Tag Archives: South America

Now with Three Times the Paprika!

30 Sunday Sep 2012

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Time for another soup recipe – ahhh, it’s been awhile!  And to get inspired, I reached for one of my most cherished cookbooks, The South American Table, by Maria Baez Kijac.  How long had this treasure sat dormant and idle in my cookbook stash before I realized what gems lie in these pages?  Years!

I had a partially filled bag of organic quinoa sitting on my counter, pretty much screaming silently at me to cook more of it!  [Side note:  I absolutely adore Bob’s Red Mill products. I’ve got everything from corn meal, pearl barley, the quinoa and even xanthan gum; if you’re into gluten-free cooking you know what that is!] But man oh man I wish they came in resealable packaging!  I just don’t have enough canisters and the fold-and-seal-the-plastic-bag-with-scotch-tape method is far from foolproof.

Doesn’t it feel great when you have a well-stocked pantry and end up with very few items on your shopping list when you want to try a new recipe?  Ahhh, maybe I’m slowly turning a corner there.  But I always do that ol’ smell test on my spices before I head out the door just in case.  If they’re not pungent, out they go and it’s time for a new jar.  This is an absolute must!

OK, so let’s get to it – here’s the recipe!

Sopa de Quinua con Chancho (Quinoa soup with pork)  Serves 8 to 10
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground annatto or sweet paprika
  • 1/2 C chopped scallions (white part and 1″ of the green)
  • 1 C finely chopped leeks (white part and 1″ of the green), washed well
  • 1 medium-sized ripe but firm tomato (5-6 oz), peeled and chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 3/4 lb lean pork from the leg or shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into 1/2″ cubes
  • 6 C hot water
  • 1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
  • 3/4 C raw quinoa, cooked
  • 1/4 C unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts or natural peanut butter pureed with 1 C milk
  • 1 C frozen peas
  • 8 large fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • Minced fresh parsley leaves for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a heavy 4-quart saucepan over low heat.  Stir in the annatto (or paprika), then add the scallions, leeks, tomato, garlic paste mixture and cumin.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.  Increase the heat to medium and add the pork cubes.  Cook for a couple of minutes, tossing so they are well coated with the vegetable mixture.  Add the hot water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 45 minutes.

Add the potatoes, quinoa and peanut puree.  Partially cover and continue to cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.  Add the peas, basil and cayenne and cook for a couple of minutes to heat the peas through.  Taste for salt and black pepper.

Serve hot, garnished with the parsley.

Fivenineteen notes:  I went truly organic with almost all of the ingredients in this recipe and headed out to the PCC Natural Market a short drive from my house to purchase the pork, frozen peas and fresh vegetables.  This is an organic grocery store co-op, and if you need high-quality specialty ingredients the nice people there will go above and beyond to find them for you.  I’m always fascinated by the products and the local, boutique-y brands.

As with lots of soup recipes, the chopping and prep work is the most time-consuming – but once you’re ready to rock it comes together quickly.  This was only a two pot meal, so not a lot of clean up.  Given the 45 minutes of simmering required, this is a perfect time to prepare the quinoa AND load the dishwasher!  I’m pretty anal about cleaning up as I go when I cook; I’ve been teased that sometimes it doesn’t even look like anyone’s been cooking when I’m done!

I chose not to seed the tomato and just chopped it up coarsely.  I was wondering if this would water down the soup too much because of the liquid-y tomato ‘meat,’ but it didn’t.  And I don’t understand the need to peel a tomato as this recipe calls for (and have no idea how to do it effectively – if anyone has a good method I’d love to hear from you). 

My eyes popped when I read the step about pureeing peanut butter with a cup of milk!  Wow, that’s a new one for soup…and in general!

Now, a few months ago I ranted about my small appliances kitchen battle.  My large Cuisinart food processor became useless as the lid would no longer latch onto the workbowl properly.  I ended up ordering a new lid and pusher assembly thingy online and last night was the time to test if it worked.  Thankfully, I’m occasionally pretty resourceful and I tested the food processor before putting the peanut butter and milk in it.

No dice.  Fuck! I STILL could not get the new lid (which has a slightly different type of plastic latch attached from the old one) to latch onto the damn workbowl!  I guess I should have ordered a replacement workbowl too.  If the parts don’t engage and lock perfectly, the appliance won’t run.  And I guess that’s a good thing for safety with those super sharp blades.  Grumble grumble…so now the nice people at Cuisinart will be sending me a new workbowl.  Now I’ve spent $100 on spare food processor parts, which is a little less than half the cost of a brand new one.  Will it be worth it?  Will the damn thing work again when the new bowl arrives?  Stay tuned.

