Soup

Legume soup

Posted by Gary

Dear Reader, 

It’s a cool, overcast Saturday during Easter. Good Friday was spectacular. I attended a most moving church service in the morning. In the evening, I enjoyed a piece of ribeye steak. 

Today, I’m grateful to Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella for this recipe. I’ve modified it by using a pressure cooker, because unlike Lorraine, my cooking is more about “speed and power”.

Legume soup

Recipe

Equipment

  • Pressure cooker
  • Saucepan

Ingredients

  • 50 mL olive oil
  • One stalk celery 
  • A diced carrot 
  • One small onion, chopped 
  • One clove of garlic, chopped 
  • 200 g canned Borlotti beans 
  • 200 g canned lentils 
  • 750 mL vegetable stock 
  • 100 g crushed canned tomatoes 
  • Fresh rosemary, to taste 
  • 2–3 teaspoons curry powder, to taste 
  • Salt to taste 

Instructions 

  1. Add the oil into a high-sided saucepan, then add the chopped celery, carrot, onion and garlic clove.
  2. Sauté together over medium heat. When the onion has become translucent, add in the curry powder and rosemary leaves.
  3. Pour in a little stock to remove the fond from the saucepan and then decant to the pressure cooker.
  4. Add all the legumes, tomatoes, stock, and mix with a wooden spoon. 
  5. To add some extra kick, grind some rock salt and whole peppercorns with a pestle in a mortar, and add to the pressure cooker before sealing the lid.
  6. Cook under pressure for about 30 minutes. 
  7. Allow the pressure to equalise naturally and open the lid.
  8. Spoon into a bowl. 
  9. Give thanks to the Lord. 
  10. Eat with a spoon and some buttered bread. I use Bürgen 85% lower carbohydrate, high protein, whole grain and whole seed bread spread with Flora ProActiv® spread.  

Thoughts on the meal

I anticipate this will become a favourite soup. It’s delicious and easy to make. I also expect my bowel microbiota will benefit too, especially those bacteria which produce gas from glucose and the lactose fermenters. Lactose fermentation isn’t so much about milk and dairy products, but lactose is a common energy source in agar plates used diagnostic bacteriology. The end result is carbon dioxide and methane and other gases.

What I’ve been reading and listening to lately

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’d started listening to a new book series, viz., Monroe Doctrine. I’m currently in volume VI and World War III is in its advanced stages with the final push to defeat the People’s Republic of China and liberate the Republic of China. The amount of technical detail in this book series is tremendous, especially the descriptions of how artificial intelligence is being exploited to overcome obstacles and supercede the limitations of human capabilities. In volume VI, there is a strong Australian component as part of a NATO force used to assist the US Marine Expeditionary Force in its mission to liberate ROC from PRC.

In terms of podcasts I’m in a rich seam of listening to two well regarded evangelical pastors who are both well known for their teaching and preaching. I’m currently listening to Dr David Martyn Lloyd-Jones preach through Ephesians 6:10–14, and Dr Tim Keller getting through a series rooted in the period of lent.

What else have I been doing?

I’ve been thinking about replacing my non-stick cookware with alternatives. I have a couple of stainless steel frying pans and saucepans, but my daily frying pan is a nonstick Pyrolux fry pan. I’ve also got one cast iron fry pan which is useful for searing steak. While the cast iron pan is nicely seasoned, it’s a bit small in diameter for my daily requirements. While the Pyrolux fry pan has been good and relatively long lasting, I know it will not keep a nonstick surface forever. The beauty of a carbon steel pan is the development of a polymerised oil layer which provides a “natural” nonstick surface. A good quality carbon steel pan will outlive me.

I was watching an American Test Kitchen video on YouTube and took note of a review they did on carbon steel cookware. I decided to buy a Matfer sheet pan. It was pretty easy to initially season with potato peels, salt, and oil. I’ll use this pan every morning for my egg and spinach breakfast.

Carbon steel seasoning with potato peels, salt, and oil
Matfer pan
Instructions for seasoning Matfer pan
Carbon Steel Seasoned

Photographs

Legume soup
Legume soup
Legume soup
Legume soup

Potato and leek soup with beef short rib

Posted by Gary

If you are keen to go straight to the recipe, click here.

