Soup, pot roast, pickles, glazed carrots—you have quite the range of dishes this week. The miso braised turnips are so good too. Enjoy!
Leek and Chard Soup with White Beans and Garlicky Bread – aka Best Soup
Fall Gratin
Hakurei Turnips and their Greens with Miso Butter
Quick-pickled Carrots and Turnips (and Peppers)
Ginger Glazed Carrots with Sesame
Pot Roast with Carrots, Leeks and Roasted Potatoes
Leek and Chard Soup with White Beans and Garlicky Bread – aka Best Soup
I titled this soup “The Best Soup” in a blog post years ago. It’s a risky thing to say and tastes vary so widely it’s really quite a ridiculous thing to say, however, I do love it. It makes plenty and freezes well (without the poached eggs and bread of course) so pick up a bunch of cilantro and have at it! You could also use the turnip greens, in addition to the chard, in the soup this week. And don’t skip or substitute anything for the cilantro. It’s a really key component.
It’s also delicious without the egg but if you do the whole thing—garlicky bread with soup ladled over and poached egg on top you’re in for a real treat and a beautiful one-dish meal.
This photo does not do this lovely dish justice. Make it!
Serves 6
1 1/2 cups dried white beans (cannelini, great northern, Ayers Creek white beans of any kind, Rancho Gordo Marrow beans . . . ) or 1 ½ 14 oz. cans of cannelini or other white beans
2 tbs olive oil
2 leeks (about 2 ½ cups, chopped)
5 large cloves garlic
6 ½ cups home-made veggie bouillon broth or veggie or chicken stock and/or bean cooking liquid
2 cups packed cilantr0
one bunch chard, stems and leaves finally chopped (about 5 cups)
sliced crusty bread (6 slices)
6 eggs
salt and pepper, to taste
good olive oil for drizzling
Cook the beans in water with one clove of the garlic until soft. (See bean cooking instructions here) Drain, reserving liquid, and set aside. You could also use canned beans—see note above.
Trim and clean the leeks. Cut in half, lengthwise, and slice in 1/4 inch slices.
Heat olive oil in a large pot. Sauté the leeks in olive oil until limp. Add three cloves of garlic, minced. Continue sautéing until the garlic is soft but not brown about 2 minutes, lower heat as needed. Add 4 ½ cups of the stock/broth/bean cooking liquid and bring to a simmer. Add the beans and continue to simmer for a minute or two. Add the chard to the pot and cook for 10 minutes. Blend the cilantro with the reserved 2 cups of bouillon or broth in a blender. Add the cilantro mixture and season with salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a rapid simmer. Crack eggs into soup, cover and let poach about 4-5 minutes until the whites are just set and the yolks still runny.
While eggs are cooking toast the bread slices and rub with remaining garlic cloves. You can rub one or both sides of the toast with garlic–depending on much you love garlic. Lay the bread in the bottom of a soup bowl. Ladle the soup over. Top with poached egg. Drizzle with good olive oil and grind some pepper over the top.
Basic Dry Bean Soaking/Cooking Instructions
If you aren’t in the habit of soaking and cooking dry beans here are the basic steps. The flavor of the beans is very good this way and they are much, much cheaper than cans. Once in the habit, it’s not much work at all. And I always soak and cook more than I need for any given recipe and freeze the rest in some of the cooking liquid. I also rarely cook beans for use in the moment. They improve so much if you can let them sit in their cooking liquid for an hour or so, or up to 8 hours. I usually cook them while I’m doing something else in the kitchen and then have them on hand for the next few days and/or freeze them for later use.
3-4 cups dried beans (garbanzo, white, black, pinto. . . ) Rinse beans if they look dusty and pick out any stones. Usually I don’t find anything like that. Place in a large bowl covered by about 4 inches of cold water. Soak over night or 6-8 hours. Drain and rinse beans.
Place soaked beans in a large pot and cover with cold water by several inches. Add a few whole, peeled garlic cloves, a bay leaf and a big chunk of peeled onion. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and let cook covered until the beans are tender, stirring occasionally (this helps prevent some beans from softening before others.) If your beans are old (hard to tell!) salting them at the beginning can prevent them from cooking properly, so salt mid-way through or at the end. When you do add salt, be generous, as in at least 3 teaspoons kosher salt to start if you’re cooking 4 cups or so of dried beans. They’ll probably need more still. The time it takes for the beans to cook will vary depending on the kind of bean and the freshness of the dried beans. Garbanzos take the longest, usually about 45 minutes. Black, white and pinto can be done in 15-40 minutes. Let beans cool in their liquid (if you’re not in a rush) and then use, freeze, etc. If you’re freezing some, fill your container with the beans and then ladle in the cooking liquid until the beans are almost covered. Cooked beans also keep in the fridge for 5-6 days and for several months in the freezer.
Fall Gratin
I made a version of this, this weekend and it was a crowd pleaser. The variations are endless—use broth or milk; add bacon, use different herbs and/or spices, etc.
6 or so potatoes, scrubbed
1-2 leeks, cleaned, halved lengthwise and cut into ½-in half rounds
2-3 sweet peppers, seeds removed and thinly sliced or diced
Milk or broth/stock
Grated cheese (optional) cheddar, Parmesan, . . ..
