Sandwich Struggle

Confession time. I have a problem. Sandwiches have always been a struggle for me. Such a pity, since I love nothing more than the idea of a sandwich. What could be better than a bounty of wonderful ingredients slapped between two thick pieces of bread? Maybe it’s toasted, maybe it’s not. Either way, it’s sure to be delicious as you bite into it and your taste buds are overwhelmed with a flurry of flavors. For me, this is the moment where the train grinds to a screeching halt.

I have a condiment conundrum. Going all the way back to when I was just a tiny little Taste Bud, sandwich condiments have repulsed me. Mayonnaise? Forget about it. That thick, creamy white substance will never touch my sliced bread. Uh-oh. Do you hear that? That music? It’s getting louder. Could it be? It’s building in a slow, but definite condiment crescendo. It sounds like the music from the shower scene in the Hitchcock classic Psycho. This could only mean one thing…

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Horror of horrors! Don’t even think about getting any of this stuff within a 50 foot radius of me. Simply taking this picture was enough to make me break out in a cold sweat. I’m not meaning to direct all of my disgust toward the bright yellow mustard. I’m an equal opportunity hater when it comes to any mustard. Dijon, spicy, whole-grain, German, English, Chinese, Bordeaux – I hate ’em all. My dilemma should be quite clear at this point. If I can’t stomach any of the popular condiments, how am I able to eat sandwiches? I have one word. Dry. Think Sahara Desert dry. Perhaps even Atacama Desert dry – the driest desert in the world.

Yes, I’ve choked down many a dry sandwich in my day, much to my own displeasure. Thankfully, there is one sandwich that solves my struggle. A sandwich that stands out above all of the rest. A sandwich that requires no condiments to be absolutely and utterly fabulous. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the grilled cheese sandwich has arrived to save the day and take me out of the doldrums of dryness forever.

Like a sandwich symphony, the grilled cheese has it all. Let us take a moment to marvel at its beauty.

My hero! What’s not to love about this? Two thick pieces of bread oozing with cheesy goodness. Even better, these wonderful creations are grilled up using lots of one of my favorite ingredients – butter! Everything is better with butter. I should print bumper stickers with this slogan. Now back to our grilled cheese…

The options are overwhelming. You can experiment with the type of bread. You can experiment with the type of cheese. If you’re feeling especially feisty, you can even mix and match your cheeses. Don’t be afraid to add other ingredients to the party. I’ve been known to put bacon in my grilled cheese sandwiches. Why? Everything is better with bacon. I should print bumper stickers with this slogan. Why do I keep getting sidetracked with visions of bumper sticker grandeur today? Back to our sandwich! Let your imagination run wild. See that ripe avocado on your counter? That could make a wonderful addition to your next grilled cheese creation. How about those juicy tomatoes that will be coming in by the bushel this summer? Why not add a slice or two? Do what tastes good to YOU.

Most importantly, the grilled cheese sandwich beautifully solves my condiment conundrum. No condiments are required, because these culinary creations were made for dunking! Grilled cheese and soup go hand in hand. They’re a match made in heaven. Bellying up to the table with a grilled cheese sandwich and a steaming bowl of soup sends my taste buds into hysterics and gets my heart all aflutter. What kind of soup should you use for the dunking experience? Use your favorite, of course. There are no rules. If it is appetizing to your taste buds, then you have made the correct soup selection.

As I pick up the grilled cheese and give it that satisfying dip into my bowl, I see it soaking up even more flavor, while getting a nice dose of hydration and moisture. Your soup becomes a spa for your sandwich, accentuating its intrinsic beauty. That first bite is pure bliss. No condiments needed here. Mayonnaise and mustard can take a hike! Grilled cheese, I salute you!

What’s your favorite grilled cheese and soup combination?

Happy dunking,

The Taste Bud

Don’t Stir!

It is the middle of July and a young boy is in the kitchen helping his grandma assemble a tasty summertime treat. Peaches are in season, so his grandma has decided that a peach cobbler would really hit the spot on this sweltering Saturday afternoon. Adorned with a soothing scoop of vanilla ice cream, this cobbler and ice cream combo was sure to help melt away the stifling heat and humidity, while simultaneously satisfying the proverbial sweet tooth. The cobbler we would make is exceedingly easy to assemble and has only a few short steps. Even the most amateur cooks could keep up with this simple recipe without feeling any bit of intimidation. There is one incredibly important rule that must be followed if you wish to have a successful and visually appealing cobbler – don’t stir!

