…from the Perspectives’ KitchenHow you doin’? This is a great soup that can even be made vegetarian with just a few substitutions… and the best part is that it is still rich and delicious (see ChefSecret). It is fast to prepare in your trusty Instant Pot. As in many cases relating to the history of foods the origin of tortellini is disputed. Both Bologna and Modena, cities in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region, claim to be the birthplace. The first recipe I found for "torteletti" appears in 1570 from Bartolomeo Scappi. Vincenzo Tanara's writings in the mid-17th century may be responsible for the pasta's renaming to tortellini. In the 1800s, legends sprang up to explain the recipe's origins, offering a compromise. Castelfranco Emilia, located between Bologna and Modena, is featured in one legend in which Venus stays at an inn. Overcome by her beauty, the innkeeper spies on her through a keyhole, through which he can only see her navel. He is inspired to create a pasta in this shape. This legend would be at the origin of the term ombelico di Venere (Venus' navel), occasionally used to describe tortellini. In honor of this legend, an annual festival is held in Castelfranco Emilia. Another legend suggests that the shape comes from Modena's architecture, which resembles a turtle. No matter the history or which story you believe, my Instant Pot Creamy Tortellini Soup is very delicious! Make it a little spicey with Italian sausage… or without. Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 2 minutes, plus pressure build-up and release Natural Release: 5 minutes Yield: 6 servings Ingredients For the basic soup 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup chopped yellow onion 1/2 cup chopped carrots 1/2 cup chopped celery 1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more to taste) 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon dried basil 1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves 4 tablespoons minced garlic 3 cups chicken broth 1/4 cup white wine 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juice Added after pressure cooking 8 to 10 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini (you can also use refrigerated ravioli) 1 cup loosely-packed fresh baby spinach 1/2 cup heavy cream For the garnish 2 tablespoons minced Italian parsley (flat parsley) 1/2 cup ground Parmesan cheese Directions To make the stock
ChefSecret: To make this soup vegetarian, skip the sausage, replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth, use a veggie-filled tortellini and use almond milk instead of cream. Quip of the Day: “Wrinkles mean you have laughed, grey hair means you have thought, tears mean you have cared and scars mean you have lived.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. #InstantPot #Soup #TortelliniSoup #Modena #Bologna #Emilia-Romagna #ItalianSausage #2023Recipes #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023
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…from the Perspectives’ KitchenHow you doin’? Who is Mrs. Adler? Lea Adler was non-other than Steven Spielberg’s mother. Before she passed, Lea owned the Milky Way kosher restaurant on Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles. Here was a lady in her 80s and 90s who loved to “work the floor” at the restaurant. We became great friends and from time-to-time Perspectives helped her and her husband with new recipes. Although Lea closed the restaurant during Passover when she and the family checked into a resort hotel where the food was kosher for Passover, she had a killer matzo ball soup. It starts by long-cooking a great, rich chicken soup. After simmering for 2 hours remove the chicken to cool and strain the soup. Next separate the chicken meat from the bones and skin (discard) add the chicken and the remaining carrots and celery and cook for another hour. That way you can enjoy perfectly cooked vegetables with your matzo balls. Prep time: 45 minutes (soup and matzo balls) Cook time: 3 hours Yield: 6 to 8 servings Ingredients 1 whole 3-pound+ chicken, cut into pieces 2 medium yellow onions, quartered 4 celery stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces 4 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns 4 fresh parsley sprigs 1 teaspoon kosher salt Additionally 2 celery stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces 2 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces Directions
Matzo Balls Make, cook and cool the matzo balls while the soup is cooking. Ingredients 1-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or chicken schmaltz—that’s cooked chicken fat) 2 large eggs, slightly beaten 1-1/2 cups matzo meal 1/2 ounce kosher salt 2 tablespoons chicken stock Directions
