Lentil, Sausage & Kale Soup

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Let me start by telling you that I am not a soup fan.  I know most people get warm happy feelings when they think about curling up with a hot bowl of soup on a cold, rainy day.  I am just not one of those people.  I think it's because I associate eating soup with being sick; my very Italian mother always insisted I eat chicken soup the minute any sign of an aliment appeared. Probably the only exception to my soup aversion was the Sopa de Lentejas my Spanish host mom used to make me when I lived in Sevilla.  So, when I was presented with this recipe for Kale-Lentil Soup, I caved.  Let me tell you, I am so glad I did.  I might be a soup convert.


We slightly modified this recipe to make it our own. You will need:

3/4 pound Andouille Sausage
1/2 pound Italian Sausage
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 cups chopped Carrots
2 medium Onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz can Tomato Paste with Basil, Garlic, and Oregano
12 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth (3 boxes of broth)
1 16 oz bag of Lentils
2 cans Garbanzo Beans
1-2 cups chopped Kale, as preferred

First, chop all of your veggies and set them aside.  Slice the sausage into 1/2 thick pieces.  

Put one tablespoon of olive oil in a Dutch Oven and cook the sausage over medium heat for about 7 minutes, until it is cooked through.  Transfer it to a bowl and set aside.

Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the Dutch Oven.  Cook the carrots, onions, and garlic over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Once the veggies have begun to soften, add the can of tomato paste to the pot.  Cook the mixture for an additional 2-3 minutes until vegetables are fully cooked.

Next, in the same pot add all of the broth, garbanzo beans and lentils.  Bring the soup to a boil, cover and reduce to low-medium heat.  Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Return the cooked sausage to the soup along with the kale. Cover and cook for an additional 10 minutes on low heat.

This soup was so indescribably delicious. The combination of sausages added delicate heat and spice.  I'm not normally a huge fan of kale, but it actually absorbed the flavor of the broth and was a great aspect of the soup.  I also felt that the liquid to solid ratio of the soup was perfect--i.e. not too 'soupy', but enough to soak up some broth using garlic bread.  I highly recommend this soup.  It is affordable, simple and serves 6-8 meals depending on portion size.  You could also half the recipe if cooking for one.

What is your favorite soup?  Maybe I will be adventurous and try some other recipes....

Spicy Curry Noodle Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potato

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On a cold winter day, there is nothing I crave more than a warm bowl of soup. Of course I love the classics, like tomato soup and lentil soup, but sometimes I want to mix it up and try something completely different. I found this recipe over the summer, and the sweet potato curry reminded of the pumpkin curry at Thai X-ing in DC. Have you guys tried it? Out.Of.This.World. I could not wait for the cold winter months so I'd have an excuse to slurp noodles and sweet potatoes from a warm, rich, curry broth. I know the list of ingredients is a little intimidating, but I promise the process is very simple and totally worth the shopping trip. 

To make the soup, you will need:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons chopped shallots

3 garlic cloves, chopped

3 stalks of fresh lemongrass

2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger - my grocery store was out so I used dried galangal ginger and it was great 

2 tablespoons Thai red or yellow curry paste - I used red because I already had it in my pantry

2 tablespoons curry powder 

1 teaspoon hot chili paste - such as sambal oelek 

2 cans of light unsweetened coconut milk,

5 cups low-sodium chicken broth (vegetarians could use vegetable broth)

2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce - should find it in the Asian aisle of your grocery store

2 teaspoons sugar

3 cups of green beans

2 sweet potatoes - peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 pound dried rice vermicelli noodles or rice stick noodles - I used fresh rice noodles from Trader Joes and they were a little sticky

3/4 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion - for serving 

1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions - for serving

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro for serving - I hate cilantro, so I omitted this ingredient

3 red Thai bird chiles or 2 red jalapeño chiles for serving. I used serrano chiles because that is what I found easily

1 lime, cut into 6 wedges - for serving

I love the bright purple color of shallots. They taste like a hybrid between garlic and onions. 

Once you've familiarized yourself with all of the ingredients, start out by prepping all of your vegetables. First, mince the shallots, garlic, ginger, and lemongrass. For the lemongrass, remove the tough outer leaves and then only use the bottom 4 inches of the stalk. 

Set aside the minced shallots, garlic, ginger and lemongrass. While you're still at your cutting board, peel your sweet potatoes and then cut them into 1/2 inch cubes. Then, trim the tough ends off of your green beans. Set the green beans and sweet potatoes aside in separate bowls. Then, take your raw chicken breasts and cut them into 1 inch pieces. 

Once you're done prepping your vegetables and meat, its time to start making the broth.

In a large soup pot, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat. Then add the garlic, shallots, ginger, and lemongrass into the pot and heat for about 1-2 minutes, until the mixture is fragrant. Stir in curry paste, curry powder, and chili paste. Then add 1/2 can of coconut milk and stir for 2 minutes. Then add the remaining coconut milk, 2 1/2 tablespoons of fish sauce, all of the chicken broth, and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Bring the broth to a boil, then remove from heat and set aside. 

