Definitely treat
Just finished making the Pumpkin-Tomato Soup I started the other day (see below). Delicious, if I do say so myself.
For Halloween, I'm giving you the recipe:
PUMPKIN-TOMATO SOUP*
For a speedier, pantry-based version, you can make this with canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling tho), but come on, bake a pumpkin!
4 cups fresh (see below) or canned pumpkin, or substitute/combine winter squashes like butternut, kabocha, etc.
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 15oz can whole peeled tomatoes
1 tbsp maple syrup, or subsitute honey or molasses [This post has been modified because I have since gone vegan.]
1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, canned (optional, but really recommened; they don't make the soup too spicy, just provide a nice slight heat and smoky background for the sweet pumpkin)
See notes below for more options/subsitutions.
To Bake the Pumpkin:
Split a medium to small cooking pumpkin (not the big carving ones, which aren't all that flavorful) and scoop out the seeds. (Save those to roast.) No need to peel it, just cut it into 3x3 chunks and spread in a single layer in 1-2 lightly oiled baking dishes. Optional: add a couple of cloves of peeled garlic. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper, and smoked paprika and toss to distribute. Cover with foil, then bake for 30-45 minutes at 400 (until the flesh is soft and easily pierced with a fork). Uncover and bake 10 more minutes, until pieces brown a bit. Remove from oven and set aside until cool enough to handle. You'll want to peel the pieces (really easy now, just scrape with a spoon) before you proceed.
Depending on the size of your pumpkin, you will have 4-8 cups of cooked chunks. If your pumpkin is huge, the recipe below is easily doubled and freezes well. Or, you can just mash and enjoy the leftovers as a side dish.
You can also substitue hard winter squashes like kabocha or butternut, or use a combination. (I used a pumpkin and a hard green squash with orange flesh, whose name I didn't catch!)
To Make the Soup:
For every 4 cups of pumpkin, you'll need 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock and 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes (15 oz).
Put peeled chunks into a large bowl if you have an immersion/stick blender. (I recommend this way, easiest and less cleanup.) Or into the food processor. Add tomatoes and their juice. Add stock. Puree.
Check for seasoning. Then add 1 tbsp of maple syrup (for every 4 cups of pumpkin) and salt and pepper if needed. Optional but highly recommended: add 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. (I am a Texan, so I added four plus all the sauce in the can to my 8-cups-pumpkin batch.) Puree and check for seasonings again.
Mixture should be smooth and thinner than mashed potatoes, but not runny. It can be thinned further with stock if necessary, but will also be more fluid when it's reheated. (It's meant to be a substantial texture.)
Other options: if you don't have chipotles on hand (um, why not? food of the gods!) but would still like some spiciness in your soup, try a couple of tsps of chile powder (which vary wildly, taste yours first and add to taste) plus a dash of cayenne and 1-3 tbsp of a good smoky barbecue sauce. You may even want to skip the maple syrup if your bbq sauce is a sweeter one.
That's it, OK? You can garnish this with a dollop of [insert]Better Than Sour Cream[/insert] or even some crumbled goat cheese if you wanna get fancy, but it doesn't really need anything. Julienned spinach or chopped parsley would be good on top if you want some green.
Reheat gently, adding more stock to thin if necessary.
*This is my own adaptation of a recipe called "Pumpkin-Tomato Bisque" (despite it containing no cream or milk) from Crescent Dragonwagon's (yes, that's her real name) Passionate Vegetarian, which is a excellent book and is widely available. You should get it, whether or not you are a vegetarian.
Labels: recipes, weekly box
Soup season
Yesterday I baked a pumpkin from the farm, as well as a big ugly green-hulled winter squash (not sure of the name), seasoned with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika; threw in a couple of whole garlic cloves to roast alongside. The plan was to puree the lot with some tomatoes and stock and maybe a chipotle or two for a soup.
But while the gourds were softening and carmelizing in the oven, I started in on a gumbo z'herbs, making a deep brown roux (45mins and then some); cooking some rice; chopping up the trinity veggies to saute in
butter [Earth Balance*]; simmering collards, kale, mustard, and mixed braising greens (all from the farm too) with tomato juice; and whizzing up a seasoning puree of garlic, tomatoes, basil, oregano, thyme, cayenne, allspice, cloves. When the roux was ready I added it to the simmering greens and tomato juice, let it thicken on low, then added the seasoning puree and let it all mingle a while. Not that it needed it, but I browned some [soy*] sausage and put that aside. When the gumbo base was all done, it was ready to be thinned with [vegetable*] stock and ladled over the rice. OMG was that good.
But it took so long I never finished the pumpkin soup I'd started. I peeled and stored the pieces in the fridge, laid the seeds out to dry (to roast with spices later this week), and I guess I'll finish that Wednesday. I'm not going to commute, since Halloween's a half day at the office.
