you really should pick up a copy of this book and try his out. I've never been a fan of the glutinous vibrant red variety in most Chinese restaurants in the US. Hom's recipe, however, is a proper soup and the only vibrant red comes from the hot pepper oil. It's absolutely delicious.

I was already considering using his marinade for some ground pork I had and as I got going I decided to make a stew that I could put over rice. His recipe has tofu, egg, pork, woodears and shitake mushrooms. I used the egg, pork, and shitake mushrooms and added broccoli, baby bok choy leaves, napa cabbage and some spicy red peppers. It's important, when making his soup, to make a chicken stock. I didn't have any, so I used bouillon and simmered it with slices of ginger, crushed garlic, and onion to make the base. After making that, the rest of the soup went together rather quickly. And despite the heat, it was a perfect meal.

Vegetable Hot and Sour Stew

6 c water
2 tsp chicken bouillon
4 inches of ginger, sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
1/2 c sliced red onion
12 shitake mushrooms, stems and tops separated; slice tops
1/2 lb pork
4 tsp soy sauce
4 tsp rice wine
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
12 napa cabbage leaves, washed and sliced into 1 inch strips
8 to 10 baby bok choy, leaves separated from stems
3 c broccoli pieces*
2 hot peppers, sliced into rounds
2 eggs
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
8 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tsp chili oil
1/4 c cilantro
2 tsp sesame oil
cooked rice

In a stock pot, combine water, bouillon, ginger, garlic, onion, and stems from the shitake mushrooms.
Bring to a boil, turn down a tad and let cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
While the base is boiling, mix the 4 tsp soy sauce, 4 tsp rice wine, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1/2 tsp sugar and pork.
Use a wire strainer to remove the ginger, garlic, onion, and shitake stems from the base.
Turn down heat so base is simmering, then slowly add the pork, breaking it into small pieces. Allow to simmer for a few minutes.
Once pork is no longer visibly pink, add the cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, shitake caps, and red pepper. Allow to cook until broccoli is bright green and cabbage and bok choy are wilted.
In a small bowl, beat the eggs with the 1 tbsp sesame oil.
Push the vegetables to the sides of the pan, clearing a space where there is mostly broth in the center. Slowly pour the egg into this space, stirring with a fork to break it up, then stir.
Add the remaining ingredients and allow to simmer for a few minutes.
Remove from heat and serve in a bowl over cooked rice.

*I typically cut the long stemmed florets off the sides, until I reach the heart of the top. Then I cut this from the stem and break into pieces. I then cut off the bottom of the stem, peel the skin off the main stem at the bottom, and then quarter lengthwise and cut into 2 inch lengths.

Vegetable Mushroom Soup

I went to a friend's house last night for a small get together. Instead of ordering food or doing our usual appetizers-for-dinner, I offered to cook. Originally I suggested a mushroom-squash soup, broth based because one of my friends recently discovered that her body is having an all out battle with dairy (or maybe that should be the other way around). The other friend indicated she's less than fond of squash, so I had mushrooms as a start and had to apologize to all the squash sitting in my kitchen unused. I hope they aren't sitting there, crying to each other about how nobody wants them. (As a side note: I have a ton of squash because, when my brother and sister-in-law left for a month in France, they left me their enormous csa share which included a ton of squash).

Back to our unpaired mushrooms... While sitting around knitting (I had the day off), I was thinking through different vegetables I could use. Oh, the no-dairy friend is also not a huge fan of meat, so I was going for an all vegetable soup. I recalled a delicious soup I had a local restaurant; it had beets (immediately nixed because one of the people eating doesn't really like those) and mushrooms and a very rich and complex broth. There were a lot of tiny pieces of root vegetables at the bottom of the bowl, so I assumed they had roasted the tiny vegetables with beef, deglazed the pan, and used that as the base. Since I wasn't using beef and didn't want to roast as well as cook stove-top, I wanted to try obtaining the richness in one pan.

In the end, I selected onions, garlic, potato (russet, for the starch), carrots, and parsnips. I used a mixture of baby portabella mushrooms and shitake. I heated a generous amount of olive oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat. Once that was hot, I added the onions and garlic and cooked those, stirring occasionally until they started to brown. Then I added the potato, and again, cooked with occasional stirring, until that started to brown and stick to the bottom. Next were the carrots and parsnips, a little more browning, some salt and pepper, and then I deglazed with a little bit of red wine. Once the bottom was scraped clean of all those delicious brown bits, I added water, vegetable and beef bullion (my friend isn't averse to that), and the mushrooms. It simmered for about 30 to 45 minutes and I added some more salt and pepper. The end product was a peppery, rich broth filled with perfect little cubes of root veggies and sliced mushrooms. And it was a definite hit with all friends involved.

