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Issue: Nov 6, 2008
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"Flatbreads
& Crackers"
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Wish List -
Gift Registry:
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Kitchen Essentials offers Gift Registry services for any
occasion. Come into the shop to begin your registry. Let
others know that you are registered at Kitchen Essentials and that
they can shop online.
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Soup's On!
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 It's a no brainer! A great soup meets all
the criteria for a satisfying meal at an economical price.
It's filling, tasty, colorful to the eye, and a great way to boost
your nutrition by including all types of local, seasonal
vegetables. A pot of soup cooks without too much tending, and
is rather forgiving if dinner is late, or destined to be eaten in
shifts. Pair a bowl of soup with a salad, a crust of bread, and
maybe a glass of wine for a perfect cool weather supper. Any
leftovers make for the perfect lunch. Forget canned or boxed soups -
you can do better for a lot less money, and with much better
results! In this issue, we'll offer some tips and techniques
for homemade goodness including three great recipes for renewing
your love of hot
soup!
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October's
Monthly Feature
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Have you ever
wanted to try a Le Creuset
enameled cast iron pot but just haven't found the right time?
That time has arrived! During October -- just in time for soup
season -- we're offering this great special, "try me"
pricing!
Le
Creuset's 2.75 Quart
Soup
Pot
$20 Off - $99.99
Regularly
priced: $120.00
Available
in Red, Blue, Caribbean, Kiwi
Le Creuset is
famous for its enameled cast iron pots that are easy to clean, move
from stovetop, to oven, to table with ease. You can braise,
saute, boil, bake, just about anything in this versatile pot.
Try it, you'll fall in love!
Le Creuset's French
Onion Soup Bowls
A seasonal favorite, these soup bowls
are great for any soup, but are especially good for making an
authentic French Onion Soup whose final step includes a stint in the
oven. Mmmm . . . we can taste it
now! |
JUST IN!
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We've just
received a new line of pot racks that we think you'll love!
The racks come in several different styles -- Bookshelf style,
Ceiling Mount, Wall style -- choose the one that best fits your
kitchen layout!
Pot Racks in Many
Styles!
All of the hardware you'll need to install
in your kitchen is available and ready to go! Free up some
space in your cabinets with these handy
racks! | |
Maggie & Mary's
Soups
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The next best thing to homemade?
Mary &
Maggie's homemade soups ready to go! Try their Salmon
Bisque, Potato Bacon, Creamy Wild Rice, Tomato Parmesan, Roasted
Garlic Potato, French Onion, Hungarian Mushroom, Be Well Chicken
Noodle, and other delicious
flavors!
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Hearty, Healthy
Soups
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 A hearty soup doesn't necessarily
mean calorie-laden or fat-rich; it means a soup with enough body to
be the centerpiece of a satisfying meal. And, contrary to canned or
restaurant choices, with your own homemade versions you can control
the salt and fat according to your taste and dietary
goals.
Practice your improvisation skills with these hearty
choices:
Bean-based
- We instantly think of red kidney beans in chili when contemplating
soup and beans, but this world is much larger. If you're in a
hurry or need to stock options in your pantry, use canned
beans. But, the economy of beans comes with cooking beans from
their dried state. Presoak most beans for an hour or
overnight. Simmer gently for another hour or until
tender. Alternatively, let your slow cooker handle it all with
less than 60 seconds of set-up time. Lentils are a great choice for
soups since they do not require presoaking and cook more quickly
than most beans.
 Meaty and
Mighty - If you live with a carnivore that doesn't consider
it a meal unless there's meat, begin your soup with meats that have
been cooked or seared. Cut meat into bite-sized pieces prior
cooking. Drain any fat from the meat prior to adding it to the
soup base, but do remember to deglaze the pan to gather up any
flavorful brown bits - they're soup magic! Soup generously
accommodates less expensive cuts of meat - think ground pork
sausage, chuck, or chicken thighs.
 Creamy without Cream - A creamy
soup with real cream is a treat, no doubt! But, if you want to
enjoy creamy flavors and textures more often than your diet might
allow, you can deploy a few techniques to trick your palate:
(1) Use whole milk for finishing the soup instead of cream, (2)
Include a dry or semi-dry glass of wine or sherry in your stock to
replicate the classic flavors of many cream soups, (3) Puree a
few cooked potatoes to thicken and to create an opaque look, and (4)
Use a roux of flour and a little butter to create thickness in the
soup. |
Soup
Techniques and Tricks
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A friend of
ours when hearing that a new child is on the way, frequently
comments, 'Time to add a little more water to the soup!' She
hit upon one of the tricks of soup - it is easily extensible and
quickly scalable by adding a little more of this and that.
There are many other tricks and techniques with soup worth
knowing:
 In bean soups, also add a grain such as,
rice, quinoa, or barley. The pairing of legumes and grains
provides all of the essential amino acids for building proteins in
your body. This magic combo replaces the need for meat as a
protein source.
