Smoky Potato and Leek Soup

I feel like I haven't cooked in forever (but really it's only been about a week). After training this morning I went out with the team for coffee. A couple of people asked what I was going to do today, and with nothing else pressing to do, the only thing I could think of was "cook".

We met this morning at 8 a.m. and it was only 30 degrees. Even though I eventually worked up a sweat, I ended up chilled to the bone (a weird sensation, to be sweaty and cold at the same time). A nice, steamy bowl of soup sounded like just the ticket for warming up.

Here's the ingredients:

1/2 onion, chopped
2 leeks (white and light green part only), cut in half then sliced
2 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon mustard powder
2 Tablespoon flour
4 cup chicken stock (veggie stock would work too)
2 large yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/4 kubocha squash, peeled and chopped (while this isn't rally necessary to the dish, I had it left over from the risotto last week, and it did bring a tiny bit of sweetness to the dish)
2 Tablespoon cream (also optional, but it adds a nice touch of creaminess to the soup)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (a last minute addition so it's not in the picture)

To start I warmed about a teaspoon of olive oil in a 3-quart pot. When it was warm I added the onion, leeks and a sprinkle of salt and cooked until they were softened and translucent. I added the garlic and cooked it for about 30 seconds longer.

I sprinkled on the mustard powder and the flour.

Then stirred it for about a minute to make a roux.

Next I stirred in the chicken broth (making sure to get rid of any lumps) then added the squash and the potatoes.

I brought the mixture to a boil then let it simmer until the potatoes and squash were cooked through, then added the cream. I tasted for seasoning, and it was just missing something. Something like bacon. Sadly, there is no bacon in the house (I do not know how that happened). I realized that smoked paprika might just give the soup the bit of smokiness that I was looking for, so I added some to the mix (along with a hearty helping of fresh ground pepper). It worked (and gave the soup a beautiful tint).

To serve, I topped the soup with a few of the pickled peppers (as well as a bit of the pickling liquid) that I made with my chef group about a month ago.

How was it? Well I was a little worried about this soup as I was tasting it as it cooked. It just didn't have great flavor. But, the addition of the smoked paprika really turned it into something great. Filled my belly and warmed my bones quite nicely. Delish.

Holiday Treats

As part of my fundraising efforts for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program I will be making delicious holiday treats for purchase. If you live in the Seattle area please consider buying some white-chocolate candy clusters or chocolate-caramel graham crackers. All proceeds will go directly to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Risotto-Style Barley with Kabocha Squash, Caramalized Onions and Sage

This week my Team in Training team started training in earnest. We meet every Monday and Wednesday night (plus Saturday mornings) plus I have hand bell choir practice on Tuesday nights. Well, frankly, I am not used to having to go out in the evening quite so much. So, I have been an extra lazy chef this week. Well, yesterday I had the day off, and nowhere to go in the evening, so I decided to take advantage and make a slightly more complicated meal than I have been making this week.

I wanted to use the Kabocha Squash that was in my box two weeks ago before it started to go squishy. My original thought was to roast it, but I didn't have anything to go with roasted squash to make it a meal. As I looked through the pantry I found pearled barley and decided to use that to make a risotto-style barley (which would make a delightful meal). Whenever I make risotto, I use barley instead of arborio rice (mostly because that's the way the husband likes it).

Here's the ingredients:

1 onion, divided, half diced and half julienned
3/4 of a kabocha squash, diced (I was going to use the whole thing, but it was just too much)
1 cup barley
1/2 cup white wine
4-6 cups chicken broth (veggie stock would work too)
14 sage leaves, divided, half minced and half julienned
2 ounces Parmesan cheese

In a stockpot, I brought the chicken broth to a boil, then turned the heat down to low. In a saute pan I heated a little olive oil and added the julienned onion to caramelize. In a saucier, I heated a little more olive oil then added the diced onion and squash. I let it saute until until the onion was cooked through.

Whew, that's a lot of pots (glad I don't have to do the dishes).

I added the barley to the saucier and let it cook, stirring often, for another minute or so.

Next I added the white wine and let it simmer until it was almost gone. Then I added a ladle of chicken broth and let it simmer until it was almost gone.

I continued this process of adding a ladle of broth, then stirring until gone, over and over. The photo above is at about the 20 minute mark, which is when I added the julienned sage to the onions and the minced sage to the risotto.

After about 40 minutes, the barley and the squash were both cooked through, so I added the Parmesan cheese and tasted for seasoning.

I ladled the barley into a bowl and topped it with some of the caramelized onions.

How was it? Well, this was not one of my finest moments. While the flavor was good, the risotto got really thick as it set and the onions were a little bit over-caramelized (read slightly burned). So, while not an epic fail, things could have been better. Still, a tasty meal for a stormy night. If I made it again, I would add a bit more broth right before serving to held with the thickness problem and keep a better eye on the onions. Plus, I think a little sausage or maybe some bacon would have made this meal really shine.

What's in the Box?

1 White Acorn Squash
1 bunch Orange Carrots
1 Leek
1 Yellow Onion
1 bunch Baby Red Beets
1.5 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 pound Red Thumb Fingerling Potatoes
1 bunch French Breakfast Radishes
1 each Napa Cabbage
.2 pound Shiitake Mushrooms
1 pound Zucchini
3 Asian Pears

Lavaman ... and my dad

Tonight was the official kick-off of the winter Team in Training session. When I first heard about the Lavaman Triathlon, I thought of it as the "what's next" after completing the Danskin Triathlon in August. But in the last couple of weeks, and especially tonight, it became so much more.


