Minestrone Soup

Minestrone soup is made with at the very least cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, beans, and pasta. There are as many variations on this soup as there are stars in the sky, but this one is a Levay-Krause family favorite and I hope it will become your family's favorite.

Warm the sliced onions in a bit of olive oil, until they become soft. Add to a large stock pot or crock pot, along with minced garlic, chopped carrots and celery, 4 tbls fresh oregano, thick sliced cabbage, and diced tomatoes.

Brown the meat and add to the pot along with all of it's drippings. Pour in 6 cups of water and then the very well drained beans.

Add in 2 tbls each salt flakes and cracked peppercorns, and 1 tbls ground white pepper. Turn up to medium-high heat, stir well and cover. Twenty minutes before serving, bring water to a boil and cook the pasta until just firm. Drain and toss with a splash of olive oil. Add to the rest of the soup, stir, and then serve with bistro bread.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Start by making a court bouillon. Dice an onion, carrot, celery, fresh bouquet garni, salt, a splash each of white wine vinegar and a cooking sherry. Cook on low in butter and olive oil until very soft.





Puree everything smooth.
Add 6 cups of water.

Make whole wheat pasta. I used this recipe but added olive oil to it. Sugarlaws shows how to make make it without a pasta machine. Once sliced, toss in a bit of flour and set aside for the last seven minutes before serving.

Sprinkle a quartered chicken with olive oil and Old Bay Seasoning.




Cover with foil and cook for 25 minutes under a low broil or at 450* for 45 minutes. Set out to cool. Cube the breast meat.

Add 1/4 cup of the pan drippings to the soup base and blend with the stick blender. Add the cubed chicken and then the pasta and continue to cook for seven more minutes.

Serve with buttered bread and a salad.

Globe Market

On a cool, damp, breezy early afternoon I went to the Globe Market for their 1/2 & 1/2 lunch special. The market is so inviting, with it's warm colors and cozy corners, that I found myself wanting to tuck into more than just a quick lunch. A meal here could quickly turn into a leisurely multi-course visit.

The choices for meals and the platters and bowls loaded with food in the deli case are plentiful and enticing.




Prepping pork in the kitchen. Marinating in spices and freshly squeezed oranges.

The prep kitchen efficiently makes use of every surface.

So many beautifully constructed cold salads to choose from!

Winners of Buffalo Spree's The Best of WNY 2012 Best Small Caterer, Artvoice's Best Soup and Best Salad, and they are proud to serve Elm Street Bakery's freshly roasted coffee.

 
I picked the Beef Minestrone which came with a slab of light molasses multigrain bread, and a grilled cheddar and tomato panini. Both were full of flavor and beautifully done.

I highly recommend visiting with family and friends. They have large round tables that can comfortably seat everyone without fear of knocked elbows. I'll be back for certain!

Scallop Potatoes and Roast Beef, Leek, and Celery Soup

In the morning, start in a crockpot a large roast, surrounded by two large well-rinsed leeks and a whole celery along with it's leaves that have been thinly sliced. Add in two cups of beef or vegetable stock and two cups of water. Leave to cook on the highest setting for no less than six hours.


Pre-heat the oven to 400*. Sliver five to six large. well-scrubbed potatoes. Layer into a pan, drizzling olive oil and adding a bit of salt and pepper between each layer.

In a sauce pan, make a brown butter/flour roux. Add in one tablespoon of Grind a Salt from Simply Organics, one cup of milk, and 1/2  to one cup of mild farmer's cheese (depends on how cheesy you like your scallop).

Blend till smooth and then pour the sauce onto the potatoes. Tent tin foil over the top to prevent over browning. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

While the potatoes are baking, pull the roast out and cut in half. Shred one half and cut the other half into 1x1x5 inch pieces. Place the meat back into the soupy broth and stir gently.

When the scalloped potatoes are finished, scoop some into the bottom of a bowl. These French Onion bowls are perfect for this.

Layer some of the shredded meat and vegetables on top and then add in one cup of broth.

Store the larger cuts of meat in a little bit of broth to keep juicy. They make really great sandwiches with spicy brown mustard slathered on top and layered in thick hearty rolls.