Fast forward from my grandma’s kitchen to the present day. It is late April and the weather is cloudy and unseasonably cool on this Sunday in central Virginia. Clouds are hanging low in the sky, obscuring the mountain tops in the distance. The sky hints at the promise of rain, but has so far only delivered meager amounts of the life-sustaining liquid. It is on days like this that I dream about the warmer summer days that surely aren’t lurking too far in the future. With those warmer days in mind, I find myself dreaming of the foods that are associated with those summer months. I can’t help but to remember and be comforted by the memories of my grandma’s peach cobblers. With that serving as my inspiration, I went in a new direction after I had a burst of berry creativity. Peaches are out. Berries are in. Not just any berries either. Blackberries. Not to be confused with the smartphones that are vastly inferior to the iPhone. We are talking about beautiful, plump, sweet blackberries.

Aren’t they gorgeous? Since they photograph so well, I thought we should look at them again. So, without further ado…

Aside from eating them straight from the container, I can think of no better way to prepare these sweet treats than to put them in a cobbler. A cobbler with only a few simple ingredients and one simple rule – don’t stir!

Here’s what you’ll need to make this summertime dessert:

3 pints of fresh blackberries
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar (plus a few more tablespoons for the berries)
1 cup of whole milk
1 cup of self-rising flour
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

I like to start by getting the berries ready. To do this, dump all 3 pints of blackberries into a pot. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar over the berries and put them on the stove over a low heat. Add in your teaspoon of vanilla extract, which will give a very subtle flavor of comfort in the background. You don’t want to cook the berries, but you do want to give the berries a chance to soften and mingle with the sugar. It’s absolutely acceptable to stir at this point.

After a few moments on the stove, the sugar will start to mix with the berry juices to create a sweet syrup. All of this will only help to intensify the flavor of your cobbler.

Remove the berries from the heat and set them aside for a few moments while we whip up the batter. This next part couldn’t be any easier. First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 stick of unsalted butter in a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish. Yes, the whole stick. If you’re going to make this dessert and truly appreciate the way it was meant to taste, the butter is a necessity. If you skimp on the butter, I can’t be held responsible for the less-than-stellar outcome of your cobbler creation.

Place the baking dish with the butter into the oven while it is still preheating. The gently warming oven will begin to slowly melt your glorious hunk of fat, turning it into a rich, golden liquid.

Keep peeking in the oven, because it will only take a few minutes for your butter to melt. You certainly don’t want to burn it, which can happen very quickly if you’re not paying attention. After a few short moments in the oven, your butter will have gone the way of the Wicked Witch of the West. It will now be a nice puddle of buttery goodness.

My love affair with butter must be pretty obvious at this point. After all, I devoted just as many pictures to the butter-melting process as I did to the actual blackberries themselves. The blackberries are still the stars of this dish, but the butter is certainly a very crucial cobbler co-star. Plus, Paula Deen would be proud of y’all.

Now it’s time to dump the other ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add one cup of self-rising flour and the cup of sugar. Whisk those together until they are combined.

Next, add the cup of whole milk. Now, grab that whisk! It’s time to whisk it. Whisk it good. Now that I’ve gotten that song stuck in your head for the rest of the day, let’s continue.

After a few seconds of vigorous whisking, your batter should look like a nice, smooth mixture.

I love all of the little bubbles that form on the surface. Obviously, up until this point, stirring has not only been encouraged, but it has been necessary. Now, I want you to put that whisk down. Don’t stir. It’s the name of the blog and it applies to the very important step that follows.

Pour your mixed flour, sugar, and milk into the baking dish on top of your melted butter. Try to distribute it as evenly as you can. Use a spatula to get out every last drop. Then, DON’T STIR!

Resist every single urge you may have to fiddle with this mixture. Let it sit. Put down the whisk or spoon. Finally, add your softened berries and their juice to the baking dish. Spoon the berries evenly on top of the batter and butter. Try to get some berries in every single part of the dish.

It may look a little odd at this point. Your gut may be imploring you to give everything a mighty stir so things don’t look so disjointed. Whatever you do, don’t stir!

Savor the simplicity of it. Savor the colors of it. Savor the smells of it. Just don’t stir it!

It’s time to get it ready for the oven.

Place the cobbler in your preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when the top turns a golden-brown color and your kitchen smells like sweet summertime. If the top isn’t turning golden brown for you after 30-40 minutes, you can place it under the broiler for a minute or so – but if you go that route, stand by the oven with the door cracked so you can pull it out the instant it is brown. You would hate to lose the cobbler at this point. There’s no bigger cobbler catastrophe than a burned crust.

