stinkerpants design

While every season has delicious recipes, I have to admit: my favorite time of year (food-wise, at least) is Winter.  Why?  Because of soup, which is best when it is cold as heck outside.

This time last year I shared my favorite Carrot Soup recipe. It’s still one of my staples, soup-wise, but I’ve added a couple more to my Fall/Winter arsenal. And because they bring me so much joy, I’m going to share the recipes with you, right here, right now: Potato Corn Leek Soup, Carrot Soup and Curried Cauliflower Soup.  I’m about to devour a bowl of Potato Leek Soup as we speak, actually.

Those of you with CSA boxes will be happy with these recipes, too, because they utilize delicious in-season veggies like cauliflower and leeks, that you might not know what to do with.

Potato Corn Leek Soup

My current favorite is the Potato Leek Soup.  This recipe was served at my friend Karen’s birthday a couple of years ago, and I’ve loved it ever since.  The original recipe is from Cooking Light.

image from here

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  butter
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1 1/2  cups  coarsely chopped leek (about 1 large)
• 1/2  cup  finely chopped celery
• 1/2  cup  finely chopped red bell pepper
• 2  cups  whole milk*
• 3  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 3  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 2  cups  fresh corn kernels (about 4 ears)
• 2  pounds  cubed peeled Yukon gold or red potato
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4  cup  finely chopped fresh parsley
• 3  tablespoons  chopped fresh chives

Preparation
Heat butter and oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leek, celery, and bell pepper; cook 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently. Combine milk and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Slowly add milk mixture to pan, stirring constantly. Stir in broth, corn, potato, salt, and freshly ground black pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender. Stir in parsley and chives.

*In my kitchen, I almost exclusively substitute 2% milk for whole milk and heavy cream.  I personally don’t think cream or whole milk is worth the added fat and calories.  This soup is fantabulous with regular milk.

Carrot Soup

Last year’s favorite (and still obviously in the top 3) is my Carrot Soup recipe. The original recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant.

image from here

Ingredients

• 2 pounds peeled or scrubbed, chopped carrots
• 4 cups stock
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium potato, chopped
• 3-4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1-2 small cloves crushed garlic
• 1/3 cup chopped cashews
• 2 pinches of nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon dried mint
• dash of cinnamon
• 1 cup milk

Preparation
Place carrots, stock, salt and potato into a medium sized soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer it for 12-15 minutes. Let it cool to room temp.

Saute the onion, garlic and nuts in the butter until the onions are clear. You can sprinkle in a little salt to help draw the moisture out of the onions. Towards the end of cooking, stir in the nutmeg, mint and cinnamon.

Use an immersion blender to puree. Whisk in milk. Garnish with toasted nuts, some toasted bread crumbs, grated parmesan, or eat just as it is.

Curried Cauliflower Soup

Last year we received a giant head of cauliflower in our CSA box, and I felt totally stumped.  My dad always hated Cauliflower, and growing up I decided I hated it too, despite never having actually tasted it (I trusted my dad, what can I say?).  When I used it to create this Curried Cauliflower Soup, I was blown away.  Apparently I don’t hate cauliflower after all. The original recipe is from Vegetarian Times.

image from here

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 1 medium tart apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped (1 cup)
• 1 Tbs. curry powder
• 1 clove garlic, sliced (1 tsp.)
• 1 large head cauliflower, chopped into 1-inch pieces (6 cups)
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 tsp. honey or agave nectar
• 1 tsp. rice wine vinegar

Preparation
1. Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, or until soft and golden. Stir in apple, curry powder, and garlic, and cook 2 minutes more, or until curry powder turns deep yellow.
2. Add cauliflower and vegetable broth, and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes. Cool 20 minutes, then blend in food processor or blender until smooth. Stir in honey and vinegar, and season with salt, if desired.

I hope you guys love these recipes as much as I do!  And please, if you have your own favorite soup recipes, share in the comments!!

Hi Everybody!  I hope you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

This year we hosted Thanksgiving, which was our first major family event.  I have to say, it was a big success!!  I created a heavy-duty Google Doc that kept us super organized (including timing for when dishes went in the oven, etc), and all of our dishes were served warm and tasty.

I made most of the side dishes, and Y was responsible for the mashed potatoes and the turkey.  If you follow me on Twitter, you might already know that we have a turkey fryer, which we tested a few weeks ago.  It was a little crispy the last time, but this time it was totally perfect.

Y spent a pretty penny on a Heritage Turkey from Marin Sun Farms.  I wasn’t morally opposed to eating him because he had such a wonderful life, so I tasted a little bit of turkey–and I have to say, it was delicious.

And of course, with the responsibility of hosting comes the responsibility of decorating.  I drew us a little turkey to be our mascot.  He held up a sign to identify each of the dishes:

I think my turkey’s name is Fred–and as you can see, he is also a Heritage Turkey.