I remember being in my apartment, it was a sunny day, my husband was there and the phone rings. "I have cancer" my dad tells me. I don't remember my response, just the fear. I know he told me a lot of details here, what kind of cancer, what the treatment would be, but I don't remember any of it. All I remember is "I have cancer".

For the next several months I would hear updates. Visits became more frequent. It was important to go home for Christmas. Then in January, the visits became almost weekly. As soon as my husband and I would get off work on Friday, we would get in the car (making sure the cats had enough food for the weekend) drive late into the night, arrive early Saturday, spend the day, then head back to Seattle on Sunday. Eight hours each way (if the weather was good) for eight hours with my dad.

I remember Valentine's day, 1996. My dad was in the ICU and wanted to give my mom a gift. I spent hours trying to find just the right card (ending up buying five so that he could pick just the right one).

I remember what I knew in my heart would be my last conversation with my father.

I remember a phone call... "You should come back" (although I knew it would be too late).


Tonight, at our Team in Training kick-off, we heard from someone who is a blood cancer survivor. She praised not only the doctors and researchers, but also the people who do Team in Training events to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). The money raised by LLS directly helped to fund research that not only made her treatment easier than it would have been in the past, but ultimately saved her life. All I could think was "if only this could be my Dad's story..."


So, "what's next" is the Lavaman Triathlon on the Big Island of Hawaii on March 28, 2010. Five months of training, six days a week (in Seattle weather), so that I will be able to complete a 1-mile swim, 25-mile bike ride and a 6-mile run. I want to do this, not just for me, not just in memory of my dad, but for all the dad's out there who could have a fighting chance of beating this disease.


Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. Absolutely any amount will be appreciated, it all adds up!

Carrot and Fennel Soup with Tarragon Cream

This is, quite possibly, the best soup I have ever made. 'Nuff said.

Here's the ingredients:

1 bunch carrots, peeled and chopped
2 head fennel, julienned
1 onion, julienned
3 clove garlic (not pictured because I forgot them)
2-3 cups chicken or veggie stock (not pictured because the husband had not returned from the store yet)
1/2 cup cream
1 bunch tarragon, chopped fine

To start I heated the oven to 450 degrees and lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil (the foil isn't necessary unless you're lazy like me). Once the oven was heated, I tossed the carrot with a little olive oil, salt and pepper then put them on the sheet in the hot oven to roast for 10 minutes (I just wanted to give them a little head start).

Next I tossed the onion, fennel and garlic with a little more olive oil, salt and pepper, then added them to the pan. I returned this to the oven for another 30 minutes.

While the veggies cooked I added the cream and tarragon to a blender and gave it a whiz for a few seconds. My thought was that this would chop the tarragon, but it didn't do as good a job as I would have liked. So, when I make this again (notice the when, not if) I will chop the tarragon before adding it to the cream. However, I would still whiz it in the blender for a few seconds because it thickened the cream ever so slightly, which was nice (just don't let it go for too long or you'll end up with butter).

Once the veggies were soft I put a few of them into a blender and added just enough broth to cover them (not too much, because you can always add more later it you need too).

I put each batch through a mesh strainer (the fennel was really fibrous, so the texture before straining was not so nice) into a sauce pan for a little reheating. When it was time for dinner I ladled up a little soup and topped it with the tarragon cream.

Best. Soup. Ever. Maybe a little more labor intensive than I like my soup (I did after all have to get out a blender instead of using my stick blender) but totally worth it. I'm going to make this again and again and again ...

Liqueurs and Infused vodkas

Last Thursday the Puget Sound Chapter of the United Stated Personal Chef Association got together to make liqueurs and infused vodkas. The idea being that if we started them now, they would be ready before the holiday season begins.

In all, we made five different infusions.
Limoncello (which will get it's simple syrup added in about a month)
Apple-Infused Vodka
Pepper-Infused Vodka (which should be excellent for Bloody Mary's)
Coffee Liqueur (because I love a good white Russian)
Cranberry-Infused Vodka

One of the group also brought a bounty of peppers to pickle (along with some delicious tomatoes to nosh on). Here's Tom doing pickled pepper prep.


Wendy sliced apples for apple-infused vodka while Anita zested a million (okay 15) lemons.

Here's Anita adding Lime and Orange Zest to the jar in preparation for the apple-infused vodka while Tom packs jars with peppers.

Jars of packed peppers ready to be topped with hot vinegar.

Here's Betsy "helping" while the rest of us work.

Just kidding. Here's Betsy working on the cranberry-infused simple syrup. The recipe actually called for chopping up the cranberries in a food processor but we decided to pop them open in the simple syrup instead.

I made coffee liqueur and then took over stirring the simple syrups (we were stirring them to try to get them to cool faster).

Here's the limencello, apple-infused vodka, and pepper vodka.

It was Anita's Birthday so Sadie (who I managed to not get one picture of somehow) made the most delicious caramel-topped brownies.

All of the liqueurs and vodkas and now safely resting in my pantry. Each day for the next few weeks I'll be giving them a shake for optimal infusing.

It's true what they say, the waiting is the hardest part.