Hello Reader,

I hope you have enjoyed the last week. I shared a scheduled post last weekend because I was away in Brisbane to see my daughters and parents. 

A few of us went to The Ekka. It was so good.

Ekka photos

Chocolate custard Cannoli for lunch at The Ekka
Strawberry Sundae at The Ekka | One reason why The Ekka is the best show in Australia
The Loaded Nugget from the Nugg Shack at The Ekka. Battered chicken nuggets with hot chips, cheese, bacon, and spring onions.
An extra long Dagwood dog from The Ekka
Food from The Ekka

Recipe

Equipment

  • Pressure cooker [1]
  • Stick blender

Ingredients

  • Potatoes
  • Leek [2]
  • Beef short rib [3, 4]
  • Bouquet garni
  • Vegetable stock
  • Chillies
  • Parsley
  • Garlic

Instructions

  1. Wake up wondering what to cook on a wet winter day in Canberra. Do you wake up and immediately think of food? Sometimes I do. This morning I did not. I slept poorly, and when my eyes opened, my first thought was craving more sleep.
  2. Go grocery shopping to plan what to cook while in the meat section.
  3. Choose a couple of beef short ribs to be the meal’s centrepiece.
  4. Heat the oven to about 200 °C.
  5. Cut a couple of potatoes into large chunks.
  6. Cut the white part of a large leek from the green part and then separate the leaves under running water to wash out the dirt.
  7. Peel a few garlic cloves.
  8. Spread the ribs, potato, leek, and garlic onto a baking sheet and put it into the oven.
  9. Keep an eye on the tray and remove the tray when the food starts to change colour and caramelise.
  10. Put the chillies, garlic, leek, and potato into the pressure cooker.
  11. Add the bouquet garni and the ribs on top.
  12. Pour in some vegetable stock.
  13. Seal the lid to the pressure cooker and set the timer to one hour.
  14. Cook the contents.
  15. Remove the lid when the pressure has equalised.
  16. Lift out the ribs, the meat, and the bouquet garni.
  17. Put the meat into a bowl, and with forks, pull the meat.
  18. Process the soup with a stick blender.
  19. Place some of the meat into the centre of a soup bowl.
  20. Ladle the soup around the meat.
  21. Garnish the soup with parsley.
  22. Give thanks to the Lord.
  23. Eat with a spoon.

Thoughts on the meal

I could have made this soup more decadent with cream and perhaps some butter. However, cream and butter were unnecessary for flavour. There’s also enough fat in the beef.

I have enough soup leftover for a few more meals. I’ve aliquoted the soup into vacuum bags, and the bags are in the freezer.

Photographs

Pulled beef short rib meat
Potato and leek soup with beef short rib
Potato and leek soup with beef short rib
Potato and leek soup with beef short rib
Potato and leek soup with beef short rib

Final thoughts

How do you feel about carnival food? Do you like deep-fried sausages covered in the batter? Do you like battered chicken nuggets with hot chips, bacon pieces, cheese, and spring onion?

Would you add cream and butter to potato and leek soup?

References

1.      Cook, R.K., et al., Use of a Pressure Cooker to Achieve Sterilization for an Expeditionary Environment. J Spec Oper Med, 2021. 21(1): p. 37-39.

2.      Biernacka, B., D. Dziki, and U. Gawlik-Dziki, Pasta Enriched with Dried and Powdered Leek: Physicochemical Properties and Changes during Cooking.Molecules, 2022. 27(14).

3.      Stopforth, J.D., et al., Microbiological status of fresh beef cuts. J Food Prot, 2006. 69(6): p. 1456-9.

4.      Jeremiah, L.E., et al., Assessment of palatability attributes of the major beef muscles. Meat Sci, 2003. 65(3): p. 949-58.

 

Pressure cooker beef cheeks and soup

Posted by Gary

If you don’t want to read the story, you can go straight to the recipe here.

Pressure cooker beef cheeks and vegetable soup

Hello Reader,

I hope you’ve had a good week. For me, two loved ones experienced serious health problems. I expect one will make a full recovery and the other will hopefully see this experience as an opportunity for change.

