MAC AND CHEESE WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH (via Buttercup600s Blog)

This recipe (below) from our Awesome in Australia blogger-poet friend, Amanda, at Buttercup600. Recommend her site. It's rich in music, art, poetry, and good food . . . what more could you want?

This recipe is reminiscent of the pumpkin and butternut squash ravioli that old friends in Brooklyn used to make . . . but it's a lot easier to prepare. For my wheat-and-gluten free version I substituted the following:
- Pacific Natural Foods Free-Range Chicken Broth, gluten-free
- Organic Valley Milk, gluten-free
-Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Flour, wheat-and-gluten free
- Mi-Del Gluten-free ginger snaps, wheat-and-gluten free (but not manufactured in a dedicated facility)
- and Trader Joe's brown rice pasta.
Perfectly wonderful. Try it. Thanks, Amanda.

Amanda's Mac and Cheese with Butternut Squash follows:

Butternut squash is one of my favorite ingredients to work with during the fall and winter because it just exudes a sweet, hearty, warmth. When it’s roasted, all the sugars caramelize and the flavor of the squash is intensified. Pair it with the other star ingredient in this dish, the aged Gouda, and we have ourselves a sweet-and-savory home run! The technique to making this dish is pretty standard as far as mac and cheese goes. After sautéing th … Read More

PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE

THAI PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE

The recipe

Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 shallots, minced 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons ginger, grated
• 1 red chili pepper, minced
• 1 small red bell pepper, minced
• 1 large omega-3 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of cold water
• 3 tablespoons gluten-free vegetable broth
• 3 tablespoons Thai Fish Sauce  or gluten-free tamari
• 3 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 cup of fresh pineapple, cut into medium dice
• 8 medium-sized fresh, raw shrimp, peeled and devained, leave the tail on
• 1 chicken breast, cut into large dice
• 1/4 cup frozen, organic baby peas
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a pan large enough for all the ingredients.  Add the shallots, garlic, peppers, and ginger and stir-fry until fragrant and tender, just a minute or two.  Set aside.

Heat the other tablespoon of oil in the pan and pour in the egg mixture.  Let it cook through.  Do not stir.  You can gently flip it to lightly brown both sides.  Slip it into a plate and cut it into slender lengths. Set aside.

Put the meat and seafood into the pan and cook gently until they are almost cooked through.  Then add the broth, fish sauce and other seasonings, reserving the cilantro until later.  Continue to stir fry.  Add the peas.

Next add the brown rice and the pineapple and continue to stir-fry to mix all and heat through.

Plate the Thai Pineapple Fried Rice and sprinkle it with the fresh cilantro before serving.

Actual product ingredients may be other than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read package labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

POMEGRANATES, Starting to show up in stores and national pomegranate month coming up

Illustration from Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, 1885, Gera, Germany courtesy of Wikipedia.

When we eat pomegranates, we eat food fit for a goddess. In Greek mythology Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter, was abducted and taken to the underworld by Hades. Zeus demanded that she be returned to earth. Hades had to relent, but Persephone ate four pomegranate seeds and for that she was doomed to return to the underworld for several months (winter time when fields and trees are dormant) each year. 

We, on the other hand, eat pomegranates and are "doomed" to good health. High in antioxidants and ellagic acid, they are believed to mitigate cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and potential for various cancers including breast and prostate. Pomegrantes are, however, contraindicated for those taking certain medications.  So, if you are on cholesterol lowering or blood pressure lowering medications, it's best to check with your doctor or pharmacist before indulging.

Persians put out big bowls of pomegranates at weddings for fortunate and fruitful marriages. In Persian (Iranian) cuisine - a largely undiscovered wonder in the U.S. - it is used in many delicious ways including their tantalizing walnut, bell pepper, and pomegranate dip, muhamarra.  It's quite easy to prepare: In a blender combine

• two large red peppers, seeded and cut in chunks
• 1/2 cups of raw walnuts
• 3 teaspoons of fresh pomegranate juice
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon of Aleppo pepper
• sea salt to taste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, best quality you can afford

Blend well.  Taste and adjust salt, lemon and olive oil and give it another whirl in the blender.  Pour into a bowl and serve with crudités.  (Great dish for raw foodists.)

