Zucchini and Swiss Chard Bisque

A couple of weeks ago I had a bowl of soup at a restaurant that really blew me away. It was a creamy zucchini and swiss chard. My most recent CSA box had some of beautiful zukes and chards, so I attempted the soup.

I shredded the zucchini and de-stemmed the chard. Sauteed them together with some olive oil and then added chicken stock and simmered until everything looked very tender, about twenty minutes. Cooled it for a bit, then put it in the blender. Added salt, pepper and a smidge of nutmeg. It was really, really delicious. Mine was thicker than the restaurants, I could have thinned it out, but I liked it. It would even make a very interesting sauce for a pizza or even on noodles.

matzoh ball soup

There is an amazing store in Sunny Isles, Fl, called Epicure. Its like a more expensive and more sexy Whole Foods. I bought some of this matzoh ball soup and it was everything I hoped it would be and more.

Since my husband has lately been on a matzo ball kick, I made some with the ubiquitious Package Mix except I used schmaltz instead of vegetable oil. My husband said his Jewish coworker told him this is key. My broth turned out a little too salty. And I didnt know that the balls would plump up like dumplings. I was worried about how small the recipe said to make them.

Overall, this recipe was super easy and delicious. We all had some while we were sick this last week. Now we dont have to spend 5$ a bowl at the Bagel for matzo ball soup!

Zuppa Toscana- Potato, Kale and Sausage Soup

I remember when the recipe for this soup was still being tweaked at the Olive Garden. Earlier versions has slices of sausage instead of ground chunks, as I recall. ( I worked there at the time!) Anyway, its been my favorite for many years, and I decided to make it at home.

I found this recipe online and tried it today.

From the site:

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1½ tsp crushed red peppers
• 1 large diced white onion
• 4 Tbsp bacon pieces
• 2 tsp garlic puree
• 10 cups water
• 5 cubes of chicken bouillon
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
• ¼ of a bunch of kale

1. Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.
2. In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic for approxiamtly 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.
3. Mix together the chicken bouillon and water, then add it to the onions, bacon and garlic. Cook until boiling.
4. Add potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.
5. Add heavy cream and cook until thoroughly heated.
6. Stir in the sausage.
7. Add kale just before serving. Delicious!

Notes:

To start with, I cut the liquid to 7 cups. I used about 3 cups of homemade chicken stock and the other half water plus 4 tsp of better than bouillon chicken stuff.

I omitted the red pepper flakes because I didnt have any, but if I did, I would have only used the tiniest amount. Like 4 flakes. Im sensitive to heat.

My russet potatoes were no longer ok to use, so I subbed a small bag of baby yukon golds. I sliced them, not thin.

I used only 2-3 T of half n half instead of a cup of cream.

So, it tasted really just like the Olive Garden soup. I went to the Olive Garden and had some the other day, so my memory was fresh. However, in the future, I will cut the amount of sausage by at least half. It was excessively full of sausage. Also, next time, I will saute the bacon first, remove the bacon, then sautee the onions in the bacon grease and add the bacon with the sausage. Sauteeing it with the onions was not good. It didnt brown, it just got puffy and fatty. The waxier baby yukons were really good here. I might quarter them next time. You dont have to peel them. A litte more kale would be fine, too.

Definitely a recipe Id make again.