Turkey & Dumplings Recipe

Last year I was introduced to what may possibly be the most comforting dish on the planet: Turkey & Dumplings. As you may know from my previous post on Turkey & Dumplings, I first had this Southern-inspired dish on my most recent birthday at the Toronto restaurant Omaw, and was totally taken by the fantastic contrast of flavours and textures represented in the dish. 

Chris and I promptly tried to recreate the dish in our own kitchen, and it turned out so ridiculously incredible! Of course, because we were playing around so much with the dish on our first go at making it, we weren't able to record a clear breakdown of the recipe. Alas, with such an amazing response from everyone on the photo that I posted of our Turkey & Dumplings copycat recipe, we had to give it another go, but this time carefully recording every step. 

So with that, I bring you our version of Turkey & Dumplings, a must-make recipe for any comfort-food lover! Last time we made this dish, we were lucky to have leftover Thanksgiving turkey on hand, so this time we decided to roast off some fresh turkey thighs, so that we could make this dish all year round. Thank you to The New York Times for providing a killer method for making roasted turkey pieces that taste like they came off of a whole-roasted bird! You can find our slightly modified recipe for roasted turkey thighs below as well. 

Tip: Save the turkey skin after roasting and fry into crispy chips to use as a garnish! 

Ingredients:

8 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)

1 medium onion, small dice

2 stalks celery, small dice
2 medium carrots, small dice

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn niblets

1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, leaves picked

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

3/4 cup roasted or smoked ham, diced

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 medium/large parmesan rind

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp. sour cream

about 2 cups shredded roasted turkey meat (dark meat) *see recipe below for roasting turkey thighs

kosher salt and pepper to season

Beurre Manie 

1 Tbsp. flour

1 Tbsp. cold butter

Dumplings (Tyler Florence Recipe)

2 cups flour

1/2 Tbsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 eggs

3/4 buttermilk

Directions:

1. Set a large dutch oven on the stove set to medium heat.
2. In a separate medium pot, heat stock to medium heat. 
3. Add onion to dutch oven and heat. Add carrots and celery and sweat. Season with salt and pepper. Add corn, garlic, and thyme and cook until fragrant (about 30-seconds to 1-minute).
4. Add 3 Tbsp. butter and melt. Add flour and stir to make a roux. Cook for about 1-minute.
5. Slowly begin adding in the stock, one ladle at a time, while stirring to incorporate. 
6. Add in ham, bay leaves, cayenne, and parmesan rind. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce to a low, and simmer for 30-minutes. 
7. Remove bay leaves. Add in grated parmesan cheese and sour cream. Taste and season as needed with salt and pepper. If mouthfeel is off and the soup is too thin, prepare a Beurre Manie. 
8. To make a Beurre Manie: combine 1 Tbsp. flour with 1 Tbsp. cold butter and smoosh together with the back of a spoon. If you want, get right in there and smoosh it together with your fingers to form a paste. Drop the paste bit by bit into your soup and stir in. 
9. Make Dumplings. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a small bowl, lightly beat together eggs with buttermilk. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. If it feels too tough, add in another few tablespoons of milk. Drop spoonfuls of batter directly into the soup. Simmer for 10-15-minutes, flipping part way through. 
10. Stir in turkey and any drippings (you may also add in the garlic and onion that was roasted with the turkey thighs). Cook 5 minutes. Serve immediately. 

Roasted Turkey Thighs

(Slightly adapted from The New York Times)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves

2 turkey thighs, washed & dried

salt and pepper to season

rosemary salt (optional)

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

1 medium carrot, roughly chopped

1 medium onion, quartered

4 garlic cloves, whole 

4 thyme sprigs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF. 
2. Stir together butter and thyme leaves and rub all over turkey pieces, making sure to get some underneath the turkey skin.
3. Season generously with salt and pepper, and rosemary salt (if you have any!). 
4. Toss celery, carrot, onion, and garlic with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. 
5. Place thighs in a medium roasting dish or baking pan and tuck the celery, carrot, onion, garlic, and thyme sprigs around the meat. 
6. Roast for 30-minutes. Reduce heat to 325ºF and roast for an additional 15-20-minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF, while basting occasionally with accumulated juices. 
7. Remove from oven and tent with tin foil for 30-minutes. Separate the meat from the bones and shred with 2 forks. Set aside in fridge until ready to use. 