Thankfully my smaller mini Cuisinart was large enough to puree the peanut butter and milk. 

Now, as I was getting underway heating the oil and paprika and adding the vegetables I glanced at the recipe again.  I’d plopped a beautiful tablespoon of paprika into the sauce pan and was mixing away…what a heavenly aroma…

…only to realize the recipe called for one TEASPOON of paprika, not a tablespoon.  And yep folks, there are 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon.  Fuck again!!

At this point I just thought screw it, I’m not going to mess with trying to remove some of the paprika out.  I just went for it and added the rest of the ingredients – in the correct amounts.  Thankfully the paprika did not overwhelm the soup.  The other spices are a nice counterbalance.

Here’s the author’s introduction to the recipe: “This is one of the oldest soups made in South America, dating back to the time of the Inca Empire.  After the conquest, pork and seasonings were added to it.  It is absolutely superb – full of wonderful flavors and nutrition.”

And in my version, a nice dose of paprika! 

Buon appetito!

Ceviche!

02 Sunday Sep 2012

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Woweee….here we are in September already!  And it’s a long Labor Day weekend, which is turning out un-laborious for me with a change in plans.  L and I were going to get back at the popcorn ceiling removal project here in the townhouse, but he’s landed some new business and needed to do some work before heading out of town later this week.  I reminded him how *happy* I will be when we are finished and that we’d made a goal to finish in September, hint hint.  September is pretty decent weather-wise, but October and onward is a crap shoot downhill.  Meaning, this ceiling scraping work (and the priming and painting we still need to do) requires you to keep the windows open for ventilation and in rainy weather that’s not a good idea.  And I’d really, really like my tub back; it’s full of pillows and knick knacks from the bedrooms as I’ve had an ongoing shell game upstairs here moving stuff out of the way depending on where we’re working.  I do have a separate shower in another bathroom, but I’m craving a good soak in the tub.

Oh and what was the deal with the water leaking under my sink from last week?  My plumber, R, came by on Friday (whew, he wasn’t out of town!) and turns out I just need a new garbage disposal!  A small hole had rusted through it on the far side.  He’s going to replace it for me later this week – what a relief to know what the problem is, and that it’s not a major repair job!  I REALLY let that drag me down once I discovered that moldy puddle of water under my sink the other night, ugh.  I know I shouldn’t be so hard on myself, but that’s the DNA hard at work.

I had a major, major seafood craving yesterday – guess it’s been awhile since I’ve grabbed sushi for lunch or sautéed a little shrimp for my pasta at dinner.  And I thought, why not CEVICHE?  I haven’t made it in ages, and it will be a fun, cross-hemisphere toast to my friends P and B who are enjoying a fabulous Bucket List adventure visiting Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands and later into Peru to see Macchu Picchu!  Follow along with incredible stories and pictures here! 

So whether you spell it cebiche, seviche or ceviche, it’s a relatively easy and SUPER flavorful, healthy dish!  The only catch is to allow a few hours for marinating in your fridge. You can prepare it as an hors d’oeuvre or first course or enjoy it as a main course.  Say it with me now….”seh VEE chay.”  [Note that entradas, or first courses, are essential in authentic South American cooking.]

Ceviche is fish or seafood “cooked” by citrus juice.  Lemon, lime and orange juices are most typically used, but more recently passion fruit and tamarillos are sometimes used as the base for the marinade.  Maria Baez Kijac, author of The South American Table describes it this way: 

“Cebiches can be made with just about any type of seafood – fish, shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, squid, langostinos or lobster.  They can also be made with chicken, duck, mushrooms, hearts of palm, lupini beans, avocados, broccoli and so on.  The common demoninator among the countries that prepare them is the lemon and lime juices used as the basis for the marinade.  The fish is ‘cooked’ by the acid in the marinade.  Depending on the type of fish and the thickness of the pieces, this ‘cooking’ takes anywhere from three to six hours, until the fish is opaque.  Shellfish is usually cooked or blanched first before adding it to the marinade.”

Kijac’s cookbook contains SIXTEEN different ceviche recipes – this is heavenly reading for sure!  I chose a shellfish recipe – Cebiche Mixto.  As Kijac explains, “this is classic cebiche from the coast of Ecuador and has become a favorite of the highlands as well.  It can be made with fish (cebiche de pescado), just shrimp (cebiche de camarones), or any mixture of shellfish (cebiche mixto).  It is wonderfully refreshing and light, ideal for the hot-weather months.  This type of cebiche is served with a variety of side dishes, such as tostado (toasted dried corn), popcorn, chifles (green plantain chips), and sometimes French bread.”

