Category Archives: Soup

New Year’s Day Tradition

Hi Everyone,

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After Bob and I spent New Year’s Day out and about in the beautiful 53-degree weather (unheard of in the Northeast in January), we came home and had our traditional Italian “good luck” foods to bring in the first day of the new year.

The Italian food tradition for Good Luck in the New Year all comes down to eating lentils and some sort of pork product. Pigs symbolized prosperity so my family would eat “cotechino” which is a traditional pork product for this holiday.

Cotechino is an Italian, large pork sausage requiring slow cooking. Usually, it is simmered at low heat for several hours. It is made from pork, lard, and other spices but was never a favorite of mine because it is very fatty.

This is what cotechino looks like if you have ever seen it in a grocery store or Italian butcher and wondered what it was.

New Year Traditions Italy — **Courtesy of google.com**

As I said, not a favorite of mine so I substituted it with another pork sausage- this time a pork sausage ring mixed with cheese and parsley as the spices.

I roasted the pork sausage with red grapes- a fabulous combination. A fantastic recipe was given to me by my friend Marie Renello (from Proud Italian Cook- great website, check her out ). She is a fabulous chef and I will post her recipe below.

Lentils are the next good luck food and they are supposed to bring good luck and prosperity so we had our traditional lentils & honestly, I love this dish so much, I could easily eat it every day (recipe below).

The shape of lentils represents a coin and they say that each lentil is a penny so the more you eat the more money comes your way. In addition, I added broccoli rabe (spinach can be substituted) which also brings good luck and prosperity because it is the green color of money.

I made lentils this year with another pork product for extra good luck and that is pancetta made from pork belly.

Not to be confused with prosciutto which is made from the hind leg. Pancetta is similar to bacon but is not smoked.

There are a few other traditions that we followed.

On New Year’s Day, Italians make sure they start the new year right by having some money in their pocket or wallet. This tradition is based on superstition.

Apparently, if you leave home with money in your pocket on the first day of the year, you’ll always have something in your pocket to spend every day of the year.

My grandmother would give each of her grandchildren five dollars on New Year’s Eve to carry in our wallets. She wanted to make sure we had enough cash in our wallets at all times.

I know it sounds odd but even today after all the years that have passed since grandma gave us cash on New Year’s Eve, I always tuck the New Year’s Eve money in a compartment in my wallet and I call it the “emergency fund”. I make sure Bob and my son still have extra cash in a compartment in their wallet for their emergency fund and we carry it for the entire year. Some family traditions just don’t go away even after years and years.

The next tradition that we followed when my grandmother was alive was to ” Frighten away spiteful spirits”.

Some Italian families have fireworks for this reason (especially true in Naples, Italy where my maternal side is from). Instead of fireworks, we went out into the streets in front of our homes banging pots and pans with wooden spoons to scare away evil and spiteful spirits that were supposed to be lurking in the shadows during the transition from the old year to the new year.

As children, we loved to just make lots of noise and not get in any trouble for 20 minutes or so (it helped that grandma was front and center)….ahh, the good old days.

The last tradition that was introduced to us as children by my grandmother was to wear red undies on New Year’s Eve to bring good luck to you for the full year to come.

I had to research the reason behind this (courtesy of google) because grandma stopped at “it brings good luck”.

“Lots of market stalls and shops in Italy sell red underwear on the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Apparently, in order to get the most out of this good fortune, Italians only wear red underwear on December 31st.”

“For the red underwear to be really lucky, it should only be worn on NYE and thrown out the next day. The reason behind this New Year’s tradition dates back to the ancient Romans who wore red tunics during battle which represented blood and strength and instilled fear in their enemies”.

I know there are so many more Italian traditions but these are the traditions that my family practiced.

Have a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous Year with all the Good Fortune your heart can hold…. and thank you for being so supportive of my blog all year. I love sharing recipes, stories, and life’s ups and downs with you. Enjoy the recipes…

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Italian Sausage with Grapes

courtesy of Marie Renello from Proud Italian Cook

Ingredients

1 lb. Italian sausage, sweet or hot, good quality with fennel spice kept in a ring or rope style
red seedless grapes, 2 to 3 cups, stems removed, rinsed, dried, and left whole
sprigs of thyme
olive oil

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Skewer your rope of sausage together using 1 skewer through one end and out the other so it stays held together while cooking.
Heat a 10 or 12-inch oven-proof skillet, medium-high, drizzled with a tiny bit of olive oil on the bottom of the pan.
Add sausage ring and don’t move it until it forms a nice deep golden color, then flip it over carefully and continue cooking for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and sprinkle grapes around, be careful not to crowd them in because as they cook they release their juice, and if you have too many it becomes too liquidy and all will not caramelize like it should. I would say a good rule of thumb is to leave some space between the placing of your grapes.
Drizzle with olive oil and scatter some fresh thyme leaves around.
Place the whole pan into the oven, uncovered to finish cooking the sausage, ( keep checking for doneness, it depends on thickness) during the process your grapes will wrinkle and begin to release their juices.

Lentils

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 medium red onion, chopped

3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, chopped

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

1 (14 ½ oz.) can of diced tomatoes with their juices

1 bag of lentils (usually 16 oz.)

8 cups low sodium chicken broth (2 boxes) or homemade broth

4- 6 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 cup grated cheese

Cooks Note: I always make lentil soup when I have the bone of a spiral ham. You could use a ham hock, bacon, or pancetta, or skip this ingredient entirely.

Directions:

Sort lentils for any stones, rinse with cold water – set aside
Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. If you are using the pancetta render the pancetta in the pan and then remove and set aside.
Add the red onion, celery, carrots, and a pinch of salt to sweat the vegetables.
After 2-3 minutes add the garlic and pinch of red pepper and sauté until all the vegetables are tender about 5-8 minutes
Add the tomatoes with their juices
Simmer until the juices evaporate a little and the tomatoes break down, stirring occasionally for about 8 minutes
Add the lentils and mix well to coat. Sauté 1-2 minutes
Add the broth, bay leaf, thyme springs
Bring to a boil over high heat
Cover and simmer over low heat until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes
Discard the bay leaf and add the pancetta back to the pot.
Add salt and pepper and taste for seasonings
When serving, you can drizzle the soup with a little olive oil and serve it with grated cheese

Cook’s Note– salt the lentils at the end of cooking, rather than the beginning, so that they don’t remain hard.

