Broccoli Cheese Soup

I've been really into broccoli lately. I guess I need my iron and vitamins. And when am I not into cheese? So I tried some broccoli-cheese soup. It turned out ok - tasty but with some lessons learned. Here it is with my suggestions for improvement.

Recipe from the Joy of Cooking's "All About Vegetarian Cooking".

- 3 Tablespoons butter or veg oil (or more!)
- 1 cup chopped onions (or a bit more)
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 4 cups broccoli florets, coarsely chopped
- 1 potato, chopped (not in the recipe, I added)
- 1/3 cup flour
- 4 cups veggie stock
- 2 cups milk
- 3 cups grated Cheddar cheese (increased from 2 in recipe) - the sharper the better in my opinion!
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard (I used ground mustard, but Dijon would be good)
- salt and pepper to taste
- hot pepper sauce to taste
- Worcestershire sauce to taste

- Melt the butter/heat the oil in a big pot over medium heat.
- Add the vegetables and cook, stirring, at least 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir all together another 5 minutes or so. Careful not to burn the flour.
- Gradually add the stock and milk. Cook until the veggie are tender, 5 to 10 minutes more (I didn't cook it long enough, so the veggies weren't that tender. They would be better cooked a bit longer.)
- Transfer soup to a blender and puree until smooth. (I do this in batches and miss some chunks - but that's ok with me.)
- Return the soup to the pot and bring to a low simmer. Stir in the cheese gradually until smooth. Don't let the soup boil - the cheese will break down too much.
- Season with the rest of the spices and flavorings.
- Top with more grated cheese for serving.

As noted above, I needed to cook my veggie longer for it to be perfect. And I highly recommend sharp cheddar for the topping, even if you use something milder in the soup. Enjoy!

Dutch Babies

I tried making something new for breakfast today - Dutch Babies! My dad's wife made us some over the holidays, and it was delicious. I remembered that I had a recipe for Dutch Babies from a B&B we stayed in a number of years ago, so I looked it up. The result was really easy and incredibly tasty topped with applesauce and maple syrup.

Here's the recipe from The Baer House Bed & Breakfast in Baker City, Oregon (I'm not sure it's still in business, but this was a great place!).

Note: measurements vary by pan size in this recipe, but are pretty proportional. In general, it's 1 to 1.5 Tblspoon butter per 1 egg and 1/4 cup of milk and flour. If you have a 3-cup pan, use that amount. If you have a 2-3 quart pan, use 3 times that much.
I used the following for my pretty big cast iron pan:

1/3 cup (6 Tblspns) butter
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour

- Put the butter in a cast iron pan and place it in a preheated 425 degree oven.
- While the butter melts, mix the batter (the eggs, milk and flour) in a blender. I also added a Tablespoon of sugar just for kicks.
- When the butter is melted and starting to brown (around 8 minutes), take the pan out of the oven and pour in the batter.
- Bake in the oven until well-browned - 15 to 30 minutes (varies by the size of the pan and the oven).
- Cut into pieces, top with anything tasty (jam, powdered sugar, maple syrup, applesauce, fruit, whatever!), and enjoy!

Pork Chops and Caesar Salad

Hubby and I co-made a delicious meal last week: Homemade Caesar salad, and oven BBQ pork chops.

The pork chop recipe came from the newspaper: "Oven Pork Chops with Easy Barbecue Sauce".
Here's all it takes:
- 1-2 Tblspn veggie oil
- 4 bone-in pork chops (about 2 pounds)
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 Tblspn brown sugar
- 1 Tblspn cider vinegar
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- a shake of Tabasco sauce (or the like)

- Preheat the oven to 350.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tblspn of the oil. Add the chops and brown 5-7 minutes per side. Season with salt and pepper. (My chops were so big I had to do this in two batches)
- Transfer to a lightly sprayed or oiled 2-quart (I needed a larger one) casserole and set aside.
- For the sauce, reduce the heat under the skillet to medium, add a bit more oil, and saute the onion until tender (about 5 minutes). Add remaining ingredients, stir, and simmer for a few minutes.
- Pour sauce over the chops and bake uncovered about 25 or 30 minutes.

These were tender and the sauce was nice and tangy!