“Cebiche Mixto usually contains shrimp, assorted shellfish and sometimes fish.  If you order cebiche mixto in a restaurant, expect to get squid and octopus in the dish.”

Cebiche Mixto – Serves 6

  • 4 C water
  • 1 scallion (white part and one inch of the green), sliced
  • 1 pound medium-sized shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1/2 pound bay scallops, thoroughly rinsed
  • 1/4 C dry white wine
  • 1 pound mussels, scrubbed and debearded
  • 16 baby clams (optional)

Marinade:

  • 1/3 C fresh lemon juice
  • 1/3 C fresh lime juice
  • 2/3 C fresh orange juice
  • 1/2 C chicken broth
  • 1 T extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • hot pepper sauce to taste (I used 1 T cayenne pepper sauce)

Garnishes

  • 1 medium-sized ripe but firm tomato (5-6 ounces), peeled, seeded and chopped
  • 1 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup), rinsed with hot water and drained
  • 2 T minced fresh cilantro leaves
  • 2 T minced fresh parsley leaves

In a large saucepan, bring the water and scallion to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the shrimp, remove from heat and let stand for a few seconds until the shrimp turn pink.  Remove with a slotted spoon (reserving the cooking liquid) and rinse under cold running water (rinsing will prevent the shrimp from becoming rubbery).

To the cooking liquid in the saucepan, add the scallops.  Bring back to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let stand for 3 minutes depending on the size of the scallops.  Cut a scallop in half to see if it is cooked through (it should be milky white in the center).  If so, drain and rinse under cold running water.

Place the wine, mussels and clams (if using) in a large skillet and bring to a boil over high heat.  Cover and let continue to boil until the shells are open, 3 to 5 minutes.  Discard any clams or mussels that do not open.  Remove the clams and mussels from their shells and discard the shells.

To make the marinade, combine all the ingredients in a large glass bowl.  Stir in the shrimp, scallops, mussels and clams.  Mix well, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Right before serving, taste for salt, sugar and hot pepper sauce.  Serve in small glass bowls or stemmed glasses, each garnished in the center with 1 tsp each chopped tomato, bell pepper, onion, cilantro and parsley.  Serve with the side dishes.

Fivenineteen notes:  I purchased pre-cooked shrimp, but I still went through the motions of adding it to the cooking liquid; I just didn’t let it sit too long given it was already cooked.  It turned out great – the shrimp were flavorful, tender and not too tough.  I substituted a red bell pepper for a green one (green bell peppers are not my thing).  For the tomato, I chose an organic heirloom tomato and did not peel it. I used a small, yellow sweet onion.  I also prefer the flat, Italian leaf parsley rather than the curly style.

Side dish?  I had a small bag of Basmati rice staring at me on the kitchen counter and served it with that instead.  That’s not authentic, but practicality won out.  I put the leftover cilantro and parsley in glasses with a little water to see if they will last a little longer this way, rather than in the ventilated Tupperware in the fridge.

The colors and flavors of this recipe are fantastic – and I can’t WAIT to savor the leftovers tonight! 

Buon appetito!

Even More Soup! Fish Chowder with Fresh Fava Beans

23 Saturday Jun 2012

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…OK, I admit right off the bat I didn’t use Fava beans in my version (*ducks behind the sofa*), but this still is some GOOD STUFF in a bowl.  And I smile and remember my hilarious (and Danish) co-worker’s Facebook comment that I’m turning into the “Soup Master.”  Well, I humbly am not but I appreciate her compliment and humor (she’s a great friend too).  I am just a (middle-aged) girl in the Seattle suburbs with a passion for making soups from scratch.  Just executing/attempting on other’s recipes and not coming up with my own, save for what I ad lib and substitute where needed.  And having a blast along the way.

Today (Saturday) was one of those days where a big batch of soup was the perfect antidote to a tough end of the week.  I’ll save the recap for tomorrow’s post, however.  It did involve an extremely rainy day and a change into illegal, ripped-up leggings once I got home, just as a preview.

Let’s get down to the good stuff:  Chupe de Pescado con Habas Verdes (Fish chowder with fresh Fava beans)  Serves 6.