Putting all together—Place 2 or 3 matzo balls in a soup bowl and pour hot chicken soup over them. Serve hot. ChefSecret: What is chicken schmaltz? After cooking chicken, whether roasting or boiling, you’ll see a yellow tinged thick layer of fat rising to the top. Skim this off and let it cool until ready to use. You can also take the raw fat off the chicken and simmer it for an hour or so. Some stores make it easy and sell prepared chicken schmaltz. Quip of the Day: The IRS Assigns an Agent to Audit a Synagogue. The agent sits down with the rabbi and starts asking his interview questions. "What do you do with the crumbs left from the matzos?" The rabbi replies, "we save them up and when we have enough, we send them to the matzo factory and they send us back a free matzo ball." "Ok, then, what do with all the candle drippings?" The rabbi replies "well, we save them up and when we have enough we send them to the candle factory and they send us back a free candle." At this point the agent is getting a little frustrated. "Well, then, what do you do with all the foreskins from the circumcisions?" The rabbi replies "The foreskins? We save them up and when we have enough, we send them to the IRS and they send us back a little prick like you." Lea would have loved this joke! Alternative Matzo Quip One day Joe Biden went out to dinner with a Jewish friend. The friend recommended a kosher place nearby. They arrived and Joe’s friend ordered them both the house specialty—matzo ball soup. The waiter brought the bowls and Joe looked at the soup suspiciously, but his friend urged him to try at least one taste. So, he took a bite of matzo ball and slurped some soup and clearly liked it. After Joe was finished, he said, “Mmmmm, that was good! But tell me, do you Jewish folks eat other parts of the matzo, or just the balls?” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. #Soup #MatzoBallSoup #ChickenSoup #Passover #LeadAdler #Spielberg #2023Recipes #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023 … from the California Kitchen How you doin’? I love hearty soups especially during the colder months of winter—actually, any time. This recipe is a cross between a hearty soup and a white chili. I started out trying to make a white chili and just got carried away.
Soups are funny things… it’s really hard to make a bad soup. I always loved the story of the Russians Cossacks and Stone Soup. Stone Soup is a European folk tale in which hungry strangers with only two large stone convinced the people of a small town’s populous to each share a small amount of their food in order to enhance the flavor of their stone soup that everyone could enjoy. It exists as a moral regarding the value of sharing. So let me share my recipe of Creamy Spiced Chicken Soup with you—no stones required. It’s fragrant, excites your taste buds and warms the cockles of your heart. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and shredded pepper Jack cheese. Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes Simmer time: 2 hours Yield: 8 servings (can easily be cut in half) Ingredients 2 pounds roasted or rotisserie chicken, skinned and boned, pulled into large chunks 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup half-and-half 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup green chopped bell peppers 1 cup red chopped bell peppers, chopped 1/4 cup diced jalapeño peppers 2 tablespoons chopped garlic 2 tablespoons all purpose flour 1 tablespoon dried minced shallots 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 6 cups chicken stock 8 ounces jarred salsa verde (green salsa) 1 tablespoon ground cumin 2 teaspoons dried oregano 4 diced tortillas (or 1 cup of Fritos Corn Chips for a toastier flavor) 2 cans (15.5 ounces) white chili beans Garnish each bowl with 1 tablespoon sour cream and 1 ounce shredded pepper Jack cheese. Directions
ChefSecret: You can use any leftover chicken that you may have in the refrigerator, just discard the bones, skin and breading. You can also use 2 pounds of browned ground chicken or turkey meat. Quip of the Day: “We might be older now, but I have the satisfaction of knowing that I had great hair, listened to the coolest music, and drove the best car.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide . ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. In this New Year, seek out the good in people and avoid conflict. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Entrees #ChickenSoup #Chicken #Peppers #Shallots #Cayenne #SalsaVerde #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 …from the Perspectives’ KitchenHow you doin’? If you’re a fan of Seinfeld, then you’re undoubtedly familiar with the Soup Nazi. He was famous for his Mulligatawny Soup which, if you didn’t know how to order properly, his response would be “No Soup For You!” The funny thing about the Soup Nazi is he is a relatively small character in the overall timeline of the show. There are 180 episodes of Seinfeld over its 9-year run, and the Soup Nazi only appears in 2 episodes. Nevertheless, his name is forever linked with the show. I first came to taste Mulligatawny Soup in an Irish pub in Dublin. It had a taste of curry which you wouldn’t have found in Ireland at the time. With a name like Mulligatawny, I thought it was Irish… doh! Mulligatawny is the Anglicized version of the Tamil (a southern Indian dialect) which means "pepper water" or "pepper broth." It became popular with the British stationed in India who were employees of the East India Company during the British colonial period, during the late 18th century. My Instant Pot Mulligatawny Soup is a rich, warm, soup with a nice light curry spice flavor. Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 35 minutes Yield: 4 to 6 servings Ingredients For the soup 2 tablespoons olive oil 1-pound boneless/skinless chicken breasts cut into 2-inch cubes 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 cup diced yellow onion 1 cup diced celery 1 cup diced carrots 1/2 cup diced green pepper 4 tablespoons minced garlic 2 teaspoons fresh ginger (grated) or 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder 1-1/2 tablespoons sweet curry powder 1-1/2 teaspoons garam masala 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves 6 cups chicken broth 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained 1/2 cup white rice (rinsed well) 1 apple, diced 3 whole cloves To finish the soup 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup heavy cream Directions
ChefSecret: Always remember that tasting the spice level a teaspoon at a time is different from eating an entire portion. This recipe results in a mild, sweet curry flavor; if you like a spicier version add more curry powder. Quip of the Day: “I bought a warehouse full of soup stock… now I’m a bouillonaire! ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are also being posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Entrees #Lunch #Dinner #Soup #Mulligatawny #InstantPot #SoupNazi #Seinfeld #2022Recipes #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2022 …from the California Kitchen How you doin’? Are you concerned that you and your family are eating enough vegetables to meet the minimum daily requirements (5-A-Day)? Even if you’re not a vegetarian it is important to try to eat all the veggies you can as often as possible—every day is best. There is great healing power in vegetables. A good quick way to meet these requirements is to make soups. Make a big pot of soup at least once a week. It’s easy to make; is a great hearty lunch or a lovely light dinner. Let’s face it, it’s easier to stay slim when you are younger, but cross 30 and things just start to change. Prioritize your well-being this winter by eating soup and following the recommendations below to keep young, healthy and active. Set the intention to head toward one goal. Just one. Need some inspiration to get you going? We’ve got you covered. Make your workout routine stick once and for all. Many people set New Year’s resolutions to get fit or work out more. But for some, it’s easier said than done! Learn how you can get motivated and make more time for workouts. Plus, discover tips to help make it a routine, getting you closer to the results you’re after. Crunched for time? Sneak in a workout. Between meetings, before dinner and at home find slivers of time to squeeze in body movement. Whether you take the stairs or go for a walk, it counts. Jump rope for a few minutes or try low-impact yoga or stretching. Like to dance? Move your hips and feet to the music’s beat. Explore some of the newer, exciting exercise products. Recharge your brain with a crossword puzzle. One thing that crosswords, other puzzles and solitaire have in common is that they give your brain a workout. It feels good to make connections that may help strengthen the brain. Warm up over a bowl of hot soup. Add a little spice and veggies to your life with my Chunky Vegetable Soup. Serve it hot with a little salsa and a squeeze of lime. Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 60 minutes Yield: 4 servings Ingredients 3 tablespoons olive oil 4 tablespoons garlic (finely chopped) 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1 cup yellow onion (finely chopped) 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes 3 medium carrots (roughly chopped) 2 stalks celery (roughly chopped) 2 turnips (roughly chopped) 1/4 head cabbage (roughly chopped) 7 cups low sodium vegetable broth 1 teaspoon of a dried herbs, i.e., basil, oregano and/or parsley salt and pepper (to taste) Directions
ChefSecret: Feel free to add your favorite veggies... broccoli, cauliflower, peas, peppers... whatever makes you happy. This soup recipe is designed to be vegan, but you can add roasted and pulled chicken or meatballs to change the profile of the nutritionals. Quip of the Day: “A hearty soup is just a way of screwing you out of a real meal.” -- Mark Twain. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide . ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Entrees #Soup #VegetableSoup #Vegetarian #Carrots #Turnips #Celery #Tomatoes #Cabbage #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 |
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