Soups and Stews

Jay and Edith came over for ribollita tonight. This is my first time making it - we ate a lot of it in Italy last year. This recipe makes a huge batch, and I'll only make half next time.

• Ribollita (Beaneaters & Bread Soup, p. 172)
• Roasted Butternut Squash & Pear Salad with Spiced-Pecan Vinaigrette (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 58)

Larry is fighting off a cold, so I made up some soup for lunch today. The soup is actually more like a tuscan tomato soup, with the addition of bread to add body. We really liked it.

• Cauliflower-Almond-Garlic Soup (Food 2.0: Secrets from the Chef Who Fed Google, p. 160)

This stew was fairly quick to make - the most time consuming task was cutting up meat off of the ham hocks. The hocks make the stew nice and porky and smoky.

• Cuban Black Bean Stew (The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper, p. 79)

I love the simplicity of this soup. Very hearty, thanks to the addition of farro - my favorite whole grain. The chickpeas are seasoned with just olive oil and rosemary. Perfect for a cold evening.

• Farro & Chickpea Soup for Winter (Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen, p. 111)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

This stew was the cover photo for the October issue of Bon Appétit. I wanted to make it as soon as I saw it. We don't eat very much beef - usually just filet mignon, beef stew in the winter, and an occasional hamburger. This stew took a long time to cook, so I made it a day ahead and just re-heated it. Which results in a better stew anyway. It was excellent. I like my stew to have just meat with a thick gravy and maybe one or two vegetables. The meat should be the star.

• Texas Beef Brisket Chili (Bon Appétit, October 2008)
• Napa Pantry World's Best Cornbread

I had this soup for the first time a few weeks ago in a class at Sur La Table. Pam Anderson (the cookbook author, not the jiggly Pam Anderson) just came out with a new book about healthy eating so I signed up for her class. I've made a lot of Pam Anderson recipes in the past, since she's a regular contributor to Fine Cooking. The new book is pretty good, a lot of easy, common sense recipes and guidelines. This soup was perfect since I'm developing a cold. And it's really fast and easy to make.

• Asian Chicken Noodle Soup (The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great, p. 137)

Larry made dinner for us tonight (something I enjoy quite a bit!). We really liked this dish.

• Sausages & White Bean Stew with Tomatoes, Thyme & Crisp Breadcrumbs (Fine Cooking #91, March 2008, p. 86a)

I made this soup for lunch today. We had it with garlic bread made from my most recent loaf of bread (which makes great garlic bread). We really liked the soup, especially with the lime sour cream.

• Southwest Tomato & Roasted Pepper Soup (Fine Cooking #91, March 2008, p. 41)
• Boule with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

We decided on a quick dinner tonight, soup again. This soup is good but I've made better tomato soups. At first it was a little bland. Salt helped, but I think I like my tomato soup with a bit more body.

• Tomato Soup with Fennel, Leek & Potato (Fine Cooking #91, March 2008, back cover)
• European Peasant Bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

Larry made dinner yet again. He wasn't sure about this soup, but as soon as he added the lime juice all of the flavors came together and it was delicious.

• Black Bean Soup with Chile, Coconut Milk and Lime (Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen, p. 60)
• Whole Wheat Tortillas

Amy suggested I take a look at this stew. As soon as I saw that it was made with pork shoulder - one of my favorite cuts of meat, I knew it would be perfect for tonight. I wanted to make something that could be done ahead of time so I didn't have to deal with a bunch of last-minute stuff. It was good, although a little spicy for Jay. And the focaccia was delicious as usual.

The blueberry pie was a test recipe. Really good! Larry wants me to make it again for sure.

• Pork Stew with Green Chiles, Orange & Cilantro (Fine Cooking Comfort Food 2005, p. 68)
• Rosemary Focaccia (No Need to Knead, p. 40)
• Butter Lettuce and Radiccio with Tomatoes & Lemon Poppyseed Dressing (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 48)
• Blueberry Pie (Test Recipe)

Larry is making more things out of this new cookbook than I am. Tonight he made this stew, made up of turkey thighs, steel-cut oats and lots of spices. The flavors are really nice in the stew and I love the addition of oats.

