White Beans and Ham

I remember my mother making white beans and ham anytime there was a leftover ham hock from a holiday meal. That soup had a stick-to-your-ribs level of heartiness that has remained unmatched, in my eyes, to this day. She’d simmer a pot of Great Northern white beans with the ham hock until the beans had gotten all creamy and thick; little bits of ham dotted throughout. She’d serve it with cornbread and we’d all gobble it down. My dad recently lamented (7 years post-divorce) that he still hadn’t been able to get it replicated in his own kitchen.

I will admit that it may be an acquired taste for some. It literally consisted of nothing besides a ham hock, beans, salt and water. While I appreciate the simplicity of the dish – and no one can deny how filling and economical it was for feeding a family of 5 on a budget – I wanted to add some more vegetables into my version. I’m trying to limit my meat consumption as much as possible while adding in as many vegetables as I can, in an effort to finally meet those 5 or more servings per day recommendations. Plus, adding a mirepoix isn’t that expensive and adds a ton of flavor and nutrients into the finished soup.

I had a ham hock left over from Christmas dinner, from the ham I bought from Copper Penny Farm. It was a beauteous thing, marbled with fat and loaded with flavor. It’s easy to forget how delicious ham is when it comes from a pig that’s raised properly and isn’t one of those commercially hybridized, Smithfield-patented abominations with a 2% fat content. Seriously, check out LocalHarvest.org and find where you can get a locally grown ham for your next holiday meal. It’s worth it.

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borscht

The first time I ever had borscht was at the Russian Tea Room in NYC. It was meaty and had an amazing depth of flavor – the beets married with the beef perfectly. The restaurant itself may be kitschy and odd, but the food was outstanding. I tried another borscht not too long after that, I don’t remember where, and was sorely underwhelmed.

What I realized was that the trick to perfect borscht is the broth. You absolutely must have a highly seasoned, deeply flavored beef broth to really pull it off. My secret is using the broth left over from braising short ribs. Once you’ve braised the short ribs with plenty of veggies and red wine, remove the ribs and use and then puree the remaining mixture in the bottom of the pot and throw it in the fridge overnight. The next day chip off all the solidified fat on top and you’re left with the thickest, heartiest soup base you could ever ask for.

Some recipes call for shredding the short ribs and using them in the borscht, but I prefer not to do that. Better yet, make some short rib pirogues to go with it. If you don’t plan on making short ribs, you can always just use regular old beef stock. Just be sure to add a little extra bouillon paste to up the flavor.

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Matzo Ball Soup

There wasn’t much of a Jewish influence where I grew up, in a small town on the inner peninsula of Washington State. Since moving to the east coast and marrying into a family with both cultural and religious Jews, I decided it was high time to explore some of the traditional cuisine.

From what I can gather the real backbone of matzo ball soup is not just the texture of the dumplings themselves, but the character of the chicken broth (pun intended?). You can make a passable version, I’m sure, with storebought stock or broth, but it is really elevated to the next level if you take the time to roast our own chicken to make the stock. Roasting a chicken is simple, hands-off task and its presence in the stock makes a huge difference.

You can either reserve the meat of the bird for another purpose, or do what I did (though it’s not pictured) and slice the breast into pieces and lay them at the bottom of the bowl.

The debate consistently rages over whether one should have light and fluffy matzo balls or dense and substantive matzo balls. These are of the latter category, largely because I used whole grain matzo meal because I liked the 5 grams of fiber per serving. Keep that in mind if your family prefers the light and fluffy dumplings.

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Lamb Stew

There are few things more appealing when the weather is chilly than a hearty stew. It’s a bit fun making them, too. One feels a bit like an alchemist, taking a tough, sinewy piece of meat and slow-braising it until it’s fork tender and falling off the bone. All those tough pieces of cartilage and marrow melt into a velvety broth, coating the meat with luxurious flavor.

My big issue with stews though, is that all that slow cooking turns everything else in the pot in an unappealing mush. All the flavor’s been leached out of the vegetables and they’ve no texture left besides…well, mush.

The solution? Cook them separately. This way, the cooking vegetables in the pot braising with the lamb do their job by imparting lovely flavors to the meat and broth, but one isn’t forced to eat the finished product. Slow roasting the cubed veggies right next to the lamb allows their inherent sweetness to develop, without overcooking them. Throw them all together at the end and it’s a match made in culinary heaven.

There are three additional things worth mentioning:

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salmon chowder

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest where chowder is a diet staple. If you've managed to make it to 5 years old without trying some kind of chowder - clam, oyster, fish, etc. - then there's definitely something odd going on.

Because I had some unpredictable allergic reactions to seafood as a child I was a little more sheltered than most and usually stuck to clam chowder. It wasn't until I started spending more time on the East Coast that I finally tried salmon chowder. Since then it's become a family favorite. It's easy to whip up a pot on the weekends and take it to work for lunch throughout the week - especially because I think it tastes even better the next day after it's been chilled and all of the flavors have had a chance to really meld. I think it creates a much deeper, richer flavor.

The original recipe calls for fish stock, which can be difficult to find and I find obnoxious to make on my own. Kitchen Basics does make a boxed stock that I find delicious and you can usually find it at Whole Foods (their clam stock is fabulous for making clam chowder, also). If you can't find a seafood stock then use chicken stock, but remember to use stock - not broth.

This is a key part of soup making of which many people tend to miss out - stock and broth are two very different things. Stock is made using browned bones, meat and vegetables. It has a rich, hearty flavor with a great deal of depth. Broth is made using just meat and vegetables and tends to have a much more subtle flavor. Think of it as the difference between using a a carcass from a roasted chicken vs. pieces of chicken meat to flavor the liquid. Both have their purposes, but one must be aware that they are indeed different.

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