  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground annatto or sweet paprika
  • 1 medium-sized onion, minced (about 1 cup)
  • 3 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp white pepper
  • 2 medium-sized ripe but firm tomatoes (about 10 oz), peeled, seeded and chopped
  • 1 T tomato paste
  • 1 T fresh mirasol pepper puree, store-bought or homemade
  • 2 T plus 1/4 C minced fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano, crumbled
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp sugar
  • 3 C fish stock or chicken broth
  • 1/4 C long-grain rice
  • 4 medium-sized all-purpose potatoes, peeled and sliced 1″ thick
  • 1 1/2 lb firm white-fleshed fish fillets such as sea bass, monkfish, catfish or halibut, cut into 6 pieces
  • 3/4 C shelled fava beans, blanched and peeled, or fresh peas
  • 2 ears corn, each cut into 3 pieces, or 1 C fresh corn kernels
  • 5 oz fresh goat cheese
  • 1 C milk, or more if needed
  • 1 large egg (optional), lightly beaten
  • 8 oz large shrimp, peeled and deveined

In a large, heavy saucepan (I used a 6-quart Calphalon pan, wider than it’s tall), heat the oil over medium heat. Stir in the annatto/paprika, onion, garlic paste, tomatoes, tomato paste, pepper puree, 2 T of the cilantro, oregano, cumin and sugar.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have softened and the mixture is like a thick sauce, about 20 minutes.  Add a little water while the tomatoes are cooking if the mixture begins to get dry.  Add the fish stock and simmer for 15 minutes.  The soup can be prepared ahead up to this point.  Let cool, cover and refrigerate up to overnight.

To finish, bring the soup back to a boil, add the rice and potatoes, and cook for 15 minutes.  Add the fish, fava beans and corn and simmer for 8 minutes.  Add the cheese and milk and cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese has melted and the milk has heated through.  The soup should have the consistency of heavy cream; add more milk or water if it is too thick. (Keep in mind that potato-based soups thicken as they stand.) Taste for salt and white pepper.  If using the egg, add in a stream and stir until it forms strands.  Just before serving, stir in the shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes, until they turn pink and begin to curl.

To serve, in each soup plate place 1 piece of fish, a couple of shrimp, 3 or 4 potato slices, and 1 piece of corn (if using ears of corn). Ladle the chowder over these, sprinkle each plate with some of the remaining 1/4 C cilantro, and serve immediately.

Fivenineteen notes:  Wow, this is a delicious chowder!  And while I like to first make new recipes exactly as they’re written, I took a few liberties right off the bat with this one due to – admittedly – some laziness.

I could not find Fava beans at my nearby QFC (grocery store).  So I decided to just go with the frozen peas I knew I had in the freezer and let them thaw out a bit before adding to the chowder. 

I used 3 potatoes instead of 4.  For some reason, the 4th one I peeled tonight to get sliced up was an oddly weird and pale shade and full of too many moldy spots after peeling.  Just a flukey thing, so into the trash it went.  I figured it was worth the risk of too few potatoes versus having one that was not up to par.

The Mirasaol pepper puree?  I didn’t feel like making it from scratch (maybe I’m still gun shy thanks to my leaky blender, heh)  and could not find it in the grocery store either.  I’d decided to substitute my favorite hot cayenne pepper sauce made by Trappeys.  But I’m glad I picked up a backup plan of a hot Mexican hot sauce at the grocery store just in case, because when I got home, I noticed my trusty bottle of Trappey’s was near-empty and greyish red.  Not the happy, vibrant color it usually is.  I took a tiny taste of it on my finger and yep, it’s gone stale.  It’s great stuff and I’ve placed an online order to get restocked meanwhile, as it’s no longer at my nearby QFC.  Be SURE to find a good, hot cayenne or Habanero pepper sauce for this chowder if you are opting not to make the Mirasol pepper puree from scratch!

The aroma of this chowder is heavenly.  And I opted for a seafood stock (rather than using chicken broth) from Bar Harbor Foods.  I appreciated that it was all-natural…and at over $4.00 for a 2-cup can it better be great, right?  I needed 2 cans to get 3 cups of stock for the recipe. (and it was fantastic, by the way).

Given I splurged a bit on the stock, I opted to choose the local store brand version of basmati (long-grain) rice, rather than the pricier Texmati brand I’ve used prior.  I don’t have a lot of rice typically in my pantry save for the type suited for risotto.

And…I chose sole fillets for the fish.  I was surprised at how they broke up into tiny pieces after adding to the chowder, even after cutting into large pieces and stirring gently.  I’m not sure if that’s because they were sole (vs. another type of white fish) or not. 

I breathed a sigh of relief when it was time to add the cheese and milk to the chowder.  The recipe was turning into more like a super thick stew at this point than a soup/chowder in the making.  I was sooo tempted to add more water or a splash of stock or white wine meanwhile, but I’m glad I didn’t.

