The AH Recipe Book

Thanks, Lance :)

This is one of my favorite cookie recipes, period. I modified it a bit after I first found it in a cookbook called Santa's Favorite Cookies a few years ago, and I make it year-round. If you love chocolate, this is definitely the recipe for you. And if you don't like coffee, don't worry about it--you can't even taste the coffee. My hubby hates coffee, but he eats six of these at a time :rolleyes:

Mocha Crinkles

1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons instant espresso or coffee granules
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Beat brown sugar and oil in medium bowl with electric mixer. Mix in sour cream, egg and vanilla. Set aside.

Mix flour, cocoa, espresso, baking soda, salt and pepper in another mixing bowl.

Add flour mixture to brown sugar mixture; mix well. Refrigerate dough until firm (about 3-4 hours).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour powdered sugar into shallow bowl. Set aside. Cut dough into 1-inch pieces, roll into balls. Roll balls into powdered sugar.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheets 10 to 12 minutes or until tops of cookies are firm to touch. (Do not overbake.) Cool on wire racks.

Makes 3 dozen
 
Eggplant Soup for Lovers


This recipe comes from a gorgeous but slightly silly cookbook called InterCourses. It purports to be a collection of aphrodisiac recipes made from common kitchen ingredients. In this recipe, the alleged aphrodisiac is basil. I make no promises to its amatory effectiveness but it does taste really good.


1 medium eggplant (about a pound)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large clove of garlic (or two—garlic is another alleged aphrodisiac
½ Tbs. minced fresh oregano
5 Tbs. olive oil, divided
3-4 large ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 ½ cups chicken stock
1 ½ tsp Worchester sauce
Tabasco to taste

1 cup packed fresh basil, washed and dried
2 oz. goat cheese

Char the eggplant until tender. While the eggplant is cooking, sauté the onion in 3 Tbs. olive oil until it is translucent and then add the garlic and oregano. Toss and sauté 15 seconds. Add the eggplant, tomatoes, and chicken stock and simmer 35 minutes. While the soup simmers, blend the basil and goat cheese with the remainder of the oil. When the soup is cooked, correct the seasoning. Serve the soup with a big dollop of the cheese/basil pesto for each bowl. Accompany with a hearty red wine and a big loaf of French bread.
 
Fruitcake

This recipe is based off of an English source, so the measurements are in weights rather than volumes.

10.5 oz flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. each mace, cinnamon, allspice, and freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. each ground ginger and ground cloves
10.5 oz. butter, softened
10.5 oz. sugar - either plain white sugar, or a mix of 3/4 white and 1/4 brown
9 eggs
2-4 tbsp. brandy or sherry
45 oz. total dried fruits and nuts, roughly chopped. I used dried apricots, pineapple, cherries, and figs, plus raisins, currants, walnuts, and slivered almonds.
Zest of one lemon and one orange, finely slivered or minced

Preheat the oven to 325 degress (F). Prepare two loaf pans by spraying with non-stick spray.

Sift the flour, salt, and spice into a small bowl and mix evenly together.

In a seperate bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until fluffy. Gradually add the eggs and liquor, beating thoughly.

Place the chopped fruit and citrys zest in a large mixing bowl - big enough to hold all of the ingredients. Sift the flour mixture over the fruit and stir it together with your hands, seperating the pieces of fruit from each other so that they are dusted with flour and don't stick in clumps.

Pour over the egg/butter/sugar mixture. Stir the mixture until it is well blended. Spoon it evenly into the two pans.

Place in the oven and bake - beware, the total cooking time is longer than it initially looks! Bake at 325 F for 45 minutes, then lower the heat to 300 and bake another hour. Lower temperature again, to 275 F, and cook 45 minutes to an hour or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool thoroughly.

Note that because this uses dried fruit rather than candied fruit and contains no preservatives, it will not keep indefinitely at room temperature. If you make a large batch, it keeps well if you slice it and freeze it, then pull out slices as you want them. Very nice with butter on it.
 
Spiced Biscotti
(just saw this thread so here's the recipe I mentioned in the fruitcake thread)

Makes 4-5 dozen.