Among modern-day Greeks on New Year's Day, pomegranates are taken outside the house and smashed on the ground to disperse the seeds for good luck. The further the seeds travel, the better the luck. More practically speaking, the pomegranates are used in drinks, salad dressings, fruit salads, and just by itself. To get at the seeds, cut the pomegranate in half.  Hold the halves over a bowl of cold water and tap the shell.  The seed and the pith will fall into the water. The seeds will float to the bottom and the pith to the top, making it easy to separate them.  Drain off the water and pith and eat the whole seed.  The flavor is in the juicy outer part, but the fiber is in the inner kernel, so eat the whole thing for maximum delight and health benefit.

Pomegranate molasses can be combined with the seeds and juice of the fruit to make a delicious Greek salad:

• 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, best you can afford
• 2 teaspoons Annie's Dijon mustard (gluten-free)
• Freshly ground sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 10 cups of mesclun salad mix
• 1 apple, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup of crumbled feta
• 1 cup of pomegranate seeds

For the vinaigrette, combine the juice, molasses, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk.  To make the salad, combine the greens and the apple in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with half of the vinaigrette and mix.  Divide the dressed greens among eight salad dishes. Top with the crumbled feta and the pomegranate seeds.  Spoon some more of the vinaigrette over each portion, and you're ready to go.
In Lebanese cuisine pomegranate seeds are sprinkled on bowls of leban (yogurt) and on hummus bi tahini, chickpeas with sesame seed paste, and baba ghanouz, tahini with eggplant. There is also a popular pomegrante drink - Americans would call it a "mocktail."  Combine the following ingredients in a pitcher and serve over ice:

• 2 1/2 cups fresh pomegranate juice
• 1/2 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice, Meyers preferred when you can get them
• 1 teaspoon orange-blossom water*
• honey or sugar to taste
• 4 cups mineral water

* Orange blossom water and rose-water are used frequently in Middle Eastern cooking.  It may be a bit of an acquired taste.  Hard for me to tell since I grew up with it.  However, we can give you a good budget tip.  If you have a Mediterranean or Indian grocer near you, these waters will be half or even one-third the price of the same product in other stores.  And, a beauty tip: rose-water makes a great and very soothing toner for mature skin.


For the holidays, drop a few pomegranate seeds in glasses of champagne for the grown-ups and sparkling apple juice for the kids and watch with delight as the lovely garnet gems dance.  Or for the kids a soda with grenadine. Grenadine is a sweet syrup made from pomegranates and something with which most people are familiar since it is often used in mixed drinks. Most of  my generation got introduced to it as kids in Shirley Temple and Roy Rodger drinks, ginger ale and grenadine on ice.  They might be fun drinks for your kids during holiday season, but probably need to be renamed.  Maybe Hanna Montana and Spider Man, or something like that.

Enjoy fresh pomegranate now. The season will pass quickly.

YOUVARLAKIA, Greek "porcupines" in egg and lemon sauce

Pamphaios, potter Wikipedia

Lamb meatballs made with rice, simmered in chicken broth, and served in an egg and lemon sauce (avgolemono) is wonderful peasant food that can be served for any occasion. A little salad with feta to go with it - and a Lebanese or Turkish Coffee after - makes quite a heavenly little feast.  It's not too expensive.  The rice helps stretch the meat.

"Porcupines" in Lemon Sauce, Youvarlakia, (Wheat-and-Gluten Free)

The recipe

Serves four

Prepare the meatballs:

• 1 pound of ground lamb
• 1 large onion, grated
• 1/4 cup Lundberg Brown Jasmine Rice
• 1/4 olive oil (does not have to be first press)
• 1 teaspoon fresh spearmint, very finely minced or crumbled
• Black pepper to taste
• Sea salt to taste
• 1 large omega-3 free-range egg
• 1/2 cup of fresh parsley, finely minced
• 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour

Prepare the sauce:

