Italian Wedding Soup

The moment I commit to daily posting, I fall off the internet.  Oops.  I have a good excuse...  I did a dinner that was planned for 50 last night.  3 hours of shopping, 12 hours of cooking, 4 doubled pasta dishes, huge Caesar salads, antipasto salad, bruschetta, and Italian wedding soup-- CHECK.  I also successfully made Bechamel ((a cream sauce)) for the first time without having to throw it out, so--  DOUBLE CHECK.

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The Italian wedding soup I made last night is actually a mash-up of two different recipes: the broth by the Barefoot Contessa and the meatballs by Giada.  The original recipes can be found on The Food Network's website, but here's what I did.

For the meatballs you need:
1 small onion, finely diced

• 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic, about two garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup of bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 8 ounces ground beef
• 8 ounces ground pork
• Freshly ground black pepper

• Ball them:
• Start by beating the egg.  Add the onion, parsley, garlic, salt and bread crumbs and stir it around a little.
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• Drop in a half pound of ground beef and ground pork, the Parmesan, and the pepper, and prepare to get really messy.  Using your hands, knead the crap out of it until it is all uniform in appearance.  Yes, this is slightly unpleasant and pretty cold.  You will be happier if you take your rings off first.  Shape them into approximately one inch round balls.  They totally don't have to be perfect, so let it go.  
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• You have a couple of options of how to cook them.  That crazy Giada just cooks them in the soup itself.  However, given that there is ground pork in these, it is pretty fatty...  I thought that seemed like a bad idea.  I elected to throw them all in a crock pot on high for 6 hours.  ((I quadrupled this recipe.))  Once they were done, I drained a *significant* amount of fat off.  I later re-skimmed the soup a couple of times, so I can't imagine how fatty it would be without the initial draining.  
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• Another option would be to brown them in a large skillet on all sides and then finish them in the oven by baking for 25-30 minutes on a cookie sheet.  Your choice.  

Dimly lit meatballs

This isn't the way I typically make meatballs...  but it might be the new way I make meatballs.  Really, really good.

For the soup:

• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 cup minced yellow onion
• 1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 10 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 12 ounces escarole, washed and trimmed
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• To make the soup:
• Heat the olive oil in a large pan and then add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook them until softened, about 8 minutes.  Give them a few stirs in the process just to make sure nothing is getting stuck.  Add your broth and wine and bring to a boil briefly.  Add the escarole ((which is I think a variety of lettuce)) and allow it to wilt.  Turn the heat down and let it simmer.  Add in the meatballs ((I hope you are using a really big soup pot, oops, shoulda mentioned that earlier)) and allow it to simmer as long as you want if your meatballs were previously cooked.  If you are cooking them in the soup, then add them after the broth and the wine and allow to cook for 8 minutes prior to adding the escarole.  
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• I let this simmer for several hours and it kept getting better and better.  Add salt and pepper as you think it needs it.  I did skim the top a few times to remove excess oil/fat.  
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• Next time I make this, I am going to use ground turkey.  It is much leaner and would avoid this skimming and draining issue.  

Here is the picture borrowed from Recipe Girl because due to the time of night this was finished, the pictures are not cute.  

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Okay, I need to run to grab some more dog food ((damn dogs both need to get jobs, now)), pick up the catering stuff from last night, and then get ready for an afternoon party I'm doing at 2.  Happy cooking! 

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Let me add, Blogger is not cooperating with me today so if there are weird formatting issues, it is totally not my fault.  I fought with getting the pictures to place properly for far longer than reasonable or necessary.  ((Shakes fist at computer-y stuff.))

Spanish Rice, Another Fattening Salad, and Gazpacho

Today we will finish up the dishes from Saturday's party and then we will talk some nonsense, because it is important for one ((meaning me)) to go with one's strengths ((meaning nonsense.))

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First, the Spanish rice.  I have tried countless of the "box" versions of Spanish or Mexican rice and always found them to be totally blah.  This, however, was miles apart from that and tastes like the stuff you get in a Mexican restaurant.  A real one.  Not some homogenized chain which relies on overly loud "festive" music to distract you and/or drive you to drinking twelve dollar margaritas.

