You are here: Home / Archives for Lynn Erhorn

Rotisserie Chicken Soup

February 25, 2012 by 1 Comment
Rotisserie Chicken Soup

Rotisserie Chicken SoupA few weeks ago, I was half listening to Giada DeLaurentis prepare a chicken soup recipe on TV. Craig was watching it while on his exercise bicycle and I was in the kitchen doing something else.  I picked up her basics and adapted them into this recipe, which bears only slight resemblance. Giada introduced me to a seasoning mixture called Herbs de Provence. I’m going to mix up a batch to keep in my spice cupboard one of these days.  Since I didn’t have any on hand the day I made this soup, I selected fennel seed and fresh thyme as the flavors I most wanted to feature and just went with them.  This turned out to be a great idea and this rotisserie chicken soup got rave reviews.

This recipe makes a very large pot of soup.  Make it when you’re feeding a crowd, want lots of leftovers, or intend to freeze in portions for the next cold day.  It will last in your fridge for about 3 days before it starts to look cloudy and the rice is too mushy.  I made this much because my neighbors had just returned home from a 3-week ordeal in Memphis involving a car accident, leg surgery that included plates, pins, and screws, and way too much hospital food.  Taking in their mail every day just didn’t seem like a big enough gesture to welcome them back to their home.  Chicken soup was totally the ticket!  It was easy to just pick up a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket and shred it, having removed the skin.  I collect the chicken carcasses and freeze them, too.  There’s some great homemade stock just waiting to happen!  For the rice component, I used a beautiful blend I’d picked up at Whole Foods.  Since I got it from the bulk bins, I don’t remember the name.  For this recipe, I recommend using a rice that will cook in under 30 minutes, which leaves out some brown and wild varieties.  If you do prefer to use those, simply cook the rice separately and add it with the last batch of ingredients. I’d love to hear from you in the comments if you make the soup.

Ingredients
4-5 medium carrots, sliced into coins
5 stalks celery, sliced thin
1 large onion chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
3 large shallots, finely chopped
1 rotisserie chicken (I like lemon pepper flavor), skinned and shredded
1 TBS fennel seeds, crushed (just to release flavor — don’t powder them)
1 tsp dried basil
8 cups chicken broth or stock
4 cups water
1 bundle fresh thyme (about 8 3-4 inch sprigs, tied with butcher’s twine or with another sprig)
1 cup uncooked rice (I prefer basmati)
1 can cannelini beans, with canning liquid
1 6-oz jar sliced mushrooms, drained (I use Green Giant)
10-oz bag of fresh baby spinach (or chopped fresh kale)
salt, pepper

Instructions
In a large stock pot, saute the carrots, celery, pepper, onion, garlic, and shallots in 3 TBS olive oil until tender and fragrant, about 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the shredded chicken, fennel seeds, basil, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper and continue to cook 2 more minutes.  Add the chicken stock, water, thyme bundle, and rice. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the beans, mushrooms, and spinach (or kale) and simmer 5-10 more minutes.  If you used low sodium chicken stock, you’ll need significantly more salt at this point.  I prefer to keep my soups low-sodium and let the other seasonings do the heavy lifting. This is the point where you’ll want to taste and adjust. Remove the thyme bundle before serving.

This soup is fairly hearty, and thickens further in your refrigerator overnight. The flavors also marry nicely if you can resist eating it until the next day. It’ll look almost like a stew and you may think you don’t have enough broth, but don’t add more.  It heats to the right consistency. Thyme and fennel notes should be noticeable but not overbearing. For a real twist, consider squeezing a wedge of lemon into your bowl.

Your Daily Bread

John 10:22 Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 Jesus was walking in the temple complex in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and asked, “How long are You going to keep us in suspense? If You are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”  25 “I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works that I do in My Father’s name testify about Me. 26 But you don’t believe because you are not My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”

 

Filed Under: Recipe Box Tagged With: , , ,

Cherry Kuchen Bars: Big Delicious, Small Effort

February 18, 2012 by 7 Comments
Cherry Kuchen

Cherry KuchenI picked up one of those “Holiday Desserts” magazines available at the grocery store checkout back in December.  It turned out to be a more ambitious baking season than usual.  I made up baskets with mini date-nut loaves and four different varieties of cookies for my loved ones.  Consequently, I never got around to making these bars and the magazine stayed folded open to this page for a month on my kitchen counter, calling to me as I went on my January juice fast.  I mentioned in the last post that I’ve been on a health kick since then, so the all-purpose flour and the sugar canisters have been very lonely in my cupboard for almost two months.  It might have remained that way a while longer, but as any good church-going lady will tell you, pot lucks will just mess you up! Last Monday, when my ladies bible study small group was charged with bringing desserts, I knew it was time to make these bars and indulge in a bit of reward for all my discipline.

Although the cherry pie filling peeks through and the bars are finished with a confectioner’s sugar glaze, they are easy to cut, serve, and eat as finger food without creating messy fingers (difficult to manage at a pot luck where everyone is standing and balancing a paper plate). The dough is a light shortbread-like consistency, so the eating experience is more reminiscent of a cookie than a cake. I cut my 9×12 pan into 32 small bars, which made perfect bites.  Most importantly, the flavor is just amazing.  The almond extract in the glaze is a must, in my opinion.

Since these are bars, I bought this commercial baking pan that has square corners rather than using a glass baking dish with rounded corners. This way, there are no odd-shaped corner bars.  I found metal works best for this recipe and suggest you use an aluminum pan without a non-stick coating.