• Oat and Turkey Soup with Tex-Mex Flavors (Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way, p. 126)
• Whole Wheat Tortillas

Our New Year's Eve/anniversary dinner tonight was supposed to be delicious hand-made gnocchi. It was okay, but I did some things wrong so it could have been better. The gnocchi was easy to make. I should have boiled it a little longer, and I made the mistake of not using a nonstick pan so it was a little messy. But the shaved truffle, which we got in Italy last month, was delicious. I had picked up jerusalem artichokes from the farmer's market so I made a soup as well. I don't think I like the flavor of jerusalem artichokes. Larry liked it (but not the addition of sprouts on top of the soup). I wasn't crazy about it.

I've got a ton on Meyer lemons from Grandma's house, so I started out my all-lemon, all the time week with a silky lemon pudding that's delicious.

• Roasted Jerusalem Artichoke Bisque with Sunflower Sprouts (Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen, p. 167)
• Pan-Seared Potato Gnocchi (Fine Cooking #90, January 2008, p. 62) with Browned Butter & Black Truffle
• Butter Lettuce and Radiccio with Tomatoes & Lemon Poppyseed Dressing (Fine Cooking #51, July 2002, p. 48)
• Silky Lemon Pudding (Fine Cooking #63, March 2004, p. 65)

This soup is the perfect medicine for a cold or flu. Larry's been sick for a few days so I made this for his lunch today. It's got chunks of crushed garlic and ginger in it, plus Asian chili paste. And it's really quick and easy to make.

• Ginger Chicken Soup (Fine Cooking #85, May 2007, p. 84a)

I just love Deborah Madison. I've been thumbing through this cookbook but hadn't made anything from it yet - as usual. I tend to read cookbooks more than I cook from them. We're still hanging on to our memories from last month's trip to Italy, so Larry and I were both drawn to this soup. Very similar to the ribolita we ate many times in Tuscany. This version is delicious and easy to make and went perfectly with Larry's grilled cheese sandwiches.

• Rustic Bread and Tomato Soup (Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen, p. 100)
• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

This chowder was really easy for a quick weeknight meal, and very tasty too. Definitely something to make again. I keep canned crab on hand that I get at Costco, Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. My milk curdled a little bit because I let it boil. Still good.

• Corn and Crab Chowder (Bon Appétit, January 2008)

Larry made dinner for us tonight. He did most of the prep last night, and threw everything in the Crock Pot at lunchtime. We had a discussion about the chorizo. The recipe doesn't specify what kind of chorizo. He picked up chicken chorizo at Trader Joe's, which worked fine and is less greasy than standard Mexican chorizo. But I wondered if Spanish chorizo would work also - I think the spices would be really nice in this stew. The recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which are added whole to the mix but stay moist and kind of fall apart during the cooking.

• Spicy Slow-Cooker Chicken & Chorizo Stew (Cook's Illustrated Best Make-Ahead Recipes, p. 150)

I used some of the leftover pork from Sunday to make this stew. It's good, not spectacular but good. The leftover pork is excellent. I probably won't make this again.

• New Mexican Pork & Green Chile Stew (Fine Cooking #90, December 2007, p. 41)

I was in the mood for something comforting, like chicken soup. This suited me perfectly, and I loved the spiciness for the ginger.

• Clay Pot Ginger Chicken (Food & Wine, March 2005)

Another test recipe. I absolutely love French Onion Soup. This was good. Not the best ever, but good.

• French Onion Soup (Test Recipe)

It was just me for dinner, and I was in the mood for soup. Tomato soup. I had zucchini in the refrigerator so I picked this soup, a favorite of mine that I've made before. I lightened up the soup quite a bit by subbing in olive oil for half the butter, and using 3/4 cup of 1% milk plus a quarter cup of cream - instead of a full cup of cream. I don't think I could tell the difference, and next time I'll probably use all olive oil and all milk. Of course, then I balanced out the lightening up with garlic bread.

We had a light dinner tonight, just this yummy soup. About a half hour to make, it's got a little spice in the broth from Asian chile paste and crushed ginger. A full batch makes four servings, but split between the two of us it was just right for dinner.

• Ginger Chicken Soup (Fine Cooking #85, May 2007, p. 84a)

I felt like soup tonight. I had everything on hand for this and it seemed like not too much work (it wasn't). Very yummy. I like how it's still a little chunky, with thin slices of garlic, potatoes and leeks left in the soup (it's partially pureed).

