Semi-homemade

[mamadeb]

At least, it is according to my definition.

I made potato-leek soup with salmon for dinner last night.


This is also the way one makes such a dish when the kitchen is set for meat because the kitchen is set for meat pretty much as a default (I mostly cook dinner and, like many Americans, dinner pretty much = meat) and one wants to make a dairy dish.

First make sure husband (he who is in charge of dishwashing) washes the dishes. He managed to clean most of them before running off for an appointment.

Come home with the groceries - potatoes, pre-cleaned dill, leeks, milk, cans of salmon and organic fake-chicken stock. Also sour cream. Because I used packaged stock and canned salmon, it's not quite homemade.

Note that there are clean pots on the stove, an overflowing dishdrainer and a couple of pots in the sink. Also, fleishig cutting board is sitting on the counter. Put clean pots from the stove in the cabinet and put cutting board in the sink. Replace with dairy cutting board.

Put about two quarts of water in dairy soup pot. Turn on high. Pour in about half the package of stock. Wash and cut up the potatoes. Realize that the knife is dull and that even honing it won't make a difference. This is because, since I cook dairy so rarely, I haven't invested in good knives. I have a good knife I want to use for dairy, but I haven't dunked it yet. Use Oxo laser sharpened aluminum foil that is, at least, sharp. Transfer potatoes to soup pot. Toss some bay leaves in the pot. Clean and cut up leeks and toss in pot.

Empty dishdrainer and wash remaining dishes from sink. Put them away wet. Take out dairy dishdrainer and put away fleishig one. Also change from meat to dairy sink rack. Kitchen is now dairy. Go on line and surf for an hour or so, until potatoes are tender. Let water reduce down. Add some cracked pepper. Taste and realize you need more stock because it's your salt for this dish, given that one cup has 20% of the RDA of sodium. Turn fire to very low.

When husband comes home, mash potatoes with dairy potato masher, and add about two cups of whole milk and a can of drained salmon. Realize soup is now too watery and let it reduce for about a half hour. To serve, add fresh dill and a small dollop (two teaspoons, maybe) of sour cream.

Have lowfat non-sugar ice cream cone for dessert.

Comments

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

No fair! You didn't post the recipe!

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

*rereads the above*

In what way is the post *not* a recipe?

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Errr...yes...on rereading.

I think it's because I don't own any dull knives that I didn't recognize it.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Dull knives are optional. Really, really optional.

I don't use recipes. I toss stuff in pots.

Um. Two small-medium leeks and four large red potatoes for the only things without taste or approximate quantities. And a six ounce can of salmon.

[castiron.livejournal.com]

Out of curiosity, how do you keep track of which utensils, pots, etc. are which? Do you mark them in any particular way, or do you just make sure to buy ones that look different?

(I'm finding this interesting because I'm gradually accumulating/designating two sets of utensils myself -- the gluten-free casein-free set for Thomas's food and the anything-goes set for mine. Haven't gotten as far as separate dishpans yet, but if I had more kitchen storage I'd consider it.)

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I use a combination of things. My plates and flatware have distinctive designs, for example. If I can get different colors, I do that - dairy items are blue if possible, or white, and meat items are red or black. If I had pareve items, other than vegetable peelers, I'd mark them green. If I can't get a distinctive design or color, I'll use blue or red electrical tape or nail polish, or I'll use the little clear stickers marked "meat" and "dairy". My dairy baking dishes are clear pyrex, my fleishig ones are metal. If I actually baked cookies or cakes, I'd have a set of pareve bakeware, but that's not necessary for me.

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

But what type of baked goods? For example, plain yeast bread could be pareve *if I understand the designation correctly*, but what about challah and brownies?

*curious minds want to know*

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Pareve means no dairy or meat products. All plant materials are pareve, as are fish and eggs (although there are couple of odd rules about fish.)

Dairy challah is very rare - I've never seen it for sale and I've only seen a couple of recipes for it. Given that it's a part of the Sabbath meals, and that Sabbath meals are usually meat, it has to be pareve. Also, it's a custom to only make pareve breads to prevent people from accidentally serving dairy breads with meat meals.