Fill a separate pot with salted water and bring to a boil. First, add the green beans to the pot and boil for 30 seconds - make sure they keep their bright green color. Using a small strainer or slated spoon, scoop the green beans out and place in a separate bowl. 

Next, add the sweet potatoes into the same pot of boiling water and cook until soft - approximately 7 minutes. Then, scoop the sweet potatoes out of the water and set aside with the green beans.

Then, add the rice noodles to the same pot of boiling water, and follow directions on the package for cooking time. They should be al dente - softened but not mushy. Drain the noodles and set aside.

Finally, bring the pot of broth back up to a simmer. Once the soup is simmering, add the diced chicken to the pot and cook for 10 minutes. Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked through, add the sweet potatoes, green beans, and noodles back into the pot. 

Ladle the soup into individual bowls to serve! 

You can top the soup with any combination of the fresh cilantro, scallions, red onions, lime, and chills. I used finely diced red onion, scallions, and a little bit of Serrano chile. I garnished my whole bowl with fresh squeezed lime. 

Had to give you a shot with the noodles! 

Vous êtes cordialement invités au premier dîner du fooDCrave

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We love living and entertaining in DC, but, due to the size of our apartments, we have felt constricted in our ability to throw lavish dinner parties. We know that many of our readers also live in tiny apartments and cook in tiny kitchens. So we've set out on a new project to prove that you can host fabulous dinner parties whether you've got a mansion or a studio apartment. We're calling them 'Tiny Dinner Parties'. 

In her book, My Life In France, Julia Child wrote, "The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded and whack the hell out of a chicken. Bon appétit.” With this quote in mind, Amanda and I decided a French dinner would make for an excellent first Tiny Dinner Party.

We were lucky enough to have a guest photographer, Jason Leavy, do a proper photo shoot of the whole dinner party and (hopefully) leave us with a few photo tips! 

First, we selected a menu:

First Course

French Onion Soup with a Gruyere Crouton

Second Course

Beef Bourguignon

Side Dish

Braised Jewel Fingerling Potato Coins

Wine Pairing

Boujoulais Nouveau

Throughout the week, we will be sharing these recipes with you. First up is the French Onion Soup. 

We used a recipe from 2011 Bon Apetit magazine that received high reviews on Epicurious. We only doctored it up a little this time.  

Here's what you'll need for 4 bowls of French Onion Soup:

3 medium vidalia or yellow onions

2 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil 

4 cups of beef stock

1 Tbsp of unsalted butter

1 Tbsp of brandy 

A baguette

1 1/2 cups of Gruyere cheese- grated 

Onion Powder

Kosher Salt

Ground Black Pepper
4 oven safe bowls (Ramekins or Crocks

The first step is to caramelize the onions. Begin by cutting the onions into thin slivers. Then, in a large pot that you plan to use for the soup, coat the bottom of the pan with extra virgin olive oil and the butter. Heat over a medium flame until the butter is melted and the oil is warm. Add the onions and stir to coat. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the onions are a light brown (caramel) color and are soft.

While the onions are cooking, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Once the onions are caramelized, add 1 Tbsp of Brandy to the pot and give the onions a good stir. Cook for an additional 30 seconds, or until the brandy is absorbed. 

Then, add the 4 cups of beef stock to the pot and bring to a simmer. Season the broth to taste with salt, pepper, and onion powder. 

Next, place 4 ramekins or crocks onto a baking sheet. Evenly divide the soup among the ramekins. 

Then, grate the gruyere. You can adjust the amount based on how much cheese you like, but we liked our onion soup pretty cheesy so we grated about 1 1/2 cups of cheese. Then cut your baguette into 1/2 inch slices. Place 2 slices of bread on top each ramekin.  This time, we did not toast our bread prior to placing it in the ramekins.  We learned our lesson, and felt the bread would have benefited from a bit of crunch by toasting prior to placing the ramekins in the oven.

Top each with the shredded gruyere cheese. 

Place the tray of ramekins into the oven and bake for 4 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and brown. Then serve the soup as your first course! The rest of the baguette can be served alongside for extra dunking! 

We were a little impatient with the soup and pulled it out before it fully browned. 

Come back tomorrow for the real star of the meal: beef bourguignon! 

&

DC Pho Down: Hanoi House v. Pho 14

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The challenge: To determine the best Pho on or near the 14th Street Corridor.

The details: Last week, the guys behind Marvin opened a new Vietnamese restaurant Hanoi House on 14th and U Street. I visited the new spot three days after it opened. I was immediately impressed with the decor and the vibe, and I enjoyed my Vermicelli Bowl and the Pho. After I left, however, I began to wonder whether the cool ambiance detracted from the authenticity or quality of the food. I wondered how Hanoi House compared to Pho 14, a "hole in the wall" Vietnamese place in Columbia Heights that has been widely touted as one of the best Pho joints in the city. I decided to put the two restaurants to the test, and find out which should be my go-to spot for Pho.