Sausage, Potato, and Kale Soup inspired by Olive Garden's “Zuppa Toscana”

1 fist full of kale, bite sized pieces
6 large red potatoes, sliced thin, plus 1 tbls flake salt
1 whole onion, chopped
1 pound minced pork loin or ground Italian sausage
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes and celery salt
1 cup of broth
3 cup of milk plus a splash of heavy cream
1/4 cup salted butter
Fresh oregano, salt and cracked pepper



Prepare the kale and set it aside.

In a medium pot, boil the sliced potatoes until tender, drain and set aside.

In a large pot, brown the ground Italian sausage. Drain as much as the fat as you can (though I usually don't drain my meats unless they look swimming in fat). Stir in the red pepper flakes, oregano, broth. Simmer for 30 minutes. During the last 5 minutes add the butter, stir and then drizzle in the milk.

Give it a taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Add the potatoes, a splash of heavy cream for richness, then stir in the kale. Simmer for another ten minutes, then serve.

Mexican Soup and a Story - Inspired by 'Mexicali Soup' by Kathryn Hitte and William D. Hayes

Mexicali Soup

by Kathryn Hitte and William D. Hayes
(New York: Parents' Magazine Press, 1970--currently out of print)

---

All the way across town Mama sang to herself--to herself and the little one, little Juanita. Here on the streets of he great fine city, she sang an old tune from the old home in the mountains. And she thought of what she would buy in the markets.

Only the best of everything. Potatoes and peppers--the best! Tomatoes and onions--the best! The best garlic. The best celery. And then, cooked all together, ah! The best soup in the world! Mama's Special Mexicali Soup. The soup that always made everyone say, "Mama makes the best soup in the world."

"Ah, si!" Mama thought with a smile. "Yes! Our supper tonight will be a very special supper for my Rosie and Antonio and Juan and Manuel and Maria, and for the little one--and for Papa, too. A very special supper of my Mexicali Soup."

"Mama! Yoo-hoo, Mama!"

There was the fine new school building where Juan and Manuel and maria went to school, and there was Maria with her new city friend, waving and calling.

"Wait a minute, Mama!" Maria came running to put her schoolbooks in the stroller with Juanita. "Mama, may I play a while at Marjorie's house? Please?"

"Very well," Mama said. "A while. But do not be late for supper, Maria. I am making my special soup tonight."

"Mmmm-mmm, Mexicali Soup!" Maria said. Then she looked thoughtful. then she frowned. "But--Mama?"

"Yes, Maria?"

"Mama, there is such a lot of potatoes in your Mexicali Soup."

"Of course," Mama said, smiling.

"Marjorie doesn't eat potatoes. Her mother doesn't eat them. Her sister doesn't eat them. Potatoes are too fattening, Mama. They are too fattening for many people in the city. I think we should do what others do here. We are no longer in the mountains of the West, Mama, where everyone eats potatoes. We are in the city now. So would you--Mama, would you please leave out the potatoes?"

"No potatoes," Mama said thoughtfully. She looked at Maria's anxious face. She shrugged. "Well, there are plenty of good things in the Mexicali Soup without potatoes. I will add more of everything else. It will still make good soup."

Maria kissed Mama's cheek. "Of course it will, Mama. You make the best soup in the world."

Mama went on with Juanita to the markets, to the street of little markets, thinking aloud as she went, "Tomatoes, onions, celery. Red peppers, chili peppers, good and hot. And garlic. But no potatoes."

Mama went to Mr. Santini's little market for the best tomatoes and celery. She went to Mr. Vierra's little market for the best onions and garlic. "And the peppers," she said to Juanita. "We will buy the peppers from Antonio. Our own Antonio, at the market of Mr. Fernandez. Here is the place. Ah! What beautiful peppers!"

Antonio came hurrying out of the store to the little stand on the sidewalk.

"Let me help you, Mama!" I hope you want something very good for our supper tonight. I get very hungry working here," Antonio said.

"Ah, si!" Mama said. "Yes, Antonio. For tonight--something special!" She reached for the hot red peppers strung above her head. "Mexicali Soup."

