Italian Wedding Soup with Homemade Meatballs (recipe)

Today a friend gave us a ton of greens from a weekly produce basket. I decided to try and use them by making homemade Italian Wedding Soup, with fresh greens, Israeli couscous, and homemade meatballs. I have never made meatballs before, and even though I was winging it, I was really happy with how they turned out. The quality of meat makes such a huge difference. We have been getting our meat from the UC Davis Meat Sale. Every couple of weeks UC Davis offers meat from their animal sciences program for sale. It is extremely fresh (slaughtered and butchered on site), and raised naturally- free of unneccessary antibiotics. The animals are raised in small numbers and recieve vetrinary care from UCD. The meat is SO delicious, and ground beef goes for about $2/pound. I just made up the recipe as I went along, and added what I happened to have, so I thought I'd share the basics here:

Ingredients for Meatballs:

fresh ground beef (2.5 lbs)
1 sweet yellow onion, finely diced
2 fresh eggs
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons garlic pepper
2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed
freshly ground salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, using hands. When evenly mixed, use hands to shape into small meatballs. Each one should be about 2 tablespoons worth of meat mixture. This recipe should make enough to completely fill 2 cookie sheets. Bake until cooked through (~8-12 minutes).



Ingredients for Soup:

free range chicken broth
Vegetable bouillon cubes
1 pound organic Crimini mushrooms, diced
several large bunches freshly picked seasonal greens (you could use any- I used chard, kohlrabi, mustard greens, arugula, spinach, bay leaf, and a few varieties of lettuce)
Israeli couscous (I used around 2 cups, dry, for a huge stockpot of soup)


For soup:

Put a stockpot on the stove, and fill with 50% free range chicken broth, 50% water. Bring to a boil. Add vegetable bouillon cubes (Use the amount of water added to broth to determine number of cubes- ratio on package, usually 2 cups per cube).
Add diced Crimini mushrooms, simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add choped greens and bay leaves, cook for another 5 minutes. Add Isreali couscous, cook for a final 5 minutes.

Vegetarians can eat soup plain (if you are eating with people who don't like to use chicken broth, you can use veggie stock exclusively), meat eaters can add meatballs as desired. A bowl of soup with 4 meatballs is well balanced. Garnish bowls of soup with parmesan cheese, and serve with freshly baked rustic bread.

Cooking Up Comfort Food: Ground Beef Stroganoff (recipe)

Chris and I were both under the weather over the past few days. This is one of my favorite dishes to fight a cold- quick and easy to make, warm, inviting, and with ingredients like black pepper, onion, garlic, and spicy brown mustard to boost the immune system and clear the sinuses. In this version I substituted ground beef for the traditional Stroganoff's strips of beef tenderloin because it is what I had on hand, and is cheaper. (To stay on the cheap but avoid factory farms, I like the organic, grass fed, ground beef now carried at Costco)



Ingredients

12 oz egg noodles
1 lb ground beef
freshly ground salt and pepper
garlic powder
3 1/2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon flour
1 cup beef stock
1 onion, sliced very thinly
3 Tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon spicy mustard
(We like Sierra Nevada's Porter&Spicy Brown)

Step 1: In a pot or large saucepan bring water to boil, and add egg noodles. Cook until just tender, still slightly firm (3-5 minutes). When noodles have cooked, drain and set aside.

Step 2: While noodles cook, season ground beef with freshly ground black pepper, sea salt, and garlic powder (~2 tsp) to taste. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt 2 tablespoons butter. As butter starts to foam, add onion. Cook for one minute, then add beef. Use a wooden spoon to periodically stir beef and break into small pieces. As soon as beef is just cooked, remove from heat (do not overcook. Meat should remain moist, not dark brown and crumbly).

Step 3: In a saucepan melt 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter. Whisk in 1 Tablespoon flour until smooth. Add 1 cup beef stock, and bring to a simmer. Whisk for 1-2 minutes as sauce thickens. Reduce heat. Once sauce has stopped bubbling, add sour cream and mustard. Stir into sauce until texture and color are smooth and even. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Step 4: Pour sauce over ground beef and onions. Toss with egg noodles. Serve hot.

Variations: Sliced mushrooms can be added in with onions and lightly browned before beef is added.

Marinated New York Steaks & Wild Rice, with Mushrooms in a Red Wine and Cream Reduction (Recipe)

A rich and flavorful meal for 4. The mushroom sauce is the highlight- so tasty that it can be made to compliment many other dishes. Check out the links to favorite brands- chosen for their high quality and good flavor, but also because they are environmentally responsible / ecologically sustainable.

(for vegetarian version, see footnote)



Ingredients

Steaks and Marinade:
4 New York steaks
1 diced shallot
2 cloves minced garlic
olive oil
favorite red wine (dry)
2 splashes Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, diced
freshly ground salt and pepper

Rice:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup dry wild rice
1 cup stock
1 cup water

Mushrooms and Sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
1 lb mushrooms (shiitake, baby bella, or favorite), cleaned and sliced
freshly ground salt and pepper
2 shallots sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, diced
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 cup red wine (dry)
3 tablespoons cream

Step 1: Make marinade. Mix together diced shallot, minced garlic, 2 tablespoons olive, red wine, Worcestershire sauce, and freshly ground salt and pepper in a baking dish or large pyrex container with a cover. Coat steaks thoroughly (I like to use a sealed pyrex because I can flip the container every 15 minutes or so and make sure the tops of the steaks get coated well). Marinade steaks at room temp for 1 hour, or in refrigerator for several hours.

Step 2: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 cup of dry wild rice. My favorite is Lundberg wild blend Toast rice in oil until lightly browned, then add 1 cup water and 1 cup stock (I like to use Pacific Natural Foods Organic Free Range Chicken Broth- available by the case at Costco) Reduce heat, cover, and cook rice until liquid is absorbed.

Step 3: Make the mushrooms in sauce. Heat a large skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. Add 3 tablespoons butter. When foam begins to subside, add mushrooms. Spread into a thin layer, and saute for 5 minutes. Toss/stir periodically until mushrooms are golden brown. Season with salt and pepper, then add 1 tablespoon butter, shallots, garlic, rosemary and thyme. Saute for 2-3 minutes, then add red wine. Simmer and stir, reducing wine until only 1-2 tablespoons of liquid remain. Add cream, and remove from heat. Stir until mushrooms in sauce have a pleasing, even, brown and creamy consistency. Cover dish to keep warm, and set aside.

Step 4: Grill steaks (medium-rare). The grill master of the house used his new Weber Baby-Q Grill to make these lovely steaks.



Step 5: Serve- Plate steaks next to a scoop of wild rice. Top steaks/rice with mushrooms and sauce. I serve with a salad of fresh romaine lettuce in a light blue cheese dressing. Enjoy!

Variations: For a vegetarian dish, skip steaks. Use a vegetable stock when cooking rice. Double the mushrooms and sauce. Grill or saute several bunches of cleaned and trimmed asparagus, brushed lightly with a mixture of minced garlic and olive oil. Serve mushrooms over wild rice with asparagus on the side.