The Quigley Family Cookbook

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It’s kind of a “garbage” soup, meaning you can put pretty much any vegetable you like in it. The base is potato, onion, and water. Julia Child’s version uses four parts potato to three parts onion, but Mom never used that much onion. I normally use around six big potatoes and one large onion. Mom’s secret, which I always follow, is to also use one small- to medium-sized white turnip. It adds a little sweetness. Don’t use yellow turnips; they’ll turn it treacly. I add a carrot or two for color. But if you want only white soup, you can skip it. If you use any other vegetables, use them in very limited quantity, to keep the basic character of the potage. And don’t use parsnip: I tried once, and it makes it gummy.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cooking Time: 60-75 minutes
• Servings: 8

Ingredients

Directions

Serving Notes

Serve it with bread and salad, and you have a dinner. Some vegetables (like cauliflower) invite cheese. It keeps fine for a few days.

It’s really all very simple. So go to it and Bonne Chance. Love, giselle.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cooking Time: 20 minutes
• Servings: 4

Ingredients

Directions

1. Slice the onions in thin slices.
2. Saute (until golden) in butter. When they have une jolie coleur (nice color) (depends what you call “une jolie coleur” of course, but they mean nice and golden, not brown) add the water and a little salt.
3. Let the melange boil for a few minutes.
4. Pour into a “soupiere” or something oven proof. Place the thin slices of dry or toasted bread covered with grated cheese on top of the soup.
5. Put in hot oven until cheese is melted and gratine (golden) — usually a few minutes.

Alternate Method

You may find this way a little easier than the other way. You can make the soup ahead of time as well as the croutons and just heat the soup and pour over the croutons when you are about to eat. Make sure it’s nice and hot.

1. Start out same as above but when onions are golden, stir in a tbsp of flour that you let become golden brown (it means over slow fire).
2. Add 1/2 ltr milk and 1/2 ltr water.
3. Stir well, let boil a few minutes (4 or 5) and pour on fried croutons (you can buy croutons [plain not with garlic or other stuff] and fry them in butter in advance).

Here’s a hearty soup that is the ultimate in comfort food–it comforts you as you prepare it. The aroma is very soothing, and it tastes AWESOME!

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cooking Time: 1.5 hours or more
• Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 16 oz bag dry split green or yellow peas, rinsed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped fine
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced. Cut cloves lengthwise and remove the green shoot (which tends to be too strongly-flavored)
• 2-3 carrots cut into small rounds or 1 cup mini pre-peeled carrots
• 2 stalks of fresh celery chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 tsp each parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage
• 2 or 3 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a stock pot, heat the oil and saute the onions until translucent. (If you choose to include a leak–see Variations–add it to the saute after the onion and before the garlic.) Add the garlic and saute another minute or so. Be very careful not to burn or brown the garlic.
2. Once the onions/leek/garlic are soft, add the peas.  Add water, enough to completely cover the peas plus an extra inch and a half extra.  Set heat to  medium flame. Add the carrots, celery, and herbs.
3. Bring the soup to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for one hour at least, stirring occasionally. The peas will soften as they cook and absorb the water. The soup is ready when the peas have all lost their shape and dissolved into a paste. Until that occurs, keep on cooking. Add salt and pepper to taste. A good starting point is 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4, then stir well and increase incrementally as desired.
4. Remove soup from heat and let sit for twenty minutes. Serve with good crusty bread,

Cooking Notes

At any point while cooking, if the soup becomes too thick add more water, one cup at a time.

Even after the soup is ready, additional slow cooking will allow flavors to concentrate. Always a plus if you have the time.

Variations

• If desired, you can substitute lentils for the peas
• To include meat, add a ham bone (ask the butcher at the store), pork ribs, hot dogs, or sausage.  This gives it a nice hearty flavor. Add the ham bone once the soup begins to boil. Add hot dogs or sausage 1/2 hour in.
• You can include one small leek. Cut it lengthwise down the middle, separate and leaves and wash well ( leeks tend to have a lot of sand in them). Then chop the leek in 1 inch squares and add to the sauteing onions.

Serving Notes

My mother Giselle often made croutons by frying up small pieces of dry French bread (or any kind of dry bread) in a pan on the stove. Just cut up the dry bread into spoon size pieces and fry until golden and crunchy. Then put a few pieces of the fried bread in each person’s bowl and ladle the soup over it.

The soup will tend to thicken in the refrigerator. When reheating, add a little water as necessary to thin it.

If you love tomatoes, and especially if you grow your own (or have access to homegrowns), here’s a tangy, tasty salad that stars them front and center. It was a staple in my house growing up, appearing in my mother’s repertoire from mid-summer through fall, as the homegrown tomato crop came in.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Servings:  6

Ingredients

• 8 medium (baseball-sized) tomatoes cut into wedges 1/2″ to 1″ wide
• 4 medium-large green bell peppers, seeded and cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 medium onion, halved and then sliced thinly

Directions

• In a salad bowl, prepare Giselle’s Vinaigrette.
• Chop the tomatoes, peppers, and onions and add to the bowl.
• Toss well before serving.