• Leek & Potato Soup (Fine Cooking #46, September 2001, p. 64)

I think it's pretty clear that I'm a soup fanatic. And lentil soup is one of my favorites. However... I wasn't that crazy about this version. I didn't really like the texture. The flavor was really good. I think I just would have liked it to be thicker.

• Peppery Pink Lentil Soup (Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 60)

Scott is in town for a few days, so I picked something relatively easy I could make after work for dinner. It's probably a lot easier to just make this the day before. Again, I shredded the meat off the thighs because it just seems weird to serve entire thighs in this dish. The recipe is also in the cookbook Cooking New American.

I made packaged cornbread, and it was by far the best packaged cornbread we've had.

• Southwestern Spiced Chicken & Black Bean Stew (Fine Cooking #56, March 2003, p. 38)
• Napa Valley Pantry Worlds Best Cornbread Mix

Wow, was this soup good. Easy to make, and I liked the little chunks of zucchini in it. It could be lightened up by cutting the cream in half, I think.

What made this so good was the garlic bread that we made to go with it. I wanted more soup so I could have more bread to dip in it. I wanted to eat about eight more pieces of bread. I've been using Jana Valley butter (from New Zealand) for baking lately, and that's all I had in the refrigerator so I used it to make the garlic butter. I'm not sure if that's what made the garlic bread so good, or if it's just because we haven't had it lately.

I picked this out only because I happened to have this issue of Fine Cooking sitting out. I've suffered from an icky cold all week, and by the time I finished cooking I just wanted to go to bed. So Jay and Larry got to enjoy this meal without me. They said it was good - especially the ragout and the salad.

• Chicken & Shrimp Ragout with Curry Spices (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 63)
• Toasted Almond Rice (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 63)
• Spinach & Cucumber Salad with Yogurt-Mint Dressing (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 63)

Fiyaz came for Thanksgiving dinner, and Jay showed up just in time for dessert. It was a nice, relaxed Thanksgiving meal. Larry had asked for a stuffed turkey breast instead of a whole turkey, and he wanted apple pie instead of pumpkin pie. Everything was good - especially the squash soup. I love the croutons. My potatoes were a little thin for some reason, but they worked out okay after they were baked. We did the goat cheese crackers again, this time on Carr's whole wheat crackers, and they were much better.

• Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutons (Bon Apetit, December 1996)
• Goat Cheese Crackers with Hot Pepper Jelly (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 63)
• Dried Apricot & Date Stuffed Turkey Breast with Marsala Glaze (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 49)
• Potatoes Mousseline (Fine Cooking #62, January 2004, p. 41)
• Spinach & Basil Salad with Tomatoes, Candied Walnuts & Warm Bacon Dressing (Fine Cooking #70, March 2005, p. 55)
• Apple Pie Covered with Leaves (Fine Cooking #54, Winter 2003 Holiday Baking Issue, p. 43)

Wine:
- Ramazzotti 2005 Zin-Giovese Rose (Dry Creek Valley, California)
- Inniskillin 2003 Sparkling Ice Wine (Niagra Peninsula, Canada). Fiyaz brought this wine for dessert - and it was very tasty.

I picked up some fish after work and whipped up this yummy seafood chowder. I don't usually like chowder unless it's plain New England clam chowder, but this was really good.

• Creamy Seafood Chowder with Bacon, Thyme & Jalapeno (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 98c)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

It was overcast and kind of chilly out today, so this potato soup sounded perfect for dinner. It's fairly easy to make, and we both really liked it. I only had thinly sliced pancetta, so I cooked it in a skillet and we crumbled it on top of the soup instead of making croutons with it. I did make bread croutons, though. This soup needs a lot of seasoning before serving, and I think it would be lovely with some chopped rosemary or thyme.

• Creamy Potato Soup with Pancetta Croutons (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, back cover)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

Wine: David Coffaro 2000 Syrah (Dry Creek Valley, California). Needed to open up a bit, but a nice everyday wine.

Tonight we had a classic rainy-day combination for dinner. Larry made the grilled cheese, sandwiches (his specialty), and I made the soup. We used whole-grain bread, sun-dried tomatoes and a nice aged white cheddar for the sandwiches. The tomato-fennel soup was really easy to make (I used fire-roasted crushed tomatoes), and it was really tasty. It would have been even better with some homemade croutons on top.

