Bloody Mary Bisque (Healthy and Easy!)

I know, I know - Bloody Mary Bisque? What?? Well, as per usual for this time of year, I'm getting heaps of tomatoes from the CSA and it's game on versus the fruit flies to see who gets to eat them. Usually I make some form of tomato soup for my end game. Deconstructed, what is tomato soup? Tomato juice and seasoning. What are Bloody Marys? Tomato juice and seasoning. I've never been happy with using canned tomato sauce or the V8 types in my soups, so I figured I'd check out the liquor aisle. Because that always has the answers.What sold me was a new horseradish mixer. I can usually take or leave a Bloody Mary, but if there's horseradish, I want six. The nice thing about making tomato soup with mixer is that you get a bunch more flavor without having to use a bunch of cream.

Ingredients:
1 TBS butter
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
4 medium-large tomatoes, cut into chunks
1.5 cups of your favorite Bloody Mary mixer
.5 cup broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup milk, half and half, or cream if you really like
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup vodka (optional, but it's Bloody Mary Bisque)
Big handful basil, chopped

Directions:
One reason I like making soups is that since it all gets blended together anyway, it doesn't really matter how you chop stuff. So throw your butter in a big pot with a lid, turn the heat to medium, and once it melts, toss in your onion. While it cooks a bit, crush your garlic, and toss it in too. Give it a stir a couple of times until the garlic and onion start to brown.

Toss in your tomatoes, mixer, broth, salt and pepper. Cover and cook 20 minutes or so until everything is nice and squishy. Turn off heat. If you have an immersion blender, stick it in the pot and puree. If you don't have an immersion blender, go get one. With the blender stick running on low, slowly pour in your milk, then add your yogurt. This will help prevent the dairy from curdling, which it likes to do when it gets hot.

Add your vodka and basil, and stir it all up. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Cheers!

Pumpkin Spiced Seitan Stew (and a rant about imperial measurements)

As social media explodes with complaints about the very sudden drop in temperatures, I have been huddled in piles of blankets, stubbornly refusing to turn on the heat and receiving frequent glares from the dog. It was a perfect opportunity to spend the day in the kitchen with the oven on. Because baking doesn't count as turning on the heat.

This is a time consuming recipe. It's great for days off with fuzzy pajamas when you don't want to go anywhere. But the result will leave you with over a gallon of stew and will be quite delicious. It is based loosely on a recipe I have in a pumpkin-everything cookbook, but the recipe I have uses beef. If you are on a gluten free diet, this recipe is certainly not for you, but you may certainly substitute your choice of meat, tofu or beans for the seitan if you prefer.

There are two parts to this process: In part one, we make the seitan and roast  the pumpkin; in part two, we make the stew.

The seitan recipe is inspired by the PPK, a vegan's favorite resource, but it has been adjusted to better match the needs of this stew. Wheat gluten and nutritional yeast can be found in health food stores fairly easily, but may also sometimes be found in regular grocery stores. If you cannot find nutritional yeast, you can order it online or you can substitute almond flour or other non-wheat flour.

Seitan can be tricky to work with. You have to get your gluten to liquids ratio just right or it doesn't work, and sometimes the cooking process can also ruin it. The first time I tried making seitan, it came out tasting like sponge and I vowed never to try it again. Obviously I have gotten over that. Part of the problem is that we 'Muricans use a pretty stupid system of measuring solids by volume. This can lead to inconsistency in recipes because a cup of fresh, sifted flour is not the same amount of flour as a cup of flour scooped from a bin that has been sitting for months and had time to settle. The density of the flour (or other dry ingredient) changes, and since density equals mass divided by volume, we do not control for the actual amount we want, which is the mass. This leaves us with two options: either we use recipes written for the metric system, or we experiment enough times that we get a good feel for the type of item we are making so that we can adjust any dough or batter before it is cooked. And we do this for each type of item whether it's seitan, crepes or cupcakes.

Stupid imperial measuring system.

Anyway.

For the Seitan
Ingredients:
3 cups wheat gluten
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup broth
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 325. In a large bowl, mix your gluten, nutritional yeast, spices and garlic. In another bowl, mix everything else. It is, in fact, important that you do this separately as gluten tends to immediately suck up anything wet. So if you put your broth in first, it may take all the broth but not absorb the olive oil.

Pour about 3/4 of your liquid mixture into your gluten and mix it as best you can, kneading a bit as you do so. This is a precaution as it's easier to adjust the liquid than the gluten. If you've still got some dry gluten, add a bit more at a time, incorporating until the mixture is saturated but not soggy. It should still hold its shape pretty easily. If it's falling apart, you've added too much liquid and will need to add more gluten. Knead 5 minutes or until seitan toughens up a bit. Roll into a log and wrap in foil. Twist the ends so it's a sealed package. This is important to prevent it from expanding too much while it bakes, which will make it too bread-like. Bake for about an hour or until it's quite firm.

 The seitan log!

For the pumpkin:
While the seitan bakes, you can throw a pumpkin in to roast at the same time. Just stick a large pie pumpkin with a fork a few times, place on a baking sheet, and stick it in the oven for about the same amount of time as the seitan. It's done when you can easily pierce through the flesh with the fork. I used about 3/4 of a medium-large pie pumpkin and half of a small one. The former had begun to rot on the top and bottom, so these were cut off and the rest was salvaged.


