A Week of Recipes for St. Pat’s, Wednesday — Breakfast Reuben in a Cup

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Here is it out of the cup.
Here it is in the cup.  You can eat it either way.
  
HERE’S HOW:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spread 2 thin, trimmed slices of pumpernickel or rye with Dijon Mustard and place in buttered, oven-safe large cup or small bowl.  (For crispy toast, bake the mustard bread in oven for 5 min. before continuing.)  No oven-safe cup?  Use a Pyrex measuring cup.

 

Add 2 thin pieces of corned beef.

Top with 1/4 cup rinsed/drained/squeezed-dry sauerkraut, a piece of Swiss cheese, an egg, and a pat of butter.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes until egg is set to your liking.  (30 min was a runny  yolk for mine.)

While egg bakes, make a Horseradish-Yogurt Sauce, set the table, and make the coffee.

Sauce: Whisk together 2T plain yogurt or sour cream, 1/2 t Dijon mustard, 1/4 t horseradish sauce, 1 T milk, pinch  each salt/pepper.  (Optional:  a drop of hot sauce.)
Drizzle with sauce and eat in or out (like this!) of the cup. 

Sing a new song,
Alyce

originally posted on my dinnerplace blog in march of 2012

A Week of Recipes for St. Pat’s: Tuesday — Potato Soup and Irish Soda Bread

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                                            photo copyright Alyce Morgan, 2003
I had a farm in Ireland…….
——————————————————————–
Not.  I did, however, visit once.
I wish I could go back.
I can’t go today, but I can make Potato Soup and Irish Soda Bread on
St. Patrick’s Day……
———————————————————————–
I’ve been making this meal for a long time.  I love it, but I don’t make it any other time of the year.  I don’t know why.  Perhaps it wouldn’t be special if I made it, say, in May or September.  You, however, have no holiday strings emotionally strumming over these recipes and could make them next week or next year.  Go you.  So, here’s the soup………..and then the bread–
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
.
.
potato soup with leeks and bacon
2 slices of bacon, diced; 1/4# Canadian bacon, chopped*
2 onions (different kinds are nice), chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 leeks, chopped
3 large pototoes, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces
1 turnip, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces
1 parsnip, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces, optional
6-8 cups unsalted chicken broth
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
parsley or dill
 …
In an 8-10 -quart soup kettle, sauté bacon until about half-done; add Canadian bacon.  Cook until well browned.  Remove meats  from pot and drain on paper towel-lined plate.  Cool and  refrigerate until you’re going to serve the soup.
.
Pour out all but enough bacon grease to coat the bottom of the pan well.  Add onions, garlic and leeks and saute until almost golden, stirring often.  Add potatoes, turnip and parsnip and cook 2-3 minutes until hot.  Add chicken broth.  Bring to a  boil and lower the heat.  Simmer until all vegetables are soft, about 25 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste. 
.
Puree (you can choose not to, as well)  in food processor, with hand-held blender or by hand using potato masher or food mill.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream, a bit of the bacon and ham and a garnish of fresh parsley or dill.  Make sure there’s fresh ground pepper at the table.
*You could choose to use all bacon.  You can also stir in all of the sour cream into the pot for a creamy soup.
…
…
…
There isn’t much better than soup and bread anywhere.  If you’re cold.  If you’re really hungry.  Can you think of anything better? Kids eat this.  Lots.    I have a friend whose husband doesn’t like soup,  Just doesn’t like it at all.  He did, however, eat soup at my house once.  And asked for the recipe later. Such folks are few and far between.  Who doesn’t walk in a house, smell soup simmering or bread baking and go, “Wow!  It just smells so good in here.”  And, while we can’t always put our fingers on what makes us happy in life, we do know we like it when the house smells like something good to eat.  Those  “Wow”s come with big smiles and anticipatory movements that include looking around for the delighting elements.  So, here’s the bread.  More on the provenance later.
.
irish soda bread, american style
                        Baker’s Note:  Irish butter is well worth the splurge.
4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1tsp baking powder
1/4 c butter
1 1/2 cup currants or raisins
1 1/3 cup buttermilk (+ 2-3 T, if at altitude)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
. .
Grease a 2 quart  round bowl (ovenproof), casserole or  deep cake pan. OR Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for a free-form loaf.
Preheat oven to 375F..
In food processor, or large mixing bowl, measure dry ingredients except baking soda and mix well.  Cut in with blade attachment or with knives or pastry blender, the butter.
In a large mixing cup, whisk together the buttermilk and eggs; add the currants and baking soda.  Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and mix well to form a very wet dough. (If using a food processor, add the liquid ingredients first and then stir in the currants by hand to avoid mincing the currants.)
Turn dough into the prepared baking bowl and bake for about an hour  (or a bit more)  until bread is very well-browned and firm in the center, approximately 45-55 minutes.  A wooden skewer stuck in the middle of the bread should come out clean or nearly clean.  You may have to test several times. 
Alternately you can bake a free-form loaf:  Remove the wet dough from the food processor very carefully, if using,  with well-floured hands to a floured board or counter and knead briefly, adding a bit of flour as needed to get the dough to hold together well.   Shape into a round or oval 10-12-inches in diameter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking tray. Bake about 45-55 minutes.  The bread is more easily done through in the free-form version and is just as tasty.
Let this bread sit 15-20 minutes before cutting or it will crumble.  Serve with lots of salty Irish butter, please.  Cool completely before wrapping tightly in foil and storing in the refrigerator.  Will keep 3-4 days.  Excellent leftover just as it is, but even better for toast made under the broiler.{..pr
{printa.
Me and the green.
—
A couple of notes on the provenance of the recipes:
I began (and later changed) the potato soup years ago from a recipe called  “A Cold Winter’s Day Potato Soup” from THE EASTERN JUNIOR LEAGUE COOK BOOK, edited by Ann Serrane and published by David McKay in ??1980.
The bread recipe is one I have no idea about from whence it came.  It’s on a recipe card I’ve had for so many years.  I’d guess I copied it out of a magazine or a book at the library one day as a young wife.

originally posted march 2010

Sing a new song,
Alyce 

This Week on Dinner Place…..

