Wet and Chilly Start to October

It's miserable outside - dreary, rainy, chilly, and grey. And I'm nursing a nasty cold. So, it seemed obvious that the kitchen -- and I -- needed some warming up. As luck would have it, I had a nice, big ham bone leftover from yesterday's family dinner. Into the pot it went along with split peas, onions, carrots, garlic, bay leaf and all kinds of seasonings. Tonight we're dining on Habitant Pea Soup and herb bread (have I mentioned how much I love slow cookers?).

Habitant Pea Soup

1 ham bone
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs olive oil
2 L water
2 chicken oxo cubes
2 cups yellow split peas
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups each diced carrots and celery
1 cup diced ham
1 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot. Saute the onion until beginning to brown. Stir in garlic and continue to saute for about a minute. Add water, ham bone, bay leaves, split peas, and oxo cubes (or sachets). Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add vegetables, ham, salt, and pepper. Stir and re-cover, simmer for about 1 more hour, until vegetables are tender. Remove ham bone and discard. If you like a thick soup, transfer about 1/3 of the mixture in the pot to a blender and puree; return to pot and stir to mix. Serve with warm herb bread.

Herb Bread

1 tsp sugar
1 1/3 c. warm water
1 level tbs active dry yeast
2 c. + 1 c flour
1 tbs. sugar
2 tbs oil
1 tsp oregano
1tsp sage
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp salt

Warm stainless steel mixmaster bowl by filling with hot water and letting stand for 5 minutes. Discard water. Add 1 tsp sugar and 1 1/3 c warm water to bowl. Stir to dissolve sugar. Sprinkle yeast over top of water. Let stand for 10 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast. Add remaining ingredients except for 1 cup flour. Beat on low  to combine ingredients, then increase speed to 4 (medium) and beat for 2 minutes. Add remaining flour and beat on low until mixed in. Turn out into greased slow cooker pot. Smooth top with back of wet spoon. Place 5 paper towels on top of pot, then place the lid on, putting a wooden toothpick between the paper and the lid to allow steam to escape. Do not lift lid during cooking time. Cook on high for 2 1/2 hours. Loosen sides with knife and turn out on to rack to cool.

September Stew and Almond Zucchini Cake

I must be on the mend - I can't keep out of the kitchen. Tonight's supper was "September Stew", served with fresh baguette slices, followed by a dessert of frosted "Almond Zucchini (sshhh! they'll never know) Cake".

September Stew

1 1/2 lbs stewing beef, trimmed and cubed
2 1/2 cups peeled, seeded butternut squash
3 medium shallots, coarsely chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. onion soup mix

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

2 cups water

2 tbs worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/8 tsp allspice

2 tbs cold water

4 tsp cornstarch

3 cups frozen french-style green beans

Place all but the last three ingredients in a slowcooker. Cook on high for 4 hours (or on slow for 8-10 hours). In a small bowl, combine the cold water and the cornstarch. Stir in some of the hot liquid. Stir mix into slow cooker. Add the green beans, cover and cook for 15 more minutes, until thickened. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Almond-Zucchini Cake

3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 tsp almond extract

2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups peeled, grated zucchini (courgettes)

3/4 cup ground almonds.

Glaze
1 cup icing (confectioner's) sugar
2 tbs water
1 tsp almond extract

In mixer, beat eggs until frothy. Add brown sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and continue mixing until thick and smooth. Add oil and almond extract and continue beating for 1 min.

Combine dry ingredients (next 4 in list) in a separate bowl. Add alternately, in three parts, with grated zucchini to egg mixture. Beat well. Stir in ground almonds. Turn into well-greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 F. for 1 hour 5 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. While still warm, drizzle glaze over cake, letting it run down the sides. Enjoy - and don't mention the zucchini to your kids - they'll never know they're eating a vegetable.

Roasted yellow tomato and pepper soup

By accidental fortune, we have an amazing crop of yellow tomatoes this year. We've enjoyed a surfeit of tomato sandwiches, toasted or otherwise, and have had sides of sliced tomatoes with just about every meal for several weeks now. I've experimented with yellow tomato pasta sauce (may post that recipe one day), and today, as I've got a hankering for soup, I've created "Roasted yellow tomato and pepper soup". It provides some sunny warmth to a not-so-warm fall day.

Roasted Yellow Tomato and Pepper Soup

2+ tbs olive oil

8-10 med. sized yellow tomatoes

1 yellow pepper

1-2 green onions, chopped and reserving 1 tbs for garnish

3 med. sized shallots

1 tsp paprika

1 bay leaf

1 tbs maple syrup

1 cup chicken broth

Salt and ground pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line baking sheet with foil and spray foil lightly with olive oil. Halve and seed tomatoes (I find it easier to remove the small stem core at this time too). Place tomatoes cut side down on foil. On a separate, foil-lined and sprayed sheet, place seeded and sliced strips of yellow pepper, insides facing up. Spray both the tomatoes and the peppers liberally with olive oil. Place in pre-heated oven for about 40 minutes, turning pans around half way through. Meanwhile, peel and coarsely chop shallots. In large saucepan, saute shallots in 2 tbs olive oil for about 3 minutes. Add paprika and continue cooking for 1 more minute. Remove from heat.

  

Once tomatoes and peppers are roasted (skins should be slightly blackened), remove from oven. Immediately cover the tomatoes with saran wrap (clingfilm) and let the steam continue to loosen the skins (takes about 10 minutes). Add the peppers to the sauce pan. Remove and discard skins from tomatoes. Add remaining pulp and liquid to sauce pan, along with bay leaf, chopped green onion, chicken broth, and maple syrup. Bring to low boil and let simmer 20 min. Remove bay leaf. Use stickblender to puree. Season with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with a dollop of heavy cream and a sprinkling of reserved green onion.