Vegetable Mushroom Soup

1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 large russet potato, washed and diced into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup carrots, diced or sliced into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup parsnips, diced or sliced into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup dry red wine
3 to 4 quarts water
1 to 2 teaspoons beef bullion
1 teaspoon vegetable bullion
3 cups variety of mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat.
When hot, add onion and garlic, stirring occasionally until onion begins to brown.
Add potato, stirring occasionally until potato begins to brown and stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add about 1 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon black pepper at this point.
Add carrots and parsnips, stirring occasionally until they also begin to brown.
Pour in red wine and scrape the bottom of the pan clean.
Add water, bullion, and mushrooms and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
While soup is simmering, taste occasionally to test the levels of salt, pepper and bullion, adding more if needed.

Beef and Sausage Stew

I had planned to go grocery shopping yesterday so that I could make another round of chili or something else warm. Instead I sat in my apartment most of the day reading and knitting. My dirty laundry and bare kitchen mocked me the entire day. In my defense, dragging a granny cart through a foot of snow to do laundry isn't exactly fun. Especially when most of my neighbors are disinclined to shovel their walks. The snow also deterred me from shopping and since I'm going back to Wisconsin near the end of this week, there isn't much reason for me to do any major food purchasing. So, I holed up in my apartment and stayed warm while my dog barked at everything that dared make a noise outside. Magellen has a serious problem. He hates trucks in general, car doors slamming, and people talking outside. I think he has a wire loose that makes all noise seem like an impending threat to our safety. The only way to keep us safe is to bark ferociously and run to all the windows. You never know, one of those trucks might climb into one of our second story windows. Then where would we be? Choking from gas fumes and freezing from the brisk winter wind blowing through the giant hole in the wall. It's a good thing Magellen scares them all away.

...Back to more important matters, though. The stew... perhaps it was more a soup... consistency of soup because I didn't feel like thickening the liquid, but there wasn't much liquid... okay, we'll just stick with calling it a stew. Feel free to thicken the sauce, should you be so inclined (mix some cornstarch with cold water and pour gradually into simmering stew/soup). I had 3/4 of a pound of steak and about 1/4 pound andouille sausage. I had an onion, three parsnips, some carrots, and a cabinet of leftover alcohol from my 30th birthday party. The end result was good... but lacked something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I think it just needed something to balance out the earthy and spicy ingredients. I thought the sweetness of the carrots would do it, but not really. Okay, I'm being a bit of a perfectionist here. The stew was very good, but the next time I make it, I'll try to make it more balanced and let you know if I succeeded. In the meantime, make it. It's good. Maybe you could make some suggestions on how to improve it?

Beef and Sausage Stew

3/4 lb steak, cut into small cubes
1/4 lb andouille sausage, cut in quarters lengthwise and sliced into cubes
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1 medium onion, diced small
5 cups water, divided
1/2 c sweet vermouth
3 parsnips, peeled and sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 bay leaf
1 tsp thyme leaves
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp beef bouillon

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat until hot.
Add steak and andouille sausage and brown on first side.
Add black pepper and stir.
Continue to brown the meat, stirring occasionally, until a crust has formed on the bottom of the pan.
Add 1 c water, scrape bottom of the pan clean, and simmer until liquid has evaporated and crust is forms on the bottom of the pan again.
Mix vermouth and 1/2 c water and pour into pan.
Scrape bottom of the pan clean and simmer until liquid has evaporated again and crust is formed again.
Add remaining water and the remaining ingredients and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan again.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1/2 hour to 1 hour, until liquid dips below the top of the solid ingredients and carrots and parsnips and tender.
Serve hot with warm bread.

Lamb Chili

Mary Anne came over tonight for dinner and knitting. ...Do I sound like an old maid yet? We went to the grocery store without any idea what we wanted to eat except that I knew I wanted something warm. I’ve been feeling chilled and tired lately and warm food seems to help. I guess that’s just the normal for winter. She suggested soup, which I’ve been eating a lot of lately. I wanted something else and Mary Anne suggested chili. Okay – so it’s basically soup, but in my defense, it’s thicker, more substantial, and basically hearty and warm – just what I wanted. Knowing that I spent some money this weekend, she hesitantly suggested making it with lamb; since lamb wasn’t that much more than the beef, we did opt for it. And instead of the tomato juice I usually use, she suggested with whole tomatoes. We hit common ground with crushed tomatoes and a can of tomato paste. We both enjoy a lot of beans as well, so we picked up a can each of black and kidney beans. The resulting soup was thicker than my family’s recipe, without being the seasoned meat dish of some people’s preference. And least anyone fear that I am a hermit, we did end up going out afterwards. There is a great beer bar in town with a casual atmosphere and intriguing mix of patrons. It has both great drinks and entertaining people watching. We even ventured into a conversation with complete strangers – look at us make acquaintances!

