Lunch & Dinner

[Subdeacon Joe]

A couple of nights ago the wife and I watched a "romantic" video you YouTube.  

 

 

Which left us with a hankerin' for Rotkohl.  And, since it's a bit gloomy, not cold, just gloomy and damp, soup of some sort.  Have a slew of potatoes.  Instantly Potato Leek Soup came to mind.  Out to store for red cabbage and leeks.   Might do the sauerbraten for Christmas or New Years.

Got the Rotkohl started before the game:
 

Braised Red Cabbage With Caramelized Apples (courtesy of Martha Stewart)

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup sugar

1 ¼ teaspoons coarse salt

2 medium Granny Smith or other tart, firm apples, 1 pound total, peeled, cored, and cut into 1 ½-inch wedges

1 large onion, peeled and cut into 1 ½-inch wedges

1 small (1 ½ pounds) red cabbage, cored and cut into 1 ½-inch wedges through the core

¾ cup apple cider vinegar

Directions

1.    Melt butter, add sugar and salt, then apples and onion:

Melt butter in a medium stockpot or Dutch-oven (at least 11 inches in diameter) over medium-high heat. Add sugar and salt, and stir to dissolve. Add apples and onion, in as close to a single layer as possible. Turn to coat in butter mixture.

Let cook, shaking pan occasionally and turning over once, until sugar is beginning to caramelize and coat the apples and onions, about 10 minutes.

Add cabbage, vinegar, and water, simmer:

Add cabbage, vinegar, and 3/4 cup water. Bring to just a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until cabbage is tender and liquid is reduced to a syrup, 25 to 30 minutes. (cooked for about 2 hours, adding more vinegar and water as needed) If necessary, remove lid in the last 5 minutes and cook, uncovered, to reduce liquid to desired consistency; most of the apples will disintegrate.

Transfer cabbage and apples to a bowl and serve immediately.

 

Started the soup about half way through the game.  
 

Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients

 

8 cups chicken stock

6 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces

4 leeks (whites only), thoroughly washed and sliced

3 stalks celery, roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup heavy cream

 

Directions

Put the chicken stock, potatoes, leeks, celery, bay leaf and thyme in a large pot and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Boil until the potatoes are soft, 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf. Using an immersion blender (or in batches in a blender or food processor), blend the soup until smooth. (at this point we added part of a commercially produced Smoked Turkey Drumstick that we had trimmed some of the meat from for a pot of beans) Pour the soup into a medium pot; add the cream and simmer until the soup has thickened, about 20 minutes. (simmered closer to 45 minutes and dished up a litte for each of us.  Let the turkey cool in the soup, then stripped the meat from it and added it back)

From Food Network Kitchens; after further testing and to ensure the best results this recipe has been altered from what was in the actual episode.

BLENDING HOT LIQUIDS: When blending hot liquids, remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid; that prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times, then process on high speed until smooth.

 

We kind of gorged on the Rotkohl for lunch, with a little of the soup. Will finish it off at dinner.  We have about 3 pints of the soup, so there will be some still left after dinner.

 

 

 

[Sedalia Dave]

Always better the next day. 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

When do you want me to be there and what can I bring?    "I make a world class chess pie if a plateful of sugar doesn't bother you.)