More new recipes: Spicy kale chowder with andouille sausage; Cheddar-ham corn mini-muffins

I have been a bit entranced by kale, ever since a very delicious Tuscan kale salad tossed with freshly grated Parmesan and a lemony garlic-anchovy dressing was served as part of my brother- and sister-in-law's rehearsal dinner back in the autumn.

Since then, I have served kale several times in both salad - a version of the aforementioned kale salad, using Tuscan (aka lacinato / black / dinosaur) kale, unsurprisingly since it is one of my favorite salads of all time - and soup form. I love adding kale to Italian Wedding Soup (Lidia's version here) and to Portuguese Kale Soup (Emeril's version here).

Just to switch things up a bit, I am attempting Food & Wine's Spicy Kale Chowder with Andouille Sausage. It is simmering away on the stove, as I type. I've halved the original recipe (which apparently makes 12 servings - far too much soup for just the two of us), and have a few ideas in mind for further modifications. Here is what I would do:

Spicy Kale Chowder with Andouille Sausage
modified from Food & Wine recipe
(6 servings)

Ingredients:
1/8 C extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped half finely chopped, half diced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1/2 lb andouille sausage, 1/4" slices
1 (14.5oz) can peeled plum tomatoes, chopped, juices reserved
6 C low-sodium chicken broth
3/8 1/2 lb kale, coarsely chopped
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 - 1 tsp red pepper flakes (added for extra spice)

Heat olive oil over medium heat, add garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10-12 minutes. Add andouille sausage and ginger, and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and juices, bring to a boil, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add chicken broth, bring to a boil, and simmer for about 10 minutes. About 10 minutes before serving, add kale to simmering soup, return to a boil, and simmer until kale is tender, about 5-10 minutes. (I served with shredded mozzarella and grated Parmesan cheese on the side, to top soup as desired.)


And... I am planning to serve the soup with a few cheddar-ham corn mini-muffins, which were inspired by smitten kitchen's corniest corn muffins.

Cheddar-Ham Corn Mini-Muffins
(2 dozen mini-muffins)

Dry ingredients:
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C coarsely ground yellow cornmeal
3 2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder

Wet ingredients:
1/2 C buttermilk
1 1/2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
* 1/2 egg + 1/2 egg yolk

Add-ins:
1/2 C frozen corn, thawed
1/2 C sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 C diced deli ham (I used Boar's Head Lower-Sodium Ham)

* Because I modified this recipe to make half a batch, I had to play around with the egg amount. I whisked together 1 egg and 1 egg yolk, then massed the mixture on my kitchen scale. I massed and poured out half of the egg mixture to use and discarded the rest.

Preheat oven to 400. Prepare mini muffin pans with mini muffin liners, if desired, or grease each cup lightly.

Whisk together all dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Whisk together all wet ingredients in a large measuring cup. Gradually stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and mix until just combined - it's okay if the mixture is a little lumpy. Fold in corn, cheddar, and ham.

Divide among the 2 dozen mini muffin cups, about one heaping teaspoon per muffin. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 12-20 minutes. (I baked for about 15 minutes.)


I would try the muffin recipe with a different add-in combo: blue cheese and crispy bacon pieces, perhaps?

More new recipes: Broccoli-cheddar soup

First blog post on our new MacBook! It's been 14 years since I last used a Mac regularly, so it's taken a bit of getting used to, but I'm getting there.

My husband is perhaps the biggest fan of soups that I know. One of his very favorites is the broccoli-cheese soup from Panera, when it's on form. Since the soups at chain restaurants can be a bit inconsistent - delicious one day, salt lick the next - I decided to attempt my own version, using this cdkitchen recipe and this cheddar soup one from Cook's Illustrated as a starting point. And this is the resulting recipe.

Jieun's Panera-esque Broccoli-Cheddar Soup
(4 servings)

Ingredients
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, minced
1 small rib celery, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 C butter
1/4 C all-purpose flour
2 C half-and-half
2 C low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 lb fresh broccoli, roughly chopped / separated into small florets
1 C julienned carrots
salt & freshly grated pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Saute vegetables:
Heat 1 Tbsp butter over medium heat until foaming. Add chopped onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add carrot, celery, and garlic, and cook until fragrant. Set aside.