I sliced the potatoes less than an inch thick.  And as they were cooking I ended up cutting them with my stirring spatula into smaller pieces.  I like the idea of adding slices to each soup plate for serving, but in my case they were not cooking through thoroughly in thick slices.

And…the cheese.  Either I spaced it or the grocery store did not have goat cheese (Chevre), so I sprung for some gorgonzola.  This actually added a nice tang and punch to the chowder without overpowering it.

Here’s the author’s notes on this recipe: “There is nothing better than a bowl of chupe on a cold winter night.  I especially like this variation from Peru because it is flavored with hot peppers and, instead of peas, it uses fava beans.  This chowder can be made with either fish or shrimp, or a mixture of both.  Peruvians always add eggs before serving.  They either stir in the lightly beaten eggs or put one poached egg in each soup plate and pour the soup on top.  This is a hearty soup that can be used as a main course for a light supper.”

Buon appetito!

From The South American Table, by Maria Baez Kijac.

Small Appliances 2; fivenineteen 1/2

18 Monday Jun 2012

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No, not quite a zero because my plan B small appliance worked…but…oh anyway let me back up here a minute.

What was going to be a relaxing afternoon of cooking to top off a wonderful 4-day weekend (wow, I love my job, but I really needed a little time off!) turned into a brow-furrowing series of setbacks and challenges.  But sometimes that happens with cooking, right?  And trying new recipes?  Sometimes it doesn’t go so great.  BUT the end result…an intriguing, delicious new big bowl of soup for a late lunch…and leftovers for later!

Here are a few ingredients for this latest soup creation in the picture.  That’s a bunch of cilantro on the far right – yum!  What was missing?  My chicken broth (in the fridge), a 1/2 lb of shrimp (safely tucked in the fridge too)…and…an onion.  Which was nowhere to be found.  Ew…all I had was half of a leftover onion in a Tupperware in the back of the fridge, covered in mold.  To the trash it goes! 

So I had to go back to a grocery store AGAIN for just onions.  Earlier this morning I made a run to our local Metropolitan Market.  How I ADORE this grocery store!  Everything is absolutely exquisite all the time.  The place pulses with happiness…and some of the friendliest workers I’ve ever encountered.  So helpful!  I picked up the fresh shrimp this morning, wrapped up and handed to me over the counter with a big smile from the seafood guy, and even found that darn ol’ Lapang Souchong tea I was grumbling about for the marinade for yesterday’s food experiment.  Aha!  And I swung by the cheese section and tried a sample of a mouth-watering English cheddar with mustard seeds.  Amazing.  But when I got home and realized I didn’t have any onions, I just made a quick hop to the Albertson’s down the street from me.  They’re a foolproof store for cheap basics, not specialty items. 

I carefully read the recipe all the way through like the good budding amateur chef I strive to be.  I knew the soup base would be an onion, garlic and tomato puree, and for that I’d need to go grab the big Cuisinart off the top shelf in my pantry.  For some reason I decided to make sure it was working properly before I started putting chopped food in it.  And I’m so glad I did.

I could NOT get the upper lid and feed tube section to latch on properly to the main bowl. So obviously it wouldn’t run, for safety reasons.  This was killing me!  My beloved Cuisinart…I’ve had her probably 15 or more years. I don’t use it all the time, but when you need one, you need one.  It looks like there is a tiny plastic piece that should engage with the bowl to lock it that is slightly bent or warped.  It probably got bent or warped in the dishwasher (note to self…hand wash Cuisinart parts from now on).  ARGH.  I am hoping the nice people at Cuisinart will be able to provide some spare parts online; I would hate to have to drop major bucks on a new one for something as small as a tiny, bent plastic part!

So I was relieved I’d discovered this problem before filling the bowl with the ingredients.  On to Plan B…the (Cuisinart) stainless steel blender. 

Which leaks.  I have no freaking idea why but this has been a constant problem too.  Not a lot, but just enough to be annoying, no matter how tightly I screw on the blender to the base.  I know to keep a spare towel nearby when I’m done blending.

But, on the good side, the blender was working so I was able to make this soup and savor a bowl this afternoon.  This is probably the most unusual combination of ingredients (coconut milk and Worcestershire sauce? Combined?) and preparation method, which made it so intriguing.

