soup bar

we love having people over for dinner here at the cottage, and since we have a large family, it tends to be a crowd. the most affordable way i've found to feed everybody is: soup. it helps that we love soup anyway but it's also easy to make, and pretty darn tasty. plus you can make something fairly simple and easily dress it up. recently we had a card night and i made leek and potato soup, served up next to toppings. fried bacon bits, shredded cheddar, parmesan, green onions, and a pepper grinder and we were set to go. everyone got to make their own combinations and everyone got full, a win win for card night at the cottage. i also like to make squash soup which is good with everything from olive oil to nutmeg on top. another fun thing to try is an old fashioned soup tureen, i have two that both came from local thrift stores for less than $15 each. try it out, you could start a tradition!

butternut squash soup

okay, i realize this has become the hip thing to make. you know why? cause it's super good! also, pretty darn easy. i know if you've ever wrestled a hard squash before you're skeptical right now, but stick with me. the trick is to start by baking the squash whole. wrap it up in foil and stick it in the oven at 350 for about two hours. if you want to, turn it once halfway through. if you don't, no big deal. let it cool. you can now stick it in the refrigerator, still whole and wrapped, for up to oh, say, three days before you get around to dealing with it. i warn you it will leak some sweet squashy goodness so put it in a pan or bag. dice our usual soup starters: onion, celery, carrot, a bit of garlic. saute them in butter (alot of it) until they're soft with salt and pepper. remember, you're seasoning the whole pot of soup here, a good rule of thumb is to sprinkle an even layer of seasonings over the vegetables right when you put them in. peel, seed, and chop the squash. don't worry about the size of the chunks, it'll fall apart in the soup. add the squash to the pot, stir it up and let it sit and brown a bit. a few minutes should do it, it has a pretty good amount of natural sugar in it. add either fresh chopped sage or dry rubbed sage to taste, don't be afraid to go to town with it. stir this all up and pour in some chicken broth, white wine (chardonnay or sauv. blanc), or water depending on taste, enough to cover the veggies and squash, and sprinkle in some powdered ginger, about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon depending on how spicy you want it. simmer for about 45 minutes or until everything is soft and incorporated, let cool for just a few minutes. then if you want to, blend in the blender or with an immersion blender in the pot. add cream, half and half, or milk until you've got the consistency you want. personally i like to add pasta at this point that i boil ahead of time, little cheese tortellini are great in this soup!

cottage geese

you know when you get those bright ideas? the ones that are so bright you are inexorably drawn to them like a moth to a flame? yes, well, i had one of those. last Christmas as i was standing in front of the freezer case looking at the price of geese, around $80 each, i thought: how hard can it be to raise geese? i can raise my own, spread out the cost, and get fresh meat! a win, win, win situation! i know you're already laughing at me, yuck it up. i can take it. my first clue should have been that each gosling was $12.99. i knew that geese were mean. i knew they weren't bright. what i didn't know was that they are the most perverse, clumsy, idiotic creatures ever created. or that they could destroy a respectable vegetable garden in one day when left unattended. i am also learning that their favorite place to poop is a freshly hosed front walk, and they innately know whom they can chase without earning a smart kick in the chest and whom they cannot. have you ever seen a goose trip on it's own feet? i have. it almost makes this whole thing worth it. i now laughingly look back on those first weeks when i was explaining their presence in the yard and people were telling me "don't name them" or "don't feed them by hand" so that i wouldn't get attached and therefore not be able to go through with the butchering. HA! the trouble now is going to be not killing the cusses until Christmas....

the wok of life

alright, i have the silly pun out of my system now. moving right along, i love my wok. it's easy to use and clean and nothing works better for stir-fry night. we have stir-fry at least once a week, usually of the Chinese influence, and it's the easiest night to cook for by far. a note here on stir-fry: do it yourself. don't buy the pre-mixed frozen bags of stuff, it's not worth it. for one thing it all cooks up mushy because it's been processed and frozen, for another thing all the ingredients taste like each other from being frozen together in one big lump. try this: next time you go to your favorite Asian place, really look at what's on your plate. read the menu, if it says celery and straw mushrooms in oyster sauce, go buy some oyster flavor sauce. i like lee kum kee because it has a nicely balanced flavor and a little goes a long way. get a good, inexpensive wok. you don't need to go non-stick for them to work correctly, actually they season in like cast iron. if you do want non stick though i wont talk you out of it. make sure it has nice high sides though and bear this in mind: the high sides are NOT so you can over load the pan with out spilling. keep your batches small so the pan can really do it's thing. make several different dishes, it's really not much more work and it's fun. heat the wok with plenty of canola oil tipping it so the oil goes up the sides as it heats and make sure the oil is shimmering hot before you put anything in. two chicken breasts is about the most meat i've been able to pull off with out running into crowding issues, but if you make two different dishes that's really plenty. try it out, i bet you'll like it.