Lentil-Wild Rice Soup with Kale and Chicken Sausage 

IMG_3337 

A Week of Recipes for St. Pat’s: Monday – Darina Allen’s Soda Bread

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(a repeat post from march 9 2012)

That’s it. I’m leaving home.  I always wondered where I’d get my cooking credentials (other than living in my kitchen) and now I know.  I’m going to the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland.  I’ll see you later.  It’s time I earned my toque… or at least an apron that says, ” Ballymaloe.”

Ireland:  Cliffs of Moher                                                                                                                         (copyright Alyce Morgan, 2003)

Ok, I’m not.  But I’d like to.   Meantime,  just in time for St. Patty’s Day, I’m baking some bread from the Cookery School’s founder and Ireland’s best chef-teacher, Darina Allen, number 38 in Gourmet Live’s list of 50 Women Game-Changers in Food:

 

(Courtesy Koster Photography
When Americans make or think about Irish Soda Bread, which they only do in March of every year, they think about the American take on the bread (think chop suey), which I adore and make as often as anyone:


Here’s my own American version.  Please have a little bread with your butter

But if you go to Ireland and stop in a hotel or restaurant for breakfast (or other meal), you find that the soda bread is whole wheat.  Dense, thick, sturdy, filling.  Perfect smothered with lots of beautiful Irish butter and jam or, even better, dipped in a deep, dark mug of tea.  And, should you not think about it, this bread is a chunky, dunky sideshow for stew or soup, as well as tasty sandwich bread.   Get ready to dirty your hands and bake up!

darina allen’s brown soda bread

400g (14oz) wholemeal flour (about 3 cups)
75g (3oz) plain white flour, (Darina specifies unbleached if you can get it) (about 3/4 cup)
1 tsp salt,  (Darina specifies dairy salt, which is finer, but I used regular old table salt.)
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda, sieved  (baking soda)
1 egg
1 tbsp sunflower oil  (I used canola oil)
1 teaspoon honey ( or treacle or soft brown sugar)
425ml (¾ pint) buttermilk  (or add 2 tbsp of lemon juice to 600 ml (1 pint) milk

Method

Grease a loaf tin (I used 9x5x3) with vegetable oil. Preheat the oven to 200°c (gas mark 6).  (about 400 degrees Fahrenheit)
Put the flours, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and mix well.  Make a well in the centre ready for the wet ingredients.
Whisk the egg and add it to the oil, honey (or treacle or sugar), and the buttermilk (or lemon juice/milk mixture).
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and using your clean hands mix well.  The dough should be very sticky, Darina describes it as ‘soft and slightly sloppy’, if it’s not add more buttermilk. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for about 1 hour.
To test take it out of its tin and tap the bottom, if it’s cooked it will sound hollow.
Allow to cool before eating if you can manage it.

Recipe courtesy The Ordinary Cook   
My cook’s notes are in red

{printable recipe}


Use the other side of your measuring cups for this one; you need 425 ml of buttermilk.


I weighed both flours for accuracy

Full “well”


Smooth it out as best you can in a greased pan.


Very healthy wholewheat bread, but quite yummy with a little butter and jam

GOES WELL WITH POTATO SOUP!

the skinny on darina
I don’t know how she does it….

Owner of Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry, Co Cork, Ireland, teacher, food writer, newspaper columnist, cookbook author and television presenter. School is situated on an organically run farm.
Graduate in Hotel Management, Dublin Institute of Technology.
Member of Taste Council of Irish Food Board, Chair of Artisan Food Forum of Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Food Safety Consultative Council of Ireland, Trustee of Irish Organic Centre, Patron of Irish Seedsavers.
Cooking Teacher of the Year Award from IACP 2005, Recipient of Honorary Degree from University of Ulster 2003, Winner of Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year 2001, Waterford Wedgwood Hospitality Award 2000, Langhe Ceretto Prize 1996, Laois Person of the Year 1993…and more.
 courtesy Ballymaloe Cookery School;  County Cork, Ireland.

Watch a little video about Ballymaloe here.

Bake your own bread-no excuses now,
Alyce 

38 Power Foods, Week 34 — Eggs — Sriracha Eggs over Biscuits with Basil Salsa

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RELAXING ON THE WEEKEND…

Brunch is a loved meal that doesn’t get eaten nearly often enough. It spells S-L-O-W.  Relaxed.  No rush. Picking and choosing as in, “There’s too much to choose from!”  Shades of a string quartet bowing off in a corner.  An attractive guy in a long apron at your elbow, murmuring, “More coffee?  Champagne?”   Unfortunately, we go out for brunch most of the time–and spend a bundle, too.  We sort of assume it’s too much trouble to cook or maybe even to entertain midday on the weekends, but I enjoy it.  (Even for just two.)

Add to the pull toward the middle of the day menu that I am crazy about eggs.  One of my really good friends says, “I never met an egg I didn’t like.” That’s about the size of it.   If you don’t believe me, you’ll have to see some of the things I do with eggs.

This is my Oven-Baked Vegetable Soup with Poached Egg

 or my Porridged Eggs, which are eggs cooked in oats stove top:

You get the idea, right?