Crema de Coco con Camarones (cream of coconut soup with shrimp).  Serves 4

  • 1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
  • 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 medium-sized ripe but firm tomato (5-6 oz), chopped
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 8 oz medium-sized shrimp, peeled, deveined and halved
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp dry mustard
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup well-stirred canned, unsweetened coconut milk
  • 2 T cornstarch or potato starch, mixed with 1/4 cup cold water
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 thin lemon slices for garnish
  • Minced fresh mint and cilantro leaves for garnish

Place the onion, garlic and tomato in a blender or food processor and process until smooth, adding a bit of the chicken broth.  Add the rest of the chicken broth and process for a few seconds until the mixture is smooth.  Pass the puree through a medium-mesh sieve.  Put half of the shrimp in a blender or food processor and process until smooth, adding a bit of the chicken broth puree as necessary.

In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the remaining chicken broth puree and the shrimp puree and mix well.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the Worcestershire, dry mustard, cayenne and the coconut milk and bring back to a boil.  Stir in the cornstarch mixture and simmer until thickened, stirring constantly.  Add the rest of the shrimp and cook until the shrimp turn pink and begin to curl, about 1 minute.  Add salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve in soup bowls, garnished with a lemon slice and the mint and cilantro.

Fivenineteen notes:  Don’t freak out about the coconut milk if you’re not a coconut fan.  This is not sweet like the shredded coconut you see on desserts.  It’s a rich, savory and nutritious compliment to the shrimp – the flavors combined are incredible (and it won’t taste “coconut-y,” trust me).  I would add more than a pinch of cayenne pepper – I prefer my soups a bit spicy.   It also seemed a bit of a shame that so much of that chicken stock used in the pureeing process went down the drain after straining through the sieve. I’m not sure why so much was needed – perhaps to infuse the puree with chicken flavor?  Next time I will use cheaper, canned stock rather than my pricier organic stock for this purpose.  I also put a tiny touch of olive oil in my saucepan after heating it, before adding the puree.  It just ‘feels’ better to me when there is a bit of olive oil in a soup recipe (or just about anything else actually).  I also purchased pre-cooked shrimp so they did not require much cooking time to heat through.  If you do this, do not overcook the shrimp as they will get tough.  This is a rich and filling soup…enjoy!

Here’s the author’s description: “There are many versions of shrimp soup throughout South America.  Where there was a large concentration of Africans, such as on the coast of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and northern Brazil, this soup was made with coconut milk, as in this version.”

Buon appetito!

From The South American Table, by Maria Baez Kijac.

A (Memorial) Soup Bender Weekend! Learning About Quinoa…

28 Monday May 2012

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After yesterday’s amazing discovery of a Chilean fish soup I woke up today excited.  And motivated.  Grinning.  Sure it was (is) a sleepy, relaxed Memorial Day, but I felt compelled to do more soup cooking…and to uncover more treasures in this marvelous cookbook – The South American Table!

What did I have to lose?  The leftover fish soup was slowly getting devoured…I had two bowls of it last night (grin) and will likely have another tonight as well.  So deliciously satisfying…without that bloated feeling of “oh man, I ate WAY too much.”

I thought it would be fun to try a vegetarian soup from this cookbook.  While I’m not a vegetarian, I don’t eat meat every day – I just don’t think it’s necessary to do so.  I love trying different alternatives, although I tend to lapse into a pasta-and-pesto dinner habit when I’m not eating meat or too lazy to cook some.

I raved about this cookbook in my last post; there are 450 recipes – 26 of which are soups…and 9 of those are meatless (sopas sin carne)!  Wow!  I definitely have the gazpacho on my list for when the weather gets warmer.   Today this one stole my heart (and my taste buds) and was educational as well.  And, in my typical fashion, another driver to try out a new recipe is to use up something in my pantry or fridge that needs using up!  In this case it was eggs, milk and quinoa.

[Side note:  my version was not truly vegetarian as I opted to use chicken stock, but you can also substitute water or vegetable stock if you prefer]

Chupe de Quinua (Quinoa chowder).  Serves 4 

  • 2 T butter or olive oil
  • 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped (about 1 Cup)
  • 2 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 4 C boiling water or chicken or vegetable broth
  • 2 C cooked quinoa
  • 1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
  • 1 C milk
  • 1 C fresh or frozen corn kernels
  • 1/2 C fresh or frozen peas, or shelled fava beans, blanched and peeled
  • 4 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
  • minced fresh mint and cilantro leaves, for garnish
  • 1 ripe but firm Hass avocado (optional), peeled, pitted and diced 1/4″ thick for garnish

In a heavy 4-quart saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, without letting it color.  Stir in the garlic paste, cumin, paprika and red pepper flakes (if using) and cook for 1 minute.  Add the water (or stock), quinoa and potatoes and simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.  Add the milk, corn and peas and simmer 5 minutes.  Add the cheese and eggs and cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese is melted and the eggs have set.

