Delicious Soup for These Snowy Days

I tried a new soup this week! It's an adapated version of Ina Garten's Lentil Sausage Soup from her Barefoot in Paris cookbook - delicious! Don't you love my little red stockpot?

Lentil Sausage Soup

1 lb. lentils

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. dried thyme leaves

1 tsp. ground cumin

2 large yellow onions, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

6 stalks celery, diced

3 carrots, diced

3 Tbs. tomato paste

8-10 cups good strong chicken or vegetable broth

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 lb. kielbasa, cut in half lengthwise then sliced into 1/3 inch chunks

2 Tbs. dry red wine vinegar

fresh parmesan, shredded

In a large mixing bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes; drain and set aside.

In a large stockpot over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add thyme and cumin and stir until spices are fragrant. Add the onions, garlic, celery, and carrots to oilive oil in stockpot; saute for 10 minutes, then add tomato paste to vegetables in stockpot and continue to saute for an additional 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are softened and tomato paste is browned. Add broth and prepared lentils to vegetables; cover stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until lentils are cooked through; season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the kielbasa and red wine vinegar and simmer soup just until kielbasa is hot. Serve with freshly grated Parmeasan over the top!

Now You're Cookin'

Chef Alli

New Product You'll Want to Try........

Hudson Cream Flour is now available at our Topeka Hy-Vee!

Milled in Hudson Kansas at the Stafford County Flour Mill, Hudson Cream is a short patent flour made only from the heart of the wheat berry. Short patent flour is silky smooth and produces baked goods with the perfect texture.

We are currently just carrying the Enriched Bleached HC Flour, but I am in hopes that Hy-Vee Topeka will soon carry the HC Bread Flour as well as the HC Self-Rising flour - it makes the ultimate pancakes for lazy weekend mornings!

Now You're Cookin',
Chef Alli

Pizza On the Grill Class

Thursday, October 22, 2009

I'm jinxed! Once again it poured down rain right in the middle of my pizza class! There we were, gathered around the grill, intently watching our Caramelized Onion and Gorgonzola Pizza as it cooked to crispy perfection, when the heavens opened and down it poured. Luckily, Karen, Manhattan Hy-Vee's Dietitian, volunteered to finish the other two pizza crusts outside at the grill while I took the class upstairs, along with the gorgonzola onion pizza.

The last time I taught this class it was for Hy-Vee in Topeka and the same exact thing happened. Can you believe that? But, as any cook knows, you have to roll with the punches and we made it work. Fortunately, I had a sneaking suspicion this might happen (all thanks to hubby's daily weather report each early morning) so I had preheated our oven in the club room to a hot 450 degrees F. and this is where we finished off each pizza and it worked out just fine.

Though our pizzas didn't have QUITE the delicious Smokey flavor they typically would from being grilled till done, they were still delicious and we had a great class. We made two savory pizzas and then ended with something on the sweeter side: Apple Dessert Pizza with Aged Cheddar and Toasted Pecans. I created this recipe over the weekend for the Pizza on the Grill class I taught in McPherson at the Cook's Nook and am quite pleased with it - total yum! Jonathon and Granny Smith Apples, Pumpkin Pie Spice, Golden Raisins, see what I mean, doesn’t that sound great?

My next class... I'm preparing a class for Hy-Vee Manhattan: Fabulous Phyllo - it will be a lot of fun!

Now You're Cookin',
Chef Alli