Incidentally, we bought some Wisconsin cheese for this soup – now that we live practically in Wisconsin, it’s readily available, and it’s really some of the best quality cheese we can get around here for the price. Yum. This is the soup you use the good block cheese for, not Kraft shredded. We don’t have a food processor, so we hand shredded the cheese; my sister shredded while I chopped the veggies, and we got done at about the same time.

Beer Cheese Soup

• 1/2 C (1 stick) butter
• 1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, chopped
• 3-4 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 C all-purpose flour
• 2 C chicken broth
• 1 (12-ounce) beer of choice (we used Blue Moon, but the original suggested Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Blind Pig)
• 7-8 oz extra-sharp Cheddar, shredded
• 7-8 oz Swiss cheese, shredded
• 2 C half-and-half
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard (we toasted & ground 1/2 tsp of mustard seed instead)
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 pound of ham, diced

Melt butter in a stockpot over medium heat. Add chopped onion, carrot, and celery. Saute until softened. Add flour. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add chicken broth and beer. Heat until it comes to a boil. Slowly add cheese while stirring until just boiling and smooth. Add half-and-half, salt, dry mustard, cayenne, and Worcestershire sauce. Reduce heat to low and cook until soup has thickened. Add diced ham and heat until the ham is warm. Serve hot, preferably with crusty bread.

Roasted pork with fennel

• 3lb pork loin roast
• 12 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 Tbs fresh thyme (or 1 Tbs dried thyme)
• 1 lb baby potatoes, quartered
• 4 medium carrots, quartered
• 2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and wedged; reserve & chop about 1 Tbs of fronds
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp of kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 c apple juice (and I highly recommend Simply Apple for this)

Preheat oven to 425F. Rub the roast with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 2 Tbs of thyme, and fennel fronds.   Place in roasting pan. Combine the carrots, potatoes, fennel, oil and the remaining salt and pepper. Arrange vegetables around the meat in a single layer. (Optional: Add a little extra apple juice at the bottom of the pan.) Roast uncovered until the meat thermometer registers 125F. Flip the roast so the bottom is up and continue roasting until the thermometer registers 155F, so it’s beautifully browned on both sides. Remove the meat, and tent with foil for about 10 minutes (the temperature should reach 160F.) Remove the vegetables from the pan, and stir in the apple juice. Cook on the stove, scraping up any browned bits, and reduce. Return vegetables to the pan and toss.

Normally, at that point, you pour it into a bowl, let it cool 30-60 minutes, and butter your hands to make it into balls, and roll the balls into chocolate sprinkles. I made this batch at 3 am, while finishing up laundry, so I didn’t hang out long enough to roll it and just spread it out like I would fudge and shook sprinkles onto half of it. (Totally not traditional, but what can I say? It was 3 am, and I was tired!)

Incidentally, beijinhos de coco is essentially the same thing, but instead of 3 Tbs of cocoa powder, you use 4 Tbs of sweetened dried coconut that you add after 15-20 minutes (instead of immediately), and instead of rolling it in chocolate sprinkles, you roll it in more sweetened dried coconut. Traditionally, you also press a whole clove into the top of a beijinho de coco (but it’s entirely for decoration so you don’t haaaaaaaaaave to).

BLT Pasta  Adapted from Domenica Marchetti’s BLT Bucatini.

Makes 2 servings

1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

12 ounces cherry tomatoes, slow roasted,* with their juices

1/2 pound dried angel hair (or spaghetti)

6 ounces fresh spinach, diced

2-3 ounces fresh mozzarella, diced

1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese for serving

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt generously.

While the water is heating, warm the olive oil in a large frying pan placed over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute, stirring frequently, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the pancetta begins to render its fat and turn somewhat crispy. Stir in the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until they are heated through. Turn off the heat and cover the sauce to keep it warm.

Add the pasta to the boiling water, stir to separate the noodles and cook until al dente. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta in a colander set in the sink.

