Serves 6-8 as main  dish

1 cup lentils, soaked for minimum of 4 hours

1 pound chopped onions, about 2 cups

½ pound chopped carrots, about 1 cup

¼ pound chopped celery, about 1/2 cup

1/4 cup olive oil

1 extra-large Knorr Vegetable Bouillon

1½ ounces proscuitto, chopped

12 ounces Italian sausage, cooked and drained

12 ounces roma tomatoes, seeded and coarsly chopped

3/4  teaspoon oregano

1 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic

Fennel, to taste.

 

Saute’ the vegetables in the oil. Add lentils, 3 cups  of water, bouillon cube, and cook until tender; about 20 minutes. Add remaining ingrediants and simmer for 1 hour.

This keeps well.

 

 

             6-8 sliced shitake mushrooms

             3 cups water

             1 teaspoon Hon-dashi

             1½ teaspoons soy sauce

             ¼ to teaspoon salt

             1 beaten egg

             Handful spinach leaves

 

             Boil mushrooms in water until soft. Add

             Hon-dashi, soy sauce and salt. Turn off

             heat. Dribble egg into soup. Add spinach

             leaves; cover with lid and let set for about

             1 minute.  

Black Bean Chili and Dye Bath

Mrs. Uchida’s Osuimono

Italian Lentil Soup

 

2 cups dry back beans

8 to 10 cups water.

Pick through and wash beans. Soak overnight. Beans are ready to cook when you split open a bean and the “color” inside is consistent-i.e., water has thoroughly moved into the entire bean.

The Dye Bath

Pour off soaking liquid into dye pot. Add 1 ounce of Alum mordant to one gallon of liquid. Add 1/2 lb. prepared fiber that has been soaked in warm water with mordant of your choice. Heat dye bath to simmer for wool, boil for cotton/linen; stir for 1 hour or until desired color appears. This makes a lovely blue-grey color.

The Chili

Put beans into cooking pot and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 2-2½ hours until tender. At the same time you put on your beans, take 3 lbs. pork roast cut into 2-inch cubes. Put into a large pot, cover with water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 1½ hours. Allow meat to cool in broth until easy to handle. Remove meat; reserve broth and coarsely chop meat.

Sauté’ 1 medium onion in 2 Tablespoons of oil in the large pot used to cook pork. Add 3 cloves garlic; crushed, 2 tsp salt, 16 oz. chopped tomatoes, 2 dried Pasilla or Ancho chilies with seeds remove, and 1 Chipotle (smoked Jalapeño, 1 teaspoon oregano, and ½ teaspoon ground cumin. Add 2 cups of the reserved broth. Bring to a boil and reduce heat; add beans and simmer for 40 minutes. If chilies remain whole; the soup will be mild. Serve with warm flour tortillas, crushed green chilies, and onion as a garnish.

 

             1 cup leeks, sliced

             1 cup mushrooms, sliced

             3 Tablespoons butter

             3 Tablespoons flour

             3 cups chicken stock

             1 1/2 cup broccoli florets

             1 cup Half & Half

             1 cup shredded Jarlsberg or Swiss cheese

 

             Sauté' leeks and mushrooms in butter, for 10 minutes, without browning. Add flour and cook 1 minute. Slowly blend in the chicken stock, and cook until thickened and smooth. Place broccoli in pan and reduce heat to low: cooking 20 minutes. Stir in the Half & Half and cheese until blended. Simmer until heated, without boiling.

Jan's Leek Soup