Christmas Foods - Seasons Greetings!

• 1 ½ lbs leeks
• 1 lb. potatoes
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2½ cups chicken broth
• 2½ cups milk
• 1¼ cups cream

Trim roots and coarse outer leaves from leeks and wash in cold water. Slice. Peel and coarsely dice potatoes.

Melt butter in large pot and add potatoes and leeks. Cook over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring continuously.

Add in chicken stock and milk. Bring slowly to a boil. Season with salt and pepper.

Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Puree in blender or food processor. Return to pot and add cream.

• 3 lbs. chicken backs and necks
• 3 qt. cold water
• 4 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
• 6 carrots, unpeeled, sliced thick
• 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and quartered
• 8 whole black peppercorns

Place the chicken backs and necks in a soup pot and rinse with very hot tap water. Drain and add the cold water to the pot, along with the other ingredients. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 hours. Be sure to skim off the froth that forms when the pot first comes to a simmer.

The stock will taste a bit flat to you since it has no salt. Salt will be added when you use the stock in the preparation of soups, sauces, or stews.

• 5 lbs. bare beef rendering bones, sawed in 2 inch pieces
• 1 bunch of carrots, unpeeled and chopped
• 1 bunch of celery, chopped
• 3 yellow onions, unpeeled and chopped

Tell your butcher that you need bare rendering bones. They should not have any meat on them at all, so they should be cheap. Have him saw them into 2 inch pieces.

Roast the bones in an uncovered pan at 400 degrees for 2 hours. Be careful with this because your own oven may be a bit too hot. Watch the bones, which you want to be toasty brown, not black.

Place the roasted bones, along with the fat, in a soup pot and add 1 quart of water for each pound of bones. For 5 pounds of bones, add 1 bunch of carrots, chopped; 1 bunch of celery, chopped; 3 yellow onions, chopped with peel and all. (The peel will give a lovely color to the stock.)

Bring to a simmer, uncovered, and cook for 12 hours. You may need to add water to keep the soup up to the same level. Do not salt the stock.

Strain the stock, and store in the fridge. Allow the fat to stay on the top of the stock when you refrigerate it; the fat will seal the stock and allow you to keep it for several days.

• ½ lb. bacon, chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced
• 1 lb. green split peas, washed and soaked in 6 cups of water for 6 hours or overnight
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 4 tbsp. butter

Brown the bacon in a frying pan. Remove the bacon and set aside. Discard all but 2 tbsp. of the fat in a pan. Heat the reserved fat in the frying pan and add the onion. Sauté the onion until tender.

Drain the peas and place in a 4 to 6 quart pot along with the reserved bacon and sautéed onions. Add enough fresh water to just cover the peas. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, about 1½ hours, or until the water is absorbed and the peas are thick. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and add more water if necessary. Stir in salt and pepper to taste and the butter.

• 8 cups chicken stock
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup chopped celery with the leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 cup cleaned and chopped leaks
• ¼ cup pearl barley
• 2 cups cold water
• 3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh coriander
• ½ tsp. ground cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste

In a 6-quart pot, place the chicken stock, onion, celery, garlic, and leeks. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Combine the barley and the water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Drain the barley and add to the pot of vegetables and stock. Simmer, covered, another 20 minutes. Add the parsley, coriander, and cumin, and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, or longer for a thicker soup. Salt and pepper to taste.

• 2 cups pitted green olives
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• ½ medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 6 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 4 shots Tabasco sauce
• 1/3 cup dry sherry

Garnish:

• Sliced pimiento-stuffed green olives
• Garlic bread croutons

Soak the green olives in cold water for 1 hour. Drain and coarsely chop. Heat a frying pan and add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the onion, and garlic, along with two- thirds of the olives. Sauté until the onion is transparent. Puree the mixture in a food processor with 1 cup of the chicken stock.

In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the puree mixture with the remaining stock. Simmer for 20 minutes and add the cream. In a small frying pan, cook the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the flour together to form a roux. Whisk the roux into the soup and simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add black pepper to taste, the remaining chopped olives, the Tabasco, and sherry. Heat to serving temperatures and serve with the sliced olive and croutons.