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Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane

Tuscan Bean Soup

Diane

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Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

6 Replies

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all well with the snowstorms today in the northeast and my prayers to our friends in other parts of the country dealing with ice storms and severe weather.

I wanted to share with you what happened to me and I think it is a perfect example of trying to find the silver lining when things don’t go as planned.

I ordered a grocery delivery from Instacart for Costco purchases and when the order arrived I was quite surprised by one of the delivered items. I ordered 2 containers of Campari tomatoes (which are small and are the size of a golf ball, somewhere between a cherry tomato and a roma tomato).

In my order (even though I specify no substitutions), instead of Campari tomatoes, I received 12 gigantic tomatoes on the vine. Now it is impossible to return them, so I had to think of what I could do with them and then the lightbulb went off. Tomato soup……

So I washed & cored the tomatoes and roasted them for 30 minutes, added them to a pot on the stove with sun dried tomatoes, vegetable paste (like tomato paste but veggie- see photo below), sun dried tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, bay leaf and chicken broth. I simmered this mixture for 30 minutes and blended it with the immersion blender (stick blender) and we had the best tomato soup. I was about to add some heavy cream to make it a bisque but I added some honey instead ( a tip I read about on Pinterest. The honey will cut the acidity of the tomatoes but not make it overly sweet). It was delicious and I wanted to share the recipe with all of you.

This is the vegetable paste I buy…

I hope you try this recipe and enjoy it as much as we did. I made a grilled cheese sandwich to go along with the soup and a garnish of pumpkin seeds & basil and it hit the spot on a nice cold snow day.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients:

12 vine ripened tomatoes (approx. 2-1/2 to 3 lbs.)
1 large yellow or red onion, diced
3-4 (or more) cloves of garlic (peeled & minced)
4 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes in oil
1 tbsp “Le Verdurine” paste- vegetable tomato paste- purchased in Italian deli’s or online – if you can’t find it substitute regular tomato paste.
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme or (1/2 tsp. dried)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 quarts low sodium chicken broth
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup of packed fresh basil leaves (wash and dry)
2 tsp of honey
1 bay leaf
¼ tsp of Red pepper flakes or a Calabrian chili pepper if you want heat (optional)
2 tbsp. butter (optional)
Pumpkin seeds for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Wash, core and cut the tomatoes into halves
Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil, and season with salt, and a couple cracks of fresh ground pepper
Arrange cut side up on a sheet pan and roast for 20-30 minutes until caramelized.
Preheat a large pot on the stove and add 2 tbsp of olive oil and sauté the onions, salt and pepper until the onions are translucent and soft (approx. 6 minutes).
Add the garlic, vegetable or tomato paste, fresh thyme and red pepper flakes or Calabrian chili pepper (if using) and cook for another 5 minutes- stirring often
Add the roasted tomatoes, chicken broth, sun-dried tomatoes, bay leaf, basil leaves and butter (if using).
Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 30-45 minutes with the lid on the pot.
After simmering, remove the bay leaf and add 2 tsp of honey and check for seasoning (may need more salt and pepper to taste).
Using an immersion blender (stick blender), puree the soup until smooth
Garnish with chopped basil and I use a tbsp. of roasted pumpkin seeds.

If you do not have a stick blender and need to use the regular blender, be CAREFUL NOT TO BURN YOURSELF and only fill the blender halfway at a time to blend. Pour the blended soup into a different pot and repeat with all the chunky soup and return to low heat.

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Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane

Thank you for visiting my blog.

If you enjoy the posts, please spread the word and ask your family and friends to become members and join DishingwithDiane.com

Once you become a member, you’ll never miss a post.

Also, continue to send me your comments and emails, I LOVE hearing from you.

Sausage, Bean and Spinach soup…

2 Replies

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Hi Everyone,

Since most of the country will be experiencing the polar vortex this weekend, here is a soup to warm you up.

Sausage, Bean and Spinach Soup!

More like a meal in a bowl. I hope you give it a try.

It is filled with sausage, red kidney beans, canellini beans, tomatoes, spinach and an extra touch of mini cheese filled ravioli.

(The ravioli can be found at Trader Joe’s).

Ingredients:

2- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 links of sausage (hot or sweet- your choice), casings removed
2 small onions, diced (I used one yellow and one red)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 quarts low sodium chicken stock
two (14.5-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (I removed the beans and some liquid from half a can and mashed them to add some thickness to the soup- totally optional)
1 can (14.5 ounce) dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups baby spinach, chopped and washed (10 oz frozen thawed and drained spinach can be substituted)
1-pint grape tomatoes cut in half
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 Parmesan cheese rind (optional) * I think this makes a big difference
½ cup heavy cream
1 cup grated cheese or more
¼ cup red wine
2 tbsp. tomato paste
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp. butter (makes it velvety)
mini cheese filled ravioli or any small pasta can be substituted – orzo, or mini farfalle – any quantity you choose.

Instructions:

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium; add the sausage and cook until lightly browned and crispy, about 7 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the onions to the hot oil, season with some salt and pepper and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more.
Add the red pepper flakes and tomato paste and cook for 1-minute coating the onions with the tomato paste.
Add 1/4 cup of red wine to the pan, scraping up any browned bits from the sausage. Add the remaining stock, beans, spinach, bay leaves, grape tomatoes, rosemary, thyme and Parmesan rind, if using. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Fish out the bay leaves, herb stems and Parmesan rind; add in the cooked sausage, heavy cream, butter and grated cheese, and cook until soup starts to thicken slightly, about 5 minutes more.
Taste for seasoning.
I separately cook mini pasta and add it to the soup before serving.

I serve this with a slice of crusty bread and a little bit of Dubliner cheese melted on top.

(Dubliner cheese is imported by Kerrygold and tastes like a nutty cheddar cheese).

Stay warm and stay safe.

Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Ask your family and friends to share, like, comment and join DishingwithDiane.com and become part of the family!

Once you become a member, you’ll never miss a post.

Also, continue to send me your comments and emails, I Love hearing from you.

Big Chill Dinner

8 Replies

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Hi Everyone.

First of all, I hope that you are all safe & warm from the inclement weather that is sweeping across the country.

Here in the Northeast, we have 14 inches of snow, strong winds and single digit temperatures with wind chills below zero. Not very pleasant.

Please check in on your neighbors to see if they are okay, especially the elderly during this harsh weather.

I have a few recipes that I want to share with you today to hopefully make life a little easier during this weather. It’s brutal to go outside to shovel snow for hours in this blustery weather and then come in and have too start a meal for the family when you are exhausted.