Brownies can certainly be pareve. They're probably better dairy, but anything these days can be pareve.

[amoeba-j.livejournal.com]

oy, this is one of the few reasons that I'm glad to be dairy-intolerant -- it made the decision to have a meat/pareve kitchen much easier ;) I just keep a few random dairy dishes/pans around for when I cook for others.

have you ever seen a good non-dairy potato soup recipe? especially one for someone who is not so good in the kitchen...

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

If you are not allergic to soy milk, I think you an use this recipe. Soy has no dairy, so I think that is what is called 'pareve'.


4cups homemade stock (veggie or chicken)
2 cups plain, unsweetned soy milk, like Silk Unsweetened (http://www.silkissoy.com/index.php)
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
4 large russet potatoes
1 large onion, chopped fine, divided in half
2 cloves
crackling of nutmeg/mace/black pepper

Chop pototoes into cubes. set stock to simmer and add potatoes and half onion. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Stir so that it does not stick. Add other half of onion, oil and cloves of garlic now and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Pototoes should be quite soft. Take out half of soup mixture and process in a food blender for about 1 minute. Add back to soup pot along with soy milk. Heat thorugh; do not boil.

Serves about 4.

[amoeba-j.livejournal.com]

thank you for the recipe -- it does look like it would be pareve as long as I use veggie stock, so I'm sticking this post into Memories for when I get inspired to cook ;)

oh, one last question -- my blender died and I don't have a food processor, only a hand mixer; will that work in the last step of your recipe if I start to mash the potatoes first and then add the half of the soup slowly to prevent splatter? or won't it puree it enough?

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

Please do try this, and I forgot to say that the spices should be to your taste.

And yes, you can actually take half out and just mash with a hand masher or hand mixer instead. It will just as smooth. Just faster with the blender.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Use rice milk instead of whole milk in the soup I made above, and use tofu sour cream at the end.

You could also use soy milk, but I don't like it as well straight.

[amoeba-j.livejournal.com]

Tofutti sour cream is my favorite brand! It tastes so close that when I use it to make spinach dip, my friends couldn't tell the difference!

Does the rice milk make the soup sweeter? I've tried to cook with rice milk before but it has always come out so sweet... I've also used almond milk and oat milk as substitutes for real milk in cocoa and for cereal, respectively, as the tastes harmonize well.

Do you mind if I ask you other Kashrut/cooking questions in the future?

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I use it when I make beef or chicken fajitas.

Maybe use oat milk - I've never tried it, so I don't know. I've never been fond of milk, so I don't try for substitutes of the liquid stuff.

You can ask, but I cannot posken or anything - just say what I do.

[amoeba-j.livejournal.com]

cannot posken or anything - just say what I do.

of course - it's just nice to have someone to ask without looking stupid... My family didn't really keep kosher when I was growing up (although my late Grandmother did keep a kosher home) -- I just grew into it as I lived on my own, so I can't really ask my mother most of my questions.

[leahmiriam.livejournal.com]

I have never put dishes away wet. Does anything bad happen or do they simply dry slower this way?

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I put dishes away wet all the time. They just dry a bit more slowly, and maybe with spots. I don't care about spots.

[sekhmets-song.livejournal.com]

Don't put your plates away wet, if they stack together closely or you live in a damp environment. Things can... grow.
Ewwww.

[leahmiriam.livejournal.com]

That's what I thought. Thanks for the clarification :)

[naomichana.livejournal.com]

*chuckle* I have the exact opposite kitchen configuration that you do -- my default is dairy, all the good knives are dairy, and my collection of fleischig pots and pans live in the Annoyingly High Cabinet Above The Stove. (Also, I have only one dishdrain.) But I do love to bake, and so what I need in my next kitchen is a gigantic cabinet for pareve baking stuff.

The soup sounds tasty, though. I should try that sometime soon.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I think my inlaws default to dairy, but they do have a lot of meat stuff, too. It's all a matter of preference.

You actually only need one dishdrainer, but the idea makes me uncomfortable.