Homemade Italian Wedding Soup

This may be one of my favorite soups that I have ever made. I used the stock that I made from turkey bones from a turkey dinner we had a few weeks ago, and I pulled from a few different recipes to create this recipe - which turned out #awesome.

Homemade Italian Wedding Soup

50 min - 1 hour

For the Meatballs:

1 lb ground meat (I used turkey)
1 egg
1/2 cup of grated romano
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2-3 T olive oil for sautéing

(25-30 minutes)

For the Soup:

1 med onion
5 cloves of garlic
2 T oil for sautéing (I use a neutral oil, like grapeseed)
8-10 cups of stock
1 head of escarole
3/4 cup of orzo
1 tsp of red pepper flakes
juice from half a lemon
romano for garnish

(25-30 minutes)

Meatballs:

- To make the meatballs, place all ingredients (ground meat, egg, romano, bread crumbs, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper) into a bowl and mix together. Roll into whatever size meatball you would like - I rolled mine to be about 1/2-3/4 inches in diameter.

- Heat a skillet over med-high heat with the olive oil. Saute the meatballs  in batches until they are browned on all sides - about 10 minutes. If they are on the smaller side, they most likely will be cooked through, but it's alright if they are a little pink in the middle, they will cook more while you are making the soup.

- Place on paper towels to absorb any excess oil and put off to the side.

Soup:

- In a 6 quart soup pot or dutch oven, heat the neutral oil over med-high heat,  add the garlic and onions and saute until soft (not browned) - 6-8 minutes.

- Add the stock and bring to a boil.

- Add the escarole, reduce to the heat to low and simmer for 8 minutes, covered.

- Add the orzo and bring the heat back up to a slow boil. Cook the orzo for about 3 minutes, then add the meatballs and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes.

- Reduce the heat back to low, add the red pepper flakes and lemon juice and simmer for a few more minutes.

- Serve hot with additional romano for garnish if desired!

Happy Eating!

xo. cheers. namaste.

MK

Easy and Delicious Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

There's just something so comforting in having a bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup. It's calming to eat and easy to make. I almost always have these ingredients in the house, and it's not something that requires a big production. This just seemed like the perfect thing to do on Sunday night after the end of a snowy cold winter weekend...

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

1 cut cut up fryer chicken (or you can leave it whole)

3 quarts of cold water

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dry thyme (optional)

2 teaspoons parsley flakes (optional)

8 - 10 oz egg noodles

An hour and forty-five minutes (15-20 minutes hands on)

- Place chicken in dutch oven or soup pot with about 3 quarts of cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

- Remove the chicken from the pot with tongs or a slotted spoon. Using two forks, remove the meat from the bones, shredding the meat as you are removing it. Return the bones to the pot and simmer for 45 minutes - covered. Remove bones from the broth and discard. 

- Add the diced carrots, celery and onion, the salt and pepper, as well as the thyme and parsley (if you are using those). Stir and let simmer for 10 minutes. 

- Bring back to a boil, add the noodles and chicken, cook for 8-10 minutes.

- Taste for seasoning and serve!

Stay Warm!

xo. cheers. namaste.

MK

Braised Leeks

Leeks are a delicious member of the Allium family - right along with onions and garlic. I absolutely LOVE leeks. Here is a simple and tasty recipe to get leeks added as a side dish for dinner. It's a slow cooking method, but the prep time is minimal.

Braised Leeks

Whole Leeks
Stock (you can use any kind, I typically use chicken, but vegetable stock would be fine as well)
Olive Oil (1-4 T, depending on how many leeks you have and how big your pan is - I used one above for 3 med size leeks)
Salt and Pepper

35-45 minutes

1.  Remove the dark green tops from the the whole leeks (save if you are going to be making stock soon). Leaving the end on, slice in quarters - still leaving whole - so that you can wash the leeks thoroughly. Put the leaks under running water - being sure to open up the leaves so that you can get the dirt out - they can be really dirty sometimes!

