Family Cooking - Part 3 - Pasta Fagioli Soup & Cream of Asparagus Soup

Nancy's Pasta Fagioli Soup

Ingredients

1 large can of tomatoes (or tomato sauce)
1 pig's foot - split in half
1 Tblsp oil to fry 4-5 pieces garlic
1 can red kidney beans (dark beans better, but can use the light beans)
1/2 lb ditalini (can substitute "soup mac" pastina)
salt and pepper to taste
1-3 stalks celery
basil and oregano to taste

Boil pig's foot for 10 minutes and drain (to clean)

Fry garlic in oil (do not burn). Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, parsley, and celery. Let cook about 1/2 hour.

Add pig's foot and cook about one hour.

Add beans and 2 cups water. Cook another 1/2 hour until pig's foot is tender.

Cook ditalini, drain and add to the pot. Be sure it is soupy...add a little water if it isn't.

NOTE 1: Ham hocks or neck bones can be used by those squimish about pigs feet, although the pigs feet works the best for seasoning. (I have made pasta figioli for guests cooked with pig's feet and withheld serving any of the actual pigs feet if they were uncomfortable about using pigs feet.)

NOTE 2: Suggest it be served with a tossed salad, fresh garlic bread and red wine.

Makes about 4-5 servings


Paul's Rich Asparagus Soup

1/4 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 large yellow onions, coarsely chopped
4 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 quarts rich chicken stock
3 pounds asparagus
1 cup packed, chopped fresh parsley
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
8 large fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1 large ripe tomato, seeded and cut into fine dice

In large heavy saucepan or soup pot, melt butter, add onions and garlic and cook over low heat until wilted but not browned, about 20 minutes. Add chicken stock and heat to boiling.

Trim woody ends from asparagus and cut stalks into 1-inch pieces. Reserve tips. Add asparagus stalk pieces, parsley, carrots, basil, tarragon, salt, pepper and cayenne to boiling stock. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 50 minutes.

Remove soup from heat and cool slightly. Process or blend (food processor with steel blades or electric blender) until smooth; strain through medium-sized sieve to remove woody fibers.

Return soup to pot and reheat. Add reserved asparagus tips and simmer until tips are tender, about 10 minutes. Ladle into soup bowls, top with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with diced tomato.

Makes about 8 servings.

NOTE 1: Buy asparagus that are thinner, if possible, because there is less of a woody end and they tend to cook faster as well. To clean hold woody end between 2 fingers and hold with other hand about in the middle and gently bend. Where it snaps shows you how to eliminate most of the woody ends before cooking.

NOTE 2: Serve with garlic toast and white wine.

Family Cooking - PT 2 - Cream of Broccoli Soup and Homemade Chicken Soup

Uncle Paul's Cream of Broccoli Soup

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 quarts chicken broth
• 1 can evaporated milk (or half-n-half)
• 1/4 lb bacon
• 1/4 lb shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1 large (or 2 small) heads of broccoli
• 1/4 cup choped onlion
• dash of nutmeg
• 1/4 cup flour

Fry bacon until crisp. Leave drippings and remove bacon and set aside. Add broccoli and 1/2 up of chicken broth. Cook until softened.

Remove broccoli and cut off all florets into small pieces (approx. 1") and set aside.

Chop stems into small pieces and place in cuisinart/or blender. Add bacon, flour, onion, cheese and enough chicken broth to be able to work it. Turn on and off until completely blended.

Add to pot with all the rest of the broth and cook. Keep it at a simmer and add the cream of celery soup to mixture. WHen it is completely mixed in, add the evaporated milk (or 1/2 and 1/2) and the reserved broccoli. Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste and it is ready to surve.

NOTE 1: If you use one large head broccoli, peel the stems before cooking it otherwise it will make the soup stringy.

NOTE 2: Some people find the smell of the broccoli cooking unpleasant until cooked completely. The soup will NOT taste like the broccoli smells while cooking. Very mild, smooth and creamy.

NOTE 3: Serves well with warm Italian bread, fresh or toasted.

NOTE 4: Although this is Uncle Paul's recipe, my mother used to make it for us and several family holiday meals. Very good soup. This receipe "went lost" for about 5 years and then resurfaced. I would like to spread it around so the recipe is never lost. Good eating.


Nancy's Homemade Chicken Soup

Ingredients

1 whole chicken
1 large whole onion, peeled with ends cut off and surface scored with sharp knife
1/2 stalk of celery (especially the inner, leafy stalks. Wash and cut off and discard ends
3-4 large carrots, peeled with ends cut off and discarded
1-2 fresh tomatoes
1 Tblsp oil
Salt to taste
1 fresh lemon

Wash whole chicken inside and out and completely coat inside and out with salt. Let sit for about 10 minutes then rince salt completely off. (this breaks down the fat and leaves a cleaner chicken for the broth)

Put oil in large pot and place chicken (whole or cut-up) and brown chicken lightly, turning occassionally to make sure all parts have been done.