Listening To: 

The Range - Florida

Thanksgiving Leftover Lovin': Turkey & Dumplings

Leftovers, you love 'em, or you hate 'em. While I most definitely used to hate leftovers, I've found over the years, and after living on my own, eating leftovers is an essential part of reducing food waste and staying on budget. More than that, I've learned that I can actually have the power to become a leftover lover if the leftovers are transformed into something that doesn't resemble the original dish. It was this discovery that inspired my blog series Leftover Lovin', which has been terribly neglected over the past few years, but must be brought back thanks to my most recent outrageously delicious leftover transformation, inspired by my Thanksgiving dinner and a delicious birthday dinner out!

While going wild and partying has never really been my thing for celebrating my birthday, what I do look forward to the most, come my annual day of birth on September 30th, is going out for delicious meals with my loved ones. Lucky for me, this included three fantastic meals spread across my birthday weekend. 

The first dinner out was on the night of my birthday with my boyfriend Chris, where we checked out Omaw, Chef Matt Blondin's latest restaurant, doing Carolina classics with a gourmet twist. Having been to and enjoyed Blondin's previous restaurant Acadia, we were eager to see how his most recent menu would stack up. Though I have to say, the service definitely left something to be desired, the menu was thankfully lovely. Though the Shrimp & Grits (an Acadia favourite that Blondin reintroduced for Omaw) was spot on, the standout dish of the night had to be Blondin's aromatic bowl of Turkey & Dumplings with onion likkar and black truffle - SWOON! With a rich and complex turkey broth, big chunks of tender and moist roast turkey, gnocchi-like pillows of handmade dumplings, black truffle oil, and fried onion matchsticks for crunch (this would be the onion likkar), this dish blew both Chris and I away! So comforting, so well-balanced, and so not enough in one bowl to satisfy us both. It was so delicious, we should have each ordered a bowl to ourselves! 

With Canadian Thanksgiving only one week away from my birthday, all I could think about the week following my birthday was how I could recreate that incredible Turkey & Dumpling dish with my Thanksgiving leftovers. While, no, I don't have a clear recipe for you this time, with so much experimenting during the process to get just the right flavour and mouthfeel, I still wanted to share my photos of the final dish, and a little bit about my process. The response to the photo of my bowl of homemade Turkey & Dumplings that I posted on my various social media accounts was so overwhelmingly positive, that I think it's only fair to share as much as I can with you, and hopefully I can refine it soon enough so you can have the real thing!

The great thing about a recipe like this is that it is so forgiving, allowing you to forget about measuring your ingredients (it's all about eye-balling it here!), and play around with what you happen to have on hand. For this dish, I started out with a basic mirepoix of onion, carrot, and celery (diced small), and to that added in some minced garlic, fresh Ontario corn niblets leftover from Thanksgiving, dried bay leaves, and fresh thyme. I then stirred in a roux, and slowly poured in homemade turkey stock (thank you to Chris' mom Tracey for the tasty stock!) and some leftover ham from Thanksgiving (diced small). At this point, I brought the soup to a boil and allowed it to simmer for about 20-30 minutes to let the flavours develop and the broth to thicken.

After tasting I felt the soup still needed more flavour and more of a creamy and rich mouthfeel. Now this is where things get a little hazy, as I began to scour my kitchen for anything I could possibly find to turn my soup into something incredible. I then added a pinch of cayenne pepper, a few pinches of ancho chilli powder, a large Parmesan rind (I always save them in the freezer for soups and sauces!), grated parmesan cheese, a few tablespoons of sour cream, and lots of salt and pepper to season. To aid with the mouthfeel issue, I dropped in a beurre manié, which is like a roux, but kneaded, and added after you have added in liquid. So basically, if you messed up your roux at the start of your process and your soup or sauce isn't thickening, a beurre manié can save the day! Check out Saveur's guide on how to prepare a beurre manié to learn about your new favourite hero in the kitchen.