- Reduce the use of salt in your soup by using an acidic
component that will brighten the flavors. Try lemon, an herbed
vinegar, or even just a splash of olive or pickle
brine.
- If your soup features pasta of some form or shape, consider
cooking the pasta separately from your soup until just
undercooked, then add it to the soup. If you're making a double
batch of soup with the intention of having leftovers, remove the
leftovers, ("beforeovers?"), of the soup's liquid portion and the
separately cooked pasta, and store them separately. This
keeps the pasta from turning into mush and the leftovers into a
congealed mass.
- Cook one meal with plans to turn it into a second and third
soup meal, just like Mom did. A few favorite strategies
include: (1) Roasting a whole chicken along with potatoes,
carrots, and sliced onions. Turn the carcass, the leftover
meat and vegetables into a hefty chicken vegetable soup along with
your favorite noodles. (2) Take Sunday's pot roast and the
season's root vegetables such as, turnips, parsnips, and potatoes,
and reprise it as a Beef and Barley Stew.
 Create flavor depth by employing Deborah
Madison's suggestion to roast vegetables as the first step in soup
making. The roasting process concentrates the vegetable's
flavor by removing water. In the oven, caramelization of the
vegetable's sugars occurs lending fantastic flavor to the end
result.
- Get creative in garnishing soup bowls and add additional
layers of flavor in the process. Choose toasted, herbed
croutons, a drizzle of fire oil, a dollop of sour cream, a spritz
of truffle oil, a streak of pesto, or a fine dice of one of soup's
ingredients. A thread of a favorite nut oil along with a few
coarsely chopped and roasted nuts is a great accompaniment to a
fall soup.
- Use a blender, food processor, or an immersion blender to
accomplish the final pureeing step found with many soup
recipes. Experiment with pureeing only a portion of the soup
leaving a thick, yet chunky hearty bowl.
- No time to make a homemade stock? Generate immediate
depth in a soup's liquid component by using miso or soy sauce to
flavor water. Substitute beer or ale for a portion of the
liquid for an immediate flavor
hit.
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Soup
Traditions to Pass Along
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Each of us has
something in our kitchen that originated in a previous
generation. It might be a set of dishes, a bread pan, or a
cast iron skillet. The piece evokes all kinds of memories and
traditions that family kitchens are so famous for. Perhaps
you've inherited your mother or grandmother's cookware; if not, it's
a great time to initiate a tradition with a great soup pot. The
choices available for a pass-it-along soup pot have never been more
varied and colorful. You can't go wrong with any one of these
choices that are not only great for soup, but extend their
versatility throughout your culinary repertoire.
 Le Creuset's Enameled Cast Iron
Pots - A super soup pot! Available in many
styles, sizes and colors, any one of them will become your favorite
for making soup. They feature:
- A cast iron core enameled for a naturally non-stick surface
- A unique casting for a one-of-a-kind pot
- Construction that conducts heat efficiently, and retains the
heat for off-the-stove warmth
- A versatility perfect for all soup steps: braising, sautéing,
and simmering
- Style that moves from stovetop, to oven, to
table
 Emile Henry's Ceramic
Pots - The new
innovative offering of Emile Henry's Flame Series suits many
purposes - soup is just one of them! Emile Henry has perfected
the magic of turning clay into gorgeous ceramic vessels. They
feature:
- A naturally insulating character
- Sturdy, scratch-resistant glaze that provides a naturally
non-stick surface
- Rich, deep colors that grace both stove and table
- Highly versatile character that transfers from freezer, to
microwave, to stovetop, to oven, to table
 Stainless Steel
Pots - Whether a
large saucepan or a Dutch oven, stainless steel pots are stovetop
workhorses. They feature:
- Non-reactive surfaces perfect for acidic, tomato-based soups
- Efficient heat transfer through multi-ply cores
- Distributed heat mechanisms that avoid "hot spots" and
scorched bottoms
Slow
Cookers - A quick prep
in the morning and supper is ready! Great for soups, slow
cookers gradually heat and gather flavors over several hours. They
feature:
 Maintenance of a
consistent, low temperature - no scorching
- Energy efficiency, simple operation, no monitoring required
- Removable inserts allowing for easy cleaning, or in some
cases, stovetop braising
- Programmable timers that shift to "warm'
mode
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Smart Soup
Tips
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Tip #1: Thicken soups in any
number of ways: add a flour roux, dissolved cornstarch, leftover
mashed potatoes, some quick cooking oats, or even instant
tapioca.
 Tip
#2: Not really a soup tip, but now is a good time to
spend a few minutes organizing your kitchen for the cool weather
season. Just like you rotate items in your clothes closet by
bringing out the sweaters and long pants and burying the short
sleeves and sandals, rearrange your kitchen cabinets to make soup
pots, baking pans, and winter cooking gear more accessible for
everyday use.
Tip
#3: Save the hard rinds of Parmesan-Reggiano cheese;
add them to your soup stock for great flavor.