Now for the Caesar - which came out of the Cooks Illustrated magazine from Jan-Feb 2011. I won't go into all the science and testing behind it, but here's the essential recipe - which was incredibly tasty and went well with the pork.

Croutons:
- 5 Tblspns olive oil
- 1/2 tsp garlic paste from 1 medium clove (basically, grate it fine and squish it)
- 1/2 loaf ciabatta bread, cut into 3/4 inch cubes (about 5 cups)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 Tblspns finely grated Parmesan

- Combine 1 Tblspn oil and the garlic in a small bowl and set aside.
- Place bread cubes in a large bowl and sprinkle with water and salt - toss and let the bread soak up the water.
- Place remaining 4 Tblspn oil and the bread in a large nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently (we had trouble with sticking, so be careful!) until brown and crisp - 7-10 minutes.
- Remove skillet from heat, and push croutons to sides of skillet. Add the garlic/oil mixture to the cleared center and cook on residual heat for 10 seconds.
- Add the Parmesan and then toss the garlic, cheese and bread together to distribute.

Salad:
- 3/4 tsp garlic paste from 1 medium clove (as above)
- 2-3 Tblspns fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 6 anchovy fillets (get them in a little jar of oil), patted dry with paper towels, minced fine, and mashed to a paste with a fork - about 1 Tblspn
- 2 large egg yolks
- 5 Tblspns canola oil
- 5 tsp olive oil
- 3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
- fresh ground pepper to taste
- 2 or 3 romaine heads, cut into 3/4 inch slices, rinsed and dried well


- Whisk together the garlic paste and 2 Tblspn lemon juice in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes
- Whisk Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, and egg yolks into the garlic/lemon mixture. While whisking constantly, pour in the oils in a steady stream until emulsified. Add 1/2 cup of the Parmesan and pepper to taste. Whisk all together.
- Add the romaine and toss to coat. Add the croutons and mix until incorporated. Season with more lemon juice if desired, and top with Parmesan.

Carrot Soup

I tried making a carrot soup for the first time tonight. It was delicious - flavorful and creamy and healthy.

The recipe came from my Vegetarian Times cookbook and is called "Carrot Soup with Cilantro". But I left out the cilantro and instead added a little ginger. Other than that, I stayed pretty faithful to the recipe and it came out great. Here it is with my changes:

What you'll need:
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 apple - peeled, cored and diced
- 1 pound carrots - peeled and sliced
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
- 2 Tablespoons basmati or other long-grain rice
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
- 5 cups veggie stock
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper

What to do:
- Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the fennel seeds and cook them for a minute or two.
- Add the apple, carrots, and sweet potato and cook for 5 minutes, stirring.
- Add rice, turmeric, ginger, veggie stock, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until the rice and veggies are tender, about 25 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaf.
- Let cool for a few minutes. Transfer batches of the soup to a blender and puree, then transfer back or put in separate bowl until all of the soup is pureed.
- Bring back to a simmer and add salt and pepper to taste before serving.
(I don't suppose adding some cilantro or parsley on top would hurt.)

We ate this with bread dipped in and some meat on the side. Yum!

Turkey-day Sides

I love the traditional Thanksgiving foods. Though until adulthood I did NOT like two of the most traditional: Cranberry Sauce and Sweet Potatoes. Then I learned how to make these things in ways that were delicious. Here are two things hubby and I made this year - great ways to make both of these traditional sides. Seriously - even if you don't think you like cranberries or sweet potatoes, you will like these.

Maple-orange Cranberry Sauce
(more or less from The New Basics Cookbook)
12 oz (1 bag) fresh cranberries, rinsed and any bad ones picked out
1 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup raspberry-cranberry juice (or something like it. I used cran-rasp-apple.)
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 cinnamon stick

Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium and cook until the cranberries are all popped open - about 10 minutes. Feel free to stir and squish these too. Remove from heat and let cool a while. Then put in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.