Once my soup was at the right consistency and flavour, I quickly whipped together Tyler Florence's recipe for dumplings, and spooned them in. Once my dumplings were lovely, plump, and cooked through, I stirred in my leftover shredded cooked turkey from Thanksgiving (dark meat will taste best here!), which was added at this point so it wouldn't dry out. After a short simmer to allow the turkey to reheat my turkey and dumplings were ready to devour! And oh did we ever devour it! Chris and I went nuts over this dish. It was, to put it simply, outrageously delicious. A true winner and a recipe I look forward to refining and sharing with you soon! Is it safe to admit that I'm now counting down the days to Christmas dinner leftovers? 

Listening To:
Happier Podcast

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Oh joy! Spring has arrived! Or...has it? There's a thick blanket of snow on my balcony and a chill in the air. Excuse my language, but what the f**k?!?! I guess there's nothing left to do but embrace what little time we have left of soup weather by indulging in a cheese-and-cream-filled soup. Enter Broccoli Cheddar Soup, one of my favourite excuses for eating melted cheese. Some soups I get sick of after the first bowl, but Broccoli Cheddar, I could eat that shit for days on end! It's just so comforting, hearty, and stick-to-your-ribs-delicious that I don't think I could ever get sick of it.

You can always add but you can never take away!

Though I've listed ingredient amounts with this recipe, I encourage you to forget about your measuring cups and spoons and just eyeball everything. Soups are so incredibly forgiving and are a great way to practice your improvised cooking skills. It's all about adding little bits at a time, tasting as you go, and remembering the golden rule of "you can always add, but you can never take away."

Tweet me @thisgingerrose to let me know what you thought of my recipe, or tag a photo of your soup on Instagram @gingerrosefood! 

Remember:

- Why do we cut our vegetables into the same size? So they cook at the same time! 

- Soups are so forgiving, so ingredient amounts can be flexible based on what you have. You can also play around with using other vegetables that you have on hand such as carrots and celery.

* If your soup tastes like it's missing something ask yourself is it salt? Pepper? If it's not salt and pepper, it's likely that it's missing some acid. Try stirring in a little bit of fresh lemon juice and see if that does the trick! 

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 dried bay leaf

4 heads of broccoli, chopped into 1-inch pieces

2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces

3 Tbsp sour cream

3/4 cup half-and-half cream

salt & pepper to season (preferably white pepper)
cheddar cheese, grated, to garnish (optional)
soup cream, to garnish (optional)
walnuts, toasted, chopped, to garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large pot or dutch oven set to medium-heat, heat butter and olive oil. Add onion and cook until softened and translucent. Add garlic and cook, while stirring, for 30-seconds. 
2. Add stock, bay leaf, broccoli, and potatoes and cook for about 30-minutes or until broccoli and potatoes are very tender. Let cool.
3. Remove bay leaf and discard. Pour soup mixture into the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. Pour back into pot along with cream and re-heat. Taste and season as needed with salt and pepper. Stir in sour cream. Taste and season once again, if needed*. 
4. Serve immediately garnished with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, and chopped walnuts, or refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Listening To:
Disclosure - Omen ft. Sam Smith

Recipe Testing with Roasted Golden Beet Soup

Ever since I was a little girl, my food hero has always been my Oma, my mothers German mother. My foodie admiration over my Oma had to have started with her sneaking me naughty treats that I wasn't supposed to have, behind my mothers back when I was just a wee little gingy. My foodie admiration for my hilarious Oma grew as I started helping her out in the kitchen, rolling and cutting cookie dough, beating eggs, dusting icing sugar on treats, and so much more. I adored my Oma's cooking as a child, but I didn't see her as the cooking and baking wizard that she truly is until I started really playing around in my own kitchen all by myself. It was only then that I realized how special her natural knack for creating the most satisfying of comfort foods really was. She had a way about making flavours explode in your mouth, seasoning and adding her secret little touches until the dish was just so. It was this natural knack for seasoning and flavouring that I always admired and aspired to have myself, and one that comes to mind almost each and every time I find myself in the kitchen.