2. Place the leeks in a saucepan and pour in the stock to reach about halfway up the leeks. Add the oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Bring to a boil, cover (leaving the cover slightly ajar) and braise for 30-40 minutes (until tender). Serve hot.

You can cook almost any vegetable in this way and they always turn out tender and delicious.

Happy Cooking.

xo. cheers. namaste.

MK

New Years - Lancaster Style

Oh man, I really need to clean my room. It's really not lookin' good - clothes everywhere, starbucks and other mugs...mail...looks like it's going to be a Friday night in for this girl with laundry and organizing on the agenda.

But right now, laying under my covers on this Wednesday evening and doing a little blogging seems way better than anything else I can think of. Those two-a-day workouts must be really getting the best of me! I've decided I have some serious fitness goals for this year, so waking up at 545 almost everyday for a 615 spin class has been the norm, followed by work, and then closing the day with either spin, pilates or yoga...

Which reminds me, in addition to cleaning on my Friday night in, I also really need to sit and write my New Years Resolutions. It's a goal of mine to have my goals written. Yearly, monthly, weekly, daily goals - whatever it takes to help myself be a better person - whatever it takes to enrich my body, my mind and my soul.

Anyway, that brings me to wanting to share my New Years Celebrations. Another success with my girlfriends...

To celebrate the coming of a New Year - I headed to Amish Country to visit one of my very best friends, Marianne, in Lancaster so that we could bring in 2014 together. I love traveling East because I always get to see more than just one goodie - Meg came in from Philly to visit too.

I got their late Jan 30, so we had to spend all Jan 31 catch up, watch the most memorable moments recap on 'Kelly and Michael' (hilarious -  sometimes I wish I could stay home and watch daytime TV everyday), have a few failed attempts at getting a cute selfie...

these aren't tooooo bad...

but, we've done better.

We had an afternoon beer flight at my favorite spot in Lancaster, The Spring House Brewing Co. Taproom...

(I sipped on that fourth one from the left a little too soon ;-)

And we bought lots of lots of champagne for the celebrations...

For the evening, of course we had a great snack table...Thanks, Meg for the Tomato Pie (a Philly favorite). And Jamie, we missed you - but that dip your mom makes is there in the corner ;-)

We did lots of cheersing...

(champagne with sorbet...delicious)

We stepped back into our college days with lots of beer pong...but mostly we just got to enjoy each others company.

I am so blessed to have such amazing, beautiful friends...

xo, cheers, namaste,

MK

P.S. I figured I'd start the New Year off cooking so I made a New Years Day Breakfast for a hungry (maybe hungover ;-)) bunch...

(look at all those eggs!)

Happy (belated) 2014!

MK's Homemade Chili

If there's one thing I love about the cold months and food -  it's chili - lots and lots of really good homemade chili. I've finally developed - taken from many spaces and places - a hearty, spicy recipe of my own.

MK's Homemade Chili

8-10 cloves of garlic - minced

1 med size onion (2 cups) - chopped

1/2 tsp salt

2 T neutral oil - such as grapeseed

2 lbs of ground beef (I use the leanest I can get - 93% lean, 7% fat typically)

2-3 T chili powder - I just got a delicious 'medium hot' chili powder from Penzeys Spices in the Strip District of Pittsburgh - just the right amount of heat!

1 tsp cumin

28 oz of diced tomatoes (I usually buy the kind with green chili's in it)

1 T red wine vinegar

2 cans of beans (you can use all kidney beans, or a combo of kidney, white or black beans)

salt/pepper to taste

optional, if you have it:

mushrooms - sauteed

parsley

shredded cheese

sour cream

Preparation and Cook time: 1 - 3 hours

- Heat the neutral oil in a dutch oven or large soup pot. Once the oil is heated, add the chopped onions, minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt - saute until soft, about 8 minutes, stirring often to prevent browning.

- Add the ground meat and fry until browned, stirring often.

