The Best Vegetable Soup I’ve Ever Tasted (That’s the name of the soup!)

Edna Staebler’s cookbook, Food That Really Schmecks, has been republished. In honor of this occasion, food bloggers are participating in an event called A Day That Really Schmecks. The bloggers will prepare a recipe or two from the book and blog about it. Jasmine of will post a line up of the blogged about recipes on Confessions of a Cardamom Addict on January 15, 2007.

Staebler was an award winning journalist and author. She recently passed away in 2006 at the age of 100. I’m certainly glad that it’s never too late to learn about her and her work.

From the title to its content of Mennonite Country Cooking recipes, I found Food That Really Schmecks appealing. As I read the book on the subway and at work, people who spotted the title made comments. The title alone was a conversation starter. I’m not sure what “schmecks” literally means, but I get the gist that it means something along the lines of “good, great, awesome…” that sort of thing. Anyone out there, please feel free to enlighten me.

I liked how the book is filled with recipes for seemingly everything – from Grape Wine to Milk Toast, sauces for vegetables, pickled eggs, cheese bread, porridge bread, Almond Macaroons, to Angel cake, Sponge cake and more. There are even recipes for candy! I also like that a measurement conversion table is located in the back. And if that’s not enough, there’s also a section entitled ‘A Variety of Things,’ where you can find recipes for sausages, cheese, and home remedies.

Interspersed throughout the book are Staebler’s stories about cooking Mennonites and her family, which I found entertaining. The book really packs a punch and has a lot to offer.

I decided to make the recipe entitled, ‘The Best Vegetable Soup I’ve Ever Tasted’ (another title I like). The ingredients are simple and the recipe uncomplicated.

I’m wondering, though, if there’s a typo in this recipe. ½ cup raw rice is mentioned twice. In any event, I only used the ½ cup rice measurement once and it worked out fine. The soup was light, yet filling.

Best of all, I like how Staebler encourages the reader not to take the recipes seriously but instead have fun with them. “Experiment, improvise, be a little reckless,” she writes. I did have fun and added a little Cajun Spice, which my friend had sent me, to make the soup spicier. Loved it!

There are many recipes, from which to pick. The soup I prepared was a good start and I plan on trying out more of the recipes.

Look, mom! I’m making Mennonite Country food! That really schmecks!

Don’t forget to check out Confessions of a Cardamom Addict, January 15, to see a round up of all the prepared meals that schmeck. Thanks, Jasmine for putting this together.

Paz

Ed. Note: According to Jasmine, “Schmecks” means “tasty” or “tastes very good.” Also it seems that the double posting of the rice ingredient is indeed a typo. The rice ingredient only appears once in the first cookbook printing. So that that means there should only be one listing of 1/2 cup raw rice in the new cookbook version, as well.

The Best Vegetable Soup I’ve Ever Tasted
Food That Really Schmecks – Edna Staebler

It’s Delurking Week!

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My first gumbo! I made my first gumbo dish! And boy, did it turn out really well! Even the pickiest eater in my family asked for seconds and thirds and ate the leftovers the next day. ;-)))))))))

Until I made my gumbo, I’d never tasted it before. The opportunity to eat it never came up. When I started cooking, for some reason, I always thought gumbo was a very complicated dish to prepare. After seeing the recipe on Melissa’s blog, The Traveler’s Lunchbox, I became inspired to make it. It didn’t seem too hard to make.

I already had most of the ingredients, except for the sausage. When I went food shopping, I couldn’t find the andouille sausage, which was the first time I’d heard of it. However, I did find Kielbasa sausage (another type of sausage new to me). Melissa’s advice about what to do if you don’t use the andouille sausage (add cayenne, garlic powder, and dried thyme) helped a lot.

Another ingredient I couldn’t find was the filé powder. My search took me to three stores with no luck. I wonder how much different my gumbo would have tasted with the filé powder. However the end product was delicious.

One of my favorite parts of making the gumbo was making the roux. I had fun mixing the flour and oil and seeing it thicken and actually turn into the color of peanut butter. Peanut butter! Yeah, I know: It takes very little to get me excited. The roux really did bring out the “nutty flavor” that Melissa describes in her blog post.

