Another Fast Feast: Tomato Soup Provence

Topped with a bit of leftover summer herbs left dwindling in a pot...

Hm, what can I tell you about this? Do you hate when you don’t know how to start a post and this prevents you from posting for, oh, a few weeks? Me too. All the time. Nevertheless, the job must be done, and I’m the one to do it, right? Right.

First, I love tomato soup, in so many forms. In fact, this is probably but one of at least a half-dozen tomato soups that I’ve made in my day (which is not a very long day, but still). The difference between this and other tomato soups is the flavor, oh, the flavor.

Have you ever used Herbes de Provence? It  is a blend of herbs originally from the southern part of France; which, I’ve read, does really have the aroma of some of the flavors in this blend. The blend commonly includes lavender, rosemary, bay leaf, basil, thyme, and in my blend, fennel. All this comes together in a very perfume-y mix, very flowery. Frankly, I could put it in my dresser drawers and be happy. But we’re putting it in soup today, where it lends a flavor that is just beautiful. Sorry to be a cliche food writer, but it’s true. And the aromas from the bubbling pot–you’ll want friends over just for that!

Besides the flavor, the second wonderful thing about this soup is its simplicity. As a maker of many, many soups, some of which have many, many ingredients, this is a great deviation from my usual habits. I often craft soups to be all-in-one meals, which necessitates a little thinking along the lines of including something from each food group and incorporating the major macronutrients (fats, proteins, and carbohydrates). This soup departs from my habit, since it doesn’t have a sturdy protein backing; but America, most of us get enough protein in our diet that we could all be bodybuilders; too much, in fact. So consider this a healthy break! If you’re a vegetarian, of course, be sure to include a lean source of protein on the side or elsewhere in your day.

But back to simplicity. Once you’ve cut up your onions and garlic, you can have this soup on the table in twenty minutes, and since soups are easy to double, you might find yourself with several meals’ worth of food–where else do you get such a return on your investment? (And this is why I have an extra freezer.) Pick up some nice, crusty, whole-grain bread to serve on the side, and you’re set. I know you’ll be tempted to skip the goat cheese–it’s not in every fridge–but don’t. It is a perfect complement. (Hint: it’s most economical at Costco. Just find a friend to share it with, or plan on eating a lot of chevre.) Also fantastic–most of these items are things you’ve already got in your pantry or fridge! Aren’t I good to you?

As usual, leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you! A very happy new year to you and yours. May this be the start of a healthy, delicious 365 days.

-Erin

Provence Tomato Soup This recipe calls for two to three tablespoons Herbes de Provence; no, this is not a typo! The tomatoes can absorb a lot of flavor. Taste first with two tablespoons; adjust as needed. Note: I topped mine with some stray herbs (oregano) still struggling in a pot on the kitchen table, but that was silly of me. Consider the green bits in the picture simply a clever color complement for photography. From “raw” to eating: 20 min., appx.

Makes: a big pot full, enough for 8-10 servings+ Olive oil, for sauteeing 1 large onion (I used yellow because they’re cheapest and I’m like that), medium dice 2 large cloves garlic, finely diced 1 small can tomato paste 2-3 T Herbes de Provence 1/2 C white grape juice (my subsitute for white wine) 4 14-oz cans (I think that’s the size they are; the “regular” size, in other words) diced tomatoes 2 quarts chicken broth, preferably homemade, low-sodium (but cheat if you must…don’t say I didn’t warn you, though!) cracked pepper & salt, to taste chevre (soft goat cheese), for plopping onto the top of each bowl In a stock pot or your favorite large soup pot, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat; it should be enough to film the bottom of the pot. When the oil is hot (this will depend on your stove; it’s about two minutes for me), toss in the onion and garlic. Turn the heat down to medium-high. Sprinkle salt in; this will help the onions to “sweat” out their liquid. Saute garlic-onion mixture until nearly translucent, stirring occasionally. Add the tomato paste and Herbes de Provence, and grape juice; stir to incorporate. Add the tomatoes (including the liquid) and the broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Taste and adjust for seasoning; to serve, ladle into bowls, top with a small scoop of chevre (it melts–so good!), and serve a piece of toasted whole-grain bread on the side. Leftovers can be stored, refrigerated, for up to two weeks, or frozen, for two or three months. If they last that long!

Fast Monday Night Dinner

One bowl to clean up after dinner! What's not to love?