But take a look at today’s pretty little egg dish and…


To this fast meal,  you might add a little fruit salad and maybe a piece of coffee cake or pastry from the best bakery (chocolate mousse?) in town and you’re in business.  Bloody Marys and Mimosas (or some variation) are part of the conventional brunch wisdom, as is a vat of strong, perfect coffee and real cream.  A dash of Jack or brandy in the coffee might replace the marys and mimosas for some.  Even hot cocoa (mocha?) with a swig of brandy or a tot of Peppermint Schnapps would do the trick.  Don’t skip out on the fun drinks; they’re a big part of why people like to go out to those expensive, extravagant brunches at inns or hotels.   Set the table with your favorite things and pour a little pitcher of real cream.

Really quick real hot chocolate at my house:  To a microwave safe mug, add one ounce of good-quality bittersweet chocolate. (Just break it up; no need to grate) Add one teaspoon granulated sugar.   Pour in milk until the mug is about 3/4 full.  Microwave on full-power until hot–about two minutes in my microwave. (Don’t boil.) Whisk until smooth.  

Save yourself a few bucks and invite your sister or that neighbor you keep meaning to ask over.  There you go.  You have the entire Sunday afternoon to while away sipping that second (third) cup of coffee and dreaming about what you’re planting next month.

How about some dill?

And while you’re at it, you’re eating one of the thirty-eight power foods, eggs. One of the few foods with vitamin D, protein-packed, quick-cooking,  low-cal (90)  and inexpensive eggs are also loaded with B vitamins and lots of minerals.  There is little with which they don’t pair.  Eggs and asparagus are one of my most-loved combinations.

My Boiled Eggs and Asparagus on English Muffins with Cheese Sauce–perfect for Easter brunch.


My Dad called them (one of) nature’s perfect foods.  Read more about eggs here at The Incredible, Edible Egg. 

My friend Cathy’s “ladies” lay sexy-colored beauties. They’re just starting to “come on” with the longer light.

And while I love eggs, I don’t like chickens at all.  Here in Saint Paul, we can have chickens right in the city, but I’m not going there.  Cathy has to keep her ladies to herself and just share the eggs.  I trade her oatmeal chocolate chip cookies or granola for a dozen of these lovelies.  I get the bargain.

 So call a friend for next Sunday at 12:00 and——

Chill the sparkler, set the table, and make the biscuits on Saturday.  Put on your brunch music:

 Product Details

Williams-Sonoma Presents Sunday Brunch

  and make….

      Note:  These eggs are just barely “spicy.”  If you like HOT, double or triple the Sriracha.

sriracha eggs over biscuits with basil salsa
Serves 2              doubles, triples, or quadruples easily

There are people who would marry you for these.
    • Basil Salsa (recipe below)
  • 2-4 biscuits (depending on how thick you’d like your bottom layer)*
  • 1 teaspoon butter, melted or olive oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
  • Fresh ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons grated sharp cheddar or gouda cheese (optional), plus a bit for garnish
  1. Make basil salsa and set aside.
  2. Slice biscuits+ (in thin or thick layers-up to you) and divide between two serving plates.
  3. Place butter or olive oil in small skillet and heat over medium heat.
  4. Meantime, in a small bowl, beat together the eggs, Sriracha, salt, and a grind or two of black pepper. 
  5. Pour eggs into pan and let set briefly, stir to bring uncooked eggs up from the bottom.  Repeat until eggs are cooked to your liking. Stir in cheese.
  6. Divide eggs evenly over biscuits and top with basil salsa. Garnish with a bit of cheese and another grind of black pepper. 

*No biscuits?  English muffins or toasted leftover baguette are good substitutes.
+Don’t want to worry about rushing?  Make your biscuits the night before.  Heat briefly in the oven (350 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes.)
… … … … …

Sriracha is a hot chili sauce named for the coastal port city in Thailand from which it hails. The general recipe for sriracha includes ground chiles, vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt, and was first developed to serve with seafood. (about.com)

 

 alyce’s basil salsa 
                               ***also tasty on chicken or fish tacos or plain grilled or poached white fish

  • 1/4 cup each chopped fresh basil and spinach
  • 1 tablespoon minced onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated or finely minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper
  • 1 small tomato, chopped finely

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients together gently.  Taste and adjust  seasonings.  (More onion? Garlic?) 

cook’s note I like this salsa without the heat of jalapeno, etc; it’s much fresher and the beautiful delicate basil is not overpowered by heat.  That said, add a bit of minced jalapeno if you like it. I opted for Sriracha in the eggs, which could be increased. You then have spicy topped by cool and fragrant–refreshing.

If you like this, you might also like my Poached Eggs on Grilled Cheddar Tomatoes

or my Egg+Egg White Omelet Filled with Cottage Cheese on Whole Wheat Toast

Say that three times real fast.

… … … … … … … …

38 Power Foods is a Team Effort!

Stop by these other blogs and see what they’re cooking each week as we team up to bring you some of the healthiest cooking available:

Minnie Gupta from TheLady8Home.com

Sarah – Everything in the Kitchen Sink

All sites may not blog power foods each week.

Are you a food blogger?  Join us:  Email Mireya@MyHealthyEatingHabits.com
   
 Sing a new song because while the snow is still piled up, the sun is shining in the beautiful city of  Saint Paul, Minnesota,
Alyce

38 Power Foods, Week 33, Pumpkin Seeds — Acorn Squash Salad with Pumpkin Seeds and Cumin Vinaigrette

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My favorite place for pumpkin seeds is in my mouth.  Preferably with salt or salt with cumin and cayenne.  I also like them on top of pumpkin soup. Texture! I put them in my pumpkin bread, too.  If you’re a jack-o-lantern carver, you probably have saved your seeds, cleaned and dried them, and roasted them in the oven for a treat in the days following Halloween when your teeth are still gritty from the sugar high night. (You can roast and eat the seeds from any kind of pumpkin at all.)