It was last week after I unexpectedly had a free weekday to myself to play in the kitchen, that I was faced with three golden beets the size of my head, that I purchased from Pete's Fresh Organics at the sip & Savour Ontario Farm & Artisan Market, that my Oma's cooking once again popped into my head. One of my Oma's most beloved signature dishes is her out-of-this-world beet borscht. Made with beef shank and lots of love, her beet borscht is one of the most delicious and satisfying comfort foods to ever touch my tongue. So naturally, at the sight of those giant, golden beets, I could think of nothing else but trying to create a golden beet soup that maybe, just maybe, might compare to my Oma's infamous borscht. 

Having cooked mainly with red beets in the past, and after seeing lots and lots of golden beet salads and not a whole lot else in my research, I was a little weary at whether golden beets would work just well as red beets when made into soup. Some sources stated that golden beets are sweeter and more flavourful than red beets, while other sources stated the exact opposite! I had no idea if the golden beets would work at all, but the only way to find out was to try! 

With a cool chill in the air, I didn't feel like venturing out to get groceries, so I decided to make the soup using only what I had on hand. To mimic the meaty flavour of the beef shank in my Oma's soup, I sautéed some chopped bacon, cooked the onion in the bacon fat, and re-added the bacon back into my soup while it simmered, as well as adding a rich beef stock. I also chose to grate the beets after being roasted to create the same texture that my Oma's red beets had in her borscht. I added basic flavour enhancers like salt, white pepper, a bay leaf, and garlic before and while the soup was simmering, thinking that that would be everything I needed to achieve a flavourful soup. I was wrong. After simmering for a half hour, as I kept tasting and lightly adding salt and pepper, my soup still tasted very bland and lack-luster. It was here that I lost all chance at posting an exact recipe for the blog right away as well as replicating my Oma's borscht, as I began to transfer cups of the soup to various different pots, and play with different arrangements of seasonings and spices in each one, finding the perfect combination that could make soup worthy of serving to anyone but myself. 

A little lemon juice, grated ginger, cayenne pepper, cumin, a whirr of the immersion blender, and a quick strain through a sieve got my soup to a place that I can say was absolutely incredible! It was when I decided to follow my intuition and trust my taste buds, as opposed to trying to copy someone else's dish, that I was able to achieve greatness (yes, the soup was THAT great!) and something that I could be proud to say was uniquely my own. 

This soup was a great lesson in cooking inspiration. It showed me that although something may spark an idea in the kitchen, you have to trust yourself and your taste buds above all else, and be willing to take some chances every now and then in order to get the results you crave. My Oma's tried and true comforting German recipes will always inspire me in the kitchen, but it's her natural kitchen wizardry, and knack for going with the flow and trusting her instincts that has truly shaped me to be the cook I am today. No, my Roasted Golden Beet Soup didn't taste anything like my Oma's beet borsht, but it was just as delicious and may just spark some other passionate foodie to try and replicate in the kitchen!

* Note: Because I have only made this recipe once and there was so much seasoning play involved, the recipe is not exact yet. I am hoping to make it again soon so I can post an exact recipe for you to try, but until then, I welcome those familiar and confident with seasoning to have a try at making this. You're going to have to do a lot of tasting, have a lot of patience, and add your seasonings and spices little by little, but if you trust your intuition, I think you will too will be proud of your final product! 

** Beets may be roasted and grated in advance, and left in the fridge until ready to use.

*** Remember, when seasoning you can always add, but you can never take away! Use a very light hand when seasoning, and always taste before adding more!

