So this semester I have Mondays off (yay!), so I try to plan my menu in such a way that I can do my more labor intensive cooking on Monday, before my school week starts. I'm at the beginning of a new menu cycle, and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen today, absorbed in preparing broccoli-potato soup and sausage cassoulet. I had to hang around the apartment anyway, because the annual termite inspection guy was going to show up. He surveyed my (luckily clean and tidy) apartment for all of two minutes with a flashlight. No termites. That's heartening news of course, but as I am going to be moving soon, I wasn't overly concerned with the termite population. As to the moving soon, more about that in a future post.
First I need to rate the recipes from my last menu.
Miso Shrimp and Rice:
This was something I threw together with things I had on hand, and it was OK, but doesn't merit a recipe.
Convenience: 5
Deliciousness: 3
Value: 4
Left-over worthiness: 4
Good for you-ness: 4
Roasted Potatoes in Romesco Sauce:
I adapted this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, and I must admit I was a bit in over my head here. The Romesco sauce was complicated but ultimately amazing; the potatoes a hot mess. Prepared properly, the deliciousness quotient would certainly be more on this one.
Convenience: 2
Deliciousness: 3.5
Value: 3
Left-over worthiness: 3
Good for you-ness: 2
Convenience: 2
Deliciousness: 5
Value: 3
Left-over worthiness: 4
Good for you-ness: 2
Convenience: 5
Deliciousness: 4
Value: 4
Left-over worthiness: 4
Good for you-ness: 3
Baked Polenta with Mushrooms:
Convenience: 4
Deliciousness: 4
Value: 5
Left-over worthiness: 5
Good for you-ness: 3
Skillet Black Beans and Potatoes:
Now, I will probably post the recipe for this eventually, because the first time I made it I was so pleased with the results. It was one of those meals that I was sad about when there wasn't any left. This time around I made it with presoaked as opposed to canned black beans, and I really didn't prepare the beans that well. The result was disappointing. However, I know the potential is there.
Convenience: 3.5
Deliciousness: 4
Value: 5
Left-over worthiness: 4
Good for you-ness: 5
This reheats pretty well; the only negative is the spinach--pleasantly wilted on the first go--is listless and sad on subsequent re-heatings. I added a little bit of fresh spinach to my leftovers to brighten it a bit.
Convenience: 4
Deliciousness: 5
Value: 4
Left-over worthiness: 4
Good for you-ness: 4
Here's my menu for the next two weeks. I am incorporating made-from-scratch recipes with frozen leftovers, in an effort to clean out my freezer as much as possible pre-moving day:
Broccoli-Potato Soup x 4
Sausage Cassoulet x 4
Achiote Chicken and Rice (made with frozen achiote paste from
Puerco Pibil) x 4
Broccoli and Sausage Strata x 4
Onion Galette x 4
Cheesy Polenta with Roasted Root Vegetables x 4
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas (premade, frozen) x 2
As I mentioned above, my day was mostly taken up in the preparation of two rather labor intensive but satisfying culinary endeavors: Broccoli-Potato Soup and Sausage Cassoulet. Here are recipes for both.
This soup is at once light and healthy as well as pleasingly rich and creamy, thanks to pureeing, without the addition of any milk or cream. It's also quite easy to prepare, provided you have a food processor or immersion blender. It can be made vegetarian or vegan by subbing vegetable broth for the chicken broth, olive oil for the butter, and omitting the Parmesan cheese. A tasty vegan alternative to the cheese might be a topping of crushed toasted almonds or some kind of nut cheese.
Broccoli-Potato Soup
2 cups broccoli stems, peeled and diced into ½ inch chunks
2 cups red potato, peeled and diced into ½ inch chunks
2 Tbsps butter
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
¼ cup almonds, toasted and ground in a food processor or spice grinder
2 cups broccoli florets, finely chopped
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided in half
Salt and pepper to taste
Melt the butter in a large pot and sauté the garlic and onion about five minutes. Add the potatoes, broccoli stems, chicken broth, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat; simmer about ten minutes, or until the broccoli and potatoes are “crisp tender”; that is, tender but not mushy. Using an immersion blender, or in batches in a food processor, puree the soup to your preferred thickness. Stir in the broccoli florets, almonds, and half of the Parmesan cheese and simmer for five more minutes. Serve garnished with remaining Parmesan. Four servings.
If you're unfamiliar with cassoulet, it's kind of a cross between a stew and a casserole. It's a hearty French peasant dish made with white beans and some kind of fatty meat (often a combination of duck and sausage). I adapted this recipe from Real Simple. This humble version, which takes advantage of inexpensive winter root vegetables, carrot and parsnips, is an easier take on the more complicated all-day-long version. Still, it's quite satisfying. It's very flavorful, perfect for a cold winter's day, and preparing it will make you feel like Julia Child.
Sausage Cassoulet
2 large sausage links, casings removed (I used Polish, but Italian would be fine, too)
3 cups prepared white beans, drained (about 1 and 1/2 cans)
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 medium parsnips, peeled and diced
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup crushed tomato
1 tsp dried thyme
Dash of Cayenne pepper
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup buttered breadcrumbs (I used sourdough, which I recommend)
In a Dutch oven or lidded, range-top safe casserole dish, brown the sausage over medium heat, breaking it up with a spoon. When the sausage is browned, drain off excess fat. Add all remaining ingredients except breadcrumbs to the pot. Stir well to combine. If needed, add more chicken stock and/or tomato to the pot to keep the vegetables moist. Simmer covered until the carrots and parsnips are tender, at least 30 minutes. While the pot is simmering, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. When the vegetables are tender, top with the butter breadcrumbs and bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are toasted. 4 servings.
As Julia Child would say, bon appetit!
