Fish Stew

If you're hosting a dinner party, this soup will impress. Ciopinno comes from an Italian dialect and means to chop. Fishermen would chop the day's catch to make this flavorful soup. I take this to mean I can add any kind of fish and shellfish I please. I was inspired by this recipe which calls for many types of shellfish. That can add up to an expensive dinner. I'll try it that way when I'm actually having company, but for the two of us, this version is simpler and more budget-friendly.

Ingredients & Tools

• 1 lbs. fish cubes or fish of your choice
• 2 lbs. mussels
• 1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 14 ounce can of chicken stock
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 onion
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flake
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• Kosher salt
• olive oil
• large pot with tight-fitting lid

Do all your chopping. Chop the onion, garlic, and the fish cubes into smaller pieces, if necessary. I'm less likely to burn anything if I prepped all the chopping at the beginning of my cooking.

Add the dried herbs to several tablespoons of olive oil over low heat.

Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent. Clean the mussels thoroughly and check they're all alive and closed.

Add a cup of good, dry white wine. Let the alcohol cook out for a few minutes. This smells amazing.

Add the chicken stock. What would someone on the Food Network say? "Layers and layers of flavor!"

Add the crushed tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.

Season the fish with salt and pepper. Add and stir gently.

Add the cleaned mussels and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Simmer gently until the fish is cooked through and all the mussels open, about 10 minutes. Discard any mussels that do not open.

Serve this with crusty bread and the rest of that wine. Buon appetito! 

Slow Cooker Potato Leek Soup

The temperature has taken a plunge and that always means it's time for soup. This recipe is simple, with few ingredients and accidentally vegan if you ignore the bacon. I did not ignore it. I wanted a lot more of it.

Ingredients & Tools

• 4 potatoes
• 4 leeks
• 6 cups of water
• 3 tablespoons of salt
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 3 garlic cloves
• 6-8 slices of bacon [triple this to make yourself happier]
• slow cooker
• immersion blender

Leeks are delicious vegetables from the onion and garlic family. They taste like mild onions and you only use the white and light green parts. Chop off the dark green tops, usually at least half of the leek.

Leeks often have dirt and sand within its layers. You probably noticed that in the picture above. Split the leek length-wise and fan out the layers under running water to make sure any trapped dirt is rinsed off.

Chop the leeks into one inch pieces and add them to the slow cooker's stoneware, but do not chop them into two inch pieces. Do you want to ruin everything!?

Peel and chop the potatoes and add them too.

Add the salt. If you prefer to use vegetable or chicken stock instead of just water, you may want to adjust the amount. If you're not adding the bacon, you may need more salt.

Add the thyme and the crushed garlic cloves.

Add 6 cups of water. Cook this on high for 4 hours or on the low setting for 8. 

Cook and dice the bacon.  While the bacon is cooking, blend the soup with an immersion blender.

This was so good, mainly because of the bacon. I'll make this again and ensure I have a lot more bacon in the house. I may edit the title of this post: Bacon and a little soup on the side.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

I prefer recipes with minimal steps. I'm more likely to make it again and again and who wants to a sink full of dirty dishes? This recipe is an exception to my-not-so strict rule. This soup calls for roasting the vegetables before cooking them in broth. I usually prefer to make all soups in my slow cooker, but the roasting imparts loads of flavors and it's worth doing on a Sunday when your team is definitely out of the playoffs.

The flavors of this soup seem Middle Eastern to me, but I've already proven that isn't something I know much about it. Still, the honey at the end makes the finished product worthy of company.

Ingredients & Tools

• 2 heads of cauliflower
• 1 large onion [I had 2 medium-sized ones; perhaps I should start measuring onions in cups]
• 6 cups of liquid [I used 2 cups of homemade chicken stock and 4 cups of water]
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons turmeric
• 3 tablespoons Kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons curry powder
• honey
• olive oil
• 2 baking sheets or roasting pans
• large stock pot
• immersion or traditional blended

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. The high temperature will produce excellent color and that brown color means flavor.

Chop the cauliflower and onion. It produces a lot. Split it evenly in two roasting pans or baking sheets. If you overcrowd one pan, the vegetables will steam instead of roast and you won't get the browning.

I used one pan and my dutch oven, since I needed the latter later in the recipe and it's one less thing to wash. Take the wins where you can.

Drizzle the vegetables liberally with olive oil and toss with your hands.

Roast for 30 minutes. Set a timer for 15 minutes and give everything a good toss at the half way mark.

Add the beautifully roasted vegetables to a large stock pot. 

Add the cayenne pepper, turmeric, curry, and salt. 

Mix and cook for 2-3 minutes over low heat to ensure all the cauliflower and onions have been seasoned.

