julie’s blog

Roasted Yellow Carrot Soup with Avocado, Corn & Beet Salsa

nobody@vox.com(julie) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:21:59 -0700

Making vegetable stock has become somewhat of a weekly ritual for me. The increased frequency is in part due to a tip from Bourgeois Bee. He told me that he uses his carrot tops for stock. And though I enjoy eating the carrot tops, it's more of a once in a while, not a weekly sort of thing for me. Hooray for more stock ammo!

With stock production at its peak in Julie's Kitchen and the Lakers-Celtics series going on, there couldn't have been a more perfect time to entertain. I always like starting with something light to awaken the taste buds. Sometimes it's a salad. This night is was a soup. I roasted a bunch of yellow carrots to concentrate their sweetness and add a nice brown caramelization. That equals more flavor. When you are making a vegetable puree sort of soup, the more sophisticated and complex your flavors are the better. Simple ingredients are great. Simple flavor is not. Under season your stock and your guests will wonder why you are serving them mushy baby food! Ick!

Another way to keep the flavor of simple soup from falling flat, is garnish. A nice pop of flavor. Contrast is key. You've heard of people eating watermelon with salt, right? My parents have been doing this forever. As a child this idea seemed a bit alien to me. Now I love mine with a sprinkle of fleur de sel. There is no sweetness without saltiness. Since these carrots were amazingly sweet, I wanted to accentuate their earthiness with a salsa made with roasted beets, yellow corn, Fuerte avocados and red peppers spritzed with lime juice. This lent a nice touch of acid and sweetness. This soup was well received by both Lakers and Celtics fans alike.

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Russian Kale Wheatberry Salad

nobody@vox.com(julie) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:37:37 -0700

Russian Kale Wheatberry Salad

After watching the screening of "Eat at Bill's" last night, I was craving some farm-fresh produce. They had whet my palate with an assortment of cherries, apricots and tangerines post-screening - quite suiting for a documentary on seasonal foods and local agriculture! I walked home, since the theater was close by, and immediately started pulling out my farmers' market bounty. Hearty Russian Kale contrasted with sweet, fresh corn would tantalize and satisfy all of my taste bud cravings. I thought back to the cup or so of wheatberries that I had tucked away in a drawer. Being a home cook, it is a constant battle to use up ingredients before they go rancid. Those wheatberries were saying, "Use me". A salad of kale, corn and wheatberries with tons of basil and parsley mixed in sounded just right for the evening.
And I could have just had that, but B was feeling a tad under the weather. He kept saying, "my tha-woat hurrts." Poor guy. There's nothing like a steamy soup to soothe a raw throat, right? Since I had a huge batch of homemade vegetable stock in my refrigerator, I simply sauteed some squash and tomatoes and pureed it with the stock. Having stock on hand makes homemade soup quick and easy and keeps colds at bay.

White Squash & Tomato Soup

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Caramel Braised Oxtail Noodle Soup

nobody@vox.com(julie) — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:38:51 -0700

Caramel Braised Oxtail Noodle Soup

If you read my post on pistachio caramels, you'll remember that I had some temperature issues that weekend. It was so warm in my air condition-less apartment, that my first batch of caramels started getting all melty and greasy. Definitely not suitable for the public. I was heartbroken, but there was work to be done, so I shoved the rejects into the cupboard to deal with later on. Later on arrived and I thought back to a soy caramel sauce that I had had at Ludobites a few months ago. I believe that theirs had accompanied a fish dish. Another savory and sweet winning combination. For the soy caramel sauce, I simply melted down the caramels and added a few dashes of soy sauce. That's it. Easy enough, right?
I had a few pounds of oxtails in the freezer that I had been dying to use. Oxtails are one of my favorite foods in the world. Top five for sure. The meat is extremely tender and full of gelatinous goodness. I braised the oxtails in my soy caramel sauce, red wine, onions, carrots and celery. After a six hour braise the meat was falling off the bones and the yummy gelatin in the bones had flavored the broth nicely. I skimmed the fat from the broth and reduced it to concentrate the flavors. It would serve as the base to my noodle soup. Chestnut noodles lent just the right amount of sweetness. Here's the assembly of the bowl... Swirl a nest of fresh pasta into the bottom of the bowl, sprinkle with blanched rainbow carrots, add baby mizuna leaves and shredded napa cabbage to the bowl (it'll get wilted when it's swirled in by the eater), garnish with scallions and finally add a ladle of broth. Brush oxtail meat with the caramel sauce and place it on top of the noodles. I removed my meat from the bones, just because I had some squeamish eaters coming over.

