Roasted Potato Leek Soup

I caught a little bit of Barefoot Contessa on the Foodnetwork the other day, and I saw her making this soup. This was just a potato leek soup, but when I watch her show, I get completely drawn in to whatever she’s making. It doesn’t matter if it’s something I don’t even eat, like beef tenderloin, I still become mesmerized. I’ll start thinking of how Kurt would like that, or I can make this when we have some friends over for dinner. Whatever Ina’s cooking, it always looks good, and I always want to run and cook it too. Potato leek soup is pretty straightforward, and I’ve made it many times, but Ina turned this version of it into something special. Instead of boiling the vegetables in the broth and then pureeing the soup, the vegetables were roasted in the oven.

Potatoes and leeks were chopped, tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted until tender. Then, arugula was added to the pan and roasted until wilted. I cleared the end-of-season arugula from my garden last weekend and used the last small, upper leaves for this. The roasted vegetables were then placed on top of the stove, and wine and chicken stock were added. That combination was then pureed in a food processor, in batches, with additional chicken stock. Once pureed, it was returned to a pot on the stove, more stock was added to achieve whatever consistency you might prefer, and then the recipe started getting rich. An eight ounce container of creme fraiche was stirred into the soup along with some grated parmigiano, and three quarters of a cup of cream was suggested. Now, I do love Ina and I’m no prude when it comes to cream and butter, but I just couldn’t do it after the creme fraiche. I used two percent milk instead. Trust me when I say it didn’t weaken this soup. First you can control the thickness during the pureeing and adding of chicken stock, so I already had a nicely thick soup. And, the richness was definitely not lacking because of my milk substitution. Last, a little more wine was added and the seasoning was adjusted.

The soup was served with crispy shallots on top and some parmesan cheese bread on the side. It was incredible. It had great flavor from the roasting, and the arugula added a little pepperiness and fresh, green flecks. The dairy richness and salty bite of the cheese were exactly right with the vegetables. Just watching it being made on television convinced me it would probably be good, but I had no idea. I wanted to curl up and take a nap in this soup. Dare I say, this may very well be the mac and cheese of soup. It is comfort food as it should be, and you can use the cream if you want, but it really didn’t even need it.

I'm submitting this to the May PhD.

Saffron Panna Cotta with Rhubarb Marmellata

Last Tuesday, I was reading a post on Cooked Books when I had to stop everything. You see, Rebecca mentioned that there’s a recipe archive on Babbo’s web site. Well, that set off a flurry of clicks, and I couldn’t get my printer flicked on fast enough. Babbo’s recipes are right there, ordered alphabetically, free for all. I don’t know how often the archive is updated or how complete it is or isn’t, but I quickly found several recipes to stack on top of my to-cook pile. The first of those was this panna cotta with rhubarb from Gina DePalma.

Part two of this story is that I had never before in my life cooked rhubarb. I have no excuse either, so it is clearly my Mom’s fault. She never cooked rhubarb that I remember, so I had no history with it at home. I’ve eaten it but never cooked it or had it at home. I had no idea what I was missing. It’s so easy, and it just makes a nice, thick sauce all by itself. And, now there’s sure to be rhubarb in my kitchen each time it’s in season. For this marmellata, it was chopped in one-quarter inch thick slices and cooked until soft with sugar and the scrapings of a vanilla bean. That was allowed to cool. For the panna cotta, gelatin sheets were softened while cream, sugar, lemon zest, and saffron threads were brought to a boil in a saucepan. That was left to steep for 10 minutes before the gelatin sheets were squeezed and added. Once the gelatin dissolved, the mixture was poured through a sieve, milk was added, and this was poured into ramekins. The ramekins were chilled until set.

To serve, the panna cotta was gracefully turned out of the ramekins, and the rhubarb marmellata was spooned on top. In reality, as I plopped the first serving out of its ramekin, it of course fell apart and broke into blobs on the plate. I had to try two more times before getting a photogenic one. All of this meant that we ended up with three desserts on plates for two people, and we didn’t mind that at all. I was feeling very full after dessert but happily so. I really love the unique flavor of saffron and with the lemon zest, the panna cotta was divine. The rhubarb topping which was thickened just enough all on its own, with its sweet and tart character and underlying vanilla, was a perfect match.

Sourdough Starter and Bread Adventure: 5 Parmesan Cheese Bread

The one problem with baking bread is that I then eat the bread. It smells so good, and it’s so fresh, and each type I’ve tried so far is so different from the last that I can’t resist the baking or the eating. You know the rule about reading a recipe all the way through before beginning? That is never more important than with a bread recipe, and luckily I actually followed that rule this time. Some breads are prepared in one day, and others can take multiple days. Most of the time is spent waiting, but it’s good to know what those wait times are so you can plan accordingly. This parmesan cheese bread is, again, from the Bread from the La Brea Bakery book. It’s described as a two-day bread. However, on day two, the dough is left in the refrigerator to proof for eight to twelve hours. When I read that, this recipe became a three-day bread for me.

Day one was actually not much of a day at all since the only thing to be done was to make a sponge from water, white starter, and flour. That fermented for twelve hours. On day two, the dough was formed from the sponge, more water, fresh yeast, and flour. This was mixed, allowed to rest, and then salt was added. Silverton suggested adding chopped, fresh marjoram to the dough, and I have some in my herb garden, but I chose to use my fresh oregano instead. I just prefer the flavor of oregano. So, chopped oregano, freshly grated parmigiano reggiano, and olive oil were then mixed into the dough. It was turned out onto a board and kneaded briefly. It felt like all the cheese was falling out of the dough as I turned and kneaded it, but it worked out fine. The dough then fermented for a few hours in an oiled bowl, and as it expanded, it pulled all the cheese in and became more cohesive.

Next, the dough was slapped onto the work surface to deflate, left to rest a bit, rounded into a boule, and placed in a regular bowl since I’m still lacking the recommended proofing baskets. This was covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated until the next day. On what was for me day three, or baking day, the dough was removed from the refrigerator and allowed to come up to room temperature. It was turned out onto parchment paper and flattened into a disk. It was dimpled with my fingertips and brushed with olive oil. More parmigiano reggiano was spread on top, and it was, at last, placed with the parchment into a water-spritzed 500 degree oven that was immediately turned down to 450. The oven got another couple of water spritzes, and after 15 minutes, the parchment paper under the loaf was removed. The total baking time was 35 minutes, but because it was baking directly on a stone on the base of my oven, it browned quickly on the bottom. I moved the loaf up to a higher rack for the last 10 minutes.

The crispy baked-on parmigiano on the top was a real attention getter, but the chewy inside of the loaf was not to be ignored. The cheese melted into the dough, and the texture was soft and lovely. This loaf was less airy than the rustic bread but not dense. Sadly, the oregano that smelled so fantastic as the loaf baked, seemed to all but disappear. When I sliced it, there were only a few tiny flecks. Next time, I’ll add more. I’m also wondering about adding chunks of parmigiano in addition to the grated cheese. The parmesan bread in the bakery at Central Market has chunks in it which are so flavorful when you bite into them. That’s for next time. For now, I think the rest of this loaf will find its way into a meal with some soup.

I’m submitting this to Yeastspotting where you’ll find some seriously well-made bread.