If desired, substitute three whole eggs for the two eggs and two egg yolks in this recipe.

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
1. Sift first eight ingredients together in a small bowl.

2. Whisk sugar and eggs in a large bowl to a light lemon color; stir in vanilla extract. Sift dry ingredients over egg mixture, then fold in until dough is just combined.

3. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Halve dough and turn each portion onto an oiled cookie sheet covered with parchment. Using floured hands, quickly stretch each portion of dough into a rough 13-by-2-inch log, placing them about 3 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Pat each dough shape to smooth it. Bake, turning pan once, until loaves are golden and just beginning to crack on top, about 35 minutes.

4. Cool the loaves for 10 minutes; lower oven temperature to 325 degrees. Cut each loaf diagonally into 3/8-inch slices with a serrated knife. Lay the slices about 1/2-inch apart on the cookie sheet, cut side up, and return them to the oven. Bake, turning over each cookie halfway through baking, until crisp and golden brown on both sides, about 15 minutes. Transfer biscotti to wire rack and cool completely. Biscotti can be stored in an airtight container for at least 1 month.

This recipe is the basic one without stuff. I added a cup each of pistachios and dried cherries. I chopped them just a bit and folded them into the dough right before I formed it into the logs to bake. They really come out great, and if you like you can dip one end in whatever chocolate suits your fancy.
 
I don't bake much except biscuits, bread and pies but here's a super quick dessert that gets rave reviews every time I bring it somewhere.


Super quick Key Lime Pie

2 cans Eagle Brand condensed milk
2/3 cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp. Angostura bitters.
1 graham cracker pie shell from the store. (we usually get Sara Lee)

Pour the cans of Eagle brand into a bowl with the lime juice and bitters. Whisk them together until the mixture coagulates. Pour it into the pie shell and refrigerate for an hour. Top with whipped cream and a few thin lime slices for decor.
 
Last edited:
When I was 19, at Edinburgh University, I visited the home of my flat mate, the Baron of Duns. I was lucky enough to be there at the same time as an old family friend. I'll pass over the port broken out in his honour that had been laid down when Alec was born...

Instead I'll just pass on the recipe for the sweet that was, "easy enough for even you to make!"

Take equal quantities of cream and advocaat.

Whip the cream, then fold in the advocaat.

Serve.

Rich as Her Majesty (or Bill gates), but delectable!
 
(Courtesy of Recidiva)

Here's a lovely recipe for some of my favorite Christmas bourbon balls.

Almost as nice as seeing Shanglan, but hardly anything's really that good.

BOURBON BALLS

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
bourbon
1 stick butter, softened
1 lb confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
8 oz semi-sweet or unsweetened chocolate
1/2 oz paraffin wax
pecan halves

Cover the chopped pecans with bourbon. Cover and let sit 24 hours. Pour off the excess bourbon and liquify the pecans in a food processor. Add butter, sugar, vanilla, corn syrup and cream of tartar, When smooth, chill until firm. Melt chocolate and paraffin together in double boiler. Then form bourbon mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter. (I use a melon baller to do this.) If mixture becomes too soft, place in freezer until it firms up again. (I like to put the mixture into two containers and put them both in the freezer to chill. That way, when one gets a little too warm, you can put it back in the freezer and take out the other one and work with it. This keeps the process moving.) Drop the balls one at a time into the melted chocolate, and place them on waxed paper. Top each with a pecan half. Chill until chocolate sets -- about half an hour. (I usually find that once the chocolate has hardened, I need to go around each one and cut off the excess around the bottom that spreads out a little. But you may be a more skillful chocolatiere than I -- let me know if you have any success in making the perfect chocolate ball -- mine are always a little not-perfect. Adds to the charm.) Store in closed container in a cool place.
 
When I was 19, at Edinburgh University, I visited the home of my flat mate, the Baron of Duns. I was lucky enough to be there at the same time as an old family friend. I'll pass over the port broken out in his honour that had been laid down when Alec was born...

Instead I'll just pass on the recipe for the sweet that was, "easy enough for even you to make!"