Serve hot, garnished with the mint and cilantro leaves and avocado, if using.

Fivenineteen notes:  Here’s the author’s delightful introduction to this recipe (she does this for each and every one…love it!)  ” Chowders are everyday items on the tables of the Andean Peoples.  These chowders can be as simple as a combination of squash, wheat or quinoa with potatoes, or they may also include meat or fish.  In Bolivia, beef or lamb is used as well as the dried potatoes called chuno or tunta. The basic seasoning is fairly standard in all the Andean countries, except that in Peru and Bolivia hot ground peppers are added to the sofrito.  (Sofrito is the universal South American seasoning. Its base is always onion, but can include, as it does here, garlic, hot peppers and other flavor elements.)  This is a GREAT soup for vegetarians.”

One of the challenges with this soup was timing.  I noticed that the recipe called for adding stock (or water) already boiling to the ingredients as they cooked, rather than adding it cold and bringing it to a boil.  In the interest of being efficient with time (and the number of pots to wash after cooking) I opted to cook the quinoa first, start the soup cooking in a separate pot and then wash the quinoa pan and boil the stock in it and let the quinoa drain in a colander in the sink.  Voila, only two pots to wash.

The flavors of this chowder were a lot milder than I expected.  Maybe it’s just my preference for spicier soups.  Then I realized I’d made about 50% more quinoa than the recipe called for – too funny!  I’d cooked 1 C dried quinoa, thinking it would make about 2 cups total and neglected to use a measuring cup – yikes.  Turns out 1 C dried quinoa is a little over 3 cups when it’s cooked.

Not to worry, as I’ll definitely add more spices to each serving as I savor the leftovers…it’s a lot easier to add more than try to “water down” a too-spicy meal.

Enjoy!

The World in a Bowl…or the Joy of Soup

27 Sunday May 2012

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I’ve been in deep, gooey love with soup since, well, as long as I can remember.  Back in the day as a kid my Mom served up good ol’ Campbell’s canned soup for lunch quite a bit – chicken noodle, tomato, split pea – and I braved those awful MSG-laden headaches in the aftermath every time.

And I have wonderful memories of digging razor clams with my family at our summer house on the Long Beach peninsula (in Ocean Park, WA).  Mom and Grandma would make clam chowder from scratch…and those clams couldn’t have been any fresher!  I remember putting buckets and buckets of clams down in the beach house basement, covered in cold salt water.  The clams would “clean” themselves (meaning, get rid of a lot of the sand and debris on their own), saving a little time when it came to make the chowder.  I devoured bowls of it I’m sure.  I can still taste it as I write today.  [Side note:  a sign of a great clam chowder is one that’s heavy on the clams, not the ‘filler’ stuff like potatoes.]

Every once in awhile Mom would whip up a huge pot of Cioppino or Bouillabaisse.  I’d come home to those heavenly scents of seafoods and spices simmering joyously in the kitchen…such a luxurious treat! 

Today, cooking soup from scratch is one of my passions.  Save for a few very heavy stew-like soups, I love making hot soup year ’round.  Sure, a nice, cool gazpacho (with a tiny touch of hot sauce) is a perfect, light dinner in warm weather, but hot, spicy soup – interestingly enough – helps me cool down when the temperatures climb.  We don’t have to worry too much about super hot weather in the Seattle area actually.  And I guess what you consider to be “hot weather” is all relative.

It was time to blow the dust off a cookbook I have not used in quite some time, and as I stared at the row of cookbooks on my kitchen counter, this one jumped right out in a ‘pick me, pick me’ fashion:  The South American Table, by Maria Baez Kijac.  This is much, much more than a cookbook.  It’s pretty much a short history of the continent – its mind-blowing diversity of climate and cultures.  And if you’re a geography buff like I am, the introductory chapters of this book will sing to you.

The continent is far larger and more diverse than many of us might imagine.  As Kijac explains, “…it is also farther east than most think – the west coast of South America actually lies almost due south of the U.S. East Coast.  Chile’s Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth, with some parts going as long as 20 years without rain.  On the other hand, Choco, in western Colombia, has some of the world’s wettest weather.  Patagonia, in southern Argentina, has glaciers and snowy, wind-swept peaks, while the Amazon region is famous for its lush, tropical rain forest.  The Andes, one of the planet’s great mountain ranges, are mostly volcanic.”

From the northern regions on the Caribbean sea, to the far south along the icy waters surrounding Antarctica, the diversity of this continent is astonishing!  And this has tremendous impact upon plants, animals, civilizations and cuisine in every region. 

