Roasted Vegetable Chowder with Bacon

I didn't take a picture of this one, but it was really good. Romer had a bowl while we bottled our most recent homebrew. By the way, who has tried my homebrew? Anyway, I really enjoyed this soup, and am becoming a huge fan of roasting veggies to bring out there flavor. The squash brought some sweetness to the table and I hadn't used parsnips before but I liked the flavor a lot.

ROASTED VEGETABLE CHOWDER WITH BACON
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
From Columbus Dispatch Robin's Picks

Makes 4 to 6 servings

While the veggies take a while to roast, they don’t require your attention while they do. And once they’re roasted, the soup takes little time to get to the table. Serve it with crusty bread and a green salad. To make the soup vegetarian, leave out the bacon and use vegetable broth.
1 medium-size butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 onion, chopped
2 parsnips, peeled, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, cut into chopped
4 bacon slices, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine or water
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.Spread the squash, onions, parsnips, carrots and bacon in a deep roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil. Roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and brown and the bacon is crispy, about 45 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven. Stir in the garlic, wine and sage. Scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Transfer the contents to a Dutch oven.

Add broth to the pot. Bring to a simmer. Cook until the vegetables begin to break apart, about 20 minutes. Adjust seasoning if necessary.


PER SERVING: 222 calories; 5 g protein; 32 g carbohydrates; 7 g fiber; 8 g fat (1 g saturated); 6 mg cholesterol; 734 mg sodium

Cubano

I know Simpkins is a fan of Cubans, and I'm not talking cigars or women here. I'm talking sandwiches. Even though I hate communists, the Cuban sandwich is one of my favorites. It is the perfect combo of oozy cheese, crunchy pickles and bread, salty ham and delicious pork tenderloin. Here is my version............

Calzones!

So I made some Calzones the other night. Turned out quite nice, first time I've made calzones since I've been working with these improved dough skills. Used a dough recipe very similar to my pizza dough. Kristin's was filled with Mozzarella, romano, goat cheese, fresh spinach, cremini mushroom, sundried tomato, and red onion. Mine was filled with Mozzarella, romano, pepperoni, mushroom, and green pepper. I baked them on by stone setup at 550 degrees for 10 minutes or so. After the came out I brushed them with a little butter and sprinkled on some parm. Served with some homeade pizza sauce of course!

No reservations Columbus Style

Not sure if you Columbus fools ever watch Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations, but he did an episode where he stopped in Columubs. Here are the places he stopped at, an awesome looking chinese place, and a bar that serves up some pretty dank looking pizzas.

Kihachi Japanese Restaurant

Tony and Michael Ruhlman sit at the sushi bar, while Chef Mike Kimura serves his traditional Japanese cuisine.

2667 Federated Blvd., Columbus, OH 43235

See on Map »

ACTIVITIES

Clever Crow at Circus

Tony visits the Clever Crow at Circus where a young entrepreneur, Gary Robinette, serves up innovative pizzas.

1227 North High St., Columbus, OH 43201

Spotlight Post: Butter!

I Can't Believe it's not Butter

So remember a long time ago when I had that great idea to do posts about key ingredients and what not? Huh, do ya? Well this is one of those! I was thinking the other day, ya know, I try to use the best ingredients I can, yet I just use the cheap-o butter, and I thought there's got to be something better out there. Introduce Lurpak butter. European butters have a higher butter fat content which make them creamier and more deliciouser that regular butter, you can tell a huge difference. Go see for yourself, buy yourself some Lurpak and some nice bread, spread a little butter on there and if you're not convinced right there, then you've got issues. Price is actually about the same as regular butter, but I have seen it priced really high at places too, I paid $3.99. Anybody else out there using good butter?

Vacation Posts

Off to Market!

Post 2

So my good friend Brett Price was in town this past week. He and I were having a discussion about food and he mentioned a butternut squash risotto that he had made, so I thought, hey, I have a butternut squash, why don’t I make butternut squash risotto. First I made the best salad ever though. Findlay market had some fresh as can be Bibb lettuce that we picked up. Bibb lettuce is great, but it’s very fragile and perishable so get it the day of if you can. I made a salad of the Bibb lettuce, green grapes, red onion, candied walnuts, and goat cheese dressed with a honey balsamic dressing. I know what you’re thinking- “But Jeff, you didn’t have any candied walnuts.” Well my friends, it just takes some walnuts, some sugar, pinch of salt, hot pan, and there you have it- candied walnuts! Anyway, the salad actually turned out marvelous, the goat cheese was fantastic. I know next to nothing about pairing wine and food, but I was drinking some Pinot Noir that went really well.

On to the risotto. First I halved, de-seeded, and peeled a butternut squash. Then I cut it into a 3/4 inch dice and roasted it at 400 degrees for about a half hour. I sautéed some onion and garlic in some butter and oil, added the rice and went about making my risotto. I used Kitchen Basic’s vegetable stock, which is awesome- I highly recommend it, go get you some! I finished the risotto by adding the squash which I mashed up just a little bit, some parmesan cheese, and a pat of butter. I drizzled mine with a little bit of EVOO and a couple drops of balsamic for some sweetness. It turned out really well, risotto makes a great winter dish, I was all warm and toasty afterwards

.

For the risotto:

1/4 Red onion

1 Clove Garlic

1tbs olive oil

2tbs butter

1 cup aborio rice

1 quart vegetable stock

2/3 cup parmesan

salt and pepper to taste

Vacation Posts

Off to Market!

Post 1

So on Tuesday the wife and I went down to Findlay Market to pick up some goodies. We wound up with some fresh pasta, produce, Linguisa sausage, and some fresh spices. When we got back we cooked up some of the fresh pasta for lunch. Kept things pretty simple: Kristin had spinach fettuccine with some cremini mushrooms, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, spinach and olive oil, which turned out pretty delicious. I had plain fettuccine and made a fresh tomato sauce with some onions, garlic, and tomato, served with the Linguisa on the side. This was the first time I ever had Linguisa, it’s very similar to Italian sausage with just a little hint of smokiness.