Alyce’s Pumpkin-Ginger Bread

I don’t think I actually was cognizant of the fact that pumpkin seeds were good for you for a very long time.  I probably just never thought of it.  Which is why blogging Power Foods is such a great idea for me.  Of course I know that seeds are healthy; I just didn’t spend much time thinking about the ones that came out of a pumpkin. I was more interested in getting the kids out trick-or-treating or in fixing English muffin pizzas topped with jack-o-lantern faces cut out of a slice of cheese…..or, later on, that big pot of chili.  But pumpkin seeds, like many other seeds, are fabulous treasure troves.  Read on:

When the ancient Aztecs snacked on pumpkin seeds, they were on to something:  Just a handful of these seeds offers a concentrated source of protein and energy-producing magnesium, along with generous amounts of immunity-protecting zinc. Abundant in phytosterols, which help lower cholesterol, pumpkin seeds also provide plenty of fiber when eaten in their shells.

—Power Foods : 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients from the editors of WHOLE LIVING MAGAZINE.

At 180 calories for 1/4 cup (32.25 grams), they pack a wallop calorically. That’s a lot of energy for a very small, portable amount of food.  Read more about pumpkin seed facts and nutrition here, but first make my…

acorn squash salad with pumpkin seeds and cumin vinaigrette
serves 2

  • 2 cups fresh spinach leaves
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
  • 1 acorn squash, cooked*, cut in half, peeled and sliced into 1/2″ x 3″ pieces (approximate)
  • 1/2 lime, sliced
  • kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup roasted or toasted pumpkin seeds
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  • Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette (recipe below)
  1. Mix spinach with cilantro.
  2. Divide spinach mixture and sliced squash between two salad plates, placing squash on top of spinach.
  3. Squeeze 1 or 1 lime slices over the vegetables and sprinkle salt and pepper.
  4. Divide the pumpkin seeds evenly and sprinkle salads with cheese.
  5. Drizzle with cumin vinaigrette. Garnish with slice of lime. Eat while squash is warm or at room temperature.

*To easily and quickly cook an acorn squash:  Cut it in half carefully and scrape out seeds and strings.  Put the halves in a 2-quart Pyrex dish,  drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high 3-5 minutes, testing after 3 minutes (and adding more time if needed) until squash is tender.  Let cool briefly, peel with a sharp knife, and slice into half-rounds.
(A half squash is simply fixed in the microwave in a cereal bowl topped with a salad plate.)

Of course you can also bake an acorn squash in the oven if you’d rather.

Cumin Vinaigrette

  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard, optional
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
  • Pinch each kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, ground cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon minced shallots
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Whisk the first five ingredients together in a small bowl.  Slowly drizzle in olive oil, whisking until well-combined or emulsified.  Taste and adjust seasonings by dipping a piece of spinach briefly into your vinaigrette.

 

{printable recipe}

inspiration from: Bon Appetit’s recipe for Pork Chops and Squash with Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette

… … … … … … … … …

38 Power Foods is a group effort!  

Stop by these other blogs and see what they’re cooking each week as we team up to bring you some of the healthiest cooking available:

Minnie Gupta from TheLady8Home.com

Sarah – Everything in the Kitchen Sink

All sites may not blog power foods every week.
  
    Are you a food blogger? Join us! 

We’d like to have you as part of the group.  Get in touch with Mireya from My Healthy Eating Habits:  Mireya@MyHealthyEatingHabits.com  

… … … …

soup cookbook update–recipe testing is about done
still editing

The hub testing “I Have a Spring Cold Chicken Noodle Soup”–he made it all by himself and said, “This is the best thing I ever made; it tastes just like your soup.”  That was the compliment…that I had transferred the taste to the page.  AH!

Tonight, several of the local testers for my soup book come together at my house to eat, drink, and share their results;  most out-of-town testers have emailed their recipe surveys.  I think we are eating eight or nine soups (a taste or two each), but we’re also trying a couple of the accompanying recipes–a tapenade salad with goat cheese toasts, as well as microwave individual flourless chocolate cakes that are done in around a minute each.  Think  of us tonight as the book appears to be coming together in a VERY  HAPPY, TASTY WAY!

Thanks to everyone who’s participated so far!  You know I love you! So cool for this food to no longer be only between me, my stove, my computer, and Dave’s tummy.

… … … …

As I write today, I listen to Carol King and James Taylor, Live at the Troubadour. 
For those of us of a certain age (or maybe anyone), this is good listening.

So good night, all you moonlight ladies.  Rock-a-bye sweet baby James.  Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose.  Won’t you let me go down in my dreams… and rock-a-bye sweet baby James?

My, this music has aged well.

Sing a new song,
Alyce

Lamb Chops in Curried Red Lentil Soup

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I am both blessed and cursed to be forced to cook for just me on a regular basis.  My better half has always traveled, and while for years I cooked for the kids and me, the kids are off cooking for themselves now.  These days, it’s often just “the babies” and me for dinner.

“The Babies”

You might remember or know the story:  There was a time when I was so relieved at not having to cook for a big group all the time that I just made eggs and toast.  It wasn’t long, however, before I got pretty tired of that and began to look around and start cooking exactly what I wanted for dinner.  Why not?  In fact, the kids talked me into writing a separate blog about it.   If you’re a regular reader, you know I blog elsewhere.  Otherwise, check out dinnerplace dot blogspot dot com. 

Stop in at The Groveland Tap:  Fairview/St. Clair — Saint Paul, Minnesota

It doesn’t mean there aren’t nights when I don’t feel like cooking (or cleaning up) and just bring home a great meal from the Groveland Tap–our fine family bar and grill one block down. (We can take the babies to the Tap and sit outside in good weather.) And, of course I sometimes go out with a friend — but most times I do cook.  Often I’m working on something for the soup cookbook or for one of blogs (this gives me real reason to cook), but there are times when I just feel like making myself something scrumptious.