Preparation Notes

• A key to this recipe is good tomatoes: ripe, sweet, succulent, flavorful. If all you have access to are the thick, dry, pulpless, flavorless market tomatoes one is often limited to out of season, give it a miss.
• If the tomatoes are especially pulpy, prior to adding them to the salad, allow them to drain in a colander or even use a knife to remove some of the pulp. Otherwise the salad can become “soupy.”
• Green bell peppers are also fairly essential: both in the flavor they bring and in the pleasing contrast their color adds to the tomatoes. Red bells, while great in many other things,  are too sweet for this salad, and green fryers are too thin-walled. Stick with green bells, at least the first time you make it.  You may get good results experimenting with other non-red balls such as yellows.
• Generally this salad works best as is. I’ve tried adding cucumber slices and found they added little, in fact detracted from the presentation. If you have some fresh basil on hand, one or two teaspoons minced can be a nice addition.
• While you don’t need to use Giselle’s Vinaigrette, do be sure to use a vinaigrette as the dressing for this salad. Use one that does not overpower, but allows the natural flavors of the tomatoes and peppers to own center stage.

Serving Notes

• Salad can be served lightly chilled or at room temperature.
• Unlike green salads, which go soggy and become inedible within several hours of tossing, this salad can keep for several days. It is often even better the second day, when the flavors from the tomatoes and peppers have had time to coalesce with the vinaigrette.

This simple vinaigrette recipe came to me from my mother. Coming from French peasant stock, a salad was always a part of every dinner meal, and the dressing was always a vinaigrette such as this, not the creamy concoctions that have become popular in American cooking.

In addition to its obvious use with salads, this vinaigrette also makes an excellent marinade for white meats like chicken or fish. Scale the ingredients up to make the quantity you need.

 Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive  oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 smallish clove garlic minced
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

Directions

In a bowl, add the ingredients. Mix using a broad-bottomed spoon. While mixing, crush the garlic with the bottom of the spoon against the bowl to release flavor.

Variations

As much as I’m a fan of experimentation, this is one recipe that is just about perfect as is. Each component is integral and balanced in its proportions. A quality olive oil is the only oil to use. Red wine vinegar, unless you prefer balsamic (too strong and bitter to my taste) is the only choice as well. The dijon mustard is also an important part of the flavor–don’t be tempted to leave it out. If you scale the recipe, be careful to keep the proportions of two parts oil to one part vinegar.

The only addition I’ve tried that has worked on occasion is up to one teaspoon of a freshly chopped herb: chives or thyme or basil, for example. But one at a time, not all three. And fresh only…leave the dried stuff out. If you do add an herb, as with the garlic, use a spoon to crush it against the bottom of the bowl, releasing flavor.

Especially if you are using this as a marinade for white meat, you might consider adding a little fresh lemon or lime juice.

This simple, hearty dish was a favorite of my father’s to prepare. It easy and fast to make, feeds a family, and may be even tastier as a leftover. I’ve never known anyone who hasn’t enjoyed it. The original recipe includes meat, but you can make a vegetarian version that remains filling and flavorful enough to satisfy any meat-lover.

•  Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Baking Time: 30 minutes
• Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 16 oz boxes of elbow macaroni
• 2 lbs hamburger
• 1 lb sliced American cheese
• 2-4  medium cloves garlic (minced)
• 2 28 oz cans whole tomatoes
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 1/4 stick butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Other Necessaries

• Casserole dish approx 10″ x 16″ x 3″
• Cover for dish or aluminum foil

Instructions

1. Boil the noodles, following directions for al dente. When done, place in colander and spray with cool water to halt cooking. Allow to drain and cool.
2. Crumble the hamburger into a heated sauté pan. Cook over medium heat for several minutes until light brown, taking care not to overcook. When done, place cooked meat in a colander to drain off grease.
3. Clean any grease out of the sauté pan and add and heat the olive oil. Add the onion and then a little later the garlic. Sautee until the onion is translucent.
4. Add the hamburger to the onion/garlic mix and cook for an another minute or two, tossing and mixing the ingredients to distribute the flavors. Do not over cook. Remove the pan from the heat.
5. Preheat oven the 350 degrees.
6. In a large stock pot or mixing bowl, add the cooked noodles and the onion/garlic/hamburger mix. Add the salt and pepper.
7. Use a knife or your hands cut or tear the whole tomatoes into dice-sized (or slightly larger) chunks and add to the mix. Or you can just squeeze them in your fists after adding them to the bowl.) Also pour in the juice from the cans. Toss all ingredients with a spoon, mixing well.
8. Butter the bottom and sides of the casserole dish. Add half of the mixture to the dish. Use a spatula or spoon to spread it evenly over the bottom and compress it lightly.
9. Cover the entire surface of the casserole with slices of cheese. Then pour in and distribute the rest of the mix, and cover it with cheese as well.
10. Cover the casserole with a lid or aluminum foil and place in the over. Create a little space between the foil and the casserole so that the cheese doesn’t stick to it when it melts.
11. After 20 minutes, remove the cover, reduce hear to 325, and cook an additional 5 minutes or until top is nicely browned.

Preparation/Cooking Notes

• For best consistency, when boiling the noodles, boil one minute less than the noodles’ al dente instructions call for (the subsequent baking will make up for this). Over-boiling will result in a mushy casserole.
• For best results, allow the noodles to dry completely before mixing with the other ingredients.  You can even cook them a day ahead of time. Doing this will allow the other ingredients to bind with the noodles.
• The casserole can be prepared ahead of time and kept in fridge for baking  later. You may need to extend the oven time a bit in this event.

Recipe Variations

• According to your tastes, you can substitute other ingredients for the hamburger (ground turkey, for example) . For a vegetarian version, diced portabella mushroom works quite well.
• You can try different cheeses, although the mildness of American cheese works quite well here. To add a little tanginess, add a few slices of Swiss or cheddar  while still using a “base” of American cheese.
• Do NOT substitute spaghetti sauce for the whole tomatoes–doing so overwhelms the delicate mix of flavors in the dish.

 Serving Notes

A green salad and a red wine make a great accompaniment to this dish.