Soup-lovers

[mccardey]

Ribollita - yum! And a gorgeous woman called Elena wrote out her recipe for me last week - for the best ribollita I've ever had. But - it's in Italian. Most of it's clear enough, but I need a clever person to translate a phrase or two. Specifically: Alla fine aggiungere solo l' olio evitando gli aromi girare ed è pronta.

Anyone?

[alleycat]

I love soup.

[mccardey]

How's your Italian?

[Bebop]

"At the end only add the oil while avoiding the aromas turn and is ready."

Does it make sense in context?

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by mccardey

How's your Italian?

Actually . . . I've learning Italian a bit at a time. I have a friend on Facebook who is Italian. I sometimes make her cringe. :-)

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by mccardey

Specifically: Alla fine aggiungere solo l' olio evitando gli aromi girare ed è pronta.

Anyone?

At the end, add the (avoiding?) oil (aromas?/flavours?), (turn or stir) and it's ready.

Is the closest I get.

[mccardey]

Originally Posted by Bebop

"At the end only add the oil while avoiding the aromas turn and is ready."

Does it make sense in context?

not entirely - it's a bit like one of Harry Hoskin's crosswords, isn't it?

turn is stir, so

At the end, just add oil, stir and it's done. But I'm not sure I get the bit about the avoiding aromas. Most of the night we were swapping ideas for spiced and flavoured oils, so perhaps it just means add unflavoured olive oil?

I've put a note on the post for help...

Thanks for your insights, xelebes and bebop.

[alleycat]

Maybe, meaning . . . "add the remaining oil".

[alleycat]

In the meantime . . . here's Pizza Spaghetti Casserole (which you can pretend is Italian).

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pizz...0000001589396/

[mccardey]

Originally Posted by alleycat

Maybe, meaning . . . "add the remaining oil".

hmmmm... *strokes chin* I wonder....

[alleycat]

I'm just guessing. Maybe the translators are off.

[Sarita]

Originally Posted by mccardey

Alla fine aggiungere solo l' olio evitando gli aromi girare ed è pronta.

Finally, add the remaining oil, stir and serve.

The aroma part: I'm not sure about the steps leading up, but in Italian cooking, the chef often adds oil after taking the dish off the heat to avoid a bitterness in the oil. I think this is what "evitando gli aromi" is referring to.

[Ketzel]

According to my Italian-speaking neighbor "gli aromi" means something like aromatics or herbal seasonings. Were you supposed to flavor the oil in some way before you added it to the soup? Because, if so, this means:
At the end, add the oil only, minus the seasonings, stir and it is ready to serve.

[Stacia Kane]

We had beef barley soup tonight. It was delicious.

(I don't speak Italian, so... )

[Lady MacBeth]

I don't speak Italian, but I often make soup. Thanks for the recipe.

[Sarita]

Originally Posted by mccardey

Ribollita - yum! And a gorgeous woman called Elena wrote out her recipe for me last week - for the best ribollita I've ever had. But - it's in Italian. Most of it's clear enough, but I need a clever person to translate a phrase or two. Specifically: Alla fine aggiungere solo l' olio evitando gli aromi girare ed è pronta.

Anyone?

I just went and read the whole thing. Ketzel is right. Part of the recipe is to infuse the Olive Oil with Rosemary, Garlic, Sage, Juniper Berries. At the end, you strain out the aromatics and add the remaining infused oil to the soup.

[mccardey]

That is brilliant! Thank you, Ketzel and Sarita. It makes perfect sense now (of course!)

[Stacia Kane]

Well, since I was asked by reppie, here's my beef barley (note that my recipes tend to be based at least partly on the idea that you know what you like, so my measurements aren't exact. Also note I use frozen mixed vegetables because I always have a bag on hand; you can certainly sub fresh veg of any type you like, though it's best to stick with compact/hard veg, with mild flavors, rather than something like cabbage or brussels sprouts or whatever, because not only would the texture change but I think those flavors would overwhelm):

I usually make a LOT of this, because it freezes so well. But it's easily scale-downable. Of course, most soup is, because soup is so forgiving.

This is enough for my family to eat for five or six meals (I'll give my leftovers suggestions at the bottom).

3 lbs ground sirloin or other good, low-fat ground beef (you can use stew beef, of course, but I use ground beef for this one because it's easier. If you use stew beef you need to make sure the beef simmers for at least two and a half hours before you add the barley, or it won't be tender enough)

red wine or dark beer (I'm a big fan of dark beer with beef; I've used both in this, but in this case I usually prefer the wine. I generally use Cotes du Rhone for any red-wine cooking, but last night I used Montepulciano, and it was really nice)

Rosemary

Thyme

3-4 bay leaves

Marjoram

Onion (you can mince half an onion fine, or use a liberal amount of onion powder)

Garlic (same as with onion)

Shallots (I mince one shallot finely)

beef stock

chicken stock

Frozen mixed veg (the one I buy has diced carrots, corn, peas, and green beans)

pearl barley

Dijon mustard

Worcestershire

Tomato paste

demi-glace (if you have it)


Melt a little butter with a little olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot--maybe 2 tsp or a Tbsp of each?--and give the shallot (and onion and garlic, if using) a few turns until it becomes fragrant and starts to get translucent. You don't want them to brown too much, but some is okay. Add the ground beef and brown it; if you're using onion/garlic powders, add them to the meat as it browns.