When it’s finished, your final product will look like this:

The buttery crust will have risen to the top. The blackberries will be peeking out from underneath the craggy crust. Your berries will have released some of their juice creating a sweet sauce in the bottom of the pan. Ideally, you would let this cool for a few moments and then dig in. While it’s still warm, add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and get ready to ascend to the heavens. Enjoy the contrast of sweetness and tartness, crunchiness and softness, and the warm cobbler against the cold ice cream. Sure you’ll be picking seeds out of your teeth for the next week. Enjoy it, because each seed will provide you with a warm reminder of your scrumptious creation. Instead of being annoyed by these straggling seeds, you’ll be happy. You’ll smile as you fondly flick that seed with your tongue and remember the cobbler that transports you to straight to summertime. A time when life slows down and memories are made.

To stir, or not to stir? That is the question. Now you know the answer.

Happy seed picking,

The Taste Bud

Coffee Haiku

Today, I pay tribute to a drink that has given me strength, energy, and pep on countless desperate Monday mornings. Since I’m still having a major love fest after my wedding soup weekend, I dedicate this haiku to the liquid love of my life – coffee.

Nectar of the gods
Making mornings bearable
Coffee, I love you

 

Happy coffee drinking,

The Taste Bud

Will You Marry Me?

Forgive me for being so forward, but you can’t have a wedding until somebody has popped the question! Oh, we aren’t talking about that kind of wedding? You mean this is a blog about soup? Maybe I should start over.

This blog is dedicated to the soup that makes you think of wedding bells and saying your vows – Italian wedding soup. However, a thorough and exhaustive search of the Internet that lasted at least thirty seconds revealed that this soup’s connection to actual weddings may be a bit erroneous. The name appears to refer more to the marriage of actual ingredients within the soup, rather than the meal served after Jim and Ellen got hitched down at Bubba’s Chapel of Bliss in Vegas. Who knows, maybe Jim and Ellen had a hearty bowl of this delicious soup after tying the knot, but my soup-filled gut tells me this is most likely not the case. Regardless, the ingredients in this soup are a match made in heaven and they work together so harmoniously that the odds of a future divorce look to be slim. Perhaps the frequent and successful preparation of this dish could even lead to a wedding down the road, or strengthen the marriage you may already have. If you’re looking to impress that special someone in your life and perhaps dreaming of hearing the sound of wedding bells, this Italian wedding soup might not be a bad starting point. Now we just need the proper combination of ingredients to make this soup sing to the heavens – let’s go!

Don’t you even think about it! I know it might only be $1.50 for a can, but we are absolutely not going the canned route today. Would you want to marry somebody who thought a special dinner came out of a can? Probably not. As for our actual homemade soup, there are many different recipes, but nearly all of them include the combination of meatballs, vegetables, pasta, and dark greens swimming in a chicken broth. The soup-making process is basically twofold. You’ll make the meatballs, then you’ll make the soup. Then at the end, you perform the wedding ceremony and marry the two, just like a regular meatball minister. Here’s my take on what you’ll need to make the tastiest Italian wedding soup in all the land.

For the meatballs:

1 pound of ground chicken
1 pound of ground pork
2 eggs
3/4 – 1 cup of breadcrumbs
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of dried sage
1-2 tablespoons of chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt and pepper to taste (be generous)
1 tablespoon of water
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional, if you want a little extra spice)

Starting with the meat, I choose to use a combination of ground chicken and ground pork. The ground chicken is very lean and the ground pork adds a nice flavor without being too fatty. If you used a fattier meat like beef, you may end up with lots of grease floating on the top of your finished soup. We aren’t trying to eat soup that looks like it has suffered from an environmental disaster like an oil spill, so I would stick with the leaner meats. Add all of the ingredients mentioned earlier one by one. After you have added all of the seasonings and ingredients, your mixture should look something like this…

Doesn’t that look great already? The combination of spices, herbs, and cheese will blend beautifully together. Now let’s get messy. It’s all right, love isn’t always pretty. There’s no better way to mix this all up than to just get in there with my favorite kitchen utensils – my hands! Let the mixture squish all through your fingers. Get all of the ingredients incorporated. You should have a nicely mixed conglomeration of meat, herbs, cheese, and spices when you are finished.