Transfer the pasta to the frying pan and gently toss the pasta and sauce to combine thoroughly, adding a splash or two of the cooking water if necessary to loosen the sauce. Add the diced  mozzarella cheese.  Add the spinach by the handful and continue to toss for a minute or so, or until the greens are just wilted. Transfer the dressed pasta to a warmed serving bowl or to warmed shallow individual bowls and sprinkle the pecorino over the top. Serve immediately.

*To make slow-roasted cherry tomatoes, heat the oven to 275 degrees. Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange them in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil over the tomatoes, then scatter 2 thinly sliced garlic cloves over them. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 2 hours, or until the tomatoes have collapsed and shriveled a little but are still moist. Let cool and use immediately, or store in a tightly lidded container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

One of the styles of food that Bahia is infamous for is moqueca – a stew with a coconut-and-tomato based broth – served with rice. Typically, seafood is featured, but my husband’s favorite way to eat it is with eggs. Since I love seafood, we usually make two batches, one for him and one for me (with white flesh fish, shrimp, and/or mussels). If you use it with seafood, add about 1 tablespoon of lemon or lime juice per half pound of meat.

Spicy Chicken Schawarma  (Source: Cooking Light)

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley (or 2 tsp dried parsley)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
• 5 tablespoons plain low-fat Greek-style yogurt, divided
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
• 3 garlic cloves, minced and divided
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 4 (6-inch) pitas, halved
• 1/2 cup chopped cucumber
• 1/2 cup chopped plum tomato
• 1/4 cup prechopped red onion

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in 1 tablespoon yogurt, 1 tablespoon juice, and 2 garlic cloves. Add chicken; toss to coat. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken mixture to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until browned and done, stirring frequently.

While chicken cooks, combine remaining 1/4 cup yogurt, remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice, remaining 1 garlic clove, and tahini, stirring well. Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons tahini mixture inside each pita half; divide chicken evenly among pita halves. Fill each pita half with 1 tablespoon cucumber, 1 tablespoon tomato, and 1 1/2 teaspoons onion.

Black bean soups and chilis are great food for the winter, because they’re rich and hearty and the spiciness warms you from the inside out. They also reheat fabulously, for those with smaller households or who like to bring their lunch.

This soup is on the thin side as written on the book (with an extra cup of water), but I like my soups on the thicker side. I’m totally guilty of using up half a package of saltines in thin soups to get it to the consistency I like. The photo above was taken on the third eating of the soup, so it’s really starting to thicken up.

Did I mention that I really haven’t done much grocery shopping in the last month, beyond one major meat restocking?

Anyway, I opened the fridge and saw that I still had some spinach in the freezer, a variety of poultry filets, and root veggies (carrots, onions, parsnips), and was suddenly, the flavors of my last stir fry exploded in my head – the sultry heat from the chiles, the silky bok choy… yum.

I admit that this was not the most exerting soup to make. It’s really a non-recipe, but I’ll share it anyway. Chop an onion, peel & dice a parsnip, and toss ‘em in a pan to soften with just a little itty bit of oil. While it’s cooking, run three cloves of garlic through the press over the pot, grab about a half teaspoon of minced ginger from the jar, and stir. Once it looks about right, pour in a 32oz box of chicken broth, about a tablespoon of soy, a teaspoon of chile garlic sauce, a half teaspoon of hoisin, a scant teaspoon of sesame oil, and dump in a frozen turkey filet (about 4-5oz in size). Let it simmer for some time. I really don’t know how long it was there, I fell asleep on the couch and then the city inspector came, and the plumber. Anyway, once the turkey’s cooked through, take it out, dice it up, and return with two servings worth of whole wheat pasta, and let it cook until the pasta’s plumped up nicely. Then add about 2-3 oz of frozen spinach (oh yeah, still frozen because I still am not feeling well — I use a cleaver to chunk my box into 3-4 smaller containers to freeze what I don’t use for things like this), and once the spinach has thawed and warmed, serve.

It was much like stir fry, and filled my belly well (and helped drain my sinuses – always a bonus!). I don’t feel like arse so much, either – between this and last night’s onion soup, I think I may be on the mend.

The stuffing was reallly similar to a Greek-y stuffing we use in pork or chicken and it could probably be used for that, too.