Below is a photo of the Chestnut and Apple Stuffing I made (I changed the recipe a bit so it was vegetarian).  I also made a Vegetarian Strudel, Green Bean & Artichoke Casserole and pumpkin and vanilla ice cream sandwiches (I just put ice cream and pumpkin pie filling between two graham crackers).  Everyone said things were delicious!  I am proud of us.  :)

In addition to our turkey mascot, I decorated with orchids and decorative gourds:

and I used chalkboard paint on glasses I bought at World Market to create useful place cards:

I have to say, it really was an awesome Thanksgiving, and we had a great time hosting it for our seven guests (from both my side and Y’s!).  I wouldn’t mind hosting it next year, too!

How was your Thanksgiving?  Are you guys ready for Chrismukkah/Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/The Holidays?

Yesterday I spent almost all day cooking.  My parents flew down from Oregon, and I made a delicious home-made pizza (recipe to come!) and a fun cake for my mom’s birthday, which was last week.  I also roasted some kale and made some crack.

Wait, what?  Made crack?

I mean Matzo Crack.

A few years ago, my cousin Julie made toffee matzah.  It’s super delcious.  In fact, my friend Amy posted about it on her blog just the other day!  I wanted to try something a little bit different this year.  Something a little more…gourmet, if you will.  That’s when I found this recipe (that’s where the photo’s from, too!).

Basically, it’s like the toffee matzah Julie and I have both made before, but it suggests a couple of new toppings, like pistachios, candied ginger or sea salt.  I made two batches–I used candied ginger for one, and sea salt for the other.  I can’t lie, the sea salt is my favorite.  It reminds me of the awesome toffee made at Sketch Ice Cream Shop in Berkeley.  The mix of salt and sweet is to die for, and it’s called “crack” because you seriously can’t stop eating it.  My mother-in-law came to look at the chickens and had three pieces!

Passover is my all-time favorite holiday.  Every year, my entire family gets together–people fly in from all over the country, and there are usually about 25-30 of us. I absolutely adore my family, and I’ve never missed a Passover in 26 years.  One day I hope to host it myself.  :)

My favorite part of the Seder (and amusingly, Y’s least favorite part) is the part where we get to make little matzah sandwiches using horseradish and haroset.  I seriously love horseradish–the hotter, the better–and I look forward to this all year.  Sometimes, I even make my own haroset at home so I can enjoy it all by myself.

Our Seder is on Saturday, but I’m going to be enjoying the next few days with my parents.  See you on Monday!

 Image found here

I’ve been getting a little sick of collard greens and kale, I’m not going to lie.  Our CSA box has been teeming with these winter greens for weeks.  I’m not a huge fan of very bitter greens, so…yeah.  Kinda hate the radicchio, too.

This week, though, I gained a new appreciation for collard greens.  First off, they’re gorgeous.  I love how the water beads on the leaves.  Secondly, they’re fun to chop.  They’re tougher than most greens, so there’s a satisfying crunch when you cut into them.

But they’re still collard greens, right?  Wrong.  I tried out this recipe and was delighted by the results.  Try it.  I kid you not.

Baked Rigatoni with Ricotta and Collard Greens

Makes 8 to 10 servings

 Ingredients

• 1  (16-ounce) package rigatoni or penne pasta
• 1/4  cup  butter
• 1  medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  pound  collard greens, washed, drained, and chopped
• 1/4  cup  all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2  cups  milk
• 1  cup  shredded mozzarella
• 1  cup  ricotta cheese
• 2  teaspoons  sugar
• 2  teaspoons  salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  teaspoon  red pepper flakes
• 1/2  cup  grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation1. Prepare pasta according to directions. Drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

2. Heat butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; sauté onion 5 minutes or until just brown. Add garlic, and cook about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low, and add greens; cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes or until greens are tender, stirring occasionally.

3. Sprinkle greens with flour. Cook uncovered, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Gradually add milk, stirring well. Cook 5 minutes, stirring often, until thickened and smooth. Remove from heat; stir in cooked pasta, mozzarella, and next 5 ingredients. Place into prepared dish, and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan.

4. Bake at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes.

 I changed this recipe slightly by substituting the milk with No-Chicken broth and omitting the flour.  It was delicious!

 Image found here

I also found a recipe for kale that made me very happy.  Well, I’m not entirely sure you can even call this a recipe–it’s that easy:

Roasted Kale with Sea Salt

• 4 cups firmly-packed kale
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp. good-quality sea salt, such as Maldon or Cyprus Flake

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Wash and trim the kale: Peel off the tough stems by folding the kale leaves in half like a book and stripping the stems off. Toss with extra virgin olive oil. Roast for five minutes. Turn kale over. Roast another 7 to 10 minutes until kale turns brown and becomes paper thin and brittle. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings.

Per serving: 186 calories, 14 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 13 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 4 g protein, 412% vitamin A, 268% vitamin C, 18% calcium, 13% iron

Despite my searching, I couldn’t find any of the fancy pants sea salt they mention in this recipe.  I just used regular old sea salt, and it was delectable.