I don’t about all of you, but come Monday, I’m not all up for a rollicking dinner complete with accessories and baking. Especially since I’ve started an on-site contract job (if anyone’s seen “The Office,” I am Ryan—the second-class “temp”), it goes like this: get home, think of food, think I should make food, wonder when the Man is coming home, think about making food, look in my pantry, have aspirations for way more than I should at that time (who’s making homemade marshmallows before dinner?!), look in the fridge, look online for inspiration in food that other people make, repeat. Something along those lines. This process continues until I’m humbled and hungry enough to wonder if we have any leftover Halloween candy and, if we do, well, there you have it. Three Musketeers for an appetizer.

Making dinner is good for you

As nine million news reports have told you, however, these are tough times we’re in, especially in this country, and a girl (and her man) deserve to eat something decent even when they might have to shovel the driveway and contemplate why they haven’t done anything about food storage, since some of the broadcasts could leave you to believe that the apocalypse is tomorrow. In which case, it really would be unfortunate that I haven’t done anything in the way of preserving with my six bags of from-the-orchard apples besides hoard them. And on the other hand, my methods of preservation include Tupperware and freezers, so all is not lost.

The point is that even though I might be inclined to make the bad decision of finishing off the sugar cookies from last weekend while I’m hungry, this really isn’t necessary. Lately, fresh food is it when cooking, and I’m all for it. This sometimes involves a lot of prep work, as I oughta know—I probably go through four onions, a bag of carrots, and a bag of celery a week just for soup bases. It doesn’t have to, though, and yes, all those euphemisms about flavors “singing” when the food is simply prepared actually isn’t a bad idea. Though if my food does start singing, I kind of want it to singing to a rendition of “Gesu Bambino” at the moment.

This is less of a recipe and more of a pattern—my nutrition background and concern with the composition of what I put in my mouth demands that my eating and cooking style be not only tasty, but check off the necessary macro and micronutrients. Yes. I literally think, “Grain…check. Protein…check. Vegetable…check. Dairy?” Not every meal needs to have every one of those groups, since I can push and pull during the day—my lunches tend to be very vegetable- and fruit-stocked, so it’s okay if I don’t load up on that group at dinner. This meal is basically a result of my thinking—grain (soba noodles), check. Protein (fried egg), check. Vegetable (sprouts, haha—no, not just for my name), check. I fry the egg in a little olive oil to get some good fat in, especially for the Man, and dinner is done. I’m talking five-ish minute here, maybe longer if you aren’t able to cook the sprouts and noodles at the same time, for example.

Nutritional lowdown

Speaking of soba noodles. Don’t be afraid. I know. They’re Japanese. And you’ve never eaten them. And yes, they do taste kind of funny. But look here. They’re a whole grain, and even though they’re buckwheat, not whole wheat, and whole wheat is kind of a nutritional American Idol finalist of grains, buckwheat is like the girl who’s still pretty great but just didn’t get the record deal. Buckwheat is actually a seed, not a grain, and related to rhubarb. Just don’t go putting it in pie, because I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be good.

As for nutritional benefits, buckwheat (soba noodles) has a range of refuted plusses, including blood sugar regulation, an alternative to gluten (it seems like more and more people are sensitive to gluten), and something about menopause. Which I have no comment on, but apparently it’s a good thing. Buckwheat, I mean.

Brussels sprouts, well, you know about those guys. Relative to broccoli and all cruciferous vegetables, including our friends the cabbages. Yes, they taste somewhat like metal and a little bitter. Season, season, season, and cut into smaller pieces. Like their family members, they’re good for fiber, some iron (though not as bioavailable as other sources), some potassium, and other trace minerals.

Eggs. These are our friends, okay? I know there were some nasty rumors about them in the past. The 80s and 90s were not a good time for them, and I think they’d rather forget those decades. We’ve treated them wrong, we’ve put them down, and what have they done? Built us muscles, given us slow-release energy, and stuck our cookies and baked goods together, covered our fried goods and emulsified our lives. They deserve more. And they don’t ask for much. And in this case, they like to be fried in some olive oil.

