Downright Delicious
23 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Soups Tags: bacon, butternut squash, comfort food, soup, squash, vegetable soup with bacon, winter soup, winter squash
It’s time. I should share this with you.
Do you like bacon?
I thought so – and if you don’t, my apologies – try this one instead.
But if you do, I should stop keeping them for myself, and tell you about the bacon I stock my freezer with – the ends and pieces bacon packages. They don’t sound very glamorous – and they aren’t. But for me, they’re perfect.
Why? Well, it’s great for cooking. I love cooking just a bit of bacon with kale, or with roasted vegetables like my fiance did last night, or as a base for soups – and finally we’re getting to the point. This soup makes the most of the extra smokiness you might find in the ends and pieces packages (more surface area for the smoke), not that it would be bad at all with prettier bacon! – and it’s downright delicious.
Farmhouse Butternut Squash & Bacon Soup
Adapted from Epicurious
4 bacon slices or equivalent
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 t. caraway seeds
2 lbs. butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/2 lbs. carrots, chopped
1 Granny Smith or other tart apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
3 thyme sprigs
2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
3 1/2 c. chicken broth
2 c. water
salt & pepper
1 to 1 1/2 t. cider vinegar
Cook bacon in a 4-to 6-quart heavy pot over medium heat until crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain and leave fat in pot.
Add garlic and caraway seeds to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is pale golden, about 1 minute. Add squash, carrots, apple, thyme, bay leaves, broth, water, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and boil, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard thyme and bay leaves.
Purée about 4 cups soup in a blender (or just use an immersion/stick blender, if you have one), in batches if necessary, until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Return to pot and season with salt, pepper, and vinegar (don’t go overboard with the latter until you taste it). Serve topped with crumbled bacon.
Kale Fest Recipes!
01 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in Entrees, Party Food, Snacks, Soups Tags: community garden, Dr. Terry Wahls, events, food, garden party, greens, healthy, hummus, kale, local
Last week we had the area’s very first Kale Fest, a great time by all the smiles around Earth Source Gardens, New Pi’s community gardens!
We hosted local kale celebrity Dr. Terry Wahls to judge our kale recipe contest – I think we might need to have another one of these in the future and poll all you out there as well.
Dr. Terry Wahls and the three winners - Roxane Mitten, Miss Nik, and Jennifer Burstain
Our recipe cards went like hot potatoes and, by popular request, we’re happy to share the three delicious winning recipes right here with you: Kale Rolls (a new take on nori rolls), Miss Nik’s Kale Fest Soup, and Kale Hummus. Enjoy!
Kale Rolls
Contributed by Roxane Mitten
This recipe is inspired by the desire to modify recipes that require imported ingredients to local food-based ingredients, or ones that ‘could’ be developed as a local niche. These rolls are a take-off of Nori rolls, substituting the imported Nori with a fermented kale leaf. The saltiness of seaweed is created by modeling the classic preservation of grape leaves. These ingredients also intend to meld with The Wahls’ Way nutritional approach.
1 red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings cut in half
Prepare lightly fermented kale (3 days prior)
Cut off major portion of stem of kale leaves. Sprinkle with salt and let stand about 30 minutes to soften. (Note: one can use ½ the salt by spiking the culture with an earlier ferment.) Layer 4 kale leaves together. Roll from leaf tip to stem, cigar-like. Repeat with remaining 8 leaves so that there are 3 bundles. Pack them into a 1 pint wide mouth jar. Fill with fresh water. (NOTE: do NOT use tap water; chlorination will retard microorganisms. Alternatively, boil the water to remove chlorine.) Let stand at room temp or cooler for 3 days. Refrigerate. Use as desired.
Prepare beet noodles (1-8 hours prior)
Cut beet into very thin ‘noodles.’ I use a spiralizer, which creates long noodles. Add ume plum vinegar and honey. Let marinate for at least 1 hour, massaging occasionally with a clean hand.
Remove one bundle of kale leaves. Rinse.
Lay out kale leaf flat with point towards oneself. You may need to trim a little bit of hard stem from the base of the leaf, leaving leaf intact.
Lay golden beet noodles over about ½ of the leaf. In the middle, from edge-to-edge, layer single slices of bacon, cucumber, carrot, red onion, hazelnuts, and red serrano.
Lightly roll kale leaf sushi-roll-fashion from the leaf tip end so that the beet surrounds the internal ingredients.
