Zucchini Soup
18 Apr 2012 2 Comments
in Soup
A long time ago, in another life, one summer saw a wealth of zucchini. Until that time, I hadn’t really had much zucchini and really didn’t know quite what to do with it. Someone, I think it was a girl friend but it might have been a sister-in-law, gave me this recipe for Zucchini Soup.
The flavours are amazing and, incredibly, the soup is delicious either hot or cold. It’s also dairy free, but still quite creamy. This has become one of our favourite summer soups. We’ve even served it chilled, in shot glasses as an appetizer! Perhaps it will become one of yours, too.
Zucchini Soup
- 2 lbs zucchini, washed, trimmed, and thinly sliced
- 1 large onion, minced
- 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (or to taste)
- chives, chopped
- salt, to taste
Sauté the zucchini and onion in the butter (or oil), covered, until soft. In a bowl, combine the chicken broth, curry powder and lemon juice. Add zucchini and onion. Purée the mixture in a blender until smooth. Transfer to saucepan; add chopped chives and 1 tsp salt, or to taste. Heat through to serve, or refrigerate and serve cold.
Serves 6-8
Just a Quick Note
18 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Food Blather
I just wanted to let you all know that I’ve made a small change to the site, one I think will be appreciated. I’ve been doing some research today and finally found a way of making a printable version of each recipe, one that doesn’t involve a convoluted process. This afternoon has been spent setting up a printable version for each recipe.
If you would like to see all of the recipes in one place, just the printable versions, you can do so by clicking on “Ev’s Recipes“.
Orange-Nutmeg Popovers
07 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Quick Breads, Savoury, Side Dishes
The weather today is absolutely gorgeous here in the Okanagan. Spring is definitely here and we’ve spent a goodly portion of this morning outdoors. As a matter of fact, I decided it was warm enough to have our lunch outside, the first time this year we’ve done that. On today’s lunch menu was scrambled eggs, bacon, an orange and Orange-Nutmeg popovers.
Popovers are something I’ve not made often; they’re so similar to Yorkshire puddings that I’ve never seen the need to make them. That said, I had a book on hand that I’d borrowed from the library, “Savory Baking” by Mary Cech, and one of the recipes that piqued my interest was the Orange-Nutmeg Popovers. What clinched it was the statement, “…serve next to soft scrambled eggs…”. Scrambled eggs are a favourite around here at any time so I thought, “Why not?”
They were a huge hit with John! The subtle flavours of the orange zest, the nutmeg and the bite of the pepper were a lovely complement to the scrambled eggs. We’ve decided that this recipe is a definite keeper; we’ll be making these again and possibly switching up the flavours now and then (we’re thinking aged cheddar and dill perhaps, or some other interesting combination).
I think John’s already looking forward to next weekend, hoping I’ll make these again!
Orange-Nutmeg Popovers
from “Savory Baking” by Mary Cech
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
- zest of one large orange
- about 1 tbsp bacon fat or vegetable oil
Put the eggs, milk, and butter in a blender and mix on medium speed for 5 seconds. Add the flour, salt, nutmeg, pepper, and orange zest. Mix for another 15 seconds. Let the batter rest at room temperature for about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Divide the bacon fat or vegetable oil among 6 popover tins or muffin tins and place in oven while it is heating. When the oven reaches 375º, remove the tin from the oven and divide the batter between the cups. Center the muffin tins in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until they are firm and golden on the outside. Remove from the oven and prick each popover with a small knife to allow the steam to escape. Remove from muffin tins. Best served hot from the oven.
Makes 6
Gruyere Palmiers
11 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Appetizers, Cookies, Savoury
I love savoury things. If there’s a tray of cookies or candies and a tray of something salty, I’ll go for salty every time! You can imagine my happiness when I came across a recipe for Olive Oil and Sea Salt Palmiers.
If you’ve never had palmiers, allow me to explain what they are. Very basically, it’s puff pastry with something sprinkled or spread on it; then it’s rolled up from both ends, sliced and baked.
The first palmiers I’d ever had were sugar and cinnamon palmiers, and they were GOOD! I love them, but as I started out saying, I prefer savoury to sweet.
It turns out I still had a sheet of puff pastry in the freezer and when I saw the recipe for the Olive Oil and Sea Salt Palmiers, I started thinking. I took the pastry out of the freezer and left it in the fridge overnight to thaw. Then, last night, while watching a movie and enjoying a glass of wine, it hit me… Gruyere! I still had gruyere cheese in the fridge. Fleur de Sel…I have that! My mouth started to water.
I started by unrolling the sheet of puff pastry. If your puff pastry comes in a block, roll it out to about a 12” square.