I use at least a Tbsp of each herb, in increments, so as I brown the meat I add maybe a tsp of each. I use dried, generally, because fresh is kind of overwhelming in this recipe.

Once the meat is brown, add enough wine to just cover it. Then add a cup and a half of beef stock, and a quarter or half cup of chicken stock. The amount of liquid is really--as with most soups--going to depend on the size of your pot, but because barley thickens soups so effectively you want to keep that in mind. I personally prefer my soups very thick, so use less liquid than people who like very liquidy soups. Either way, at this point you'll want the liquid an inch or so over the meat. Add a tsp or two of Worcestershire.

Cover this and let it simmer for twenty minutes or so--if you're in a hurry you can skip this simmer, but I like it. Taste it; the harshness of the wine should have simmered off at this point, so you'll have a beginning idea of where you want to go as far as herbs. You'll want to add at least 2 tsp of salt and pepper at this point, then give it a stir and taste again.

After that, add the veg; again it's going to depend on your taste, but I find for this amount of meat I usually add about 2 cups of veg. I add more herbs, too. And a heaping tsp of Dijon mustard--which I personally think is one of the keys to this soup, because that faint tang is really lovely.

Cover and let simmer ten minutes or so. Taste again. Add a Tbsp of tomato paste, and stir well. Simmer a few more minutes and taste again.

Often I refrigerate this at this point, and add the barley the next day when I reheat it to serve. That's up to you. Like most soups this is better the second day, but it's still very good served immediately.

(If you're on day 2 now, take it out of the fridge and let it sit at room temp for twenty minutes or so, just to take the worst chill off. Give it a stir and put over very low heat until it comes back to a simmer, and proceed.)

Check the liquid level (and add another tsp or so of Worcestershire). In general, one cup of pearl barley to seven cups of liquid will produce a very thick but still liquidy soup. Between the wine and stock you've probably got about six cups of liquid in there, so adjust either your liquid or barley accordingly (I use a scant cup of barley and add maybe 1/2 cup more wine, but again, I like this very thick. Remember that with all the meat and veg it's going to be fairly thick anyway).

Cover and simmer on low for about half an hour.


Now the final tasting. Stir it well, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and herbs--this is where I add a final tsp or so of all the dried herbs I used, which gives the flavor a nice brightness. Add another heaping tsp of mustard. If you have demi-glace, add a good-sized spoonful of that. Stir, and stir, until it's all combined. Let it sit covered for a couple of minutes for the flavors to "finish" blending, then let it sit uncovered for a couple of minutes so it's not boiling hot (remove the bay leaves, of course).

I serve this with a nice bread, or on its own, but again, as with all soups you could add dumplings or serve it over mashed potatoes or whatever else you like.

This is really a pretty basic beef barley soup, but for me the Dijon mustard and demi-glace make a big difference.



Leftovers:

One of the reasons I make so much of this is because I can make almost a week's worth of meals out of it and still have some to freeze. Here are some things I do with it, aside from just having soup again:

I buy a sheet of puff pastry and cut it into four equal pieces. Put 2 Tbsp or so of the cold soup--if you've made it fairly thick, it will not be liquidy at all when it's cold--in the center of each sheet and fold the pastry over to make a pie. Cut a slit or two in the top and bake at 400F/200C for twenty-five minutes or until the pastry is golden.

I make Yorkshire puddings and stuff them with this; use whatever Yorkshire pudding recipe you like, and when you add the batter to the muffin tins plop a heaping spoonful of the beef barley in the middle. Cook as usual.

Similarly, you can buy those brown-and-serve type bread rolls and stuff them; bake them halfway according to package directions, then cut slits in the top, shove in some of the beef barley, and finish cooking.

You can use it to top baked potatoes or mashed potatoes as a sort of casserole: bake the potatoes/boil and mash the potatoes and place in a casserole dish (or spread in a dish). Spread the soup over them (if you like, cover it with grated cheddar) and bake until hot and bubbly.

You can use cooked pasta instead of potatoes there, too.

[mccardey]

Oh, yum. That sounds fantastic.

One of the best soups I ever had was a barley and mushroom job at the Edison Hotel in New York.

I love soup. Eating leek and potato soup right now, in fact

[Niti Newtfinger]

*Salivates* Leek and potato soup is one of my favorites- I like Julia Child's recipe the best.

[kikazaru]

I make soup at least once a week. Tonight's offering was turkey barley which was very good. I do find that soup is so forgiving that I rarely follow a recipe since the ingredients depend entirely what I have in my fridge and pantry and what I've made for dinner the previous evening. However after watching "The Chew" today I just may follow a recipe to make a white bean with pancetta soup - it looked great. I will substitute pesto for the pistou they made, since I rarely have fresh basil at my disposal in the winter.

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-che...p-Mario-Batali

[Sarita]

I was inspired and made Italian Wedding soup. Yum. Homemade meat balls, loads of spinach, it was soooo good. Thanks for the idea!

[SaraP]

I make veggie soup almost every week and have never followed a recipe.

[Lady MacBeth]

This week I made sweet potato soup.

[Jehhillenberg]

Originally Posted by Lady MacBeth

This week I made sweet potato soup.

That sounds goood