I can't believe we get farm veggies all the way through November. This has got to be the best deal on the organic planet.
What should I be for Halloween?
*[This post has been modified because I have since
gone vegan.]
Labels: recipes, weekly box
The Weekly Box: Week Four
We did get tomatoes! Just 2 though, and they weren't deep red, more of a medium orange with greenyellow near the stem end, but mmmmmmmmm. I could smell them from the back seat as I drove them home yesterday. So we had BLTs for lunch today, on toasted whole wheat with the sliced Jersey tomato,
turkey [tempeh*] bacon, [vegan*] mayo and a big pile of the farm's green leaf lettuce. Grey sea salt and fresh ground pepper--must not (never) skip that. Has there ever been a simpler, more delicious sandwich? I doubt it.
(Well, maybe with pork bacon, but dang, and I didn't have it on hand.) Some leftover gilled zucchini from last week's box on the side.
We also got 2 more zucchinis, 2 more heads of lettuce (two reds, as we have some green left), a bunch each of collards (my current favorite green) and kale (okay I love that too), 2 cucumbers, 2 bunches of baby onions, and 1 head of green garlic (stalks left on--it's curing now, dangling from a hook on the back porch). They also offered cilantro and parsley in the choice groups, and more fennel, but we're good for herbs at the moment and we did fennel last week, so I got the onions instead. I have to be careful not to take my full share sometimes. It really is more than we can use, depending on how that day's harvest goes, and it's a shame to waste. (They sell the members' leftovers at the weekend farmer's markets.)
Tonight I'm making a version of
this, using the escarole and ruby chard from last week's box (yes, it's still fresh as a miracle in the crisper) and maybe a bit of this week's kale. I think I'll make a batch of my [TVP*] meatballs (with fennel seed and parsley, no breading, no egg) to put in to make it a little heartier. (More thunderstorms late afternoon--the valley ridge to the north is pinked gold with bluegreen trees and zaftig damp, but cool with little puffgusts.)
*[This post has been modified because I have since
gone vegan.]
Labels: recipes, weekly box
The Weekly Box
Had forgotten about the fronded fresh fennel. Made a cioppino with that last night, sauteed with sweet onions & garlic, tomatoes, then bubbled with Pernod, fresh basil, saffron stock, steamed some
shrimp & turbot, then added seared scallops right at the end. [Today I would just add more veggies like fingerling potatoes, maybe some tofu or vegan dumplings*.]
Saturday morning at another farm (not ours) I did make out the yellow-green globes of tomatoes. How many weeks to count down?
[This post has been modified because I have since
gone vegan.]
Labels: recipes, weekly box
The Weekly Box: Week Three
Hot & hazy yesterday but the farm floated a vegetal coolness upward from the rows. We picked out our lettuces (4 heads), chinese cabbage, dandelion greens, some pattipan squashes yellow & green, two big stalks of broccoli green with purplish clouds on their brains, a hardy bunch of scallions very long dark green & pearl-tipped.
From last week we still have the curly tender garlic scapes and radicchio that bites back and because they were just-picked they're still fresh, I'll use them today. The loose arugula was my favorite, I put it in every salad & sandwich (along with the red and green lettuces) and even grabbed at a bit now and then by itself just to have a spicy chew. The collards were sauteed with steamed sweet potatoes, black beans and garlic, folded into whole wheat tortillas with a dash of Uncle Brother's. The basil went into a hand-pestled pesto, usual except tamari almonds stepping in for pignolis, and we ate that stirred into rice, topping some
turbot [tofu or polenta*] fillets, drizzled on a
chicken [seitan*] salad (more of the green leaf lettuce and arugula).
I spied the tomato plants from the inroad. With the windows down you can smell their astringent leaves in the sun. No fruits yet, unless they are tiny and green. They are already the (ecstatic) talk of the county:
wait till you have our JERSEY TOMATOES.*[This post has been modified because I have since
gone vegan.]
Labels: recipes, weekly box
The Weekly Box: Week Two
The lettuces last week went into salads (orange zest white wine vinegar olive oil pepper sea salt that is all you need yum) or onto backyard [veggie*] burgers and various sandwiches. The bok choy was stirfried (the chopped white stems first, then the ribboned greens in the last few minutes) with red pepper and Gulf shrimp* with a green Thai curry paste. The kale was blanched for a couple of minutes in boiling water, cooled and used to roll leftover bulgur/brown rice/mushroom pilaf with a hunk of sharp white cheddar* in each packet, then braised in a fresh tomato sauce till they were warmed through.
This week: two more lettuces (another red leaf and a different green leaf--the pennate one that's in spring mix, what's it called?), a head of radicchio, more garlic scapes, some collard greens, two fat summer squashes (one yellow goosenecked and the other pale speckled green a zucchini variety) & a big bag of SO SPICY arugula.