Brush liberally with melted butter. Sprinkle with fleur de sel or any good sea salt and a good dose of freshly ground pepper. My pepper grinder has a blend of black, green and red peppercorns, a mix I enjoy more than just black pepper. Then, sprinkle with grated Gruyere. You could substitute Gouda cheese, or Cheddar, or any nice hard cheese if you wanted.
Now, roll up the sheet of pastry from one side to the middle. Repeat at the opposite side. It doesn’t need to be tightly rolled. The pastry expands when baked.
Wrap up the entire roll and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. If you want to make this ahead of time, no problem. I’d simply wrap the roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you’re ready to bake.
When it comes time to bake, take the roll out of the fridge, unwrap it and, using a sharp serrated knife, cut into 1/4” slices. Place each slice on a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about an inch between the slices.
I have an apartment sized stove, so I’ve had to invest in smaller baking sheets than I would normally use. I had to use two sheets; while the first was baking, the second stayed in the fridge.
Bake the palmiers at 400ºF for about 12 minutes, or until they’re golden. Remove them to a rack and cool. Then, all that’s left is to enjoy them. If you do need to store them, store them in an airtight container.
Trust me, though, they won’t last long!
Gruyere & Sea Salt Palmiers
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 1 tbsp. melted butter
- 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
- Fleur de Sel or any good sea salt
- Ground pepper, as desired
Unroll the sheet of puff pastry, or if the pastry is a block, roll it out to approximately 12” square.
Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle the pastry with Fleur de Sel and ground pepper. Sprinkle with the Gruyere cheese.
Roll the pastry up from one edge to the center. Repeat for the opposite edge. Wrap and refrigerate for about 1/2 hour or until ready for baking.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400ºF. Take the pastry roll from the fridge, unwrap and, using a sharp serrated knife, cut into 1/4” slices; place slices on a parchment lined baking sheet about 1” apart.
Bake at 400ºF, in the center to top third of the oven, for about 12 minutes or until golden. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool.
Bread, Glorious Bread!
10 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Bread
Over at my main blog, Strings ‘n Things, I posted about some of my adventures in bread baking. I’ve recently discovered the ease, and fun, of “5-minute A Day Artisan Bread”. (You can find the basic recipe here, at Food.com) One of my dear readers asked me to share some of what I’ve been doing and I’m more than happy to do so. I will warn you right now, this will be a photo intensive post.
The beginning… yes, the bowl is dirty. That’s the leftover bits from the last batch and the recipe (and the book) encourage you not to wash out your bowl between batches. Those little bits of leftover dough will give the next batch more flavour, becoming almost like a sourdough starter. If you really want to, though, of course you can clean the bowl.
I don’t think it really matters what kind of yeast you use. This time, I used up the last of the active dry yeast; the last couple of batches were made with the instant yeast.
Mix it all up. With a wooden spoon. Until it all comes together. The dough will be quite wet.
Now, cover it. I used a dinner plate because it fits perfectly on that particular bowl but you can make this in an ice cream bucket with a lid or whatever large bowl you have. Just don’t cover it completely. You want to leave a bit of space for the gases given off by the working yeast to escape.
Leave it for at least two hours. It will rise and rise and then begin to fall down on itself. That’s what it’s supposed to do. After about 2 hours, the dough is ready to use, if you so choose. However, you can leave it in your fridge for up to two weeks.
When you’re ready to bake some bread, sprinkle the dough with some flour and grab a chunk about the size of a grapefruit. Cut it off with a serrated knife and, very gently, shape the dough into a ball, following the instructions in the recipe.
I then place the ball of dough onto a piece of parchment paper that I’ve placed on an upside down pizza pan. I don’t have a pizza peel, you see, and where the recipe says to sprinkle the peel with flour or cornmeal and later slide it into the oven, I don’t like the thought of flour or cornmeal escaping into my oven. With parchment paper, the dough can stay on the paper, slides easily into the oven, and there’s no powdery mess to clean up later.
Now, it’s time to prep the oven.
I managed to liberate a ceramic tile from our landlord’s stash in the garage. If you have a pizza stone or a bread stone, use it. If not, you can simply slide the whole pizza pan with the bread dough into the oven. As well, you need an old cake tin or some kind of container for water. (And yes, my oven is dirty. We actually use this oven… a lot!)
After your bread has risen for about 20 minutes (no need to cover it, just let it stand), turn on the oven and walk away for another 20 minutes. You want the oven to really get hot.
When everything is ready, generously flour the dough, get out your best serrated knife and slash the surface of the dough. This will allow the bread to rise upwards and gives it that lovely artisan look. And it’s fun! You can be creative with this.
Now, you’re ready to bake the loaf. Slide the dough and the parchment onto the ceramic tile (or whatever your using). Then, immediately pour about a cup of hot water into the cake pan. This will create steam which will help the dough to rise.