The first recipe is one that I have been using for years and it is fantastic. It is …

Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker

You season your chicken with a dry rub, into the crock pot with some veggies and you are free for 8 hours to do your other errands (like shoveling). I highly recommend you try this…

Cooks note- In the photo below, I roasted additional vegetables in the oven because I am saving the vegetables in the crock pot for chicken stock.

(I roasted potatoes, parsnips, carrots, red onions, garlic and brussel sprouts)

Here is the recipe. I found it on Thelittlekitchen.net

WHOLE CHICKEN IN A SLOW COOKER RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

RUB INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHICKEN…

4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

FOR THE CROCKPOT

1 cup chopped onion, approx. 1 medium to large onion
4 to 5 carrots, scrubbed, no need to peel, chopped in halves or thirds (I peeled them)
4 celery stalks, cut in thirds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 whole lemon quartered
3 1/2 to 4 1/2 lbs. roasting or fryer chicken

DIRECTIONS:

Combine rub ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Prep the vegetables and place inside the slow cooker (I use a 7-quart oval).
Remove chicken from packaging and remove neck and pouch with organs. Discard or reserve for later use in another recipe. Rinse chicken with water and pat dry with paper towels.
Rub garlic all over outside of the chicken. Put garlic inside the chicken. Put the rub all over the outside and inside the chicken. Add quartered lemon to the inside of the chicken. (I also added parsley inside the chicken).
Place chicken on top of the vegetables. Cover slow cooker and cook chicken on low for 4-8 hours. (When I used a 4 lb chicken, it took about 6 hours. The time will depend on the size of the chicken and your slow cooker.) Cook until the internal temperature of the leg is at 160 degrees F or use a pop-up thermometer as the original recipe calls for.
Remove chicken and place in a 9×13 glass or ceramic baking dish. Place baking dish in the oven under the broiler for about 4-5 minutes. Allow chicken to rest after removing it from the broiler for 5-10 minutes.

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I make chicken stock with the veggies and juices in the crock pot.

Chicken Stock in the Crock Pot

Ingredients

Leftover chicken bones or carcass roughly equivalent to one small or medium sized chicken
1 onion, peeled and loosely chopped
1 rib of celery, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped (no need to peel)
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme
Salt, to taste
Note: If you are missing any of these ingredients I wouldn’t let that stop you from making it anyway.

Instructions

After removing all edible meat from the chicken put/leave the bones, skin, cooking juices, etc. in the crock pot. If you are using the chicken carcass from the “Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot” recipe just leave every single thing that’s leftover (except the good meat of course) in the crock pot including the original onion and spices you used when making the chicken.
Add the onion, celery, carrot and spices on top of the bones and fill the crock pot almost to the top with tap water (leaving about ½” at the top).
Turn the slow cooker onto “low” after dinner and cook all night long or alternatively you could start it in the morning and cook on “low” for 8 – 10 hours during the day.
After the stock is done cooking turn off the heat and, using a soup ladle, pass the stock through a fine sieve to remove all herbs/bones/etc.

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Since cold weather calls for hot soup, here is another favorite recipe of mine.

This is a soup that my mother made for us all the time and it hits the spot.

Best part, it’s quick.

Having this soup and the crock pot chicken is a perfect combination.

Stracciatella Soup with Spinach (rice or pasta -optional)

Cooks Note: I add mini cheese ravioli to the soup whenever I can find them in the store, instead of rice. Lately, I have been lucky to find bags in Trader Joe’s. I think they look much cuter than rice.

Ingredients:

1 ½ quarts of chicken broth (6 cups), homemade is best. Low sodium boxed chicken broth is fine too. Be sure it’s MSG free.
3 large eggs
Grated cheese (½ cup)
1 tbsp. of semolina or fine breadcrumbs
Pinch of nutmeg
2 cups fresh spinach (stems removed)
Black pepper to taste.

Directions:

Heat broth in a saucepan and bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer.
Add 2 cups spinach to the broth to wilt
In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, grated cheese, nutmeg and semolina
With a wooden spoon, swirl the soup in a circular motion while slowly pouring the egg mixture. Simmer for 1 minute
(optional- 1 ½ cups of cooked rice or pasta of your choice can also be added)
Serve the soup with some additional grated cheese and black pepper.

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I hope you enjoy these recipes and stay safe and warm during the BIG CHILL.

Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane

Thank you for visiting my blog.

If you enjoy the posts, please spread the word and ask your family and friends to subscribe to DishingwithDiane.com.

Once you subscribe, you’ll never miss a post.

Also, continue to send me your comments, I LOVE hearing from you.

She Crab Soup

2 Replies

(Click PHOTO to enlarge and then back arrow to return to original size).

Hi everyone,

Well, I’m back from vacation.

Bob and I spent a lovely 10 days celebrating his 60^th Birthday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Even though I live on Long Island, NY and my home is not too far from the beaches, there is something so different and calming about staying in a home on the beach and falling asleep to the sound of the waves and waking up to a spectacular view of the sunrise over the ocean. Bob thoroughly enjoyed his relaxing birthday.

In addition to the days on the beach, whenever I visit Myrtle Beach, I always enjoy one of my favorite soups. I know, hot soup in the summer, but this soup is very popular on the South Carolina coast and it is “She Crab Soup”. I just love it.

Bob and I drove from Myrtle Beach to spend a day in Charleston, South Carolina; where She Crab soup is the city’s signature dish.

We read about a restaurant on Yelp that has won awards for it’s She Crab soup and off we went to sample this award winning soup. The soup is a combination of cream, crab-meat, a splash of sherry and female crab red orange roe (eggs). A cross between a bisque and a chowder.

We arrived at 82 Queen Restaurant and had a very nice dinner (including the soup), while watching all the horse drawn carriages pass by the restaurant.

Here are a few pics from our day in Charleston, SC and the “award winning” She Crab Soup.

82 Queen Courtyard…

Love the horse drawn carriages…

The award winning “She Crab” soup… with roe

The roe just takes the soup over the top with a fantastic flavor, but roe is not harvested all over the nation in an effort to preserve the supply of crabs and it is very hard to come by in some areas.

When I first tasted this soup many years ago on a trip to Myrtle Beach and fell in love with it, it contained the roe. Now a lot of restaurants aren’t adding it, but the basic recipe is still fantastic on its own.

One of the waitresses told me that two crumbled hard-boiled egg yolks can be substituted for the ¼ cup roe needed for the traditional recipe to give it the right texture.

