Potato soup is one of those things that I make when I need comfort food on the fly. In about 30 minutes I can have a big bowl of love without a lot of effort or expensive ingredients. It can be made as easy or as complicated as you like, but I go for simple. Bacon, potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, milk and chicken stock is about it. Sometimes I add cheese, sometimes beer, at times chicken or beans or some sort of fish makes it way in to the pot. Today I need simple. A couple of slices of really good applewood bacon are diced small and tossed in to the pot with a lump of butter. (If you're using a bacon that you know renders a lot of fat, hold off on the butter. I happen to know that this bacon is pretty lean so I add the butter.) Diced red onion, carrots and celery go in, then diced potato. No, I don't peel mine, but you can if you like. Season well with salt and pepper, and let it cook until the veggies get a little color. Then add milk and stock, and bring it up to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender. From beginning to end, it took about 45 minutes in my new shiny stock pot that my brilliant brother Timothy gave me for Christmas. Isn't it pretty?? Some went in to the mini crock for The Man to take for lunch, along with a side of shredded cheddar to top it with, the rest will cool a bit on the stove and then get packed for the 'fridge, after I have a bit of it of course.
After being sick for almost a week, I needed to cook something a little more involved than a pot roast. For most, breakfast for dinner is a simple affair, but I decided to go all out. The Man goes to work at 1p, and is forced to have his lunch at 3p due to scheduling snafus, so by the time he gets home at 10:30p he's gnawing on the steering wheel. Not wanting to feed him anything too heavy (I don't want to completely disrupt his sleep patterns), I go with multiple small dishes, more of a buffet than a meal. We nibble, talk and relax, and both go to bed sated but not stuffed. So, I put together a nice little brunch-esque buffet last night. Sweet potato pancakes, maple turkey and applewood bacon hash, ginger pear sauce with vanilla bean, orange spiced butter and warm real maple syrup (get the Grade B - it's got far more flavor, and is about $10 cheaper per 8 oz.) For our beverage, I made a mulled cider with chai teabags, orange slices, a little piece of vanilla bean and some candied ginger in a really good organic apple cider. I let that simmer for a bit and then sit for a couple of hours. That was served hot with a shot of good bourbon, Bulleit. Some candles on the table, and I thought I had the romance in the bag... forgetting it was Monday, and there was football on. Oh well, nothing and no one is perfect, but the food rocked. If you'd like recipes, let me know. I'm happy to share!
Yesterday I needed comfort food. Coming off of a sinus infection, getting my butt whooped at work, I needed something that would satisfy my soul. Soup always does that, so I went with chicken corn chowder. Melt a little butter in the bottom of a big pot. Add two slices diced bacon and let some of the fat render out. Then add pretty much as you get it cut, and cut it all about the same size:
about a pound of cubed chicken thighs - bought boneless/skinless because they're easier a red onion a couple of red skinned potatoes, not peeled a few carrots a couple stalks of celery a red bell pepper
Season with salt and pepper, and let it all brown a bit. I like my soup to have some body, so I added a few tablespoons of flour and let it cook in the fat. (If you are GF, skip this step, I'll show you what to do when it's time.) Then add a couple of cups of frozen corn. If you have fresh corn, use that of course, but frozen corn is just fine. (I'm not one to use frozen veggies, but corn is one that I have no problem with.) Add a couple of cups of good chicken stock, stirring well, then the same amount of milk. (used whole, i wouldn't recommend using skim, no need to use cream.) Bring this to a simmer, and add a handful of chopped fresh parsley. You can also add other herbs if you like, but for me, it's the simplicity of this soup that makes it great. Now, if you're GF, add a couple of tablespoons of instant mashed potatoes. Yup, the perfect thickener. It also makes amazing fried chicken, which I am now craving... Anywhoooo, stir in the potato and let this all cook until the veggies are tender, about 20 minutes. I do recommend stirring often, as it does brown fast on the bottom because of the roux and the milk, but that's it. Served it to The Man and The Roomie with little sandwiches made from a double Gloucester cheese that has chives in it and thin slices of black forest ham on whole wheat rolls, warmed slightly in the oven just to get the cheese a little melty. The Man liked it so much he's taking it for lunch today, and I'm sending a container for a buddy because I know he'll love it. I think all of our souls felt better after this one.