Caramel Braised Oxtail Noodle Soup

This meal get an A+ for slurpability! I still have tons of soy caramel sauce left. Any ideas guys?

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Cheddar Potato Soup with Chili Cheese Bread

nobody@vox.com(julie) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:35:54 -0800

Cheddar Potato Soup with Chili Cheese Bread

If you've ever been to Mammoth Lakes, than you've surely passed by the infamous Schat's Bakkery in Bishop, CA. Whenever I head out this way, I look forward to the excellent snow conditions and, of course, lunch at Schat's. They have great fresh baked breads and other goodies. A carboholics paradise.
On my way back from snowboarding, I picked up a loaf of their signature "Original Chili Cheeze Bread". It was a tough decision, but you can't go wrong with cheese, right? Thank goodness my episode of lactose intolerance has passed.... phew! I don't know what I'd do without cheese. The bread, once reheated briefly in the oven, went perfectly with our mugs of comforting cheddar potato soup. What a great dipping bread with its toasty crust, gooey jack cheese spiral and slight chili kick. Simple post-snowboarding meal for a girl that's ready for some serious couch potato time.
BTW, do you love the monogrammed mugs or what? I'm J, he's B. Compliments of Jamie. Thanks honey.

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Miso Parsnip Soup

nobody@vox.com(julie) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:56:29 -0800

Miso Parsnip Soup

Yet another way to get your 5 a day!

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Chinese White Fungus Soup

nobody@vox.com(julie) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:22:49 -0800

Chinese White Fungus Soup Ingredients

Contrary to American culture, traditional Chinese meals call for a simple soup as the last course. It serves to both cleanse the palate and aid in digestion. The soups are very brothy and according to my mother "make you live forever and look younger" just like all the other Chinese herbs out there, right? I knew there was a reason that we had soup after EVERY meal growing up. Imagine having to drink bittermelon soup at the age of five. That was my "Brussels sprout" growing up. You can imagine all the nose plugging that went on at the dinner table those nights. :) Here's one of my favorite, non-nose plugging soups... white fungus soup. The essential ingredients include white fungus, shredded chicken, and dried shitake mushrooms, scallops and shrimp for their delicious umami contribution. The base is chicken stock (homemade of course). The white fungus has a wonderful texture with both crunchy parts closer to the core and silkier leafier pieces also. I like to throw in a few slices of fresh ginger root for a little spice. I garnish with chopped scallions for freshness. Try this Chinese alternative to chicken noodle soup on this cold winter day.

Chinese White Fungus Soup

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Vegetable Consommé with Chinese Spinach, Egg Noodles & Fried Garlic Chips

nobody@vox.com(julie) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 16:56:08 -0700

Chinese spinach is quite a looker in the vegetable universe. With its vivid green leaves centered with flames of vivid magenta, you really can't help but admire it. It's gorgeous, IMO. How many vegetables can you say that about?

Chinese Spinach aka Amaranth Greens

For dinner, I wanted to showcase my lovely, FM purchase in all it's glory. This called for a simple preparation. Hmm... Soup would be perfect. I quickly prepared a vegetable consommé with leeks, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, mushrooms and a bouquet garni. I reduced it down by quite a bit to get a good depth of flavor sans meat (B's a vegetarian after all). Once I had that set, I dropped in some fresh egg noodles to transform my soup into a substantial meal. While the noodles were simmering away, I thinly sliced up a few cloves of garlic and fried them up in olive oil - just until they were crispy and golden brown. Gotta keep a close eye on these guys, since there's a fine line between golden brown and bitter and burnt. Ick, nobody wants that! During the last 30 seconds of cooking, I threw in my lovely spinach just to wilt it down a bit. Served the soup garnished with garlic chips and tons of fresh chopped parsley. Steamy hot soup with silky egg noodles, delicate spinach and crunchy flavor bursts from the garlic chips. Fresh vegetables don't need to be slathered in Velveeta to be tasty. Case in point.

Vegetable Consommé with Chinese Spinach, Egg Noodles & Fried Garlic Chips

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Vegan Cream of Asparagus Soup

nobody@vox.com(julie) — Tue, 15 May 2007 18:17:40 -0700

Vegan Cream of Asparagus Soup

From all our asparagus-filled dinners a few weeks back, I had saved all the asparagus ends for a day like today. Such gloomy weather always puts me in the mood for a bowl of soup. I simply added the asparagus ends to a mirepoix of one onion, two stalks of celery and two carrots. Since I wanted to keep it vegan, I added water to it once my vegetables were softened. To bump up the creaminess of the soup, I add a cup of unflavored soy milk. A whirl in the blender and a garnish of chives and soup's on!

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