I suspect you’ll have the same difficulty limiting yourself to just one as I did!  Let me know in the comments how yours turned out.

For the Bars
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened (I used unsalted)
1/2 cup shortening (I used Crisco butter flavor shortening)
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 20-oz can cherry pie filling (I used Comstock Lite)

For the Glaze
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract (I used slightly more, but definitely go easy here)
3-4 TBS milk

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder, and salt and beat until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then add in the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Reduce speed to medium-low and add the flour half a cup at a time until well combined.  If your mixing bowl is too small, you can stir in any remaining flour with a wooden spoon.

Set aside about 1 3/4 cups of the dough and press the rest into the bottom of an ungreased 9×12″ baking pan. Bake for 12 minutes. Spread the cherry pie filling over the crust evenly.  Make sure at least a little syrup covers every bit of crust, but don’t worry that there won’t be a whole cherry in every bite. The flavor is most important and we’re not going for a gooey bar. Drop the remaining dough in roughly tablespoon-sized mounds on top of the filling, leaving some gaps between the mounds.

Bake about 30 minutes more until the top is light brown. Cool the bars in the pan set on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. While cooling, mix together the confectioner’s sugar, almond extract, and just enough milk to make a thick (but smooth) drizzling consistency.  Pour over the bars.  Cool 10 minutes more, then score the top into the size bars you desire with a serrated knife. Don’t cut all the way through. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Carefully cut bars along the scored lines. If necessary, run your knife around the edges of the pan to loosen. I served these right in the pan as shown in the photo, but you can arrange them on a dish if you like. Leftovers can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Note: You may substitute any flavor pie filling and use vanilla extract in the glaze instead of almond.

Your Daily Bread

Exodus 22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log,and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, 26 saying,“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”

 

 

 

Filed Under: Recipe Box Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Crispy Kale: Salty Crunch Minus Carbs

February 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Crispy Kale Chips

We’ve been on a long hiatus, but our analytics tell us there are a bunch of you who still stop by to peruse our recipes here and on our Facebook page.  THANK YOU! Crispy Kale ChipsWhile our blogging may have taken a nose dive, our cooking most certainly has not!  In addition to our long-standing love of ethnic cuisines and just super-delicious food, we’ve been exploring the healthier side of eating in the last several months.  We splurge on the weekends with beef and some carbs, but the weekdays are all about fresh green juices, green tea, super-green salads, a smattering of whole grains, and lean fish or poultry at dinner.  That will not make things boring around here!  To prove that to you, we make our grand re-appearance with Crispy Kale Chips!

Scratching your heads?  I did too, at first.  But, trust me, these are so very delicious, you will want to sit right down and eat the whole bowl.  I first heard about crispy kale while watching Rachael Ray coach Lou Diamond Phillips on her Celebrity Cook-Off reality show. It caught my ear because I’ve only recently discovered the wonderfulness of kale and have incorporated it into my diet almost daily.  It is a key ingredient in my morning super-nutritious juice and it goes into almost every soup I make these days.  With all the liquid and leaves going into my system during the week, I often feel I’ve just gotta have a crunch of something in the middle of the afternoon.  Since I’m trying to keep the carbs to a minimum (and mostly whole grain to boot), the idea of a crispy kale snack intrigued me.  Ms. Ray mentioned it was “so easy” to make, and that sealed the deal for me; I went googling to find recipes.  I found that some people make it more complicated than it needs to be.  I tried the simplest version (and the most popular) and my first batch was almost perfect.  It’ll take you about half an hour to whip this up.  I’m telling you right now: Make a double batch! If you have kids, these will disappear from the bowl in a flash!

IngredientsFresh Kale

1 bunch fresh kale
Olive oil
Kosher salt

Instructions

Thoroughly wash and dry the kale in cool water. It is important to dry the kale completely so it crisps rather than steams.  Remove the stems easily by circling your thumb and forefinger around the base and pulling the stem through.  Tear the leaves into pieces about 1 1/2 – 2 inches wide.

Put the leaves in a large bowl and drizzle with about 1/4 cup of olive oil (just enough to lightly coat the leaves) and sprinkle with about 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt (use just a little more if you have a large bunch of kale, but you don’t want these to be over salted).  Gently massage the oil into the leaves so that each leaf is completely coated.

Coated KaleSpread the coated leaves in a single layer on a baking sheet – preferably one without a non-stick coating.  Don’t let the leaves overlap at all.  You may need 2 baking sheets.  Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes until the leaves are about half their size and the edges are just beginning to brown. When you remove them from the oven, they should be extremely delicate. Carefully scoop them up with a plastic spatula and drop them into a clean bowl or basket lined with a paper towel.

Here’s the most important thing to remember:  Keep your portion set aside before you call anyone else to the table! The papery crispiness is so satisfying and the salt seems to just make that automatic hand-to-mouth reflex kick in. We have the best-fed dog on the planet who was also very pleased that we were willing to share.  You can leave the bowl on the counter or the table all afternoon and they won’t get stale or soggy.  That is, if they last longer than 5 minutes.  I’d like to tell you how to store the leftovers, but I have no idea! Mine disappeared.

In truth, my first batch was a bit over salted, but they were still such a treat we just drank some more water with them.  That happened because I decided to sprinkle additional salt over the leaves before baking.  Since I couldn’t see the salt when I spread them on the baking sheet, I thought I hadn’t added enough.  Go lightly with the oil, too.  Remember these will be about half their size after baking and you don’t want them to be greasy.

If you try this, I would love to know what you thought of them!  Please leave a comment!