Take equal quantities of cream and advocaat.

Whip the cream, then fold in the advocaat.

Serve.

Rich as Her Majesty (or Bill gates), but delectable!

Sounds like you could do the same thing with either Bailey's Irish Cream or the South African Amarula . . . Interesting!
 
Okay this was my Grandfathers favorite meal.

Secetina Goulash. (From Sudetenland)

1 Lb. Saurkraut
1- 1 1/2 Lb Lean Pork
2 TBS Paprika
2 Bay Leaves
1 TBS Vinegar
Dash each of Salt and Pepper

Cut Pork into small cubes. (The smaller the better.)
Wash the SaurKraut at least twice in cold water.

Add all ingredients in pot and cook over low heat until meat is tender.

Add additional vinegar to taste.

My Grandfather and I like this served with Mashed Potatoes.

Cat
 
Balsamic- Lentil Soup

This arrived in my inbox this afternoon and I made it tonight for supper, substituting baby spinach for the escarole and hot sauce for the mild-pepper sauce. It's a winner! Hearty and flavourful.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups beef, vegetable, or chicken broth
3 cups water
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 cup dried lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 bay leaf
2 cups chopped escarole
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon mild-pepper sauce

Directions
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

2. Add the broth, water, tomatoes (with juice), lentils, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.

3. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Stir in the escarole (or spinach :)), vinegar, and mild-pepper sauce. Cook for 5 minutes to blend the flavors.
 
Along with tight sweaters and hot buttered rum, this is one of the best reasons for winter.


Hungarian Bean Soup
from the restaurant Arany Hordo


2 1/3 cups dried pinto beans
2 Tbs. minced garlic
2 bay leaves
¾ cup chopped celery (or substitute)*
¼ cup butter
½ cup minced onions
1 tsp. garlic
¾ lb. smoked pork chops
¼ tsp pepper
¾ cup peeled, chopped turnip
½ lb smoked sausage
3 Tbs. flour
2 Tbs. minced fresh parsley
½ tsp hot Hungarian paprika


Pick over the pinto beans, place them into a large bowl and add enough water to cover them by 3 inches. Soak the beans overnight. Drain the beans in a colander and rinse them under cold running water. Combine the beans, 8 cups water, the smoked pork chops, 2 Tbs. minced garlic ¼ tsp pepper and 2 bay leaves in a large kettle. Bring the water to a boil, cover and simmer the mixture for an hour. Add the chopped turnip and “celery”. Cook the mixture over moderate heat for 45 minutes or until the beans are tender. Remove the pork chops and let them cool. Remove the meat from the bones, if any, and dice. Return it to the kettle with the sausage sliced into ¼” rounds. Melt the butter and stir in 3 Tbs. flour. Cook the roux, stirring, for one minute. Add the minced onion, parsley, 1 tsp minced garlic and ½ tsp hot Hungarian paprika, more if you want. Stir and cook the mixture for 2 minutes, then stir it into the kettle. Cook the soup over moderate heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Adjust the seasoning. Discard the bay leaves. Ladle the soup into heated bowls: garnish each with a dollop of sour cream.

Approx. 8 servings.

A true gourmand will let it sit in the fridge for a couple of days before digging in. Yum!
 
Chipotle Peppers

Okay this is an easy one that I use often enough.

Go to the local grocery or Bodega. Buy the oldest and most wrinkled looking Jalepeno Peppers they have. (Or if you're like me and grow your own just leave them on the vine until they are almost over ripe.)

Now this is the hard part. Put the peppers on the racks in your smoker while removing the water bowl from the smoker. Get the smoker just barely smoking so it keeps the heat low and close the door. Let them peppers smoke and dry in there until they look like prunes.

Now you Chipotle Peppers.

Cat
 
Crock Pot Pulled Pork

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay so maybe you don't have access to a Smoker. Maybe you live in an apartment or in a development that doesn't allow them. Or maybe you just don't want one even though you do like Pulled Pork. (I have family like that and they asked me to give them a recipe.) Well here's your cure. One warning though, it takes a while.