- Add the chili powder and cumin to the browned meat and stir, mixing the flavors for about two minutes.

- Add the diced tomatoes, red wine vinegar, and two cups of beef stock (or water) and bring to a boil.

- Add the kidney beans and salt/pepper to taste. Reduce heat and simmer for another 30 minutes to 2 hours. The longer the chili simmers, the more the flavors marry and the more delicious the chili becomes. 

- While the chili simmers you can add sauteed mushrooms if you have them. You can also add about a 1/4 cup of parsley about 5 minutes before you finish cooking

- Serve hot and garnish with parsley - add shredded cheese and sour cream for additional texture flavors.

Yummmmm!

xo, cheers, namaste,

MK

Christmas Goose and Goose Stock

So, I know this is a little delayed, but here's my little Christmas story this year. Right before the holidays, my mom decided that she was going to take on 'the project of pictures' - you know, the one that lives in the realm before digital cameras - where you just have boxes and boxes of pictures that never made into albums - well, this was found:

That's my brother (dork!), my mother, and my Aunt Gloria holding my cousin Christopher (you can only see one foot and hand) - sitting around the dinner table about 18 years ago on Christmas - with a goose. This great find naturally made me realize what we were going to have for Christmas this year - a goose - and thus, me making a goose for Christmas was born. Grandma bought me an apron for the occasion:

I searched around for some recipes, and found a fairly easy one and, as per usual, cross referenced it with my all time favorite book - my kitchen bible - Mark Bittmans "How to Cook Everything". Here was the resulting recipe:

Christmas Goose

1 10lb goose

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp ground sage

About 3 hours.

- Preheat oven to 350. 

- Remove giblets and neck from goose. Rince goose with cold running water, drain well. Place goose breast side up, lift wings toward neck and fold them under the back of the goose. Tie the legs together with string

- Place goose, breast side down, on a rack in a large roasting pan. Prick the goose in several places to drain fat during roasting using a skewer or a sharp fork. Rub goose with salt, pepper and ground sage.

- Put the roasting pan in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Prick the goose skin again and roast for another 20 minutes - the goose should be beginning to brown. Turn the goose breast side up, and baste with the juices from the pan (the goose will release about a quart of fat and juices while cooking - which you can keep for frying other foods if you'd like). Roast the goose for another hour - you should prick the skin and baste 2 or 3 more times.

- If the goose isn't already too browned, raise the temperature to 400 and continue to roast for another 30 minutes. At this point the bird will be done if a meat thermometer reads 165. If the bird is too brown, and needs to continue cooking, you can cover the goose loosely with foil. Another indicator that the bird is done is if the juices run clear, and the leg bone wiggles a little in the socket. 

- When done, let the goose rest for about 20 minutes before carving.

Thank you Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step Cookbook and Mark Bittman.

Carving the bird was not easy, dad really struggled - but it was worth it. A goose has nothing but all delicious dark meat. Even though the goose releases quite a lot of fat, the meat itself is very lean. We got our goose at Wholey's in the Strip District. Doesn't serve many, 6-8 people, but it was a nice addition to the ham, stuffed cabbage and other great dishes that were served for the holiday - including my grandmothers famous potato salad - recipe I must get...

So anyway, here we are:

Mother and brother (still a dork) replicating a photo from 18 years ago...

Since we had a leftover goose carcass, I decided to freeze it and make a stock out of it, made it just as I would a chicken stock:

Goose Stock

1 goose carcass

1 onion - cut in half, leaving skin on

1-2 carrots - cut in 2-3 in pieces

1-2 celery stalks - cut in 2-3 in pieces

1 bulb of garlic 

few springs of parsley

1-2 bay leaves

8 black peppercorns

1/2 tsp salt

water to cover

cheesecloth

If you don't have all the veggies to make the stock, just use what you have!