Your Daily Bread

23 The desire of the righteous ends only in good;
   the expectation of the wicked in wrath.
24 One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
   another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
   and one who waters will himself be watered.
26 The people curse him who holds back grain,
   but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it.
27 Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor,
   but evil comes to him who searches for it.
28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,
   but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
29 Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind,
   and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
   and whoever captures souls is wise.

 

Filed Under: Recipe Box Tagged With: , , , ,

Baked Potato Soup

March 9, 2011 by 1 Comment
Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Sure, lots of people have a potato soup or potato-leek soup recipe.  But, I’d never had baked potato soup until I saw it on the Panera menu last winter.  There’s a difference, people.  A big difference.  When we had a significant number of baking potatoes left over from Christmas’ family dinner, I looked online for a recipe and found several.  From a number of them, I created this one.  It was ridiculously good and only got better over the next 2 days in the refrigerator.  If you’re a fan of twice-baked potatoes, this soup tastes like a liquid version of that!  The addition of a little red pepper sauce makes this soup unique and especially wonderful.  This recipe makes a large potful.  You can halve it if you’re not feeding a crowd or don’t want leftovers.

Ingredients

6 reduced sodium bacon strips, diced
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 Tbs flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
6 cups chicken broth (we use Swanson fat free, 33% less sodium)
6-8 large baked potatoes, cubed (leave the skin on half of them, peel the other half)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup low fat milk (1% or 2% – not skim)
1 tsp hot pepper sauce (Crystal Louisiana hot sauce is ideal.  Tabasco is too hot)
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions

In a large saucepan (6 quarts or larger), cook the bacon until crisp.  Drain and set aside.  Remove all but 2 Tbs of the drippings from the pot.  Saute the onions and garlic on medium high heat until tender.  Stir in the flour, alt, basil & pepper.  Mix well.  Gradually add the chicken broth.  Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then add the potatoes, cream, and hot pepper sauce.  Heat through, but do not boil.  Crumble the bacon and stir it in.  Serve topped with shredded cheddar and fresh  minced parsley (optional).

Your Daily Bread

Proverbs 16:20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,
and blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD.

21 The wise in heart are called discerning,
and gracious words promote instruction.

22 Prudence is a fountain of life to the prudent,
but folly brings punishment to fools.

23 The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent,
and their lips promote instruction.

24 Gracious words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Filed Under: Recipe Box Tagged With: , ,

Apricot & Pecan Cookies With A Twist

February 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

I picked up a great cookie cookbook in World Market last December called “1 Dough 100 Cookies.” Even though I was coping with a broken hand and a cast that month,  I managed to get my holiday baking accomplished with the help of my sweet friend Jill.  Together, we made four cookie recipes in a single day, the “Apricot & Pecan” cookies from this cookbook among them.  I also like to peruse the imported and unusual food options at TJ Maxx around Christmastime, both to fill out my pantry and to stuff gift bags.  This year, I found some wonderful crystallized ginger from China.  I had another recipe that called for it, so I picked it up, but then I got the brilliant idea that a little crystallized ginger would make a pretty awesome cookie recipe even better.  Turns out my instincts were spot on!

The grated orange rind and minced dried apricot make this cookie delightfully bright in flavor and the shortbread texture makes it irresistible.  As soon as I had my cast removed, the first thing I did was make this recipe again.  I gave half the batch to Jill for a gathering at her home, sent a dozen to my pastor who had seen the picture I posted on Facebook and expressed his interest in tasting them, and…well…the rest pretty much went into my tummy.  I made a double batch both times, but unless you’re planning to share, I’m going to recommend against that for the sake of your waistline!  Let me know how your batch comes out in the comments!

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
scant 3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
grated rind of 1 orange
1/4 cup plumped dried apricots, minced
3 Tbs finely minced crystallized ginger
scant 1 cup finely chopped pecans
salt

Instructions

In a large bowl, sift together the flour and a pinch of salt.

Two great ways to prepare the pecans is to either put halves or pieces in a Ziplock freezer bag and pound them with a meat tenderizer’s flat side or pulse them carefully in a food processor until they are fine but take care not to turn them into meal.  You do want these very fine.  If they’re too large, they won’t stick to the dough well when you roll it in them.

In a separate mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Beat in the egg yoke and vanilla extract.  Slowly add the flour mixture on low speed.  Add the orange rind and apricot and mix on low until thoroughly combined.

Form the dough into a log about 2 inches in diameter and press the ends to flatten as much as possible.  Spread the pecans in a shallow pan or dish and roll the dough in the nuts until well coated.  Wrap the log in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Arrange your oven racks on the top and bottom positions.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

Unwrap the dough and cut into 1/4-inch slices or slightly thicker with a sharp knife.  If your slices are flat on the bottom, you can reshape them but avoid handling them excessively.  Put the slices on the prepared cookie sheets about 1/2 inch apart on all sides.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, switching the sheets half way through baking.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes before carefully transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in an air-tight container for up to 10 days…if they last that long!

Your Daily Bread

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Filed Under: Recipe Box Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Make the Perfect Quiche

February 16, 2011 by 2 Comments
Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Julia Child taught me how to make great quiche.  Well, not personally.  I used her “The Way to Cook” book which is big, colorful, and radiates personality, just like the great French chef herself!  Chef Child explains that quiche is somewhat of a state of mind.  Once you have the basic concept down, the possibilities are endless.  That basic concept is to follow these simple steps:

  1. Pre-bake your crust with weights
  2. Fill your shell with flavorful ingredients
  3. Pour in the custard to surround and fill the shell
  4. Bake until brown and puffed

I use frozen, store-bought shells and prefer deep dish for quiche.  Today, I chose Mrs. Smith’s brand, but have used Pillsbury and a couple of other brands.  Right out of the freezer, let the shell stand on the counter for about 20 minutes.  Prick the bottom all over with a fork, then line the shell with aluminum foil and weight with dried beans or pie weights.  If you don’t do this, your shell will puff and bubble and you won’t see a clear separation of custard and crust.  Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, discard the beans, and let the crust cool.

