I once made a delicious Boeuf Bourguignon and then ruined it with the addition of too much Xanthan gum. I remember that the recipe called for corn starch, but since I didn't have any on-hand, I went with Xanthan. The result was a goopy sauce that tasted unnaturally smooth.

I did not make the same mistake with this recipe which produces a delicious beef broth with a depth of flavor that will blow your mind. It has a thinner broth that is complemented with egg noodles, making for a great one pot winter soup.

Boeuf Bourguignon Soup 
adapted from Martha Stewart Living (December 2010)
serves 6

4 bone-in short ribs (the meatier, the better)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tsp. corn starch
Olive oil to coat pot
1 cup mushrooms of your choice
3 carrots, cubed
1 shallot, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 slices of bacon, chopped (I used applewood cured bacon)
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 thyme sprigs (leaves only)
1 dried bay leaf
1 cup red wine (the drier the better)
8 cups beef stock
2 cups water
1 package egg noodles


1. Salt and pepper all sides of short ribs and then coat in corn starch. Heat a Dutch oven with enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, add short ribs and sear on all sides. You should achieve a light brown color.


2. Add mushrooms to pan and cook until brown, about 4 minutes. Remove short ribs and mushrooms from pot.


3. Add carrots, shallot, celery, and bacon and cook until browned about 6 minutes. Add in tomato paste and stir for 1 minute. Add wine and stir for another minute.


4. Add in bay leaf and thyme sprigs and then pour in beef stock and water. Bring to a boil and then turn to medium-low heat to simmer, partially covered, for 2 1/2 hours.


5. Skim off fat from time to time and give the soup a stir. Remove short ribs from soup. The meat should slide off the bone easily. Separate the beef from the fat and add back to the soup. Discard fat trimmings and bones.


6. When ready to serve, heat soup to a boil and add a small handful of noodles per person. Cook for 6-8 minutes. When noodles are done, ladle soup into a tureen or individual soup bowls and garnish with freshly chopped parsley. Serve with a few slices of baguette.

[1. c. lynn]

We just got our first Organics to You delivery since we arrived back home. Delivery days are perfect for making an ambitious new dish from fruit desserts and one pot meals to vegetarian entrees and soups, since the produce is so farm fresh. This time, I started thinking about doing a minestrone soup—something to incorporate lots of vegetables and still have the tomato angle that I crave.

I worked off of a Tuscan recipe from La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy, which is a product of the efforts of Italian culinary scholars who sought to preserve authentic and regional Italian cooking in a comprehensive book, almost fifty years ago. The scholars traveled around the countryside, interviewing grandmothers and farmers about their specialties and recipes that were handed down. I've found that it's an excellent resource with clear and simple instructions that you can tailor to your own taste.

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This minestrone is robust and flavorful with all of the notes of harvest time. The vegetables are aplenty and the pasta gives a nice firm bite to every spoonful. Buon appetito!


Tuscan minestrone

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 oz. applewood cured bacon, chopped
1 leek (white part only), washed thoroughly and chopped
1/2 cup basil, cut into chiffonade
1 potato, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1/2 lb Swiss chard, cut into a chiffonade
1 head of baby lettuce, chopped
1 small summer squash, peeled and chopped
4 oz. string beans, chopped
2 or 3 ripe Roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups tomato puree
2/3 cup white navy beans (I used canned beans, but Mr. Bittman would recommend dried beans instead)
Chicken broth
1/2 lb elbow pasta

1. In a pot, heat the olive oil and saute the bacon, leek, and basil over medium heat.

2. Add all of the vegetables except for the tomatoes.

3. Add salt to taste, cover, and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes (without seeds), tomato puree, beans, and enough broth to cover.

5. Cook slowly for 2 hours, stirring occasionally and adding more broth or water as needed.

6. Add a bit of pasta for each bowl of soup that you are ready to eat and cook for 10 minutes; when the pasta is al dente the soup is finished. (If you add all of the pasta at once, it will become mushy when you reheat it for leftovers.)

7. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

A's been contributing to our menu planning in a big way this summer. I guess we're both really inspired by the west coast bounty. Oh, and the excellent restaurants, of course. Last night, A asked for a sweet corn soup similar to the one we've been enjoying at Irving Street Kitchen. And so I flipped through my cookbooks and magazine archive came upon Dorie Greenspan's summer corn soup.

It was really simple to throw together with my new VitaMix. You just cut the corn from the cob with a serrated knife, plop the cobs into a pot with some whole milk, and saute up some onions, carrots, and celery. Combine everything together, dump the cobs, let it simmer, and then ladle everything into the food processor. A few minutes later you have a bowl of frothy sweet corn soup with a hint of onion.

[1-2. c. lynn]