Also, in the yard, ripe mulberries. In the village park, wild strawberries (ripe) & cherries (not quite ripe). Sometimes I have to wait for the deer to finish.
A litter of bunnies has been born behind the barn. There's no way to say that that's not cute.
Recipes to come.
* [This post has been modified because I have since
gone vegan.]
Labels: recipes, weekly box
The Weekly Box: Week One
Green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, kale, bok choy & garlic scapes
grown at an organic farm on the watershed less than 4 miles from my kitchen.
Yum.
Update: Grilled Chicken [Tofu*] with White Peaches and Mozzarella [Almond Cheeze*] on Leaf Lettuce with Grilled Garlic ScapesFor dinner, grilled some
chicken breasts [marinated tofu*] and pitted/sliced some white peaches (left skins on) to toss with ribbons of the green leaf lettuce and
fresh mozzarella [almond cheeze*] bocconcini and a little olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground pepper. The juice from the peaches--oh! And the lettuce almost herblike with an actual leafy flavor. Peace juice from the bowl drizzled over the whole.
On the side, the garlic scapes. Never had these before (tho I've seen them begin from a clove, that tender green shoot that develops in the middle and will eventually poke through the pointed end). They can be prepared either like asparagus or green beans. I tossed them in a bit of olive oil, seasoned them with salt & pepper and grilled them till they brightened and softened just a little. The flavor of the raw scapes is very garlicky but it mellows when cooked. Next time I will cut them into greenbean-sized pieces and steam them. They can also be finely minced or snipped to add to dishes just like chives or scallions. Delicious, and very beautiful. Floral designers should love them, with their curly shapes and fantasy-pointed tips.
*[This post has been modified because I have since
gone vegan.]
Labels: photos, recipes, weekly box
OK, those notes are up.
I'll have a few more notes on Monday, plus some pics of other people's work and my other smaller projects to wrap things up.
[This post has been modified--recipe removed--because I have since
gone vegan.]
Labels: recipes
Green gazpacho (for Chris Murray)
I made a huge batch of this last weekend and have been slurping it daily since. I no longer remember where I got the original recipe but I'm sure I've modified it anyway. It is definitely one of my favorite chilled soups. I drink it out of a glass and have even had it for breakfast. Delicious.
Green gazpacho2-3 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
1 green bell pepper, seeded & chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded (optional) & chopped
1 small bunch of seedless green grapes (about a 1/2 lb.)
3 scallions, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
4 slices of good [vegan*] white bread, crust removed (light wheat will work--a day-old baguette is perfect)
a small handful of chopped cilantro (1/4 cup or so)
a small handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley (ditto)
good pinch cumin
good pinch coriander
tiny pinch cayenne pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice (bout half a large lemon)
1 tbsp white wine vinegar (or more juice instead--it's fine)
1 cup vegetable or chicken broth or stock
3/4 cup plain [soy*] yogurt
salt & pepper to taste
avocado sliced or cubed to garnish
UPDATE: Oops. I forgot the [soy*] yogurt. Gotta have that!
If all this stuff is already chilled from your fridge, this could not be easier.
Run the bread under the faucet for a second and then squeeze all the water you can out of it. Slice the grapes in half (otherwise they will just spin round and round and not puree). Throw everything in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. If you like, you can reserve some of the chopped veggies and grapes to add to the puree for more texture. I like it drinkable, so I don't do that. Garnish with avocado cubes,
and even some creme freche or [Better Than Sour Cream*] or hot pepper sauce if you have it. Sometimes I also add a serano or jalapeno, but I am a Texan, ya know. Serve cold!
*[This post has been modified because I have since
gone vegan.]
Labels: recipes
Recipe swap
Remember those peppers I just received from Texas? They are going to be playing starring roles in tomorrow's feast.
I've dried some and am toasting them and grinding them for chile powder today, which goes in the Mexican corn tortilla stuffing for the
turkey [tofurky or pumpkin*] and also the basting oil.
I'm roasting others for the kabocha squash soup (would also be great with butternut or pumpkin). Some roasted poblano peppers also go into the stuffing.
And some fresh jalapenos provide the kick to this cranbery salsa, from my sister's favorite restaurant--the Peach Tree Tearoom in Fredericksburg, Texas. She gave me the cookbook a couple of years ago for Christmas.
If you need to take something to dinner, this is super easy and everybody loves it. Also, here is a
link to my Pawpaw's bourbon pecan pie.
Cranberry Salsa
3 oranges, seeded & quartered
2 jalapenos, seeded*
2 cups sugar*
1 bunch fresh cilantro
8 cups fresh cranberries
Makes 6-8 cups.
Chop the oranges, jalapenos & 1/2 cup of the sugar in the food processor (not too fine--you want a little texture for this). Put this into a large bowl.
