Soup Weather: White Bean and Ham Soup

I can hardly believe how we’ve gone from sun to soup so quickly. The kids are a constant reminder to be adaptable because they don’t let these changes get to them. If anything, are excited to get our their coats, hats and gloves. Lucky for me, they love soup.  It’s about the only way I can get Emmett or Isla to eat a vegetable. Plus, if I make a big pot of soup on Sunday, I can rest assured that I have something in the house (other than leftover Halloween candy, frozen pizza or mac ‘n cheese) to feed hungry bodies.  #winning.

I like to partially puree the soup so make it thick but without sacrificing all of the chunks.  Isla won’t eat it unless her portion is completely pureed but Emmett, who is getting better about that sort of thing, ate a bowl chunks and all, proudly exclaiming “I just ate a piece of carrot! On purpose!” Eve, of course, is the best and eats it all with abandon.  I’m just waiting for her to get picky but holding out hope that it won’t happen (it will).

White Bean and Ham Soup

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 small yellow onions, chopped
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 large russet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 ham bone (optional)
• 1 cup cubed cooked ham or Irish bacon
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 can white (navy) beans or garbanzo beans*

*Usually I would use navy beans for this but I used garbanzos because that’s what I had in the cupboard.

Heat butter in large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onions, garlic, celery, carrots, rosemary and  thyme and cook until softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Turn the heat down if onions and garlic start to brown too much.

Add potatoes and ham bone (if using) and cook 2 minutes more.

Add chicken stock and turn the heat up until it reaches a boil, scraping brown bits from the sides of the pan.

Turn heat down to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

Add beans and diced ham or Irish bacon and cook for 15 minutes more.

Partially puree soup (either by blending about half of it in a blender, or partially pureeing it with a stick blender, making sure to leave chunks of vegetables and meat in tact).

Serve warm with chopped herbs and soda bread.

Vacation Lemonade

Last week we went on our annual vacation to southern California where my parents live. It truly is paradise there. Sunshine, palm trees, ocean breeze. One can see why so many people move there (or dream of moving there) someday. The weather was amazing, unseasonably warm and even a touch too hot a few of the days when it reached the high 90s.  Great for the beach or the pool but not the best for walking around Legoland for a few hours with little ones. Still, it’s tough to find complaints about a warm and sunny vacation now that we are facing the cold and dark pre-winter season here in Chicago.  Paul and I didn’t even realize that it was SO cold in Chicago until we got on the plane home and the pilot said “the weather in Chicago is partly cloudy with a temperature of 38 degrees”.  What? 38 degrees? It was about 70 when we left, but I guess that’s Chicago, especially around Halloween.

Pizza Port in Solana Beach.  One of Emmett's restaurant recommendations. 

Our vacation diet consisted of lots of baked goods, fried chicken, pizza, steaks on the grill, fish tacos, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, in-and-out burger, ice cream and one acai bowl thrown in there for good measure. So no, we didn’t cook. But we did make something. I’ll let you guess what it was.

Emmett.  The boy who ALWAYS has chocolate on his face. 

My parents have a bunch of fruit trees in their backyard including fig trees, citrus trees, and a persimmon tree.  Their lemon tree is seemingly always loaded with lemons which my dad uses to make amazing lemon marmalade based on a recipe shared with him by one of my aunts in Japan.  The kids don’t have the attention span for marmalade but they were very excited about the prospect of making lemonade with the lemons they gathered from the backyard.   

The kids picked lemons while my dad sliced them in half and juiced them.  Then we mixed them with sugar and water, heated in the microwave until the sugar melted. To that we added a whole bunch of ice and more water until we got the taste right. From now on, the taste of homemade lemonade will remind me of vacation and my parent’s lemon tree.

Splash pad! 

Here is the lemonade recipe we based ours on.   It comes from Ina Garten who I’m sure makes a perfect glass of lemonade for dear Jeffrey whenever he gets overheated and thirsty.

Lemonade

• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (5 to 6 lemons)
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup superfine sugar, to taste
• 1 cup crushed ice
• 4 cups water

Ina puts all of the ingredients in a blender and serves the lemonade over ice but we did it as explained above and that worked perfectly, with no grainy sugar slush left at the bottom of the pitcher. It also saved us from having to wash another appliance.

Irish Food Before Potatoes and Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal

Oats must be one of the most ubiquitous Irish ingredients of all. Showing up in griddle cakes, breads, sausages - oats are everywhere in Irish cuisine. Due to lower summer heat requirements and greater tolerance for rain, oats have always been an important crop in Ireland where they grow better than other grains such as wheat, rye or even barley. Historically, oats, along with dairy products were the main sources of sustenance for the Irish, pre-dating the widespread consumption of potatoes that Ireland is known for today. Potatoes, which originated in Peru, were not introduced to the Irish until the late 1600s. Of course, it would be hard to imagine Irish food without Shepherd's pie, fish and chips, colcannon and so many other potato-based dishes, but the fact remains that before potatoes there were oats.

I love oats in both savory and sweet preparations (so it’s fortunate for me that I’ve got a hook-up in the oats department).  Granola, oatmeal cookies, porridge, white pudding, plain with butter and a little salt (like my mom), I even put oats in my meatloaf for body and to help everything stick together. In the summer, I make overnight oats, pack them in single serve jars and eat them straight out of the fridge. I also enjoy them the way they are most commonly served here in America, with fruit, nuts and brown sugar for breakfast.  Baked oatmeal is just a twist on regular breakfast porridge with toppings. I like how it bakes up a little custardy from the eggs, which, incidentally, provide some extra protein and help keep me (and the kids) full for longer.

More apples? Yeah, I know. Truthfully, I’m not getting that into fall yet, especially given the 80 degree weather, tomatoes and peppers still growing in the backyard and the grill still our primary method of getting dinner on the table. The reason I’m cooking with apples again this week is simply that I had a few leftover from last week.  And while they weren’t very good for eating out of hand, they were great in a fruit crumble.  Naturally, I figured they would work in baked oatmeal as well. I haven’t made baked oatmeal for ages and I have to say I’m loving that I made this big batch and have breakfast set for the week. Less thinking, less to do, especially in the morning, is always a good thing.  Consider this recipe a gift to your future self.

Here it is just before baking, the white chunks are coconut oil that hardened because the milk and eggs were cold.  This didn't cause me any problems and now that I think about it, a pineapple-coconut version of this would be delicious. 

Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal

• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons apple pie spice
• 2 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)
• ½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped
• ½ cup raisins
• 2 cups milk
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ cup coconut oil (or butter), melted
• 4-5 medium apples, cored, peeled and sliced

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Spray large baking dish with cooking spray or coat with butter and flour, tapping excess flour out of the pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix oats, sugar, apple pie spice, salt, baking powder, baking soda, walnuts and raisins until thoroughly combined.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, maple syrup, eggs and coconut oil.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir to combine.
6. Allow oat mixture to rest while you peel, core and cute apples.
7. Layer apple slices along the bottom of baking dish.
8. Top apples with oat mixture.
9. Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
10. Uncover and continue to bake for 15 minutes.
11. Serve warm or at room temperature.

You can make this with any type of fruit you have on hand, fresh or frozen. Sometimes I make it with frozen peaches and cardamom instead of apples and apple pie spice. Cranberries and orange zest would be great. Even though this dish doesn’t have very much sugar or fat in it, it still makes a nice dessert with a little whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. It also travels well.  What more can you ask of the humble oat?

Toasty. Oaty. Healthy.