Lamb Chops in Curried Red Lentil Soup is sort of an amalgam of a couple of those nights.  Many friends and/or testers have eaten  my red lentil soup; it’ll be in the upcoming book.  (In fact, I have made it for an ecumenical Taizé prayer dinner; the soup itself is vegan.) It’s still being tweaked, so I won’t include the recipe here, but  provide a link to a similar soup.  You can also bring soup home from the deli or your local soup nazi.  Anyway,  I had made a big pot for Souper Sunday, a fundraiser at Prospect Park United Methodist (where I work as a choir director), and also had some beautiful Colorado (the best) lamb chops that needed cooking.  The frig held nothing that sounded good as a side for lamb chops, but I kept eying that pot of soup. The aromatics with the heat, tomatoes, lentils, and curry are natural companions to lamb.  I’m partial to rosemary with lamb and, oddly, the flavors melded beautifully.  No arguments were heard between the spices or in my mouth.

If you can get it–and it’s hard to find–buy Colorado lamb.  Here in Saint Paul, Kowalski’s, a small local grocery chain sells only Colorado lamb.  You can easily cook frozen lamb chops; it will just take a couple of extra minutes.

Chops in already-cooked soup make for a truly fast dinner; lamb chops are cooked in just a few minutes. This is a meal you’ll need spoon, fork, and knife for–but I encourage you to pick up the lamb chops at some point. (Red meat is quite a treat.) Get your hands dirty and don’t waste a bite; the tenderest morsels are always closest to the bone.  You can hold the chop by its bone and dip it into the soup if you like.  A bit of crumbled feta is the perfect topping.  While curry and red wine aren’t always companions, I had no trouble putting them together here.  I drank some leftover California cab and was a happy Minnesotan.  While I loved this all by myself, it would make a tasty meal for friends.  (Add some olives for starters, a bit of bread –grilled pita?– with the soup, lemon sorbet for dessert.)  Try this:

Set the table and pour the wine before you cook. You’ll be ready to eat soon.

lamb chops in curried red lentil soup
  serves 2 (two chops each) or 4 (one chop each) with 2 cups of soup for each serving

Hot red lentil soup (4-8 cups)
4 lamb chops, room temperature (I like loin or rib chops, but any will do.)
Olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh ground or cracked black pepper
1-2 teaspoon(s) finely minced and crushed dried rosemary, to taste and optional
2 tablespoons crumbled feta for each bowl

Colorado loin lamb chops

Heat stove top grill (or outdoor gas/charcoal) over high heat for 2-3 minutes. (You can use a cast iron skillet, too.)  Meantime, drizzle the chops with a little olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and rosemary, if using.  Grill for 2-3 minutes without moving, turn, and grill another 2-3 for medium-rare.* As you turn them, do let the chops cook briefly on their sides to cook off/crisp up some of the fat.  You don’t want these too done, as the soup is hot and may cook them just a little more.  Remove to a plate and let rest 2-3 minutes.

Into warm pasta bowls, ladle about two cups of the hot lentil soup.  Add a chop or two for each (as well as any juices on the plate) depending on how big of a portion you’d like, and top with crumbled feta.  Pass pepper grinder and hot sauce at the table.

USDA Cooking Temperatures

Sing a new song,
Alyce

38 Power Foods — Week 32 — Flax Seed — Flax Seed Granola with Dark Chocolate

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EAT ALL YOU WANT OF MY GRANOLA…

well……maybe not ALL:

Granola has a bad rep.  I have relatives who, when they want to make a derisive remark, say something like, “Those granola eaters  are tree-huggin’ their way to ____. (Fill in the blank.) Others say, “Granola is just a crumbled up reason to call an oatmeal cookie breakfast.”  (That might have been Melissa Clark, but I’m not sure.)  And, definitely, granola has the reputation of being full of fat and terribly caloric, despite its delicious character.

DANGER, DANGER, DANGER!!!!   TOO FATTENING!!!!

Welcome to healthy granola you can eat in amounts larger than one tablespoon without fear, blame, or shame.  Scoop out a bowlful, top it with milk, and call it your own homemade cereal.  Smother your Greek yogurt with a handful of the stuff.  Sprinkle it lovingly on chocolate gelato.  Snuggle it sweetly beneath a mound of fresh berries.  Top fresh vanilla pudding with a  big spoonful plus a quick splash of brandy. Take a little bag when you travel  or go to work to satisfy your crunch attacks.  Put some in a ribboned jar for a birthday gift.   Drizzle a banana with honey for your kiddoes and roll it in this munchy food — for here, at least,  granola is not a snack; it is truly food.  And good food, at that.
Tiny slivers of dark chocolate quell your chocolate desire daily.  In a nice way.

Here’s why:

  • Only 2 tablespoons of heart healthy olive oil.  Applesauce stands in for the missing oil.
  • No white sugar and  no brown sugar.  There is honey; there is maple syrup. In my case, there is Minnesota honey and Minnesota syrup.  While you  might not be able to source local syrup, you should source local honey if possible.
  • More oats than anything, there are plenty of nuts for protein–but not enough to tip the calorie and fat balance.
  • This granola will be fresh and, while not cheap, is inexpensive and luscious compared to store-bought, sometimes stale packaged granola. (Which might not have your favorite things in it anyway.)
  • Dried fruit makes a cameo appearance, but doesn’t dominate as dried fruit is full of sugar, calories, and doesn’t have the fiber you can get in fresh fruit.
  • Plenty of seeds add crunch and nutrition, plus the flax seeds fight heart disease (among other things) as well as add additional fiber
  • Chocolate is for your heart (and mouth) happiness, of course, but can be left out if you’d rather.
  • Try this:

flax seed granola with dark chocolate

Cook’s Note:  Granola is forgiving, like lots of things.  If you don’t have all the ingredients, it will still make.  For instance, if you have only oats, nuts, and raisins, you’ll have granola none-the-less.  You would use a little less liquid or increase the oats a bit to make up for the missing fruit and seeds.  The seasonings are also to your taste.  Don’t like ginger?  Use a bit more cinnamon and skip it.  And so on.  BTW:   Make sure you use fresh nuts to make any granola; nuts become rancid fairly quickly due to their high oil content.  

