Jarcuterie

 I tried the viral “Fall Jarcuterie” recipe and while I thought it was pretty good, I made a few tweaks to better suit the palettes in my circle of people I make/share food for/with. It’s super forgiving as in measurements don’t need to be exact in the least. Measure with your heart. If you like one thing more, add more, if you don’t, use less or omit all together. 

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon whole-grain or stone ground mustard

1 to 3 garlic cloves, grated (Jarlic doesn’t work so well for this IMO)

1 to 2 apples, honey crisp does well for this, large dice

8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, white or yellow, cubed

1 cup salami or mini beef sticks, cut up into bite size pieces (sliced or cubed)

3 to 6 oz cornichons, depending on preference

1/2 shallot, minced or finely diced

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions

Put oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, and garlic in a cruet or container with a tight fitting lid and shake it into oblivion. I normally shake it all up and put it in the fridge while I chop and grate stuff. 

In a large bowl, add apples, cheese, salami/beef sticks, cornichons, shallots, and cranberries. Top with the dressing you just made and mix it all up. You’re done! That’s it! While this is good right away, it’s REALLY good the next day once all the flavors have had time to hang out. 

I generally store this in the soup take out containers (you can find them on Amazon) because you can give it a good shake before eating. It’s good for about 3 to 5 days depending on your texture preferences lol. If you’re making this for a party/BBQ/get together, make it the night before. 

Italian Penicillin Soup

Ingredients 

1/2 lb baby carrots, you can sub for 3 roughly chopped  and peeled regular carrots

1 yellow onion, quartered

5-25 cloves garlic, icky ends trimmed. Add as much as you want honestly

3 ribs celery, chopped into 2-3in pieces

8 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 ¼ cup orzo, pastina, ditalini, or other small pasta **see note below if you’re going to store/freeze the soup

Salt/pepper to taste

Freshly grated Parmesan, when serving

• Cook veggies: Throw the broth, baby carrots, onion, garlic, and celery in a large pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil then lower to medium heat, cover, and boil for about 30 mins (when veggies are soft). Make sure to check on it every now and then and stir the pot.
• Puree veggies: Use a slotted spoon to pull on the veggies out of the broth. I personally let them cool a little bit before adding them to my Ninja Blender with a couple of ladles of broth. Blend everything into oblivion. You should end up with an orange-ish/yellow-ish soup. Now pour it all back into your pot.  **Another option is to use an immersion blender straight in the pot. My immersion blender and I don’t quite get along, so blender it is lol
  
• Cook the orzo:  If eating the soup right away, go ahead and add in the orzo to a simmering pot. Cook until al dente, around 10ish minutes. Taste the soup, add salt/pepper at this time to taste. 
• Chow down:  Once the orzo is done to your liking, serve up a bowl and add some freshly grated Parmesan to the top. 

***If storing for later:  Skip the orzo step and let soup cool some before storing. When you decide to indulge in this yummy meal, cook your orzo/pasta when reheating. If the soup is a little too thick for your liking, add a little extra broth. It’s pretty hard to mess this up. It’s very forgiving. 

Tips:

-Homemade Carcass Soup (AKA Chicken broth) adds some awesomeness to this soup.

-I use baby carrots mainly because I’m lazy, but I also prefer the taste and texture over regular carrots. They also tend to be a little asweeter.

• You can use sweet onions in this, but it can be a bit much with the sweetness of the carrots.  I highly suggest using just regular yellow onions for this if you don’t want it to be overly sweet. 
• Want some meat? This is a great recipe to use up on leftover rotisserie chicken.