Sopa de Albondigas

For many years, my mom made her recipe for "albondigas" and it was great.  So great, I made it for years.  And then my brother found a different recipe that used chorizo.  So ... I combined elements from the two recipes to come up with my "Ultimate" sopa de albondigas.

My husband absolutely loves this dish, and as I'm considering making it this week, I figured I'd share the recipe.


Enjoy.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, sliced
2 T. cooking oil
7 - 8 cups chicken stock (I always start with 7, but usually add more)
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp oregano (whole, crushed between your fingers)
1 tsp cumin
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 small or 1 large zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and cut across into 1/2" slices
salt/pepper to taste

Meatballs:

1 beaten egg
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup chopped mint
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed slightly with your fingers
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 carrot, peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic, minced (I run mine over my microplane, but a garlic press would work, too)
1/4 cup long grain rice (uncooked)
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb chorizo (I like Cattaneo Bros.)


In a large soup pot, saute onion/garlic/celery over medium-high heat in the oil for a few minutes until soft.  Add the tomatoes, the spices and the broth.  Bring to a boil and add the carrots and potatoes.  Simmer 5-10 minutes.

While simmering, make the meatballs:

Combine egg/spices/herbs/carrot/garlic/rice in a medium bowl.  Add meat and combine well -- hands work best to really make sure the 2 meats get mixed together.  Shape into meatballs using a 2 tsp size cookie scoop (very small - you can approximate by using 1 Tablespoon measure -- the meatballs increase in size when cooked as the rice expands).

Gently add meatballs to the simmering soup and cook for 15 minutes.  Add zucchini and continue simmering for an additional 10 minutes.  Serve with lemon/limes and Mexican rice.

Italian Meatball Soup (aka Minstrone With Meat)

So I was completely uninspired for dinner today.  I wanted comfort food.  My muffin tops said: "Make a salad".

I did not want salad.

So ... I whipped up this little number.  It's absolutely delicious, and so ... I share.

Ingredients

EVOO (about 2 T. or so)
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 - 3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced into 1/4" slices
3 bay leaves (maybe 4 -- I love bay, I use loads)
splash of white wine (whatever you're drinking)
pinch (about 1/2 tsp) Italian Seasoning
1 can stewed tomatoes (Italian style)
1 red potato, diced (skin on)
3 - 4 summer squash of your choosing, diced (I used Mexican grey - use what you want)
3 carrots, cut into pieces of your choosing (I like cutting carrot into 1/4ths lengthwise, then sliced)
2 - 3 T. Better Than Bouillon, beef flavor (or just omit water and use beef broth instead - whatever you've got!)
2 - 3 Quarts water (however much you need -- I used a 6 qt stock pot so I probably used about 3 quarts water)
1.5 lbs ground beef
1/4 c. bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 - 1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 c noodles of your choosing (I used alphabet noodles)
1 bag (6 oz, I believe) baby spinach
1/8 c. parmesan
salt/pepper

Saute onion/garlic/celery/bay leaf in evoo over med-high heat until softened.  Add white wine and let reduce about 30 seconds.  Add the tomatoes, potato, squash, carrots, Italian seasoning and salt/pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil.

While waiting for the soup to boil, assemble meatballs -- mix beef, bread crumbs, egg, garlic salt, basil, black pepper and salt (if you have fresh herbs - great! I didn't, so I used dry. Use what you have! If you have fresh parsley, use that, fresh oregano? use that!). 

When soup comes to a boil, gradually add meatballs (I use a small cookie scoop - 1.5 tablespoons - and just scoop and drop).  Reduce heat and let simmer uncovered about 1 hour.

Add the pasta and spinach and cook until pasta is done (about 8 minutes).  Add beans and parmesan and let "warm up" for about 5 minutes.

Season to taste with additional salt/pepper (or fresh herbs if you have them -- fresh basil would be amazing here ... as would some lemon zest).

 Devour with croutons and parmesan cheese on top, and a frosty beer.

Succotash, sufferin'

I will admit to having been inspired to make this dish by a (gasp) Woman's Day recipe.

What?  The recipes in that mag -- while simple -- are really quite impressive and delicious.  Better than most I've seen on the Internet.  Of course, I believe if I told Ruth Reichl the end of Gourmet magazine (moment of silence) would have driven me thus, she might bring it back ... I can dream, no?

In any event, succotash is one of those summertime dishes that just FEEL right ... you've got all this fresh produce and not a lot of desire to be at the stove and -- for me -- it's all the right size (and taste) for small children to devour at dinnertime.  Win, win, win.

