Sassy Southern Cooking with a French Twist

soups

Squashing the Most Out of Late Summer Flavor

The Tuesday after Labor Day, which happened to be unusually warm here in Williamsburg, I visited my local grocer to find fall squash situated front and center in the produce section. A colorful, beautifully arranged display of delicata, pumpkins,  acorn squash, hubbard squash and more, it instantly activated my appetite for the rich, nutty flavors these beauties produce when roasted and pureed or function as colorful, flavorful nuggets in seasonal soups. Just beyond, I spied the zucchini and summer squash I’ve been enjoying all season, and was not, and am still not ready to relinquish. I brought home three very fresh, deep green zucchini, and decided to put them to use in a fall-ish spin on a late summer produce favorite. We’re lucky that many summer favorites, including summer squash and tomatoes, enjoy a long growing season and often staggered plantings, so we have them fresh for many months.

Zucchini and tomatoes got me thinking about sauce, and the addition of pasta and beef put me in a more substantial, goulash frame of mind. Traditionally an Eastern European dish tracing back largely to Hungary and seasoned liberally with paprika, this version takes on a more Mediterranean vibe with the zucchini, basil, oregano, and garlic used in the dish. It’s wonderfully easy and prepared all in one pot in less than thirty minutes. The addition of pasta at the end both thickens the sauce and flavors the pasta, and eliminates the need for yet one more pot in your to-be-washed-sink. I had pretty, mini-farfalle in the house, but macaroni would work great, and gluten-free types can skip the pasta all together. It’s a hearty dish that celebrates very much summer, while tempting the beginnings of fall appetites, much like the winter squash I saw at the market. Enjoy this season’s duality while you can!

Summer Squash Goulash

(Makes 8 generous servings)

This tasty, celebration of late summer flavors is a lighter take on traditional goulash, but is hearty and satisfying enough to invite dreams of fall’s sturdier fare.

 

1 pound ground beef (80 % lean/20 % fat)

1 medium onion, finely diced

2 medium/large zucchini, cut into 1/4″ dice, about 2 cups

3 large cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped

2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves (or use double the quantity fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped)

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves (or use double the quantity fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped)

2 Tablespoons best quality extra virgin olive oil

1 cup good quality dry red wine – suggest Pinot Noir

28 ounce can whole plum tomatoes, lightly crushed, and their juices

2 Tablespoons ketchup

2 cups mini-farfalle (or substitute another pasta shape)

1/4 cup water (as needed)

Fresh basil and grated Parmesan to garnish

Heat a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pot over medium high heat. Break up the beef and crumble into the pan. Stir, two or three times and cook until just browned. Remove from the heat. Drain and discard excess fat. Return the browned beef to the pan. Add the onion, zucchini, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and olive oil. Stir to coat, reduce to medium, and cook until the vegetables have softened, about 10 minutes. Add the wine, increase heat to high, and reduce by half. Return to a simmer over medium. Add the ketchup and pasta, stirring well. Bring up to a simmer over medium high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is just al dente, about 10 minutes depending on the pasta used.  Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve individually or in a large serving bowl, garnishing liberally with fresh basil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Bon appetit!

Remember to write me with any comments or questions and keep those Thursday dinners  in mind. They’re coming up fast! Next up is October 24. September is sold out. I would love to see you at my table.

Thursday Dinners with Holly

 

Author, Chef, Cookbook writer Holly Herrick

 

Fondly, Holly and Rocky

 

 

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Lucky Start for New Year’s Day

Ring in 2020 with a Delicious Hoppin’ John-Inspired Soup

This past year has been a busy one for me and my little family, most notably with a move to Williamsburg, VA after twenty years of living in beautiful Charleston, SC.  It has been a big and rewarding change that still keeps us in the South, but with a little more space and slight variations in weather and produce seasonality.  I’m resharing one of my favorite recipes from Mashed – Beyond the Potato (Gibbs Smith, Sept. 2016), which makes nutritious and delicious use of some of the season’s best flavors and ingredients.  A former and especially lovely neighbor of mine in Charleston, who was a principal taste tester for this book, made it last New Year’s Day and it was so popular, she and her family have declared it a permanent tradition for this special day.

