Beet Bisque

I found the original recipe for this soup in a copy of "Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Soups & Stews" that was given to me by my good friend Patti Kappel.  Although there is a big difference in my version that it is posted here, it is a sweet velvety treat that I did not expect.

I substituted Harvard Beets in place of the fresh beets because, and this is unusual, I was pressed for time.  This cut down the cooking time dramatically, but it turned out pretty good just the same.

The term "bisque" implies a velvety soup that's usually made of pureed seafood, such as lobster or shrimp, and cream.  Although I did not use any seafood or cream, I could not describe this dish any other way orther than velvety.  So, I hope that you don't mind me taking the liberty of calling this Beet Bisque.
--Enjoy

Ingredients:

• 2 15 oz jar of Harvard Beets, drained, rinsed and diced
• 2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 1/2 cups of diced russet potatoes (as usual, I did not peel them)
• 28 oz of reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 teaspoon marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Low fat sour cream or yogurt

Directions:

• In a soup pot, heat the olive oil.  Add garlic and cook over a medium heat for about a minute.
• Add the diced potatoes and stir and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the broth and diced beets.  Bring to a boil.  reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add the marjoram and onion powder.
• With immersion blender (or transfer in batches to a standard blender), blend the mixture until velvety smooth.  if the mixture is too thick, add more broth.
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Ladle into warm bowls and garnish with sour cream or yogurt.

Warm Cherry Soup with Dumplings

Warm Cherry Soup with Dumplings

OK, my friend Dr Bill was being his usual smart ass self and wanted me to make Cherry Soup in honor of George Washington's birthday.  Well, I'm not one to take a smart ass challenge lightly.  I started researching Cherry Soups, and all I could find was sweet "desert soups".  I didn't even know there was such a thing as "desert soup".  So, I have taken great pleasure in preparing this soup because it is pretty much all mine from scratch.  Feel free to modify this recipe as you see fit, but I like it just the way it is.

---Enjoy

Warm Cherry Soup with Dumplings

1. In a large saucepan or soup pot, heat the extra virgin live oil over med high heat,, add the onions and garlic, reduce the heat to low and sweat covered for 20 minutes.
2. Add the cherries, reduced sodium beef broth and cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes or until cherries until tender. 
3. For dumplings, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir in milk. Increase the heat, bring the soup to a boil and drop the dumplings by teaspoonfuls into boiling soup. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until dumplings are fluffy.
4. If the soup thickens too much for your liking, add more reduced sodium beef broth to thin the soup.
5. Stir in the spicy brown mustard, season to taste, ladle into soup bowls and serve.

A Twist on the Dumplings When making this soup, I had some extra dumplings.  I could not see that going to waste, so I rolled the dumplings in my hands and put sliced jalapenos in the middle.  I boiled them until fluffy in beef broth and it turned out to be a great appetizer.

Ingredients For the soup 4 cups fresh, frozen or canned pitted chart cherries  (Since cherries were not in season, I used tart cherries canned in water.  they worked great.) 2 cups low sodium beef broth 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon   1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped 1/2 teaspoon spicy brown mustard For the dumplings cherub tomatoes 2 cups whole wheat flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 cup milk A dash of salt

George Washington Never Chopped Down A Cherry Tree

EMILY UPTON 18

Myth: George Washington once chopped down his father’s favorite cherry tree.

 George Washington Never Chopped Down A Cherry Tree

The story goes that a young George was about six years old and had been given a hatchet, which he enthusiastically used to chop at just about anything in sight. One morning, he even chopped at a cherry tree, eventually cutting it down. When confronted about it by his father, George hesitated but told his father, “I cannot tell a lie.” He admitted to the crime. Rather than punishing George for chopping at the tree, his father said that his son’s honesty was worth more than a thousand trees. It’s meant to be a story that’s a lesson in integrity, and shows one of Washington’s many supposed virtues.

First published by the biographer Parson Weems in 1809, ten years after Washington’s death, the story reportedly came from an old neighbor who’d known Washington as a boy. However, it is the only historical source of the story, and as a legitimate source, it isn’t very credible.

