Ancho Pork Hominy Stew

The holiday whirlwind is upon us and we're expecting a full house this year. Three generations of grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, and cousins will descend upon us in less than 48 hours and I cannot wait. As far as I'm concerned it wouldn't be Christmas without a little chaos.

Mufasa must have been extra good this year because he is now the proud owner of a brand spanking new Big Green Egg. So while he's working out plans for several holiday roasts on his new toy, I'm turning my focus to what we're all going to eat in the days leading up to and in between the major celebrations.

Thanks to the chest freezer, I've been squirreling away banana bread, squash muffins, and countless freezer bags of soup for weeks now. Next on the list is one of my personal favorites, this spicy ancho chili spiced pork and hominy stew.

Ancho Pork Hominy Stew
Adapted from Cooking Light, December 2009

2 tbsp ancho chile powder
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped, or 2 tsp. dried oregano
1 & 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground cumin*
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 & 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces (about 1/2-ich cubes)
1 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 & 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 (28 ounce) can hominy, drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

For garnish
fresh lime slices
fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 cup queso fresco, crumbled

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Set aside 1 & 1/2 tsp of the spice mixture. Add pork to the remaining spice mixture and toss to coat.
2. Heat 2 tsp of the oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally (the pork does not need to cook through at this point). Remove the pork from the pot and set aside.
3. Add the remaining 1 tsp oil to the dutch oven. Add the onion, peppers, and garlic and saute for 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Return the pork to the pan. Add the remaining 1 & 1/2 tsp of spice mixture, broth, hominy, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover partially and simmer for about 30 minutes or until ready to serve. Garnish with fresh lime slices, cilantro, or queso fresco.

Makes 6 (1 & 1/3 cup) servings

*The original recipe calls for half as much cumin but can one go wrong with pork and a little extra cumin? I think not.

My advice is double the recipe. You'll need a huge pot but the payoff is so worth it. Eat round one for dinner tonight and pack away round 2 for some night in the coming weeks when you've eaten a few too many sugar cookies to turn on the oven. This freezes and reheats beautifully and is such a nice departure in flavor from the typical Christmas roasts and hams we'll be eating next week.

Carrot, Orange, and Ginger Soup

When multiple 4-year-olds beg to be put to work in the kitchen, there is no better gig than peeling carrots. Don't drift off here, this tidbit might prove particularly useful on Thanksgiving morning, especially if your day goes anything like mine. You'll be dodging a kitchen floor Lego tower, boiling potatoes, simmering cranberries in Zinfandel, separating Brussels Sprouts into individual leaves, rolling out pie crust, and searching for the AWOL box of Panko to a constant warble of "I wanna help."

Hand over a bag of carrots and a peeler and you're free and clear for a half hour, forty minutes if you're lucky. For the record, 4-year-olds are also adept and unhurried at squeezing water out of thawed frozen spinach. File it away.

What to do with those 13 freshly peeled carrots? How about a vat of hearty, bright, gut-warming gingery carrot and orange soup? It works for me.

You just can't beat a good soup this time of year. Here the carrots and orange marry for a humble but optimistic base while the ginger nips at your tongue ever so slightly with each and every sip. It would make a perfect Thanksgiving first course, or save some turkey stock after the big day and whip this up as a healthful recovery lunch.

Carrot, Orange, and Ginger Soup
adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook

4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups yellow onion, chopped
2 pounds carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
6 cups turkey stock (or chicken or vegetable stock) - divided
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
salt and pepper to taste
orange slices and zest for garnish

1. Melt the butter over low heat in a large, heavy pot with a lid. Add the onions, cover and cook until soft and lightly golden, about 25 minutes.
2. Add the carrots, ginger, and 4 cups of stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 30 minutes until the carrots are very tender. Use an immersion blender to puree soup to desired consistency, adding more of the reserved stock as needed. Alternatively, transfer the hot soup in batches to a blender and puree, adding more stock as needed, until you have your desired consistency.
3. Return soup to pot (if you used the blender method) and stir in the orange juice. Season with salt and pepper. Warm over low heat until heated through. Top each serving with an orange slice and a sprinkle of freshly grated orange zest.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Creamy Fresh Tomato Soup

As a full-fledged first-grader, Looly has made a pledge to embrace more soups this year in her lunchbox. I'm not sure what inspired the declaration but it might be the croissant that often accompanies her soup rather than any deep seeded desire to expand her palate. Or perhaps it has more to do with the cool travel spoon in her thermos. In any event, I'll take what I can get.

She's already a staunch supporter of broccoli cheese soup and ever since we made grilled cheese sandwiches with roasted tomato dip, she's been clamoring for more homemade tomato soup. Thankfully the kids are just as excited to pluck a few heirlooms off the vine now as they were 6 weeks ago when the first green bulbs were starting to blush.

Creamy Fresh Tomato Soup
adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics by Ina Garten

3 tbsp olive oil
2 cups onions, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1&1/2 tbsp garlic, minced (about 4 cloves)
4 pounds fresh, juicy tomatoes, chopped (about 6 medium tomatoes)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped, plus more for garnish
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped, plus more for garnish
4 cups chicken stock (homemade, if you have it)
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper* (much less, if serving to children)
1 cup half and half
1 tbsp sunflower seeds, for garnish

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion and carrots and saute until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more. Add tomatoes (including juice and seeds), sugar, tomato paste, basil, oregano, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Stir well, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes.
2. Process until smooth with an immersion blender. Alternatively, transfer hot mixture to a blender in batches and process until smooth. If your audience is sensitive to textures like mine, strain the soup through a sieve and discard any remaining pulp or seeds.
3. Stir half and half into the strained, hot tomato mixture. Garnish with sunflower seeds, fresh oregano and basil leaves, or grilled cheese sandwich croutons for kids.