This is one of my finest moments - I put this meal together with things that I had in the freezer, 'fridge and pantry, with only the addition of the asparagus and wine, which The Man brought home from work. This is the part that I am truly proud of, because it was really really good. Plus, it's not pedestrian. I didn't open a can of salmon, mix in some canned bread crumbs and called it a day. There was thought and planning used.... well, not much planning, but lots of thought. Fine, not a lot of thought either, but isn't that what having a properly stocked kitchen is all about? Okay, to begin, I poached about 1 1/4 pounds of salmon in a broth made from carrot, celery, onion, lemon, parsley, small piece of ginger, a piece of salmon bacon, pepper corns, salt, unfiltered apple juice and water. (that simmered for about thirty minutes before I used it.) Slid the still frozen salmon into the hot poaching liquid (called a court bouillon, by the way), let that simmer a few minutes and then turned it off, letting it set until everything was cooled, a few hours. Then I pulled the meat out, slipped the skin right off and broke the meat up in a bowl. The now pretty amazing stock got strained and popped into the freezer for fish chowder. Carrot, celery and onion got finely diced, seasoned with salt, pepper and parsley, and sauteed in butter with diced Bosc pear and roasted pumpkin until everything was nicely browned. Let this cool for a bit then toss in with the salmon. I made fresh breadcrumbs with the rest of the challah I had on the counter, added some to the salmon, along with an egg, and mixed it all up. Formed into patties and rolled in the crumbs, they get a nice nap in the 'fridge until dinner time. Had two pints of grape tomatoes that wouldn't have lasted more than a day or two, so I popped them into a pan with olive oil, salt and pepper over real low heat, and let them pan roast for about an hour, tossing occasionally. When there was a nice tomato caramel formed on the bottom of the pan, I raised the heat to medium, deglazed with a little apple juice, and added a splash of sherry vinegar. This reduced to a nice sauce with the tomatoes, so it also got set aside until dinner. Once I got the call that The Man was on his way home with some lovely asparagus and a box of red wine (Bota Box isn't as bad as I expected, we had the RedVolution with this meal and it went perfectly), I heated up a large saute pan over medium heat, added a little oil, recoated the salmon cakes with the crumbs and browned them nicely on both sides before popping into the oven to finish. A pot on the back of the stove got filled with water to blanch the asparagus, and the tomatoes were brought back to temp over medium heat. When he walked in the door, I trimmed the end of the asparagus, and cut into thirds. Blanched quickly, they turned bright green. Drained and tossed into the pan with the tomatoes, they started getting glazed with that wonderful tomato caramel/sherry vinegar sauce. Once that was all done, I plated, and without washing the pan, put a knob of butter and some shallots in the pan. I let them get nicely browned, then added red wine, scraping up all the yummy tomato bits, and let it reduce. A splash of sherry vinegar, some herbs and a little sundried tomato paste, I let this cook down, then finished with some cold butter swirled in just until it melted. Cakes out of the oven, plated, topped with sauce, then devoured. Really good meal, and I didn't have to get out of my jammies! Yay me!
If the thought of eating Bambi makes you retch, re-read one of my other blogs, please. For the rest of you, here we go. I was gifted with a venison shoulder and a couple of loins the other day, and can't fit both bags in my freezer. So, while my honey works all day, I get an uninterrupted day of cooking. The easiest thing to do with the shoulder is stew (though I did knock around the idea of doing pulled venison... maybe next time). Started with a crock pot of sweet potato, onions, celery, carrot, garlic, thyme, oregano, parsley, apples and garlic. Then I got to butchering the venison. Being that it's a wild animal, there is a lot of connective tissue, so it doesn't come apart as easily as a pork shoulder, and all that tissue needs to be removed. Taking the silver skin off isn't that hard, just time consuming. Take the tip of a very sharp knife and slip it under the silver skin, sliding the knife to the right to give you an end to grab on to. Spin the piece around, and bring the knife the other way, gently pulling with your left hand and sliding the knife between the meat and the silver skin, trying to lose as little meat as possible. It's not hard if you take your time. (I did discover that if the meat is previously frozen, as this piece was, it comes off even easier, pretty much just peels off once you get an end to pull.) I got as much off as I needed to, cubed it up and tossed it in the crock pot. My liquid is a mishmash, but brings tons of flavor - Fat Tire beer, spiced apple cider, a little really good bourbon, a couple tablespoons of coffee, and finished with chicken stock. Yeah, I'm nuts, I know. Oh, and I added a pinch of cumin too. The earthy quality of that echos the game taste of the meat. Mix it all up with a good dose of salt and pepper, and it will cook all day long.
