Ribollita

Hey hey! I'm back with that amazing soup recipe that I told you about yesterday. Mmmm...this is Fall comfort food at it's best! Veggies, bacon, beans, parmesan, savory broth....need I say more?

I made a pot of this soup and let it simmer on the stove for an hour last night, but it could easily be made in about 30 minutes. Thanks for another winner, Rachael :)

Before we get into this soup, I've been busy with something lately (beside making a human). I've been taking Photography Classes! I got these classes from my sweet hubs for my birthday, and it has been great so far. I am taking a 6 week course, for 2 hours each week. Here are a few of my homework assignments, featuring my little fur baby models :)

The pics of Coop turned out well!

Stella's were really sweet, and I loved her expressions. But unfortunately, the white balance and sharpness was all wrong. Dang it.

See how orange/golden this pic is? Too bad :(

And this would have been the sweetest shot, but she's a bit blurry...

I feel like the last pic is a perfect description of her. She is SO protective of that freakin' ball!

I'll be sure to share more with you guys as the class continues. My food shots aren't great because I can never take them in natural light! Boooo. We'll have to figure something out with that.

Anywho, back to this soup. A traditional Ribollita has beans, bacon (or pancetta), veggies, tomato and chicken broth, and crusty bread all thrown in with some sturdy greens, then topped with parmesan. I used kale for this, and it was perfect.

First, cook your bacon and potatoes.

Next, add in some celery, onion, carrot, grated zucchini, and salt and pepper. Cook until soft.

Now dump in some beans, diced tomatoes, and kale.

That's a TON of veggies! So yummy. At this point, I seasoned again with salt and pepper, and added a pinch of crushed red pepper to spice it up a bit. Then I added in my broth and brought it to a boil, lowering it to a simmer for about 30 minutes. It can be served immediately after it boils though.

Be sure to top this with more black pepper and lots of parm shavings! Sorry for the photos, I had to paint the steps in my house last night, so I didn't eat until about 9.

RIBOLLITA

Adapted from Rachael Ray

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling at the table
• 4 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 fresh laurel leaf or 1 dried bay leaf - fresh bay is available in herb section of larger markets
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cans small white beans, such as Goya brand, cannellini beans, or northern beans
• 6 cups chicken stock or broth
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 3 cups stale chewy Italian bread, crust removed and bread torn into pieces, about 1/2 a loaf (I omitted)

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for garnish

Directions

Heat a deep, heavy bottomed pot over moderate heat. Add oil, garlic, onions, carrots, celery and bay to the pot. Season vegetables with salt and pepper and saute until they begin to soften 5 to 7 minutes. Add beans, stock and tomato sauce. Bring soup to a boil over medium high heat. Remove lid and stir in torn stale bread. Stir soup and incorporate bread as it breaks down. When soup is becomes thick and bread is distributed evenly, adjust seasoning and serve the soup in shallow bowls. Some ribolittas are so thick, the spoon can stand upright. This is a subjective technique. Make yours as thick or thin, as you like with the addition of either more bread or additional stock or water.

Top shallow bowlfuls of soup with a drizzle of extra- virgin olive oil and a generous sprinkling of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

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Quick Pickles and July 4th Recap

Well Hello! I hope everyone had an awesome holiday weekend. We had a LOT of rain, so no beach time, but it was still a really fun trip. The doggies did pretty well for their first out-of-state car ride in our new minivan. It was so nice to put down the seats and have all that room for them!

Stella even learned how to swim!

Saturday afternoon, we hung out and watched the World Cup.....while playing some beer pong of course. I was in the kitchen, prepping the food, but I'm pretty sure Rodd, Jeff, Sarah, and Lindsay had a blast.

Speaking of prepping food in the kitchen, Mom got new countertops! I am so jealous...

I need to save up for granite....someday. They make all the difference! That night, we went out to Thirsty Marlin in Palm Harbor for my favorite meal- Sesame Crusted Seared Ahi Tuna!

I was just as good as I remembered it :)

On Sunday, we had some people over for the 4th.

We had what every party needs....Red, White and Blue Jello Shots :)

The rain stopped for a few hours during the party, so we had time to play some cornhole and beer pong outside...

The appetizers were courtesy of Linday and Sarah, and they were amazing! Stuffed Mushrooms...

And brown sugar/pecan baked brie....

I made a bunch of stuff for dinner, but didn't take pictures of any of it. How did that happen? On the menu: Gorgonzola-stuffed turkey burgers, sweet potato fries, grilled corn and potato salad, asparagus and tomato salad, grilled chicken with pineapple salsa, and baked beans. Whew. Quite the mouthful!

All in all, we had a great time. The night ended (as it usually does) in the hot tub with a night cap. It was perfect :)

I promised you the recipe for Quick Pickles last week, so I wanted to feature that today. It is so simple, you'll wonder why you haven't made more pickles in your life! I actually bought 2 more cucumbers last night (yes, I went to the grocery store at 9pm after an 8 hour car ride), so I can make another batch this week!

First, I combined some vinegar, mustard seed, sugar, salt, garlic, peppercorns, crushed red pepper, dill and a bay leaf in a small saucepan.

You should use fresh dill, but I had so much dried dill that I needed to use up, and it worked out fine. Once the mixture comes to a boil, you are ready to pour it on your cucumbers.

Next, pop this into the firdge for a few hours or overnight, then you are ready to serve you pickles!

These pickles are to die for! You can omit the peppercorns and crushed red pepper of course, we just like things spicy around our house!

QUICK PICKLES

Adapted from Rachael Ray

• 1/2 cup white vinegar, eyeball it
• 2 rounded teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• A pinch of crushed red pepper
• A pinch of peppercorns
• 1 clove cracked garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried dill or 2 tablespoons fresh dill leaves, chopped or snipped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cucumbers, cut into 1-inch half moon slices on an angle

(I doubled all of these measurements to cover the 2 cucumubers)

Directions

Heat small saucepan over medium high heat. Add vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, salt, and garlic to the pan and cook until it begins to simmer and sugar dissolves. Toss the dill, bay leaf, and sliced cucumbers together in a heat-proof bowl. Pour the simmering liquid over the cucumbers and stir to evenly coat. Allow to cool to room temperature or chill before serving.