gravy, the beverage of the gods....

yes, i said beverage and i meant it. good gravy is so easy and yet so hard to find it's a treat when you get it. once you've got the knack, you'll never stand for canned gravy again. i use flour and make a roux with butter or grease from whatever meat i'm cooking. okay, yes, keep your pants on, i use grease. about a tablespoon to cook the flour in, and that's it. for a decent amount of gravy, to feed five or six people (normal people, not my family) use equal parts fat to flour, roughly a table spoon of each. cook some onions over medium heat until they're brown in the fat, then add the flour and a pinch of salt and pepper and cook that until it's brown, stirring frequently. add about two cups of broth, slowly, whisking as you go. the goal is to get all the tasty brown bits from the bottom of the pan and beat the lumps of roux to death so you get a nice smooth result. bring it to a simmer and let it cook down stirring often to be sure that the lumps don't come back. it won't look very thick right now, don't panic. it will need to simmer for probably 30 minutes, just keep whisking and scraping the bottom and sides of the pan. as it cools it will thicken a bit more and unfortunately develop a skin on the top if you don't cover it, so either put it in a warmed gravy boat and cover with plastic wrap or leave it in the pot till the last minute.

killer meatloaf

okay, if you've ever had dry, greasy, tasteless, or just plain bad meat loaf raise you hand. no, really raise it. now, if you've ever perpetrated bad meat loaf keep your hand in the air. you know who you are. if you're trying to pretend that your family likes your bad meat loaf, do us all a favor and stop. help me help you. you may now put your hand down and get ready to change meat loaf night forever. first of all this starts at the store. if you've been buying extra lean beef because you think it's better for you, don't. the fat runs off and leaves lovely flavor, also the fat contains water which helps keep you from meat loaf shame. get some nice medium grade ground beef. get yourself a pound and a half of it. now, go get about a pound of bulk sausage. try for N.Y. Sausage Co. Italian, but if you can't find it use breakfast sausage. please please please don't get turkey or chicken. turkey and chicken are good, when used appropriately. they have self-esteem issues however, and need to stop pretending to be meat other than what they are. don't be an enabler of poultry identity crisis, buy pork sausage. now, to assemble. we need one large carrot grated, one half bell pepper minced, one third to half onion minced, and one to two cloves garlic minced. you may, if you are able, put these things into your food processor and grind them to smithereens if you wish, it's all the same to me. you may add, if you wish, one pasilla or jalapeno pepper for a bit of spice. combine the veggies with the meat and about 1/4 cup of plain dried bread crumbs and one egg. mush it all together with your hands until it's mixed evenly and form into a loaf. place in a non greased baking pan (glass for favorites) of the 9 x 13 variety so there is room around the loaf. salt and pepper the top and put in the oven at 350, after it has cooked for one hour cover with foil and cook for another hour. serve with gravy. if your family is the sort that likes the tomato sauce topping, the best variation i have found is one table spoon ketchup, one table spoon Homemade brand sweet chili sauce and one teaspoon brown sugar mixed together and spread on top fifteen minutes before it's done. if you're going the sauce route remove the foil to allow the sauce to glaze. if you don't know how to make gravy, read the next blog.

fresh tomato sauce two ways

so, i admit i had to fiddle with this one for a while. last year's tomatoes went into a lot of attempts at a classic, long cooking sauce, with limited success. this year i let go of what i thought i "had to" do to make pasta sauce and finally got it right. so, as always amounts of ingredients depend on how much you're trying to make but for the three of us i diced half of a red onion, half of a red bell pepper, half of a can of black olives, and five or so ripe amish paste tomatoes from the garden (roma's from the store would stand in just fine). a generous amount of olive oil goes in a skillet the onions and bell peppers go in first at medium high heat, to soften. when they are about halfway cooked add the olives and some anchovy paste or one fillet diced. DON'T MAKE THAT FACE, it'll stick that way, then where will you be? just buy the fishy paste and put it in, if it's a little tube put about three inches in the pan and stir it in. it makes the sauce rich, a little salty, and for some reason helps the hollow acidity of the tomatoes. once it's all mixed in add the tomatoes and if you like a sprinkle of dried basil. cook until everything is soft, if it looks dryish add some olive oil. pour over angel hair pasta and enjoy!

as a variation you can add to the onions, peppers, and tomatoes: one can of tuna, half a can of artichoke hearts, juice from the skinny half of a lemon and some chili pepper flakes.