Lamb Chili

1 lb ground lamb
2 small or 1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 habanero, stemmed and chopped
1 can tomato paste
1 large can crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp chili powder (or to taste)
½ tsp oregano
pinch of cumin

In a soup pot, brown the lamb meat. If there is a lot of extra moisture in the meat, simmer off the excess liquid.
Add onions, pepper and habanero to pot and cook, stirring, until onions are translucent.
Stir in tomato paste.
Gradually add crushed tomatoes.
Mix in chili powder, oregano and cumin.
Simmer for ½ hour, stirring frequently.
Serve hot with a hearty whole grain bread.

Creamy Winter Soup

After our delicious Christmas of starch and meat... and sweets... my body was craving some vegetables. I also want to get a greater variety of vegetables into my diet. This is something I typically forget to do in the winter months. During the summer, it's so easy; I just stop by my local farmer's market and go wild. We have some wonderful local producers who remember to provide many types of vegetables. I actually have been complimented by a couple (patting myself on the back here) for my "adventurous" selections. Once it was for simply buying rainbow colored carrots (which are so superior to the simple orange ones) and beets. Another time it was for buying kohlrabi, turnips, and possibly rutabaga.

During the winter, I tend to eat a lot of cheese, mushrooms, bread, squash, potatoes and meat. I think that this is mostly natural - those are the items that would have been available... I think... back in the day. But seeing as I have more opportunity to purchase other items year round, I should take advantage of it (to an extent - I still avoid buying fresh tomatoes in the winter since they rarely taste as good as the summer ones. Why torture myself with sub-par tomatoes?) I didn't avoid starch completely with this recipe, but I made sure to add some other nutritious vegetables to make me feel better about it.

Creamy Winter Soup

1/4 c wild rice
2 large red potatoes, cut in quarters lengthwise and sliced about 1/8 inch thick
2 tbsp butter or oil
1 small onion, chopped small
salt
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
12 cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 c reserved wild rice water
1 c reserved potato water
5 c water
2 tsp chicken Better than Bouillon
1 bunch kale, stems removed, torn into pieces and washed well
1/4 c half and half
1 c milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dill weed
1/4 tsp paprika

Place wild rice in a pan with plenty of water (about 4 cups).
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
When rice is done, drain over a measuring cup to reserve 1 cup of the water.
Place potatoes in a large soup pot with water to cover.
Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender.
Drain potatoes over a measuring cup to reserve 1 cup of the water.
Dry out the soup pot, then put over medium-high heat.
Add butter or oil to pan and heat.
When butter is hot, reduce heat to medium and add onion and sprinkle with salt.
Cook onion, stirring, until browned (be careful not to burn the onion).
Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.
Pour in reserved wild rice and potato water and 5 cups water.
Add chicken bouillon and stir.
Add kale and bring soup to a simmer.
Cook until kale is almost tender.
Add potatoes, cooked wild rice, half and half, milk, salt and pepper, dill weed and paprika.
Heat over medium-low heat until flavors are well blended.
Serve hot.

Wild Mushroom Soup and Varenyky

I realized that the last "recipe" I posted for Varenyky would leave most people at a loss of where to start. So last night we made varenyky and served it with a Wild Mushroom soup. I started the recipe making as many potatoes as when I first learned the dish and increased the amount of dough in hopes that it would be enough to use up all the filling. We ended up with leftover filling (which we plan to pan fry for breakfast). The recipe that follows should get you close to equal amounts of dough and filling. Keep in mind that you can also be creative with the fillings. Spinach and cheese filling would be delicious. I tried a sweet potato, asiago cheese, and Italian sausage filling that was very tasty. The recipe that follows is more traditional, minus the addition of dill. My friend had used feta cheese in hers, but my sister-in-law is lactose intolerant, so we omitted that and added more salt. My brother helped stuff the dumplings. He had plenty opportunity to taste test the filling, since he was licking excess filling off his fingers. It's a good thing we're all family here.

