Start with a little homemade herbed-chicken stock, bring to a lively simmer, toss in some cooked noodles, add tarragon, capers, fresh basil, and finish it with chunks from the tail-end of a salmon fillet and a glob of homemade creme fraiche.  Add salt and freshly ground black pepper and a dash of chili sauce for sparkle.  It’s just that simple and soul satisfying served for a light supper with crunchy French bread and a glass of wine.

To make the chicken stock, be frugual and use the carcass of a roasted chicken with all the bones, wings tips and back meat.  Add roughly chopped celery, onion, leek and carrot, cover with water, and bring to a boil.  Add a splash or 2 of white wine or vermouth, and sprigs of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.  Let simmer for at least 1 hour.  The longer it cooks the richer the flavor.  Cool and refrigerate the entire stockpot contents overnight.  Skim solidified fat from the top surface, warm slightly and strain.  Discard solids and pour strained stock into freezer safe containers to store. 

If you buy a whole fillet of salmon, cut 2-inch-wide slices for grilling from the main section of the fillet.  There is always the thin section towards the tail that can be skinned and used in soups, casseroles, kabobs and more.  Be sure to remove any bones from the thick slices.  A pair of tweezers works well for this task.

Callaloo is synonymous with Caribbean cuisine as lu supo (loo soo-poe) is fundamental to Polynesian cuisine.  Both soups are made with taro leaves and while Caribbean cookery uses other varieties of leaves, all of which are referred to as callaloo, Polynesians from the Hawaiians to the Tongans use only taro leaves.  In the South Pacific, each island nation has their own taro varieties cultivated for their particular soil, popularity, exportability, and weather patterns.

In Tonga, lu (taro leaves) is cooked in soups, side dishes, and main dishes with meat or fish.  Coconut milk is added to nearly all traditional island cooking, especially lu.  The stems and veins of the lu leaf have needle-point raphides (calcium oxalate) which, if not well cooked, will cause your throat to constrict and your tongue to itch.  This malady is cause to claim “the cook is lazy” since removing the stems and large central vein, as  well as thoroughly cooking the leaf, requires a bit of time and effort.

Since taro is difficult to find in areas outside of the tropics, the best substitute is a mix of large leaf spinach and Swiss chard.  Kale or collard greens can also be used successfully.  Collard greens are a gift from our African ancestors just like callaloo was a gift from African slaves brought to the Caribbean in the 1700’s.

The fungi dumplings, another Caribbean dish, frequently served in the callaloo soup, was originally made of cassava (manioke) meal but has been replaced with yellow cornmeal in the last 50 years or so.  Cassava meal is still used in some Polynesian cooking as corn is relatively expensive and not indigenous to Polynesia.  Cassava is a subject for another post.

This soup is teaming with flavors from the chili spiked kale, okra, meat, crab and fungi dumplings.  It can be made vegan simply by eliminating the meat and adding pumpkin, yam or sweet potato.  If you like greens, you’ll enjoy this nutritious and filling soup.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz salt pork, 1/2-inch cubes (or 6 strips of bacon)
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch Kale, about 1-1/2 lbs, washed, stems removed, chopped
• 6 cups chicken stock (fish stock or vegetable stock may be used)
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 fresh thyme sprig (or 1/4 tsp dried thyme)
• 1 Scotch Bonnet chili, deveined, seeded and minced (habanero chili)
• 4 oz corned beef brisket (or1 small can corned beef)
• 1/2 lb crab meat – fresh, frozen or canned, pick clean of shell debrise
• 1/2 lb okra, sliced rounds
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 1 recipe fungi dumplings (recipe below)
• 4 scallions sliced for garnish

Method:

1. In a Dutch oven over medium high heat, fry salt pork to render fat.  Reserve browned pork cubes for garnish.  Reserve 2 Tbsp of fat. 
2. Saute onion and garlic in the reserved fat until translucent and fragrant.
3. Add kale, chicken stock, cloves, thyme, chili and okra.  Bring to a boil.
4. Rinse corned beef brisket in fresh water, cut into 1-inch cubes.  Add to Dutch oven,
5. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until corned beef is fork tender.
6. Process soup in batches in food processor just enough to retain some chunky texture.  Return soup to pot.
7. Add crab and coconut milk.  Heat through.  Taste for salt and add salt and black pepper to taste.
8. To serve, place 1 scoop of fungi in a serving bowl, ladle soup on top, garnish with sliced scallions and reserved pork cubes.