Eater’s Note:  Granola should be well-chewed for digestive comfort. 

  • 5 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1/4 cup flax seed meal
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves, optional
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or less per taste and diet)
  • 1/2 cup flaked, sweetened or unsweetened coconut
  • 1/2 cup each; choose 2: chopped walnuts, pistachios,  pecans, or almonds
  • 1/4 cup each; choose 2:  pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and plain sesame seeds
  • 1/3 cup each: real maple syrup and honey  (can use all honey, but a mix is tastier)
  • 3/4 cup applesauce
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup total chopped dried  fruit: apricots, cherries, cranberries, currants or raisins (any/all) cut to 1/2″ pieces when possible (smaller pieces become quite hard later on)
  • 1/4 cup (about 1 3/4 ounces) good quality dark chocolate,  very finely chopped or slivered (optional and added after baking and cooling)

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F

Mix dry ingredients, except dried fruit and chocolate, in a large bowl or soup pot.  (oats through dried fruit)  Meantime, heat liquid ingredients over low heat, in a small sauce pan,  stirring until just warm and well-combined– (syrup, honey, applesauce, and oil). * Pour liquid ingredients over dry and mix well for a few minutes until mixture is evenly moistened.  Pour onto two or three large, rimmed baking sheets lined with aluminum foil and bake 50-60 minutes or until dry, golden, and crispy, stirring 3-4 times during the baking time. Remove sheets from oven and let granola cool.

When very cool, sprinkle chopped dried fruit and chocolate evenly over all and mix well. (If the granola is only partially cooled, the chocolate will still melt. In which case just mix it in.)  Store in a tightly-sealed container for up to a month.  (This granola will not keep well in a plastic bag; use a large glass jar or Tupperware. Store up to a month.)

*The granola bakes crispier if you do not heat the liquid ingredients, but it’s much easier to mix with warm honey, etc.

{printable recipe}

2/23:  A friend has put this into the Weight Watcher point counter; it’s 4.5 points for half-cup.  WOW! Leave off the dried fruit and/or chocolate (or cut back) and it’s even less.

I like my large fish spatula for turning and stirring granola.

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Provenance:

I got the idea for using applesauce and very little oil for granola from the incredible pastry chef and food blogger, David Lebovitz–who says he got the idea from Nigella Lawson.  (I’ve blogged one version of my granola on an earlier post.)  If you haven’t been a frequent visitor at David’s addictive Paris blog, check out the granola, and peruse the site; you’ll be sure to enjoy the trip.  Also available on the site is information about taking tours with David–often sold out– when you’re in Paris.

 

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If you weren’t aware of it, flax–also known as linseed– is an attractive plant with blue flowers  (grown in many places in the world) from which fibers are spun and woven into linen–and have been nearly forever.  Linseed oil is used as a drying oil for painting and varnishing.

Added to the diet too quickly and in too great quantities, flax seed or meal can cause some digestive problems.  Experts recommend beginning with one tablespoon a day in oatmeal, for instance.

about flax from web md:
 Although flaxseed contains all sorts of healthy components, it owes its primary healthy reputation to three of them:

  • Omega-3 essential fatty acids, “good” fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s.
  • Lignans, which have both plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities. Flaxseed contains 75 to 800 times more lignans than other plant foods.
  • Fiber. Flaxseed contains both the soluble and insoluble types.
  • more here

 Check out Flax Seed Health Questions and Storage issues….at Healthyflax.com 
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38 Power Foods is a group effort!  

Stop by these other blogs and see what they’re cooking each week as we team up to bring you some of the healthiest cooking available:

Minnie Gupta from TheLady8Home.com

Sarah – Everything in the Kitchen Sink

  • All sites may not blog power foods every week.
     
    Are you a food blogger? Join us! 
  • We’d like to have you as part of the group.  Get in touch with Mireya from My Healthy Eating Habits:  Mireya@MyHealthyEatingHabits.com 

… … … … … …

Sing a new song,
Alyce
 …
10 Pounds in 8 Weeks Update:  I haven’t given up, but I’ve been sick for 10 days…  And whatever I’ve been able to eat, I’ve eaten—within reason.  WHEN I get well, I’ll be back on the program and exercising.  Will I be done by 17 March?  Hm. Good Question!

38 Power Foods, Week 31 — Walnuts — Leek-Fennel Soup with Walnut Pesto

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Hot!

I didn’t mean to do it, but you can see the steam billowing away from this hot Fennel-Leek Soup with Walnut Pesto.  Hearty without being heavy, this is a lovely light lunch with toasted baguette and cheese..

Left:  Roquefort                     Right:  Aged Provolone

or a lemony start to a special dinner.  Simple pictures are often best and this is no exception.  The soup pot ingredients are mostly fresh fennel, sliced leeks, chicken stock, and lemon juice–cooked up in about twenty minutes until the vegetables are just barely tender.   The only complexity involved, and it isn’t much, is a gremolata-like pesto made in the food processor using today’s power food, walnuts, along with lemon and parsley.  Traditional gremolata contains garlic, but I tossed that in the soup pot intead, so have named the topping a pesto.  You can call it what you like; I also call it good.