Soba Noodles With Fried Egg From “raw” to eating: 10 min., appx. Makes: Two meal-sized servings

½ lb. soba noodles ¼ one purple onion, cut into large dices ½ lb. brussels sprouts olive oil, for frying four eggs cracked pepper salt, to taste soy sauce, for seasoning at the table Cook soba noodles according to package directions. Set aside. Halve sprouts; score halves with a small ‘X.’ Set aside. Heat a grill pan—medium heat. Put a few swirls of olive oil in the pan. Toss in onion, followed by the sprouts, cut side down. Cook until sprouts are nearly golden, and ignore the fact that these vegetables have my name. It is coincidence, but a jolly one. And no, I do not eat sprouts every night just for the fun of it. While the sprouts are cooking, fry up your eggs in batches of two at a time. Crack two of the eggs into the pan; crack some pepper and sprinkle some salt on the top. Cook two or three minutes on each side, flipping once (optional; this is the “hard yolk” way). Add soba noodles to the pan with the sprouts. Heat through. Divide noodles, sprouts, and eggs between two large-ish bowls. I like to put the noodles on the bottom, sprouts over that, and two eggs flopped on top. Pass around the soy sauce and enjoy the fact that you made dinner in maybe ten minutes.

Post-Election Day Chocolate Clafoutis With Chewy-Crisp Ginger Apples

Because we’re Americans. And we deserve a reward.

Let’s be honest. Or I will, since I’m the one writing here. This was the longest presidential campaign in United States history. I think it started in 1990, when I was eight. In the end, whether or not the candidate I vote for won, I still have that to celebrate–the end. No more commercials! No more negative campaign ads, slogans, dull debates, and endless media coverage! I’m shouting for joy here, with several sentences in a row ending with exclamation marks!

We’re in a bit of a rough patch economically, so most of the past month or two’s news reports have broadcast doom, doom, and the occasional proclamation of the end of the world. In other words, we need a break and a little indulgence!

I originally started out trying to adapt this recipe from Jamie Oliver’s recipe, but sadly, I could not bring myself to google every metric measurement to convert it to my US cups and spoons. So the idea is Jamie’s, but I suspect that’s the end of the resemblance, much as I adore Jamie and his quirky ways.

Still having a few coveted apples left from our apple-picking adventure, I topped sauteed them in a bit of butter and candied ginger. It was an experiment, but oh, a delicious one.

Whether you’re nursing your wounds for your beaten candidate or celebrating the one you supported, you deserve this. Really.

Deviating from my normal emphasis on very nutrient-dense foods, I will make no comments about the nutritional content, except to beg you to remember that it is topped with fruit. And that even the healthiest people deserve dessert. Aren’t you proud to be an American? I am.

-Erin

Chocolate Clafoutis With Chewy-Crisp Ginger Apples From “raw” to eating: 40 minutes (including prep time). Makes: Two quite large servings, or four smaller ones. This is a pretty rich dessert, so although some people may have eaten this in two servings (I’m not saying what people, but one of them has a food blog and the other is a Midwesterner), it’s probably a good bet that if you’re serving it to guests after a meal, it really serves four. Maybe more, if they’re pretty light dessert eaters. The blog owner and Midwesterner like dessert, I hear. For the almond meal, I happened to have salted, roasted almonds around. I thought that they’d be way too salty, but they didn’t appear to harm the clafoutis at all. If you’re watching your sodium intake, feel free to skip the additional 1/8 t salt. Also. This one is important: do not over-bake. The middle is meant to stay fudgy–if not, it’d be just another cake. And who wants that? No one, that’s who.

For the clafoutis: ½ C flour 2 t baking powder 1/8 t (a pinch) salt 1/3 C sugar ¼ C half-and-half 1/3 C chocolate bar chocolate (or the best stuff you have around) ½ C almond meal (almonds ground to the consistency of cornmeal, etc.) Apple-ginger topping: 2 T butter 1 Cortland apple, sliced thinly into rounds 3 half-inch-cube pieces candied ginger (or the equivalent), chopped roughly Make the clafoutis: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix flour, baking power, sugar, and almond meal together. Set aside. In a double boiler on low or on a microwave at half power (I use the first method), gently melt chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and slowly add the half-and-half, whisking to combine. Add chocolate-butter mixture to dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Pour into a buttered earthenware dish (I used a small bowl) and bake for 25-35 minutes or until it’s set on the edges but fudgy in the middle. That means it’s done! Make the ginger-apple topping: While the clafoutis cooks, make the topping. Make more than you think you need. Then sample it. Offer samples to anyone nearby. In a frying pan or other non-pot-type pan (I am known for very technical directions), melt the butter over low heat. Do not let the butter brown. Add the chopped ginger candies and sauté for another 1-2 minutes. Finally, add the apples. Raise temperature to medium-high. Cook until apples are nearly translucent and skins are chewy-crisp. Spoon over entire clafoutis or individual pieces.