Sweet Potato and Apple Gratin
(recipe cut from newspaper many years ago, made and perfected by hubby)
3 Tablespoons butter, divided
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 tablespoons brown sugar
4 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh sage (or 2 tsps dried)
Salt and pepper
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 2 large)
(note: sweet potatoes are white inside and work better than yams in this recipe)
4 cups peeled and sliced tart apples (about 3)
3-quart baking dish with lid or foil

- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over low heat. Pour into a bowl and add the breadcrumbs and brown sugar. Toss until well coated. Set aside.
- Return the skillet to the burner and melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter over high heat. Add the onions and saute until soft and turning golden brown - about 8 minutes. Stir in the sage and season with 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Remove from heat.
- Arrange overlapping slices of sweet potatoes in the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish, using about a third of the slices. Season with salt and pepper. Top with half the apple slices and then half the onions.
- Arrange another third of the sweet potato slices and season. Then add remaining onions and another layer of the rest of the apples. Top with the remaining sweet potatoes and season.
- Feel free to add little pats of butter on top.
- Cover tightly with foil or lid. Bake for 45 minutes or until potatoes are nice and tender.
- Uncover the dish and top with the breadcrumb mixture. Bake for another 15 minutes, or until the crumbs are browned.

This serves 10-15 as part of a big Thanksgiving dinner.

Pumpkin Pie Post

For my birthday this past weekend, I wanted to make dessert for the awesome potluck my wonderful friends contributed to. And I wanted to use my squash (see last post). So I looked up a pumpkin pie recipe in my ancient Joy of Cooking.

First, a word on pie crust. Don't be afraid to make your own. It's easy and delicious. I also use the JoC's recipe. For a one-crust pie like this I cut it in half and use these amounts:
1 cup flour
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 Tblsp butter
a few Tbsp water

Mix the dry stuff together. Then use a pastry blender or fork to cut in the butter until you have a course crumbly mixture. Then add the water and stir it until it just holds together. Wrap up in saran wrap and put in the fridge for a half hour (while you make the filling). When you're ready, take it out, flour the counter top, and carefully roll the dough out nice and thin and even. You may need to add more flour and rotate the dough to be sure it doesn't stick. Then, transfer to a 9-inch pie pan.

For pumpkin pie, I like a deep pan and a high fluted crust (made by pinching the stuff around the edge). This way you get an evenly cooked pie, not overcooked on the thinner edges.

For the pie filling, I used some of my pureed hubbard squash. Pumpkin might taste a bit different, but this worked out nicely. Here's the recipe:

6 Tblsp brown sugar
2 Tblsp white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 cup dark corn sirup
3 slightly beaten eggs

Combine all (I used my Kitchenaid mixer). Then stir in the following.

1 1/2 cups cooked/pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups (1 can/12 oz) evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla

Pour this into the pie crust and bake for one hour in a 400 degree oven. I cover the crust edge with a narrow strip of foil to prevent too much browning and take it off with 15 minutes to go.

A knife should come out clean from the center.

I found this pie to be delicious and with a wonderful consistency. You could probably go a bit heavier on the spices to your taste. But yum!

Pumpkin Post

I've been meaning to blog. Really. I finally am because the weekly horoscope I never read said I should.

Since it is officially fall, and I love fall, this is a blog about pumpkins. Pumpkins I grew in the garden and cooked up a few weeks ago for later eating.

I've never had a lot of luck growing winter squash in the garden, but this year I made sure they got plenty of water and fertilizer and I got 3 small pumpkins and 1 huge hubbard squash (these are much like a pumpkin on the inside, just a little sweeter).

To store all that flesh for later use, I cooked, processed, and froze. For small pumpkins, I just cut them in half, scoop out the seeds, and place the halves face down in a little water in a baking pan. Then I cook until they are soft. Then, I scoop the flesh away from the shell and puree it all in the food processor. Then I just put it in a freezer container for later use.

For the hubbard squash (this one was about 15 pounds!), I had to get more creative. I've never worked with one before, and it was tough. It was hard to get the seeds out because the interior was really solid. And it was so big I had to cut it into about 8 pieces for cooking. And the skin was so tough I decided to try and peel it before cooking - which was hard. But with that all done, I baked the pieces in the same way as the pumpkin. I cooked some pieces longer than others. I cut those that got less "done" into small cubes and froze those in bags to be used in pastas or stews. I pureed the pieces I cooked more and froze that like the pumpkin.

So now I have a lot of frozen squash. Tomorrow I will be making a pumpkin/hubbard pie for my birthday feast. I'll let you know how it turns out!