Make roux:
Add 1/4 C butter to pan and heat over medium heat until melted. Whisking constantly, gradually add flour. Cook, still whisking, over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stirring constantly, slowly add the half-and-half. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

Make soup:
Add the broccoli, carrots, and sautéed vegetable mixture. Cook over low heat until vegetables are tender, about 20-25 minutes. Pour about half of the soup mixture into the blender and puree, then return to soup. Heat over low heat until hot, and stir in the grated cheese, until well-blended. Stir in nutmeg, season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.

To reheat:
Heat gently over low heat, not allowing to return to a boil.

A few quick foodie things

It has been a very long time since the last time I added anything to the blog. I am properly ashamed of my laziness. It has, however, been quite a productive, busy half-year or so since last summer, and quite an eventful one too. 2011 was the year of the wedding - four? five? six? - along with my first trip to Vegas, followed almost immediately, alas, by the death and funeral of a very dear friend.

So Sansev, this food-focused blog post is dedicated to you, to the memory of the countless delightful meals you so lovingly prepared for your friends and family, and to the joy you brought to all of us - and to all of the lucky diners at the restaurants at which you chefed over the years. I miss and love you, dearly - and always will.

First up, a not-so-meatless-Monday dinner of udon noodle soup with mushrooms, broccoli, leeks, wilted spinach, and tofu in a garlicky beef broth (With a tiny bit of ribeye - for flavor. I also served pan-fried beef-pork potstickers on the side. What can I say, I'm not so good at cooking meatless dishes, to say nothing of entire meals. As G commented drily: "Well, you did serve goulash to a vegetarian, so..." ;o)


And next, little pasta purses filled with English pea, sauteed shallot, grated Parmesan smash, which was served in a lemon-garlic broth. [Recipe from epicurious.]


Then, a little bit of dessert: dark chocolate-bacon cupcakes with an easy chocolate buttercream and crisp bacon garnish. [Cupcake recipe here. Buttercream recipe here.]


And finally (for now)... A properly vegetarian meatless-Monday supper: spiced black bean crispy tacos with savoy cabbage slaw, quick-pickled onions, avocado slice, fresh cilantro, and goat cheese crumble. The tacos were inspired by a smitten kitchen recipe, though I made a few modifications.
(1) I heated the black beans over gentle heat with the cumin and a half-teaspoon or so of chili powder before smashing the mixture.
(2) I added a quarter of a medium red onion, thinly sliced, along with a few teaspoons of the pickling vinegar (recipe-instructions to follow) to the slaw, along with the juice from one lime.
(3) I substituted creamy goat cheese for the salty feta; just personal preference.
(4) I added sliced avocado, because why not? Also added a handful of fresh cilantro to each taco, because again, why not?
(5) I smeared a little bit of the black bean smash and a bit of goat cheese on the tortilla, topped with a little tangle of pickled onions, and then heated in a dry (no oil added) non-stick pan. Then I added the slaw, avocado, cilantro, and more pickled onions and goat cheese to the tacos.
(6) I like pickled things, so I quick-pickled half a thinly sliced red onion, like so: Heat 1/2 C red wine vinegar, 1/6 C sugar, pinch salt, and ~ 1/2 to 1 tsp red pepper flakes to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Pour vinegar mixture over sliced red onions and let cool to room temperature. (Use a heat-resistant container.)

Vitamin D yay! Primo not so yay

I just finished knitting and blocking my Vitamin D cardi. It's lovely. The pattern is fun, and the yarn, the Plucky Knitter's Primo fingering-weight, is a good match for the project.

BUT - this has been yet another instance in which the Primo skeins have come up short. According to my (pretty accurate) scale, 288 grams went into my VitaminD cardi (including all the loose ends that were woven in and snipped off), and a single gram remained, which means a total of 289 grams of yarn in three skeins, NOT the 303 grams listed on Ravelry.

If we were talking a gram or few, I wouldn't gripe. Grumble, yes, but not gripe. But - we're talking a discrepancy of 14 grams over the three skeins, which is pretty significant. And if it weren't the third time I'd run across the light skein issue with the Primo, I wouldn't be so bothered. And yes, for those of you who have asked, I did contact the dyer after the second incident. She did acknowledge my reporting the issue and promise to investigate and get back to me, but I haven't heard back since. I'll do my due diligence and fill her in on the latest, but I'd rather set my expectations low than risk being disappointed by the response.