Chop cilantro and half of the cranberries with another 1/2 cup of the sugar. Add to the bowl of oranges and peppers.
Chop the rest of the cranberries with 1 cup sugar [this is where things get a little too sweet for me--but maybe you'll like it] and add to the mix and stir.Chill or serve it at room temperature. The jalapenos will develop the longer it sits, but the tart cranberries cut the heat nicely. (Removing the seeds makes the peppers milder, and for the mildest peppers, choose the bright green ones without the white, crackly seams). Serve the salsa in place of traditional cranberry sauce, as a dip for tortilla chips, with goat cheese on bruschetta (or with cream cheese on a bagel), or even splash a little dollop in your vodka cocktail--it's beautiful! I bet it would also be a great topping for vanilla ice cream.
*Personally, I cut the sugar in about half (depending on how tart the berries are) and add another jalapeno.*[This post has been modified because I have since
gone vegan.]
Labels: recipes
Banana Salsa
juice of one lime
juice of half a lemon
1 bunch ripe bananas (but not too soft)
1-2 jalapeño or serrano chiles, minced (seeded if you prefer milder heat. start with one and remember they'll get hotter as salsa flavors develop.)
1 ripe tomato or 2 ripe plum tomatoes, small dice
small handful of cilantro, chopped
sea salt to taste
dash of chile powder (pure ancho preferred)
• Juice lime and half lemon into large bowl
• Peel and slice bananas lengthwise, removing bruises
• Cut into small dice, add to juice ASAP to prevent browning, toss to coat
• Add the other ingredients
• Salt to taste
• Cover with plastic wrap pressed to surface
• Chill for at least 30 minutes
• Stir and sprinkle with chile powder before serving with tortilla chips
This is also great with grilled
pork or chicken or fish [tofu or seitan*].
Variation: use fresh mint instead of cilantro, replace tomatoes with red bell pepper
*[This post has been modified because I have since
gone vegan.]
Labels: recipes
Drink recipe
I watched
Runaway Jury last night and finished it this morning. Despite the completely idiotic high French spoken in a voodoo shop to a woman Rachel Weitz identifies as Cajun (um, you mean maybe Creole, or Haitian, or Haitian Creole?), it was pretty good. And later on she did pronounce "Chartres" authentically: it's just "charters." Not frenchified.
Anyway, there are two scenes filmed at
Napoleon House, where hubby & I made it official. 1) The jury goes for drinks after one of their first days on duty. 2) The final confrontation between RW, John Cusack & Gene Hackman. You can see the Napoleon bust on the bar in one of them, the first one I think. And the arched doorways and the peeling paint.
Yes, it's a bar. But we
met in a bar, dated in a bar, and I'm not gonna mention what all else in a bar. But Napoleon House is our favorite bar by far. And upstairs is L'Appartment de l'Empereur, where Napoleon was supposed to hide out after being rescued from exile by some NOLA-based plotters, including former NOLA mayor, Nicholas Girod. That's were we tied the knot and tied one on.
The Pimm's Cup, 12 oz.
The signature drink of Napoleon House
Ice
1.25 oz of Pimm's #1
3 oz lemonade
Top off with 7-Up
Garnish with cucumber spear or wheel
Yum.
Labels: recipes
In Memorium...Pawpaw Compton's Bourbon Pecan Pie
My grandfather made these for neighbors, friends and several word-of-mouth strangers all during the fall, but especially for Thanksgiving and Christmas. He used pecans from the trees in his front and back yards in Waco. He always used Karo and Wild Turkey and he also made his own shortening crust, with Crisco, of course.
This is a single crust pie. It won't set up right if you cover it with a top crust!
If a pie can be a poem, this is one.
Pawpaw Compton's Bourbon Pecan Pie
3 small eggs or 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 inch butter, melted (slighty more than a tbsp)
2 tbsp bourbon
1 tbsp flour (a bit more if mix seems thin)
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans
Whole halved pecans to decorate top
Preheat oven to 350.
Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
Combine eggs, melted butter, syrup, vanilla, and bourbon in another bowl.
Add wet ingredients to dry.
Stir in chopped pecans and mix well (make sure there are no lumps of dry ingredients).
Pour into an unbaked pie shell.
Level and arrange pecan halves on top to suit your fancy.
Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Cover edges with foil or pie shield if crust browns too soon.
Test after 35 minutes--pie should be starting to set. If not, add 5 more minutes, etc.
Don't overcook, or pie will be chewy! It should set up as it cools.
Top with real vanilla ice cream (Bluebell if you're in Texas) and sip some of that extra Wild Turkey with it.
Yum. Happy Thanksgiving.
*[This post has not been modified, but I have since
gone vegan. Stay tuned: In November 2008 I will be attempting an eggless version with an Earth Balance no-butter crust!]
Labels: recipes