Now it’s time to make the meatballs! If you start out with wet hands, the rolling process will be much easier. Take a hunk of this mixture and begin rolling it in between your hands. You want these meatballs to be no larger than one inch in diameter. With the amount of mixture you have at your disposal, you should be able to churn out 35-40 of these meatballs.

Now that’s a good looking plate of meatballs! This part of the recipe could easily be done in advance, although I wouldn’t do it much earlier than the morning of your soup-making endeavor. I personally prefer throwing these meatballs in a pan with a little olive oil over medium heat for a few minutes to brown them on the outside. This won’t completely cook the meatball all the way through, but it will develop a nice layer of flavor on the outside. If you don’t want to do this step, the meatballs could fully cook in the broth of the soup. You’ll just be missing a chance to develop a bit of extra flavor. Remember, we are trying to impress. Attention to detail matters!

After a few minutes on each side, you’ll end up with this result…

Once they get a nice color on the outside, pull them out of the pan. Don’t go popping one of these meatballs in your mouth just yet as they won’t be cooked in the middle. Raw poultry and humans don’t mix too well. After you have browned your meatballs, part one of your soup preparation is complete. Now let’s talk about the soup part of…our soup.

For the soup:
1 medium onion, diced
4 peeled carrots, diced
5 stalks of celery, diced
2-3 grated cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of stelline pasta (or orzo will work fine)
2 quarts (8 cups) of chicken stock
2 cups of water
6-8 ounces of baby spinach
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of olive oil

It’s pretty tough to top the flavor combination of onions, carrots, and celery. It’s a combination often referred to as “The Trinity” by chefs around the globe and it’s a wonderful starting point for many different soups.

Once your vegetables are chopped and ready to go, get out your big soup pot and heat up your olive oil over a medium heat. Once it’s hot and ready to go, throw in your vegetables. Cook them until the carrots are tender. The goal here isn’t to brown – it’s more of a chance to let everybody get to know one another before the wedding takes place. As everybody is mingling in the pan, they’ll get more comfortable and start to soften. They’ll lose their inhibitions and before you know it, all the vegetables will be acquainted and ready to get on with the ceremony.

We are getting close to the end now. Add a few cloves of grated or finely minced garlic and let that cook for a quick minute. If you let it cook much longer, the garlic could burn, resulting in a bitter taste. Bitter garlic and love don’t mix. Now it’s time to add some liquid to actually make this a soup. Pour in your two quarts of chicken stock and two cups of water. Stir everything together and raise the heat until the soup comes to a simmer. Now it’s time to add our pasta. For this soup, you want a small pasta. Something like orzo or acini di pepe will work wonderfully. At the store, I came across a box of stelline, which are essentially little pieces of pasta shaped like stars. Since I was already feeling like a soup star, or a souperstar, I figured I might as well let that be reflected in my dish.

That’s what stelline looks like, if you’ve never seen it. Since you’re making this dish for your star, it only seems appropriate. Plus, there’s something about eating star-shaped pasta that makes you feel like a kid again. When you add the pasta, give everything a big stir and cover the pot, letting the soup simmer for about 8-9 minutes. This will give the pasta time to cook and release its starch, which will help to thicken your soup. Taste your soup at this point to see how much salt you need. Having the right amount of salt can make or break a soup. Without enough, your soup could end up tasting like a puddle of dirty water, so make sure you use enough. Taste early and often! Now add in your baby spinach and stir. The spinach will wilt down a tremendous amount, so even though it may seem like a lot, it will reduce. Trust me. After a minute or two when the spinach has wilted, the time has come. Everybody is dressed for the occasion. Everybody has had time to think things over…and over. There’s no turning back. Are you ready to perform the wedding? Grab your meatballs. It’s time.

The next step is very important. After you get married, you probably want to be left alone for a little while. We call this our honeymoon. It’s no different for your soup! Let them enjoy the honeymoon, Put a lid on the pot and leave it on a nice, low heat. Let the ingredients have a relaxing honeymoon, free of interruptions, so all of the flavors can combine. This is also the time when the meatballs will finish cooking completely. I recommend letting it simmer for at least thirty minutes, but an hour would be preferred. The longer you let your soup honeymoon, the more you will be rewarded in terms of flavor development.