Image from here

Last week, Y sent me an email and asked if I would be interested in subscribing to a weekly box of organic and locally grown produce.  I had a few questions, but overall, I was like, “heck yeah!  Let’s do it!”

I might have been slightly over-confident.

We received our first box today.  I have to say, it looks delectable.  In fact, I can tell you that it is delectable, as I have already eaten three satsuma oranges.  The contents, however, are a little scary to a novice cook like me.  Here’s what we’ve got:

• 3 lbs Yukon Potatoes
• 2 lbs Satsuma Mandarin Oranges
• 2 lbs Red Jonagold Apples
• 2 lb Kabocha Squash
• 4 very large leeks
• 1 bunch of radishes
• 1 bunch of  green chard
• 1 Treviso Radicchio
• .5 lbs button mushrooms
• .5 lbs mixed baby lettuce

When I first looked in the box, I started freaking out.  First off, that’s a LOT of food.  And WTF am I going to make with radishes?!  Then I googled “Kabocha Squash” and started to freak out even more.  No recipes for a freakin’ Kabocha Squash.  Hell, I couldn’t even figure out what a kabocha squash is.  After a half-hour of googling and entering ingredients into allrecipes.com, however, I started to feel a little better.  My friend Lisa sent me a recipe she found for the Squash (which, as it turns out, is more like a pumpkin…?  I could go on about why they don’t just call it a pumpkin, but I’ll refrain), and I found a recipe for radish soup.  Three of the recipes I’ll be making this week are soups.  I’ll also be making a lasagna with chard.

I’m not really worried about eating the oranges or the apples–I’m sure we can handle that.  So that leaves me with: 2 very large leeks, .5 lbs buttom mushrooms, .5 lbs mixed baby lettuce and 1 treviso radicchio.  That sounds like something I might be able to handle…
But could someone please tell me what the hell a “Treviso Radicchio” is?!

Photo from here

I have always hated cooking. A few months ago, though, I finally broke down and agreed to at least try it.  Last night I finally admitted to Y (in front of witnesses, no less!) that I actually kinda like cooking.  Scandal!

This whole cooking business has definitely had a hardcore learning curve, though.  The other night, for example, I accidentally added the milk too soon while making carrot soup, and then put too much of it in the blender.  Needless to say, I ended up with soup all over the place.  Even still, the soup was delicious!  Thus, I am going to share the recipe with you.

This is from the Moosewood Cookbook.  Apparently they changed the recipe–this is the one from their original cookbook (I found it here).  I adore Moosewood.  As a vegetarian, I have a hard time finding recipes that aren’t tofu pretending to be chicken or beef.  I prefer recipes that just happen to be vegetarian.  Moosewood does a great job of that.  Highly recommended.

Moosewood’s Carrot Soup

2 pounds peeled or scrubbed, chopped carrots
4 cups stock or water
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium potato, chopped (optional, for heartier soup)
3-4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1-2 small cloves crushed garlic
1/3 cup chopped cashews or almonds

Choose one:
1 cup milk
1 cup yogurt or buttermilk plus a little honey
1/2 pint heavy cream
3/4 cup sour cream

Seasoning choices:
-2 pinches of nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon dried mint, dash of cinnamon
-1 teaspoon each of thyme, marjoram and basil
-1 teaspoon grated ginger

Place carrots, liquid and salt (and potato if you are using it) into a medium sized soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer it for 12-15 minutes. Let it cool to room temp.

Saute the onion, garlic and nuts in the butter until the onions are clear. You can sprinkle in a little salt to help draw the moisture out of the onions. Towards the end of cooking, stir in the seasoning combo of your choice.

Puree everything together in a blender until smooth (I deviate from her recipe at this stage. I dump the sauteed onions, garlic and nuts into the pot with the cooked carrots and use an immersion blender to puree. It saves dishes and energy).

Whisk in one of the dairy products. As I mentioned in the beginning, I often leave this step out until I’m just about to eat a bowl of soup. I’ll stir in a little milk, a spoonful of yogurt or some cottage cheese just before serving (and just after reheating, if I’m using the microwave).

Garnish with toasted nuts, some toasted bread crumbs or eat just as it is.

I chose to use vegetable stock, the potato, the milk, and the nutmeg-mint-cinammon seasoning.  DELISH.

Now, as a service to other cooking novices, I will publicly admit the idiotic things I didn’t realize before attempting this recipe:

• When it says “chopped,” it doesn’t mean, “put this in the cuisinart.”  It means chopped, as in big chunks.  This might help.  Sort of.
• When it says,”place carrots, liquid and salt…”, it does not mean every bit of liquid in the recipe.  It only means the water or the vegetable stock.  Now how am I supposed to know that?!  Apparently you shouldn’t bring milk to a boil, or gross things happen to it.
• Even though the blender has a little line for measuring things very close to the top, you shouldn’t fill it that full.  If you do, you will end up with things flying everywhere.

It might be helpful to have a hand blender.  I didn’t really understand the appeal of these things before, but now I kind of want one.  Does anyone else have one?