Served with rice, the Chicken and Sausage Gumbo was very reminiscent of some West African cuisine. Perhaps that’s why that picky family member gobbled it up. My favorite part of the gumbo was the okra everything — the okra, chicken, and sausage…

I’m sure gumbo is great to eat at anytime, but this hearty and tasty dish was especially perfect to eat on a cold rainy day, which is when we had it. I know I’ll be making more during the winter.

Melissa, thanks for the recipe!

Paz

Ed. Note: Filé powder is made from ground sassafras leaves that was used to give root beer its distinctive flavor before artificial flavorings replaced it. Southerners add filé to their gumbos to thicken and flavor them. The powder gets stringy when it’s heated, so add it only after you’ve removed the gumbo from the heat source. Filé also doesn’t reheat well, so add only to the gumbo that you are planning to serve. ~ Lowfat Lifestyle.com

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Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
In a Cajun Kitchen by Terri Pischoff Wuerthner

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (she admits that bone-in, skin-on dark meat chicken pieces, such as legs, thighs and wings are more traditional as well as flavorful in Cajun cooking, so that’s what I used - a much better idea, in my opinion)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup corn oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 quarts warm chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce, or to taste
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced 1 inch thick (or other spicy smoked sausage, such as Kielbasa, though my advice is to add the following if you don’t use andouille: another 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 1/2 pounds fresh okra or 20 ounces frozen okra, defrosted, sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons filé powder (I left this out, as I couldn’t find any locally)
chopped fresh parsley, to garnish cooked rice, to serve

Season the chicken cubes (or pieces) with the salt, paprika and cayenne pepper; set aside. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the flour and cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring constantly, until the flour has turned a medium-brown, like peanut butter. Add the onions, celery, and bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the seasoned chicken and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly (and reducing the heat, if necessary, to prevent burning).

Add the stock and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the hot sauce and sausage; reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add the okra and simmer for 30 more minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the filé powder just before dishing it up. Serve in soup bowls with a mound of rice in the center of each portion.

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A few years ago, my sister was hosptialized. Among other things, her iron levels were dangerously low. She would asked me to run across the street to Wendy’s and buy her a cup of chili. I would do this every time for lunch.

The chili was nutritious and helpful to her because beans contain protien that her body badly needed. In addition, beef is high in iron and protein. The combination of the beans and meat helped increase the iron levels in the body. Soon, her lab values for her iron test got better and better.

It’s been quite some time since we’ve eaten chili but after finding this recipe on Cream Puffs in Venice, I was anxious to make my very own homemade chili. I really liked the way mine turned out. Delicious! Okay… Well, I may have put in a tad bit too much chilli pepper (my sister complained) but I like my food hot and spicy, so I didn’t mind. It still tasted GOOD!

Also, I was able to have the leftovers for lunch the next day. Mmmm… Mmmm…Good! CreamPuff was right — hours later, the chili tastes even better! I was in heaven! I love when something I make comes out just right! CreamPuff, thanks for bringing this hearty and delicious recipe to my attention.

Paz

Chili with Sirloin
Adapted from www.epicurious.com. For the original recipe, click here.

3 tablespoons, olive oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, sliced thinly
1-1/2 pounds, ground sirloin
1-1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano (or 2 or 3 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano)
1-1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
16 ounces, tomato puree
1 cup beef broth (you can use water if you don’t have beef broth)
1 to 2 tablespoons cider vinegar (depending on taste)
1 19-ounce can red kidney beans
1 bell pepper, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and add the onions. Saute for about 5 minutes over medium heat, being careful not to burn them.

Add the garlic and carrots and cook for two minutes.

Add the ground sirloin and cook until the meat is completely browned. There should be no pink visible in the meat anywhere. This should take about 10 minutes.

Add the chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano and red pepper flakes and cook for two minutes, stirring often.

Add the tomato puree and the beef broth or water. Bring to a boil, stir the mixture and lower the heat to simmer.