• 2 cups of homemade gluten-free chicken broth or 1 sixteen-ounce package of Imagine Organic Free Range Chicken Broth, gluten-free
• 5 tablespoons European butter, room temperature
• 3 large omega-3 range-free eggs, at room temperature and separate
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, from Meyer lemons if you can get them

Combine the first eleven ingredients, which are listed under "prepare the meatballs" above. Keep working the mixture until it is like paste, then form into small balls just a bit larger than a ping-pong ball.  Roll the meatballs in the flour

Bring the broth to a boil in a large soup pot and add the meatballs, carefully one-by-one.  Break up the butter into small pieces with your hands and distribute it over the meatballs.  Cover the pot. Turn down the heat to simmer and let the meatballs cook for forty-five minutes.

Turn off the heat.  Separate out one cup of the broth.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and then whip the egg whites with some salt until they are fluffy but not quite stiff. Slowly add the yolks and then the lemon juice. Continue whipping. (I do this by hand.)  Finally, slowly add the cup of broth that you set aside.

Pour the sauce over the meatballs.  Do not stir or the meatballs will break.  Do not cover the pot.  The sauce will curdle.  Just slowly shake the pot to incorporate the sauce with the meatballs.

Actual product ingredients may contain more and different information than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

JUST 4U: Peet's Coffee & Tea on Gluten-Free

Patricia Crosstown at Public Domain Pictures.net. 

I appreciate this guest post - which originally appeared on Musing by Moonlight - from Lindsey at Peet's HQ.  There are more things on their coffee-and-tea menu for those of us who have to go gluten-free than I thought. Thanks, Lindsey!

I too have to avoid gluten, and I am glad that I can share the following information with [Brooklyn in Translation] readers. Our teas, and herbals (black, green Oolong, white, and herbals) are made without gluten ingredients. The only exception would be our Genmai Cha that contains roasted rice kernels, so this tea would contain rice gluten, which is generally considered "safe gluten". In addition I would like to share that all of our coffees themselves are gluten-free. Our Dutch Cocoa powder and syrup are both made without gluten ingredients. Our syrup is a mixture of sweeteners and Dutch Cocoa(which is ground cocoa) as well. The additional ingredients used in our various bar beverages (milk, Freddo powder, cocoa powder, and all of our other syrups) are all made without gluten ingredients. Our Pacific Soy Milk is made with organic soybeans, is both gluten-free, and casein free.

Jamie's Spanish-Coffee Recipe: Sugar a mug by dipping the rim in orange juice and then granulated sugar.  Blend six oz. of hot, freshly made Peet's Espresso Forté with 1 teaspoon sugar, a 1/2 oz. Tia Maria, and a 1/2 oz. rum. Pour coffee mixture into the mug. Top with freshly whipped, unsweetened cream and a gluten-free maraschino cherry.


Actual product ingredients may differ from than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

GF CINNAMON SUGAR DONUTS, Truly Good

As I write this, these donuts - delicious - are on sale for a dollar off at Whole Foods. They usually run about six dollars. There are six to a package. This might then be the time to try them if you never have before.


Kinnikinnick Foods' Cinnamon Sugar Donuts are probably as close to a cake-like wheat donut as we're likely to get.  They're addictive. I even take one in a plastic bag when I meet friends for coffee. (None of our local cafes offer gluten-free baked goods yet. One does continue to hope... ) You'll find these GF donuts in the frozen food case at select groceries. Link here to find a store in your area.

Kinnikinnick also manufactures chocolate and vanilla iced donuts. I didn't eat iced donuts before I was diagnosed, so I'm not inclined to try them now. However, I suspect that if you liked iced donuts before your dietary restrictions, you might very well enjoy these.


The donuts are wheat-and-gluten, soy, and dairy free.  There is an allergy warning for nuts and sesame.  They are manufactured in a dedicated facility*.


Dedicated facility: one that produces only wheat-and-gluten free products, thus eliminating the potential for cross contamination.