Sad. Because otherwise, I really love the yarn itself; it feels nice, knits up nicely, and gives a good fabric.

Edited to add: That the talented, wonderful lady behind the lovely Plucky Knitter yarns contacted me to let me know that she and her supplier cleared up any confusion about the yarn mass/yardage issue. Thank you so very much, Sarah - you clearly care a great deal about your craft and your "fans."

P.S. More lessons

Additional lesson #1: I don't like starting off the week feeling as if I'm already behind - and exhausted to boot.

Additional lesson #2: I love my husband, and I want to knit things for him, but man! Knitting a man-sized sweater takes a lot more time, effort, and yarn than does knitting a me-sized sweater! Therefore, methinks G will get a new handknitted sweater at best every two to three years :oP

A family-centric birthday + lessons learned

Reverse order; let's start with the lessons learned.

During the six months of the knit-down-along, which officially ended with the month of April, I have (re)learned...
...that I can't help myself - I am a compulsive stasher, and
...that if it isn't yarn, it's likely to be something else.
...that I am generally easily enabled, but
...that my ability to resist temptation might be stronger than I had realized.
...that I am a very competitive person, and
...that knitting as part of a competitive endeavor - no matter how friendly - is not exactly pleasurable knitting; "I have to do it" knitting is more chore than fun.
...that the self-congratulatory feeling of proud accomplishment at having knitted out so many yards is temporary and fleeting,
...that I only really enjoyed the first 2/3 to 3/4 of the knitting, and
...that ultimately, I am left with a sadly-depleted stash.

Overall, I just feel great relief that the knit-down is OVER! I am now free to put my disposable income where it belongs - in my yarn stash *wink* In all seriousness, I like knowing that I have the option of (mostly) guilt-free stash enhancement, now that the KDAL is over. But I also am aware that I don't have to have every skein of yarn that catches my eye, and that I am indeed capable of resisting temptation.

As for my birthday... What a great birthday weekend so far! I got to spend Friday evening with my beloved family, first going to a concert at the Kennedy Center with my parents, sister, and husband (National Symphony Orchestra + Sarah Chang, violinist), and then indulging in a late-night supper in the lounge at Eventide. In pictures...

Experiments with whole wheat flour

Ever since I discovered G's willingness to eat breakfast if breakfast comprises a banana, the B household has rarely been without very, very ripe bananas. Accordingly, I make banana-chocolate chip muffins every couple of weeks, mashing up the ugly, brown-spotted, sometimes completely-brown bananas.

Today, I decided to swap in whole-wheat flour for some of the all-purpose flour I've been using. Instead of the usual 1 3/4 cup of AP, I used 1 C of AP and 3/4 C of WW. In about 18 minutes, we'll see how my experiment has worked out.

In other food news, I've discovered the perfect low-sodium lunch meat (Boar's Head Deluxe Roast Beef, which according to the website contains a mere 80mg of sodium per serving, and still manages to taste good), and the perfect homemade tomato soup recipe (it's from Cooks Illustrated's, shocker - Ultimate Cream of Tomato Tomato Soup).

Earlier in the week, I used my mom's bulgogi marinade recipe to concoct bulgogi burgers. The resulting burgers were pretty good, but I think I'll cut back on the salty (soy sauce, fish sauce) and sweet (sugar, honey) a bit.

KNIT down along

As a compulsive yarn-purchaser and -stasher participating in a knit down along, or KDAL, I'm in withdrawal, close to getting the shakes *wink*

However, I am also ridiculously proud of myself, because thanks to this competition, I have experienced the most knitting-productive few months of my knitting life. I've managed to knit many, many thousands of yards in various types of projects - including a sweater (close to finishing a second and working on a third), several lace shawls (including two enormous ones), and various smaller projects. Though I have given away some yarn, as is allowed under the official rules, the vast majority, lion's share of my yardage-out comes from knitted objects. And I'm proud of myself for that accomplishment. Whether I win this competition or not - I'm proud of the way I've played the game.