Ingredients:

3 very large golden beets (or enough beets to equal 3 very large beets), greens cut off

olive oil

2 strips of bacon, diced small

1 tbsp butter

1 small yellow onion, diced small

2 cloves garlic, minced or pureed

4 cups beef stock

1 bay leaf

sour cream stirred with a little lemon juice to garnish

Seasoning to play with:*

salt and white pepper to season

approximately 2 tsp lemon juice

approximately 1 pinch cumin

approximately 1/2 - 1 tsp grated ginger

approximately 1 pinch cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Rub beets in olive oil and place in baking dish. Bake for 1 hour to 1.25 hours or until tender when pierced with a fork. Allow to cool. When cooled, rub with a dry paper towel to remove skins. Grate roasted beets into a bowl and set aside.**
2. In a large soup pot, add the bacon and turn heat to medium - medium/low. Cooking, stirring occasionally until browned and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. 
3. Drizzle about 1 tbsp of olive oil and the butter into the soup pot. When heated, add in the onion and sweat, stirring occasionally until soft and translucent. Add in the garlic in the 30-seconds of cooking.
4. Add in one cup of the beef stock to deglaze the pan, and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release any browned bits. Add the remaining 3-cups of stock. Add bay leaf and grated beets. When warm, taste, and season with salt and white pepper. Reduce heat, and allow to simmer for 30-minutes.
5. Remove bay leaf and puree using an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender or food processor to puree until smooth. Strain and press the soup mixture through a sieve, and re-heat, if needed, on the stove. Taste and season a little at a time with the lemon juice, cumin, ginger, cayenne pepper, and salt and white pepper. Continue tasting and seasoning until just right!***
6. Ladle into serving bowls and top with a drizzle of the lemon sour cream. Serve hot. 

Listening To:

Michael Jackson - Beat It (or should I say "Beet It?" hah!)

VOTE! DFC Creamy Seafood Challenge: Creamy Clam & Vegetable Chowder

Last year I had the opportunity to work with the Dairy Farmers of Canada on their Anyday Magic Cream Challenge, submitting a recipe for a Fresh Mixed Mushroom Mac & Cheese that was absolutely delightful. Having such a great time collaborating with them last year, I jumped at the opportunity to participate in their 2013 cream challenge! Unlike last year where bloggers were asked to recreate classic dishes with a healthy twist, this year we were each given a theme in which we had the freedom to create anything we wanted! I was lucky enough to grab a spot in one of the most coveted themes this year, The Creamy Seafood Challenge. 

After having such an incredible time at the Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown this past November, getting to try over a dozen seafood chowders from some of the best chefs in Toronto, I was inspired to create a chowder of my own. I used the classic creamy New England clam chowder as my base, but amped it up with big flavours that inspired me from the Chowder Chowdown, and an abundance of vegetables for a hearty texture. I was so incredibly proud of how my Creamy Clam & Vegetable Chowder turned out, immediately downing a giant bowl after snapping some photos, and proceeding to brag about my awesome recipe to all my friends and family ever since! This is one recipe that you have got to try!

Check it out and please VOTE for my recipe for a chance to win the ultimate blender! 

Listening To:

T. Rex - Mambo Sun

Powered by mp3skull.com

Carrot Ginger Soup & Yummy Mummy Club Foodie of the Week

Hey everyone! How fantastic is this premature Spring we're getting in Toronto right now?! Seriously, there's nothing like Spring in Toronto to spark my creativity and productivity! More than just the weather, I'm also currently inspired by a fantastic book I just finished called The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. This motivational book is one I've been working away at for over a month now, as I was dedicating each week to reading one of the short chapters, with each chapter highlighting a particular life lesson. I would try to apply the lesson that I had learned each week to my own life, and now having just finished the book two days ago, I feel like a whole new person! It feels amazing. It may sound crazy, but I feel as though my mind and body is buzzing with this newfound positivity! I really hope I can keep it up! I found a PDF of the book online, so it's easy and free to give the book a read and see how it will affect your own life.