couple hours in, it's looking and smelling great.
After cooking for almost 12 hours on low, it's so tender it melts. So so good!
served with buttermilk biscuits and roasted pumpkin, it made for an incredible dinner.
Beef stew - a magical combination of the lowly chuck roast, some veggies that might have been in the 'fridge a little longer than ideal, a couple of potatoes, a can of Guinness, some fresh herbs and a nice gentle nap in the oven at 300*. In a few short hours, I will have a bubbling pot of goodness to present to my hard working darling. Being domestic does not suck.
Made a huge move today. I am going through a Facebook cleanse. After finding out that my son's car was broken in to by a post instead of a call, I flipped. I will keep my Healthy People page going, but the other is being put in moth balls for a while. I already feel calmer.
Teaching a class tonight.... and getting paid! It's gigs like this that allow me to do HPCP. I can make as much as I usually make in several days, in about four hours. I'll post pictures as soon as I can, but I wanted to get the recipes on here so all of my faeries could keep up with what I'm doing. Love you!
Eggplant Caponata
1 1/2 pounds eggplant (1 large), roasted in the skin (see directions below) 1 TB olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 2 stalks celery, from the tender inner stalks, diced 3 large garlic cloves, minced 2 red bell peppers, diced 1 TB chopped rosemary and thyme 1 bunch parsley, chopped Salt to taste 1 14-ounce can petite diced tomatoes (in puree) 3 heaped tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped pitted green olives 2 tablespoons sugar, plus a pinch 3 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar, or sherry vinegar (more to taste) Freshly ground pepper to taste
1. Roast the eggplant, then allow to cool. Chop coarsely.
2. Heat one tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy nonstick skillet, then add the onion and celery. Stir until the onion softens, about five minutes, and add the garlic and herbs. Cook together for a minute, until the garlic begins to smell fragrant, and add the peppers and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir until just tender, about eight minutes. Add the eggplant, and stir together for another five minutes, until the vegetables are tender. The eggplant will fall apart, which is fine. Season to taste.
3. Add the tomatoes to the pan with about 1/2 teaspoon salt and a pinch of sugar. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan often, for five to 10 minutes, until the tomatoes have cooked down somewhat and smell fragrant. Add the capers, olives, remaining sugar and vinegar. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often, for 20 to 30 minutes, until the vegetables are thoroughly tender and the mixture is quite thick, sweet and fragrant. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat. If you have the self control, allow to cool to room temperature. If possible, cover and chill overnight. Serve at room temperature.
To roast an eggplant – halve it longways, leaving the skin on. Score the flesh with a sharp paring knife in a diamond pattern almost all the way down to the skin, drizzle well with a good olive oil, season well with salt and pepper, put in a lightly sprayed roasting dish and bake at 350° until it is deeply browned and softened.
Herb Crusted Roasted Pork Loin with Mustard Sauce
chopped herbs of your choice – we will be using what I call the Simon and Garfunkel Mix (if you need this explained, have I got an album for you to listen to) a couple of garlic cloves salt and pepper panko crumbs 3# pork loin
butter shallot white wine good coarse grain mustard salt and pepper
Combine the herbs, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor, making a paste. Add a little panko until its a moist crumble. Season the loin well with salt and pepper, and sear all over in a heavy pan. Remove to rest a bit, then cover completely with crust mix. Place in a roasting pan and roast in a 375° oven for about an hour, until it registers 160° on a thermometer. Remove from the oven, and let it rest at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Put the roasting pan over medium high heat on the stove after removing all of the extra fat. Add the butter and shallots, and scrape up any browned yummy bits on the bottom of the pan. Add a good amount of wine and a touch of the mustard, and cook until it begins to thicken. Adjust seasoning and serve with the pork loin.