This year, back in Myrtle Beach, I was fortunate enough to get a recipe from one of the local chefs for “She Crab Soup” and I have to share it with you.

I made this soup when we got home (with a little tweaking of course).

She Crab Soup

By Chef Heidi Vukov

Owner of Croissants Bistro & Bakery

Ingredients:

¼ lb. butter

¼ cup flour

2 cups small diced celery

2 cups diced onion

½ cup sherry

2 quarts heavy cream

½ tsp nutmeg

1 lb. lump crab-meat (fresh is best)

Salt & pepper to taste

COOKS NOTES: I tweaked this recipe by adding,

2 crumbled hard-boiled egg yolks

½ tsp. Hungarian paprika

Chives (for garnish)

Directions:

In a large pot over high heat, melt butter and add flour, mixing well. Cook until a blonde roux is formed. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the celery and onions and cook until the onions are translucent. Deglaze the pot with sherry….Move to a double boiler.
Add heavy cream*. Bring to a boil. Add nutmeg

*(I added the crumbled egg yolks and paprika with the cream)

Gently fold in the crab-meat.
Thin with additional cream if necessary. Season with salt and pepper.

COOKS NOTE: I garnished with chives and fresh crab-meat.

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I hope you give it a try.

We are still in vacation mode so we are going down to the beach tonight with some of my “She Crab soup” and biscuits and have a relaxing night on the beach.

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By the way, the birthday boy is the ultimate NY Yankees baseball fan so I had to get him the ultimate NY Yankee Stadium birthday cake for his 60th Birthday!

(The cake is also from Croissants Bistro & Bakery).

If I lived in Myrtle Beach I would eat there every day….just delicious.

Here is a pic of the cake… had to show you, almost too pretty to cut.

and the filling…marble cake with peanut butter & chocolate mousse.

Two of Bob’s favorites.

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Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane

Thank you for visiting my blog.

If you enjoy the posts, please spread the word and ask your family and friends to subscribe to DishingwithDiane.com

Once you subscribe, you’ll never miss a post…

Also, continue to send me your comments, I love hearing from you.

Happy Mother’s Day 2017

11 Replies

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Hi Everyone,

Wow, Mother’s Day is here already. It feels as if I just packed up the Christmas decorations……

Every year when Mother’s Day approaches, I never think of myself as being one of the mom’s to be celebrated with that great honor of being a mom; even though I have been a mother for almost 27 years.

Instead, I think of the other mother’s and strong women in my life. My grandmother, my mother, and my sisters. I wish they were here today, so I could show them how much I love them and tell them what they mean to me.

I am fortunate to come from a long line of strong women who taught me great lessons.

They taught me unconditional love, family traditions, all about my heritage, perseverance, and gave me a strong work ethic to get things done.

Another important lesson I learned from these women, “If you don’t want to fail, then you don’t give up”. This is something that I remind myself of when life gets a little overwhelming.

I told you they were strong women.

So today’s tablescape, honors these women in my life who made a difference along with my mother-in-law who gave me the love of my life.

Bob is an angel on earth and I couldn’t imagine a day without him.

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When I think of a Mother’s Day tablescape, I think it should be very feminine.

The first set of dishes that immediately came to mind were a set of floral dishes from the Kathy Ireland collection.

So let’s get started…

The dishes are the Georgian Estate pattern by Kathy Ireland and they are porcelain with a cream background with various flowers and leaves in shades of pink, lilac and green.

I am starting the tablescape with a dusty rose tablecloth. This color goes so well with the flowers on the dishes and it is also one of my favorite colors.

(It looks a little more coral in the photo due to lighting, but it is a deep rose in person).

Since my mother of pearl charger plate is so detailed and beautiful on it’s own, I am not using a placemat. The charger looks great against the dusty rose tablecloth.

This tablescape gives me a great opportunity to use my new purchase, pearl napkins rings. The pearls add to my very feminine theme and also remind me of my mom and her pearls. They will be used along with blush pink napkins.

Flatware will be off white pearl to match the chargers.

My glassware will be Waterford Marquis goblets.

The centerpiece can be no other than roses. What mom doesn’t want to receive flowers on Mother’s Day?

You know how much I love candles, so I am using mercury glass votive candle holders and champagne scented candles.

Absolutely wonderful fragrance from Pier 1.

What is more feminine than pearls and diamonds? So I am mixing pearl and crystal table scatter along with glass pebbles in shades of pink, frosted white and burgundy to decorate the table.

My centerpiece, along with the flowers have little mementos that remind me of my mother, grandmother and mother-in-law.

A strand of pearls for my mother; she wore pearls every day.

She was such an elegant lady, full of love and a warm heart.

A trinket box for my grandmother and a pair of gloves.

The handbag trinket box was a gift from my grandmother and every time she took me out for a special day to the Plaza Hotel’s Palm Court restaurant in NYC for afternoon tea, she always bought me a new pair of gloves to go with my dress. I see gloves and I think of grandma.

Fruit jelly slices for my mother-in-law.

Jelly slices were her favorite candy in the world. We just bought them for her whenever we saw them- no special occasion necessary. When I see them I think of the smile on her face whenever we gave her a box.

These memories help to make the centerpiece complete.

Now that I spoke of them, I have to take this opportunity to share a few pictures with you of these beloved women…

This is a photo of me (I am the youngest) and my sisters with my mom in 1961.

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Me with my beautiful mom ( and her pearls).

Me and my sisters.

Every year I dressed in the same color as one of my sisters for Easter.

The next two photos are of my grandmother. The first picture when she was 19 years old and the second picture when she was 90 years old with my son.

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The next picture is of my mother-in-law with my husband Bob (on the left) and his two brothers.

Bob and his mom.

I miss them all dearly, but I am blessed to have had them in my life…

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This year Bob wanted to take me out for Mother’s Day, but I decided to stay home for Mother’s Day dinner instead and Bob will be helping me cook. My son will not be able to come home for a visit, so Bob and I are planning our day driving out east on Long Island to some of the farms to get some new plants for the flower garden as well as my vegetable garden before returning home for dinner.

My menu for Mother’s Day 2017 with be some of my favorite dishes…

(Bob helped prepare and taste test the recipes for me last night so I could take the photos and share the recipes with all of you today).

(recipes at the end of the post)

Starting with a …

Mimosa or Bellini

1st course: Shrimp and Champagne Bisque soup with Gruyere Cheese

2nd course: Tart with Pancetta and Green Onions

Spinach salad with strawberries, mandarin oranges, goat cheese and sliced almonds.