For those of you who have never eaten Pho or Vietnamese food before, Pho (pronounced 'Fa') is a Vietnamese soup served with either beef or chicken, rice noodles, lime juice, and a variety of different vegetables, like green onion, bean sprouts, and herbs, like basil and cilantro. There are also seafood or vegetarian options. It is similar in style to Ramen, which you'll likely remember as the dried noodles that your college roommate alternated with Easy Mac for dinner options. Both Pho and Ramen, however, are actually incredibly complex, rich broths that incorporate fresh meat, homemade noodles, and fresh vegetables, baring no resemblance to your college experience. One of these days I will get back over to Toki Underground, and give you a review of proper Ramen. I digress. Back to the Pho Down.

At Hanoi House, image is everything. When you walk in, it's like you're stepping into a Pho brothel.
 

The entry and wait area at Hanoi House

The walls are lacquer black with red accents, the lighting is low, and the entire staff is dressed to a T. We arrived without a reservation and were immediately shuffled off to the side to wait - despite the fact that half of the tables were open. Allegedly, the tables were being held for reservations, but they were all still open when we were seated (at the bar) 20 minutes later.

Forgive the bad photography- this place was very dimly lit

The best part about Hanoi House was the drink list. The mixologists hail from The Gibson (D.C.'s acclaimed speakeasy) and have come up with an interesting bar menu that is sprinkled with delightful surprises like star anise vodka. Um, yes please. There were tons of drink combinations that I had never seen before and was excited to try. 

The bar at Hanoi House

I ordered the New Dynasty, which had red plum, lime, Thai basil, and star anise vodka. It was beautifully served with a sprig of basil as a garnish. The drink had a completely unique flavor- tangy but not sweet and very fresh from the basil. My friend,  Abby, ordered The Gold Star, which had mango, nutmeg, pineapple, lemon and pisco. She also loved the tropical creation.  

The New Dynasty

To eat, I ordered the Vermicelli Bowl with Chicken and Shrimp, and Abby ordered the Pho Ga (chicken). We wanted to get two different things to try out the menu. The Pho was definitely the winner between the two entrees, but both had their perks. The Vermicelli Bowl is more of a salad and had rice noodles, lettuce, basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, chicken and shrimp. The sauce, a sweet dressing, was served on the side. Although the bowl was pretty bland without the dressing, I appreciated that the sauce was served on the side so that I could decide how much to add. Truthfully the flavor was still a little lacking so I added chilli sauce and hoisin sauce to kick it up a notch. It was good, but not necessarily the most exciting Vietnamese food I've ever had.

Vermicelli Bowl

Bean sprouts, basil, jalepno, and lime were seved with both dishes

Abby really enjoyed her Pho Ga- served with chicken. She thought the noodles were very fresh and described the plate as simple and tasty. As is traditional, she added chilli sauce, hoisin, and sriracha and was pretty happy with her meal.

The only thing we weren't impressed by was the obvious layer of oil on top of Abby's Pho Ga

Atmosphere wise, Pho 14, is about as far as you can get from Hanoi House. It's right off 14th Street in Columbia Heights on a strip of Latin American restaurants that all seem to specialize in Pupusas. Their restaurant has almost no decor, except for a Tiki bar in the back which serves only soft drinks. We were immediately seated at a simple, unpresuming table in the small restaurant. But forget all of that. Diners don't come to Pho 14 for fancy cocktails or dimly lit booths. They come for the Pho.

To start, we ordered the Seafood Spring Rolls. The rice wrapper was filled with a variety of vegetables (celery, green beans, carrots) as well as calamari, shrimp and scallops.  It also came with fresh mango and was served cold with a homemade mix of fish sauce, sweet chili and tamarind sauce. It wasn't bad, but honestly, I'd skip that next time and go straight to the Pho.

I ordered the Chin Nam Ve Don Pho, which had well-done brisket and flank steak in the soup. This was, by far, the best Pho I've ever had. My date, far more adventurous than I, got the Tai Chin Gau Gan Sach Pho, which comprised of slices of eye-of-round steak, well-done brisket, fat brisket, soft tendon, and bible tripe. He is far more of a Pho expert than me and claims that the bible tripe is what really makes the dish. The meat was perfectly cooked and added in right before it is served, preventing it from getting soggy or overcooked in the broth. Though you can get Pho at a lot of places, the broth is what makes Pho 14 unique. We also added lime, jalepeno, chili sauce, sriracha, and hoisin to the soup and were practically licking the bowls clean!

THE WINNER: Ranking on food alone, Pho 14 is the clear winner. The broth is far more flavorful and complex and the meat is more expertly prepared. If you're looking for an authentic and truly delicious bowl of Pho, this is the place to go. The drink menu and ambiance at Hanoi House, however, are pretty tough to beat. It is the kind of place I'd go to sample the creative cocktails and schmooze in a sexy environment. And while I might not go there specifically for the food, I like knowing there are some tasty options.