Recipe Review from 1/4/09

Project Freezer Reduction!

The last week has been a good week for soups and stews and while I can't say I'm off and running in the new year with new recipes, I made one. I was making a concerted effort to eat up an accumulation of leftovers and odds and ends that somehow ended up in my fridge. I think the contents of my refrigerator had a conspiracy going...

This recipe and the ones in the week to come are part of an endeavor to use up items that have been sitting around for way to long. Those bags of frozen veggies that got crammed way in the back of the freezer, the package of chicken breasts that were on sale (buy one get one free), etc. Or, in other words, Project Freezer Reduction has begun again!

Last week I used up:
a bag of frozen corn
frozen edamame
potato
and 1 pie crust

Succotash Chowder (Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen, modified)
This turned out just okay. I felt the garlic was a bit much and made a bitter background note to the dish. I didn't have the full amount of beans, which also may have made a difference. I did puree the dish to add some thickness, but even at that, I felt it was rather runny. I think a slightly better preparation would have been to use vegetable stock and thicken it with half and half or even a roux. I feel that would have added some flavor that was missing and cut back on the amount of milk. This made 7 servings. I had it for lunches with cheese and crackers.

Succotash Chowder
1 medium potato, diced
1 tbsp butter or olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed or minced
3 stalks swiss chard, leaves removed (or use celery)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp basil (I used dried)
1/2 tsp thyme
3 cups fresh or frozen corn (if frozen, thaw)
2-3 cups cooked lima beans (I used 1 cup edamame; it's all I had)
4 cups milk (lowfat okay)
generous amt black pepper

1) Cook diced potato in boiling water until just tender. Drain and set aside.

2) Melt butter or heat olive oil in large dutch oven. Add onion and saute until caramelized. Add garlic, herbs and Swiss chard and saute about 4 minutes. Stir in corn and saute for about 10 minutes more. Add beans.

3) Optional - puree part of the saute mixture to make the soup thicker.

4) Add potatoes and milk. Season to taste with black pepper. Serve very hot.


This week I am using up:
1 sweet potato
shallots
box of spiral pasta
wedge of Gruyere cheese

Recipes:
Quick Skillet Mac and Cheese by Fine Cooking (Feb 10)
Duguid's Everyday Dal (Ckng Lght, Jan/Feb 10)

Though I bought mistakenly bought red lentils instead of mung dal(brain fart) and the folks left me a bag of potatoes to use up. So lost some ground there. Perhaps a gratin is in my future!