"Hey! That's great," Antonio exclaimed. Then he looked thoughtful. Then he frowned. "But--Mama--"

"Yes?" Mama said, putting some peppers in the scale.

"Well--Mama, you use a lot of hot peppers in your soup."

"Of course," Mama said, smiling.

"A lot," Antonio repeated. "Too many, Mama. People here don't do that. They don't cook that way. They don't eat the way we did in the mountains of the West. I know, Mama. I have worked here for weeks now, after school and Saturdays. And in all that time, Mama, I have not sold as many hot peppers to other ladies as you use in a week. "Mamacita," Antonio said. "Please don't put hot peppers in the soup."

"No peppers," Mama said thoughtfully. She looked at Antonio's anxious face. "Well--" Mama shrugged. "There are plenty of good things in the soup without peppers. I will add more of something else. It will still make good soup."

Antonio took the peppers out of the scale and put them back on the stand. "Of course it will, Mama." He kissed her cheek. "Everyone knows you make the best soup in the world."

Mama went on with Juanita toward home. "Tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery," she said to herself. "Yes, I can still make a good soup with those." She hummed softly to herself as she crossed a street blocked off from traffic, and street that was only for play.

"Hey, Mama! Mamacita!"

Juan and Manuel left the game of stickball in the play street. They raced each other to the spot where Mama stood.

"Oh, boy! food!" said Juan when he saw the bags in the stroller. He opened one of the bags. "Tomatoes and celery--I know what that means."

"Me, too, said Manuel. he peeked into the other bag. "Onions and garlic. Mexicali Soup! Right, Mama?" Manuel rubbed his stomach and grinned. Then he looked thoughtful. Then he frowned. "But, Mama--listen, Mama."

"I am listening," Mama said.

"Well, I think we use an awful lot of onions," Manuel said. "They don't use so many onions in the lunchroom at school, or at the Boys' Club picnics. You know, Mama, they have different ways of doing things here, different from the ways of our town on the side of the mountain. I think we should try new ways. I think we shouldn't use so many onions. Mamacita, please make the Mexicali Soup without onions."

"Manuel is right!" Juan said. "My teacher said only today that there is nothing that cannot be changed, and there is nothing so good that it cannot be made better, if we will only try. I think there may be better ways of making soup than our old way. Make the soup tonight without tomatoes, Mama!"

"No tomatoes?" Mama said. "And no onions? In Mexicali soup?" Mama looked at the anxious faces of Juan and Manuel. Then she shrugged. She closed the two bags of groceries carefully. She pushed the stroller away from the play street. She shrugged again.

Voices came after her. Juan's voice said, "We will be hungry for your soup tonight, Mama!"

Manuel's voice called, "Mamacita! You make the best soup in the world."

In the big kitchen at home, Mama put the groceries on the table by the stove. She hummed a little soft tune that only Mama could hear. She stood looking at the groceries. No potatoes. No peppers. Tomatoes--Mama pushed the tomatoes aside. Onions--she pushed the onions aside.

Mama sat down and looked at what was left.

The front door clicked open and shut. Rosie came into the kitchen. Rosita, the young lady of the family.

"Hi, Mama. Oh, Mama--I hope I'm in time! I heard you were making--" Rosie stopped to catch her breath. She frowned at the groceries on the table. "All the way home I heard it. The boys and Maria--they all told me--and Mama! I want to ask you--please! No garlic."

Mama stopped humming.

Rosie turned up her nose and spread out her hands. "No garlic. Please. Listen, Mama. Last night when my friend took me to dinner, I had such a fine soup. Delicious! the place was so elegant, mama--so refined. So expensive. And no garlic at all in the soup!"

Rosie bent over and kissed Mama's cheek. "Just leave out the garlic, Mamacita. You make the best soup in the world.

A deep voice and many other voices called all at once, and the front door shut with a bang. "Mama! We are home, Mama!"

Then all of them, Juan and Manuel and Antonio, with Maria pulling Papa by the hand--all of them came to stand in the kitchen doorway. Papa reached for the baby, the little Juanita, and swung her onto his shoulders.