As walnuts are the nut grown where I live in Minnesota (there’s a black walnut tree right down the street),  I was happy to blog about them today!  Not only are they locally sourced and extra-heart-healthy goodies, they also improve brain function and are full of anti-oxidants. A good source of easy-to-carry protein, walnuts weigh in at about 185 calories per ounce (about 14 walnut halves.) While we think of walnut oil as special salad oil, in France, at least,  it was in years past used in lamps for light along with candles.  I happen to be reading a book just this week  From Here, You Can’t See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and its Restaurant, by Michael S. Sanders.  Just at the point were I stopped, a local duck farmer was explaining about walnut oil to the author, as many local gardens featured walnut trees and some farms still had walnut groves:

(100 years ago)…  And of course they force-fed geese, mostly for the fat, rather than for the meat.  FOR THE FAT!  Not for using in preservation, because pork fat is better than goose for that, but for cooking!  And the walnut oil, they burned in little lamps, a shallow dish with a wick suspended above — you see them in all the antique shops now — les calèmes.  They had walnut oil, back then, for lights.   Oh, people make such a big cheese of the walnut oil now, eh?  But it’s not that good, it goes rancid fast, and back then it was used almost entirely for lighting.  They had no petroleum yet, that was the next thing to come.  So they burned walnut oil or candles. 

Three things: walnut oil was and is probably used for a lot of things,  but it isn’t terribly useful for cooking per se as it’s heat-sensitive and burns easily.  Also, it does become rancid easily, so buy small quantities and store the oil in the refrigerator.  I have always stored walnuts in the freezer (up to a year); they keep only about a month on the pantry shelf.  Let them come to room temperature before using for baking.

Learn more about walnut here, but first make the soup!


   leek-fennel soup with walnut pesto  

The pesto ready to be made in the food processor.

                    
4 generous main-course servings 
6 small first course servings

      Cook’s Note:  While the soup cooks, make the pesto, and have it ready at the table. This soup is easily vegan if vegetable broth is used instead of chicken stock.  Without the toasted cheese accompaniment, it’s also gluten-free.

                                                                                                           
 for the soup:

  • 1 tablespoon each olive oil and butter
  • Pinch aleppo pepper (can substitute crushed red pepper), optional 
  • 2 fennel bulbs, trimmed, cored, and sliced thinly
  • 6 leeks, white and light green parts only, well cleaned, and sliced thinly
  • 1 small carrot, peeled and sliced thinly
  • 1 celery stalk, minced
  • 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence 
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 quart chicken stock (or vegetable broth)
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1-2 drops hot sauce, optional
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon–or to taste (you need to grate the peel for the pesto-do that first!)

 for the walnut pesto:

  • 1/4 cup each fresh parsley and walnut pieces-whole or in pieces
  • grated peel from 1/2 lemon  
  1.  In a 6 quart soup pot, heat the oil and butter with the pepper over medium heat.  Add the fennel, the leeks, carrot, celery, parsley, herbs, salt, and pepper.  Stir, cover and cook about ten minutes, stirring once or twice; turn heat down if browning too quickly.
  2. Add the garlic, stir, and cook two minutes. Pour in the stock and the white wine.  Season with hot sauce, if desired.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and let cook another ten minutes or so until all vegetables are tender.
  3. Meanwhile, make the pesto by placing all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or hand chopper and pulsing until finely ground like fresh breadcrumbs.  Place in a small serving bowl with a tiny spoon at the table.
  4.  When vegetables are tender, purée soup using an immersion blender or in batches in the food processor or blender.  Squeeze in about half of the lemon juice.  Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary, adding the rest of the lemon juice if you like it.  I liked just a little more salt–this will depend on how salty your stock was. Serve hot with a small spoonful or two of the walnut pesto.

Disclaimer:  For vegan and gluten-free options, please check all ingredients in your own kitchen as some ingredients are available with different options from different manufacturers.  As always, check with your dietician with questions.  
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38 Power Foods is a group effort!   Stop by these other blogs and see what they’re cooking each week as we team up to bring you some of the healthiest cooking available.

Ansh – SpiceRoots.com  
Minnie Gupta from TheLady8Home.com

Sarah – Everything in the Kitchen Sink

All sites may not blog power foods every week.
 
    Are you a food blogger? Join us!

 Sing a new song,
Alyce  

Make Your Own Chocolate for Valentine’s Day

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Chocolate, chocolate everywhere and lots of drops to drink.


This gorgeous bark is one that Dave had made for me for Valentine’s Day a couple of years ago.  Truth to be told, his bark is better than mine.  Candy maker, I’m not, though my toffee was to die for this year.  (pat pat)

Make someone happy. This bark is quick, incredibly decadent, makes lots, and is much less expensive than a big box of perhaps elderly chocolates off the store shelf.   It’s also a beautiful candy you might want to make together.  The recipe came from the Food Network (courtesy Dave Lieberman), as do so many scrumptious things these days.  There is hardly an easier dessert to make except perhaps to clean strawberries and arrange them in a bowl come summer.  And that’s not really making dessert.  Serve with  a little port or a coffee laced with brandy.

Dave’s Cranberry Almond Chocolate Bars with Tangerine Zest

1/2 c slivered almonds
3 cups chocolate morsels (I like 1/2 milk chocolate and 1/2 bittersweet)
1/2 c dried cranberries (We like cherries, too.)
1/2 tangerine, zested

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Line a 13×9″ baking pan with aluminum foil.

Lay out almond slivers on baking sheet.  Bake in oven until light brown, shaking the baking pan occasionally to mix them around, about 10-15 minutes.

Melt the chocolate morsels in a double boiler over low heat.  Mix in the cranberries, almond slivers and tangerine zest.