Add enough water to cover the chicken, add whole onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes, season lightly with soup. (We had a house rule that we under-salt the soup while cooking and allow people to salt their own individual bowls to taste. Some of us liked our saltier than others and this is the only fair way to accommodate everyone's pallet individually)


Bring water to a boil and simmer for 2-3 hours. When done, remove all food ingredients with slated spoon. Debone/deskin chicken and cut up into bite-sized pieces. Chop vegetables and return all to the pot and reheat. Squeeze lemon juice into the broth and stir.

NOTE 1: Sometimes we cut up the vegetables ahead of time while cooking, depending on whether you want the more work to occur before it cooks, or after it cooks before serving.

NOTE 2: This soup may be served in a bowl with cooked rice, pastina (tiny pasta such as orzo, acini de pepe). If you serve with rice, you can add alittle more lemon juice to taste for each bowl. If you serve with pastina, you may sprinkle parmasea cheese over it. Please do not try both the extra lemon AND the parmasea cheese and it does not taste as good like that.

NOTE 3: If you decide to cook the soup with select parts of chicken instead of the whole, please use the thighs, legs, and/or back as they make the best broth. If you cook the chicken soup with only the breast, the broth will be clear and thin. Not recommended.

NOTE 4: If a whole chicken seems like too much meat for your taste in the soup. hold out part of the chicken and use it to make chicken salad. (Chicken Salad: chop chicken and place in a bowl. Add miracle whip and a couple of squirts of ranch dressing, salt and pepper to taste).

NOTE 5: I consider celery to be the most necessary ingredient next to the chicken. If you would like, you may substitute a soup-sized can of V-8 juice in place of the other vegetables to give the broth a more vegetable taste.

White House Recognizes a Nation of Immigrants--Call for Family Stories

President Obama has called for Americans to share our Immigration Stories in order to further a sense of immigration solidarity among a nation of immigrants. Here is the information about the White House Effort and below it is our submission.

Hi, everyone -- This is the start of a national debate. Across the country, we're having a serious discussion about how we can build a fair and effective immigration system that lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. And we need your help to make sure that genuine, personal perspectives are part of the conversation. The truth is, that if we go back far enough, nearly every American story begins somewhere else -- so often with ancestors setting out in search of a different life, carving out a future for their children in this place that all of us now call home. We want to make sure that idea isn't far from the minds of policymakers here in Washington as we work to reach an agreement to reform immigration. To kick things off, one of the President's senior advisors sat down to share his story with you. Watch David Simas tell his American story, then tell us yours. When Americans from all over the country -- each with different backgrounds, each from different circumstances -- all speak out with the same voice, it's powerful in a way that's hard to ignore. We've seen it again and again, in debate after debate. And this is the kind of issue where putting a face on the push for reform takes an abstract concept and makes it real. So share your American stories with us, and we'll put them to use. We'll publish them on the White House website. We'll share them on Facebook and Twitter. We'll do everything we can to make sure they're part of the debate around immigration reform. Get started here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/immigration/stories Thanks, Cecilia Cecilia Muñoz Director, Domestic Policy Council The White House The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111 Our Sabatini Submission

My name is Nancy J. Bell and my maternal grandfather immigrated to America in 1922 from Abruzzi Italy, and while my maternal grandmother was born in America, her parents and older sister were immigrants from Calabria Italy. They raised their children, including my mother, with a strong emphasis on both good citizenship responsibilities and educational opportunities which would lead us to become contributors to society, as well as good role models for our family.

     In addition to good citizenship and education, our family has always been strong supporters of the American Armed Forces and all of my uncles, my father, my husband and my son-in-law all served in the military in either the army, navy or marines, including my father being on the first nuclear sub to the North Pole, and one of my uncle’s service in the Vietnam War.

     We believe Americans must contribute to the country's defense and the preservation of American freedoms, the beacon of which drew my family to American shores to start a life here. Hopes and dreams of having access to opportunities under a set of Laws that promises freedom, upward mobility, and active paths to act on behalf our communities.

     My mother was recognized by the United States Congress after years of volunteer service in our neighborhood from just after the Detroit '67 riots through the early 1980s, being a member of community organizations that sought and gained Federal Funds for several non-profit organizations that included such services as caring for our shut-in elderly people, such Meals-on-Wheels, and low-income housing repair, a teen drop-in center to combat idleness that could lead to gang activities, drug use or violence by developing a strong sense community unity. A community newsletter ran for several years identifying and sharing information of local events and identified problems to address together. We also participated in tutoring, a drug-rehabilitation program, and providing for help new immigrants to assimilate into the American system by educating them about our laws, school systems, and tolerance.

     I have been a civil rights activist since I was 8 years old and not only was active in Peaceful Integration of the schools, but also served as a Student Ambassador for Peace to Israel in 1978. We believe that our role as Americans is to further peace efforts whenever possible, both domestically and internationally.

     We love America and although we see America as an ongoing work in progress towards the ideals upon which our country was founded, we know the work will never be done. The dynamics of growth and positive change is hard-wired into our thinking, our beliefs and our actions as a family and as members of society.