Parsley Dumpling, Mushroom and Leek Soup

I've often been frustrated by the challenge of using all those fresh herbs that are sometimes bought for a recipe. Often, I'll use but a tablespoon of the herb and then have the remainder stuck inside the refrigerator inducing guilt as the herbs deteriorate with each passing day. Alot of times these herbs are of the leafy greens type (think Italian flat parsley or cilantro) and so it seems a particular shame to waste them. Though frequently overlooked, leafy greens are properly accorded the greatest respect amongst nutritionists. This recipe uses a good quantity of herbs and helps to solve some of the waste of food problems that so often occur when cooking at home. I've read that Americans will typically waste about 25% of their food purchases...ouch!

This recipe has three steps. The steps: soup preparation, dumpling preparation, final preparation, will each be discussed separately.

Soup Ingredients:

2 - cups water
3/4 - ounce dried shitake mushrooms
3 1/2 - tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 - garlic cloves, minced
8 - ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 - teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
salt - fine sea salt suggested
3 - tablespoons Lillet or dry sherry
1 - medium onion, chopped
3 - cups thinly sliced leeks, white and pale green parts only; about 2 large
8 - cups vegetable broth
1 - pinch cayenne pepper

Parsley Dumpling Ingredients:

3/4 - cup low-fat cottage cheese
3 - tablespoons butter
2 - large eggs, room temperature
1 - cups all purpose flour, divided
1 - teaspoon salt, fine sea salt suggested
1 - pinch ground nutmeg
1/4 - grated pecorino romano cheese
3/4 - cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

Soup Preparation:

Using the soup ingredients, combine the 2 cups of water along with the dried mushrooms then heat to a boil. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 20 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the mushrooms to a work surface, reserve the liquid. Slice the mushrooms, about 1/8" strips.

Next, heat on medium-high 2 tablespoons of oil in a large fry pan, add garlic and stir briefly to separate. Add the baby bella mushrooms and thyme. Sprinkle lightly with salt, saute for about 12 minutes stirring frequently until the mushrooms are browned. Add Lillet, stir until liquid is absorbed, about 1 minute. Remove cooked mushroom mixture to a bowl.

We now have an empty fry pan. Add 1-1/2 tablespoons oil, heat on medium-high. Add onion, cook until translucent and beginning to brown, stir often, about 6 minutes. Add leeks, reduce heat to medium, sprinkle with salt, saute until vegetables are soft and golden, stir often, about 15 minutes.

In a large pot, heat broth to simmer over medium-high heat. Add the reserved mushroom cooking liquid ( be sure to leave the sediment behind). Add all the mushrooms, onion mixture, and cayenne. Simmer 1 minute to heat through. Season to taste with salt.

Parsley Dumplings:

Puree cottage cheese until smooth (blender does OK job here). Using an electric mixer, beat 3 tablespoons butter and eggs in medium bowl. Add cottage cheese, 1/2 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt and nutmeg. Beat on low speed just to blend. Stir in 1/2 cup flour, cheese, and parsley.

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Using a flatware teaspoon, scoop piece of dough about cherry sized. Hold the spoon just above the boiling water, use a second spoon to push the dough into the water. Repeat this step about 15 times, representing the first batch (total batch number could be 3 or 4 batches). When the dumplings rise to the top, simmer for 2-1/2 to 3 minutes to cook through. The dumplings might stick to the bottom, if so, be sure to loosen free with a spoon. When cooked through, use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate. Proceed to do another batch.

Final Preparation:

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large fry pan over medium heat. Working in two batches, add dumplings to fry pan. Cook until brown in spots, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

Bring soup to a simmer. Divide dumplings amongst serving bowls, divide soup amongst serving bowls. Time to eat!

Fessin' Up:
The original recipe called for parmesan cheese, dry sherry and dried porcini mushrooms. The next time, I won't use a fry pan and butter to reheat the dumplings. Instead, I'll just microwave the parsley dumplings. Also, the next time out, I'll be looking to save steps by combining functions. The blender should be able to sub in for the electric mixer and could also help chop the parsley.

Comments:
This is a fairly healthy eat your vegetables type of soup, it has a nice taste and is deceptively substantial. The dumplings are nice too. Everything except the final preparation can be done the day before. One negative, there will be lots of pots and pans and machinery to clean up. This recipe was adapted from one seen in the magazine, "bon appetit".

