Recipe Repository

This recipe is adapted from one found in the Willams-Sonoma catalog. The quality of the soup depends a great deal on the quality of the faux sausage used. Of course, carnivores are welcome to use andouille sausage if they prefer. This soup is a great winter warmer, and can be served with the remaining wine from the recipe or a crisp hoppy IPA. Fresh garlic bread makes a nice accompanying side. Serves 6-8.

Ingredients
1 cup dry white wine
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 lb veggie sausage (Tofurky brand Kielbasa sausage)
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced (optional)
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 leek, diced (white portion only)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme (dried can be substituted, but only if add at the end)
6 cups vegetable broth (warmed)
1 cup water (warmed)
2 cups white beans (drained)
4 ounces Swiss chard, leaves cup into 1/2″ strips
Salt and fresh-ground pepper (to taste)
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Preparation
In a small saucepan, over medium heat, boil the white wine until reduced to 1/2 cup (7-10 minutes).

In a soup pot, over medium heat, warm the olive oil, and brown the sausage for about 3 minutes on each side (more if using real meat). Let the sausage cool; cut diagonally into 1/2″ slices and set aside.

In the same pot, over medium-low heat,cook the onion, celery, carrot and leek until soft (about 10 minutes). Add garlic and thyme (only if using the fresh stuff!) and cook for 2 minutes. Add the reduced wine, vegetable broth and water and simmer on medium-high heat for about 15-20 minutes. Add the sausage, beans and Swiss chard and cook until the chard wilts (5-8 minutes). Season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

I love savory pancakes, and these are a great Korean version. They are tasty served hot or at room temperature. Serves 6. [Inspired by: Flavors of Korea by Deborah Coultrip-Davis and Young Sook Ramsay.]
Spicy Dipping Sauce
3 Tbsp Gochujang*
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup water
Whisk ingredients together.

Mild Dipping Sauce
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp white or rice vinegar
1/2 cup water
Whisk ingredients together.

Pancake Ingredients
12 oz. fresh mung or soy bean sprouts
1 bunch (approximately 7) scallions
2 Tbsp Gochujang
1 egg
3/4 cup rice flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1-2 cups water
vegetable oil for cooking

*Gochujang (pronounced: go-chew-jang) is a seasoning paste commonly used in Korean cuisine. It is made from fermented rice and Korean hot pepper powder, and has an earthy and mildly spicy flavor. You can purchase it in any Korean market, and many other Asian markets (ask for it by name if the products for sale do not have English writing on them). If you can not find Gochujang, you can substitute brown miso paste mixed with a little bit of Cayenne pepper powder, but I recommend searching for a Korean market. If you live near a large city it should be easy to find one and it’s a fun adventure to see all the different items that you can’t get at a regular supermarket. Plus, the produce is usually high quality and very inexpensive.

Preparation
Heat a pot of water to boiling. Rinse the sprouts and add them to the boiling water and cover immediately (use a light-weight lid so steam can escape, and turn down the heat to prevent spill-over). Boil the sprouts for 2 minutes, then drain and shock in a bowl of cold water, and drain again.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg and add one cup of the water and the two flours. Mix well. This mixture should be thin like pancake batter. Add more water if necessary. Rinse the scallions and trim off the top 2 inches of the green parts and the roots, then slice finely. Add the scallions and Gochujang to the batter and mix well. Finally, add the cooked sprouts and mix until coated with the batter.

Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a large skillet for several minutes until the pan is hot. Use a 1/3 cup measuring scoop to ladle out the pancake mix. As soon as you place a scoop of batter in the pan, use the back of a wooden spoon to spread the mix out and flatten. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the edges are brown and begin to crisp, then flip the pancake and cook for about 2 minutes more. If your pan is large enough you can cook two or even three pancakes at once. When all pancakes are cooked, stack them in piles of 2 or 3 on a cutting board and chop them into pieces approximately 1-inch square. This makes them easier to handle with chopsticks. Serve with the dipping sauces.

This Korean side-dish is cool and crisp, a great accompaniment to any spicy meal. The recipe may seem complicated, but the steps are quite easy and this dish can be prepared with little effort while you are making the main part of the meal. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients
5-6 small pickling cucumbers, OR 3 large
1/3 cup kosher or sea salt (NOT iodized table salt)
3 Tbsp. white vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
a pinch of dried chili flakes for garnish (preferably the mild Korean pepper found in Asian markets)

Preparation
Wash the cucumbers thoroughly to remove any wax on the skin. If using the large cukes, slice them lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Slice the cucumbers into paper-thin wafers. (A slicing mandolin makes the work faster, but always remember to use the guard as the blades on these are very sharp and dangerous.)
Fill a large bowl with filtered water and add the salt. Stir to dissolve, then add the cucumbers. Let sit for 2 hours, or until the cucumbers are wilted and flexible.

To remove the excess salt from the cucumbers, rinse them in a collander and then rinse out the bowl. Refill the bowl with fresh water and add the cukes to the unsalted water. Let stand for about 15 minutes. The excess salt will migrate into the water and leave the cukes unsalted. Taste one to make sure the salty flavor is gone. When the cukes are ready, pour them in a collander and rinse one more time, then rinse out your bowl again.

Next, grab a handfull of the wilted cuke slices and squeeze out the extra water. Don’t be affraid to squeeze hard! Remove as much water as you can and put the cukeball into the bowl. Continue in this way until you have wrung out all of your cukes. Add the vinegar, sugar and chili flakes to the bowl, then stir well to dissolve the sugar. Taste and adjust the ratio of tart to sweet to your liking. Transfer to a serving dish; cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. This dish may be made ahead of time as it keeps well in the fridge for several days.

Normally I am not a box-of-this, can-of-that type of cook, but sometimes you hit upon a shortcut that is truly tasty and healthy. I hope you enjoy this as much and Rick and I have. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients
1 box Fantastic Foods “Instant Black Bean” mix
[This is essentially refried beans that have been dehydrated. It comes with some spices already mixed in, so you can use it for dip, as a veggie filling for tostadas, etc. I found it in my local health-food oriented grocery store but some major chains are starting to carry the Fantastic Foods line now.]

1 medium onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
4-5 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced (white parts and about 5 inches of green parts)
1 14oz. can diced tomatos (fire-roasted preferred)
1 Tbsp. chile powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
4-6 cups hot water

Optional Toppings
sour cream
salsa (smoked jalapeno is a nice match)
chopped cilantro
sliced scallions
your favorite hot sauce

Preparation
In a soup pot, saute the onions, garlic and carrot in the oil until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, scallions, chile powder and ground cumin, and cook for another minute. Next, pour in 4 cups of hot water, toss in the bay leaves, and sprinkle in the box of bean mix. Stir thoroughly so that the beans get completely rehydrated in the water (no clumps).

It will take about 8 minutes for the beans to soak up the water and start to thicken the soup. If it starts getting too thick, add a little more water. Taste the soup and add some salt if you wish. Continue cooking for at least 15 minutes over low heat, to give the flavors a chance to combine. Wait until just before serving before you add the cilantro; you don’t want to overcook the fresh herbs. Serve with any of the optional toppings and fresh cornbread.