Varenyky with Potato Filling

4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
3 large onions, two finely chopped and one halved and sliced into thin half moons
1/2 c olive oil
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp dill weed
2 c whole wheat flour
1 c unbleached white flour
1 c water (approximate)
sour cream (for serving)

Place potatoes in a pot filled with water and boil until tender.
While potatoes are boiling, heat 1/4 c olive oil in a saute pan.
Add the two chopped onions to the oil and fry until they start to brown.
Remove onions from the heat.
When potatoes are tender (fork inserts easily into them), drain well and place in a mixing bowl.
Use a potato masher or ricer to mash the potatoes well (you don't want any large chunks).
Add sauteed onions with oil to the potatoes.
Add ground black pepper, salt and dill and mix well.
Set aside.
Place flours in a wide, shallow mixing bowl.
Add water a little at a time, mixing well with your hands.
Once dough becomes a ball, begin kneading the dough and adding water as needed.
You should knead the dough five to ten minutes so that it is uniform on consistency. The finished dough should be slightly tacky, but not sticky.
Take a portion of the dough and roll into a 1 to 1 1/2 inch log.
Cut pieces from the log about the size of a large marble and roll into a ball.
Use your fingertips to press the dough into a circle, starting with the center of the ball and slowly working out to the edges.
The dough circle should end up covering the palm of your hand and should not be so thin as to see through it.
Place a heaping teaspoon of filling into the center of the dough. You can fill more or less depending on the size of your circle.
Fold the dough over the filling and, starting with the center of the half moon, press edges firmly together. Edges should be sealed well.
Place prepared varenyky onto a place dusted with flour.
Once you have a layer of varenyky, dust with flour and continue piling the varenyky. Dust with flour between all layers so that they do not stick together.
When you are nearly done filling the varenyky, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
To cook the varenyky, add enough varenyky to the boiling water so that they do not overlap. Stir once.
Once the varenyky float to the top of the water, cook for 60 seconds longer.
Remove the varenyky from the water with a slotted spoon and place in a serving bowl.
While second batch of varenyky are boiling, heat the remaining olive oil in a pan.
Add the sliced onion and saute until starting to brown.
Pour some of this over the already cooked varenyky.
As each batch of varenyky goes into the serving bowl, pour a little more of the oil and onion over the top.
Serve warm with sour cream.

As we wanted to have a vegetable with our dumplings last night, my sister-in-law and I decided to make a mushroom soup. As I was making dinner, this posed a welcome challenge to me. I admittedly use a lot of dairy. My typical fat of choice is butter. In my favorite mushroom soup recipe, you fry the onions in butter and add half and half for a creamy texture. This would have left my sister-in-law in quite a bit of pain, so I needed to make a flavorful broth based soup. I knew that my typical recipe, which only uses portabella mushrooms, would have lacked in depth. So when we went shopping we bought fresh portabella and shitake mushrooms and a small package of dried porcini mushrooms. I used the water in which the porcini mushrooms were reconstituted as the broth for the soup. If I had thought enough in advance, I would have made the soup as it reads below. As it was, I forgot that I would not be using the stems from the portabella and shitake mushrooms. So, they are sitting in the refrigerator to be used in a future mushroom broth.

Wild Mushroom Soup

1 package dried porcini mushrooms
3 large portabella mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed and caps chopped
1 6oz package shitake mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed and caps chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, finely diced
2 tbsp onion, finely diced
2 c reserved mushroom broth
2 c water
1/2 tsp chicken better than bouillon
salt and pepper to taste

Bring 3 c water to a boil in a medium soup pot.
Place portabella and shitake mushroom stems in cheese cloth and tie shut.
When water comes to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the porcini mushrooms and the cheese cloth package.
Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until porcini mushrooms are tender.
Remove cheese cloth package.
Place a strainer over a liquid measuring cup and drain porcini mushrooms, reserving 2 cups of the broth (or more if you'd like).
Make sure soup pot is dry and place over a medium heat.
Add olive oil to pot to heat.
Add shallots and onions, cooking slowly until translucent (reduce heat if necessary).
Add portabella and shitake mushroom caps, sprinkle with salt and cook until mushrooms are tender.
Chop porcini mushrooms and add to the pot.
Add reserved mushroom broth, water, bouillon, and salt and pepper.
Simmer for 20 minutes and serve hot.

Lentil Chili

Still craving beans/legumes, so I decided to use some lentils I had in the cupboard. I searched through my cookbooks and found a vegetarian recipe for chili made with lentils and mushrooms. Not being one for a purely spicy dish, but something spicy and flavorful, I took the idea and ran with it, adding ingredients I had in the house. The result was good, but I think I might add some seasonings to make it more flavorful. Perhaps add a little oregano and more chili powder and maybe some corn.