Close the oven door and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the loaf is nicely browned and sounds hollow when you tap it’s bottom. Once it’s done, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool on a baking rack for about an hour before slicing and enjoying it.
The resulting bread stays moist for quite a while… much longer than regular white bread. It has a lovely chewy texture. We love it fresh, simply sliced and served with balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dipping. It’s also fantastic toasted.
Now, go bake yourself some bread! It’s easy! It’s fun! It’s totally delicious!
Crepes with Ham, Gruyere and Chard
03 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Appetizers, Desserts, Food Blather, Mains
One of the bounties of our garden last year was Swiss Chard. If you’ve never had it before, it’s very similar to spinach. John seems to think it has a little more flavour than spinach; I’m not sure. Perhaps it does, perhaps it doesn’t. Either way, it’s prepared the same way you’d prepare spinach and can be used interchangeably with spinach.
When a co-worker brought in a British food magazine this week, I came across a recipe for Pancakes with Ham, Gruyere and Spinach. Well, we just happened to have some black forest ham, and some gruyere cheese in the fridge; and we still had a bit of frozen chard in the freezer. As well, I have a good recipe for pancakes. Now, I should say that the pancakes in the recipe are not what we North Americans consider pancakes. These are more like crepes, thin and yummy. I’ve been making them for a long time, filling them with something my mother-in-law used to call “ragout”, a meat sauce made with ground beef in a white sauce, well seasoned and yummy. It was always a favourite at our dinner table.
I’ve had a bit of a craving for these thin pancakes lately, but didn’t want to make the ragout so coming across this recipe and some other suggestions, both sweet and savoury, came at just the right time.
The pancake recipe I use comes from a cookbook entitled “Let’s Go Dutch, A Treasury of Dutch Cuisine” by Johanna (van der Zeijst) Bates. The recipe is “Johnny’s Skinny Pancakes”. In Holland, they’re simply known as pannekoeken and are usually quite large, about 12″ across and often filled with either sweet or savoury fillings. Personally, I prefer the savoury fillings but I prefer savoury over sweet in just about all foods.
This is one of those recipes that is eminently variable. These pancakes can be filled with whatever you’d like, really. Don’t have Gruyere? Try Gouda, or cheddar, or mozzarella. Don’t have Black Forest ham? Substitute another deli meat. Don’t like chard? Omit it! For a taste variation, try spreading the crepe with a bit of Dijon mustard before adding the other fillings.
Do you prefer a sweet filling? What about a layer of ricotta cheese and some cherry pie filling? Or peach preserves? Or apple sauce? Or, as I like them now and then, just some butter, sugar and cinnamon. Do you have a favourite way of serving pannekoeken or crepes? Share!!
Here’s my version of Crepes with Ham, Gruyere and Chard.
Pannekoeken (or Crepes)
- 1 1/2 cups milk (do not use skim)
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil (or melted butter)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Mix flour and salt together in a mixing bowl. Whisk milk, eggs and oil together and pour into dry ingredients. Mix well.
Preheat a large nonstick frying pan over med-high heat. Lightly grease the pan and pour in a ladle of batter. Swirl the pan to distribute the batter evenly. Fry for a minute or so or until the edges come away from the frying pan and the pancake is a light golden colour. Flip and fry the second side. Remove from pan and set aside on a warmed plate. Continue until all the batter is used.
Crepes with Ham, Gruyere and Chard
- Black Forest Ham, thinly sliced
- Gruyere cheese, grated
- Frozen Swiss Chard (or spinach)
- Crepes (or pannekoeken)
If the chard or spinach is frozen, using a sharp serrated knife, cut off a chunk and allow it to thaw. Squeeze as much moisture as possible from the chard and chop. If you prefer to use fresh chard or spinach, lightly cook the chard until wilted; cool. Squeeze out excess water and chop.
For each crepe:
Place crepe on your cutting board or a plate and top with a slice of Black Forest Ham (this one has two slices because one was a very thin half slice).
Top with some of the chopped chard.
Sprinkle with grated Gruyere. There’s no need to overdo it as the crepe will be folded in half.
Fold the crepe in half and transfer to a hot frying pan (medium-high heat). Fry for 2-3 minutes per side or until both sides are golden brown and the filling is hot and gooey.
Transfer to your plate and dig in!
Seasoned Salt for Chicken
28 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: chicken, salt, white meat
When you shop for seasoned salt, chances are it’s best for steak or red meat, right? Well, a long time ago, in another life time, I came across a recipe for Seasoned Salt for Chicken. Now, chicken isn’t the only white meat, obviously.
I use this salt blend for chicken and pork predominantly but I also use it any time I want a different flavour than regular seasoned salt. Incidentally, I don’t use a lot of seasoned salt because some of them contain MSG, which I stay away from. For me, it is a known migraine trigger.
Give it a try, let me know what you think. John will be happy I made more; we were almost out.
Seasoned Salt for Chicken
- 5 tbsp salt
- 2 tsp celery salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp crushed sage leaves
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground oregano
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp crushed savory leaves
- 1/4 tsp oil
Mix all ingredients except oil in a small bowl. Drizzle oil over the mixture and blend well. Place salt mixture in a small tightly covered jar. Can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Grapes and Pecans
02 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in Side Dishes, Vegetables Tags: brussels sprouts christmas grapes pecans
This recipe is originally from the WholeLiving web site but it’s been unavailable for a while and I really want to keep this recipe where I can find it again. I have slightly modified it to our preferences, but it certainly didn’t need much in the way of modification. I have to say, I never thought grapes and brussels sprouts would go well together but, oh my! The sprouts were done to perfection and the sweet pop of the grapes really went well with them. In addition, once it comes out of the oven, it looks like a piece of art! The vibrant green of the sprouts, the red of the grapes, the brown of the pecans… it was a visual treat as much as a tasty treat. I will definitely be making this again!
I found this recipe through Pinterest and made it to go with our Christmas dinner. It was just John and me so we didn’t have a great big turkey dinner. We did, however, have a roasted chicken with stuffing on the side; it was served with mashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts with grapes and pecans, and roasted root vegetables (carrots and parsnips). John made a fantastic gravy to go with and I also made a batch of rosemary dinner rolls, which we didn’t even touch.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Grapes and Pecans
To serve 4
24 medium sized brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
Grapes (we used nice crisp red grapes)
Olive oil
2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp butter
Heat oven to 450º. In a 9×9″ baking dish, toss halved brussels sprouts and grapes with olive oil and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until carmelized, about 20 minutes, turning the sprouts about halfway through.
While sprouts are roasting, heat a small frying pan on medium-high heat. Add about 1 tbsp butter to the pan and allow the liquid to evaporate. Toss in the pecans and saute them until fragrant. Remove from heat.
When sprouts are done, remove from oven and toss in the pecans. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and scrape any carmelized bits from the pan.
Speculaas
18 Dec 2011 3 Comments
Speculaas is a Dutch traditional cookie. If you’ve ever had a windmill cookie, you’ve had speculaas. They’re made with a blend of spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and others. There’s even a version that has two layers of speculaas with an almond filling between them. Absolutely delicious!
Around here, these squares seem to be becoming a Christmas tradition. I will warn you, though, they’re addicting! A cup of coffee or tea and one of these? Oh yeah!! (Just try stopping at one, though)
Speculaas
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 5 tsp speculaas spice mix (recipe follows)
- Sliced almonds
Cream butter, shortening and sugars. Add eggs and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and spice mix. Add to creamed mixture.
Press into a jelly roll pan. Sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake at 325ºF for 30 minuted. Cut into squares while still warm.
Speculaas Spice Mix
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground mace
- 1/3 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground white pepper
- 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/8 tsp ground coriander
- 1/8 tsp ground anice
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
Blend all ingredients in a small glass jar. Use as needed.
It’s Tomato Time!!
24 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in Soup
We have a wealth of tomatoes in our garden this year. That means it’s tomato soup time, even though the projected temperature for today is 30º C. I have a few good tomato soup recipes but, in my humble opinion, this one is one of the best. It’s an old recipe, another of the recipes from my Foods 11 class (and that was a LONG time ago!).
If you have a food mill, feel free to use it to get as much of the tomato-y goodness as you can possibly get. I don’t have one, so I use a sieve and a spoon. As with any cream soup, don’t let it come to a boil after the milk is added or it will separate. It will still taste fine, it just won’t look as good.
Cream of Tomato Soup
- 2 1/2 cups tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup sliced onions
- 2 tsp. sugar (or to taste)
- 3/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
- Dash each of pepper and paprika
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 2 tbsp. flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- Pepper to taste
- 2 cups milk
Combine the first five ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 10 minutes. Press through a sieve and discard the remaining pulp. In another saucepan, blend butter, flour, salt and pepper. Let bubble over low heat for 3 minutes. Slowly add milk; cook and stir until thick. Add hot tomato puree; beat with a wire whip to keep soup from separating. Heat to almost boiling. Serve immediately.
Serves 4
Variations: This recipe is a very basic recipe and would be a simple one to vary. Try adding some celery seed to the tomato/onion base, or perhaps a few basil leaves. Anything that goes well with tomatoes can be added. For a non-dairy version, substitute chicken or vegetable broth for the milk.
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