"I have heard of something special," Papa said. "I have heard we are having Mexicali Soup tonight."

Mama said nothing. But Mama's eyes flashed fire. She waited.

"Your soup, Mama--" Papa said. "It is simply the best soup in the world!"

"Ah, si! But you want me to leave out something?" Mama's voice rose high. "the celery, perhaps? You want me to make my Mexicali Soup without the celery?"

Papa raised his eyebrows. "Celery?" Papa opened his hands wide and shrugged. "What is celery? It is a little nothing! Put it in or leave it out, Mamacita--it does not matter. The soup will be just as--"

"Enough!" Mama said. "Out of my kitchen--all of you!" mama waved her arms wide in the air. The fire in Mama's eyes flashed again. "I am busy! I am busy getting your supper. I will call you. Go."

"But, Mama," said Rosie, "we always help you with--"

"No!" Mama said. "Out!"

Rosie and Juan and Manuel, Antonio and Maria, and Papa with the baby, tiptoed away to the living room.

There was only silence coming from the kitchen. Then the sound of a quiet humming. Soon the humming mixed with the clatter of plates and spoons, the good sounds of the table being set for supper.

The humming turned into singing. Mama was singing a happy song from the old home in the mountains. Juan and manuel, Antonio and maria, Rosie and Papa, looked at one another and smiled and nodded. Mama was singing.

Then from the kitchen Mama's voice called to them. "The soup is finished. Your supper is ready. come and eat now."

"ah! that is what I like to hear," said Papa, jumping up with Juanita. The soup is ready before I have even begun to smell it cooking."

"Mmm-mmm!" said Juan and Manuel, racing for the big kitchen table.

"Mmm-mmm!" said Maria and Antonio and Rosie, when they saw the steaming bowls on the table. "Mama makes the best soup in the world."

But what was the matter?

"This doesn't look like Mexicali Soup," said Maria, staring at the bowl before her.

"It doesn't smell like Mexicali Soup," said Antonio, sniffing the steam that rose from his bowl.

"It doesn't taste like Mexicali Soup," said Juan and Manuel, sipping a sip from their spoons.

"This is not Mexicali Soup," said Rosie, setting her spoon down hard with a clang. "this is nothing but hot water."

Everyone looked at Mama.

Mama smiled and hummed the old tune from the mountains.

"You have forgotten to bring the soup, Mamacita?" suggested Papa.

"No," Mama said, still smiling. "The soup is in your bowls. And it is just what you wanted. I made the soup the way my family asked me to make it.
"I left out the potatoes that Maria does not want.
"I left out the peppers Antonio does not want.
"I left out the tomatoes that Juan does not want.
"I left out the onions that Manuel does not want.
"For Rosita, I left out the garlic.
"And for Papa, I left out the celery, the little nothing that does not matter.
"The new Mexicali Soup!
"It is so simple! So quick! So easy to make," Mama said. "You just leave everything out of it."

I hear nothing but ,"I don't like tomatoes."or "It's too spicy!" I can't please everyone in this house, so I cook for myself. If they eat it, great, otherwise....

So here is my take on a Mexican Soup with no corn nibblets, no chunky tomatoes, not too spicy, but just right. Though to be honest, my youngest one snubbed her nose just a little.

Boil and then shred two large chicken breasts.

Drain and wash clear 1 large can of black beans.

Start a pot with 6 cups of water, set to boil then add 1 quart of vegetable broth.

You can make your own using pureed carrots, tomatoes, celery, onions, garlic, and leeks and seasoned with sea salt, parsley, thyme and bay leaves.

Wash and de-seed one pepper, mince and add to the boiling pot along with the beans and 1 1/2 cups of dry rice.

Mince garlic scapes, crush 3 tbls of coriander seed with the flat of your blade and add these to the pot along with 2 tbls of dehydrated sweet peppers, 2 tbls of dehydrated onions, 2 tsp of salt and pepper and then shredded chicken.

Serve with rough chopped parsley or cilantro, depending on taste.

Crumbled tortilla chips are a tasty garnish, as are bite sized pieces of avocado and spoonfuls of salsa verde.