Dessert: Chocolate cake with chocolate and dulce de leche mousse, served on a pink glass vintage cake stand.

(purchased- no recipe)

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Maybe, if I have room left after dinner, Bob and I will go out for some homemade ice cream and return home to relax on the patio.

Sounds like a perfect Mother’s Day for me.

I wish all of you moms, moms to be, grandmothers, godmothers, stepmoms and pet moms a wonderful, happy and joyous Mother’s Day.

Enjoy your children, grandchildren, family and friends and make great memories.

Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well.

Diane

Place Setting

Table Details

Kathy Ireland dishes – pattern, Georgian Estate from Dinnerware Depot

Dusty rose tablecloth from Amazon

Blush napkins from Amazon

Pearl napkin rings from Amazon

Mother of Pearl chargers from Pier 1

Goblets and Champagne flutes from Waterford

Off white Pearl flatware from Amazon

Mercury glass votive candle holders from Michael’s Arts & Crafts

Champagne scented votive candles from Pier 1

Pearl and crystal table scatter from Michael’s Arts & Crafts

Shades of pink glass table scatter from Michael’s Arts & Crafts

Pink vintage cake plate from Pier 1

White cake plate to display centerpiece from Target

********************

RECIPES

Shrimp and Champagne Bisque with Gruyere Cheese

Makes about 6 cups

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter
½ cup minced shallots
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups clam juice
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 pound Medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup Champagne or other dry sparkling wine
2 cups shredded Gruyère cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh chives
Garnish: Gruyère cheese, chives

Directions:

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add shallots, and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle in flour; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Gradually whisk in clam juice and stock; bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. (At this point, soup can be refrigerated up to 3 days.)

Cut shrimp into ¼-inch pieces. Over medium-low heat, add cream and Champagne. Return soup to a simmer, and slowly whisk in cheese ¼ cup at a time, letting melt between additions. Stir in chives and shrimp, and cook for 3 minutes or until shrimp are opaque. Garnish with shredded Gruyère and chives.

Note: Clam juice can be replaced with chicken stock for a milder flavor.

Recipe courtesy of the Cottage Journal

************************************

Breakfast Tart with Pancetta and Green Onions

Ingredients

Butter, for the pan
Flour, for the pan
1 — 9-inch unroll-and-bake refrigerated pie crust
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
3 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (4 ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded gruyere cheese
3 scallions, white and pale green parts, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Butter and flour the bottom and sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Unroll the pie crust and gently press into the bottom and sides of the pan. Trim any excess from the top.

With the tines of a fork, prick the bottom of the pastry. Using a pastry brush, brush the crust with the beaten egg white. Put the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, until the egg white has set. Let cool 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring frequently, for 6 to 8 minutes, until browned and crispy. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Whisk in the mascarpone, gruyere, scallions, salt, pepper and the pancetta. Pour into the cooled crust and bake for about 18 minutes, until the mixture has set and the top is golden.

Cool the tart for 10 to 15 minutes and then remove from the pan. Cut the tart into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis from “Weeknights with Giada” for Food Network Magazine

***************************

There is no recipe for the salad….I just mixed some fresh spinach with fruit, almonds and poppy seed dressing.

**********************

Thank you for visiting my blog.

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St. Joseph’s Day 2017

7 Replies

photo courtesy of zazzle

Hi Everyone,

Every year on March 19th we pay special tribute to St. Joseph.

I am posting this a day early, just in case you want to look over and include one of the traditional recipes for your St. Joseph’s Day dinner.

There really is no tablescape to set for St. Joseph Day, so I am re-posting about the history of this holiday and all the traditional delicious food on the St. Joseph’s Day menu.

Especially the sfinge di San Giuseppe and zeppole pastries many people are familiar with. Enjoy !

All recipes are at the end of the post…

***********

(Click PHOTOS to enlarge and then back arrow to return to original size)

Saint Joseph is the patron saint for my family, so instead of a tablescape, I decided to share with you some of my family traditions and customary foods for this special holiday.

Before we start, a little background for Saint Joseph or San Giuseppe that might help you understand the holiday a little better. Saint Joseph was the husband of Mary. It is in Sicily where Saint Joseph is regarded as their patron saint for preventing a famine during the Middle Ages. There was a severe drought and the people prayed to Saint Joseph for rain. They promised that if he answered their prayers and the rain came they would prepare a feast in his honor.

Well, the rain came and the people prepared a large banquet. Legend has it that the fava bean was the crop which saved the population from starvation and that is always part of the Saint Joseph day dinner.

Some people keep painted fava beans as a good luck charm.

When I was younger (much younger), on Saint Joseph’s Day my Grandmother would take me to bring food to the Saint Joseph’s Day altar of her local church after Mass. Many of the older generations set up altars in their homes, but we did not. We always wore red to honor Saint Joseph, in the same way that green is worn on Saint Patrick’s Day.

The altars are quite a sight to see and they have 3 tiers to represent the Holy Trinity. The top tier holds the statue of Saint Joseph surrounded by flowers (especially lilies). The reason is that – “The lily is associated with Saint Joseph, spouse of Mary, through an ancient legend that he was chosen from among other men by the blossoming of his staff like a lily”.

The other tiers hold candles, figurines, special breads, pastries, lemons for luck, fava beans, pineapple for hospitality and wine. There is also a basket on the bottom tier where you can place prayer petitions.

Here is a picture I found of of a Saint Joseph’s Day altar just to give you a better idea. Definitely wouldn’t work in my dining room.

(photo credit-isitsauceorgravy.com)

In my family, my Grandmother (even though we are not Sicilian) believed deeply that praying to Saint Joseph would protect her family and she bought all her grandchildren, at a very young age, a statue of Saint Joseph.

This is a photo of mine that I proudly display in my bedroom today. It is over 50 years old. In fact, my son’s middle name is Joseph to honor Saint Joseph.

In addition to the celebration of Saint Joseph’s Day, I have always enjoyed the FOOD for Saint Joseph’s Day.

Many of you know this day only by the pastry (zeppole or sfinge di San Giuseppe) but we had a fantastic meal before the pastry.

(There were no words to describe how fantastic these pastries are).

Purchased at Alpine Bakery- Smithtown, NY

My family (especially my dad) would make the pilgrimage each year to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx because we wouldn’t run the risk of buying ingredients at a local grocery store and be disappointed. No, ingredients had to be Italian and imported. No questions asked.