Meanwhile, you can prepare your custard and filling.  Because pie shells vary in depth and some fillings will take more space than others, it’s best to use a custard ratio rather than a set amount of eggs and cream.  It may seem strange to say, but quiche is not all about the eggs.  In fact, you want to be careful not to have too much custard.  The goal is to allow the custard to surround and embrace your filling ingredients and, as the eggs slowly cook, suspend them in a creamy cloud of goodness.  So, for each egg you break into your glass measuring cup, add enough liquid (you can use cream, low fat, or skim milk here, but I find whole milk is best) to reach the 1/2 cup mark.  It follows, then, that 2 eggs would need liquid to reach 1 cup and 4 eggs would reach 2 cups.  I used 4 eggs today, but I prepared custard with 5 eggs and had some leftover.  That’s better than having to mix up additional custard if you come up short, so I recommend preparing 4-5 eggs’ worth of custard.

Cheese is another must in quiche.  Finely grated cheese is best and any cheese will do.  If you buy a bag of pre-shredded cheese, you’re making your task much more pleasant and easy!  When you’re ready to fill your shell, start with a layer of shredded cheese covering the entire bottom.  Then, add your flavor ingredients (I’ll get to those in a minute), then the custard, and top with a few more tablespoons of cheese.  Fill the shell to the top, just below where the fluted edge begins.  The quiche will puff while baking, then settle on the counter.  Bake at 375 degrees, usually for about 40 minutes.  The top will get quite brown, which is a good thing.  You want to make sure the custard is fully set or you’ll have runny quiche.  So, don’t go for a gorgeous, pale yellow appearance.  I’ve used the toothpick test and also just slightly jiggled the quiche to see how much wiggle it has to help determine doneness.

Ready to go in the oven

Okay, now the filling!  Once you’ve got that whole feel for what a quiche ought to be, you can fill your shell with anything you like!  I have two favorites.  The one pictured here is broccoli, green onion, and mexican 4-cheese and it’s just delicious!  The other favorite is shrimp, green onion, and Parmesan cheese.  Here’s how I do those:

Broccoli Quiche

Cut florettes into small pieces to make about 2 cups
Slice 3 green onions thin, about 3/4 of the way up (discard the tops)
Prepare custard and add salt/pepper
Line the bottom of the pre-baked shell with shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend
Fill to top with broccoli and green onions
Pour in custard starting in the center and moving out to the edge in a spiral
Top with more cheese and bake

Shrimp Quiche

Chop 12-15 large cooked shrimp, cold (I buy shrimp cocktail)
Grate 1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese (don’t even think about the stuff in the green can!)
Slice 2-3 green onions thin, about 3/4 of the way up (discard the tops)
Line the bottom of the pre-baked shell with Parmesan cheese
Add the shrimp and green onions
Pour in custard starting in the center and moving out to the edge in a spiral
Top with more cheese and bake

Your Daily Bread

1 Peter 2:1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”

Filed Under: Mad Scientist, Recipe Box Tagged With: , , , , ,

Indian Style Chick Peas

February 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Kwality_Chick_Peas_01

Click to enlarge

I wanted to follow up quickly with the side dish I prepared for Craig’s Butter Chicken.  We are fortunate to have an Indian grocery just 10 minutes from our home.  Here’s an online Indian grocer based out of Wisconsin, though I’ve never ordered from them and cannot vouch for their products or their service. If you’re not a fan of Indian food or don’t feel adventurous about tracking down and working with the exotic spices you’ll need to make it, worry not!  We’ve got some easy and delicious recipes in the wings!  This one is great for vegetarians!  And, there are options provided for you to leave out or substitute the hard-to-find ingredients, so you can still make a great chick pea dish with more common Western pantry items.

I modified a recipe from a cookbook called “Indian Home Cooking,” which is our go-to book when we’re dabbling in this cuisine.  The author’s recipe was called “Kwalitys Chickpeas,” from the name of a Bengal restaurant that specialized in them.  I changed it up enough that I thought it would be inappropriate to claim the moniker. This dish is deep in flavor, spicy but not insanely so, and perfect as a side dish for any Indian meat dish or even as part of a pot luck buffet if your crowd is fearless!

Here in the West, we tend to heat our oil in a pan, add ingredients, then season.  Indian cooking always starts with a “tempered” oil, so we add whole spices at the start and let them sizzle for a few minutes before anything else is added.  Often, there are several steps at which spices are added, depending on their texture and ability to retain their flavor when cooked.  What works for us is to use several small prep bowls with each “round” of seasonings measured out, so we can grab them and toss them into the pan when needed.  Once you get going with this recipe, things need to move quickly, so it’s important to read through the steps and have all of your ingredients ready to go.  Okay, let’s jump in!

