The intention with the soup class is for the participants to learn a variety of skills that will make all their soups taste better. I try to have a cream or pureed soup, a stock based soup, something different in the soup realm, and some kind of seafood soup. It happened this time, that all the soups were easily adapted to vegetarian diets.

I referenced “Soup of the Day” for a few of the recipes because I have not been disappointed with any of the recipes I tried from this book. I did not yet try all 365.

In our class, we made five soups, all delicious.  The best of show votes from the participants went to the Cheddar and Ale Soup (I could have taken a bath in that soup) and the Cream of Asparagus, which we topped with Mascarpone Cheese.

We used borlotti beans.  The are also called cranberry beans.  They have a mild flavor with a little fruitness to them.  If you have family members who do not love beans, this may be a good bean to have them try.  I don’t always find them in our grocery store, so I attached the link to the brand we used.                                                                                                                                                                                                 

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Our newest class at Vintage Kitchen, Dinner with Bryant, got off to a great start this week.  The menu:

Fennel and Roasted Beet Salad

A Trio of Pastas:

Bow Ties in Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Fettuccine with Chicken Cream Sauce

Shrimp Ravioli in Broth

Mandarin Orange and Ginger Tart

All the pasta was homemade, including the bow tie pasta! We used the pasta roller for all the pasta, then cut the bow ties by hand and free formed the ravioli.

Not to be outdone by the pasta was dessert. You can use a pie pan to make this recipe, but we used a rectangular tart pan for the presentation. Here is the recipe:

Mandarin Orange and Ginger tart 

For the crust: 

1 ½ cups finely ground ginger snap cookies 

1/3 cup granulated sugar 

6 tablespoons butter melted 

1/4^th teaspoon ground ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, or other warm spice, or a combination. 

For the filling 

Two cups whole milk 

¾ cup sugar 

¼ cup flour 

2 tablespoons butter 

4 whole eggs 

Zest of 1 orange 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 14 ounce jar mandarin orange segments, drained. 

Garnish 

Candied ginger 

Make the crust. Mix all ingredients together until the butter is well incorporated. Press into a greased pie pan and bake at 375 degrees for 5-6 minutes. Do not over-cook.  

Bring the milk to a simmer with the orange zest. Beat the eggs, sugar, flour and butter together in a  

heavy saucepan over low heat. Strain the zest from the milk and temper the egg mixture with a bit of hot milk. Don’t add the milk all at once or you’ll have scrambled egg mess. Once tempered, add the milk slowly, whisking all the time, and then turn the heat up to medium. Stir frequently until the custard thickens at about 170 degrees. Remove from heat, cover with plastic wrap – push the wrap right down to the surface so a skin doesn’t form, and refrigerate. 

Make the garnish. Peel slices of ginger using a vegetable peeler, then thinly slice into matchsticks. Bring a 1:1 mixture of sugar and water to a boil, and add the ginger. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes, then drain. Sprinkle with additional sugar and set aside. 

Fill the crust with the cooled custard. Arrange the orange segments over the custard in a pleasing way. Sprinkle with candied ginger matchsticks. Serve with fresh whipped cream if desired. 

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We all know someone or a family who has gone through or is  going through an illness or a loss of a family member.  Sometimes it is hard to know how to help.  Well Vintage Kitchen has an idea!

If you and a few friends want to make meals that can be frozen for a family, Vintage Kitchen will help plan the menu, shop for ingredients, and assist in the making of the meals.  You use our kitchen and guidance for free.  The only cost to the group is for the ingredients.

If you would like more information, e-mail us at vintagekitchencookingclasses@gmail.com.  We can set a date and get our friends on the road to healing!