Cooking: the DIY you can eat!

[poobah]

Who want's a recipe for a much better knock-off of Olive Garden's Zuppa Tuscana? Sausage/potato/kale type soup

It can land you a girl in about an hour....

You gotta shop like SY though... you have to have perfect fresh stiff Kale... otherwise move on to something else...

[Variac]

I also cook "in the moment" Throwing in stuff as seems right.

The satisfying thing is mostly as poobah says- short term rewards. Work projects , amp projects- they just malinger.

I think people that learn to cook well, especially those that
do it by taste, are people that like to eat well!

If you don't do it who else will?

[poobah]

Variac,

I have a stomach that proves your theory about eating well!

NO TAKER'S ON THE RECIPE? You want this soup... I am removing the profanity from the doc right now.

[Variac]

Give us that recipe RIGHT NOW! that's an order!

[SY]

Sausage disqualifies it for me, but post away!

[poobah]

Poobah’s Supa Zupa,

This is a rich, hearty soup that can work as a meal. Very good also with nice bread for dipping. Don’t count on leftovers… and it’ at it’s best fresh… day old is mushy. Serves 4 – 6.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground Italian sausage (the pre-made stuff is very cool)
3 - 4 T flour
2 – 3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 fennel bulb, chopped medium OR 2 teaspoons of ground Anise
1/2 - 1 onion, chopped medium (4 or 5 shallots would be nice instead, but not essential)
4-5 medium russet potatoes (Yukon Golds are nice too), peeled and sliced 1/8”-3/16” thick (you could leave the peels on)
1/2 Gal. whole milk (do what you must… but whole milk is best)
1/2 – 1 t red pepper
2 T sweet basil (the dried stuff is fine)
4 T butter (4 pats) REAL butter (again, do what you must)
1 T salt
1 big bunch (or even 2) of FRESH Kale, fold the leaves in half, slice off the veins and chop coarse.


Cooking:

Start with a skillet, break up and NEARLY brown (1-2 minutes shy) the sausage over med heat (a pink spot here and there). Set a sieve/colander over a soup pot and put the sausage in to allow the drippings into the soup pot. You may have to squeeze it to wring the juice out (or a pat or two of butter). Some sausage is really quite lean. Put the meat back into the skillet and let rest.

Put the pot on medium/med-hi and add the flour… but not all of it; use some judgment. You want a somewhat thick liquid mixture, but not paste (this is called a roux). Cook this for a minute or so scraping/stirring constantly with a spatula. Cook until you have a medium tan color. It should be frothy, bubbling, and “spreading out” as it cooks; if not, add butter or heat.

Add the sausage, garlic, fennel, and onions to the pot and stir… be quick. Cook until the onions just sweat a bit and the sausage is fully done. Add the potatoes and add milk to cover; plus 1 inch. It’s ok if you scald the milk a bit. Stir gently until the mixture comes to boil and reduce heat for a slow simmer.

After about 10 minutes; still at a slow simmer, add the red pepper and sweet basil.

Check the potatoes frequently (maybe 20 minutes total) and when they’re almost done, slightly firm but breakable, GENTLY stir in the pats of butter; ONE at a time… take your time. Remove from the heat.

Add salt to taste.

Add the Kale, a fold in gently, and serve.

Grind fresh black pepper over the servings.


Tips:

• Don’t cook the sausage all the way at first, it will get over done when you get to the second round.
• Be careful with the roux… you want cooked flour; but you don’t want a dark roux. If you have brown roux, you went too far: hurl the mess and start over with butter. And, if you used to too much flour (you made paste); add a pat of butter. Because you need to stop the roux from cooking too much it is a good idea to have all your stuff prepared in advance.
• The fennel is optional. But it is a veggie; and the licorice taste always kicks *** with pork.
• The red pepper is not for “taste”… only the subtle warmth (makes a cooling soup taste warm)… follow your tastes. A level teaspoon in this amount of liquid will not create fire.
• This is big pot of soup; at least of a tablespoon of salt is required. If the soup tastes oily or greasy it needs more.
• I don’t know why you put in one pat of butter at a time, but it works; so just do it.
• The Kale cooks itself… like spinach, it’s gross when it loses body. Add it at the last minute only. If you can’t get FRESH Kale (stiff)… don’t bother; wait until you can. The Kale, and the roux make the texture.
• The black pepper is about fragrance… the red pepper is about warmth… don’t forget either.
• Fresh grated parmesan (NOT that powdered **** in the green can) on serving is also very cool; but not required by any means (it doesn’t HAVE to be expensive, but the stuff in the green can is NOT parmesan cheese).
• This kicks *** with some good bread or a bruscetta… although you could just as well tape it to your *** and skip eating it. The potatoes and milk give you the carbs.
• This is a meal type of soup. Kale is rich and you’ve covered all the bases. Have a BIG bowl. It is also very high in calcium which helps keep middle-aged women tall/upright. It also high in fat… so have a glass of red stuff and GO FOR A WALK!

[poobah]

Well... I got most of the bad words out!

Variac, a food thread would rock. I bet there is alot of great DIY chefs here.

[anatech]

Hi poobah,
Cut 'n paste. Thanks! My wife loves soup.

Yeah, a food thread might be cool.

-Chris

[poobah]

Go for it,

I have devised cunning methods of getting children to eat vegatables. This is kid & girl rated... high marks.

[anatech]

Poobah,
My wife likes the look of your recipe, and your tag line!

We just have to use something other than milk for me.

-Chris