Ingredients

3-4 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp black peppercorns (look for extra bold tellicherry for the best flavor)
4 whole cloves
4 green cardamom pods
2 whole dried red chilies
1 1/2-inch piece of ginger, minced
6-8 fresh or frozen curry leaves, torn into pieces (this is optional, but I love the flavor. If you can find it fresh, it freezes extremely well)
2 red onions, finely chopped
1 small jalepeno pepper, seeded and finely minced
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried mango powder (also called amchur) or the juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp pomegranate seed powder (also called anaardaana) or the juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp ground toasted cumin seed (make ahead by oven-toasting whole seeds, then grinding)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups water
3 19-0z cans chick peas, drained and rinsed

Instructions

Combine the oil, cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, and red chiles in a large saucepan on medium-high heat.  We use an over-sized commercial frying pan.  You’ll want your widest, deepest pan.  This makes a lot!  Or, halve the recipe and go with your best frying pan.  Cook the spices, stirring until the cumin begins to brown (about 2 minutes).

Add the ginger and curry leaves and stir in.  Add the onions, jalepeno and salt.  Cook on medium-high for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently until the onions are brown at the edges and still a bit translucent in the center.  The longer the onions cook, the more flavorful your dish will be.

Add the mango and pomegranate powders (don’t add the lemon juice here if you’re substituting) and the ground cumin, turmeric and garam masala.  Cook, stirring for about a minute.

Stir in the cayenne and black peppers.  Add the water and two of the cans of chick peas.   While this is cooking, mash the third can of chick peas in a separate bowl until you have a lumpy puree, then add to the pan and stir.  Simmer gently for about 5 minutes.  If you substituted lemon juice for the powdered spices, add this now.

The original recipe says to taste for salt before serving, but honestly, there’s so much going on here in the flavor department, I’m not sure how anyone would know if they needed salt!  Just go ahead and serve up a heaping spoonful and enjoy!  As with most Indian dishes, this actually tastes even better the next day.

We’d love to know what you think of the recipe, whether you’ve worked with any of these spices, and especially what your experience was if you made this!  Leave us a comment!

Your Daily Bread:

Esther 1:1 This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush: 2 At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, 3 and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present. 4 For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. 5 When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. 6 The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones. 7 Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality. 8 By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.

Saran, Suvir and Lynes, Stephanie, Indian Home Cooking, (New York:  Clarkson Potter, 2004)

Filed Under: Recipe Box Tagged With: , , ,

95 Cordova, St. Augustine, FL

February 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment
95 Cordova

My husband took me to this wonderful restaurant in the upscale Casa Monica hotel in St. Augustine’s old city to celebrate Valentine’s Day.  We chose it because a friend of ours was playing piano in the lounge that evening.  We’re now forever grateful to him for getting that gig!

The staff is refined and courteous, the decor is lush and has a historic feel with large mosaics on the walls and heavy, upholstered chairs.  The menus actually light up when you open them, which is a help in the dark setting.  While the dining room seems like it wants to be a quiet and elegant place to have dinner, the celebratory noise and music from the lounge is quite prevalent, so if that bugs you, it might spoil the experience.  It didn’t for us, since we wanted to hear our musician friend while we ate, yet didn’t want to take dinner in the lounge.

We were given the choice of “ice water” or bottled water at the start.  Then, we were brought 4 thick slices of crusty bread drizzled with pesto oil and a balsamic reduction that was so good, I almost wanted to just call it a night right there!  I ordered the Ceasar salad sans the bleu cheese which was presented sans croutons as well (I’m guessing croutons are too common for this restaurant).  The romaine leaves were huddled in a lovely mound and the dressing coated them and also decorated the plate.  I did not miss the croutons.  My husband ordered the wedge salad, which is a large wedge of iceberg lettuce topped with bleu cheese, bacon, glazed walnuts, and topped with a jalepeno ranch dressing.  He loved it.

For our entrees, I chose the Chilean Sea Bass, which was presented as a gorgeous, thick (nearly 3 inches) piece of flakey whiteness, absolutely perfectly crisped on the top and bottom.  It was the best piece of fish I have ever eaten, bar none!  Half a lemon just seared for a moment on their grill made a lovely garnish and helped it give up it’s juice to make an excellent fish dinner even better.  The fish was nestled on top of a row of crisp roasted asaparagus, also perfectly cooked, which was nestled on top of garlic mashed potatoes that were full of flavor without being overpowering.  My husband chose the filet mignon with bleu cheese which was also perfectly prepared and presented in the same way.

There are three creme brulee options on the dessert menu.  You can get creme brulee french toast, which makes me want to just type a whole row of exclamation points, but I’ll restrain myself.  There’s a flavored creme brulee of the week, which was passion fruit last night.  I went with the classic vanilla bean creme brulee served with fresh berries and a dollop of whipped cream.  I’m very fussy about my creme brulee and am more often disappointed than not.  But I felt confident ordering it here and they did not let me down!

The prices are a little steep, but not beyond what you’d expect for a dining experience of this quality.  We paid about $120 for non-alcoholic beverages, salad and dinner. That doesn’t include our dessert, which we ate in the lounge afterward.

I let my husband know that any time he wants me to feel utterly loved and pampered, all he has to do is suggest we go to 95 Cordova for dinner.  His face lit up and he said, “Really?  It’s that easy?”  Well, no, it’s not really that easy, but he’ll definitely score major points doing that!

