DINNER TIME! Cream of Asparagus and Ham Soup

We've moved and we're no longer suburban. We'll now be known as The Cheapskate Rural Dweller since we live at least a half hour from anything that could be deemed a city or suburb.

Time to ease back into the blogging grind and we'll do it with a recipe.

It's been cold up here in Northern California and it's great soup weather. Here's one I came up with this week.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 bunch of asparagus
1 cup spinach
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 medium onion
1 medium pasilla chile
1/2 pound cubed ham
1/4 cup sherry
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons Kosher salt
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Start by putting a stock pot half full of water and 2 tablespoons of salt on the stove and bring to a boil. Cut the crown spears off of the asparagus.

Put in a strainer and hang in boiling water. Cut the rest of the asparagus into 2 inch lengths.

Slice the chile into strips, remove the seeds, and then cut into 1 inch squares.

After the asparagus crowns have boiled for 5 or 6 minutes, remove and set aside. Put the chile chunks , asparagus stalks, carrots, and spinach into the boiling water. Boil for 8 minutes and strain out all but one cup of water.

Put the boiled vegetables, the onion, and the one cup of reserved water into a blender and puree for 5 seconds.

Pour the mixture into a saucepan, add the sherry, garlic, parmesan cheese, and simmer for one hour. Stir every 5 to 10 minutes.

10 minutes before the simmer period is over, add the ham and asparagus spears.

5 minutes after turning off the heat, stir in the cream.

Serve and sprinkle the cheddar over the top.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2019 - All Rights Reserved

DINNER: Pork Chop 'Alte Heide'

Inspired by a pork Cordon Bleu dish we recently had in Munich, here's another dish I tried to make upon our return.

The Alte Heide is a small, neighborhood cafe and biergarten in Munich's Schwabing district. It also made the best food we had during our stay and the best of that was their pork Cordon bleu.

Similar to chicken Cordon bleu, it's stuffed with cheese and ham, and fried with a breadcrumb crust. I'm using a parmesan crust on mine.

We're cooking five chops, to serve three and have some leftovers for lunch. Scale the recipe up or down as needed

INGREDIENTS

5 boneless pork chops at least 1 inch thick
5 slices prosciutto
10 1" wide slices of Havarti cheese
Shredded parmesan cheese
1 cup chicken broth
1 diced medium onion
1/2 cup white wine
3 tablespoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil.

Heat up chicken broth in bowl, add salt and pepper to make a brine.

Put chops in sealable plastic bowl, cover with brine (above). Seal and put in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Drain brine from bowl.

Take pork chops out and slice almost in two so that there are 2 - 1/2 inch slices and put prosciutto and cheese in the middle.

Sprinkle each side with parmesan cheese.

Heat olive oil on high heat in stainless steel pan.

Brown pork chops for 2 minutes on each side. Move pan into 350 degree oven for 8 minutes on each side.

Remove chops and cover with foil. Put pan back on medium heat, add wine.

Use a spatula to scrape up the drippings in the pan.

Add the onions, stir in, and cook another 5 - 10 minutes to reduce a bit.

Serve and ladle sauce over chops.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2016 - All Rights Reserved

LUNCH: Egg White and Ham Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Even though I haven't posted any D-Day articles lately, I'm still firmly on the Type II Diabetes train. Here is a very glucose friendly recipe for a quick and filling lunch or dinner.

INGREDIENTS

2 slices whole wheat (or your favorited whole grain) bread
1 slice cheddar cheese
a pinch of shredded cheddar jack blend
1 egg white
1/2 slice Danola low fat, low sodium ham (or something similar...I'm using Trader Joe's healthy ham, which is basically the same thing)
1 pat soft butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

Heat up the oil in an 8" frying pan. Slice up the ham into 1" squares. Spread evenly across the surface of the pan. 

Add the egg white. When it is fully cooked, fold into a bread shaped and size square and remove to a plate.

Thinly coat each side of the bread with butter.  Place the cheese and ham 'n egg on the bread, making a sandwich.

Put in the hot frying pan, cooking for two minutes then flipping over. When the bread is a nice golden brown, you're done.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved.

LUNCH: Triple Grilled Cheese with Ham

This is super easy. Well, it's a grilled cheese sandwich which, by definition, is a quick and easy lunch. Just punching this one up in the cheese flavor and adding some healthy protein.

To keep it diabetic friendly, we're using low fat and low sodium ham with multigrain bread.  It's as delicious as any grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had, maybe more so, and the great result is it lowered my blood sugar by 8 points.

INGREDIENTS
1 slice cheddar jack cheese
1 slice Havarti cheese
2 slices sandwich bread (we're using multigrain)
1/2 slice cold-cut ham (we use Danola low fat/low sodium or Trader Joe's Healty Ham)
1 pat butter

Spread a thin layer of butter on both sides of the bread.  Layer your cheese and ham on it.