Weeze Cake

It's Miss C's birthday today and, as is tradition, I made a cheesecake (now named the Weeze cake in her honour). This year's version is strawberry.

Strawberry Shake Cheesecake

2 250-g bricks of cream cheese, softened.
1 envelope gelatin
1 c whipping cream
1 cup sugar plus 2 tbs
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed and divided
2 cups graham wafer crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

In small pot, sprinkle gelatin powder over 1/2 cup cold water. Place pot over low heat and leave until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat.

In microwave-safe bowl, melt the 1/2 cup butter. Stir in 1/3 cup packed of brown sugar and 2 c. graham crumbs. Mix well and then press into bottom of greased springform pan. Bake at 350 F for 10 min. Remove pan and cool on rack.

Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and remaining brown sugar. In separate bowl, combine chopped berries and 2 tbs sugar and mash. Add strawberries, vanilla, almond extract, and gelatin  to cheese mixture and stir well. In yet another bowl, whip the cream. Fold the cream into the cheese/berry mixture. Pour into pan over crust. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours before serving. Can drizzle chocolate or caramel sauce over before serving.

Rain, followed by showers

It's dank and dismal today - I need warming up. Inspiration struck - too many mushrooms leftover from a salad recipe and lots of fresh asparagus in the garden. Pan-fried asparagus, mushrooms and garlic in butter with lemon pepper and sea salt. Mmmm, mmmmm. To round out the meal, spicy pork medallions and oven roasted potatoes, onions, cauliflower and orange pepper.

Getting My Samosa Fix

Samosas are a big deal here in Fredericton - we even had a "samosa war" at our local market once upon a time. The product was so popular that customers lining up to buy them blocked the aisles and prevented other vendors from doing business. The market management team told the samosa vendors they'd have to take their wares outside. People were outraged. Protests ensued. Eventually, they compromised and bought a couple of trailers, parked them on the market grounds, and told the samosa vendors to set up business there.  In the end, the original purveyor of samosas, Mr. Patel, decided to retire, and with him went the best samosas I'd ever tasted. The remaining vendors at the market continue to do a thriving business, but the product in my opinion is inferior. All this to say that, today, I had a hankering for the Patel samosas, so I went hunting online in search of a reasonable facsimile. What I found far exceeded my expectations. Although they took considerably longer to make than I anticipated (and although my pastry skills are sadly lacking!), the results were imho *damn* good!

So, here's the link: http://www.samosa-recipe.com./ I strongly recommend this site. I made the vegetable filling in phyllo and the beef in puff pastry (seriously, I'm severely challenged when it comes to working with pastry!) and they were delicious!

Sunny Sunday Morning in Spring

Contemplating the sun shining outside, the grass growing and greening, and all the plants starting to spring to life, and relishing the relatively unfamiliar sensation of a clean kitchen....I was inspired to create this zesty soup to welcome home the churchgoers.

Cream of Carrot Ginger Soup

2 tbs butter

2 large shallots, coarsely chopped

1/2 yellow pepper, coarsely chopped

900 ml chicken broth, unsalted

1/2 tsp crushed rosemary

2 tsp minced ginger

1 tsp coarse sea salt

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 c cream (use milk if you want a lighter version)

In large pot, saute shallots and pepper in butter until transparent. Add chicken broth, carrots, and seasonings. Bring to low boil and simmer until carrots are tender, about 1/2 hour. Use immersion handblender to puree vegetables. Stir in cream and serve. Garnish with fresh chives and wedge of lemon.

A whole lotta cooking goin' on

Yep, that's the truth. First came Christmas and various pot lucks, then we hosted a baby shower for Iris on New Year's eve, and today, the annual family Yankee Swap. So far, I've made fudge (thank you Trish for a fabulously easy recipe), spicy pecans, seafood chowder, a rosemary/cranberry bread wreath, cherry fruit bread, and Dear Abby's "St. James Baked Beans" (if you haven't tried this recipe yet, google it and make it immediately - it's a real crowd pleaser!). I'm absolutely loving my new Kitchenaid Artisan mixer - it sure eliminates a lot of shoulder and wrist pain when making bread dough. This was a Christmas gift from Ralph and, I've got to say, one of the best. I resisted for many years, saying why would I need one when my hand mixer does just fine, but old age is taking its toll and it's nice to let the machine do the work for a change. However, given that its permanent home is going to be on my counter, I have to get busy and make a cover for it to keep it clean. Anyway, better to get sewing than to get baking as 2012 is definitely going to be the year to lose some weight...starting tomorrow! After all, you can't go on a diet when you're heading to one of the major potluck events of the year!!!

Today's recipe....and a last hurrah for sugar and fat...is Trish's easy, delicious chocolate fudge.

Chocolate Skor Fudge

1 pkg chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate)
1 pkg skor bar bits (or Heath bar if you're in the U.S.)
1 can sweetened condensed milk

In a microwave safe bowl, combine chips and condensed milk. Mike on high for 2 minutes. Stir. Mike for 2 more minutes. Stir, Mike one last time for 2 minutes and then stir in pkg of Skor bits. Scrape into a greased 8 x8 inch pyrex pan. Chill in fridge for 2+ hours. Cut into 1 inch squares and enjoy. I'll have to take a pic some other time because there are none left from my last batch!

Oh yeah - Happy New Year!