Lucky Prosperity Soup 

Yields 8 to 10 servings

New Year’s Day in the South ushers in a call to wealth and prosperity, which are symbolized by black-eyed peas (representing coins) and collard greens (representing greenbacks). Often, they’re cooked separately, usually with some ham hock for flavor, and put together on the same plate with rice. This delicious soup takes the best of the bunch and puts them all in one pot, with the exclusion of rice. If you can’t find collard greens, substitute kale or another sturdy green. This soup is finished with a traditional sweet and onion splash from a southern garnish known as chow-chow. If you cannot find it, substitute a traditional relish, but modify the results as suggested in the recipe.

Delicious Lucky Prosperity Soup from Mashed – Beyond the Potato (Gibbs Smith, 2016) by Holly Herrick. Photo by Alexandra DeFurio.

Recipe

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, smashed and diced

3 teaspoons kosher or sea salt, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

4 cups (1 1/4 pounds/ 565g) fresh black-eyed peas, rinsed

3/4 pound (340g) smoked ham hock

8 cups (1.9l) water

1 large bunch collard greens, rinsed, tough stems removed and discarded, and cut into 1/4-inch (6-mm) strips

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce or Tabasco

1/3 cup (80g) chow-chow or 2 tablespoons traditional relish

Directions/Method

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir to coat. Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. De-glaze with the vinegar and reduce quickly to a glaze.

Add the peas, ham, water, collard greens, and remaining salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high and reduce to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 1 hour, until thickened and the greens have cooked down and the peas are soft, but holding their shape. Remove the ham hock from the pot and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, using an immersion blender, briefly mash the soup in the cooking pot to help incorporate the beans and the greens. When cool enough to handle, cut off and remove outer fat and skin layers from the hock. Cut off any visible meat, finely chop, and return to the pot; discard the rest. Just before serving, stir in the hot sauce and chow-chow. Adjust salt and pepper as needed. Serve steaming hot and sit back and count your lucky stars.

This is an absolutely award-winning soup that beats Hoppin’ John any day in my book.

With best wishes for all things beautiful, happy, and healthy in 2020.

Bon appetit,

Holly and Rocky

Author, Chef, Cookbook writer Holly Herrick

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New Covers for The French Cook Series Cookbooks

Fresh Cookbook Faces

Happily,  publisher Gibbs Smith, has decided to re-vamp the covers on all of the books in the French Cook series. The signature bright colors will remain under fresh new covers that will showcase the gorgeous photography in each book, and also eliminate the pesky plastic wrap that made it hard for cookbook shoppers to see what’s within these beautiful pages. Here’s a sneak preview of what will be hitting bookstore and internet shelves in the next few weeks.

New cover art for The French Cook Cream Puffs and Eclairs. Photography by Alexandra DeFurio.

New cover art for The French Cook Cream Puffs and Eclairs. Photography by Alexandra DeFurio.

Soups and Stews (my favorite of all of my books in this series) gets a new cover, too, showcasing the talents of photographer Chia Chong.

Soups and Stews (my favorite of all of my books in this series) gets a new cover, too, showcasing the talents of photographer Chia Chong.

Photographer Steven Rothfeld's work shines in this book, full of inspiring, easy to use classical French sauces and variations.

Photographer Steven Rothfeld’s work shines in this book, full of inspiring, easy to use classical French sauces and variations.

Author Greg Patent makes a stunning case for the art of sure-fire souffle artistry, matched with lovely photographs by Kelly Gorham.

Author Greg Patent makes a stunning case for the art of sure-fire souffle artistry, matched with lovely photographs by Kelly Gorham.

I hope you will love the new look. Please write and let me know your thoughts.

As always, bon appetit and happy cooking!

Holly

 

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Home for the Holidays

Oyster and Parsnip Bisque Recipe and Cookbook Giveaway

It’s not an original concept, staying home for the holidays, but for myriad circumstances involving work and family related travel, surgery and more, Thanksgiving and Christmas at home have eluded me for a couple of years. As much as I love seeing family and friends afar, nothing beats staying home and enjoying holiday cheer and unhurried cooking (my all time favorite thing!) with friends and family near. No missed flights, no crazy weather, and best of all, nuzzling with the pets by a fire gazing at a fragrant, beautiful tree.  After several particularly busy weeks of travel, I’m delighted to be home for good to savor the scents, sounds, flavors and sentiments of the season.