If you ever have the chance to visit Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, NY you will be thrilled. The food is so fresh and it is like stepping back in time with the mom and pop shops. But Arthur Avenue isn’t just shops, it’s restaurants as well and the food is fabulous.

A real Little Italy.

Different regions celebrate Saint Joseph’s Day differently but all involve meatless foods (because this holiday always falls during Lent), minestrone soup and pasta with breadcrumbs (The breadcrumbs represent saw dust since Saint Joseph was a carpenter), seafood, and fava beans for luck and for dessert, the star of the show, zeppole and sfinge di San Giuseppe.

Here is a picture of my minestrone soup.

In my family, we made minestrone soup followed by bucatini with anchovies and breadcrumbs. (For those of you who are not familiar, bucatini is basically a larger spaghetti with a hole inside. Another pasta that is traditional is mafaldine; this looks like thin strips of lasagna noodles). Sicilians usually make the dish with sardines (Pasta con Sarde) instead of the anchovies.

Here is a picture of my bucatini with breadcrumbs.

The Saint Joseph’s Day bread was another special part of the meal and my Dad would buy the bread and have it blessed before he brought it home.

It is a round crusty loaf scored with a cross and flavored with anise.

(photo credit-bennisoncakes.com)

And now back to the pastries. They are called zeppole or sfinge di San Guiseppe and I am sure you have all seen them. It’s a sweet dough like a big cream puff split and filled. They can be filled two ways. One with cannoli cream with tiny chocolate chips and candied fruit and also with custard cream; both topped with powdered sugar and a cherry and both delicious. Every year I always have to have one with each filling.

A fine tradition I passed along to my son.

(photo credit-homestyledessertsbakery.com)

A lot of the old traditions unfortunately are not practiced as much today. Grandparents and parents have passed on and lives have become much busier, but I try to keep as many traditions going in my family as I can. I do make the bucatini with anchovies and the minestrone soup, but I buy my pastries because baking is just not my thing. (I have included the recipe at the bottom of the post, in case you want to take the baking challenge). I personally don’t make the fava beans for this holiday either, but I wanted to mention it again because it stands for “good luck” in case you wanted to include them on your menu.

All in all this holiday brings back great memories for me when I was younger and my family was still here with me, enjoying each others company and a great meal together.

Here is a picture of me (I am the toddler) with my parents, grandmother and two older sisters. All of my family have passed on now and all are missed every day. I keep the traditions alive to honor them; and thank them for all they have taught me about traditions and being proud of my heritage.

I don’t have many photos for this holiday but at the bottom of this post, I will leave you with some traditional recipes if you want to celebrate St Joseph’s Day with your family.

It has been my pleasure to share my traditions with you for this special day. I hope this post gave a few of you some inspiration to try some new Saint Joseph’s Day holiday recipes.

Until my next post, stay well and make every day a celebration!

Diane

Saint Joseph’s Day is also the birthday of my dear friend Sue Tetonic.

Happy Birthday Sue!

RECIPES

Toasted Fresh Bread Crumbs

Warm 2 tablespoon olive oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add 3/4 cup of fresh breadcrumbs and stir to coat with oil. Cook, stirring constantly, until the crumbs are golden brown and crunchy, about 5 minutes. I add a little grated cheese to the breadcrumbs as well. You can never have to much cheese.

*********

Bucatini with Anchovies and Breadcrumbs

Revised

Ingredients:

12 anchovy fillets in olive oil, finely chopped with the oil from the can (small can- 2 oz.)….for a stronger anchovy flavor add two cans.

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pound bucatini

1/2 cup olive oil + 3 TBSP

4-6 large garlic cloves, sliced and divided

Large pinch of red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Grated cheese

1 and 1/3 cup toasted fresh breadcrumbs (1 cup for sauce * 1/3 cup for garnish)

Directions:

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve pasta water.

In a small skillet, add 3 TBSP of olive oil and approximately 3 cloves of sliced garlic and warm on a very low temperature (you want to flavor the oil)

While the pasta is cooking, heat ½ Cup of the olive oil in a large pot over medium-low heat

Add 3 cloves of sliced garlic, red pepper flakes, and the finely chopped anchovies.

Cook, stirring until the anchovies dissolve. (Be careful of splatters)

Remove from the heat.

Add 1 cup toasted breadcrumbs and stir for 1 minute to combine the oil and breadcrumbs

Add 3 ladles of pasta water to make a sauce

Return to the heat on low and stir in the parsley

Add the drained cooked pasta to the pot with the anchovy sauce. Toss until the strands are well coated

Slowly add the warm garlic oil with sliced garlic and mix well.

Season with salt & pepper

Transfer the pasta to individual serving bowls.

Top each serving with a sprinkling of the reserved breadcrumbs and grated cheese.

**********

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil

1 cup onion, finely chopped

½ cup celery, with leaves, chopped

1 carrot, sliced thin

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 (28 oz.) can of whole tomatoes, with juice

1 large can of cannellini beans

5 cups of beef or vegetable stock

½ cup flat parsley, finely chopped

1- 2 cups finely sliced, then roughly chopped spinach

2 zucchini, unpeeled and cut into little cubes

½ cup small pasta (like ditalini)

Freshly grated Parmesan or Locatelli cheese

1 tsp. dried basil (optional)

1 tsp. dried oregano (optional)

pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

Sauté the onion, carrot and celery in the olive oil until soft. Toss in the garlic and stir for another minute.

Cut up the tomatoes and add them to the pot and cook down for 15 minutes.

Stir in the beef or vegetable stock and the bay leaf and beans and bring to a boil. Add half the parsley, dried oregano, dried basil, pinch of red pepper and lower the heat and cook for about 30 minutes

Add the spinach, zucchini and pasta and cook at a gentle boil until the pasta is tender. * If you are not serving the soup immediately, make the pasta separately and add to the soup when serving otherwise the pasta will absorb all the soup if left in the pot to sit.

When ready to serve, stir in the rest of the parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve with the crusty bread and topped with grated cheese

**********

Fava Beans
(I do not remember who gave me this recipe).

Ingredients:

1 lb. dried fava beans
1 bunch green onions
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
chopped parsley
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook dried fava beans in boiling water until tender, adding more water as needed. Sauté seasonings in olive oil ’til tender, then add to beans. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve in soup bowls.