Filed Under: Dining Out Tagged With: , , , ,

Vietnamese Salad with Lemongrass Dressing

January 31, 2011 by 2 Comments
Vietnamese_Salad

Click to enlarge

Fair warning right up front:  This recipe is for adventurous cooks!  But, the combination of citrus and fresh herbs make this light salad well worth the effort!  The flavor is restaurant-quality and super exotic.  My adventure started while leafing through a big, colorful Australian vegetarian cookbook from our home library (credit below).  The ingredient list made it clear I would need to pay a visit to my local Chinese grocery.  If you’re unaccustomed to shopping in Asian, Indian, and/or Latin markets, you may feel a little overwhelmed by the number of unfamiliar items stocking the shelves.  But, there’s usually someone on hand to help you navigate this new frontier.  For this salad, I needed rice vermicelli, fresh lemongrass, palm sugar, and kaffir lime leaves.  I’d only worked with the first of these before.  As it turned out, I could not procure the lime leaves, even after calling a couple of other ethnic markets in town.  So, I substituted fresh basil and still got a delicious salad.  See the note below for some tips on working with fresh lemongrass.

Ingredients

6-7 ounces dried rice vermicelli
1 cup crushed peanuts (dry roasted, unsalted)
1/2 cup mint leaves, torn
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, firmly packed
1/2 red onion, sliced in to thin wedges
1 green mango, julienned
1 cucumber

Lemongrass Dressing

1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
1 tbs shaved palm sugar
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar (I used unseasoned)
2 stems fresh lemongrass, finely chopped
2 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
3 kaffir lime leaves, shredded (I used fresh basil leaves)

Okay, this will get pretty wordy, since I want to give you everything you’ll need to delight your eyes and your taste buds and want to make this again!  This dish is all about the gorgeous presentation and the amazing flavor.

First, let’s make the dressing.  If you have a jar with a lid, this dressing benefits from a good shaking.  However, I made mine in a 2-cup glass measure, covered it in plastic and used a fork to whisk it.  Prepare the lemongrass as directed at left and put it in the container.  Add the lime juice and rice vinegar (usually available in the ethic foods aisle of your supermarket).  Palm sugar is actually sap from a variety of palm trees, usually date palms.  It’s minimally processed, low on the glycemic index (so it’s great for diabetics) and mine came little 1-tbs molded cakes that were maple colored.  I actually ate one like a piece of candy and it was delicious!  To shave it, I just used a hand-grater placed over my container.  I’m going to love working with palm sugar in the future!  We always have dried red chillies in our refrigerator, so I reconstituted 2 of these in boiled water for about 10 minutes.  Make sure the seeds are removed or the dish will be too spicy.  Chop the chillies very fine and add to the dressing.  This should give just a hint of heat without making the salad “hot.” Again, I couldn’t get lime leaves anywhere, so I used about 3-4 fresh basil leaves, shredded.  I stack my leaves, roll them up lengthwise very tightly, and slice thin, then cut the resulting strips in half.  Give this delicious dressing a little taste just to treat yourself, then cover and refrigerate while you make the salad.

Now, let’s talk about rice vermicelli.  This is a thin, white noodle usually packaged in long, twisted sections.  I didn’t measure 6-7 ounces.  I grabbed a section about 4 inches wide by 6 inches tall and almost an inch thick, gently broke it away from the pack, and plunged it into a large bowl of boiled water.  Let the vermicelli soak for about 15 minutes until soft, then drain and rinse with cold water.  Drain again.  Use kitchen scissors to cut the long strands into 2-3 inch sections.  You can be kinda relaxed about this process, but lift up handfuls now and then to be sure you don’t have any extremely long strands, which will be hard to eat.

While that’s soaking, slice your mango into very thin julienne strips.  I used a mango that wasn’t completely green, so there were softer sections that didn’t look so much like julienne, but I appreciated the extra sweetness that gave the dish.  Just be sure you don’t choose a mango that’s super ripe.  This recipe called for a Lebanese cucumber, but I used an ordinary cuke.  Slice it in half, scoop out the seeds with a spoon, then slice each half in half again.  Turn the sections over (skin side up) and slice thin on the diagonal. Cut the red onion in half from top to bottom (not across the middle), remove the center, and slice very thin wedges (the thinner the better).  If your onion is very large, cut these slices in half and maybe don’t use an entire half.

Put the peanuts in a quart-sized freezer bag and crush with a meat mallot or pulse just a couple of times in a food processor.  You want a nice crushed nut, not a powder or a meal.  I coarsely chopped my mint, but tore off the leaves of the cilantro and left them large.  That’s all the prep work for the salad itself.  Combine all of these ingredients using only 3/4 of the peanuts and toss to combine.    Give the dressing a fresh shake or whisk and and add it to the salad.  Toss well, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Sprinkle with remaining chopped peanuts when serving.

Your Daily Bread:

Acts 19:8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. 11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

Price, Jane (Ed.), The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, (Sydney: Murdoch Books, 2001)

Filed Under: Recipe Box Tagged With: , , , ,

Enza’s Italian Restaurant

January 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Enzas

10601 San Jose Blvd
Jacksonville, FL 32257
(904) 268-4458

I’m Italian and I’m from New York.  So, if I’m giving a 5-star rating to an Italian restaurant, you know this is the place to be!  We had heard great things about Enza’s and have been meaning to try it out for months.  We finally got around to it a couple of weeks ago and are still kicking ourselves for waiting so long!

Enza and her husband are from Italy and have been in the restaurant business their entire lives.  They are hands-on both in the kitchen and in the dining room, greeting customers and making sure their dining experience is as good as it can possibly be.  Their daughters cheerfully work as servers and make recommendations on the wine and food.  One review we read warned that it can sometimes be difficult to get seated quickly without a reservation and we now see why!