Arroz ((your Spanish lesson for the day))

What you need:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup chunky salsa ((I used Trader Joe's chunky medium salsa))

What you do:

This is easy...  Just heat the oil in a heavy pan and sautee the onion until it is translucent and soft, about 5 minutes.  Mix the rice into the skillet and allow the rice to start to brown, stirring frequently.  Stir in the chicken broth and bring it to a boil.  Reduce the heat, add the salsa, cover, and allow the rice to absorb the liquid.  This will take about 20 minutes.  Give it a stir every few minutes to be sure that it isn't sticking to the bottom.  Taste test liberally...  You can always top this with some shredded Mexican cheese, a squeeze of lime, some cilantro, or a dollop of sour cream.

I made a quadruple batch of this and it disappeared very quickly.

Nutritional Info:  260 calories and 6 grams of fat ((without add-ons like cheese, sour cream, etc)) for about a 1/3 cup serving.

This recipe is also slightly adapted from Allrecipes.com.

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How about a fattening salad?  I say, why not?

Fiesta Non-Salad Salad

What you need:

1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped
1 can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 can of black olives, sliced
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese ((I won't tell if you use 2 though))
4 tablespoons of cilantro, chopped
1/3 bottle or so of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing with bacon
1 cup of corn tortilla chips, smashed

What you do:

Throw all of the above in a bowl.  Shake the living hell out of it until it is thoroughly coated.  Hopefully you covered the bowl prior to the shaking.  

Nutritional Info:  Don't tell your trainer you had a salad.  They won't believe you.  Approximately 300 calories and 8 grams of fat for a 1/2 cup serving.

This recipe came out of my own noggin.  You can say you knew me when.

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Finally, the gazpacho.  Let me say this.  Gazpacho is not photogenic.  But it is really good and some people might have taken off on a wild hair and started dipping their chips in it.  Just go with it.

WTH is gazpacho, anyway?

Gazpacho is technically a tomato-based vegetable soup which is served cold.  I will confess that I had only maybe had it once before deciding to make it, but it turned out just lovely, if I do say so myself, and I do and I just did.

What you need:

1 cup of tomato juice
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
*Some* black pepper
4 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 large cucumber, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons green chiles, chopped

What you do:

First, you think, "Huh.  That doesn't seem like it going to be very soup-like with only 1 cup of tomato juice."  Decide to cast that thought aside and have a little faith.

If the idea of peeling tomatoes leaves you cold, you can use a can of stewed tomatoes, if you must.

Basically, again, just throw everything in a large glass bowl, cover, and refrigerate for *at least* one hour, although overnight is better.  You can serve it in cups or bowls lined with lettuce leaves if you want to be fancy, and I'm sure you probably do.

Finally, think, "I guess it turns out to be a lot more than I thought it was going to.  Damn.  I shouldn't have doubted Jules."  Make mental note to send a nice gift of some sort.

This recipe came from a site called vivanewmexico.com and is filed under "caldos."  They claim this serves 10-12.  I'm not so sure about that.  I would say more like 8 with 3/4 cup servings.

Nutritional Info:  Sainthood:  Approximately 70 calories and maybe 1 gram of fat per 3/4 cup serving.  

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NONSENSE TIME!  I have a had a busy morning already with work-work and running some errands. This afternoon, I MUST get back on track with the studying for my certification exams.  What certifications you ask?  Oh, since you asked, I'm working on my certification to be a personal trainer and in fitness nutrition.  Once I have completed those, then it is on to the yoga/pilates certification.  The material is MUCH more dense than I had anticipated.  I really kind of thought the test might be how to count to 15 reps.  ((I'm joking, obviously.))  However, in the first ten pages when they started discussing mitochondrial functions in ATP/Creotine metabolism and I read the phrase "endoplasmic reticulum" for the first time in at least 15 years, my head about exploded.

Anyway, I'll be back later with the info on the Mayan Fudge Cupcakes with Cocoa-Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting because that ought to offset all my thinking about clean living.  Balance, friends, balance.