Mmm Mmmm Minestrone

When I hosted my first Shabbos dinner in NYC, I also decided to have a soup course. (Because that's what you do when it's 90 degrees outside, right?) The truth was, I had made some really good Beef Minestrone soup a few days earlier for dinner and had, like, half the pot leftover. So I figured having 10 people over was a good way to use up some leftovers!

This minestrone soup and I go way back. Back when I was dating a certain ex-boyfriend, I was visiting him for the weekend and we went to friends of his for Shabbos dinner. They served minestrone soup that was really good and that my ex really liked, so we asked for the recipe. We didn't end up getting it, but later that weekend, my ex asked if I could maybe figure it out and make it for us for dinner. We went to the grocery store, I haphazardly threw some things into a cart, and then tried my luck back at his apartment. It came out perfectly - so hearty and thick and beefy, but still really healthy-tasting and satisfying. I've made it several times over the last few years, and every time I make it, I remember how much I like it!

Fast forward to last week: I knew that, after eating the soup for a few nights during the week, I wouldnt have enough to feed 10 people at Shabbos dinner. Also, when you refrigerate and then re-heat the soup, the noodles absorb a ton of the liquid. So I sauteed up some more veggies, added some more tomatoes, broth, and pasta, and I had a full pot of soup again - it was a never-ending pot of soup! My suggestions for making more soup are at the end of the recipe. Also, I added WAY too many noodles, so I'm cutting the noodles way down in this version of the recipe. But hey, if you like pasta, add as much as you'd like!

Beef Minestrone Soup
serves Unlimited

3 tbsp. oil
1 lb. ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled, quartered, and thinly sliced
2 zucchinis, halved and sliced
1 can of small white beans (or any combination of beans), drained
1 28-oz. can of crushed tomatos
6 cups beef broth, divided
6 oz. mini shell pasta (or mini bowties)
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a stock pot over medium heat, brown the ground beef in the oil until it is fully cooked.
2. Add the onion, carrot, and zucchini and sautee until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the beans and heat until warmed through.
3. Add the crushed tomatoes and 4 cups of beef broth and bring to a boil.
4. Pour in the pasta, and allow the soup to cook at a rapid simmer until pasta is soft and soup is thickened, about 8-10 minutes.
5. Add the additional 2 cups of broth. Season to taste.

*To make the soup stretch and feed 10 more:
2 tbsp. oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 zucchini, halved and sliced
1 carrot, peeled, quartered, and sliced
1/2 can small white beans (or any variety), drained
1 15-oz. can of crushed or diced tomatoes
5 cups beef broth
3 oz. mini shell pasta (or mini bowties)
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat the already-made soup on a low heat until warm.
2. In a separate pot, heat the oil and sautee the onion, zucchini, and carrot on medium heat until soft. Add the beans and heat through.
3. Add the tomatoes and 3 cups of beef broth and bring to a full boil. Add the additional pasta and cook at a rapid simmer until the pasta is soft.
4. Add the fresh soup to the re-heated soup and add any remaining broth until it's the consistency that you like. (Note: keeping the soup on the stove thickens it, so keep some broth handy to thin it out as needed.) Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken ala NYC

Greetings from New York! Well, I did it - I made the big move to the big city! It's been a crazy few weeks - wrapping up things at my old job in Baltimore (and taking part in 3 MAJOR events right before my last day!), packing up 5 years worth of cooking equipment, clothing, shoes, and stuff, and moving to Manhattan on Erev Shavuos - talk about great timing! But it all worked out great and I'm all settled in and have already hosted a meal at my place!

I intended to have Shabbos dinner this past week with, like, 3 friends. Well, that snowballed into a 10-person meal....and I didn't even have a table or chairs! Luckily, I decided to buy a folding table on Friday afternoon, and we scrounged around the building for a couple extra folding chairs. Crisis averted, and I had a great time with old and new friends.

I decided to make a chicken dish that I actually came up with and made once in Baltimore before I left, but I tweaked it a little. I have to say, this is one of my favorite dishes I've come up with so far! It was so delicious, the chicken was so moist, the sauce was so flavorful, and I got a ton of compliments on it - and you will too! It's sort of a take on my Manischewitz cook-off entry chicken, except that the base of the sauce is mushrooms instead of shallots, and it's a creamier sauce because of the roux that you create with the flour and the oil. This is also a great way to stretch a buck (always helpful when you're paying NYC rent!) because I got 10 portions of chicken (PLUS 2 leftover pieces) out of just 6 chicken breasts, since I cut them into smaller pieces after I pound them out. If you try anything I've blogged about, try this one - you won't regret it!

Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
serves 10

2 lb. chicken breasts (6 medium sized)
1 cup + 2 tbsp. flour
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. oil
1/2 cup white wine, divided
1 large shallot or 1 small onion, chopped
2 pints sliced mushrooms (I used a combo of button and criminis)
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
salt, pepper

1. Pound the chicken breasts thin using a meat mallot (or heavy-bottomed pan or rolling pin) in between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Cut them into 2-3 pieces.
2. Season the 1 cup flour with salt and pepper on a plate or in a shallow dish. Lightly dredge the thin chicken breasts in the seasoned flour.
3. Heat the 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Pan fry the chicken breasts in the oil until browned, about 5 minutes on each side. Place the chicken on a paper towel-lined plate.
4. Discard some of the remaining oil so there's only a thin layer left in the pan. Add the white wine and scrape up the bits from the bottom of the pan using a wooden spoon. Reduce the wine by half.
5. Add the remaining 2 tbsp. of oil and turn the heat down to medium. Add the shallots and sweat them for 2 minutes until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes, or until they've reduced in size and are golden.
6. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of wine and again scrape the bottom of the pan. Cook out the wine.
6. Sprinkle in the remaining 2 tbsp. of flour and allow to cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken stock slowly and bring the sauce to a bubble.
7. Reduce the heat to low and allow the sauce to simmer and the mushroom flavor to infuse the sauce for 5 minutes. Season to taste AFTER the sauce is at the right consistency. (If you season it before it reduces and thickens, it could get too salty.)
8. Arrange the chicken on a serving plate. Pour the sauce over the chicken and allow to sit for at least an hour (on the warm stove or in a warm (200 degree) oven).