2.5-3 hours

- In a large stock pot - place goose carcass in large stock pot with all ingredients, cover with cold water

- Bring to a boil. Skim off any fat from the top (I really didn't get any), and then lower heat to simmer, partially covering pot. 

- Simmer for as long as you can, at least an hour, I left mine simmering for about 2.5 hours.

- Place a cheesecloth over a colander and strain the stock into a large bowl  - pressing on the vegetables to get any juices that have accumulated within them for extra flavoring

- Cool. If it's cold enough outside, you can place the bowl, partially covered outside to cool quickly, or if you have room in your freezer to cool uncovered. I put mine in the refrigerator overnight partially covered. Once it is cool, any fat will have solidified at the top. Use a spoon and/or paper towel to scrape the fat from the liquid.

- If you have the space and the containers, you can store the stock in the fridge for no more than a week, or the freezer for up to 6 months. Make sure to bring the stock to a boil before using it again. You can also reduce the stock by boiling it down, and either putting it in smaller containers, or if you have an ice cube tray you can boil it down to the size of an ice cube tray and freeze it that way, then place the frozen stock cubes in a plastic freezer bag to store. Simply add about a cup of water to the cube and bring to a boil when you want to use it. 

So that's it. That's my Christmas story this year - goose stock and all. 

Merry Christmas (a little late!).

xo, cheers, namaste,

MK

The Obligatory Thanksgiving Post

Thanksgiving is always a weeklong event - inspired by food, friends and usually lots and lots of wine:

This Thanksgiving week began with a trip to Thai Suan Thip, just another stop on my Tour de Thai Pittsburgh. Here is my review that I posted on Yelp:

"Small, quaint and cozy - this restaurant has a very homey, comfortable feel to it. It was a great spot to find peace on a snowy, slushy, rainy and cold winters evening.

The Tom Yum lemongrass soup was soothing and spicy, I ordered mine at a four, and while I'm a big fan of spice, the soup would have been better for me at a two or three. For my entree I ordered my staple dish at a Thai restaurant - Pumpkin Curry. The flavors of this dish were awesome and the spice level four worked well as I was able to cut the hot and spicy with the rice. The only dish I was slightly disappointed with was an appetizer of pineapple fried tofu. The description on the menu was deceiving, I thought the pineapple would play a roll in the actual fried tofu - instead we were served some bland fried tofu pieces with a pineapple dipping sauce. The sauce was tasty, but the appetizer as a whole...eh.

The service was...okay. Luckily I was out for a leisurely dinner and wasn't in any hurry as there there was only one person working the floor.  Though the restaurant is relatively small, there were quite a few people out dining for a Tuesday night. Plus with the place being a BYOB, having my own bottle of wine at the table eased any neediness from servers. Food came out slowly, but as I mentioned before, I wasn't in any hurry and it was a nice easy tempo for a relaxing dinner with a friend. The server was actually quite attentive despite being the only one there, he came around often to refill out waters and orchestrated the pace of serving well.

All in all, great place. I will most definitely be back. Happy to find a Thai place relatively close to home."

So that was fun. I always love good food and great company - got to catch up with my good friend Lisa. Here is her hiding behind her water glass as I tried to take her picture:

I'm sure she'll appreciate me posting that pic in this blog.

And here is the really delicious red wine that we had:

Moving right along to Wednesday, Meghan visited me at lunch for some Starbucks and a hello hug. And I got my birthday present from her :-) A purse that I spotted when shopping with her in NYC at this great little boutique in SOHO near her work - I wish I could remember the name of it because it was so adorable with such cute fun shopping.

After work, the feasting began at #buckoskitchen. It was Stephanie's birthday - which naturally means Tapas and champagne:

Some of the above ^^ Braised octopus, croquis st jacques, shrimp scampi, meat and cheese.

Shrimp and Conch Ceviche!

Stephs dad is just such a fantastic cook. 

Now, these aren't our best, but here's some pics of the group:

Love Annas face ^^

Happy 27th Stephanie!!