**********

Zeppole di San Giuseppe

Recipe credit-mangiabenepasta.com)

(Makes about 12 (2-1/2-inch) zeppoles

Ingredients:

Pastry:

1 cup water

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Pinch of salt

1 cup flour

4 eggs

Filling:

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup whole milk

2 egg yolks

1/2 tablespoon dark rum

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped

Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Maraschino cherries

Directions:

To make the pastry:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium saucepan, combine water, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a

boil. Remove from heat. With a wooden spoon, beat in flour all at once.

Return to low heat. Continue beating until mixture forms a ball and leaves

side of pan. Remove from heat. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating hard

after each addition until smooth. Continue beating until dough is satiny and

breaks in strands. Allow the mixture to cool.

Transfer the dough to a pastry bag with a large star tip. For each pastry,

pipe a 2-1/2 -inch spiral with a raised outer wall on the baking sheet. Bake

for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool before

filling.

To make the filling:

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. In a bowl, whisk together

milk and egg yolks Whisk milk mixture into sugar mixture. Place the

saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking

constantly. Boil for 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in rum, orange zest,

and vanilla. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl. Place a piece of plastic

wrap directly on the surface. Allow to cool for 30 minutes and then

refrigerate until cold. Fold in the whipped cream.

To assemble the zeppole:

Cut the pastries in half horizontally. Transfer the filling mixture to a pastry

bag with a star tip. Pipe some of the filling onto the cut side of the bottom

half of each pastry. Place the top half of the pastry on the filling.

Pipe a small amount of the filling into the hole in the center of each pastry.

Place a maraschino cherry in the middle. Dust the pastries with

confectioners’ sugar.

**********

Fig Cookies (Cuccidate)

Courtesy of Paula Carbone Gati from facebook page- Born Again Italian

Dough:

4 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups of butter, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup of Crisco, cold and broken into small pieces
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
2 tsp vanilla

Filling:

One 12 oz pkg of dried figs, I use either mission or calimyrna
1/2 cup almonds… chopped,,,not to fine,,,more on the course side
1/2 cup of dates -no pits
1/2 cup of raisins
1/3 cup of honey
1/4 cup of orange marmalade
1/4 cup whiskey
1 tsp of good cinnamon

Icing:

4 cups confectionary sugar
a few table spoons of milk
nonpareils

Directions:

In stand mixer…mix all dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt set aside….to this add butter pieces little at a time, then cold Crisco, then have all wet ingredients mixed and slowly add this to the flour until a nice smooth dough forms…after the dough comes together..put on table and knead a few minutes till the dough is smooth, add more flour if necessary… make a smooth ball and cover in saran and refrigerate …while you prepare filling

I double this recipe..because I make a big batch and for the amount of work that goes into this its best to do it at once…it makes approx 5 doz cookies for this recipe…. which is a good amount..but you can freeze these cookies..I usually pack 6 at a time in a Ziploc then put in glad ware container and take out as needed..they freeze really good.

I remove the dried stems from the figs, and put all the dried fruits through the meat grinder
when all the fruit is ground up I add the rest of ingredients,,, and mix really well…I usually let this sit over night for all the flavors to really marry.

Start the assembly…taking a piece of dough at a time roll out to make approx a 3 inch by 12 inch rectangle..cut with knife to square off…then take the fig filling and make a log approx 12 inches long….place this log onto the rectangle of dough and roll and have seam side down….cut approx 1 1/2 inch pieces and place on parchment lined cookie sheets…..350 degree oven for approx 15 minutes, till bottoms are slightly golden…
Make icing and after cookies are cool….spread a little icing onto each little bundle and sprinkle with some nonpareils…

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Rainy Day Recipes…

1 Reply

(Click PHOTO to enlarge and then hit back arrow to return to original size).

Hi Everyone,

I don’t know if any of you are like me and have joined various “food groups” on Facebook. I love chatting with members of these groups, sharing recipes and finding new ones.

I received numerous requests for two recipes that I recently posted on one of my Facebook food groups; so I thought that I would share the recipes with all of my members.

I call them “Rainy Day Recipes” because they are comfort food to me when the weather outside is cold and nasty and you just want to stay in and be warm.

The recipes are for Spinach Quiche and Sausage, Bean and Spinach Soup.

Enjoy!

Sausage, Bean and Spinach Soup

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. sausage (casings removed)
2- 3 garlic cloves , minced
2 bay leaf
10 oz. pkg. of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and wrung free of water)
1 medium onion- fine dice
2 carrots – fine dice
1 celery stalk – fine dice
1 potato – fine dice
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 spring of fresh rosemary
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 cans cannellini beans- drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
6 cups broth – chicken or vegetable
¼ cup red wine
(piece of parmesan rind – optional)

Directions:

Heat olive oil over medium heat, add sausage and brown – approx… 10 minutes

Add ¼ cup red wine to scrape up all the sausage bits

Add diced onion, carrots, celery, potato and tomato paste- cook until the vegetables get soft

Add garlic, beans, and diced tomatoes, mix well. 2-3 minutes

Add broth, spinach, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and parmesan rind if using. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes.
The soup tastes better the more it sits.

Cooks Note: I served this soup with melted Dubliner cheese on toasted ciabatta bread.

**************************************

Spinach Quiche

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 cup half and half or heavy cream
½ cup real mayonnaise
2 TBSP flour
1/3 cup minced onions or shallots
Garlic powder to taste
8 ounces shredded, sharp or mild cheddar cheese
1 package frozen chopped spinach (thawed and wrung free of water)
(1) 9-inch unbaked frozen “deep Dish” pie shell

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Hand whip eggs, half-and-half, mayonnaise, and flour in a medium-mixing bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients.Pour into an unbaked 9-inch, deep-dish piecrust.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until top is golden brown.

6-8 servings

Cooks note: this basic recipe can also be used to make chopped broccoli quiche too – use Dubliner, Swiss or cheddar cheese. Mix whatever combination you like.

***********************************

Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Diane

Please ask your family and friends to “follow”, “like” and “share” DishingwithDiane.com .

Once you become a member, you’ll never miss a post…

Also, continue to send me your comments, I love hearing from you.

Dinner by the Fireplace- Soup & Sandwich

8 Replies

(Click on PHOTO to enlarge and then hit the back arrow to return to original size).

Hi Everyone,

I hope all of my friends on the East Coast survived “Snowstorm Jonas” with no problems last week.

We had 26 inches of snow where I live; but luckily no power outages. I guess we had to pay the price for having a 60 degree Christmas.

It seems as though once the snowflakes start to fall, everyone starts to cook. The craving for comfort food and baked goods is overwhelming. And let’s not forget the hot chocolate after shoveling ourselves out.