This is what I did (all chopped vegetables were cut the same size as the lima beans):

3 slices thick bacon, cut into 1/8" slices (omit this or add more - it's your table, not mine)
2 T. butter
1 16 oz bag frozen lima beans, defrosted (yes you can use fresh; however, I am not nearly so fussy)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
2 - 3 cloves garlic, rough chopped
1 - 2 ears corn, removed from the cob (if you used canned or frozen, you'd be forgiven. I promise.)
1 squash, chopped
Salt/Pepper/Dried basil
Heavy cream and a little water *OR* half and half (about 1/2 cup)

Note: If you have fresh basil, please -- by all means -- use fresh basil.  I just didn't have any and I happen to like the unique flavor of dried basil.  I am not ashamed.

While the kids are napping, chop the vegetables and set the lima beans out to defrost.

When husband comes home from work, start bacon in a cold pan and turn heat to medium-high.  Once bacon has rendered, remove bacon (try not to eat -- you're gonna want to add it back in later) and add the butter to the pan.  Once the butter has melted, add all the veggies and herb/salt/pepper ((If using fresh basil - please wait to add at the very end)) to the pan and stir -- lazily (meaning, like, 4 times total) -- for about 6 minutes until veggies start to soften and the onion doesn't look quite so "raw".

This is when you add the cream and water (which is what I had on hand) or some half and half.  Stir.  Put a lid on the pan, turn the heat to low, and let simmer for about 12 minutes until lima beans are soft, but corn still has "crunch".

Add more salt/pepper/basil to taste (add red pepper flakes, too, if you're into that sort of thing).  Add the bacon back in (if there's any left after snacking).

Devour.

This is the finished product. I used a Mexican "grey" squash I had in the fridge. And only 1 ear of corn. It is very delicious.

Certainly if you have some tomatoes lying around, you can add them after everything has cooked down -- just chop up and stir into the warm succotash, letting the heat slightly "wilt" the tomatoes.  They will add a great bit of "brightness" to the dish.  I am saving my tomato for River Casserole later this week ... so mine went without.  You really can't go wrong with this dish.

Garlicky Summer Squash

We eat a lot of "whatever's on sale" at the grocery store.  Lately, that has included summer squash and I am totally okay with that because I love it so much, as does the rest of the family.

This preparation is moderately fussy as far as squash is concerned, but I assure you it's worth it.

Ingredients
2 - 3 Summer squash (zucchini, yellow, Mexican - whatever)
Garlic (loads - 4 - 5 cloves at least, chopped)
Balsalmic vinegar
EVOO
Salt/Pepper
Optional: parmesan cheese

Slice the squash lengthwise into 3 strips (I prefer them simply cut in half it they're smaller) and put into a Ziploc bag.  Add the rest of the ingredients (how much balsalmic and evoo? I'd guesstimate about 1/8 cup of each, possibly more).  Marinate as long as you have time and then cook on the grill.  After cooked, return to the marinade prior to serving.

If your grill isn't going, you can broil in the toaster oven (my favorite appliance in the summertime) for about 8 minutes per side, or until cooked.

It gets even better the day after, having soaked up all that delicious marinade.

(It's also quite delicious chopped up and thrown into scrambled eggs the next morning)

River "Casserole"

This dish was a staple of the Johnson family whenever we'd spend our yearly two weeks camping at King's river. The flavors are so simple and just scream summertime for me.  I recently served it for my father in law and he ate two helpings, telling me "I used to hate squash, but this is so delicious! What is that on here?"  My husband had told me the same thing the week prior.

You MUST serve sourdough with it to sop up the delicious liquor that forms at the bottom of the pan.  Drinking it after eating is also highly encouraged.

Ingredients:
2 summer squash, sliced into 1/2" slices (zucchini, yellow, mexican - whatever is on sale)
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 - 3 cloves garlic, chopped (not minced, for fear it may burn)
2 tomatoes, sliced
Dried dill (yes, dried)
Dried basil (yes, dried -- seriously)
Salt/Pepper
EVOO

Set burner to medium-high and add the evoo. Once evoo is hot, add the onion and garlic and let cook in the oil for about a minute (just chop the other veggies while it cooks and that'll be the perfect amount of time).

Then layer into the pan, in this order, the squash, a generous amount of the dried herbs, salt and pepper, then the tomatoes, then more salt and pepper and more dried herbs.

Put on the lid, turn the heat to low, and cook for about 20 minutes until squash is done to desired doneness.

Some members of my family enjoy putting cheese on top of this dish, but I prefer it as is.