Actual product ingredients may differ from than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

GF FROM P.F. CHANG'S, Eat-in or Take-out

What would Brooklyn be without its ubiquitous Chinese restaurants?  It just wouldn’t be the same. Once it seemed most of our Chinese immigrants came from Guangdong Province, so our Chinese food was generally Cantonese. It was always filling, sweet and spicy, and served with hot, hot oolong tea. There was egg drop soup or wonton, fried egg rolls, barbecued spare ribs, lobster Cantonese, chicken chow mein with crispy noodles, and white and pork-fried rice. 

Dinner was generally followed by a small bowl of lychee's or kumquats in syrup, a diminutive almond cookie, more tea, and a fortune cookie. It was all wonderful and memorable. Unfortunately, if you have Celiac disease, eating out in a Chinese restaurant is a thing of the past. Virtually everything Chinese is made with soy sauce, which has wheat in it. There are wheat-free soys or tamari but, with one exception, their use is not an adaption that is commonly made by restaurants. The one exception is the American restaurant chain: P.F. Chang’s.

P.F. Chang’s is the only Chinese restaurant that I know of that offers a gluten-free menu.  The restaurant is clean and nicely decorated. The food is fresh, delicately seasoned, fragrant, and presented beautifully. The wait-staff is just about as good as you can get. And -okay this is my own hang-up maybe - the restrooms are clean. Yesterday, in  recognition of Celiac Awareness Day, the company announced an expanded gluten-free menu of twenty-nine choices and a new gluten-free dessert, Triple Chocolate Mousse Mini Dessert. Link to their site for locations, menu, gluten-free recipes, and a Warrior Card. No kidding! Sign up for the Warrior Card for 10% off all year at P.F. Chang's. Such a deal! 


Actual product ingredients may differ from than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

GARIDES SAGANAKI, Shrimp baked with feta and tomatoes

Photograph courtesy of Barbara Stone.

"How simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. All that is required to feel that here and now is happiness, is a simple heart." Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

Ah, well . . . We can't hear the sea from my little apartment. We can catch its scent though in the plump, sweet shrimp I got on sale at Whole Foods. That's the only time I buy shrimp - if at all - when it's on sale. Sweet coral-colored shrimp, deep red tomatoes, and salty white feta. What could be better than this classic Greek dish, garides saganaki, a glass of cool white wine for my guest, some briny black olives, a simple salad, and a simple heart? Happiness. Heaven.

GARIDES SAGANAKI, Wheat-and-Gluten Free
This recipe
Serves 2-3 people

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, rough chop
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound of medium-to-large sized shrimp, shell and devein, rinse and pat dry
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 14 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 3/4 box of gluten-free pasta shells
• 3/4 pound of feta, crumble
• 1/4 fresh Italian parsley, minced

Brown the onions in the oil in the bottom of a Dutch oven. Add the garlic when the onions are almost ready and then add the shrimp. Stir to the shrimp begins to turn color and is almost cooked through. Pour on the brandy - carefully - light it and burn it off. Remove the shrimp from the pan and set it aside.

Add the crushed tomatoes, the tomato paste, white wine, the oregano, and red pepper flakes to the pan and stir to mix well.  Allow to simmer and thicken for about 25 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425° while the sauce is thickening. Prepare the pasta al dente and drain. Set aside. You can mix it with a bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking together.

When the sauce is ready, spoon some into the bottom of a 8" x 8" baking pan. Mix the shrimp and past and place the mixture in the pan. Top with the sauce and then the feta and sprinkle with the minced parsley.

Bake for 25 minutes until it is heated through. Allow to sit for five minutes or so before serving.

Actual product ingredients may differ from than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

NY CHEESECAKE a la JUNIOR'S...made GF

 The World-Famous Junior's at Dusk

The traditional Juniors recipe calls for a sponge cake base. For this gluten-free version, I do a cookie and nut crust, which is my preference. The recommended products are wheat-and-gluten free at the time of this writing. However, if you have celiac disease, you should always double-check when making a purchase. Product formulations change frequently and without warning. No assumptions please.