4 Lbs. Pork Roast. (Either Shoulder or Butt.)
2 large Onions
1 cup Ginger Ale
1 18 ounce bottle of your favorite BBQ Sauce.
1-2 Chipotle Peppers (Optional)
BBQ Sauce for serving. (Optional)
1 large Crock Pot

Slice up the onions and place one in the bottom of the crock pot. Add the Pepper.

Put the roast in fat side up. Cover with the rest of the Onion and pour the Ginger Ale over it. Cover and cook on low for 12 hours.

Remove the meat and Onions. Discard the Juice. (I like to keep maybe half a cup of the juice.) With two forks shred the meat getting rid of any remaining fat, bones or skin. (MOst if not all of the fat will have melted away.)

Return the meat and Onions to the crock pot. Mix in the BBQ Sauce and if you kept out the juice add that as well. Cook for another 4-6 hours on low.

Serve as you wish.

Cat
 
This evening's well-deserved and much-enjoyed supper: (three recipes follow)

Cornish Pasties

(Preheat oven to 450 degrees F)

Crust:
18 oz. plain flour
6 oz. vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons butter
1 tsp. salt
water

Rub or cut the fat into the flour and salt until it's the texture of coarse crumbs. Slowly add water a little at a time, stirring until the dough just coheres. Roll out thin and cut into circles or squares - I usually go about 4-5 inches on a side.

Filling:
2 medium potatoes
1 large turnip or half a rutabaga
2 medium carrots
1/2 onion
3/4 pound lean beef
Savory, thyme, salt, pepper - or other seasonings to your taste

Dice all ingredients and mix well together with the seasonings.

Place a handful of seasoning in the center of each piece of dough. Pull up the edges and pinch to seal. Place on a cooking sheet.

Place pasties in the oven and cook for ten minutes. Lower the heat to 350 and cook for 45 minutes or until the meat is tender when pierced with a skewer.


Homemade Ketchup

Ketchup:

pureed tomatoes
salt
vinegar (mostly white, not more than a few dashes of red wine or balsamic)
sugar
cloves, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne

The quantities can vary widely to taste. I usually work with something vaugely like four cups of sieved tomatoes, one cup of white vinegar, a handful of sugar, and about two teaspoons of spice total, relatively light on the cayenne. Simmer it until it's good. It freezes well, but won't keep forever in your fridge like the commercial stuff.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash
1 large sweet potato or yam
2-3 medium carrots
1 small onion
olive oil
salt
1/2 tsp. spices: cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and/or thyme all work well, as does rossemary - choose your favorites
water or stock

Peel and chop the vegetables. In a stock pot, heat the olive oil, then brown the vegetables until they are richly colored and beginning to soften. Add enough water or stock to cover the vegetables. Simmer until the vegetables are quite soft. Ladle carefully into a blender and puree in batches. Mix back together, heat, and serve. A swirl of creme fraiche and/or some fresh minced parsley, chives, or cilanto makes a nice finishing touch.
 
German Goulash Soup

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those of you in colder climates or for those who just happen to like a hearty soup.

I got this recipe from my mother who makes it quite often and I have always loved it.

200g. Pork
150g. Beef
2 Onions, diced
1 small Carrot, diced
1 green or red sweet Pepper, diced
1 small can peeled Tomatoes
1 Tbsp. Butter
1/4 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Paprika
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Pint frozen Coffee Creamer

Cut meat into very small pieces
Put meat, Butter and Onion into a pot and brown the meat.
Add Tomatoe, Carrot and sweet pepper to pot and cook for five minutes
Add Salt, Pepper, Paprika and Garlic and cook until the meat is tender.
Add Creamer and simmer until hot then serve.