Roasted Fennel and Pear Salad
2 fennel bulbs 4 d'anjou pears olive oil fresh thyme salt and pepper baby arugula 1 shallot, minced sherry vinegar
Cut the tops off of the fennel and reserve the fronds for dressing and garnish. Cut the bulbs into thin wedges. Core the pears and cut into thin wedges. Toss both with a little olive oil, a little chopped thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the same oven with the pork until they are browned and tender. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. In a small mixing bowl, add some sherry vinegar with a minced shallot, chopped thyme, salt and pepper, and some of the fennel fronds minced up. Mix in some olive oil and make a nice vinaigrette. Toss this with the baby arugula, and divide on to plates. Top with the roasted fennel and pear, and serve.
Potato and Parsnip Rosti
3 large russet potatoes, peeled 4-5 parsnips, peeled 1 sweet onion, minced 1 TB chopped herbs (Simon and Garfunkel is awesome) salt and pepper olive oil for frying
Grate potato and parsnip together, and place in a strainer over a bowl to collect the starch. Mix everything together, season well with salt and pepper. Drain the liquid from the draining bowl, being careful not to lose the starch in the bottom. Mix that in with the other stuff. Heat a heavy saute pan over medium low heat. Add some olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan and get it heated up. Add enough of the rosti mix to make a nice layer in the bottom. Press it down and let it cook until the bottom is browned nicely. Slide it on to a plate, put the pan over the top and flip it back in. Cook the other side until its browned. Remove to a pan and keep warm in the oven while you do a second one (if you have enough of the mix). Cut into wedges to serve.
A couple of notes: Use the grating disk on a food processor to make this lightning fast. If you don't have one (I don't either, so don't feel bad), a box grater works perfectly. You want the strands of potato and parsnip so they can get crispy and yummy. Sweet onions are my choice, but if you like that bite, use whatever onions makes you happy.
If you want to make it a little fluffy, add a beaten egg. You will have to cook it a little longer to make sure it's set.
If you will be making these for a dinner party, you can grate everything ahead to make it easier. Soak the potato and parsnip in enough water to just cover until you're ready to cook the rosti. Drain well, but the odds of you having any starch left over is going to be slim. You may need to add a little potato starch back in. Or, cook the rosti ahead and reheat in the oven while you're roasting your pork.
You can make these in one big pancake and cut into wedges, or make littler like latkes for ease in serving. (They are pretty much the same thing.)
Lemon and Rosemary Infused Buttermilk Pannacotta with Blackberry Cabernet Compote
Pannacotta: makes 12 - 4 oz ramekins, or one big mold. 1 ½ tsp unflavored gelatin 1 ½ TB water ¾ c heavy cream 1/3 c sugar 2 stems rosemary zest of 2 lemons 1 tsp good vanilla (or ½ vanilla bean, split and scraped) 1 ½ c buttermilk a few grains of sea salt
Put water in a small bowl, and sprinkle gelatin over the top. Let it set. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine cream, sugar, rosemary, lemon and vanilla bean. Bring to a simmer and keep it there for a few minutes. Remove from heat and let the flavorings steep until it reaches room temperature. Add the buttermilk and whisk well, making sure everything is well combined (if you are using vanilla extract, add it now), and pour into serving dishes. Chill for about 4 hours before serving. Serve in the ramekin topped with a little of the blackberries, or unmold and surround it with the compote. If you want to get really fancy, top with a piece of rosemary and a little finely chopped candied lemon peel.
I recommend using only ceramic, glass or plastic to mold this. Any rust spots in metal molds can react to the acids in the buttermilk and make black spots.