Very little was known about George Washington’s childhood, especially his relationship with his father, who died when Washington was just eleven years old.

Given that Weems is known to have copied and adapted several of his “George Washington” stories in that “biography” from English folklore, to illustrate various traits George Washington supposedly exhibited in spades when he was an adult, and that Weems provides no firm evidence to back this particular tale, historians today consider the cherry tree story complete fiction.

There have been other falsehoods about George Washington that have been perpetuated in American History classrooms, too. For instance, George Washington never ate his supper with a set of wooden teeth.It’s true that Washington had notoriously bad teeth. By the time he was elected president, he had only one tooth of his own, which I like to think he named “Old Reliable”.

His dentist provided him with several sets over the years. There were dentures made out of cow teeth, hippopotamus ivory, and even human teeth that he likely bought from slaves. The practice of selling teeth for a bit of extra money had been in place since the Middle Ages—and Washington’s dentist was none other than Jean Pierre Le Moyer, who in 1783, placed an ad in New York papers asking for “persons disposed to sell their front teeth, or any of them.” The next year, Washington paid 122 shillings to “Negroes” for nine teeth on Le Moyer’s behalf. Likely, the slaves were his own and the teeth were either implanted in his mouth or made into dentures.

Another myth surrounding the memory of Washington is that he once threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River. Setting aside the fact that silver dollars didn’t actually exist when Washington was young, the Potomac River is over a mile wide—it would be impossible to accomplish such a feat without the aid of some serious wind. It’s likely that this myth sprung into being as another one of those stories meant to show Washington’s touted virtues- in this case, superhero-like strength.

That being said, his step-grandson recorded a story that Washington once threw a piece of slate roughly the size of a silver dollar across the Rappahannock River, which was only about 250 feet wide near the Washington homestead; this is obviously significantly more doable.

One George Washington “virtue” story that is true is that he did free his slaves upon his death. As he aged, he began to abhor the institution of slavery stating, “There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery.”  I’d argue that there were probably many slaves who were men that wished for the abolition of slavery more than Washington… but the sentiment at least was good.

That being said, in this “virtue”, he shows a fault-  that he wished ardently for the abolition of slavery and hated the institution, yet never chose to do anything about it despite his prominent position and that the people of the fledgling nation loved him.  Yet the only small thing he did do about slavery, he didn’t bother with until his death, freeing his slaves and having his estate help provide for them, getting them started with their new lives as free individuals. (He did make an attempt to free his slaves sooner, in 1794, by selling off and leasing much of his estate, in order to raise funds to make it feasible to emancipate his slaves, but the scheme ultimately fell through. Historians generally think he didn’t take a strong public stance against slavery as he felt that it would split the nation he had so recently fought to create.)

Freeing his slaves didn’t mean that his home—Mount Vernon—didn’t have any slaves at all after his death. At the time of his death, there were a full 316 slaves at his estate, 40 of which were leased from others, and 123 of which were owned by George Washington. Martha Washington owned her own slaves (153 of them) called “dower slaves” which belonged to Martha’s first husband and came with her upon her marriage to Washington. She didn’t share her husband’s view on freeing slaves and, as Washington had no rights to her slaves, he was unable to free them. Martha kept them until her death in 1802 when they were inherited by her children.  Those of George’s slaves that were intermarried with his wife’s slaves were allowed to stay on with the estate as free individuals, if they so chose.

Asparagus and Walnut Soup

Asparagus and Walnut Soup

I'm embarrassed.  Someone sent me an Asparagus Soup recipe, I printed it, and now I don't remember where it came from.  So thank you, whoever you are.  Please contact me and let me know who you are.

That being said, I changed this recipe considerably, for several reasons.  First, the recipe called for cashews.  I made this on a rainy Sunday afternoon and I did not want to go to the grocery store.  I had walnuts on hand, and that's what I used.  Because of that, I had to make up some of the steps needed to make the walnuts usable.  Second, I could not quite follow the recipe as written, so I added a few extra ingredients and a few extra steps.  I'm fairly sure that this soup is at least close to the recipe that was sent to me.  Either way, the end result was a pleasant surprise.