*2 tsp of black pepper give this soup a delicious kick, but if you're preparing it for kids or anyone else who is sensitive to spice, tone it down. A lot! I recommend no more than 1 tsp, and to be safe, maybe 1/2 tsp if I'm serving it to my own spice-averse kids. You can always add a dash of hot sauce or extra pepper to grown-up servings later. 

Now let me clarify one thing. Just because this soup might show up in a thermos at the elementary school cafeteria should you consider it kid food. This is serious soup. Really good, grown-up, creamy, zippy, gut-warming, leaves blustering through the intersection kind of day soup.

Swiss Chard Soup

My sister has a killer recipe for Swiss Chard Soup. Sadly, I've never made it because every time she sends me the recipe I lose it. Somewhere around here there's a goldmine of heirloom recipes tucked into one book jacket or another. But after searching in vain for the elusive recipe stockpile and faced with an overflowing vegetable drawer from the latest CSA delivery from Angelic Organics, I finally made up my own.

The bounty of vegetables presented the perfect opportunity to test out our new crock pot.  Ever since a batch of pulled pork cracked the insert of our old KitchenAid slow cooker for the third time, I've been on the lookout for a new, heartier model. After extensive research that mostly entailed reading amazon.com reviews, I decided it was time to downgrade. Yes, downgrade. Our new Crock Pot was cheaper and a little smaller that its predecessor (6 quarts vs. 7), but the reviews on this baby look great and after one round of chard soup, I am pleased. Fingers crossed that this crock doesn't shatter on me too. I'll keep you posted on that one but so far so good.

Swiss Chard Soup

2 tbsp olive oil
2 leeks, thinly sliced, and washed well
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large bunch of chard, washed, and roughly chopped
4 large carrots, chopped
3 cups waxy potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 Parmesan rind (I happened to have one in the freezer, but you could leave it out and add extra Parmesan on top when serving)
1 large bunch summer savory (or substitute fresh oregano), tied with twine for easy removal
Parmesan cheese for garnish

1. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan. Add onion, garlic, and leeks and saute until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add chard to the pan and continue to cook until the chard wilts.
2. Transfer chard mixture to a 6-quart (or slightly larger) slow cooker crock. Add next 8 ingredients (through Parmesan rind, if using) and stir gently. Nestle the bunch of summer savory right on top and cover. Cook on low setting for 8-10 hours. Garnish with plenty of freshly shaved Parmesan cheese and a serve with a hunk of crusty bread.

My champion chard spinner

Cherry Berry Gazpacho

After the tuna event earlier this week I felt I owed the kids a gimme. Typically cold soups aren't my thing. On a sweltering day I'd much rather fight fire with fire with spicy tortilla soup than chilled tomato gazpacho. But fresh berries and a blender? That sounds like a smoothie in a bowl.

Berry Cherry Gazpacho.

Cherry Berry Gazpacho with Honeyed Mascarpone
adapted from Cooking Light July 2012

For the soup
1 pound purple seedless grapes
1 pound sweet cherries, pitted and stems removed
8 ounces fresh blueberries
1/2 cup apple juice
2 tbsp. honey
2 tsp. lemon rind, grated
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
fresh mint leaves to garnish

For the Mascarpone
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1 tbsp. honey

1. Remove stems from fruit, wash, and pat dry. Put grapes, cherries, and blueberries in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add apple juice and honey. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender (or process in batches in a food processor or blender) until nearly smooth. Strain, discard solids, and chill at least 2 hours. Stir in the lemon rind, juice, and salt.
2. In a small bowl combine room temperature mascarpone and honey. Mix well.
3. Ladle soup into bowls and top each with a dollop of honeyed mascarpone. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and additional lemon zest.

Tex Mex Chicken Soup

I've already talked a lot about Roo's oral delay and textural sensitivities. Thankfully his tolerance to anything bready, beany, mushy, gushy, or slippery is improving but we are still no where near stew territory. He's more of a single ingredient kind of guy. That is why I love recipes that can be easily deconstructed to suit his needs, but still end up looking and tasting like real, actual grown-up meals when they're put together. Like this...

Tex-Mex Chicken Soup
adapted from Cooking Light (June 2012)

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 mini sweet peppers, red, yellow, or orange, chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1 tbsp. smoked paprika
2 tsp. crushed red pepper (reduce to 1 tsp. if sharing with spice-averse guests)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
2 cups corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
4 cups chicken broth
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup queso fresco, crumbled
1 lime, cut into wedges
tortilla chips

1. Heat a Dutch oven or other large pot over medium-high heat. Add the oil, onion, garlic, peppers, and jalapeño. Saute for a 3 minutes. Add paprika, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper. Cook for 30 seconds.
2. Add the chicken, corn, broth, tomatoes, and beans. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Serve with cilantro, queso fresco, lime wedges, and tortilla chips. 

Then, make deconstructed plates for the kiddos using the ingredients on hand. Everybody wins.