Mission accomplished!

After (what seems like) 2 days in the kitchen I have officially finished my first minestrone soup!  Grammie Skilling would be so proud.  I know this is technically food for New Years Day, but I couldn't resist having a bowl for lunch today!  I wouldn't want to serve something that could possibly be poisonous, right?  My mom was so kind to give me Grammie's recipe and here goes:

homemade ham stock (made from boiling a ham bone....keep the little ham pieces that fall off the bone)
1 package of 16 bean soup
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 cups of chopped cabbage
salt & pepper
dried oregano
Ditalini pasta (little tube shaped pasta)
Parmesan cheese
3-4 celery stalks, chopped (optional)
1 carrot, chopped (optional)
*the celery and carrot are optional because they are actually not a part of her "original recipe"  I had that in the frig and added it in order to use up some stuff in my crisper. *

To make the ham stock:  Fill a large stock pot about 3/4 of the way full with water.  Place the ham bone in the pot and bring to a rolling boil.  Simmer for 3-4 hours.  Strain and pour into a large bowl, cover, and then refrigerate overnight.  Keep all of the little ham pieces that fall off the bone.  When ready to use take it out of the frig and skim off all of the fat on top.  You do not want to eat the fat!  ;) I measured and I had 9 cups of ham stock.

The ham stock.   Scrape off all of that white stuff! 

The next day:  Thoroughly rinse the beans and place in a stock pot.  (Mom says search through the beans for rocks...Melissa assured me that she has never found one and I could probably skip this step, but I didn't!)  Cover with water and bring to a boil.  Boil for 2 minutes and then take it off the heat.  Let it stand for 1 hour.  Once that hour has passed, rinse the beans again.  In another large stock pot (preferably the one you used for the ham stock) add the butter and the veggies.  Saute until tender and then add the oregano, salt & pepper.  *Note:  I used 1 tsp of salt for this dish and I think it was plenty.  You don't want to over salt the dish since the ham is salty and it will only get more flavorful the longer it sits in the frig* 

The onion & celery

 
Now add the ham , tomatoes, and all of the little bits of ham.  Simmer for about 1-2 hours and then remove from the heat.  Place in tupperware and allow it to sit in the frig for at least 1 day.  When ready to eat serve it with some Ditalini pasta and fresh Parmesean on top! 

Almost done! 

Another important side note:  it appears to me that this will make enough food for a small army!  Plan on having guests over and/or freezing some of the soup for later!  I sure hope Frank is hungry...

Coming soon to a kitchen near you....

Just a few of the ingredients: s & p, onion, garlic, stewed tomatoes, butter, beans, ditalini & ciabatta bread! 

Tonight I started a new culinary adventure...Minestone soup!  I've already started making the stock from the Christmas ham bone and got my groceries bought today.  I will officially make the soup tomorrow and it needs a day to merry in the frig.  All of this so we can "Mangia" on Sunday!  More pics of the entire cooking process tomorrow... :)

Butternut Squash

Butternut goodness!

 

This Fall I got bored with my usual veggies and tried a butternut squash.  I wish I could say it was because I was feeling adventurous, but I wasn't!  I bought it on sale and figured that if I liked it I did, and if I didn't, oh well!  My friend, Sarah, is an amazing cook and dietician.  She gave me some pointers on how to prepare and cook the squash.  When she said that they were tough to peel she wasn't lying!  Peeling that thing brought new meaning to the phrase, "Will work for food"!  The skin on them was a beast!  After peeling the squash I scooped out the seeds with a spoon, cubed it into even pieces, and placed in a large mixing bowl.  Eyeball the rest of the ingredients:  olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, nutmeg (about 1/4 tsp), and cinnamon (about 1/2 tsp).  Toss it all together and place on a lined baking sheet.  Bake at 400 for about 30-40 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender.  Top with some generous sprinkles of brown sugar and bake for about 5-10 more minutes.  The result is perfection! 

Pre-cooking

Playing with a camera setting called "Toy Camera"

Christmas cheer!

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their loved ones!  Santa definitely heard my wishes for a new camera!  I have been using my old digital camera I got in 2005 and a replacement was long overdue!  I've been a bit jealous of my brother's cool camera and new lens he got for his birthday.  Santa's elf, Frank, was able to pull through and surprise me with a new prezzie!  I am especially excited to start using it for some of my posts!  Here's a few shots of me playing around on Christmas night.  Rachel and Melissa made us this AMAZING Italian creme cake with 2 icings!  Caramel icing on the top and in between the layers and then cream cheese icing on the sides...it was absolutely divine!  I'll have to ask her to post her recipe.  Matt took a bunch of Christmas dinner pictures and I can't wait for their Christmas blog. 

The finished product!

Minus the first slice!  Mmmmmm!!!

"Don't you ever make a Stouffer's?"

That's what my friend, Teresa, said to me a few years back!  I was just starting to cook regular dinners for Frank and myself and I felt a lot of pressure to make every meal extraordinary.  I guess that's because I remember having home cooked food each night at home growing up.  We rarely ate fast food and were ecstatic when Mom would take us to the grocery store and let us pick out a TV dinner.  That seemed like the biggest treat in the world!  Believe it or not, I got really frustrated with the effort and now I have resorted to some canned vegetables and boxed side dishes!  Well, tonight is going to be one of those nights!  With Frank working past 7:00 on Sunday now that the holidays are in full swing and today being my "catch-up" day, frozen Stouffer's lasagna is on the menu!  I cooked a LOT last week and somehow managed to never blog.  I wonder what my siblings have been cooking (since no one has offered up any recipes on the blog)? 

Along with the frozen entree I will throw together a salad and some bread.  Pretty basic!  I thought I'd share my sherry vinaigrette recipe today.  If you're brave then you can eye-ball it (that's what I do)!  This can be kept in the frig for a few days too in a jar! 

1 shallot, finely sliced
4 T EVOO
2 T sherry vinegar
dash of salt and pepper
a squirt of dijon mustard
a squirt of honey
some basil (fresh is better, but a few dashes of dried will do too)

Mix everything except the EVOO in a small bowl.  Slowly stream in the EVOO and emulsify with a whisk.  Taste and add more honey if it is too tart from the vinegar or add more vinegar if it is too sweet.  Add to your favorite mixed greens.