---Enjoy

Asparagus and Walnut Soup

1. Blanche the walnuts and set aside.
2. Heat extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat in a soup pot
3. Stir in the onions, celery and asparagus.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and sweat the ingredients until tender, about 30 minutes.
4. Add 2 quarts of reduced sodium chicken broth, walnuts and bay leaf.  Increase the heat to high/medium high and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 30 minutes.
5. Remove bay leaf, add spinach and blend with an  immersion blender until the mixture is smooth.  (If you do not have an immersion blender, transfer the mixture in batches to blender, blend and return to the soup pot.) 
6. Add marjoram, lemon pepper and lemon juice and cook for 5-10 minutes.
7. Salt and pepper to taste and serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Blanched Walnuts  I never heard of blanched walnuts, so I did not research on how to accomplish this.  I just treated them like almonds, and it worked great.  I covered the walnuts with water and brought the water to a boil.  I left the walnuts in the boiling water for 1 minute and then dumped them into a collinder to drain.  It worked great.

Ingredients 2 lbs fresh asparagus 2 cups raw shelled walnuts 1 medium onion chopped 2 stalks celery chopped 2 cups fresh spinach 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 bay leaf 1/2 teaspoon marjoram 1 teaspoon lemon pepper 1 tablespoon lemon juice Salt and pepper to taste Garnish with sour cream.

Chicken Chowder with Fire Roasted Corn

Chicken Chowder with Fire Roasted Corn

I picked up the original recipe for this soup at a Penzys Spice Shop.  My task was to see if I could eliminate or improve on the butter, flour and milk.  Adding additional spices to this soup also seemed like a no brainer.  I made this soup in the early afternoon, and Sharon and I waited until dinner to fully engage in this bowl of utter delight.

---Enjoy

Chicken Chowder with Fire Roasted Corn

1. Heat the extra virgin olive oil over med-high heat in a soup pot.
2. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and green pepper, reduce to med-low and sweat the vegetables partially covered until tender (about 15 minutes).
3. Increase heat to med-high.  Add 1/4 cup of the mashed Navy Beans stirring to combine mixture.
4. Gradually mix in the boiling water, about 1/4 at a time, stirring until smooth. 
5. Using an immersion blender, pulsate to partially blend the mixture.  No need to make it completely smooth.  (If you do not have an immersion blender, transfer to a standard blender.)
6. Stir in the diced tomatoes.  Reduce heat to med-low and add the apple, parsley, Mrs Dash Salt-Free Chicken Grilling Blend, Thyme and Cumin.  Simmer for 30 minutes.
7. Add the Almond Milk, chicken and remaining Navy Beans and cook until heated through stirring occasionally.  About 10 to 15 minutes.
8. Salt and pepper to taste

*Mrs Dash Salt-Free Chicken Grilling Blend  This blend contains the following ingrediants: Garlic, Onion, Spices (Black Pepper, Sweet Chili Pepper, Oragano, Rosemary, Basil, Sage, Thyme, Cayenne Pepper, Bay, Marjoram, Savory, Corriander, Cumin, Mustard), Carrots, Paprika, Orange Peel, Lemon Juice Solids, Citric Acid and Natural Lemon Flavor.

Ingredients 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (no butter here) 1/3 cup finely chopped yellow onion (1 small onion) 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot (1 med carrot) 1/3 cup finely chopped celery (1 stalk) 1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper (1/2 small pepper) 1 can Navy Beans, drained and mashed with a fork (Really, a flour substitute???) 28 oz can diced tomatoes 1 apple, chopped (I like to leave the apple unpeeled) 3 cups Almond Milk (Yes, Almond Milk) 1 cup diced cooked chicken 1 cup boiling water 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (1 tablespoon parsley flakes) 1/2 tablespoon Mrs Dash Salt-Free Chicken Grilling Blend* 1 teaspoon Thyme 1/2 teaspoon Cumin Salt and Pepper to taste