Beer Cheese Soup

The alternate title for this entry was "Ode to Schlafly," because not only does the recipe use Schlafly Oktoberfest beer, it was actually inspired by their beer cheese soup.

One of my very favorite places to eat in St Louis, and the one place that I will inevitably take every non-St-Louisan who visits me, is the Bottleworks. I recommend pretty much every item on their menu that I've ever had. They have a wide variety of vegetarian options, and lots of things made with beer! If you like to actually drink beer (which I can't imagine why anyone would) there are many varieties of that as well. While I really dislike beer for drinking, I love to make things with it -- bread, biscuits, and of course, cheese soup! The beer cheese soup at the Bottleworks, unfortunately, left me a little disappointed. So I went home and made my own. And now I am sharing it with you, in the hopes you can find the cheesy joy that I did :)

Beer Cheese Soup

3 tbsp butter
1 leek
1 carrot
1 tbsp flour
3 cups vegetable broth
1 12 oz bottle amber-type beer (As I mentioned, I used Schlafly Oktoberfest, but Sam Adams is a good one if you don't have anything local available)
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
8 oz mild cheddar cheese (also shredded)
2 tsp garlic salt
generous grinds of black pepper

First and foremost, open the bottle of beer and pour it into a large measuring cup to go flat (try to pour it pretty quickly -- the more head builds up, the more quickly it will go flat). Heat the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the leek and the carrot, and cook until both begin to get soft, about 5 minutes. Add flour to make a roux, then SLOWLY add vegetable broth, followed by beer; stir constantly while adding liquid. When vegetables are cooked to desired consistency, add cheese gradually, stirring until there are no lumps of cheese or puddles of cheeseless broth. Add garlic salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 2 minutes or so until soup is heated through (adding cheese lowers the temperature). Serve with thick slices of bread (I recommend sourdough!) and enjoy.

When I made this soup, I found I should have put more vegetables in it, but it was quite tasty even as it stands. Next time I'll probably try adding some corn, and maybe a little bit of celery.

Sweet Ginger Shrimp

Like every food item I post on here, I must include the story behind the dinner. I was attempting to make an Asian noodle stir fry type thing, and I cooked the shrimp separately so I could have two different flavors and then stack them. Well, I made an important discovery: I do not have the ability to make Asian noodles successfully. Whenever I try, they end up in a clumpy, starchy noodle cake. Also, unfortunately, I didn't have a good selection of vegetables to put in it, so the overall result of the noodle-fry half of the meal was, while tasty enough not to be an utter failure, certainly nothing to write home about (or to write you all about, for that matter). The shrimp, on the other hand, were fan-freakin-tastic, so I will now share that very simple and utterly delicious recipe with you.

Sweet Ginger Shrimp

1/2 lb large (16-20 count) raw shrimp
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp ginger
1 heaping tbsp brown sugar
salt & pepper

Peel and de-vein shrimp, if necessary, then put into a medium sized bowl. Add ginger, brown sugar, salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat with the butter and garlic. When the butter starts to bubble, add the shrimp. Cook until pink and opaque, then serve over rice (or a tasty Asian stir fry! :P). Enjoy -- and trust me, you will!

Protein Tidbit: Eat More Nuts

I know for a lot of vegetarians and vegans (and sometimes for us peskies too) finding new and interesting sources of protein can be difficult. There is only so much tofu one person can eat. One thing that I like to do is to sneak nuts into recipes that normally don't have any other protein-sources in them, so you don't have to find a particular dish to cook just to get protein.

EXAMPLES!

Raw sliced almonds are very delicious in fried rice. I know, the rice already has an egg in it, but when you're feeding 3-4 people, 1 egg is about 0 protein.

Walnuts go well with Italian-type dishes; anything with garlic/olive oil/pesto/alfredo type flavor is good. One of my favorites is to put walnuts in garlic-sauteed spinach.

Cashews are good in sweet-savory dishes. Anything with sweet-and-sour, gingery stir-fries, teriyaki, that ballpark.

I tend to keep at least 3, if not 4 or 5 different types of nuts in the pantry at all times to fit into various recipes. It's a good idea, I promise! That, and they're good to snack on while you're cooking :)

Steak Dinner, hold the steak

For this meal what I really wanted was something to reflect the classic steak dinner, meat-and-potatoes-type of thing, but (obviously) without the steak part. This is extremely simple, and the BEST part of it (I think) is that I've finally perfected southern-style green beans without bacon or salt pork.

Steak Salmon Dinner

2 1/4 lb salmon fillets
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp steak seasoning

2 potatoes*
2 tbsp low-fat sour cream or cream cheese
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped

fresh green beans (2 servings' worth -- can't really measure these by cups, they're too big. I'd say I used about 1/2 lb and had lots of leftover)
1 tbsp butter
1 shallot
1/3 c vegetable broth
generous sprinkling of bacon salt
1 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese

Start with the potatoes, 'cause they take a LONG time. Preheat the oven to 425, and toss the potatoes in it. Bake 40-60 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes.