• Tomato-Fennel Soup (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 98c)
• Grilled Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomato Sandwiches

Jay was here for dinner - I wanted to do something quick and hearty, and this easy stew fit the bill. I used turkey sausage, and it was really excellent. Definitely a make-again.

• Spicy Sausage, Escarole & White Bean Stew (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 98c)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)

Wine: Bonny Doon 2002 Cardinal Zin (California). Pretty tasty. A typical California old-vine Zin.

Larry requested soup for dinner. His only criteria was that he wanted turkey soup. My criteria was that it had to be something that I could make without a trip to the store. I make one substitution - shallots instead of leeks, but otherwise I had everything on hand. I used canned low sodium chicken broth since I'm out of homemade chicken broth and I didn't make turkey stock.

At any rate, it still turned out very nice. Refreshing, homey and tasty. I love the ginger and lemon in this soup. And it was ultra-simple - took me about a half hour to make, start to finish. I served it with the non-rising rolls from yesterday, which in the end turned out very nice. Larry really loved them.

• Turkey Soup with Ginger, Lemon and Mint (Fine Cooking #60, November 2003, p. 69)
• Herbed Dinner Rolls (Fine Cooking #61, Holiday Baking 2004, p. 72)

Wine: Lava Cap 2000 Reserve Zinfandel (Amador County, California). This was my making-dinner wine. Not bad.

Larry had marked this recipe in Fine Cooking's Cooking New American, and I finally decided to make it tonight. It was excellent. I didn't have a dried chipotle, so I used some chipotle powder instead. Larry wasn't up for whole chicken thighs, so I shredded the meat off the bones. I imagine this will be excellent on a cold winter night.

• Southwestern Spiced Chicken & Black Bean Stew (Fine Cooking #56, March 2003, p. 38)
• Whole Wheat Tortillas

Larry and I both love black bean soup, so he picked this recipe out of Fine Cooking's new Comfort Food special issue. He was a bit skeptical when he saw the ham hock that I bought for the soup. I've made vegetarian black bean soup before, but the ham hock really makes a nice difference in the flavor. Larry loved this soup, and so did I.

I had made the cornbread before. It's really yummy - I like the addition of cheddar cheese, fresh corn and and jalapeños. It's not a sweet cornbread, although it has a small amount of sugar in it. I used a cast iron pan to make it - the best way to make cornbread, in my opinion. The recipe for the cornbread is in the special issue as well.

• Smoky Black Bean Soup (Fine Cooking, Comfort Food 2005, p. 20)
• Double-Corn Tex-Mex Cornbread with Cheese & Green Chiles (Fine Cooking #20, April/May 1997, p. 47)

Wine: Crane Canyon 2000 Zinfandel (Russian River Valley, California). Very nice Zin from a small producer.

Jay was here for dinner tonight, and he requested "something vegetarian, not pasta". After consulting with Amy and coming up with a really yummy menu, I completely changed course and decided to cook out of a cookbook I got for Christmas, "Fresh Food Fast". I like how the cookbook is laid out - vegetarian menus, arranged by seasons. The menus can be prepared in less than an hour, and each menu lists a game plan, equipment needed and a market list.

- The lentil soup was very good. Kind of earthy, and easy to make.
- The risotto gave me some problems because I didn't really read the recipe before I started. The recipe calls for cooking the risotto in a pressure cooker - whoops, I don't have a pressure cooker. I contemplated how to cook it: like regular risotto, stirring constantly and adding water as it's absorbed until the barley is cooked, or by adding the boiling water all at once, covering it, and only stirring and adding water as it's absorbed. I decided to use the second method, and the barley took about an hour to cook this way. Both Jay and Larry really liked this dish, although Larry though it would be fine without the goat cheese (which turned the risotto pink-ish due to the red veins in the chard).
- The slaw was just okay, a bit bland. I didn't have raisins so I used currants instead. I probably won't make it again.
- The pie was difficult to make. The method for blind baking the crust was awkward and resulted in it shrinking considerably. There was so much topping (half would have sufficed), that it completely covered the crust anyway - it was pretty much like a regular crisp. At any rate it was pretty tasty. Larry and Jay both really liked it.