The recipe

Serves 12

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Prepare the cookie crust:

• 1 1/4 c gluten-free pecan shorties, or other gluten-free packaged or homemade cookie of your choice, made into crumbs
• 1/4 c granulated sugar
• ½ c finely chopped pecans
• 4 T unsalted butter, melted

Mix all four ingredients well and pour into the bottom of a nine-inch, non-stick spring-form pan.  Using the back of a tablespoon, pat the crust down firmly.  Bake for ten minutes. Remove the pan.  Wrap the bottom with foil. Place the pan on a cookie tray.  Leave the oven on.

The filling:

• Four 8 oz. pkgs. Organic Valley cream cheese, room temperature
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill corn starch
• 1 tablespoon Singing Dog Organic Vanilla Extract (gluten-free)
• 2 extra-large Omega-3 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Mix, assemble, bake, and chill:

Put one 8-ounce package of the cream cheese, half of the sugar and the starch in a large mixing bowl. Beat at the lowest speed on your mixing, scraping the bowl from time to time to make sure that the ingredients mix well.  Beat in the remaining three package of cheese and the remaining sugar in increments.  Blend in the vanilla. Add the eggs in two increments.  Beat at high-speed for 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream, beating at low until just blended, taking care not to over mix the filling. 


Spoon the filling into the pan, gently. Place the spring-form pan in a bain Marie, a large shallow pan with enough hot water to come up one-inch on the spring-form pan.

Bake the cheesecake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool the cake on a wire rack for 1 hour/10 minutes. Do not open the oven when the cake is baking.  At the end of the baking time, the cheesecake should be firm around the edges and have a slight jiggle in the middle.  Remove it from the oven. Cool on a wire rack. Then cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Once chilled, remove the sides of the spring-form pan. You can leave the cake on the spring-form bottom and just place it on an attractive serving dish. Refrigerate left-overs . . . if there are any!

STRAWBERRY SUMMER

Anna Cerova, Public Domain Pictures.net.

I am fortunate in the location I've picked to live now that I've downsized to one person (me) and small place. I've chosen a very Brooklyn-spot here in Northern California. By that I mean, everything I need is in walking distance: groceries, pharmacies, restaurants (several Zagat rated), theatre, library, town square, Saturday Farmers' Market, a museum (tiny - not like New York), and a public transportation hub were bus lines and train lines intersect. I love it. This is very un-California like where you have to get into a car to run the slightest errand. Right now we are having unaccustomed heat. Yesterday it was up to 110. Today 107 is predicted. No air conditioning. Usually the weather here is temperate and we all make do with fans.

I walked into Whole Foods yesterday and there was a wealth of organic strawberries, bright red, plump, and cheerful. What is a summer without strawberries? I rarely have them with cream as in Simic's poem above, but I do love them on top of cottage cheese with a sprinkle of slivered almonds. Unadultured strawberries are fine too ... Mother Nature's fast food. Mom would do with Jell-O, so here's another retro recipe for a too-hot-to-cook day, though I see it 66° now with a high of 75° predicted along with some rain in Brooklyn. It must be humid though.

MOM'S RETRO STRAWBERRY SUMMER JELLO DESSERT

The recipe

Serves six

• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 1 3-oz. package of strawberry flavored gelatin
• 10-oz. of fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1 8 3/4-oz. can of pineapple
• 1 fresh banana, sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Empty the package of gelatin into a bowl. Pour the boiling water over the gelatin and stir until it has desolved. Add the juice from the pineapple. Partially chill until the mixture is cook and starting to thicken but is not set. When the gelatin is cook, add the fruits and nuts. Pour into a one-quart mold. If you spray it with a cooking spray, it will be easier to unmold. When it is firm, unmold the gelatin dessert onto a pretty plate. Serve with fresh, unsweetened whipped cream.

NEW YORK HOT DOG WITH CLASSIC SABRETT ONION SAUCE

Jackie Robinson broke the color-barrier when he began to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers in April 1957. This is a photograph from Look Magazine. It is now in the Library of Congress collection, LC Reproduction Number: LC-L9-54-3566-O, #7.

"A hot dog at the ballpark is better than a steak at the Ritz." Humphrey Bogart

Reproduction of a 1908 postcard picturing Surf Avenue, Coney Island, New York via Wikipedia.