Let the chili simmer over low heat for an hour, or until much of the liquid has evaporated and you’re left with a thick mixture. If it gets too thick, add some more water.

Add the kidney beans and the chopped bell pepper and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Taste the chili and adjust the seasoning, adding as much salt as necessary. Depending on how spicy you like your chili … and this one is spicy … you may not want to add any pepper.

Spoon the chili into serving bowls and garnish with sour cream, aged cheddar and avocado.

Enjoy!

Note: I think this chili actually tastes better after it sits for a few hours so I like to make it in advance and reheat before serving. This chili will easily serve 6 to 8.

A couple of successful recipes later, my family and friends who know that I’ve taken an interest in cooking start calling me “Chef Paz.” It’s all in jest but soon the moniker sticks. My family actually begs for my food…. Okay, okay… They don’t beg, but do ask me whether I’m going to cook. That’s a good sign, isn’t it?

“What’s for dinner?” I’d frequently hear. They’re a vocal group and will let me know if they like something or not. Lately, they seem to be happy with the dinners I prepare and I don’t hear any complaints from them. Good. Very good.

So, my cooking adventures continue as I jump at the chance to try another one of the recipes from The Food of Love: Coda alla Vaccinara – oxtail soup.

I LOVE oxtails. Always have. I’m not sure why. Sometimes I wonder if it’s a taste that I developed from the time that I was in my mother’s womb. Really!

I remember a story that my mother mentioned a long time ago. It’s about one of her eating habits when she was pregnant with me in her third trimester:

Just before my mother’s due date, a woman gave birth to quintuplets. To help with the financial burden of an instantaneous large family, people and companies donated gifts ranging from a long-term supply of diapers, to baby food, and clothing. The Government also arranged free spacious housing for the quintuplet family.

In an interview, the press asked the new mother what she had eaten during her pregnancy. She told them that she’d eaten a lot of oxtails because it was the cheapest meat in the supermarket and that was all she and her husband could afford.

The next day, oxtails were sold out in the meat section. My mother was one of those people who ran to the supermarket for the oxtails. Hoping for quintuplets, she ate it for the remainder of her pregnancy.

Poor lady, she got me instead – one child with the energy of five. However, four more children eventually followed after me. So, she did end up having the five children she wanted; it just didn’t happen at once.

I’m unsure if my mom’s story is the reason for my love of oxtails but it certainly comes to mind.

This oxtail recipe is good at anytime. Contrary to what the instructions call for, I now leave out the nutmeg, cinnamon, bitter cocoa powder, and raisins. The first time I made the soup, I included them but didn’t care for the sweet taste that it gave the soup. I had to add water to the soup to dilute the taste.

I didn’t bother looking for ox or pork cheek, for which the recipe calls. One day I will. I think it’ll be an adventure looking for it, as I wonder if they are readily available at the butcher’s. At the moment, I’m a bit intimidated to go asking for them.

I did use bacon instead, and I added chopped celery. I like the crunch that the celery adds to the soup. This oxtail soup makes a satisfying meal. Here are the instructions.

Paz

Coda alla Vacinara (Oxtail soup)

You’ll need an oxtail, about 3-4 pounds, washed and chopped across the joints. Boil for ten minutes and remove any scum. Add 1 carrot, 1 leek, 1 celery stalk, and some parsley or thyme. Simmer for about 3 hours. If you can get ox or pork cheek, put that in, too. Keep the liquid.

Next, in a different saucepan, heat some lard or oil and gently fry a chopped onion, chopped carrot, the pork cheek, also chopped (or some bacon if you couldn’t get pork cheek), an a chopped garlic clove. Add some chopped parsley and the oxtail. Pour in half a bottle of dry white wine and allow some to evaporate. Then add half a dozen chopped tomatoes (i.e., about a tin an a half) and a big spoon of tomato paste. Nutmeg and cinnamon could also make an appearance. Simmer for 2 hours, adding a little of the stock from the other pan whenever it gets dry.

You could also add some boiled, sliced celery hearts, raisins, pinenuts, and even some bitter cocoa powder. If so, add at the end and cook for 10 minutes extra.