When your 'tatoes have about 30 minutes left, start the beans. Dice the shallot. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat, then add shallot, heating until it begins to become translucent. Add green beans, seasoning with bacon salt and tossing to coat. Cook 5 minutes or so, stirring regularly. Add vegetable broth and reduce heat to low; cover.

When the potatoes have maybe 5 minutes left, prepare the salmon. This one's tough, so pay attention! Take a baking pan. Put the salmon in it. Coat them with a little olive oil, sprinkle them with steak seasoning. When you take the potatoes out of the oven, put the salmon in for 20 minutes. See? Really friggin difficult.

Turn off the green beans about 5 minutes before the salmon comes out. Split the baked potatoes and dress with cream cheese/sour cream and chives. Garnish the green beans with the parm. Then you eat it! :)

*potato note: When I made these I used red potatoes, but if you like baking potatoes or yukon golds or whatever, use what you like. It's just a baked potato.

Curry, my way

In my food I believe in two very important principles -- one is, obviously, deliciousness, and the other is simplicity. This has both. And it's ethnic, which makes you look impressive to your friends ;)

Sweet Tofu Curry

1 pkg extra-firm tofu
2 tbsp peanut oil (or vegetable oil for those with allergies)
3 cloves garlic
1 shallot
1 heaping tbsp curry paste
1 can coconut milk
1/4 c vegetable broth
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup frozen spinach

First, and most importantly, the morning before you make this recipe, drain the tofu! The longer tofu drains, the more it will absorb flavor. I recommend slicing it into 4 or 5 pieces, then laying those pieces out on a pile of paper towels and leaving that in the fridge. If you don't have time for that, then before you start preparing anything else, lay out the tofu slices with paper towels on both sides, and put a weight over the whole thing (like a dinner plate or something) and leave it until it's ready to be sliced.

When you're ready to start cooking, finely chop the garlic, thin-slice the shallot, and cube up the tofu. Add your oil to a large pan on medium heat, and add the garlic and shallot. When the shallot gets translucent, add your curry paste, mixing it into the oil until it is consistent, then add your tofu. Cook tofu about 3 minutes with the curry paste mixture.

Add coconut milk, vegetable broth, and white wine, mixing until consistent. Stir in frozen spinach, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until mixture is reduced by about half, stirring occasionally. Feel free to add salt and pepper as you find necessary, but I don't think it really needs it.

Serve over basmati or jasmine rice.

So good it disappeared!

Ok, I meant to take a picture of this -- I really did. It's lovely, and colorful and worth photographing. But...uh...well, I ate it all before I remembered to take a picture.

Tri-Color Veggie Salad

1 c frozen whole kernel corn
1 c frozen green peas
1 fresh tomato
1/2 small yellow onion
1 c fat-free sour cream
1/2 tbsp garlic salt
1/2 tbsp adobo
2 tsp black pepper

This is about the easiest assembly ever: thaw the corn and peas. Chop up the onion and the tomato very small. Put everything in a bowl and mix together. The only note that I do have is about the adobo: I actually have a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce that lives in my fridge, and that was where I got my seasoning from. If you prefer, feel free to substitute that with cayenne pepper, chipotle powder, pepper sauce, or anything else slightly spicy that would make you happy.

This salad is awesome for picnics because it is SUPER easy and looks really pretty because of all the colors.

Absolutely Not Beef Stroganoff

I know what you're thinking: "What title could possibly be less descriptive than one where all we know is that we have ruled out one of the billions of meals in the world?" But please, bear with me here. There is a story:

Growing up, my mom would often make what she would refer to as "beef stroganoff," though she and the rest of my family knew that what she was actually making was nowhere close. The primary ingredients of her recipe were ground chuck, cream of mushroom soup, and sour cream. These things do not a stroganoff make, but what they did make was a delicious dinner of which I was a very big fan. The "stroganoff" is served over egg noodles, and was a favorite in my family.

My adaptation doesn't even have beef in it, so it is not just "beef stroganoff" with air quotes, it is absolutely not beef stroganoff. It is, however, yummy.

Absolutely Not Beef Stroganoff

prep time 15-20 minutes
serves 4-6

3 tbsp olive oil
1 bag of Boca or Morningstar ground crumbles
1 package sliced baby portabella mushrooms
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
milk or cream
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 bag egg noodles
salt & pepper
parmesan cheese (optional)

recommended seasonings:
bacon salt
fresh oregano
fresh chives
paprika

Set your pan of water over high heat for the egg noodles. Simultaneously with preparing the egg noodles, add olive oil to a large, deep skillet (or electric skillet if you have one). Add crumbles, onion, and mushrooms, seasoning with a little salt and pepper. Heat, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Add soup and sour cream, stirring until well blended. Slowly add milk or cream until you reach desired sauce consistency. Once desired consistency is reached, add corn and cook until heated through, then season to taste. Serve sauce generously over egg noodles and garnish with parmesan. Enjoy!