Cat
 
Ya know? I love recipes, but I never follow them (mainly because I know what I love and I can make any recipe better to my taste). Despite my haughty opinion about my own ability to cook, what makes me interested in recipes are: 1) what is the history, and 2) How do you creatively change it? In other words, Shang ... what is the history of the Cornish pasty and how have YOU made it your own? :D
 
Last edited:
Ya know? I love recipes, but I never follow them (mainly because I know what I love and I can make any recipe better to my taste). Despite my haughty opinion about my own ability to cook, what makes me interested in recipes are: 1) what is the history, and 2) How do you creatively change it? In other words, Shang ... what is the history of the Cornish pasty and how have YOU made it your own? :D

Charley, I think we're much alike. I tend to do a fair bit of swapping and altering in recipes (which is probably why I'm weak at baking, which is less forgiving), and I do love a good history to a dish. I have a number of cookbooks from the 1800's and enjoy doing the occasional period meal.

Pasties have a long history in the British Isles; I know I've seen references to them at least as far back as Robin Hood ballads, and some of those date to the 15th century. You see references both to the small, hold-in-your-hand size that I make and to vast ones brought out for great feasts. The context seems, to me, generally to suggest that they started out as rather a treat. Anything with much meat in it would be to most people of the period. Later, as meat became more common, I've seen references to them being taken to work by miners and laborers. My mother told me that my great-grandmother recalled people baking pasty-style pies with meat on one end and fruit on the other, lunch and dessert in one.

For mine, I tend to lighten the crust a bit - I prefer it a bit less short - and to use a wider range of vegetables. My source recipe doesn't call for carrot, which I've added, and I use more turnip. I also do a bit more by way of seasoning, as the original only calls for salt and pepper. I also tend to add either a little water or some bits of suet (not gristle, but the stiff, white, easily cut fat) to moisten it a bit.
 
Charley, I think we're much alike. I tend to do a fair bit of swapping and altering in recipes (which is probably why I'm weak at baking, which is less forgiving), and I do love a good history to a dish. I have a number of cookbooks from the 1800's and enjoy doing the occasional period meal.

Pasties have a long history in the British Isles; I know I've seen references to them at least as far back as Robin Hood ballads, and some of those date to the 15th century. You see references both to the small, hold-in-your-hand size that I make and to vast ones brought out for great feasts. The context seems, to me, generally to suggest that they started out as rather a treat. Anything with much meat in it would be to most people of the period. Later, as meat became more common, I've seen references to them being taken to work by miners and laborers. My mother told me that my great-grandmother recalled people baking pasty-style pies with meat on one end and fruit on the other, lunch and dessert in one.

For mine, I tend to lighten the crust a bit - I prefer it a bit less short - and to use a wider range of vegetables. My source recipe doesn't call for carrot, which I've added, and I use more turnip. I also do a bit more by way of seasoning, as the original only calls for salt and pepper. I also tend to add either a little water or some bits of suet (not gristle, but the stiff, white, easily cut fat) to moisten it a bit.

You make food sound so delicious that I get plump just reading your descriptions and I completely forget why I post in the first place, Shang - lol - :kiss:
 
You make food sound so delicious that I get plump just reading your descriptions and I completely forget why I post in the first place, Shang - lol - :kiss:

My work here is done. :D

I always love to read C. S. Lewis's descriptions of food. When he talks about the dwarves pulling out frying pans as big as themselves and sizzling up big, meaty sausages, piping hot and just the slightest bit burnt, while the fauns come 'round with steaming mugs of hot spiced cider, my mouth positively waters. The man clearly loved a good dinner.
 
what makes me interested in recipes are: 1) what is the history

The history of southern chicken and dumplings (Shang can attest to their simple deliciousness) is sort of a sad one, but Southerners are mostly eternally optimistic, so we took it, and made it one of our signature dishes.

During the civil war, with Sherman quite literally blasting and burning a huge swath through the South (I think he said something like "I made a wasteland and called it peace"), food was very scarce. C & D evolved because it was a way to make a chicken feed not four people but eight or ten.
 
The history of southern chicken and dumplings (Shang can attest to their simple deliciousness) is sort of a sad one, but Southerners are mostly eternally optimistic, so we took it, and made it one of our signature dishes.

During the civil war, with Sherman quite literally blasting and burning a huge swath through the South (I think he said something like "I made a wasteland and called it peace"), food was very scarce. C & D evolved because it was a way to make a chicken feed not four people but eight or ten.