I'm also feeling so incredibly positive thanks to the Yummy Mummy Club featuring me as their Foodie of the Week! No I'm no mummy, but I do love all things yummy, and I do love the Yummy Mummy Club for their great content on food, health, style, culture, home, and life! This is a site that I'm sure will become apart of your daily blog reads just like it has for me! I'm really proud of this feature, and was really glad to have an opportunity to share my love for my Oma, who makes an appearance in one of my answers. Check it out!!

I also wanted to share with you a soup that my mom and I made a few months ago that was so comforting, simple, and delicious you're going to want to make it right away! If I were a soup, this would be me: Carrot Ginger Soup. I would re-name it Carrot Top Ginger Soup if it weren't for the awful inevitable reference to the "comedian" (quotations because I do not find him funny) Carrot Top, who quite frankly scares me and makes me embarrassed to be a redhead. We found the recipe for this tasty soup on AllRecipes.com, but doubled the amount of carrots and ginger to give it a thicker and creamier consistency, as well as a hint of spiciness from the ginger. With its vibrant colour, this soup would look beautiful on the table at your next dinner party! Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Like me!

Follow me!

Listening To:

Myth - Beach House

Gazpacho Soup

With the heat flying off the charts in Toronto this past week, it's easy to neglect any type of cooking altogether and rely solely on restaurants, takeout, fast food, and even excessive snacking for your meals. Before you decide to break your summer diet and budget (let's face it, with the AC jacked up to make your home livable, your budget is likely already broken) consider the many delicious cook-free meal options that you can quickly and easily make in the comfort of your own air conditioned home.

Last week when it was just too excruciatingly hot to have a heavy meal and heat up the kitchen, my mom and I decided to collaborate on a gazpacho soup recipe. Jam packed with fresh and vibrant vegetables and bright and flavourful fresh herbs right from our garden, our gazpacho soup was the most perfect option for a scorching summer day. I've always been one to turn my nose up at the raw food movement, but with a no-cook soup as delicious as this, perhaps I've become a new convert!

Tip: Have any other veggies on hand that you'd like to use up? Toss those babies in as well!

Tip: This soup would be perfect for your next party when served in glass shooters for your guests to walk around and sip on.

Ingredients:

1 green pepper, cubed

1 yellow pepper, cubed

1 large cucumber, peeled and cubed

1 small onion

1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes

juice of 1/2 lemon

3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar (or to taste)

about 2 tbsp fresh parsley

about 1 tbsp fresh dill

about 1/2 tbsp fresh chives

19 ounces tomato juice

1/2 tsp chili powder

salt and pepper to season

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor or a blender, process the peppers until finely chopped (I like to leave the peppers a slightly chunkier than the other veggies to add a bit of texture), transfer to a large bowl. Repeat with the cucumber, onion, and canned diced tomatoes, adding each in turn to the large mixing bowl.

2. Add the lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, parsley, dill, and chives to the bowl of the food processor and pulse until smooth (you may add some tomato juice if the blade is unable to catch the ingredients in the bowl). Add to the large mixing bowl.

3. Add the tomato juice and chili powder to the large mixing bowl and stir. Taste and season with salt and pepper and, if needed, any additional red wine vinegar. Chill for several hours. Serve with fresh chopped dill as a garnish.

Listening To: Wash - Bon Iver

Looking for more no-cook recipes? Come on down to Lomography this Thursday July 28th from 3-5 for a live summer entertaining cooking demo analogue style from yours truly! Click here for more details!

Potato & Leek Soup

I've been getting the dreaded closing shift at work more often than I'd like lately. Sure it means I can sleep in and take my time making a great breakfast, but it also means missing out on dinner at home. Because I refuse to spend money getting takeout or fast food every day, I always pack a dinner for me to bring...and I admit, it's kinda fun making everyone else at work jealous as they eat their stale Starbucks baked goods (Seriously guys? When do you think that stuff was made?). If I'm going to be eating my dinner at work, it better be just as tasty and satisfying as what I could have had at home. So I've been trying to come up with some interesting winter dishes that I can make in advance and bring with me to work throughout the week.