Add the stock and the water. You could easily make this vegan by only using water or vegetable stock. If you use 100% stock, you may want to adjust the salt depending on the salt content of the stock.

Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over a low flame for 20 minutes. This lets the cauliflower soften and the liquid to absorb flavor.

Transfer the soup in small batches to a traditional blender or use an immersion blender right in the pot.

Serve this with a drizzle of honey and hope your team plays more consistently next year.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

This is the kind of winter time comfort food that makes me ache for a snow day, endless couch time, and The West Wing episodes [pre-season 5]. Making this in the slow cooker allows the meat to be cut-with-a-spoon tender and all the flavors to infuse into the vegetables. I came home to the smell of this simmering after a long day at work and was probably too pleased with myself for prepping this the night before, when I would have preferred to watch [name of embarrassing show redacted to protect the integrity of this very serious blog].

Ingredients & Tools

• 1 lbs. beef cubes
• 5 carrots
• 4 Yukon Gold potatoes
• 2 onions
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of Worcestershire sauce
• 3 cups of water
• 4 teaspoons of salt
• 3 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of basil
• 1 teaspoon of rosemary
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
• slow cooker

This is a hefty list of spices, but you can easily adjust this to your tastes. I like the combination of the Worcestershire sauce and the less traditional rosemary and paprika. You spice this your way. I see recipes as suggestions, not rules. Of course, that kind of thinking doesn't apply to baking, but it may be quite awhile before you see a cake recipe in these parts. I digress. 

Chop the meat into smaller pieces. This will make it easier to eat and create more surface area for your spices. Add the meat and spices to the stoneware of your slower cooker. It will look like a lot of seasoning, but many vegetables and liquid will be added and all that seasoning will be distributed.

Leave the meat at the bottom and layer the vegetables on top. Peel and chop the carrots. Chop the potatoes. I didn't peel them. I don't think it's necessary for a stew. Add your chopped onion. 

Add the can of crushed tomatoes, Worcestershire, and water and stir.

Cook on low for 12 hours and add the peas about 30 minutes before serving. When you come home from work near fainting because you ate your 'lunch' at 10:30 in the morning, this will be waiting for you.

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup

There will be a lot of  slow cooker recipes on this blog. I've had one my entire adult life because they're so easy to use. My first one was a very basic CrockPot brand slow cooker. I bought it with a coupon during some sale nearly a decade ago and paid about $14 for it. Another generous bridal shower gift replaced it, though.

My fancy 6 quart CrockPot with digital timer

Photo from www.Crock-Pot.com

This is a very simple way to cook. The ingredients go in, the CrockPot works its slow cooking magic, and delicious food comes out without any stirring, watching, or fussiness. I use it most on weekdays, so I can turn it on in the morning and come home from work with dinner waiting for me.  This CrockPot automatically switches to warm after it's reached the total cooking time, but things seldom burn in a slow cooker. This is also a kitchen must-have in the summer, so you can bake or roast without turning the oven on.

Soups and stews are probably the ideal recipes for a slow cooker since their flavors develop best over time. This recipes makes a ton of soup, so my freezer is getting nicely stocked.

Ingredients & Tools

• 3 sweet potatoes
• 2 onions
• 2 carrots
• 1 apple
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 10 cups of water
• 4 teaspoons of salt
• 3 teaspoons of allspice
• 2 teaspoons of nutmeg
• 1 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
• 6 quart [or larger] slow cooker
• immersion or standard blended

Do you want another reason to try this recipe? It's cheap! The spices eliminate the need for vegetable or chicken stock. This also accidentally makes it a vegan soup. I think soup recipes in the slow cooker rarely need a stock if it's spiced well. Depending on your taste and tolerance for spice, adjust the cayenne pepper. Just one teaspoon, even in this large quantity, was enough for me with the other spices. I love the garlic in this soup, even though the cloves didn't make their way into the picture. Don't forget them!

Peel the carrots and the sweet potatoes. You don't need to peel the apples. Chop everything up and put in the slow cooker's stoneware. Try to get similar sizes, but you don't need to be perfect. You never need to be perfect in the kitchen. Add the water and the spices and stir.

Set your slow cooker on low and cook for 8-10 hours.

I prepared everything the night before and set it to cook before I left for work. This cooked for nearly 11 hours and I immediately blended it. Be very careful since the soup is very hot and splatters will burn. I blend from the bottom, stirring as if it were spoon. After about 3 minutes, it was a great consistency. If you use a traditional blender, very carefully blend the soup in small batches and move to another pot. 

The apples and carrots add a bit of sweetness to balance the flavors, though I wish these carrots hadn't been so wimpy. I may try one more apple next time. This is a fiber-rich, healthy soup.

My husband and I ate this with our wonder bread and had it for lunch for two days. The freezer now has some spicy sweet potato soup waiting for some future cold night.