I’m reminded of my own mortality when people I love are suddenly and unexpectedly affected by a serious health problem.

I was going to call this rubbish bin soup because the vegetables were all old and were about ready to throw away. They were limp and I had to look hard for mould. Given I was using a pressure cooker, I had no fears for the safety of the food. A pressure cooker is an autoclave by another name. So, I saved these vegetables from the rubbish bin and made soup! 😊

Recipe

Equipment

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Ingredients

  • Beef cheeks
  • Barbecue sauce
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Brown onions
  • Potato
  • Celery
  • Carrot
  • Shallots
  • Daikon
  • Rice bran oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Sugar
  • Garlic
  • Bay leaves

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Instructions

  1. Buy a pair of beef cheeks from the supermarket or butcher. [I bought these beef cheeks from the supermarket.]
  2. Remove the meat from the plastic wrap and put the cheeks into a vacuum bag along with some barbecue sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Vacuum seal the bag and put the marinading meat into the refrigerator for about a day. The meat should absorb the spicy vinegary flavours of the sauces and get a hit of umami from the anchovies in the English version of fish sauce.
  3. Dice the vegetables into cubes about 1 cm3.
  4. Put the vegetables into a large bowl and pour in a little rice bran oil plus some salt. Massage the oil and salt onto the vegetables.
  5. Put the vegetables onto a baking sheet and put into a hot oven until they start to caramelise on the cut edges.
  6. When the vegetables were ready from the oven, put the beef cheeks and vegetables into the pressure cooker and put on the lid. For at pressure for one hour. This should ensure the meat would be tender and easy to tease apart.
  7. Once the hour has passed, wait for the pressure in the vessel to equal the pressure outside the vessel and remove the lid.
  8. Lift the meat from the vessel. Be careful, the meat will fall apart under the force of its own weight. Scoop a flat sieve under the meat and lift it so the cooking liquor drains off back into the cooking vessel and transfer the meat to a large bowl.
  9. Pour the contents of the pressure cooker vessel into a large stainless-steel saucepan.
  10. Tease apart the beef muscle and connective tissue fibres and lay them out on a baking sheet. Smear some barbecue sauce over the meat and put it into a gentle oven to partially dehydrate. The excess liquid will evaporate leaving sticky meat.
  11. Turn on the hob for the saucepan and bring the broth to a gentle simmer so it can reduce a little.
  12. Once you achieve a consistency you think is right, use a stick blender to process the broth into a soup.
  13. Divide the soup into aliquots for freezing and keep one portion in the saucepan.
  14. Add a dollop of sour cream to thicken the soup and pour it into a bowl.
  15. Add some of the sticky pulled beef.
  16. Give thanks to the Lord.
  17. Eat with a spoon.

Thoughts of the meal

Not a bad meal. A bit of an odd concept I think others may say. Not to worry, I’m the one eating it.

I’ll have plenty of meat for this week and a few bowls of soup to keep for the freezer.

Final thoughts

  • How do you feel when loved ones take ill?
  • Have you ever made a rubbish bin meal?
  • Do you like meaty soups?

References

Cook, R. K., et al. (2021). “Use of a Pressure Cooker to Achieve Sterilization for an Expeditionary Environment.” J Spec Oper Med 21(1): 37-39.

BACKGROUND: Sterilization of healthcare instruments in an expeditionary environment presents a myriad of challenges including portability, cost, and sufficient electrical power. Using pressure cookers to sterilize instruments presents a low-cost option for sterilization in prehospital settings. This project’s objective was to determine if sterility can be achieved using a commercially available pressure cooker. METHODS: Presto(R) 4-quart stainless steel pressure cookers were heated using Cuisinart(R) CB-30 cast-iron single burners. One 3M Attest 1292 Rapid Readout Biological Indicator and one 3M Comply SteriGage integrator strip were sealed in a Henry Schein(R) Sterilization Pouch and placed in a pressure cooker and brought to a pressure of 103.4kPa. Sterility was verified after 20 minutes at pressure. The Attest vials were incubated in a 3M Attest 290 Auto-Reader for 3 hours with a control vial. RESULTS: Sterility using the pressure cooker was achieved in all tested bags, integrator strips, and Attest vials (n = 128). The mean time to achieve the necessary 103.4kPa was 379 seconds (standard deviation (SD) = 77). Neither the ambient temperature nor humidity were found to affect the pressure cooker’s time to achieve adequate pressure, nor the achieved depth on the integrator strip (all p > .05). CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that sterilization is possible with offthe- shelf pressure cookers. Though lacking US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, the use of this commercially available pressure cooker may provide a method of sterilization requiring minimal resources from providers working in expeditionary environments.

