Quick Vegetable Soup

Yesterday my daughter developed a bit of a cold so I thought I would throw up a pot of soup. Scrounging through the refrigerator I came upon enough leftovers to create a nice tomato vegetable soup.

I had some roasted vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, squash and onions) which I added to a quart of store-bought vegetable broth. I took my stick blender and proceeded to whip it all up until the vegetables were all pureed. (This way she would get a double dose of veggies without knowing they were in there). To this I added some crushed tomatoes, frozen corn and peas. I let this all come to a boil to heat thoroughly. Believe it or not, the roasted vegetables gave the soup so much flavor, there was no need to add any extra salt or pepper.

In less than 15 minutes, we had soup. I even had some leftover bow tie pasta which was added to the soup bowl prior to adding the soup. A very filling dish and she even asked for seconds!

Turducken Anyone?

I always encourage visitors to my website to ask questions. I am a "research-a-holic" when it comes to anything related to cooking and food. Just the other day I was asked about a particular dish that included turkey, duck and chicken that was deboned, but kept whole. This person, who only supplied a name and that he as a Chief Chef somewhere unknown, wanted to know what the dish was and how to make it.

It was only coincidental that I had seen a show not too long ago that discussed a very similar dish with those exact ingredients. Well, I quickly set out to do my research and remembered that this dish was something typical to Cajun cooking, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out the name. So I pressed on my search and finally happened upon what it was - Turducken. Yes. This is a real dish prepared by many Southerners including the famous Chef Paul Prudhomme. I proceeded to send the link to this stranger as I, too, found this to be a very interesting recipe and truly wanted to see it come to life.

Well, today, I received a wonderful message from this chef who stated that he made the recipe and it came out just fine! I was thrilled but still curious about who this mystery chef was. So I sent another email back asking where he cooks. And he replied that he is a Steward and Chief Cook for the U.S. Merchant Marines. He has been sailing for over 10 years and also was an instructor at one of the maritime cooking schools. I was so proud to know that I was able to serve one of our own servicemen! This is truly the best gift I received this year!

For those of you that are curious about this thing called Turducken, which is quite a process to make, here is the link that I sent to the Chef.

http://www.chefpaul.com/turducken.html

Enjoy!

Photo provided by ChefPaul.com

Trimming the Meat

Photo National Cattlemen’s Beef Association

Yesterday I set out to find the perfect tenderloin roast for my Christmas dinner. I did end up purchasing a 7.7 pound piece and proceeded to trim it myself (truly the first time I've attempted being a butcher for such a large piece of meat).

It occured to me that I could really save some money by using the Chateubriand for dinner and saving the smaller filets for another night. I also decided to grind the cutoffs for some really tasty hamburgers. What I didn't realize, though, is after I trimmed and cut some steaks I was left with a rather small roast. Certainly not large enough to feed a crowd.

I believe I will keep the trimming to the butcher next time! But the steaks really do look wonderful!

Cheese Desserts for the Holidays

Last night I had a wonderful evening filled with all the holiday trimmings with my closest girlfriends. One of the things I enjoy the most about these evenings is that we all share a unique bond, but are very different. Some of us cook, some don't. So it's always interesting to see what kind of food we come up with.

My contributions were based upon cheeses. As the groups official chef, it's my duty to come up with different and interesting creations. Something that I would do anyway. I was orginally going to put together the standard cheese board to go with some dessert wine. However, once I actually started contemplating the "same old thing"...it bored me.

So on I went to the Internet is search of the perfect desserts that use cheese. Other than cheesecake, of course! Well, I did find two very interesting ideas which I then prepared, the third idea, although tasty, didn't look as delicious, which was disappointing.

The first was a Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball (recipe below). This was a new take on the old cheese ball made out of port wine cheese and nuts. However, in this recipe you use cream cheese, sugar, chocolate chips and nuts to create something in-between chocolate chip cookie dough and cheesecake. You serve it with graham crackers. It was a hit! And so very easy.

The second was a variation on the typical creamy, rich truffles. They were chocolate truffles made with goat cheese! A bit tart for my taste, but they grew on you. I'm sure I could have doctored them up...but alas no time this week.

So here are the recipes. I hope you enjoy them as much as my friends did!

Goat Cheese Chocolate Truffles Epicurious

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball Allrecipes.com

Welcome!

Today is my first attempt at putting a blog together. I have many ideas about cooking, food, and eating on Long Island that I want to share with you.

I am the owner and personal chef of Home Cooking Consultant here on Long Island. It's been a little over a year since I started this service and it's been quite a year!

I've had the pleasure of teaching cooking lessons to new brides and other folks just interested in learning a new cuisine or skill. And, I've cooked quite a few meals for my regular customers so that they can enjoy a more relaxing and healthy dinner experience.

Stay tuned as there will be more to come! I look forward to hearing your comments as this blog progresses.