Now, sad but true - I have no pictures from the Thanksgiving feast! My family is pretty traditional in that we had a turkey, mashed and sweet potatoes, boiled carrots with butter, cranberry sauce - homemade AND from the can (that's sort of one of my guilty pleasures - cranberry sauce from the can), and a few other traditional dishes, pumpkin pie - the works.

Eating, followed by football and a sad loss for the Steelers to the Ravens- you win, Brian, you win...

Friday involved a little Black Friday shopping locally, and a disappointing dinner at Butcher and the Rye in downtown Pittsburgh. Had been wanting to try the place for a while...and, well, not sure how soon I'd be back. Possibly more on that later.

Saturday involved a lot of the couch and necessary homemade noodle soup:

Which went along nicely with a great Penn State win against Wisconsin.

Sunday was a morning/early afternoon at the Strip and a bloody mary brunch at Six Penn Kitchen - followed by lots of cooking - recipes with which I will share later. #cookingistherapeutic

For now, goodnight, and goodbye thanksgiving week 2013 - I am thankful for you and all the time you give me for friends, family and food.

happy cooking, happy birthday, happy hanukkah, happy thanksgiving.

xo, cheers, namaste.

MK

brown sugar baby

It's been quite some time since my last post - and I really need some rest and relaxation tonight, so I thought it would be a good time to invite this blog back into my life.

Last night my family had birthday dinner for me, well really, I had birthday dinner for my family - because I'll take any excuse to cook. I made an awesome brown sugar salmon - a recipe that I got from my friend Meg's mom, Nancy.

Brown Sugar, Soy and Ginger Salmon

1.5 lbs fresh, boneless and skinless salmon
2 T soy sauce
1 T rice wine vinegar
2 tsp fresh minced ginger
2 T brown sugar
1 tsp sesame oil

Cut salmon into even slices
Combine all other ingredients into a bowl and whisk together
Marinate salmon in fridge for at least 30 minutes
Heat broiler
Place on a baking pan and broil fish for 3-7 minutes - depending on the thickness of the fish and how close to the heat each piece is - may have to move the pieces around a bit to get each piece evenly cooked - the salmon should caramelize on top and should flake easily with a fork when done.

I got my salmon from Wholey's in the Strip and this recipe was just delicious. Paired it with roasted brussels sprouts and rice. Yum.

xo. cheers. namaste,

MK

weekend events (and grilled veggie marinade)

Last weekend was another busy weekend, and as per usual, too short. After having been away for two weekends in a row (Lancaster and then Deep Creek), I was excited to stick around town, clean my apartment (yes, I was excited to do this - and I'm still not done), get my haircut and see some old friends. Friday I stayed in, but Saturday involved a 'lil girls night with some big burgers. I brought a side of veggies to grille after a successful trip to the farmers market where I also got some herbs for the kitchen windowsill - a little bit of a makeshift potting situation - but it works:

Basil, Parsley and Lemon Thyme - yum.

I picked up red, yellow and green peppers, mushrooms, zucchini and eggplant and did a really simple and easy marinade that added great flavors to the veggies:

Grilled Veggie Marinade:

2/3 c olive oil
1/3 c balsamic vinegar
1 T chopped fresh basil
1 t minced garlic
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper

I chopped up my veggies in fairly large pieces and marinated them in fridge for about 4 hours in a plastic ziplock bag - then shish kebabed them up and threw them on the grill for abut 15 minutes. So fresh and tasty:

Bianca was our host and she cooked us up some delicious burgers and put together a creative and super fun spread of toppings to choose from:

She did an amazing job with all the selections - it was such a fun thing to do during our little reunion.

Looks pretty damn good! It was such a fun night and great to catch up with some old friends:

Sunday involved an afternoon Pirates game which was very fun. Turned out to be the longest game in PNC Park history - 16 innings! They lost - but we made the most of it:

The weekend was full of good times and good eats, so as I like to say: success!

xo. cheers. namaste,

MK