Lentil Chili

1 1/2 c dried lentils
5 c water
1 1/2 tsp chicken bullion
grease from 1/4 bacon or 3 tbsp other oil
1/4 c onion, chopped
1/2 a large red bell pepper, chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 tomatillos, chopped fine
1 Roma tomato, seeded, cored and chopped fine
1 large portabello mushroom, chopped
2 tbsp chili powder
salt to taste

In a stock pot, placed lentils, water and chicken bullion and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until tender.
In a skillet, heat bacon grease (or other oil) over medium-high heat.
When oil is hot, add onion and cook until it starts to brown.
Add red bell pepper and garlic and cook until garlic softens.
Add tomatillos, tomato, and mushroom and cook until mushrooms shrink.
Add chili powder and cook until fragrant.
Stir vegetable and spice mixture into the lentils and cook until fragrant.
Add salt to taste.
You may want to let this sit a day in the refrigerator before serving.

Black Bean Stew with Cornbread Dumplings Served Over Collard Greens

It is so rare for my fabricated recipes to turn out near to perfect. Typically I develop something in my mind and, once made, find multiple ways in which I might tweak the recipe to perfect the flavors and texture. Tonight, I nearly nailed my imagined meal on the head. It's so close to perfect, it seems like it should have taken much more work.

My inspiration for this meal:
Healthy eating in Brazil
A craving for black beans, possibly in soup form

As I developed in my mind, this recipe started as a very liquid black bean soup with collard greens, similar to the kale in Zuppa Tuscana at Olive Garden. Then I thought, "What about some dumplings?" Thus the idea to make cornbread dumplings. I also thought some canned pimentos might be a nice color and flavor addition to the soup. Imagine it, a black soup with bits of bright green and red popping up here and there.

In the making, I added as I went, pulling from some Puerto Rican flavors, Southern flavors, and cooking methods I have already adapted. The result was a flavorful, but not oppressive, black bean stew with savory cornbread dumplings floating on top. I spooned this over collard greens that I cook enough to soften, but not turn to complete mush. I appreciate greens with a little bit of body left to them. It makes the texture so much more appealing. The only adjustment I might make in the future would be to add a tablespoon of sugar to the cornbread dumplings to create an interesting blend of savory and sweet.

Black Bean Stew with Cornbread Dumplings Served Over Collard Greens

Black Bean Stew
2 tbsp oil
1 jalapeno, seeded and sliced into thin half-moons
1/4 c chopped onion
1/2 a canned pimento, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin
pinch of ground cumin
pinch of dried oregano
2 cans black beans, undrained
1 1/2 cans water
1 tsp chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp sazon (red flavor packets used in Puerto Rican cooking)
1/2 tsp adobo

Cornbread Dumplings
1 c flour
3/4 c cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar, optional
3 tbsp butter, softened
3/4 c milk

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Add jalapeno and onion, cooking until soft.
Add garlic, pimento, cumin, and oregano, cooking until garlic is soft and mixture is aromatic.
Add black beans, water, chicken bouillon, sazon, and adobo.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
While stew is simmering, mix together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
Cut in butter until in small pieces like coarse meal.
Stir in milk, just until moistened. Do not over stir.
Make sure stew is only simmering, if it is boiling, reduce heat until it is simmering.
Drop in all of the dumpling dough in rounded tablespoon measures, evenly distributing over the surface of the stew.
Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
Cover and simmer 10 more minutes.
Spoon stew and dumplings over collard greens.

Collard Greens

1 tbsp oil
1/4 c onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2 a canned pimento, chopped
1 large bunch collard greens, stemmed, sliced into 1/2 in strips and washed well

Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat.
Add onion and cook until soft.
Add garlic and pimento and cook until garlic is soft.
Add collard greens and cover, stirring occasionally.
Cook until greens are soft, but not mushy.

Alternate Doctored Up Tomato Soup

Still feeling ill and still needing to go grocery shopping, I had tomato soup again tonight. I remembered a good recipe for homemade tomato soup in my Cooking From Quilt Country cookbook, so I found it again and used it to make my canned tomato soup a little more tasty. While the garlic powder was good, this version makes a more complexly flavored soup. I simply added 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1 whole clove, a couple dashes of cinnamon, a pinch of allspice, and a couple dashes of Tabasco sauce. It's amazing how well the spices blend with the tomato. Of course, I also make this with milk. No watery tomato soup for me. I'll settle on something like that when I'm a starving and struggling actress in New York City; at which point I will enter my local, shabby diner and order a mug of hot water into which I will pour a healthy amount of ketchup. But until that day, milk in my condensed tomato soup from a can.

Feeling Sick Doctored Up Tomato Soup

I don't get colds easily, so when I started feeling a cold coming on yesterday surprised me, since I just got rid of some lingering nasal congestion over the weekend. Tonight I'm totally wiped out and have very little in the house (must grocery shop tomorrow...). For a quick dinner, I made Tomato Soup, which I just recently discovered other people don't necessarily make with milk. Who knew?! We (as in my family) have always made it with milk. It's creamy, warm, and delicious. Tonight, besides my typical healthy dose of ground black pepper, I added a small dash of garlic powder. Yummy and soothing. I'll have to do that one again.

