Thanks to all the participants in this years WOW retreat at Quaker Lake Camp. We hope you enjoyed the food and classes. Below are recipes from the 3 classes, and by request the recipe for the kale from Saturday night's dinner. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.
5 Soups in 30 Minutes
Stocks discussed in the class: Chicken Stock(from Epicurious) Don't stress if you don't have all the ingredients. The key things are chicken parts, and onions. If you don't have time to make you're own stock we offer a frozen chicken stock made from entirely from local ingredients. Contact us for details.
Garlic Stock(from Epicurious) You can get by on less garlic. One large head would work fine.
Other stocks not discussed in the class: Simple Homemade Beef Stock (from Epicurious) A little thyme would be a nice addition here Vegetable Stock(from Epicurious) This is only a suggestion. Feel free to improvise with what ingredients you have on hand.
Soups: Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup (from Epicurious) If possible don't skimp on the sausage. We have been unable to find linguiça locally, but you can get good imported Spanish Chorizo. In Greensboro you can find it at Earth Fare and the Jerusalem Market. Mexican Chorizo won't have all the paprika, and will not function as well in this dish. Grandma's Potato Soup 1 tbsp butter
1 medium onion diced
4-5 medium sized red potatoes (about 1 pound) diced in small
6 cups of garlic, vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup (approx.) of heavy cream, half and half or milk
-Melt butter in large sauce pan over medium heat.
-Add diced onions, salt and pepper to taste, and cook stirring frequently until they have softened but not browned. If onions begin to brown turn down heat and add a tablespoon of water.
-Add potatoes to sauce pan and cook for a minutes until some of the starches have released.
-Add stock to pan and bring to a boil.
-Reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, falling apart when pierced with a fork
.-Start by adding about a half of the cream, half and half or milk and puree to desired consistency with an immersion blender.
-If the soup is to thick add more cream, stock, or water. If the soup is to watery, you can thicken to some degree by simmering it longer.
-Taste for salt and pepper and serve.
Cream of Cauliflower Soup This recipe works exactly the same as cream of potato soup, with a head of cauliflower substituting for the above potatoes.
Onion, Garlic, Rosemary and Red Wine This recipe is a take off from Scott Conant's Puree of Caramelized Onion with Rosemary from his book New Italian Cooking. We've substituted garlic stock for chicken stock, and added red wine at the end which makes a really meaty tasting but totally vegan soup. 1/4 olive oil
2 large spanish onions chopped large
2 large red onions chopped large
1 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
1 cup of red wine
6 cups of garlic stock
-Heat olive oil over medium heat then add onions, salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until deeply browned. If onions begin to burn add a little water, and reduce heat. It's OK to cook the onions a long time 1-2 hours, as long as they are not burning. At the very least cook for 30-40 minutes.
-Toward the last minutes of onion cooking add red pepper flakes and rosemary.
-Once onions reach the desired color, add one cup of red wine, and raise the heat to medium high. Cooks off all the wine liquid leaving the onions a purplish red color.
-Add garlic stock and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for about 10 minutes.
-Puree with an immersion blender, check seasoning and serve.
Leftover Soup Remember one of the best soups of the class was made with a hash of sweet and red potatoes, and breakfast sausage leftover from that mornings breakfast. A pretty clear message that many leftovers heated up in a little nice stock can make a nice soup! Just experiment! What's the worse thing that can happen????
In the class we topped the pizzas with caramelized onions and gorgonzola cheese. When we taught the class in the summer time we topped the pizzas with sliced Cherokee Purple tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil and fleur de sel (French Sea Salt).
It's fun to adjust your toppings to what's in season. Here's a few more ideas:
Bacon, Asparagus, and Goat Cheese (from chow.com)
Potatoes and Rosemary (from Epicurious)
Post Modern Banana Pudding 2 Bananas
1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Cups Heavy Cream
3 Tbsps Powdered Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
20 Gingersnaps
4 Tbsp of honey (or to taste)
Best served in transparent glass or coffee cup.
(serves 4)
Whipping Cream:
- Place heavy cream in a large bowl. Preferably metal, and chilled in the freezer.
-Whip cream with an electric hand mixer on high setting or with hand whisk until it reaches the soft peak stage. (Peaks are just beginning to hold and fall back into the bowl with in seconds). Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat to desired consistency. Set aside in the refrigerator.
Preparing Bananas:
-Peel Bananas and split in half end to end
-In a saute pan melt butter over medium high heat. As soon as bubbling slows down add bananas, and brown on each side.
- Remove bananas from pan and set aside.
Assembling the Dish:
Put a layer of broken ginger snap pieces in each glass, follow by a piece of banana, and then a layer of whipped cream.
Repeat the layering of ginger snaps, banana and whip cream (2 pieces of banana per dessert).
Finish with a sprinkling of ginger snap pieces, drizzle honey on top and serve immediately.
Balsamic and Red Wine Braised Kale 1-2 bunches of kale, large stems removed & chopped
(see below for two different takes on destemming kale)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil to cook with
1-2 knuckles of Tamarind
Red wine
1 TBSP. Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste -Over medium heat saute the kale,garlic, and tamarind in olive oil until the kale is well wilted.
-Add the Balsamic vinegar and cook until there is no more liquid.
-Pour the red wine over the kale and turn the heat off. Keep the pan on the burner and let the wine steam off. If you're using a gas stove you may have to turn heat on low to complete the process.