Yeah, the Nineteenth Century saw the birth of deliberate strategic warfare. The U.S. government practiced on the plains nations by wiping out the buffalo and then applied the same idea by sea and land against the Confederacy. The Anaconda Plan blockaded all their ports, taking the Mississippi cut the supply lines to Texas and then Sherman finished it off. It worked but ugly? Man!
 
Just the thing for a cold, raw, rainy day:

Pasta fagioli (pasta, vegetable, beans, and meat soup). (Yes, I know, many people don't make it with meat. My grandmother did. I do.)

Makes about 8-10 servings depending on your portion size. These are my ingredients from today; there's plenty of room to substitute and change proportions.

1 lb. ground beef
5 cloves garlic, chopped
4 stalks celery
1 large tomato
1 large carrot
1 large onion
olive oil
basil, oregano, bay, salt, pepper
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
1 30-oz can tomato puree
1 15-oz can kidney beans
8 oz whole wheat pasta
4 cups stock - chicken, veggie, beef, or a combination

Heat a little oil in a large stockpot. Add the garlic, beef, herbs, and seasoning and sautee over a medium-high heat while you chop up the vegetables. When the meat is just turning brown, take it off the heat and drain the fat from it in a strainer. While it drains, add the fresh vegetables to the pot with a little olive oil and sautee until colored and just starting to soften. Return the meat to the pot and cook together until pleasantly fragrant.

Add the tinned tomatoes. Cook with the vegetables and meat for five minutes, then add the puree, kidney beans, and stock. Add water as needed to make a hearty but not too thick soup (since you'll later be adding pasta and you need enough liquid there to cook it). Bring to a simmer and cook for ten minutes. Check that you have enough liquid, then add the pasta and cook until the pasta is tender.
 
Just the thing for a cold, raw, rainy day:

Pasta fagioli (pasta, vegetable, beans, and meat soup). (Yes, I know, many people don't make it with meat. My grandmother did. I do.)

Makes about 8-10 servings depending on your portion size. These are my ingredients from today; there's plenty of room to substitute and change proportions.

1 lb. ground beef
5 cloves garlic, chopped
4 stalks celery
1 large tomato
1 large carrot
1 large onion
olive oil
basil, oregano, bay, salt, pepper
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
1 30-oz can tomato puree
1 15-oz can kidney beans
8 oz whole wheat pasta
4 cups stock - chicken, veggie, beef, or a combination

Heat a little oil in a large stockpot. Add the garlic, beef, herbs, and seasoning and sautee over a medium-high heat while you chop up the vegetables. When the meat is just turning brown, take it off the heat and drain the fat from it in a strainer. While it drains, add the fresh vegetables to the pot with a little olive oil and sautee until colored and just starting to soften. Return the meat to the pot and cook together until pleasantly fragrant.

Add the tinned tomatoes. Cook with the vegetables and meat for five minutes, then add the puree, kidney beans, and stock. Add water as needed to make a hearty but not too thick soup (since you'll later be adding pasta and you need enough liquid there to cook it). Bring to a simmer and cook for ten minutes. Check that you have enough liquid, then add the pasta and cook until the pasta is tender.

Kidney beans? Interesting. I would have expected cannelini small white beans, myself. Kidneys we put in minestrone.
 
Kidney beans? Interesting. I would have expected cannelini small white beans, myself. Kidneys we put in minestrone.

We make both versions. The one that's pretty much exactly like Shang's only without meat, we make with cannellini. The other, which we consider 'proper' pasta fagioli (well, proper in my family!) is made with borlotti or similar beans, no tomato and onion, and once again no meat.

My grandma did use meat, though, but not beef. She'd cook sausages and/or smoked ribs together with the beans. Yummy winter food in all variations!
 
We make both versions. The one that's pretty much exactly like Shang's only without meat, we make with cannellini. The other, which we consider 'proper' pasta fagioli (well, proper in my family!) is made with borlotti or similar beans, no tomato and onion, and once again no meat.

My grandma did use meat, though, but not beef. She'd cook sausages and/or smoked ribs together with the beans. Yummy winter food in all variations!

I believe it!
 
Back
Top