MINESTRONE SOUP

My minestrone soup that I served at breakfast last week for my walking buddies was a hit! They even brought home soma and now Juliet is asking for the recipe. 

Minestrone is the national soup of Italy. It means thick soup made of seasonal vegetables. With bread, it is can be a meal.

So here is my version. 

  INGREDIENTS 

A-The meats: 

5 strips of bacon sliced 1 inch long 

1/2 kilo beef cut in strips 

1 kilo beef soup bone (optional)

B-The condiments

3 tbsps olive oil

2 tbsps white wine or any cooking wine 

2 cups grated parmesan cheese 

2 big onions chopped 

4 cloves garlic chopped 

1 1/2 tbsps salt 

1-2 tbsps ground pepper

1 tbsp Italian dressing or mixed herbs or thyme and oregano

3 tbsps (140gms) tomato paste

1 can (400gms net weight) whole or diced tomatoes 

C-The veggies

1 cup celery stalk sliced

1 can kidney white beans 

2 medium carrots, diced

4 medium potatoes diced

1 can mushrooms pieces and stems

Other veggies in season or your choice cut in pieces like 

cauliflower

broccoli 

zucchini

French beans. 

D-The liquid

6 cups water or the soup from the beef bones. More if necessary 

EThe pasta

250 gms penne 

Procedure

1- Wash beef soup bone with baking soda, then wash thoroughly with water. Drain. Put a tbsp of cooking oil in a pot and sear the beef bone

Add water to cover bones and remove what comes on top. 

Lower heat and boil until the meat attached is tender that they separate easily from bone. Add more water if needed for more broth. Set aside. 

2-In a separate skillet sauté beef strips in oil and garlic until it changes color. 

Add 1 tbsp each of cooking wine and soy sauce. 

Put water to cover beef and continue to cook until strips are tender. Set aside. 

3- In a big pot enough to hold all ingredients, put 2 tbsps oil and add the sliced bacon strips. Cook until they are crispy. 

Add garlic, onions and cook until translucent 

Add carrots and celery, stir one minute

Add potatoes and stir well

Then add other veggies, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans and mushrooms of your choice or omit if you like. 

Add the can of tomatoes and tomato paste, 

Put salt, pepper and dried mixed herbs or thyme and oregano or italian seasoning, whatever dried herbs available. 

Add 6 cups water or the soup from the beef bones 

Add the grated Parmesan 

Add beef strips and meat from the beef bones. 

4- In a separate pot boil water and cook the penne until aldente. Turn heat, keep penne in the pot of water

5- just before serving, add the pasta. By then, pasta absorbed the remaining water. This is important so pasta wont absorb you seasoned soup. 

6- Adjust the taste now, if too sour, add a tsp of sugar, if not thick enough, add more tomato paste, if blunt, add more salt or parmesan. 

7- this dish id done. This is goid for 15 people. You can freeze half for future but do not add the pasta. Served it with toasted baguette 

  

A VERY MERRY VALENTINE

We had fun today at breakfast with some of our walking buddies. 

While walking last week, we thought of celebrating Valentine with the “love of our lives”. “How about we have a gyoza/ sukiyaki lunch”, one of us said. I thought it would be great, a sequel to our earlier soba/tonkatsu lunch. 

Early on Kazu, Joy’s Japanese husband, told her to give us a taste of their cooking. “Instead of Joy’s plan to send the food over to our homes, why don’t we have lunch together”, I proposed. 

So together, they prepared soba and the most tender pork tonkatsu with different sauces and side dishes. And it was so yummy. 

Recent circumstances however altered our plans, so late yesterday we opted for breakfast instead. But two of our partners were not able to make it

But breakfast or lunch doesn’t matter, as long as we get together, eat together and share stories and laugh together. 

I think my minestrone soup with lots of veggies and grated parmesan was a hit. Look, they brought home some.

This morning was a lot of fun, plenty of a-ha moments; lots of love all around and memories to treasure. 

Thanks a lot for having it in our simple backyard garden, it may not be the best of gardens but that is us and we are happy to enjoy it with friends. What is important is not perfection but the connection, after all, hospitality prioritizes connection over perfection. 

AN OVERWHELMING BREAKFAST

If Monday’s breakfast at Tess’ was generous, yesterday’s breakfast spread was overwhelming. 

I wasn’t able to take photos of the food because the servers came one after another bringing dishes of food and laying them until the table was almost overflowing. And the dessert wasn’t even served. 

We started with the fruits

With the fruits and power drink alone, I was already full, as echoed by Celine. But we continued eating. Once again I had put on my cap of restrain. 

-There was Pancit with generous trimmings of meat and veggies.

-A large platter of grilled blue marlin

-Big crabs with especial jackfruit slow cooked in thick coconut milk sauce.

-A big bowl of Humba (stewed pig knuckles in soy, vinegar with gin and little sugar) heated straight from the freezer since most of the food came from Allen, Samar

-Ham and the creamiest cheese from Holland with yummy pan de Manila pandesal

-Scrambled eggs cooked in butter

-Crunchy deep fried baby dangit 

-More pickled fresh fish with ampalaya and talong. 

In the vernacular, as Tess would often say, “ Saan ka pa?”

Maybe interpreted as “ what more do you like”. 

We went home happy, tagging along our containers of pancit. Really, what more would you look for?

THANKS FOR A WONDERFUL BREAKFAST

That was a generous breakfast spread Tess served this morning after our morning walk. Its been awhile that two of our young Moms could join us. This breakfast gave us a chance to catch up.

I did not take photos of the food but allow me to describe each dish.

We started with our usual power drink. 

Followed by two kinds of bananas, papaya and pomelo

The hot meals came from Allen, Samar, Tess’ home sweet home.

-Humba -pig knuckles cooked in salty and sour sauce, as in adobo but a little sweet.

-Crabs and young jackfruit cooked in generous coconut milk.

-Shrimps cook in a similar way as crabs.

-Pickled meaty white fish with onions, eggplants and bitter gourd (paksiw)

-Scrambled eggs-a breakfast must

-crispy dried, crunchy baby dangit

-crispy dried, crunchy baby sapsap

-fresh boiled pili dipped in ginamos (fermented anchovy)

-Garlic rice

Dessert were suman and biko. 

And of course coffee that we took in between yummy spoons of food.

All the above with lots if fun, laughter and banter. A truly lovely morning to start the week