Pore, B. B., et al. (2021). “Pressure Cooker Nozzle Penetrated the Orbit – Globe Saved.” Asia Pac J Ophthalmol (Phila) 10(4): 418-419.

Photographs

Here is a gallery of photos of the meal. The pork loin was an extra piece that I needed to cook for later in the week.

Marinading beef cheeks in barbecue and Worcestershire sauces
Marinading beef cheeks in barbecue and Worcestershire sauces
Beef cheeks, pork loin, and vegetables
Beef cheeks, pork loin, and vegetables
Pressure cooker beef cheeks and vegetable soup
Pressure cooker beef cheeks and vegetable soup
Pressure cooker beef cheeks and vegetable soup

           

Pea, ham, and gorgonzola soup

Posted by Gary

If you’re not interested in reading the blurb before the recipe, feel free to use this link to the recipe.

Pea, ham, and gorgonzola soup

Hello reader,

Tonight’s meal is inspired by Lorraine Elliot and Friday’s post on Not Quite Nigella. It was a best of five post, and number one was pea and ham soup. I highly recommend Lorraine’s blog. Many of my weekend meals are inspired by her posts.

The first week of July is often the coldest in Canberra, so it’s a good month for all things comforting. The comfort of the people I love. Comfort food. Comfortable clothes to fit my growing frame and accommodate my winter coat!!!

Lorraine’s recipe doesn’t include gorgonzola. I got that idea from the cauliflower soup I made a few weeks ago. Cheese in soup is sheer indulgent enjoyment.

How has your week been? On a scale of 1 to 10, mine has been 7. It started poorly last Sunday evening. Queensland and NSW played the second game of this year’s State of Origin series. We were defeated convincingly. At work, my days have been enjoyable. I am always buoyed to be working with intelligent and capable people. In the evening, though, I continue to indulge in refined, processed, sugar-laden products. My chocolate cravings persist.

PHOTOS

Recipe

Equipment

  • Frying pan
  • Pressure cooker
  • Stick blender

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Heat up a frying pan and add some RBO.
  2. Sauté the onions, fennel, celery, and garlic until fragrant and changing colour.
  3. Transfer the onions, fennel, celery, and garlic to the pressure cooker.
  4. Add the MSG, anchovy fillets, split peas, ham hock, bay leaves and vegetable stock to the pressure cooker and cook for 50 minutes.
  5. Open the pressure cooker when the internal pressure equilibrates with the outside pressure.
  6. Remove the cooked ham hock (and bones if the bones have slipped out) from the soup.
  7. Add the frozen peas, so the residual heat cooks them.
  8. Puree the soup with a stick blender to make it smoother.
  9. Add chunks of gorgonzola to the soup.
  10. Remove the meat from the bone and pull it into small pieces.
  11. Ladle soup into a bowl and add the ham.
  12. Season the soup with pepper.
  13. Give thanks to the Lord.
  14. Eat with a spoon.

PHOTOS

Serving options

This soup would have been great with a piece of well-buttered crusty sourdough bread. You could also add some garnish, like finely sliced chives or finely chopped parsley.

I have enough soup leftover to freeze in vacuum-sealed bags. I’ll reheat them in a water bath set to about 80 °C for 30 minutes and enjoy a warm bowl of soup after work.

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Thoughts on the soup

This was a heart-warming soup that was flavourful and unctuous. I’m grateful I have some leftovers. I put it into vacuum bags and have two portions in the freezer ready for later in the week.

Some people experience a lot of flatus after pea and ham soup. Tomorrow is going to be explosive. 😆💨

Final thoughts

  • What comforts you in winter?
  • What soup have you made recently?
  • Would you add gorgonzola to a pea and ham soup?