Pour into prepared pan.  Smooth the chocolate mixture out into an even layer.  Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until hard, at least 1 hour.  Use a knife to break up chocolate into jagged, varied sized bars.
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Lose 10 Pounds in 8 Weeks or Subtract 35,000 Calories — Update

I finally got the crud the rest of the world has had, so I am off schedule a bit this week.  3 pounds so far and even while ill I’ve stayed on the food program.  For now, the exercise portion is off-schedule.  I’ll be back at it as soon as I’m able to stay on my feet for longer than a few minutes.
Keep cheering!

Sing a new song,
Alyce

Meatless Mondays–Green Chile-Vegetable Crock Pot Soup

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Vegan and Gluten-Free
 
 
On Monday mornings, I read the Sunday New York Times. (Read Mark Bittman’s article on bread in yesterday’s NYT magazine–beautiful.)  I’m totally perverse.  Occasionally I snuggle up on the couch for a Sunday afternoon with it, but I work Sundays…

 

and after I eat a late lunch that I never cook, I typically read something a wee bit ephemeral like the current book club book, a Diana Gabaldan novel, a P.D. James or a Dorothy Sayers (I’m re-reading all of her mysteries this winter).  Right now I’m stuck, really stuck on a book called, FROM HERE, YOU CAN’T SEE PARIS, by Michael S. Sanders (2002, Harper Collins)  I’ve read a lot of books about living in France (Isn’t there a plethora?), and enjoy them all, but this guy describes things so vividly I feel not only like I’m right there, but perhaps I’m the one writing or maybe participating in some way.  Quite touching, quite moving, quite arms-open-wide-here’s-how-it-feels.

There are times on Sunday that we go for a long walk with the doggies; we live near the Mississippi River and there’s a beautiful, miles’ long parkway with walking-bike trails.  In the winter, it’s the only time we go to The Mall of America, despite the fact that it’s ten minutes away.  Great place to walk in bad weather if it’s not too crowded; I seldom buy anything but lunch.

  
Anyway, that’s why I read the NYT on Monday after I do my power walk (which now includes four minutes of running a day–I keep edging it up–go bones) and have breakfast.  (Breakfast today is a chopped Minnesota Honey Crisp Apple with 1/2 cup Fage No-Fat Plain Yogurt and a tablespoon of my own granola, which is terribly good for you!)  Dave’s back in his home office or traveling, and I rarely blog on Mondays…except today…so I can just sit and enjoy the paper at my leisure while I catch up on laundry.
 
Today’s a little different…when I just had to share a simple, flexible, 0-1 Point WW chile vegetable crock pot soup on a meatless Monday. I would easily say this is 0 Points, but I’ve put in a sweet potato and it may make the second cup count as a point; I’m no Weight Watchers expert.  I’ve had such good responses to my 0-Point Vegetable Soup a la Provence, that it spurred me to make another soup to keep me on my fitness program and to have at-the-ready …
 

LUNCH FOR THE WEEK.

 
Whether or not it’s cold where you live, this is a warm-up; the chiles and hint of chile powder take the vegetables out for a run while you do whatever all day long.  You then have lunches–no temptation to go for take-out– or can freeze this in one or two-quart containers so that you don’t get bored with it.  If you’re not watching every calorie P and Q, you might have a few tortilla chips and a little grated cheddar on top.  Feeding a family or an individual who likes a larger, heartier meal? Serve two cups of  the soup ladled over a half or whole cup of hot brown rice– or even 1/2 cup each pinto or black beans and rice.  I like to blend just part of this soup and return it to the crock pot so that it has a thicker appearance and texture.  Try this:

 

 
slow cooker green chile-vegetable soup
     8-10 servings
 
Cook’s Note:   Switch the vegetables around to accommodate what you have or like.  Be sure any purchased or canned ingredients are labeled “gluten-free,” if needed. If you’d like a vegan version, just leave out the cheese garnish.
 
  • 1/2 cup white wine or water
  • 2-quarts vegetable stock, gluten-free
  • 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 7-ounce can chopped chiles, undrained
  • 3-4 drops hot sauce (I like Tabasco)
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 sweet potato peeled, large dice
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 each yellow squash and zucchini, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
  • 1 parsnip, peeled, sliced thinly
  • Handful of chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 cup corn, frozen or fresh
  • 1 teaspoon each kosher salt and ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon each:  fresh ground black pepper and chili powder (or to taste)
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • tortilla chips (gluten-free) or grated cheddar cheese, if desired for garnish
 
 Add all ingredients to a 6-7-quart crock pot.  Set on high and cook four  hours or set on low and cook 7-8 hours. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.  Remove about 1/3 of the soup to a deep pot or large bowl and puree using an immersible blender (or in batches in the food processor or blender) and return blended portion to crock pot. Stir well.  Serve hot as is or garnish with grated cheese or tortilla chips, if you like.  If desired, serve over hot brown rice.   Cool and refrigerate leftovers within two hours for up to three days in tightly-covered containers or freeze as long as 4-6 months
 
Stove-top soup:  Bring all ingredients to a boil in a 10-quart soup kettle.  Lower heat to a healthy simmer and let cook 30-40 minutes or until vegetables are tender.    Follow rest of directions above.
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Interested in more crock pot/slow cooker or soup recipes? Check out Kalyn’s Kitchen Slow Cooker from Scratch    or Lydia Walshin’s Soup Chick dot com. Enjoy!
 
Disclaimer:  While this recipe appears to easily be both vegan (without the cheese garnish) and gluten-free, I am not a dietary expert.  Please be sure of your ingredients if you are on a special diet and consult a dietician with any questions.
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Printable Recipe-Soup-Slow Cooker Green Chile-VegetableDownload