There is nothing on the menu that is not absolutely outstanding.  You seriously cannot go wrong here!  We ordered 2 appetizers, the carpaccio and the fried ravioli.  Both were superb.  In fact, my husband has often been frustrated with how carpaccio is served in other restaurants, but was super excited about how Enza’s got it so right.  The ravioli portion was huge for an appetizer, so I was lucky enough to bring half of it home for the next day’s lunch!  For the entree, I ordered a grouper almondine special served over sauteed spinach and asked for a side of fettucini alfredo.  The flavors perfectly complimented each other, the fish was absolutely perfectly cooked, and the alfredo sauce was, quite literally, the best I have ever tasted.  My husband ordered the rigatoni bolognese, where he was given a choice between the two bolognese sauces on the menu.  There’s the “ordinary” sauce, and then there’s the special sauce made with beef, veal, and lamb and simmered for 5 hours: the house special.  His report was that it was exceptional in meatiness and complex flavor.

We will probably make Enza’s a monthly tradition and hope to try everything on the menu!  Since so many of us transplanted Yankees complain that the South doesn’t seem to get Italian right, I’m going to call this a “must-do” restaurant.

They’re closed Mondays and don’t open until 4:00 p.m. other days.  Reservations can be made by leaving a voice mail or on their website.

Check the blue box below to read this and my other reviews on Yelp.

Filed Under: Dining Out Tagged With: , , , ,

Chicken Paillards with Clementine Salsa

January 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment
chicken_paill_clem_01

How it looked on our table tonight

We just finished dinner and are so excited about this dish, I had to sit right down and share it with you!  Since we’re at the end of Clementine season, I suggest going right out to your local supermarket and grabbing yourself a crateful so you won’t have to wait a year to try this amazing recipe!  The delicious fruit and fresh herbs make this healthy dish light, bright, and worth the prep time!  Craig got this recipe delivered to his inbox from “bon appetit,” to which we subscribe.  For proper credits, see the recipe in it’s natural habitat here.

Ingredients
4 5-ounce chicken breast halves
4 clementines, peeled, diced (about 1 cup)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered (I used Camparis, diced)
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 cup finely diced celery
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 serrano chile, seeded, minced (I used half of a large jalepeno)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup fresh clementine juice (from about 6 clementines)

You can follow the link above to read the official cooking instructions.  Here’s how I did it, with some photos I took along the way. Click on them to enlarge.

I did this first step in the morning to save a little time.  Rinse the chicken breasts, pat dry and trim away the “tender” portion if present. Pound the chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap (using the flat surface of a meat tenderizing mallet — not the textured ends) until they are about 1/4 inch thick.  I suggest pounding 1 chicken breast at a time to insure you have enough room for the meat to spread out.  Stack the breasts and slide them into a gallon-sized freezer bag.  Chill.

About an hour ahead of the time I wanted to serve dinner, I prepared the salsa.  This is what takes most of the prep time.  Combine the clementines, tomatoes, onion, celery, basil, cilantro, and pepper in a large bowl.  Toss with the fresh lime juice and 2 tbs. olive oil and set aside at room temperature.  Don’t refrigerate this or your meal will get cold as you’re eating.

Squeeze the juice of 6 or 7 more clementines into a measuring cup to 1/2 cup.  Since I used more oil to cook the chicken than the recipe calls for (I used a large commercial frying pan), I think I should have used more juice here.  The resulting reduction looked more like oil than orange juice even though I removed half the oil from the pan before deglazing.  But, the flavor was still outstanding.

Lay the chicken breasts on a platter and season with salt & pepper.  Heat the remaining 2 tbs olive oil (I probably used more like 1/4 cup) on medium high heat.  Add the chicken and STAND BACK!  The meat will splatter the entire time you’re cooking, so if you have a splatter screen, have it at the ready!  Wear an apron, too.  Cook the chicken until slightly browned and cooked through.  This recipe said that should be 3 minutes on each side, but I probably had the meat a little thicker than 1/4 inch and I had a very large pan, so mine took more like 6 minutes per side.

Here’s what it should look like:

Drain the chicken on paper towels. Add the clementine juice to the skillet (remove most of the oil if there’s still a considerable amount there) and boil until reduced by half, stirring often.  That took me about 3-4 minutes.

Plate the chicken, drizzle the clementine sauce over it and top with a generous amount of salsa.

We try to have a couple of carb-free dinners each week, so this was one of them.  I served this with steamed green beans tossed with slivered almonds sauteed in butter for about 2 minutes.   This felt like a vacation meal to us.  We just smiled all the way through it.  There was salsa leftover and I’m thinking about tossing it with some red and black beans and some garbanzos to make a salad for lunch tomorrow.

I promise, if you make this dish once, you will make it again and you’ll probably want to invite some guests to impress!  This one is a real winner!

Your Daily Bread:

Matthew 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Filed Under: Recipe Box Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Tabbouleh, Done Right!

January 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Tabbouleh

Click to enlarge

This delightful salad originally came from Lebanon and Syria and I’m betting most Americans have had it (or at least seen it on a salad bar). Wikipedia tells me the name comes from the Arabic word meaning “little spicy,” though this salad isn’t at all spicy. It also tells me the American version of this salad is known as “Eetch,” but I’ve never heard of that! Careful with that Wiki!

I make a salad for Craig’s lunch each day. In order to keep him from dying of boredom, we tuck various goodies into two of the corners of the oblong container I send to work with him. Sometimes it’s a scoop of tuna, sometimes a bean salad, sometimes some hummous. He was bringing home tabbouleh from Costco for about a year when I casually mentioned that I used to make it often years ago and had a pretty good recipe. Once I whipped up a batch, there was no turning back for him!

