Gumbostrone

Have we mentioned the lovely produce box we get every other week from Dan's Fresh Produce? We found about about their box program a couple years ago and have been getting one ever since. We're now spoiled by having a bunch of fresh vegetables and fruit routinely show up on our very doorstep (it's only $3 more for home-delivery!).

We wind up cooking with ingredients we'd be unlikely to have on hand otherwise and have been introduced to some entirely new specimens. However, no matter how diligent we try to be, we also wind up stockpiling veggies. As a result, one or the other of us periodically has to find a way to use up a random assortment of veg. Therein was my inspiration for combing through soup recipes and combining several to create what I'm currently calling Gumbostrone, for lack of a better name.

It borrows from a couple Minestrone recipes, several Gumbo recipes, and has a dash of Green Chile Stew for good measure. Happily, it used up a good portion of our vegetable crisper that day.

Gumbostrone:

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-3 cloves garlic, minced

-1 cup chopped onion

-1 cup chopped celery

-1 cup chopped bell pepper

-1.5 teaspoons chili powder

-3 cups canned tomatoes (with their juice)

-2 cups chicken broth

-1/2 cup water

-1 cup dark beer (I used a porter)

-3 bay leaves

-1. 5 teaspoons dried oregano

-1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce, though I may have used a bit more

-1 teaspoon dried basil

-1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

-3 tablespoons white rice

-1 andouille sausage

-1.5 cups zucchini

-1 cup corn

-1/3 cup New Mexican green chile

-1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

-salt and pepper to taste

I followed a basic (albeit vegetarian) Gumbo recipe, while consulting several more traditional meat-based Gumbo recipes online. Since we did not have okra on had but did have zukes that needed using up, my attention wandered over to the nearby Minestrone recipe; this upped the amount of tomatoes and rice I used and brought parsley into the mix. We also had a stray bit of green chile on hand, so I tossed that and some corn into the soup-pot on a whim.

In a saucepan, heat the oil and add onions, celery, and bell peppers. Cook, stirring regularly, until softened. Add garlic, chili powder, and sausage; stir until chili powder is absorbed. Add tomatoes and cook (stirring) for about 3 minutes. Add broth, water, beer, bay leaves, oregano, Tabasco, basil, and thyme; bring to a boil. Add rice. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes. Add zucchini, green chile, and salt. Reduce heat and simmer another 10 minutes. Add corn and simmer another 10 minutes or longer, until veggies are done to your liking. Discard bay leaves. Add parsley.

I liked how this turned out, but I already want to play with it more. I'd up just about all the spices, and I do want to toss in some okra next time. More green chile would do nicely. I'd also like to start with a more traditional roux, although I liked how easily this recipe started off. More rice would be good, too. It made a tasty dinner and sets a good base for further experimentation.

Qiiii (ice cream)

In a recent experiment I attempted to reproduce the flavor of Qi Black Tea Liqueur in a delicious ice cream form. The exciting part is that (for the most part) it worked!

To quote from the label on the bottle, Qi Black is "handcrafted from cedar-smoked Lapsang Souchong tea, rare fruits, and invigorating herbs." When I first tasted this spirit, I did not like it at all. The second time I was less against it, and with my third taste I found myself intrigued. Clearly it won my love, as this is now one of my favorite spirits anywhere. It's delicious on its own, mixed into a slew of cocktails, and I've used it to make truffles and other desserts. Once we got the ice cream maker I knew it was only a matter of time.

For my first batch of Qi Black ice cream, I chose a night we were having distillery friends (and distillery wives) over for dinner. This seemed like the easiest way to test the success of the maiden QB batch. I then spent a portion of the day playing with the following ingredients:

3 iterations of Qi Black/Lapsang Souchong

-1 tea-ball full of Lapsang Souchong tea (steeped for about 15 minutes in 3/4 cup milk)

-1/4 cup Qi Black reduction

-1/4 cup Qi Black liqueur

All of that added up to about 2/3 cup Qi Black Base. I rounded that out with 1/3 cup of milk (and one more tiny splash of Qi Black) so that I had a full cup of "milky Qi Black mix."

In a large mixing bowl, I added 3/4 cup of sugar to that "milky Qi Black mix" and stirred it 'til the sugar dissolved. Then I added 2 cups of heavy cream and again stirred until everything was combined. Worried that the Qi Black might not be coming through quite enough, I tossed in one more shot of the liqueur for good luck. Following our ice cream machine's trusty instructions, at this point I put my ice cream mixture into an ice bath to cool it down quickly. Per the instructions, I then let the ice cream mixture set in the fridge for a several hours until it was ready to come out as a finale to our mac-n-cheese-off (chronicled earlier by Josh).

To my delight, the flavor of Qi Black came through very nicely. Our esteemed friend Brad (who may be one of the world's most dedicated Qi Black fans) declared it a victory, and everyone else chimed to agree. Sadly, the ice cream was just a little bit on the soft side. I think it was that last shot of booze (for luck) that did it in. Next time, I'll go with a bit more reduced Qi Black, and a little less of the straight spirit. For now, I'm pleased to have developed at least a "working" Qi Black Ice Cream recipe. I'll update as I continue to tinker with it.

Spaghetti and Meatballs Beta

Last weekend for our little dinner soiree, I got a bee in my bonnet about making a big spaghetti and meatball Sunday dinner. Now, I can do a pretty decent tomato paste-based red sauce with sausage, or a basic fresh tomato/basil marinara. My history with meatballs is my mom's recipe with carrots and potatoes and a can of Campbell's tomato soup (which is delightful it its own way). But, alas, I had never made the archetypical tomato sauce and meatballs completely from scratch.

I decided to go with the America's Test Kitchen recipe as a good, basic place to start. The tomato sauce was easy: oven-roast tomatoes and puree them; saute garlic, onions, and red pepper flakes; add tomatoes, simmer; add salt, pinch of sugar, parsley. The meatballs were also pretty simple: the trick is to soak some white bread in buttermilk, then add beef, pork, egg, parsley, garlic, parm, salt, pepper; shape, brown in olive oil, stick in the sauce. 

The meal was successful: meatballs were moist, sauce had good texture, everyone was happy and full. Of course, this was only a beta test: it was a little on the bland side for my taste. I actually find that to be generally true with the ATK cookbook: foods turn out technically sound, but not too exciting flavor-wise. Next time I will:

• Increase the amount of ground pork in the meatballs (instead of 3:1 beef:pork, I might go 2:1. I might even use a little sausage... or bacon/pancetta!)
• Put way more herbs and spices and some finely chopped onion and green pepper in the meatballs
• Put a touch of tomato paste or sauce in the meatballs
• Not bother with fresh tomatoes for the sauce unless I can find a bunch of REALLY good ones. The romas I used didn't have a ton of flavor, so it wasn't really worth the hassle. My usual thick red sauce with canned tomato paste usually has a better tomatoey flavor, so that's probably what I'll fall back on. And, of course, more herbs, spices (definitely more red pepper flakes)...

Not bad for a first try, but with lots of room to improve. I foresee Sunday spaghetti and meatballs as a possible regular event... but not tomorrow. Tomorrow is training for the Mac and Cheese-off coming to our kitchen next week. Report on that TK!