Black Bean and Chicken Stew

After returning from the holidays late in the day, I made this simple stew from what I had in my kitchen. At first it was only going to be a black bean stew, but the flavor was lacking, so I added a bit of cut up chicken to it.

2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1 1/2 tbsp Indian curry powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp chili oil
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 c water
1/2 a cooked chicken breast, chopped

Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
When oil is hot, add garlic and cook until fragrant.
Add curry powder and chili oil and cook until fragrant.
Add black beans, water, and chicken breast.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes, adding water if necessary.
Serve hot (with rice if you'd like).

After losing my internet at home, I have been strongly neglecting my blog, but last night I devised a plan to finally update you on some of the recipes I’ve been making lately. Type the posts at home and upload them before work.

We begin this long journey into my recent past with a recipe for a Pasty potpie style. Some of my coworkers and I have created a cooking club and I was hosting the first round. We chose to do our club like a potluck, since we would be holding them on work nights. We also felt that a theme would help ensure that the foods would complement one another. The first theme was fall foods, which I was forced to enforce with certain individuals, who shall remain nameless, but had chosen the theme and suggested she bring a spring vegetable. Ahem. My strict enforcement of the theme prompted a rather unflattering association between myself and a certain WWII German political party. I, personally, had no trouble deciding what I was making. I had been craving a good pasty, but I had never made one and wasn’t quite sure what gave it its delicious flavor. Enter the internet and it’s perpetual eagerness to find what I needed in less than 4.832 seconds. I found that a generous helping of pepper and onion was the key, as was rutabaga. Done. Many of the recipes had their own pastry recipe, but our family has a tried and true recipe that I opted to use due to its dependability. I did alter the pastry recipe slightly, since I was out of sugar, but I did have some honey and it worked just as well. The pasty ended up tasting exactly how I wanted it to, thank you mom for teaching me how to smell for flavor, rather than tasting.

Pasty (potpie style)

1 double pie crust
1 lb ground pork
1 ½ onions, diced
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large rutabaga, peeled and cubed a little smaller than the potato, but not as small as the carrots
freshly ground black pepper to taste (somewhere between 2 tsp and 1 tbsp)
salt to taste (about 1 tsp)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place the ground pork and onions in a cast iron skillet and cook over medium heat. You do not want the pork to brown, but you do want it to cook all the way through. Stir it often enough to prevent browning.

In a large pot, put the potatoes, carrots and rutabaga, covering with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat a bit so that it does not boil over, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cool water to stop cooking.

Once the pork is cooked through, mix in the cooked vegetables and add the black pepper and salt. Smell the mixture, you should smell a good amount of pepper. If you don’t, add more. Then add about ¼ c water to moisten the mixture a bit.

Roll out one half of the pie crust and place in a 9x9 baking dish. Pour in the filling (I ended up with a little extra. My dog loved that!). Roll out the second crust for the top. Before laying the second crust on top of the mixture, use some cool water and moisten the edges of the bottom crust, along the rim of the baking dish. Gently roll the second crust onto your rolling pin and lay over the pie. Gently press down when you moistened the bottom crust. Trim both crusts so that you have just over 1 inch of crust over hanging. Roll under and crimp the edges. Use a sharp knife to slice a couple slits in the top of the crust.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden.

One of my coworkers is engages to the son of cranberry grower, which means that at harvest time she kindly brought many of use a bag of fresh cranberries. Yum! I used them to make Cranberry Walnut Pancakes, a fruit cobbler and a filling for crepes. The cobbler came of another day where I was trying to make something from what I had in the house while also attempting to sate a sweets craving. I’ve been making crepes on the weekends recently. They are just so delicious. I’m going to share the fruit cobbler recipe I made and how I’m going to make my next batch of crepes.

Fall Fruit Cobbler

2 soft apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
1 ripe pear, peeled, cored and sliced thin
½ c cranberries, washed and halved
¼ c brown sugar
¼ c flour
dash of salt
4 tbsp butter, softened
¼ c honey
½ c walnuts
½ to 1 c rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place apples, pear, and cranberries in a bowl. Sprinkle with brown sugar, flour, and salt and coat well. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Pour the fruit into a bread dish.
With your hands, mix together the butter, honey, walnuts and oats. Spread over the top of the fruit.
Bake until a fork meets no resistance when inserted into the cobbler.