• Hearty Lentil Soup (Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison, p. 224)
• Barley Risotto with Golden Beets, Swiss Chard & Goat Cheese (Fresh Food Fast, Peter Berley, p. 174)
• Fennel-Cabbage Slaw with Raisins and Apple (Fresh Food Fast, Peter Berley, p. 175)
• Blueberry Crumble Pie (Lobster Rolls & Blueberry Pie, Rebecca Charles, p. 108)

Larry, his dad and Jay were here for Thanksgiving dinner. I skipped out on the herbed dinner rolls that I made last year, because I wasn't up to making them (although they're very easy).

- I decided to make this soup after Amy told me she was making it. I was more convinced that I should make it after she tried it and said it was fantastic. I was worried that it would taste too much like pumpkin, but it didn't. It was really excellent. I loved the croutons.
- I made the same turkey I've made for the past few years now. I love the way this turkey turns out. It was an 18-lb turkey from Costco, nothing special. I usually brine the turkey the night before, but I didn't this time. It really makes a difference in the flavor.
- I usually make a crouton-based dressing, using Mrs. Cubbison's stuffing mix and cornbread dressing mix as a base. Since we are virtually trans-fat free now, I had to find an alternative since Mrs. Cubbison's has trans fats. I used Fair Scones, Inc. brand Rosemary-Sage Cornbread dressing and Rosemary-Sage stuffing, evenly mixed (purchased at Whole Foods). It's more crouton-y than Mrs. Cubbisons but they have a nice flavor. I added celery, onion, parsley, chicken broth, melted butter, beaten eggs, salt and pepper and baked it. I didn't add enough salt. It's not as good as my usual dressing, but a good compromise.
- I skipped the pumpkin pie because I don't like it. I made apple pie instead, which Larry loves.

• Smoked Trout Rillettes (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001, p. 44)
• Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutons (Bon Apétit, December 1996)
• Butter-Rubbed, Cider-Glazed Roast Turkey (Fine Cooking #53, November 2002, p. 46)
• Poultry Dressing (Sheri's Recipe Box)
• Oven-Roasted Beets
• Puree of Yukon Gold Potatoes with Parmesan (Fine Cooking #53, November 2002, p. 48)
• Glazed Carrots (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001 p.24)
• Apple Pie Covered with Leaves (Fine Cooking #54, Winter 2003 Holiday Baking Issue, p. 43)

Wine: 2001 Amphora Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). Yummy. Very deep dark ruby. I expected a full-bodied wine but it was pretty light. Nicely balanced.

My second magazine test recipe was this soup. I'm not sure how this recipe testing thing will work out, because there isn't a lot of turnaround time, and I don't usually have the time or energy to cook during the week. I made the beans for the soup yesterday, which made the effort much less. The beans by themselves were very good, smoky from a bit of ham steak. The soup was also very good, and we ate leftovers during the week. I like it with a bit of sour cream on top.

• Black Bean Soup (Test Recipe)

Tonight's dinner was better than last night's special Valentine's Day meal. Jay came over so I wanted to do chicken or fish.

- I had a bunch of parsnips in the refrigerator and wanted to do something different with them. This soup is good. It lists cream as an optional ingredient. I think cream would have been a nice addition - added body to the soup, but I didn't add it. I tossed bread with olive oil, salt and pepper and baked it to make croutons rather than fry them as the recipe instructed. Jay really liked the soup.
- I did a similar stuffed chicken breast before, with Prosciutto, Parmesan and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. This one was better. I really like doing chicken like this - it's fast and relatively hands-off.
- The cauliflower was a big hit. I liked it this way, and so did Larry and Jay. Larry told me "this is a keeper".
- Amy made this tea cake last week and that made me want to make it again. She used poppyseeds instead of caraway seeds, and I did the same. Yum.

• Parnsip & Leek Soup (Fine Cooking #48, January 2002, p. 55)
• Chicken Breasts with Parmesan-Herb Stuffing (Fine Cooking #45, July 2001, p. 60)
• Roast Cauliflower with Shallots, Tarragon and Lemon (Fine Cooking #50, May 2002, p. 52)
• Lemon Tea Cake (Fine Cooking # 63, March 2004, p. 65)

Wine: Ridge 2001 Lytton Estate Grenache. Yum!