As you might imagine, it was hard to pick just one new recipe to try.  There are 26 recipes in just the soup section alone!  I hit the jackpot with this one…Caldillo de Congrio a la Neruda (Neruda’s Fish soup).

Serves 6 to 8 (requires some pre-preparation and marinating)

  • 2 pounds Chilean congrio filets (1 1/2 – 2″ thick) or other firm white-fleshed fish such as Chilean sea bass, red snapper or halibut
  • Juice of one lemon
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 medium-sized onions, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • 3 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 small carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal
  • 1 4 oz jar pimento strips, drained
  • 1 T chicken bouillon granules
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Pinch of sugar
  • 1 tsp dried marjoram
  • 1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce or cayenne pepper
  • 1 16 oz can pear-shaped tomatoes, drained and chopped
  • 1 C dry white wine or dry sherry
  • 3 C water
  • 1 C milk
  • 6 medium-sized all-purpose potatoes, peeled, quartered and cooked in water to cover until tender, and drained
  • 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1/2 C whipping cream (optional)
  • 1/4 C minced fresh parsley leaves for garnish
  • 1/4 C finely chopped scallions (white part and 1″ of green) for garnish

Cut the fish filets into 2 to 3″ pieces.  Sprinkle with the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. 

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large casserole over low heat.  Add the onions and paprika, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes.  Do not let brown.  Stir in the garlic paste, carrots, pimentos, bouillon, bay leaf, sugar, marjoram and hot pepper sauce and cook, stirring constantly, for a couple of minutes.  Add the tomatoes, wine and water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaf.  The soup base can be made ahead up to this point.  Let cool, cover and refrigerate until needed.

To finish, bring the soup to a boil over medium heat and add the milk, fish and potatoes.  Cover and simmer until the fish is cooked through, about 8 minutes.  Just before serving, add the shrimp and cook until they turn pink and begin to uncurl, about 1 minute.  Add cream, if using, and heat through.  Taste for salt, pepper and sugar.

Serve in soup plates, sprinkled with parsley and scallions.

Fivenineteen notes:  There is a fair amount of prep work with chopping and peeling.  Please don’t be discouraged by this; the flavors in this soup are mind-blowing.  I opted to first cut up the fish and put it in a large, glass Pyrex bowl to marinate while I prepped the rest of the ingredients.  I quartered a lemon, squeezed each onto the fish pieces, sprinkled a little salt and pepper on them and covered and placed in the fridge.

Congrio is an indigenous fish from the coast of Chile.  Sadly it is not available in the States, but a Chilean sea bass, red snapper or halibut are good substitutes.  At the grocery store, the halibut was $17/lb…and the cod filets were $9/lb.  Given I needed 2 lbs, I opted for the cod and it turned out great.

As I often post in here about spices, it’s extremely important your dried spices are pungent.  Do the smell test prior to adding to your cooking – actually before you go grocery shopping.  If they’re not pungent, throw them out and get replacements.  I cannot emphasize this enough!  Don’t sabotage the true essence of all of your recipe’s flavors by thwarting it with old, wimpy spices!

Tomatoes:  I used a 14.5 oz can of pre-chopped tomatoes instead of purchasing canned pear tomatoes and chopping them myself.  Given there was a lot of other chopping and peeling with this recipe it was a nice timesaver.  Be sure to drain the tomatoes in a small strainer to remove excess liquid (same with the pimentoes too).  Shake the strainer several times to make sure you squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

Potatoes:  the recipe calls for 6; I opted to go with 3 medium to large size.  I cut them into smaller pieces (rather than just quartering) before putting in water to cook slightly.  If you are truly making this to serve 6 to 8 I would probably stick with the full amount of 6 potatoes.

Adding whipping cream:  this is a completely optional step.  I chose to do so to give the broth more of a chowder-y feel, a bit richer than the fish broth on its own.  Either way, the flavors are incredible.

The author always includes a couple of introductory paragraphs describing each recipe – personal memories, or interesting facts about the region each dish comes from.   I am so impressed with this cookbook – you can tell the author has poured her heart and soul into every single page.  Fantastic!

She explains:  “This famous Chilean soup was immortalized by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, well-known for his love of good food and a ‘happy table.’  In his poem ‘Oda al Caldillo de Congrio’ (Ode to Congrio Soup), he sings the praises of this delicious soup.  The just-married flavors of the earth and sea come to the table so that some lucky people can be introduced to heaven…”

Yep, that’s how good it is.  Enjoy!