When you can wait no longer, grab your bowl and get ready to ladle up the soup. I’d knock on the lid first just to be courteous – you are interrupting a honeymoon after all. Dip up a big bowl and get ready to enjoy the fruits of your labor. I recommend serving it up with a piece of toasted bread for dunking – hopefully this wouldn’t be considered being promiscuous for our newly wed creation. I garnish the bowl of goodness with a bit of fresh parsley and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

It’s a meal fit for a king. You get meat, vegetables, starch, dairy, all combined into one bowl. It may be a labor of love, but it’s one that will reward your taste buds with every single bite. So if you’re thinking of popping the question, making this soup could certainly be the start to getting the answer you desire. If you’re not thinking of popping the question, at least when you’re finished you can officially call yourself a meatball minister. That alone is reason enough for me.

Cook with love,

The Taste Bud

Krazy for Kale

Kale. The luscious and leafy green vegetable that has been unceremoniously garnishing plates at restaurants across the country for decades. I can distinctly remember going out to dinner as a child and being so offended by that “green stuff” that was always on my plate – so offended that I would promptly pick it up and place it on the table beside my plate. Heaven forbid it actually touched any of the good food that was waiting for me. Of course, the kale was merely on the plate as decoration, or a garnish. it was an afterthought. A sad, sad afterthought. That’s how I felt about kale for all of my childhood years and many of my adult years. It never even dawned on me that you could actually eat the stuff! So, why eat kale? Well for starters, it actually does have a wonderful taste when it’s cooked properly. Perhaps even more importantly, it’s absolutely loaded with nutrients and vitamins. Also appealing to this penny-pinching cook, it’s extremely inexpensive. There are many different applications for cooking kale, but today I’m going to write about my favorite – the kale chip. These chips have brought kale out of the dungeon and thrust them straight into the spotlight.

Speaking of the spotlight, working in television requires me to keep quite unusual hours. On most nights I’m getting home just before midnight. Perfect timing for a true midnight snack! This is where the trouble begins. I’m always tempted to go for the potato chips (bet I can’t eat just one…bag). Obviously this isn’t the best habit to be in before my nightly slumber, so what if I could substitute my favorite potato chips with something a bit healthier? Something that would still give me the satisfying crunchy, salty bite that I crave at that hour, without all of the guilt. Kale now enters the picture. Stay with me.

Here’s what you’ll need to make the perfect potato chip substitute:

1 bunch of kale
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
A lemon wedge (optional)

Fairly simple and straightforward, no? First you need to get your kale prepped for the oven. Give it a nice rinse and pat the leaves completely dry. This is a very important step. If you don’t remove as much of the water as possible, your kale will get soggy instead of crispy. Nobody wants a soggy chip! Now you’ll want to peel the kale off of the big, thick stem running right down the middle. The stem isn’t edible, so remove the leafy green parts and discard the stem. Tear the leafy green pieces until they’re a little bit bigger than bite-sized chunks. They’ll shrink quite a bit in the oven once they start cooking. Place the torn pieces of kale on a baking sheet that you’ve lined with aluminum foil.

They’re almost ready for the oven, but we are missing one critical step. These guys need some seasoning to make sure they’ll taste super when you pull them out of the oven. Give them a healthy drizzle of olive oil and then as much salt and pepper as your taste buds prefer. If you want your kale chips to have a little bit of a bite, squeeze some fresh lemon juice on them at this point. Then get in there with your hands and mix it all together. Try to make sure that each kale chip has some of the olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

The chips are ready to be baked. Place them in a preheated 325 degree oven, but don’t go too far because you’ll need to keep an eye on them. There’s a fine line between creating a kale chip and a kale krisp. One is nice and the other isn’t. After about 8 or 9 minutes of baking, pull the pan out and give them a stir. They’ll need about 8 or 9 more minutes before they are completely finished. Once they have completed the cooking process, your baking sheet full of kale chips should look like this:

The kale has gone through a total transformation. The edges will be brown and crisp. The flavor profile will also be totally different. What once was a bitter green will now take on a nutty and caramelized flavor. It’s amazing what that 16-20 minutes in the oven can do! Now it’s time to plate them up!

They really won’t need much additional seasoning. If you want to glam them up a bit, you could sprinkle some freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top while they are still warm. Otherwise, they are good to eat just like they are. You can make a big batch and then store the leftovers in containers, so when the urge for a salty, crunchy snack hits, you’ll be ready!

It’s time we stopped thinking about kale as a garnish. It’s a versatile, tasty, inexpensive, and healthy vegetable, so let’s give it the respect it deserves. Going krazy for something can be a good thing and this is certainly one of those times. Your taste buds will thank you. This Taste Bud will thank you.

Happy eating,

The Taste Bud