Blackberry Cabernet Compote: ¼ c water ½ c cabernet (see note) 2 TB sugar juice and zest of 2 lemons pinch of salt 1# blackberries, fresh or frozen, divided
Put water, cabernet, sugar, zest and juice, and about 1/4# of the blackberries in a heavy bottomed, non-reactive sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and reduce by half, about 10 minutes, until it's thick and syrupy. If it seems to have gotten too thick, add a little water. Add the rest of the blackberries, stir well to combine, cook briefly just to bring everything up to temperature, then pour into a serving dish. I would always serve this at least room temperature if not a little warm.
Note: if you don't use alcohol in your cooking, you can use a good all fruit juice of some sort with excellent results. Choose something that is flavorful, like blueberry, acai or cranberry, but make sure it's all juice, not colored sugar water. Treat it just the same as the cabernet.
Keith's first smoothie - avocado, Goatein, hemp seeds, yogurt, Greens+, coconut oil, flax oil, acidophilus, raw cacao powder, apple cider (locally fresh pressed), and a pinch of himalayan sea salt. He drank it, but I think he was humoring me. I sucked down a huge cup and now I feel ready to conquer the world!
see that second disk on top of the first SCOBY? I've grown my second mother! I've been having problems because my kitchen is cold, my 'buch is hovering around 70* instead of 76* that I've been told is ideal. I keep her wrapped in a big towel so it doesn't fall farther, and I don't peek at her often to keep her dark and warm. I wasn't sure it was going to grow, but when I unwrapped her this morning to check I found that beautiful second disk floating on the top. I swear, unless my man starts to throw fits about it, my kitchen is soon to be filled with big jugs of bubbly love. I figure from the looks of her that I have a couple more weeks before I can start bottling. I've decided on doing a ginger beer as my first batch, a flavor that I adore in all it's forms. Ginger is amazing for the stomach, so it's a perfect match for all of those tasty probiotics. More to come....
Okay, I'm sure that half of you saw that title and moved quickly to something else. Of that half, a few got curious and came back. The one thing I ask of everyone is approach food with an open mind, so I guess I'm asking that now.
Chicken livers are one of those things that I crave from time to time. My PopPop (Mema's other half) made the most amazing "chopped liver" on the planet. It was a simple mix of livers, onions and hard boiled egg, and it was divine. Since I started cooking for a living, I've had many versions of liver pate, which is what I had been eating my whole life and didn't know it. Some were so complicated that the liver got lost, and some were just boring. There has to be a balance between the irony taste of the liver and the other flavors or it just doesn't work. Well, at work yesterday, I found out through the grapevine that they had gotten a fresh supply of livers in, and if I was really nice, I could get my hands on some before they hit the freezer. (my MeatHeads take care of me, and I them.) I bought a pound with visions of chopped liver dancing in my head. I got home and immediately set to work. I diced up a sweet onion and slowly started it caramelizing. Then I saw a little container of dried blueberries and a nice valencia orange, and thought, hmmm, that could work, so I tossed in about a quarter cup of the blueberries and two pieces of orange zest. Thyme, parsley and fresh bay leaves in, all cooking nicely in a huge knob of fresh unsalted butter. Then I turned the heat up a bit and put the livers in. I like to get a little sear on them, but keep them medium on the inside. Once they started to color, in went some Red Stag Honey Tea Bourbon. (a little for the pan, a little for the chef.... ). I let that reduce down, then turned off the heat, letting the remaining heat of the pan finish the reduction. Popped everything into the Ninja and buzzed it up. I usually like it chunky, but with the herbs, blueberries and orange zest, I had no choice but to puree it fully. I didn't even taste it, just slapped it into a container and into the 'fridge. The color is a little off - the blueberries made it zombie grey - but i had two pieces of fresh challah slathered with the pate, and trust me, it was amazing. The blueberries add a sweet tart edge, and the floral notes from the orange zest are just what it needed. Can't wait to share it with my cooking class on Wednesday, they are going to love it!
I'm a chef, mom of two grown amazing people, a culinary instructor, and now a holistic nutrition and wellness counselor. I will be adding homeopathy to that list of accomplishments soon, and this is a record of my journey towards that and many other goals, along with the stuff that turns me on and off. Like my Facebook page for even more amazing ideas and recipes. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Healthy-People-Culinary-Program/214831771901699?ref=hl