"The true New Yorker secretly believes that anyone living anywhere else has got to be, in some sense, kidding." John Updike

For most people who came of age in Brooklyn of the 40s and 50s, there are probably three stand-out memories of New York hot dogs - hot dogs at the ballpark, hot dogs at Coney Island, and hot dogs from a Sabrett street cart.  Part of the memory is Sabrett's tangy, tantalizing and spicy orange-red sauce.

Sabrett products from their website.

Sabrett and Hebrew National hot dogs were and probably still are the most favored. Sabrett's, according to their website, is wheat-and-gluten free. I have found reference saying that Hebrew National hot dogs are as well. If you have celiac disease, be sure to do your own homework.
This homemade version of the onion sauce so beloved by New Yorkers is naturally wheat-and-gluten free.

New York Style (Sabrett's) Onion Sauce
This recipe
Will top about six hot dogs

• 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil, the light variety
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup white vinegar

In a large pan over a low-to-medium heat, brown the onions in oil until they are tender and light golden, not brown. Lower the heat. Desolve the cornstarch in the water, whisking to blend well.  Add the cornstarch and water mixture to the onions, mixing well. Add the rest of the ingredients except the vinegar and mix gently. Bring the onion mixture to a boil, then lower the heat. Simmer for about twenty-five minutes to thickened and reduce the sauce. Add the vinegar and simmer for another ten minutes.

Actual product ingredients may differ from than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

PASTA FAZOOL, Brooklyn Soul Food

PDClipart.org.

No matter where we live or what we seek in our hunger and loneliness, food is necessary for life.  It's the great common denominator. We all have to eat.  This unassuming soup (Past Fagioli) - in Brooklyn slang it's pasta fazool - is made of pasta and beans in tomato broth is true Brooklyn soul food.  You can feed an army with it on a few bucks.  It's comforting and tummy warming and can be thrown together quickly when you are pressed for time.

Back in our Brooklyn days - when we were slender and young and unconcerned with cholesterol and saturated fats - we saved bacon fat to sauté the garlic, a custom left-over from the Depression, I suspect.  You can still do that if you are not fighting the battle of the bulge. It does add a nice, smokey flavor and, if you've saved it from your breakfast bacon, it's certainly a cheap fat. Nonetheless, we use olive oil these days and tend to avoid bacon.
If you have time, the most economical way to make this dish is prepare your beans from dried beans.  Follow the package directions. In the interest of speed, I use canned beans here. Back home, I would only have used Progresso beans if I didn't do the beans from scratch. These days in California, I'm more likely to use canned beans from Eden Organic Foods. Times, people, and priorities change, but both brands taste good.

Photograph courtesy of Eden Foods.
Warning: Do not use quinoa or corn pasta in this dish.  Brown rice pasta works best.


PASTA FAGIOLI (Pasta with Beans)
The recipe
Serves six

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil, does not have to be first press
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1 quart of water
• 2 cups of brown rice pasta, cooked and rinsed
• 1 can of cannellini beans or red kidney beans, drain the beans and rinse
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• 1/2 cup of fresh parsley, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 small white onion, slivered
• 1/2 cup of store-bought or homemade pesto (optional)
• sea salt to taste
• freshly grated Romano cheese

In a soup pot, gently sauté the garlic in the olive oil being careful not to burn it. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon.  When it begins to color, add the tomato paste and fry the paste and garlic together for a minute or two on a low-to-medium heat continuously stirring the mixture.  Add the water slowly, mixing well to dilute the paste.  Add the parsley, oregano, red pepper flakes and salt,  but reserve the pesto and the slivered onions. When the soup begins to simmer, add the beans and pasta and heat through. Taste to adjust seasoning.  Ladle into soup bowls and pass the onions, cheese and pesto around the table so that each person can season their bowl to taste. If you are not using pesto, you can top each bowl with a spoonful or two of raw high-quality extra-virgin olive oil before serving.
Variations: If you have left-over carrots, or meat, or sausages, they are easily and happily added.

Photograph courtesy of Progresso Foods.
Progresso soups are not wheat-and-gluten free. 

Actual product ingredients may differ from than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product.