Niagara Seafood - Seafood Market and Vietnamese Restaurant

Bob and I went on a cycling adventure and as it was past lunch time, decided to head down Niagara to check out Niagara Seafood. It's like stepping into another world when you visit here. It's clean. I mean on your hands and knees clean. From floor to ceiling, every nick nack, every shelf, every item on the shelves are sparkling clean. And not the "We just opened!" kind of clean, but the kind of "This restaurant and it's store represent our family and culture." clean.

The cases were filled with large clean bins full of high quality seafood  of all sorts. Prices are quite reasonable and considerably better than what you'd find at Wegmans, both in cost and quality.

The menu is both on a video screen and pictured in large glossy photos near the register. Very easy to understand what's in each dish, and the young woman at the counter was very helpful and sweet. After you give your order at the main counter you can either stop across the street at their store, which is equally spotless or you can sit at these great diner tables. There is your choice of plastic chop sticks, metal or plastic traditional asian soup spoons, forks and knives and loads of different kinds of condiments. See what I mean! Clean!

There are cases here full of every imaginable food item! Their sister store, A Chau International Market across Rhode Island Avenue, has walls and walls of coolers of crickets and frogs and fresh noodles and chicken, beef and pork and some things even I have never heard of and I LOVE exotic asian food. Even the inside of the cold cases are clean! All of this cleanliness made me feel like an intruder. As if these two buildings were really gateways to some greater thing.

They seemed alien in the Westside, a place not known for cleanliness or order.

Yes, even the great glorious fish tank was clean. The fish followed me back and forth in the tank like cats. Looking at me sideways, their mouths gape at me as if to say, "Feed me!" The gold one really caught Bob's eye, and you can see why, what a beauty!

We ordered a lunch to share, starting with an avocado smoothie bubble tea. It was exactly what was needed after each jalapeno filled bite of the soup we shared.

These pork dumplings were light, crisp and well seasoned with minced onion.

The Pho Bo soup came with a plate of firm fresh sprouts, lime wedges, thick slices of jalapenos and some very woodsy wild basil. I nearly thought it was some type of wild mustard or funky mint. The flavor befuddled me but it was really some delightfully different basil.

The Pho has a delicious complex broth, slices of a liverwurst-like sausage, skinny strips of tripe, beef, noodles, and scallions.

Layered in the toppings....

....squeezed on the lime juice and added a bit of hoisin sauces....

...dipped the dumplings in the citrus chili sauce....











We had an excellent time, can't wait to visit it again and encourage all Buffalonians to come down to visit!

French Onion and Lentil Soup

In a crock pot set on low, pour in two day soaked French Lentils. Add 4 cups of water. Chop 2 onions and layer on the lentils.

 Finally sprinkle in 2 tbls rubbed sage, 1 tbls pepper, 1tbls salt, 4 tbls bacon drippings and crumbles, and thinly slice or crumble 1/ 2 pound of sausage.

Cook for 6 hours and then use a stick mixer to blend some of the onions and lentils. Just enough so the soup has a creamier texture. Serve with bread and enjoy!

Dream

Do you know this building at 219 West Ferry? It used to be the Veterans of Foreign Wars Stadium Post #1369. It's been empty for years now and neglected and abused. It's not brick red/gun metal grey anymore, now it's just as badly painted, but this time in a Floridian retiree turquoise.

I dream about this building. 

I've dreamed of moving boxes while it's wood framed guts are still being knocked into position. I've dreamed of sliding boxes along a roller conveyer from the front door to the back of the building. 

I've dreamed of climbing the metal fire escape in the alley up to the roof to the newly sprouted garden. Of plucking tomatoes and putting red romaine in a bin to bring downstairs. I've dreamed of opening the front door wide. Letting in the hot summer breeze that lifts and snaps the white curtains, their bleached cotton scent mixing with smells of basil and tomatoes and garlic. 

The bass of West Side cars sliding by sounding in rhythm with The National 'Start A War' coming from my Shuffle's speakers.

Can you imagine such a place? A place for SOLE of Buffalo's Food Pantry with a family friendly cafe and space to teach cooking, and baking, and preserving, and gardening?