Now, I’ve gotta be honest: This can be a labor intensive salad to make if you do it the way I do, but the results are well worth the effort. I make it on the weekend, usually, and once I did it a few times I got the time down to about 45 minutes. It’s mostly chopping and pinching work, as you’ll see. Since there is so much parsley in the salad, I believe it’s important to take care to keep stems out of the bowl for the most pleasant eating. Ya just can’t do that with a knife. So, I pinch off each little trio of leaves by hand and discard all the stems. Most recipes call for the parsley to be finely minced, but I like the leaves just as they come off the bunch (plus, it saves a lot of time after all that pinching).

Served as a side (though it can be a meal!), this batch will serve 8-10. It barely makes it through the week for us since we both love it. And, that’s good since tabbouleh really needs to be fresh to be amazing. Craig’s very fond of lemon in Middle Eastern dishes, so I make this very bright. It’s almost surprisingly citrusy, which will make you the hit of the pot luck if you bring this along!

Ingredients

3/4 cup bulgur (aka: cracked wheat or burghul)
2 tsp olive oil
3 cups chopped curly-leaf parsley (stems removed)
1 cup finely chopped fresh mint
4 whole spring onions, finely minced (aka: green onion or scallion)
1 large beefsteak or heirloom tomato, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
2 cloves garlic, finely minced (I use 1 tsp of jarred minced garlic for this)

In a large bowl, soak the bulgur in 3/4 cup of boiling water and 2 tsp of olive oil for 10 minutes (stir before leaving to soak). Stir again and set aside.

Chop your herbs, onion and tomato while the bulgur is cooling. The cooler it is when you add the rest of the ingredients, the better.

In a second bowl, combine the spring onion, mint, and parsley, taking care to pinch off the parsley leaves and remove as much stem as possible. You can tear or chop particularly large leaves or clusters, but leave smaller leaves intact.

Cut the tomato into 1/2-inch chunks.

Prepare the dressing by combining the 1/2 cup of olive oil, lemon juice and garlic.

Drain the bulgur of any excess water and add the herbs, onion, and tomato. Toss to combine well. Pour in the dressing and toss again, making sure everything is well coated. (The bulgur will want to collect on the bottom of the bowl. Don’t let it.)

Cover and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serving Suggestions

Served with hummous and warmed pita bread, this can be a meal in itself. We’re planning to serve it with some charcoal-grill roasted chicken too, for an upcoming dinner party. Stay tuned for Craig’s amazing Spinach Pie recipe, which is also great with tabbouleh if you’re going for that Middle Eastern or Greek experience.

Your Daily Bread

Luke 3:15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

Filed Under: Recipe Box Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Easy Asparagus Soup

January 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Image borrowed from Whole Foods

Image borrowed from Whole Foods

By popular demand, here’s an easy recipe for a super delicious soup!  Let me know how you like it!  I’m giving the quantities for a double batch, so you can easily halve this if you’re not freezing or don’t have a large crowd to feed.

4 lbs fresh asparagus
4 medium potatoes (I like the gold variety) peeled and cubed
8-10 whole green onions (scallions) chopped
8 cups chicken broth
2 tbs fresh dill (or 3 tbs dried)
1 tsp ground white pepper
2 tsp salt (I use kosher)

Cut off the fibrous ends of the asparagus and cut remaining asparagus into 1-inch lengths.
In a large pot, saute asparagus, potatoes, and scallions in 2 tbs olive oil for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add chicken broth and seasonings and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer covered for about 30 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender.

It'll look like this while cooking and before pureeing.

Puree soup either with an immersion blender (worth getting if you don’t have one!) or in batches in a blender until smooth.  Taste for salt.

If you’re freezing some, I recommend ladling  4-5 servings into a 1-gallon freezer bag, then freeze flat on a cookie sheet.  Once frozen, they stack neatly.  Thaw by soaking in warm water until you can pour the soup into a pot for reheating, but be sure the bag has no tears or holes.

Your Daily Bread

Proverbs 15:16 Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil.
17 Better a small serving of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred.

Filed Under: Recipe Box Tagged With: ,

Olave Basil-Infused Olive Oil

January 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Olave Basil-infused olive oil

Olave Basil-infused olive oilI love this stuff!  In fact, I love it so much, I keep my bottle of it right next to the stove so I can finish vegetable and pasta dishes with a little drizzle of big flavor.  The label says they have a special way of getting that much flavor into the bottle: They send the basil leaves right through the pressing process with the olives, where most infusions simply have the aromatic soaking in the medium for a week or so.

Just a little bit added at the end of your cooking process or to a dressing goes a very long way!  The result is exactly like drinking liquid basil leaves right out of the herb garden!  If you are careful not to overdo it, your veggies, pastas and salads will have a brightness that unsuspecting guests may not be able to immediately identify…they’ll just know they love what they just tasted!  You don’t want to use this to fry or saute.  It’s definitely a finishing oil.

I had some leftover basmati rice last night and, on a whim, added a little of this oil, some agave nectar, and some ginger paste to it, along with a couple of other ingredients and had it for lunch today as a chilled salad.  Yummy!   I’ll come back and amend this post with the link to that recipe when I post it for you!

This is a pricey oil, but since I use it sparingly, I don’t mind.  At least, I didn’t mind paying the $10.00 for it at Whole Foods until I saw this link as I was searching for an image!  Now I’m going to order it online and save a bundle!  And, if you click on that link, you’ll see that Olave also makes other flavors, including lemon- and garlic-infused oils.  I haven’t tried those yet, but now that I have a better price, I just may branch out!

You Daily Bread

Exodus 21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the LORD commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”

Filed Under: Secret Ingredients Tagged With: , , , , ,