This year, I’ll be making a dinner for a small group of friends which we will enjoy Christmas day. I’ll likely prepare a standing beef rib roast with a pungent horseradish cream sauce and some kind of gratin – potato or creamed spinach. To get things started, I’m definitely planning on using the celebrated mollusks of cold weather seaons – oysters. They’re revered here in the Lowcountry and Charleston and take many luscious forms – scalloped, grantinee, broiled and my favorite, soups and chowders.  Though in the past I’ve made more rustic oyster chowders, this year I think I’ll take a page from my new book, The French Cook – Soups & Stews. The oyster and parsnip bisque recipe (to follow) is simply elegant and so easy to prepare ahead. Just add the cream at the very end and you’re off to a silky start to a lovely holiday meal.

(Credits: Gibbs Smith Publisher and Photography by Chia Chong)

Oyster and Parnisp Bique makes a majestic and easy start to a holiday feast. (Photo by Chia Chong).

Oyster and Parnisp Bique makes a majestic and easy start to a holiday feast. (Photo by Chia Chong).

Oyster and Parsnip Bisque 

(Makes 8 to 10 servings)

Parsnips and oysters may sound like odd bisque-fellows, but they actually make a lot of sense. Panais, like turnips, are sweet, lovely root vegetables frequently used in French kitchens. Their sweetness plays beautifully with the oysters, and the starch in the parsnips gives a velvety texture to this heavenly bisque. If making this soup ahead, hold off and add the oysters and cream just before serving. Willapoint oysters, readily available in their brine in the refrigerator section of most fish counters at the grocery, are firm and meaty. Use the freshest raw oysters you can find, and don’t discard the brine except into the soup pot. It is one of the flavor keys to the bisque.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 leek, trimmed to 1 inch above the white root, halved vertically, well rinsed and finely chopped

2 medium shallots, finely chopped (about 1 cup)

2 medium parsnips, peeled, quartered vertically, and finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1⁄2 cup dry vermouth, plus 1 tablespoon optional

1⁄2 cup good-quality Chardonnay

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 cups good-quality, low sodium boxed seafood/fish stock

1 cup finely chopped oyster or chanterelle mushrooms, tough feet removed

3 (8-ounce packages) Willapoint Oysters (3 cups)

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

In a 5 1⁄ 2-quart Dutch oven or similarly sized pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the leek, shallots, parsnips, and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Stir to coat. Cook over medium heat, stirring several times, for 15 minutes; until all the vegetables have softened (do not let them color). Add the 1⁄ 2 cup vermouth, increase heat to medium-high, and cook down to a glaze, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the Chardonnay and cook down to a glaze, 1 to 2 minutes. Scatter the flour evenly over the pot and stir to combine. Whisk in the fish stock, and bring to a boil over high heat.

Reduce to medium/medium-low and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, skimming off any initial foam/scum that rises to the top.

Purée until frothy smooth with a blender or food processor. Return to the pot. Add the mushrooms, oysters, and cream. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, reduce to medium, and cook through for 5 to 8 minutes, until the oysters are firm and opaque. Taste, and adjust seasonings as needed. Finish with 1 tablespoon of vermouth, if desired, and fresh thyme. Serve very hot.

Looking forward to savoring the sights, sounds, and flavors of the season at home in Charleston, SC this year.

Looking forward to savoring the sights, sounds, and flavors of the season at home in Charleston, SC this year.

 

Cookbook Giveaway and New Website Design

In the spirit of giving, I want to share a signed copy of The French Cook – Soups & Stews with one of you this holiday season. Please write a comment on the blog about why you would like a copy, who you might want to give it to, or just what you enjoy about this splendid time of the year. I will select and announce a random winner on December 17 and mail it just in time for Christmas.

Also, please feel free to chime in on your thoughts on my just launched new website design by Charleston PR & Design. Cheryl and Bill Smithem worked very hard to make it very user friendly, mobile compatible, and the layout looks more like a photo and content-rich magazine style than it looked before. I’d love to hear you thoughts.

Until the next time, wishing you love, joy, health and happiness!

Holly

 

 

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Soup Season is Coming!

You don’t want to miss out an all of the bounty soup provides – long, slow simmering, delicious aromas, and incredible tasting food.  Here’s a beautiful recipe for shrimp bisque from today’s post and my soon-to-be-released new book:

http://charleston.thepermanenttourist.com/shrimp-bisque-beauty/

Luscious crab bisque recipe from The French Cook - Soups and Stews (Gibbs Smith, Sept. 1, 2014). Photo by Chia Chong.

Luscious crab bisque recipe from The French Cook – Soups and Stews (Gibbs Smith, Sept. 1, 2014). Photo by Chia Chong.

Bon appetit!

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