My Potato and Leek Soup is the perfect example of a warm, filling, tasty, healthy dish that you can easily make on the weekend and keep in your fridge all week, ready to pack up and re-heat! The classic flavour combination of potatoes and leeks is enhanced by additional hearty veggies, herbaceous thyme, tart lemon, and aromatic bay leaves. Top it all off with some finely grated cheddar cheese and you're sure to get the whole office talking!

Tip: You can easily turn this into a vegetarian soup by using vegetable broth instead of the recommended chicken broth.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp butter

1 onion, chopped

3 leeks , white and light green parts only (equals about 4 cups)

4 potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

4 cups low sodium chicken broth

2 cups water

1/4 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

juice from 1/4 lemon

salt and pepper

shredded cheddar cheese for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot, melt butter on medium-high heat (you may add a little olive oil if you like at this point so that the butter doesn't burn). Add the onions, leeks, carrots, and celery. Cook until soft, about 8 minutes.

2. Add the potatoes, chicken stock, water, thyme, and bay leaves. Cook, with the pot top on slightly, on medium-low heat until potatoes are very soft, about 20 minutes.

3. Remove bay leaves. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup mixture until it has reached desired consistency. Add the lemon juice and taste. Season accordingly with salt and pepper. Serve hot, garnished with finely shredded cheddar cheese (optional).

*Don't Forget to enter my Tetley Colour Therapy Giveaway!

Listening To:

Blonde Redhead - 23

Powered by mp3skull.com

Cheaters Handbook: Matzo Ball Soup

It seems everyone has a cold these days.  I've given up trying to prevent myself from getting it, because I think it's inevitable that we're all going to get it no matter what.  This past week my mum was sick with a cold, and of all weeks for her to be sick, this was certainly not a good one!  On Wednesday evening we attended (well, I worked the event, she attended) the Chilean Wine Festival in the Historic Distillery District's Fermenting Cellar, and on Thursday evening we attended Grapes for Humanity's A Chocolate and Wine Fantasy at the Four Seasons Hotel.  Two spectacular events that she could not be sick for!  How awful to have the opportunity to attend such incredible events, and not even be able to taste what is being served!  So to get my mum back into top form, I whipped up some Matzo Ball Soup for her. 

Matzo Ball Soup is very easy to make no matter which way you make it.  Matzo Ball Soup from scratch is delicious, but it is just as tasty when made from a package, you just need to know the right tricks and cheats to step it up a notch.  Let's face it, who really wants to slave over a hot stove making broth from scratch when you can easily spice up a bought broth in a matter of minutes.

Making matzo balls is insanely easy using a packaged mix (Manischewitz is one of the best brands), and they taste great.  Although packaged mixes only tell you the very basic way to make matzo balls, it is important to take the recipe a tiny step further by seasoning up your matzo balls with salt and pepper, and even go beyond that by adding some fresh parsley.  You may also add some texture and nutty flavour to your matzo balls by adding some chopped toasted walnuts.  If you would prefer to make your matzo balls from scratch, here is a a recipe from Cooking On the Side  that has been adapted from an episode of Bobby Flay's Matzo Ball Throwdown.  Also note that when you are forming your matzo balls, make them about half the size you want them to be once cooked.  The matzo balls puff up to double their size once cooked in the broth.

Additional Matzo Ball Add-Ins:
chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper
chopped walnuts

After you have made your matzo balls, (it is at this point that the matzo ball batter should be chilling in the fridge), it is time to kick up your broth.  When using any type of packaged broth, it is important to build on the basic flavour that they have provided you with.  Make the broth your own by chopping up some additional vegetables and fresh herbs.  Add the additional ingredients to the simmering broth 10 minutes prior to adding the matzo balls.  The additional ingredients add flavour, texture, and nutrients to your soup.  This time, I chose to add an extra hit of ginger, as ginger acts a fabulous natural cold remedy.   Below are some suggested additional ingredients to use as a guide:

Additional Broth Add-Ins:
chopped carrots (and/or heirloom carrots)
chopped green onions
chopped dill
chopped parsley
grated ginger
chopped leeks
chopped turnips
thyme
shredded cooked chicken