Orange Crepes with Cranberries

Crepes (make approximately 6):
¾ c flour
2 tsp sugar
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 c milk
1 egg, beaten
½ tsp vanilla
1 tbsp melted butter
zest of ½ an orange

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add all remaining ingredients and whisk until completely smooth.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Using a stick of butter with the paper turned back, quickly grease the pan. Pour in ¼ c of the batter and quickly tilt pan in a circular motion to spread the mixture thinly over the bottom of the pan. Cook until slightly brown on one side, flip and brown other side. To keep the crepes warm, place in a covered dish in an oven set to warm.

Cranberries:
¼ lb cranberries
6 tbsp sugar
½ c water
zest of ½ an orange

Place all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until sauce is thick.

To serve:
Place a crepe on a large plate, put a line of filling along the middle 1/3 of the crepe. Fold over one side, then the other. Slide aside and repeat until the desired number of crepes are on the plate. If desired, you can sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of the cranberry sauce before folding the crepes.


The past few days I’ve been craving Indian food, but I’ve also been watching my budget. This means using up what I have in the house. I discovered that I have three half-full bags of lentils in my cupboard, one of regular lentils, one of red lentils, and the last of Moroccan lentils. I used two with the following soup that was inspired by dal.

Indian-spiced Lentil Soup

1 tbsp oil
½ an onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp Indian curry powder (the kind that is not spicy)
½ lb of red lentils
½ lb of Moroccan lentils
Enough water to cover, plus more to maintain soup consistency while cooking
1 tsp chicken boullion
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a soup pan over medium-high heat.
Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is soft.
Add cumin seeds and curry powder and cook until fragrant.
Pour in lentils, stir to coat, the add water to cover.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Stir in the chicken boullion.
Add water as the soup cooks. You want to maintain a slightly thick consistancy.
Once red lentils have cooked away and Moroccan lentils are tender, add the salt.
Heat a bit more, then serve.
I let this soup simmer for a few hours before eating it.

Tonight I had a craving for Indian, but also for cream of potato soup. This was the result (though, I did have to run to the store for a couple of things). Warning, this is a bit spicy!

Creamy and Spicy Potato Soup

4 red potatoes (big enough that you can’t quite fit your hand around them), washed and cubed
2 ½ tbsp butter
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ a medium onion, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp flour
2 ½ c milk
salt to taste

Place potatoes in a soup pan, cover with water, bring to a boil, and cook until tender. Drain the potatoes and set aside.
Heat the butter in the same pan over medium heat.
Once the butter has melted, add the mustard seeds and cook for a couple minutes.
Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.
Add ground ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and cumin seeds and cook until fragrant.
Add the flour and cook for about 1 minute.
Slowly add the milk, then heat over medium-high heat until thick.
Once the sauce is thick, add the salt and potatoes and stir. Bring to desired serving temperature and serve.

Now that I’ve devised my system of continuing my blog, you’ll be hearing from me more often!

Cream of Turnip and Carrot Soup

The cool weather and my need to use some turnips inspired this recipe. Turnips can be a bit sharp in flavor, so I decided to use carrots to balance them. It worked very well. The soup is slightly sweet and savory. Since thyme works well with both turnips and carrots, I used that for seasoning. I also used some saved bacon grease to add a bit of flavor. The measurement for water comes from the amount of water I needed to just cover the vegetables and I used that measurement to determine how many teaspoons of bouillon I added. Make this if you want a light, but warm meal. I ate mine with some toast made from homemade white bread.

1 tbsp bacon grease
5 small to medium turnips, peeled and cubed small
5 medium carrots, peeled and diced small
2 1/2 c water
2 tsp chicken bouillon
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch of thyme
1 to 2 c whole milk

Heat bacon grease in a soup pot over medium-high heat until sizzling.
Add turnips and carrots and saute for a minute or two.
Add water, chicken bouillon, black pepper and thyme.
Bring to a boil.
Turn down heat and simmer until vegetables are very tender.
Fill your blender with hot tap water a few times to make sure the glass is not cold.
Add soup, in small amounts, to the blender.
**Make sure that you do not completely seal the lid, or it WILL explode!!**
The best method is to remove the center of the lid, or keep it ajar so that steam can escape, then **tent with a towel** so that the hot soup does not splash on you while blending.
Blend the soup in batches, until smooth.
Return to the soup pot and place over medium heat.
Add enough milk to make the soup creamy.
Heat to desired serving temperature.

Irish Soda Bread

I love (and I don't use that term lightly... at least here) the New York Times food section. They have provided me with some absolutely delicious recipes, and the Irish Soda Bread that was featured recently is no exception. It's a basic, slightly sweet buttermilk quick bread flavored with a healthy dose of currants and some caraway seeds. It's no longer on their website, but I don't feel comfortable copying it here. (But if you asked me, I would be okay sharing via email.) Instead, I'll give you the recipe for a light cream of potato soup which we ate with the soda bread, sharp cheddar cheese and thinly sliced tart apples. By light, I do not mean light on calories (though it may be, I haven't checked), but less dense, through the use of more chicken broth than milk and less flour in the roux.