Bibliography and glossary

Winter coat

A winter coat is also known as abdominal adipose tissue!

Pal, Y. P., & Pratap, A. P. (2017). Rice Bran Oil: A Versatile Source for Edible and Industrial Applications. J Oleo Sci, 66(6), 551-556. https://doi.org/10.5650/jos.ess17061

Raman, V., Bussmann, R. W., & Khan, I. A. (2017). Which Bay Leaf is in Your Spice Rack? – A Quality Control Study. Planta Med, 83(12-13), 1058-1067. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0043-103963

Rose, D. J., Poudel, R., Van Haute, M. J., Yang, Q., Wang, L., Singh, M., & Liu, S. (2021). Pulse processing affects gas production by gut bacteria during in vitro fecal fermentation. Food Res Int, 147, 110453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2021.110453

Torri, L., Aprea, E., Piochi, M., Cabrino, G., Endrizzi, I., Colaianni, A., & Gasperi, F. (2021). Relationship between Sensory Attributes, (Dis) Liking and Volatile Organic Composition of Gorgonzola PDO Cheese. Foods, 10(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10112791

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Photo gallery

Green split peas
Celery and fennel
Ham hock
Anchovy fillets
Diced white onion
Pulled ham hock
Pea soup
Pea, ham, and gorgonzola soup
Pea, ham, and gorgonzola soup
Pea, ham, and gorgonzola soup
Pea, ham, and gorgonzola soup

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Corn and chicken soup

Posted by Gary

Want to skip the story? Here’s the recipe.

Corn and chicken soup

Hello Reader,

I’m posting again this weekend. 😊

I hope you enjoyed last night’s pork chop, pickled vegetables, and crispy capers.

Tonight, I made Mum’s sweet corn and chicken soup. It is the first time I’ve made this soup.

Mum made this soup when I was a boy, and while I’ve lived away from home since 1993, I know she continues to cook it for Dad, my brothers when they’re visiting, and my daughters. It’s one of Mum’s better-known soups.

I decided to cook it a little differently.

Recipe

Ingredients

Instructions

Chicken

  1. Dice the chicken thigh meat into bite-sized chunks.
  2. Please place them in a bowl and add salt, pepper, MSG, and sesame oil.
  3. Massage the chicken pieces with the seasoning and oil.
  4. Place the seasoned and lubricated chicken pieces into a vacuum bag.
  5. Seal the bag.
  6. Cook for 2 hours at 76 °C in a water bath.
  7. Open the bag and empty the chicken and juices into the soup broth.

Corn soup broth with chicken pieces

  1. Empty the cans of corn into a saucepan with the stock.
  2. Bring to a slow simmer and cook for twenty minutes.
  3. Add the chicken to the saucepan and simmer for about 10 minutes.
  4. Break the eggs into a bowl, and beat them lightly, leaving white visible.
  5. Blend cornflour with some water to make a slurry. Pour the slurry into the egg mixture.
  6. While the soup is at a slow boil, pour the egg mixture in and stir until strands of coagulated white egg appear.
  7. Before serving, add cream and reheat slightly.

Plating up and serving

  1. Ladle soup into vacuum bags for meals later in the week. Vacuum seal the bags and refrigerate or freeze them.
  2. Spoon the remaining soup into a bowl.
  3. Give thanks to the Lord.
  4. Enjoy with a spoon.

Thoughts on the meal

The advantage of separately cooking the chicken means it can be cooked days in advance.

The soup was as good as Mum’s. I’m going to do this again and again and again.

Final thoughts

  1. Do you like corn and chicken soup?
  2. Do you ever modify family recipes?

Footnotes

Sous vide cooking the chicken allowed me to ensure the chicken’s pasteurisation and achieving tenderness. It’s a bit of a faff for people who don’t have a water bath and water heater circulator. You can cook the chicken in the soup broth. That’s how Mum does it, and it’s always delicious. I like to do things differently when I can.

Corn kernels are the fruit, and there are roughly 800 kernels in 16 rows per ear of corn.

Creamed corn combines corn kernels with the residue from pulped corn kernels scraped from the cob.

Corn and chicken soup
Corn and chicken soup
Corn and chicken soup