Slice rolled kale into ½ – ¾-inch slices. Place decoratively on a plate and serve.
Miss Nik’s Kale Fest Soup
Contributed by Miss Nik, New Pi Mistress of Cheese
AKA: Caldo Verde, Portuguese Green Soup the way she likes to make it.
Serves 8-10 generously – maybe even some left for the freezer!
salt and black pepper to taste
*If using New Pi Hot Italian pork sausage, start with 1 1/2 T. olive oil, then drain all but a few tablespoons of the fat off after you’ve browned it.
In sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-high until shimmering. Add sausage, breaking up with wooden spoon to ensure even browning. Stir occasionally until it’s cooked almost all the way through and has a rich brown color.
While the sausage is browning, pour the chicken stock into a Dutch oven or deep stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the piece of Reggiano rind, which will add a whole other dimension of flavor – umami, the fifth taste. Bring almost to a boil, then reduce heat to med-low and let it simmer. Stir occasionally to prevent the cheese from sticking to the bottom.
Add the onion, bell peppers, garlic, fennel, and red pepper flakes to the browned sausage. Stir occasionally over medium heat, until the veggies soften and begin to take on a little color. You can add a pinch of sugar to speed along the carmelization, if you’d like. Add the wine, stirring occasionally until liquid is almost cooked off. Turn off heat.
Remove Reggiano rind from stockpot with tongs and discard. Add the kale to the stock, then the contents of the sauté pan, making sure to scrape all the brown bits off the bottom. Add the potatoes, and continue to stir occasionally until kale and potatoes are just tender. Add beans and their liquid and reduce heat to low, bringing it to a bare simmer. Taste a spoonful of stock. If it is a bit too salty, add extra chicken stock or water. Add black pepper or salt if desired. Turn off heat.
Add butter, for a richer taste and glossy appearance. Stir until thoroughly incorporated, and serve with your favorite homemade or Bakehouse bread.
It freezes beautifully, so I usually make as much as my big stockpot can handle!
Kale Hummus
Contributed by Jennifer Burstain
1/2 t. salt
Put all ingredients except kale in a Vitamixer. Blend until smooth, using plunger, on high for 1 minute. Add kale and blend on low (speed 5) for 20-30 seconds. Place on serving dish and spread a little extra olive oil on top.
Like this:
My New Favorite Cool-Down: Thai-Style Watermelon Gazpacho
24 Aug 2011 1 Comment
in Party Food, Soups Tags: cold soup, cool down, gazpacho, hot weather food, lemongrass, refreshing food, Thai, Thai soup, vegetarian, watermelon soup
Aaand the heat’s back. For about a week, that crisp feeling of Fall triggered all my I-can’t-believe-summer’s-almost-over notions. I’m sure crisp’ll return soon, but for the moment, summer’s still the name of the game.
I’m really excited about a new-to-me, beautiful cookbook: The Modern Vegetarian by Maria Elia, which I picked up for a song at local bookstore Prairie Lights. The photos are gorgeous and every recipe looks like a show-stopper (and I’m not even vegetarian!).
I love Thai flavors – lemongrass, ginger, lime – I’m there. This gazpacho’s not only fruity, but savory too. Rather than tomato-dominated, there’s a nod to them, with a refreshing outcome. You’ll need watermelon juice, and for that I heartily recommend a food mill, which will remove the watermelon seeds for you.
I was rather silly. I’ve just moved, and while I thought we had a food mill, it was nowhere to be found. My makeshift attempt included a sieve, a whisk pretending to be a potato masher (which a whisk is definitely not – apparently I need to find our potato masher too), and my trusty immersion blender. Result: feeling ridiculous. I’ll endorse that food mill instead.
Another option – pick out the seeds (or go seedless) and use a blender.
It’s local watermelon season!
Thai-Style Watermelon Gazpacho
Adapted from The Modern Vegetarian by Maria Elia
4 c. watermelon juice (from about one basketball-sized watermelon)
salt
garnish with diced watermelon, diced avocado, chopped cilantro, and torn mint leaves
other garnish ideas: chopped cashews, fresh coconut, Thai basil, or finely diced Granny Smith apple
Juice the watermelon with a food mill. Blend watermelon juice, tomatoes, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, chile, and shallot until smooth.
Add remaining ingredients and re-whizz. Salt to taste and refrigerate (overnight if you’d like).
Serve chilled and garnished.