SUPERBOWL RIB SANDWICH

I'm a sandwich guy. I took a sandwich test once, the kind you see every now and then when you're cruising about the internet, and I did not miss a question. Now this isn't a blog to prove my sandwich IQ, I use it as a personal reference and also hope that anyone who may read it can learn a few things too. In that vein, for guest readers of this blog, my great sandwich hint is for everyone to try out Vietnamese sandwiches. These sandwiches sell for about $3 and can stand with the best of sandwiches. Ask for extra vegetables and you will end up with a healthier than normal sandwich that tastes great! Most Vietnamese sandwiches come with julienned carrots. The carrots have a light vinegar dressing that gives the sandwich a slight tanginess. I spied a recipe that does the same thing with an onion topping on some well-cooked beef short ribs and decided to give it a try. The end result of this effort is a restaurant quality sandwich, stout enough to satisfy and perfectly fit for a crazed crowd of Superbowl fans.

This recipe will be discussed in three parts. I'll discuss cooking the short ribs and then follow that with a discussion of the onion topping, lastly, the final assembly will be reviewed.

Short Ribs

3 1/2 - lbs. beef short ribs
1/4 - cup butter (1/2 stick)
3 - celery stalks, chopped
2 - large carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 - medium onion, chopped
3/4 - cup, dry red wine
1 - can, beef broth
1/3 - cup, medium-dry sherry
2 - garlic cloves, peeled
3 - bay leaves
1 - large fresh thyme sprig

Melt butter in a large fry pan then add the short ribs and brown them at medium high heat for about 6 minutes. You will probably need to brown the ribs in two batches to avoid overcrowding. Remove the ribs from the pan then add the celery, carrots and onion sauteing until just soft, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, wine, sherry, bay leaves, thyme and garlic. Bring to a boil scraping up browned bits, season with salt and pepper. Return the ribs to the pan, propping up on their sides arranged in a single layer. Cover and cook at a medium low simmer for 1 hour.

After an hour of cooking, turn the ribs over and cook for an additional 1-1/2 hours. If sauce thickens - that's good - be sure to rearrange the ribs occasionally to prevent sticking. Remove and cool for 30 minutes.

Transfer ribs to work surface, discard thyme sprig and bay leaves. Spoon off fat from the remaing sauce or if time allows refrigerate the sauce so as to solidify the fat, remove the fat when solidified. There is alot of fat rendered from short ribs so don't shortcut this step! Now, turning our attention back to the ribs, these need to be deboned and trimmed of fat, dispose of bones and trimmed fat.

Note: Were you to stop here, or perhaps even before deboning, you have the makings of a very good and very tender short rib dinner. You just need some sides and any ribs leftover can be made into Superbowl sandwiches the next day.

Onion Topping

1 - tablespoon butter
2 - large sweet onions, halved, thinly sliced crosswise
4 1/2 - tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 - teaspoons sugar

Melt butter in a pan on medium high heat. Add sliced onions, sprinkle with salt and saute for about 10 minutes stirring often. Add vinegar and sugar sauting until almost all of the vinegar is absorbed, about one minute. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the onions to a microwave safe bowl as we'll most likely need to nuke it later to rewarm.

Final Assembly

2 - tablespoons butter, melted
12 - slices country-style crusty white bread
6 - slices monterey jack cheese
1 - bunch leaf lettuce, loosely torn

Butter one side of each bread slice, then place buttered side down. Top six of the bread slices with a fair portion of beef mixture (about 1/2 cup), top beef mixture with slice of monterey jack. Building further, top the cheese with prepared onions (warmed, about 1/4 cup) and top the onions with a handful of leaf lettuce. Close out the sandwich by topping each with one of the remaining 6 bread slices (buttered side out)

Heat pan or griddle to medium, cook each sandwich until bread is golden brown and cheese melts, about 3 minutes per side. Cut each sandwich in half on the diagonal and serve.

Confessions: Instead of cooking sherry, I used lillet. I'd like to try Kahlua too. Also, I used mozzarella cheese rather than monterey jack. And, I used rice vinegar mixed with cider vinegar in place of the red wine vinegar. The original recipe called for 1-1/4 cup red wine and only 1/2 cup of beef broth, but I wanted to just go ahead and use the whole can of beef broth. Even with the changes, we felt the sandwiches were of restaurant quality.

Comments: Adapted from a recipe seen in the magazine, "bon appetit", courtesy of the Los Angeles restaurant, Joan's on Third. I really liked the quality that came through even though we used short ribs, an oft maligned cut of meat.

Additional Comments: Colts by 4 over the Saints.