Put in a hot frying pan. 

Cook about 3-4 minutes and flip over. Cook the same on the other side.  Cook 10 seconds again on each side while pressing down with the spatula.

Plate, cut in half and serve (we're serving ours with Trader Joe's delicious Sriracha potato chips).

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

BREAKFAST: Basic Omelet

Basically, an omelet is just a quickly fried, beaten egg, cooked without stirring (as you would with scrambled eggs), and folded over.  Most people also put something inside as a filling, such as cheese, vegetables, or meat.  

We're doing a little of all three in our basic omelet recipe.

INGREDIENTS (as shown, you can put whatever you like in your omelet)

2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon half and half
salt 
pepper
2 tablespoons shredded carrot
1 1/2 stalk of chopped asparagus
1/2 oz. shredded cheese 
1/2 oz. chopped ham
guacamole
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a hot non-stick ten inch frying pan, with some olive oil, put in the carrots and cook for a couple of minutes.  Add the asparagus and cook another five minutes. Set the mixture aside and wipe the pan clean with a towel. Be careful not to burn yourself.

Put the eggs in a bowl, add the half and half, and a sprinkle each of salt and pepper.

Stir the mixture with a fork. Add a little more olive oil to the pan and rock it back and forth to coat the cooking surface and put it on a hot flame.  Pour the mixture into the pan.

As the eggs start to solidify, lift the edges with a spatula and let the liquid mixture fill in the voids.

Put your filling...the carrot/asparagus mixture, cheese, and ham...over one half of the pan.

Reach over to the far edge and carefully put your spatula under the edge. Fold it over the other half. Press down on the top for about 10-15 seconds with your spatula and flip the omelet. Cook another 10 seconds and put on a plate.  I'm also garnishing mine with a little guacamole on top (picture at the top of the post).

These are also good to go, we're taking these two to my convalescing mother in law and her son. Just reheat them for a minute in the microwave and they're ready to eat.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

DINNER: Three Part Cream of Asparagus and Ham Soup.

Sometimes, everything aligns and comes together perfectly. This recipe, which actually came to me in a dream, is one of those. It's appropriate, because this is one dreamy soup!

As the title suggests, this hearty soup is made in three parts , then cooked together to come into one fantastic whole.

INGREDIENTS
One bunch (approx. 1 pound) of asparagus
Three carrots
1 can chicken broth
8 oz. diced pancetta
3 oz. heavy cream
1 small, white onion
1 green onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup all purpose flour

The three parts to make are the vegetable base, the ham base, and the chicken broth. I'm making the vegetable and ham base ahead of time so at dinner, all I have to do is combine in a pot and cook.

Vegetable Base: Cut off the crowns of the asparagus and set aside. Cut the remaining stocks of asparagus into 1/2 to 1 inch lengths.  Peel the carrots with a potato peeler and also cut into the same lengths.

Put the asparagus and carrots into a steamer and steam for 10 minutes.

Take the steamed asparagus and carrots, put into the blender and add one cup of the broth in the bottom of the steamer and puree.

Steam the crowns for five minutes, Put the puree and the crowns into a sealable container and set aside in the refrigerator.

Ham Base: Take the green onion and chop up the green stalks to use as a garnish later.

Put the bulb and the small onion into a processor and chop finely.

Just like this...

The steamer I use is on top of a three-quart stock pot. I melt the butter in the pot and cook the onions until translucent in the butter, stirring the entire time (about 3 minutes).

Add the pancetta, salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook for another 15 minutes on medium/low stirring occasionally. The fat from the pancetta will render down and combine with the butter.

Put in a sealable bowl and in the fridge until you're ready to cook.

I want to cook outside today, so I'm using the side burner of my gas grill (I collect barbecues like some people collect art). The three parts...vegetable base, ham base, and chicken broth...are all put together in the stock pot and cooked on high until boiling.

Once a good boil is achieved, put the flame on low and stir everything together thoroughly.

Put a loose lid on, lower the heat to low, and simmer for half and hour, stirring occasionally.

Put the lid on tight, take off the flame and set aside for five minutes. Then, add the cream and stir in.

Sprinkle some shredded cheese and the chopped green onion stalks for garnish and flavor, then serve.

This Week's Menu: French Omelet and Spring Ham Salad

We're trying to be healthy and diabetic friendly this week with a couple of meals that actually lowered my glucose, one (the omelet) by almost 40 points!

The omelet is a super tasty and very filling entree that can be served for any meal.  The salad is a bit lighter but still very tasty and satisfying.

Recipes are at the links below.

BRUNCH: French Omelet

LUNCH: Spring Mix Salad

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved