Green Fridge Soup 2

Well, it was that time again. Clean up the vegie drawer and make soup. This time I had a lot of leaves and stalks left over from rapini. Added some left over broccoli stalks, plus some asparagus, threw in some onion, garlic and a potato for thickening, blend and voila!!! Soup.

Bit of a bite from the rapini. Yum.

Pork, Aubergine and Long Squash Nam Prik

Picked up a long squash at the market. This is a vegetable I've seen but never bought or used before. So to find a recipe that does it justice. I have a Thai Vegetarian Cookbook that had a recipe for a northern Nam Prik that used the long squash as well as Chinese aubergine, so I decided to add some pork and voila! The long squash is a lot like zucchini on the inside in appearance, but it has a much more pronounced flavor. Sauce included garlic, chilies, ginger, soya, rice vinegar and sesame oil as well as coconut milk. It was quite lovely with basmati rice.

Saag Paneer with Chapati

Curry night, so I decided to try something vegetarian using Paneer, an Indian style cheese. Found several recipes but settled on one that uses spinach as well. Then to keep things real.... I needed to make an Indian flat bread from srcatch rather than settle for store bought. So Chapatis.

The paneer was marinated in oil infused with turmeric, cumin, garlic and chilies till it turned golden in colour, then fried till crispy. Finely chopped spinach and yogurt was added to complete the dish.

I have made chapatis before but that would be 30 + years ago, so I had to learn how to do this all over again. Quite easy actually, and turned out to be a hit.

Chipotle Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

I was planning  a small dinner party and I wanted to do something a bit different. I was going to make sweet potato mash, but I found a recipe on line for a Scalloped Sweet Potato dish made with Chipotle. That sounded like it would go well with pork tenderloin.

Preparation was quite simple, but rich. No flour, only layers of sliced sweet potatoes alternating with a chipotle infused heavy cream.

It had a kick as well as sweet and as smooth as silk on the tongue. Definitely warrants a repeat, maybe with turkey!

Roasted Jicama

Jicama is an odd root vegetable for me at least. It is a root. looks like a big flat, round potato. I've had it raw with other vegies and dip. Found this recipe for a roasted version that looked interesting. Peel and cut into 1 inch cubes. Toss with bit olive oil, minced garlic, half a chopped onion, rosemary and other herbs. Roast for an hour. The jicama stayed crunchy. Different taste sensation that way. Smelled divine and tasted unusual. Crisp, slightly sweet overlaid with the garlic and herbs. Would try this again.

Could make a nice alternative for potatoes with a whole lot less calories it seems.

Curried Celeriac and Apple Soup

Well, its time to make soup again. I had a celeriac or celery root in my larder which I had originally bought to make a pea soup, but then I decided to add some to mashed potatoes and now I needed to use up the rest. Looking through my Soup cookbook, I found a recipe with leeks and apple. Easy to make and puree. The result was a golden colour. Tastes nutty, a bit tart with the light hint of curry.

Honey Lemon Whole Wheat Bread

Looking for a bread recipe with a difference, I stumbled upon this recipe for a Honey Lemon Whole Wheat Bread in my Bernard  Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. The honey lemon combination sounder quite lovely, so I decided to give this one a go. Reading the directions though, I discovered that this recipe required a very short (20 minute) first rising, followed by a  2 to 24 hour second rising in the refrigerator. I'd not come across a cold rise recipe before so this intrigued me as well as the ingredients.

 I did the 2 hour second rising, with fabulous results. Bread rose properly above the pan, and came out of the oven with a lovely crust. Smell was divine. Lovely bit of tang from the lemon rind, with a hint of sweetness. Not a sandwich bread, but great toasted with butter and jam.

Doing a bit of research, I discovered that cold rise is quite an old method, much used in artisan baking these days. Apparently this technique will let the flavours develop more than with a fast rise, and can be used with any recipe. So if for some reason I was to start making bread, and then something came up that prevented me from baking it within the normal time span, I could just throw the dough in the fridge an deal with the baking when I had time. This could be as long as 3 days later. I did not know that. I will try the long cold rise on a recipe soon.

Turkey with Coconut, Ginger and Lime Sauce

Leftover turkey and what not? What to do with them that's not the normal Turkey A La King! Looked around my fridge and pantry and found I also had some leftover fresh coconut. Add a lime, plus fresh ginger root, dash of maple syrup and some sambal oelek. Served over lemongrass rice and we had a whole new dish. Next time I try the thus sauce recipe, I might dial up the flavours a bit and try in over seared scallops.

Rye and Wheat Crackers

So why not crackers? I've been seeing recipes for them in a number of sources, and I've been ready to try for a while. This was a recipe for rye and wheat crackers from my Whole Foods Cookbook. Very easy to make. Baking was a bit tricky. I took them out at the suggested time and let them cool, but they were not quite crisp. So I put them back in for a couple of minutes. Had to be careful, because they turned dark fast.

Tasty and crisp, but they don't look too glamorous. Oh well.

This is the before photo. They were darker when they came out again,. Great with cheddar.

Bannock

I've wanted to try making bannock for some time. I was spurred on by a recipe in the newspaper a while ago that I cut out, but it was for a large quantity and it was more or less deep fried. Since we were having a hearty soup for dinner last night, I decided to see if I could find another recipe more suited to our small family. I finally found one that had the option of baking the bannock.

It was good, I must say, though I though it might puff up a bit. Perhaps that only happens if its fried in a pan.

The history of bannock as a staple of the Scottish and the Irish is quite interesting, especially since its been so much adopted in Aboriginal cooking in North America. I discovered that almost every town in Scotland has its own version.

Rose Water Custard with Cardamom

I was looking for an interesting desert that might use some items in my spice cabinet that I do not use too often, specifically cardamom. Came across a recipe on-line, for a custard that uses this spice with the bonus addition of rose water instead of the more common vanilla flavouring. With a sprinkling of chopped pistachios on top. It is yummy, definitely one to repeat.

Ginger Pear Preserve ...with Lime

I bought a bunch of pears recently with the intention of making a pear tart, but then company could not come, so no need for a tart. But what to do with the pears? I found a recipe in one of my cookbooks for a Ginger Pear preserve which had the additional element of lime juice and lime rind.

Nice bit of zing from the ginger and a bit of tartness from the lime.

Japanese Eggplant and Pork in Spicy Garlic Sauce

I had bought some narrow Japanese eggplant and zucchini recently. Usually I would make ratatouille with these, but since I'm on a mission to try different, a search for something new. Since I had already used the zucchini in the Caribbean Chicken Soup a couple of days ago, that left finding a new dish (for me) for the eggplant. I found a recipe for eggplant with pork in a spicy garlic sauce. The usual onions and garlic with soy sauce, ground chili sauce, sesame oil, and voila; a fragrant dish served with rice and oriental vegetables.

I was a hit. Spicy and flavourful. I got orders to repeat this one.

Squash Soup with Horseradish Creme

Vegies, especially vegies for soup! Using up the tried and true but with a bit of a difference.

 I love squash soup. Mostly I've made curried squash soup, but the point of this exercise is to try something a little different. I've had a butternut squash sitting in my larder for a bit, and I've toying with what to do with it. Going through my recipe books I found one for Squash Soup with a Horseradish Creme. Now that's a bit different. Horseradish is not something I would ever consider using with squash. This soup had all the regular ingredients, including a bit of curry seasoning. The creme was just that, a mixture of creme, horseradish and a bit of lemon.

Very pleasant and unexpected on the tongue. Even better when mixed into the soup so that it permeates every spoonful. Will definitely do this again! Maybe even for company.

War Bread!

That's what this recipe for bread was called! I did not make it up. There are quite a few unusual recipes in the Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads that I got recently. This one, as explained, is an old family recipe dating back to wartime, when some ingredients were hard to obtain.

The recipe called for a variety of flours including oat flour and cornmeal as well as the usual whole wheat and bread flour, plus molasses. Its a for a big quantity so I had some difficulty kneading it by hand. First rising went fine, but even at double the time, the second rising did not go well, at the end I had to bake the three loaves because I ran out of time. The resulting bread smelled amazing coming out of the oven. Its toothsome, a bit crunchy from the cornmeal, and tastes quite good. I've not tried it toasted yet, but I believe it will be good too.

Kohlrabi and Ham Bake with Mustard Sauce

Vegetables can be so boring. The tendency to have the same rotation of six or eight varieties. So now and then I do like to venture out and buy something a bit more rare for our table. This time its kohlrabi which I have had from time to time, always raw. So to find a recipe that looks good, I searched on line and through my own cookbooks. Not too many recipes for this vegetable, so I'm not the only one who does not use it too often. Finally I combined two recipes and came up with this Kohlrabi and Ham Bake. I decided on a mustard sauce in stead of the heavy cream sauce in the original recipe. And I decided to add cooked sliced egg on top. Turned our to be a hit. We love the taste of the cooked kohlrabi, with the bite of mustard and the saltiness of the ham. Will do this again.

Green "Fridge" Soup

Every couple of weeks, especially during fall and winter, I will make a fridge soup; an opportunity to clean out bits of vegetables that are not looking so good or not enough for a meal. So this week my fridge offered ends of asparagus, green beans, and bok choy. Trow in onions, some garlic and one potato for thickening, some herbs and spices, puree everything,  and the result, this time, was quite green! Quite tasty and good for you to boot.

Old Order Amish Bread

One of my personal missions in baking bread, is to see if I can come close to my father's bread. My father, like his brothers and his father worked as a baker all of his life. I started to help in the bakery when I was 12 years old. Although I have his hand written recipes, they consist only of ingredients in large batch quantities without any directions. So here some 40 years later I am trying to re-create something that only exists in my memory.

I tried this version of white bread that I found in Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. Its an Old Order Amish Bread that required three risings. The result is light, airy, flavorful with a lovely smell and a slight tinge of yellow. I was able to knead it enough by hand to create a very elastic dough. I'm pleased with the results although it is "missing" something from what was in my dad's bread. Great toasted.

Sweet Black Cherry Jam

Bread, soup and jam does seem to be my Trifecta!! One of my major objectives in this process is to see what is lurking in my pantry, fridge and/or freezer and make use of that item in a new (for me) and novel way.

So I found a bag of frozen sweet dark cherries in my freezer that I had bought to make a French Yogurt cake a while ago. Only used a bit so... we don't need more cake, but we can always use jam! Plus, I've never made cherry jam. The recipe called for liquid pectin, which I just happened to have.

Its very dark, thick and tastes lovely on my Broa, the Portuguese Corn Bread.

Broa...Portuguese Corn Bread

New type of bread to try with my Sante Fe Pork Stew. I've always served it with traditional cornbread, but I wanted ti try a yeast type corn bread instead. Casting about in my new All about Baking Bread book, and found this recipe for a traditional Portuguese style yeast corn bread which they also eat with soup!!

It turned out well, but very different from what we are used to. Crunchy and a terrific mouthful. I've also tried it with butter and jam.Yum!!!

Caribbean Chicken Soup...with Banana!

What to do with left over chicken and squash? Found this recipe in my tried and true Crock Pot cookbook. Chicken soup with a Caribbean flavor. Peppers, butternut squash, zucchini, onions, garlic with a spice mixture that included chili powder, cumin, curry, and turmeric, and a bit of lime juice. It is served with fresh sliced banana.

Quite lovely to look at; spicy and a bit tart, with the sweetness of the banana cutting through. In winter, quite a lovely feeling of tropical sunshine.

Bahraini Rice

This recipe called for three items in my pantry that I do not use very often at all, namely saffron, cardamon and rose water! In fact, up until now, I think I've only used each one separately in no more than two dishes.

I found this dish on-line searching for another use for rosewater, and I found this traditional rice dish from Bahrain. It also required date molasses which, again through a search I discovered is simply cooked and pureed dates. The trick with this dish though is to cook the rice, add all other ingredients and then add butter to a cast iron pan and very slowly fry the rice so that it has a crust on the bottom.

Very different taste with the rose water, cardamom and saffron. The crunchy bits of rice were quite delightful.

Soup's On! Beet Soup with Apricot Swirl.

New day, new opportunity to experiment with soup. Had a bunch of beets in my pantry that I had cooked up. Could do a borscht or sliced beets as a vegetable, or something a bit different. Checked my cookbooks and came up with a pureed beet soup with the addition of an apricot puree on top. Quite a simple soup, just beets, onions and stock. Apricot puree consisted of apricots cooked with onion in orange juice.

The colour is amazing!!! Taste is lovely. Quite delicate actually with just a touch of sweetness above what is normal with beets. I added some pepper and a bit of wine vinegar and it was perfect.

Red Fife Wheat Bread

I was gifted with some Red Fife wheat on Sunday, so bread baking it was. I had found a recipe for brown bread using half Red Fife flour. This one was one with an overnight rising. So far so good. Next morning I shaped the dough and put it into a pan and set it aside to proof. Dough was very loose and soft.

Well the dough was either over proofed or just too soft, because it leaked all over the pan onto the floor of the cupboard. Thank God, bread dough is so forgiving though. I kneaded in another 2 cups of flour, and made up two loaves which I then proofed normally. Worked fine. Results are very tasty. Crusty on the outside.

I also did a little research about Red Fife wheat. 

Red Fife is a variety of bread wheat that David Fife and family began to grow in 1842 In Peterborough Ontario. Legend goes that a friend of Mr. Fife collected a sample of seed from a ship in the Glasgow port. Red Fife was the first wheat to be named in Canada and many modern varieties of wheat owe their genetics to Red Fife.

Red Fife wheat is considered a very vital is part of Canada's living history, cultural and agricultural heritage.The wheat had high milling qualities and was known for making exceptional baked goods.

Red Fife seed arrived in Canada when Canadian lands were being opened for producing wheat. Red Fife seed adapted to a great diversity of growing conditions across Canada. It was the baking and milling industry standard for 40 years from 1860-1900. Plant breeders around the world continue to use the genetics of Red Fife to make new varieties of wheats.

The irony though is that for the home baker, Red Fife wheat, as such, is not very easy to find. 

Kiwi Jam

Preserves, jams, chutneys and to a lesser extent, pickles, that's what fall is all about. I had already made the usual jams, a Strawberry and a Peach, as well as a wonderful Pear, Lime and Ginger Preserve, when I had a look in my pantry and spotted a basket of kiwi. I wonder, why not make jam with these? Could be good.

So an internet search provided a recipe using liquid pectin. Quite simple and quite good. Fresh flavour, just a bit tart.

Indian Pudding ... not quite as expected!

Lately, when I check out my pantry to find an ingredient that I don't use very often, I wonder what else I could be making that requires this. So that too is a focus for this adventure in my kitchen.

This time ..... molasses and cornmeal. I found a recipe in my old Fannie Farmer for a very old time New World staple called Indian Pudding that uses both of these staples. Its a twist on the British fondness for puddings using a New World staple .. cornmeal.

Followed the recipe, but it felt not quite right . Too much liquid ( 4 cups milk) for 1/2 cup cornmeal. But I did each step - double boiler, then water bath for 3 hours. Long story, it did not firm up at all. Just a brown mess. Tasted good though. Lots of , butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon and ginger, how could it not taste good! I will try this again, but with a different recipe. I found one on-line that looks better.

I have set up the "Comments" function properly now, so I'd love to get your input.

Soup's On! Moroccan Tomato Soup

Making soup has always been one of my passions. I just love a bowl of hot fragrant soup for lunch, or a big bowl of hearty soup for a Saturday night supper. Luckily for me, Mom likes soup too, so its an easy way for me to get her to eat, especially when I make pureed soups. She can be a very picky vegetable eater these days.

So I found a recipe for a tomato soup with a bit of a difference. This recipe for Moroccan Tomato Soup has the normal tomatoes, onions, garlic, tomato paste, with chili powder , cumin and.........peanut butter for seasoning. It is rich, spicy and a bit sweet. Definitely a keeper!

My first Crusty Bread!

Part of this new journey has been my desire to create bread. I have started baking bread again about six weeks ago, with varying results. Being a baker daughter as well as granddaughter, baking in probably in my DNA. Not to mention that I worked with my dad baking after school and during the summer from the age of 12 until I married at the age of 24. I've had my periodic spurts when I had a big hankering to go into my kitchen and bake......usually around Christmas.

Bread has always been a hallmark for me.....the perfect loaf. Not to be found in a normal grocery store. Even many small bakeries's breads have not come close to what I remember of my dad's bread. Then, of course there are the memories of touring Europe in my 20's and sampling the many wonderful earthy breads that were part of our meals.

So to bread baking in a home kitchen. It is a far cry from doing so in a fully equipped bakery with big dough mixers, proofing boxes, and clay lined ovens. My first attempt was a No-knead Bread. Crusty but lacked proper texture. Then I tried a couple using the Food processor. Then about a month ago I tried making bread completely by hand! I loved the feel of kneading flour to produce my dough. I tried a variety of additions to see and taste the results. A lovely by-product of kneading dough for 10 to 15 minutes, is that it has been helping the arthritis that has been starting in my hands. Pain is mostly gone when I make bread, by hand, every couple of days.

Today I wanted to try to get a really crusty loaf of bread. In my reading about making bread by hand, I recalled that it is important to have steam in the oven to get a good crust. I found a recipe that required a "starter", as well as a tray of water in the oven and spraying water every 5 minutes to create steam. I am quite pleased with the crustiness. Good flavour as well since I used whole wheat as well as spelt flours in addition to the bread flour. Here is my bread!!!

A new day, a new month, a new blog to track my activities in creativity. I need focus to be more than I have been, and connection to feel alive. So often lately, I have felt adrift and without a rudder, moving though task after task by rote. Since I seem to find no strong pull to draw or pain,t and my garden is being put to bed, I find my self looking at my kitchen with an eye to "create". Not just to cook or bake but to experiment! To create the perfect loaf of bread!! To make something unusual! To find a recipe for an odd ingredient lurking in the back of my cupboards! To go on hunt for my inner " Mother Earth".

I will try to make something new (to me) most days, and post my recipe and the results.

Come and visit and join me in my culinary adventures.