1 teaspoon sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika)
1-2 tablespoons flour (optional)
chopped parsley or thyme or a little sage or oregano (optional but very good)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Slice the potatoes as thinly as you can. I use the slicer on my box grater. Place the sliced potatoes in a large bowl.
Sauté the leeks and peppers in a bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt until softened, about 10 minutes.
In a small bowl mix the salt, pepper, cumin, pimenton herbs and flour (if using).
Toss the spice mixture with the potatoes and mix as well was you can. Spread half of the potato mixture evenly over the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish (or similar oven proof container). Spread the pepper and leek mixture over the potatoes and sprinkle with salt and a bit of grated cheese, if using. Spread the remainder of the potatoes over the pepper layer and top with a little more grated cheese, if using. Pour milk or broth in the dish about 1/3 way up the sides of the vegetables. It doesn’t really matter how much. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15- 20 more. Test for doneness. You want the potatoes to be nice and soft but still keeping their shape.
Hakurei Turnips and their Greens with Miso
–adapted from Gourmet
You can easily double this recipe if you have a full share and want to use both bunches of turnips in one fell swoop.
1 1/2 tablespoons white miso
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided
1 bunch turnips, scrubbed and trimmed but not peeled
1 bunch turnip greens, well washed and roughly chopped (you can also just double the amount of turnip greens)
generous 1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
Stir together miso and 1 tablespoon butter.
Halve or quarter the turnips and put in a large heavy skillet along with water, mirin, remaining ½ tablespoon butter, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then boil, covered, about 10-12 minutes.
Add greens by handfuls, turning and stirring and adding more as volume in skillet reduces. Cover and cook 1 minute. Uncover and continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until turnips are tender and liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 3 minutes. Stir in miso butter and cook 1 more minute.
Quick-pickled Carrots and Turnips
These are quick and tasty and you can add strips of red pepper for more color and flavor if you’d like.
4 cups clean, trimmed and sliced turnips, carrots (and peppers—see headnote)
• I slice the carrots into ¼-inch thick strips about 3 inches long
• Turnips I halve and then slice into ¼-inch strips or thin wedges
• Peppers cut into ¼-inch strips, if using
3/4 cup cider or rice wine vinegar
2 cups water
2 garlic cloves, halved
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, slightly crushed (optional)
Bring brine ingredients to a boil in a nonreactive saucepan over moderate heat. Transfer pickling liquid to a one-quart canning jar. Discard garlic (don’t be alarmed if it has turned blue in reaction to the vinegar) and add vegetables to pickling liquid. Weight vegetables down to keep them submerged in liquid if necessary. Chill, covered, at least 24 hours.
Ginger Glazed Carrots with Sesame
Quick and good!
1 lb or so carrots, scrubbed and cut in ¼-inch slices on the diagonal
2 teaspoon finely grated ginger
2 teaspoons honey
1 cup vegetable stock
1 tablespoon butter
Sea salt
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil and simmer for about 7-8 minutes. You want tender carrots but no soft ones and you should just have a nice syrupy glaze at the end. Cook longer to reduce syrup if need be. Taste and adjust for salt. Serve with toasted sesame seeds.
Pot Roast with Carrots, Leeks and Roasted Potatoes
A wonderful weekend meal. And you could serve this with braised chard instead of roasted potatoes.
Couple of sprigs fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 dried bay leaves or 1 fresh bay leaf
One sprig fresh rosemary
2 juniper berries, crushed (optional)
One 2-pound piece shoulder of beef, bottom round, or pot roast
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Flour for dusting
5 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 leeks, trimmed, washed and cut into 3-inch lengths
3 carrots, cut into chunks
1 bottle (750ml) dry red wine (does not have to be expensive!)
1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms, coarsely chopped and soaked in 1 cup warm water (optional)
2 cups canned whole or crushed tomatoes or 2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
Water as needed
Potatoes, for roasting
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Season the beef with salt and pepper, then lightly dust with flour. Melt the butter in a large (6-quart) Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. When it is foaming, add the beef and brown it on all sides, 5 minutes. Add the onions, leeks, carrots, and all the herbs/spices. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften slightly, about 2 minutes. Raise the heat to high and add the bottle of wine. Cook until the wine begins to boil, about 2 more minutes, skimming off any fat that rises to the surface.
Strain the porcini mushrooms, if using, through a fine-mesh sieve, reserving the liquid. Rinse the mushrooms under cold running water to remove any grit, and add them to the pot along with the strained mushroom liquid and tomatoes. The liquid should just cover the meat. If it does not, add water. Cover the casserole and bake it in the oven until the meat is cooked through and tender, about 2 – 3 hours. Remove the meat from the casserole to a cutting board, cover with aluminum foil, and set aside. Remove the rosemary and thyme sprigs.
Scrub potatoes and cut into chunks. Toss with a little oil and salt and roast for the last 45 minutes of the meat cooking time.
Mash the vegetables up as best you can or use an immersion blender (you can also remove them and blend separately and then return to pan) set the pot over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook to reduce sauce/puree for about 5 minutes. Carve the meat into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Serve with the thick vegetable sauce and the roasted potatoes.