Today was the final day of preparation of the beef stew we ate tonight. Martin was here for dinner. Yesterday, I made sure that I didn't cook the beef so much that it was falling apart. Today I removed as much fat from the top of the cooled stew as I could. I then performed the most tedious task during this process - I picked out all of the chunks of meat and set it aside in a separate bowl.

This is where I begin to deviate from the Julia Child article. I continued cooking down the liquid and vegetables on the top of the stove, to further break down the vegetables and to concentrate the flavors.

I strained the liquid into a gravy separator to further defat the sauce, then I put the solids through a food mill. Pushing them through a strainer would probably yeild about the same results. The goal is just to get as much of the liquid out of the vegetables as possible. I added some of the defatted liquid to some flour and heated the liquid back up. I then began to add the slurry to the liquid to thicken it - I just keep adding it until it's a nice gravy consistency. I added the beef back to the liquid and put it back in the oven at a low temperature. The goal now is just to get the meat to be super-tender and falling apart.

I added sliced portabella mushrooms and peeled pearl onions close to when the stew was done, and continued cooking it until it was all done. I also added more beef stock as needed (two cups total) to keep the amount of liquid consistent. Somehow, Liberty Cafe's mushrooms are really tender - I can never get mine to be like theirs.

• My Best Beef Stew (Food & Wine, January 1996, p.34)
• Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Glazed Carrots (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001 p.24)
• Baby Spinach Salad with cherry tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Wine: Pezzi King 2001 Carreras Vineyard Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California). Decent, not great. We bought this as a future, and it was fantastic in the bottle. We have several more bottles, so time will tell.

Today I brought the stew to a simmer on the stove, then cooked it at a low temperature in the oven until the meat was tender. If we were going to eat the stew tonight, I would have continued through the rest of the steps, straining and cooking it further.

I continued my four-day stew today. I separated the meat from the vegetable marinade and dried it on paper towels. I cooked the vegetables and liquid until they were soft, removed them from the pan, and browned the beef in batches. The beef creates a really nice fond on the pan, so when it's done I deglazed the pan with a bit of water. I added the scraped up brown bits to the beef back in my soup pot, then covered it with the cooked vegetables, diced roma tomatoes and bay leaves. I added red Zinfandel wine (1999 David Bruce Paso Robles - something good but not expensive) and about a cup of beef stock. I used a bottle of wine that was already open, so I added the contents of the bottle plus more beef stock to cover the beef mixture.

This will sit all night in the refrigerator. Tomorrow is the most labor intensive day. If we wanted, we could have the stew tomorrow - I would just need to cook it until the beef is fork-tender. But I think we'll have it Sunday.

My Christmas project this year was to make a double batch of chicken pot pies for the holidays. I put two chickens and double veggies into the roaster, but I make the dough in two separate batches for ease of handling.

I also started a batch of beef stew - I usually make it over three or four days. The recipe comes from an article Julia Child wrote for Food & Wine Magazine years ago. I've modified it to resemble the beef stew at Liberty Cafe (same place that makes the chicken pot pies). It consists of tender stew meat, a thick, rich gravy, pearl onions, and sliced portabella mushrooms. I serve it over mashed potatoes. I don't like beef stew with a bunch of overdone, mushy vegetables in it.

Today, I put the raw stew meat into my favorite Le Crueset soup pot along with thinly sliced onions and carrots, salt, cracked peppercorns, crushed garlic, sprigs of thyme, olive oil and red wine vinegar. After tossing everything together, I put in into the refrigerator, covered, to marinate for the night.

• My Best Beef Stew (Food & Wine, January 1996, p.34)

Costco had fresh steamer clams this weekend, so I decided to make some clam chowder. I love making soup. Clam chowder made from scratch isn't that difficult - it takes some time to clean the clams and take the meat out after they've been steamed, but once everything is prepped, it comes together quickly.

- I made the dip for a potluck event today. It was good. Very easy to make, and improves with a couple of hours in the refrigerator.
- My clam chowder isn't really thick. It's more soupy. I used a combination of milk, cream, and half-and-half tonight, because I wanted to use up the cream and half-and-half. I've made it with just milk in the past and it's just as good.

• Chipotle Chile Dip (Hot Appetizers, Hugh Carpenter, p. 20)
• New England Clam Chowder (Viking Home Chef, Seafood Specialties class)
• Sourdough bread with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)