I made Tuscan Bean Soup and Vegetable Lasagna during the storm and if I didn’t have my Blogiversary cake left to eat, there would have been Brownies coming out of my oven.

I just LOVE soup with a sandwich or even soup and a buttered roll and any chance I get to make soup, I grab it. I think I could live on soup and be quite happy.

I am always collecting soup recipes and tweaking them here and there and I found a great recipe on Pinterest by Wanderlust Kitchen. I have many recipes for Tuscan Bean Soup, but I wanted to give this a try. (Of course with a little tweaking). It promised to be a 30 minute meal with preparation included.

I was also in the mood for a grilled cheese sandwich and

my husband is the “King of the grilled cheese sandwich”.

He makes the best sandwiches I have ever had. We attribute this to his college days working part time at the grill of a local bowling alley to make a little extra spending money. (If we’re lucky, he’ll tell us his secret.)

You just can’t beat bowling alley grilled cheese and french fries. I don’t know what it is.

If you have soup and a sandwich as a meal, what better way to eat it, then on a soup and sandwich tray duo? These trays are by Miles Kimball.

Aren’t they the cutest? What more can I say?

White ceramic trays perfectly sized for soup and a sandwich or soup and a salad.

I recently saw these trays featured in a cooking catalog; but they were not used for soup. They were used for cake and ice cream or a muffin and fruit.

With my love of soup, I just couldn’t pass these up and it makes your meal portable.

I bought these years ago from a catalog that I loved that went out of business recently, “Chefs Catalog”. I’ll miss their catalog. I bought so many products from them. (Just ask Bob).

Another one of their products that I love, is their soup spoons. Can’t forget those.

Since I was a little girl, my mother always served soup with a soup spoon and I still do it today. I have gotten so used to it, that it drives me crazy when I go to a restaurant and they serve soup with a large dinner spoon and not a soup spoon.

You think they would know better.

I think I might have to start carrying around my own soup spoon.

Anyway, here is the final product for my Snowstorm Jonas menu.

Bob and I decided since the meal was portable, we would have dinner in front of the fireplace, instead of setting the table in the kitchen.

We wanted to be toasty, comfy and cozy while the snow was falling.

So during the storm, I had my honey, my soup, a sandwich and a fire.

What more could I ask for?

So Let it Snow!

Note– Scroll to the top left hand corner of each picture for the white and red “pin it” button and add DishingwithDiane.com photos to your Pinterest page.

Now for the Recipes…

Tuscan Bean Soup

Note: Recipe adapted from Wanderlust Kitchen.

I made a few changes to the original recipe:

I used 3 cups of chopped spinach – original recipe used kale, ribs removed
I used 1 (14 oz) can of canellini beans, drained and rinsed and 1 (14 oz) can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed- original recipe used 2 (14 oz) cans of canellini beans, drained and rinsed.
I used locatelli grated cheese & Dubliner cheese to top the soup- original recipe used Parmesan & Dubliner cheese.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 yellow summer squash, diced
4 cloves garlic, pressed
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
1 quart vegetable (or chicken) broth
1 (14 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14 ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes with juices
3 cups chopped fresh spinach
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

Directions:

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a 6 quart or larger Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, zucchini, and squash. Saute for 4 minutes.
Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, thyme and rosemary. Cook 30 seconds.
Stir in the broth, beans, and tomatoes. Bring the contents to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and add the chopped spinach. Cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes.
Use an immersion blender* to partially puree the soup, leaving some chunks of beans vegetables for texture.

Add the salt, pepper, sugar, and vinegar. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Notes

*Alternatively, transfer small amounts to a counter top blender and puree as desired.

Serve topped with Parmesan or Dubliner cheese and a side of crusty bread.

Bob’s Grilled Cheese

Ingredients: serves 2

4 slices of bread (your choice)
butter
8 slices of American cheese

Directions for ONE sandwich:

Preheat skillet on LOW
Melt 2 tbsp. of butter in a microwave safe dish for 25 seconds
SECRET # 1 – Brush one side of each slice of bread with the melted butter
In the preheated skillet add 1 tbsp butter
Once melted, place the first slice of bread, BUTTERED SIDE DOWN in the skillet
Add four slices of cheese
Top with the second slice of bread, BUTTERED SIDE UP
Increase heat to MEDIUM
Cook for approximately one minute pressing down occasionally with a spatula until bottom half is golden brown
FLIP the bread and REPEAT THE PROCESS with the second side of the sandwich
FLIP the bread once again and repeat the process completely flipping each sandwich twice
Now shut the burner and remove the skillet from the heat
SECRET # 2– Cover the skillet with either a cheese melting dome, plate or pot cover for 1 minute and allow to sit and the cheese to completely melt
Slice, serve & enjoy!

Enjoy the preparation slideshow

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Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Diane

Please ask your family and friends to follow and share DishingwithDiane.com either on facebook or sign up for emails directly from the web page.

Once you become a member, you’ll never miss a post…

And please continue to send me your comments, I love hearing from you.

Dishing With Diane

RECIPES AND TABLESCAPES FOR ALL OCCASIONS… BECAUSE EVERY DAY IS A CELEBRATION!

Category Archives: Soup

New Year’s Day Tradition

Diane

Tuscan Bean Soup

Diane

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Diane

Sausage, Bean and Spinach soup…

Diane

Big Chill Dinner

Diane

She Crab Soup

She Crab Soup

Diane

Happy Mother’s Day 2017

Diane

Place Setting

Table Details

RECIPES

Shrimp and Champagne Bisque with Gruyere Cheese

Breakfast Tart with Pancetta and Green Onions

St. Joseph’s Day 2017

Diane

RECIPES

Rainy Day Recipes…

Sausage, Bean and Spinach Soup

Spinach Quiche

Diane

Dinner by the Fireplace- Soup & Sandwich

So Let it Snow!

Now for the Recipes…

Tuscan Bean Soup

Bob’s Grilled Cheese

Enjoy the preparation slideshow

Diane

Diane

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She Crab Soup

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Place Setting

Table Details

RECIPES

Shrimp and Champagne Bisque with Gruyere Cheese

Breakfast Tart with Pancetta and Green Onions

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Diane

RECIPES

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Sausage, Bean and Spinach Soup

Spinach Quiche

Diane

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So Let it Snow!

Now for the Recipes…

Tuscan Bean Soup

Bob’s Grilled Cheese

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Diane

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