Fungi Dumplings – Ingredients:

• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 okra, sliced or chopped fine
• 3 cups cornmeal
• 1 Tbsp butter

Method:

1. In a 2-quart sauce pan over medium high heat, bring chicken stock, salt and okra to a roiling boil.
2. Slowly whisk in cornmeal in a steady stream until thick and creamy.
3. Add butter and beat with a wooden spoon until cornmeal leaves the side of the pan.  Remove from heat immediately.
4. Keep warm in a bain marie or double boiler.
5. To serve, use an ice-cream scoop to form balls, place ball of fungi on serving dish and ladle sauce or soup on top.  Garnish as desired.

Note:  Fungi is also a great served with coconut chicken, coconut fish, chicken fried gravy or turkey gravy.  Use in place of toast for creamed tuna, or creamed eggs.  Cooled fungi maybe sliced and fried in olive oil and butter like polenta, or toasted and topped with tapenade or chili jam and cream cheese for appetizers.

Pressure cookers for homemakers have been around since 1917 when the USDA announced that the only safe way to can low-acid foods was with a pressure cooker.  From then on the National Pressure Cooker company, now called Presto, has engineered and redesigned pressure cookers with reliable safety features for home use.  So long as the rubber gasket around the inside rim of the lid is in good shape and you haven’t lost the regulator (jiggler) or damaged the pressure valve, you can save time when cooking dried beans, roasts and other long cooking dishes.  A pressure cooker is absolutely mandatory if you home-can veggies, meat or fish.  They come in 4 quart and 6 quart sizes and up to the 10 gallon size for canning quarts.   You can find them in most housewares departments and even at garage sales. 

Try this method for chili, corned beef, pulled pork, or octopus.  Flavors have no where to escape, they’re locked in using a pressure cooker.  For more information on cooking  with a pressure cooker, see Presto.

Half full pot

Getting up a head of steam.

Valve stem up, pot is pressurized

Soup's Ready

 

• 2 cups pinto beans, washed and sorted
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1 tsp fennel seed
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper (about 1 tsp each)
• handful of cilantro, chopped

Method:

1. Soak beans overnight in 2 quarts water.  Drain and cover with fresh water.
2. Saute ground pork in skillet over medium high heat.
3. Add remaining ingredients, cook for 3-4 minutes, and transfer to pressure cooker.
4. Cover pressure cooker, locking lid into place and set jiggler over steam vent.
5. Once valve stem pops up and jiggler begins to rock, set timer for 40 minutes.
6. When timer goes off, turn off stove and leave pot to cool down.  When valve stem drops, it is safe to remove jiggler.  If no steam is escaping from vent, open lid.
7. Check seasoning and adjust if needed.

Vegetables cooking in a canner

Spring is here and it won’t be long before the Farmers Markets and roadside markets are brimming with veggies.  Take the advantage of lower prices by buying in large quantities.  This vegetable soup is the base for lots of winter soups.  Just open a jar, add meat, beans, pasta, or rice for those one dish meals on cold winter nights.

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe in the 1970’s.   Those were the days before farmers started growing hybrid tomatoes with lower acidity.   Hybrid tomatoes maybe great for eating fresh but not good for canning.  Unless you’re using heirloom tomatoes, which have higher acidity, you’ll need to add citric acid to each jar before water bathing.

Check jars to make sure there are no chips or dings in the top rim.  They will not seal properly if damaged.  Be sure to scrub jars, lids, and rings in hot soapy water.  Sterilize jars for 10 minutes in a canner of boiling water.  You can use the automatic dish washer for a sterilizing rinse and to keep jars and sealing lids warm until ready to pack.  Any un-iodized Local Kitchensalt will do for canning, but the best is Morton’s canning salt.  Click here for more information about canning:

Ingredients: – makes 8 quarts

• 1 head cabbage, chopped
• 1 quart sliced carrots
• 2 1/2 quarts water
• 2 bunches celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup canning salt
• 4 quarts peeled tomatoes
• 6 large onions, chopped
• 2 green bell peppers and 1 orange bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2  tsp citric acid per jar

Method:

1. Place all ingredients in a large canner.
2. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 hour.
3. Place 1/2 tsp of citric acid in each sterilized jar.
4. Ladle soup into sterilized jars, wipe rims, apply seals and rings and tighten.
5. Water bath jars under boiling water for 20 minutes.
6. Carefully remove from bath and set on kitchen towels, out of drafts, until cool.
7. Listen for pops of lids sealing.  Check all lids; if the lid spring back when press, it is not sealed.  Remove seal and discard.  Apply new seal and water bath again, or refrigerate and make soup for supper.

I’ve updated this post to include citric acid in the recipe.  This will ensure the pH level is acid enough for canning in a boiling water bath.  You can check acid levels before sealing jars with a litmus strip available at pharmacies, or wherever canning supplies are carried.