Prog Chefs Unite!!!

Poor Eric, he really was disappointed by the way the lamb turned up.... When I lived in Italy, we had roast lamb for Christmas and Easter, and practically never again during the rest of the year. This year, like the one before it, I'll go for the traditional ham, which I am going to prepare with an orange marmalade-mustard glaze (another recipe I found on the Internet), and with a nice sweet potato casserole as a side dish (NO marshmallows though!).

NaturalScience wrote: Slartibartfast wrote: NaturalScience wrote: I'm doing Alton Brown's "Christmas Soup" this weekend 1 pound kielbasa, sliced 1/4-inch thick on bias Vegetable oil, as needed 8 cloves garlic, minced 1 pound red kidney beans, soaked at least 4 hours and up to overnight 2 quarts chicken broth 1 pound red bliss potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 6 ounces fresh kale, approximately 4 handfuls 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper   Place the kielbasa into a 7-quart Dutch oven and set over medium-low heat. Cook until the kielbasa has browned well and rendered its fat, approximately 15 minutes. If you do not have at least 2 teaspoons of fat, add enough vegetable oil to make 2 teaspoons. Remove the kielbasa from the pan and set aside. Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent the garlic from burning. Add the beans and the chicken broth and cook, covered, for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, add the potatoes, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Wash, rinse and trim the kale and tear into bite size pieces. Add the kale to the pot, cover and cook for an additional 10 minutes or just until it is tender, but not mushy. Add the red wine vinegar and black pepper and stir to combine. Evenly distribute the kielbasa between 8 soup bowls. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve. That sounds pretty good but never heard of red bliss potatoes and haven't seen that Alton Brown show yet.  Are we talking small waxy red skinned potatoes? I think so.  I saw him make the soup, it was on one of those FN Christmas specials.

According to the schedule they aren't re-airing Alton's show any more before Christmas, might be an error. 

Anyway, even though I missed out on his tips I went ahead and made it tonight.

I need to alter some of the cooking times as my gas range is in need of burner replacement.  The kielbasa took about a half hour more to reach perfection.  Needs more garlic and/or bigger cloves.  Would have soaked the beans in full water overnight and/or cooked longer.  The basic red or new potatoes, as they're known 'round here and may not be the true red bliss variety got cooked a little longer than they should for the sake of the beans.  The kale was perfect.  Basically throw it in and stir it around a little while.  All in all a perfect one dish meal.  The wife and I had a couple of cups and now I'm going refrigerate it for a couple of days.  Would recommend some red pepper flakes added when the broth is put in.  Just enough for a little background heat and provide hot sauce for yourselves or any guests to add to taste.  Another thing I really like about the way this recipe works is the way the steps overlap.  Once you get it going there is plenty of time to prepare the next item and rest and clean up a bit, rather than having to prepare everything up front if you choose.

Thanks for the tip.  It now goes into my repertoire and will be even better the next time I do it.


Edited by Slartibartfast - December 30 2008 at 07:13

NaturalScience wrote: Brian, made this Sunday when my in-laws came over and they loved it.  You have a great tip about adding some pepper flakes - I found the broth to be a bit too dull, despite the fact that I used chicken stock (even the low sodium stuff) I thought it would be salty enough, but I think it could have used a bit more salt and some additional flavor.  The bites with kielbasa were better than without.  The kale came out terrific for us as well, it's actually the first time I've cooked it!  It's not a bad little soup, I'd make it again, but just need to flavor up the broth a bit more.

Yeah, I used low sodium broth too and had to adjust the salt level up some.  Of course when it comes to salt, it's easier to add when too low than to compensate if too high.  Now if we'd both gone to the trouble of making home made broth...

My fingers still smell of garlic (lingers) but I don't have chocolate fingers.


Edited by Slartibartfast - December 30 2008 at 07:13

I added some sugar and vinegar to the rice this evening, ever tried that? 

Actually, it was rice vinegar, and I was making sushi and sashimi - always a winner over here, if I don't hurry to the table after preparing it, the kids will have eaten the lot of it.

Went to Trader Joe's (Alexandria Old Town) yesterday, braving the wind and the cold, but when I got there I felt as if someone had slapped me hard for half an hour. However, I managed to buy a loaf of Asiago peppercorn bread (which looks much more like Italian bread than the usual kinds you find here) and a couple of other things I need for the Xmas dinner. I really love the place - they have a three-layer hummus that Micky loves (and I do too), and their prices are better than most mainstream grocery stores.

We do have something like pudding rice in Italy - the variety is called 'Originario'. Arborio, which is one of the best choices for risotto, is also a short-grain rice, though the grains are somewhat larger.

As for sushi, I've never tried making it, though I love eating it. I also know you put vinegar and sugar in the rice, rather than salt, which would be totally unnecessary, if not detrimental, to the taste of the whole dish. Here, luckily, it is easy to find most varieties of rice, and at home we have a nice supply of both Arborio and long-grain rice.

As there is a six-hour difference with continental Europe, it's not lunchtime here yet. Anyway, everything is ready at the Art Rock mansion for a Xmas meal to remember.... A nice piece ham is baking in the oven, covered in a lovely orange marmalade-raspberry preserves-brown mustard glaze, and studded with cloves. An orange-scented sweet potato casserole is ready to be baked alongside the ham. I have also prepared some Italian-style antipasto (two kinds of sliced salami, goat cheese, marinated olives and sun-dried tomatoes, pan-grilled onions and tomatoes, roasted peppers). For dessert we're having a ginger-cranberry-chocolate-orange trifle with lashings of whipped cream (Micky will perhaps tell you about the way he whipped the cream, seen that my beaters need to be rewired).

hahahhahah.. damn you are sharp Dean...   yep...  electric drill with a wire wisk jammed in the chuck   After some adjustment with the speed (and some cleaning of the walls unfortunately hahah) it worked perfectly.

I did promise her 'never a dull moment'

oh my god.. .was that good.  Raff's Triffle was out of this world.. and my 18V DeWalt powered whipped cream was the exclamation point on that hahaha.  The ham and sweet potatoes were perfect... and the Italian antipasto... momma mia.   We both nearly filled up on that.. especially her marinated sun-dried tomatoes.  Those were out of this world.   Very easy to make from what she she said. 

all hail the Queen Prog Chef! hahaha

 ^ on that appetizing note, I've pounded two pieces of t-bone and left them to soak in lemon juice, crushed garlic, black pepper and some Genco e.v. olive oil (a delicious brand from Italy), they'll be hitting a sizzling cast iron pan and joined on the plate by a baked sweet potato.