DECEMBER NEEDS SOUPS

So watching one's weight during the month of December is tough. But soups are a great way to get nutrition and fill up without all the calories.

So with ground beef made with one egg, some parsley and bread crumbs-salt and pepper to taste- rolled into little balls and fried- drain off the grease!

Escarole chopped, cleaned and lightly boiled- save a little of the water!

Good chicken stock made with a chicken leg, carrot, onion, celery stalk, parsley! Boil into the broth. When finished, add the ingredients together and you have soup for a meal.
Some Italians call it Wedding soup. My mother used to call it Sunday soup because it was the soup she made on Sunday. You can eat it any day of the week! I know I do!

FROM A FRESH APPETIZER TO A HEARTY SOUP

I eat lots of vegetable. For any gathering or a family barbecue at the cottage a fresh vegetable appetizer platter is always a hit with some spinach dip. We all eat a variety of vegetables.

From broccoli

to cauliflower

to carrots

to a variety of peppers- red, green, yellow, orange- vegetables are best eaten fresh.

What to do with the leftovers? The next day make them into a dish. Soup/zuppa well is my second best way to eat them. With a little olive oil in the bottom of the pot simmer some chopped onions and a couple of buds of diced garlics. When simmered add the chopped vegetables left over form the veggie platter. I added some frozen peas, a zucchini, a little swiss chard piece, and some celery too. All chopped into small pieces. Of course salt and pepper to taste.
Ecco la!

Una zuppa di verdure! A hearty vegetable soup! Barb always tells me she loves the smell of soup simmering in the house. I just love eating it!

SPEZZATINO DI MANZO-ITALIAN BEEF STEW

Everyone has some kind of stew. Canadians make a good stew with stewing beef and large vegetables. The Irish stew uses lamb.
My favourite stew is the way I learnt from ny region- Ciociaria in Italy.

INGREDIENTS

Meat- some tender beef. Can be stewing beef or round steak. 1 lb- 2.2 kg or more depending on the number of people to be served.
Celery- 1 stalk.
Carrot- 1.
Onion-1.
Garlic.
Olive Oil-EVOO.
Bay leaf.
Salt, pepper.
Red Wine.

Remember if serving a large crowd, just up the number of each ingredient.

You can make Italian stew with a good cut of veal with the same ingredients. However, use white wine.

DIRECTIONS

Dice a garlic bud or 2 and fry with a spoon of olive oil in the pot.

Thinly dice the carrot, onion and celery.



Cut up the meat into small bite size pieces. Saute in the fried garlic.

Add the thinly diced onion, celery, onion. Actually doing all this work, makes me think that Italian cooks must have a lot of time on their hands as it takes time to dice thinly with a knife!

Add 1/2 cup of red wine.

Add a Bay Leaf.

Salt, pepper to taste.

Let simmer in the covered pot for 2-3 hours. Check and stir the ingredients often. 

For you modern cooks, it can be cooked in your slow cooker or crock pot. 

The simmering lets the meat tenderize while cooking. 

Before you start to serve any stew make sure to remove the bay leaf. Many people have choked on it as it does not tenderize or fall apart.

I like to serve the stew on top of some mashed potatoes or you can serve the stew or spezzatino on its own.

Making this dish reminded me of my childhood. We used to have a bay leaf tree- actually it was a bush- on our driveway at our house in Italy. It seemed bigger because I was smaller. I remember we had a chestnut tree and some rosemary and oliander bushes too. Cooking can sure bring back memories.  I could not find a picture of the bushes but did round up some pictures of me near the house and another with my cousins in a field of flowers.



THE BASICS IN MY CUPBOARD

Every kitchen contains similiar food items-
               Milk, bread, eggs etc.

Along with a well stocked kitchen, every Italian cook has a list of basics kept for meal preparation in his cupboard or elsewhere in the home.

Salt Pepper.

Bottles of Passata di Pomodoro/ Pureed-strained Tomatoes. Many Italians in Canada still make thier own passata. I used to help my mother make about 200 bottles annually. Now I have found the prepared ones to be just as tasty without the work.

Cans of Tomatoes- I like the whole plum ones.
Frozen whole tomatoes. It is easy to buy or grow your favourite tomatoe. In the Fall, when the growing season is over, use the ripe ones. Wash and bag, put in the freezer for use throught out the year.

Onion
Garlic
Vinegar- Red, White

Tins of Beans- Romano, White, Kidney, Brown, Ceci-Chick Peas

Variety of Pasta- To name a few- Spaghetti, Spaghettini, Linguine, Fetuccine, Penne-lisce, Rigatoni, Macroni Elbows, Tubetti, Bows, Stars, Alphabet

Olive Oil-Extra Virgin
Olive Oil-EVOO
Vegetable Oil
And of course the herbs! Basil, Rosemary, Oregano, Parsley

Hot Pepper- dried

Cheese as topping or in a Dish- Parmiagiano/ Parmesean
Mozzarella Cheese.

You will find these basics in many of my recipes.

So you can visit my blog weekly for tidbits, recipes and menu plans about my style of cooking. I welcome comments and ideas. If you have trouble commenting just email me at abns@rogers.com