Potato Soup

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tbsp butter
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp flour
salt and pepper, to taste
2 c chicken broth
1 c milk (I used 1%)
3/4 c diced ham

Place potatoes in a soup pan, cover with water, and boil until tender.
Drain potatoes in the sink while preparing the sauce.
Melt butter in the pan.
Add the onion and cook until starting to brown (better flavor).
Stir in the flour, making sure to get rid of lumps, and allow to bubble for one minute.
Add salt and pepper. (I did not add salt to mine because I thought the ham and chicken broth would lend enough. They did.)
Slowly add the chicken broth, stirring or whisking to prevent lumps.
Add the milk.
Heat this mixture to boiling.
Add ham and potatoes and heat through.

Split Pea Soup

Here is the split pea soup. Not exactly the most appetizing looking dish, but delicious nonetheless. [I will refrain from inserting any unnecessary movie references here.] We decided to save this dish for the night that I worked (a rare occurrence while I'm attempting to find full-time work and doing random temp work). Next to it are some Dare whole grain crackers. Very tasty. For dipping into this soup they are far superior to saltines. Though, there were individuals in our household who chose buttered saltines. I prefer those with tomato soup (canned, but with extra black pepper). Here is our family "recipe" for split pea soup. We tend to... "some of this" and "some of that" for a lot of our well-known recipes. Don't most families? I know it's almost impossible to get a straight recipe out of my sister-in-law's parents for any of their Puerto Rican dishes. I think perhaps I'll have to spend some time hanging around their kitchen and forcing them to show me how to cook. I never can get the Pollo Guisado right. It's either completely tasteless or way too salty. But I digress. Didn't I say a while back I was giving you the recipe for split pea soup?

1 smoked ham hock
4 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 bag of dried split peas

Place the ham hock, carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves and salt and pepper in a large stock pot.
Cover with water and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for at least 3 hours (add water if necessary, but if you have the heat low enough you shouldn't have to). We typically start this part in the morning and let it cook slowly all day, thus, it requires a weekend day or someone to be home. Or, you could make the stock one night and continue the next night with the following:

Add the split peas and enough water to cover an inch or so.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until peas have cooked thoroughly.
Add water to prevent burning, if necessary.
You can remove the bay leaves, or be lazy like me and leave them in. If someone tries to eat it, they'll quickly realize it isn't exactly fun to chew on.
Remove the the ham hock and bits of meat that have fallen off. Let cool a bit, then shred, removing as much of the superfluous fat as possible.
Return the meat to the pot and heat a few minutes.
Serve.

I also mutter outside the kitchen

In fact, if anyone comes within audible distance of me while I'm doing most anything they will inevitably ask, "What?"

I grumbled and muttered a lot while making this skirt from some material I bought while in Japan for a friend's wedding. I loved the fabric, and now I have a skirt I love. I took a full skirt pattern and shortened the main body of the skirt. Then, through much trial and error, I figured out that in order to make the border I had to extend the part I cut off by 1 1/4 inches at the top and 5/8 of an inch at the bottom. I hemmed the skirt and both sides of the border and then sewed the border to the inside of the skirt. I also discovered the reason you stay stitch curved edges, especially on long narrow pieces like those. The original cut pieces were way too long once they stretched out of shape. Luckily, I bought enough of that fabric to cut more pieces (just barely, though). Now I just have to find a shirt that looks good with it. The sweater in the photo is okay, but the collar (which you can't see) isn't quite the right style.

This skirt will not be worn while I cook. I have ruined many-a-clothing item wearing it while cooking. I am a MESSY cook. Even when I try to be neat, it doesn't work. I can use a splatter screen and the grease will still coat the entire top of the range. That's why I have a clean up crew (my mother). I don't think she minds too much, seeing as I do most of the cooking while living with them. It allows her to actually enjoy cooking when she does it, as opposed to while we were growing up. Every day we posed the question "What are we having for dinner?" To which she would reply, "I don't know, what sounds good?" The perpetual answer..., "I dunno. Food?" The woman (or man) who does all the cooking for the family is a tortured soul, especially when they cook only because nobody else will or can.

Which reminds me, I don't have to cook tonight. We have split pea soup. I'll post a picture and recipe tomorrow. I thought I might add a dessert of stuffed chayote.
I actually knew what I could do with this vegetable thanks to The Field Guide to Produce by Aliza Green that I got for Christmas from my brother and sister-in-law. They also got me the Field Guide to Meat and the Field Guide to Herbs and Spices. Hopefully this will lead to more creative cooking on my part.