Tip #4: Use the inside basket
of your stainless steel pot, typically used for cooking pasta or
asparagus, to hold the vegetable scraps, meat bones and other
stock-making ingredients. When the simmering and flavor
gathering is completed, simply remove the insert. The
remaining stock is ready to use or to store without further
straining.
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Q
& A's
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 Q: What's the best way to clean
cooked on food from the bottom of a soup pot?
A: If you've
monitored the temperature of your burner, most cleaning challenges
can be avoided. But, for hard-to-clean situations where you've
lost control, allow the pot to soak in warm, soapy water. Never use
a scouring pad on enameled or ceramic surfaces. Should stains
appear on enameled surfaces; soak the pan for a couple of hours with
a weak bleach solution (one teaspoon in two cups of water).
Avoid stains by avoiding scratches on any pot surface; use wooden,
plastic, or nylon utensils that will not damage the cooking
surfaces.
Q: Why use a
separate spoon when eating soup?
 A:
Soup spoons are generally broader and deeper than their
teaspoon counterparts. The larger diameter and depth are
intended to accommodate both chunky and broth-based soups. Eat
liquid or smooth, pureed soups by sipping from the side edge of the
spoon. Eat chunky soups from the front of spoon.
Q: What is the proper
etiquette for soup when dining out or at a formal
meal?
A: At a
formal meal where soup is one of several courses, the soup may be
served in a soup bowl, or a shallow "soup plate." Since soup is
often served as a first course, the soup spoon is placed to the
right of the plate at the outermost position. Using the soup spoon,
skim the soup from the bowl away from you toward the far edge of the
bowl. Do not slurp soup from the spoon, nor should you blow on
it to make it cooler. You may tip your bowl to facilitate getting
the last bit of soup, but always tip the bowl away from
yourself. When finished, place your spoon on the plate
underneath the soup bowl. |
Cookbook
Review
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Vegetable
Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen by Deborah
Madison. Published by Broadway Books, a division of Random
House, Inc. Copyright 2006.
 Beginning with the intimate, colorful cover, we
were taken with this cookbook. It's easy to see why it was nominated
for the 2007 James Beard Cookbook Awards! Deborah Madison is a
well-known, accomplished author in the world of vegetarian
cooking. She has taken her skills and broad knowledge of
vegetables and given us new flavor combinations and innovative
twists on some traditional favorites. While we were looking
for autumn and winter soups that have some heft, this cookbook
covers all the seasons with a sensitivity to local, seasonal eating
habits. The initial discussion divulges many secrets and hints for
making homemade stock that made it all seem very easy.
Additional chapters include: Hearty Bean Soups, Lentil and Pea
Soups, Soups Based on Bread and Grains, Vegetable Soups for Spring,
Summer Soups, Roasted Vegetable Soups for Fall, and Winter Vegetable
Soups. The book includes both beautiful photography that
illustrates how to showcase and present a good soup, and wine
pairing suggestions for each recipe. We feel well prepared for the
cool seasons
ahead! |
Recipes
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Recipe excerpted from Vegetable
Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen by Deborah
Madison. Published by Broadway Books, a division of Random
House. Copyright 2006. Reprinted with permission.
All rights reserved.
Roasted
Squash, Pear and Ginger Soup
 If this soup
doesn't say autumn, we don't know what does! This combination
of squash, pears and ginger makes the most of local, seasonal
produce. The soup uses Ms. Madison's suggestion for roasting
soup vegetables to deepen the flavors, and it works! We used
one of the suggestions for finishing the soup with "pear croutons" -
chunks of pears sautéed in a little butter and sugar. The
results were stunning and more than satisfying!
Click here to view the full
recipe.
Click here for a printable version of
the recipe.
Broccoli Rabe
and White Bean Soup
 Healthy and
hearty, this soup rates high in our kitchen. The recipe lived up to
its billing for being quick and easy. We substituted broccoli
for broccoli rabe in our testing, but easily could have used chard,
spinach or kale. The finishing steps of whole grain bread
rubbed with garlic and shavings of Parmesan cheese hit just the
right note. Top notch nutrition in just a few
minutes!
Click here to view the full
recipe.
Click here for a printable version of
the recipe.
Cream of
Tomato Soup
with souffléed
cheese toasts
 This classic
has been remodeled into something that exceeds all expectations for
comfort and tradition. We'll never go back to old "red &
white" versions of Cream of Tomato soup - only forward with this
incarnation that possesses deep tomato flavor. The soup is
classically paired with grilled cheese, but a new version that melts
and puffs until golden while sporting fresh scallions and a hint of
mustard. An old classic, remodeled into a new tradition!
P.S. Try fresh basil in this soup when in season instead of dried
basil. (Also, if you love Cream of Tomato Soup, you need to
try the Roasted-Tomato Basil soup recipe in The Barefoot Contessa's
first cookbook).
Click here to view the full
recipe.
Click here for a printable version of
the
recipe.
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