For the stew:
Ingridents:
The seitan and pumpkin you just prepared
2 lbs boiling onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups broth
3/4 cup red wine
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
8-10 whole cloves
Salt and pepper

Once the pumpkin and seitan have been out of the oven long enough to cool so you can cut them without swearing at the top of your lungs and dropping hot pumpkin on the floor, slice up your seitan and throw them in a large dutch oven with a blob of olive oil and/or a blob of butter over medium heat. Let the butter melt and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.

Peel your onions (it's much easier if you boil them for one minute first), and toss them over the seitan. Add the garlic, broth, wine, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, and cloves, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer while you deal with the pumpkin.

Halve your pumpkin, scoop out the seeds and slime, halve them again, and grab whatever tool you think might best help get the flesh out of the skin. I was tempted to use the jigsaw, but instead used a knife I inherited years ago - it is curved, serrated on both sides, and has a pointy tip. I believe it's technically a grapefruit knife, but it worked relatively well.

Chop the skinned pumpkin into small chunks and throw it directly into the stew. Simmer another 20-30 minutes. Remove bay leaves, cinnamon stick, and cloves (if you feel like fishing) before serving.

This was quite delicious. Next time I make it, however, I'd like to have a thicker broth and will make a roux to do so.

Autumn Crepes with Roasted Beets, Carrots and Aioli

There is an area restaurant which specializes in crepes stuffed with just about everything from chicken to nutella. Over the years I have had many of their delightful creations, some of which I have recreated at home. A couple of weeks ago I paid them a visit and ordered one of their specials, an apple beet crepe, given that both are in season right now. I suspect it would have been delicious, but they boiled all the flavor out of the beets, which were in too high of a proportion, so it didn't quite hit the spot their crepes usually do. Obviously then the solution was to make my own beet crepes. I have not yet acquired my seasonal apples so I used another of their dishes as inspiration for this recipe. Ironically, they serve this as a salad, not as a crepe. This is a great recipe for a weekend brunch, particularly if you want to impress guests: it is very colorful in addition to being very tasty.

See? Gorgeous.

Ingredients: (makes 2 large crepes)
For the filling:
2 medium beets, washed, peeled, quartered and sliced
2 medium carrots, washed, peeled and sliced
blob olive oil
salt and pepper
handful baby lettuce

For the crepe batter:
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup flour
pinch salt
2 scallions, sliced

For the aioli:
1/4 cup mayonnaise (or substitute half Greek yogurt)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 TBS chopped dill

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425F. Blob your olive oil on a baking sheet, dump your beets and carrots on top and toss to coat. Distribute into a single layer, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast 15-20 minutes, turning over about halfway through. The time will depend on how small/thin you cut your veggies.

While the veggies are roasting, whisk together your crepe batter: the egg and milk first, then add flour and salt. The consistency should be very thin, much thinner than most pancake batter. If it seems too thick, add more milk or water to thin it out a bit. Different types of milk (dairy and dairy free) tend to leave different thicknesses, so you may need to adjust based on this. Stir in the scallions.

Heat an 8" or 9" pan over medium-low heat and give it a spritz of cooking spray. Dump about 1/3-1/2 cup batter into the middle of the pan and swirl the pan to distribute the batter evenly across it. Cook until the edges are dry and pulling up from the side, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the other side for a minute. Repeat with remaining batter.

Mix up your aioli ingredients. When everything has cooked, place a small handful of lettuce on each of two crepes. Divide up the beets and carrots and place on top of the lettuce, spoon some aioli over the veggies, and place a second crepe over the top. Roll the crepe, tucking the ends as you roll. (Hopefully you are better at this than I am.) Cut in half if you like.

Healthy Zucchini Summer Vegetable Bisque with shredded cheese

Since I haven't done enough complaining to people in person about how overloaded we are with zucchinis, I thought I'd share my woes with you. Before I made this soup today, I already ate eggplant and yellow summer squash. Even the dog, who is ecstatic to receive anything edible, has started getting suspicious of the large chunks of it that keep showing up in his dish. I'm starting to worry that 95% of my DNA is going to be zucchini - though Wikipedia tells me zucchini is the same species as pumpkin (what??), so I'm basically okay with that. But I digress to potential horror stories when I'm supposed to be writing about soup.

Oh, fascinating soup.

*cough*

This is a flexible recipe. Besides the zukes, I used stuff that was threatening to rot, but there are LOADS of other options here. More root veggies would work, different greens, you get the idea. It's good at using stuff up in a way that gives you a different flavor and texture than the one you've been eating eight hundred times per day all season. So take the ingredients list with a grain of salt (pun intended), and toss whatever you like in the pot.

Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
3 large or 4 small zucchinis, sliced, chopped, or cut up in some way 
A few large greens, cut into pieces. I used swiss chard and beet greens, stems, and all.
2 carrots, sliced
Several cloves of garlic, chopped
6 cups stock (roughly)
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups regular or dairy-free milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
large handful basil
few sprigs parsley
couple sprigs cilantro (or just more parsley)
1 TBS dried oregano
Shredded cheese of choice

Directions:
In a really large pot (seriously, this makes about 1.5 gallons), saute onions 2-3 minutes in some oil or cooking spray. Dump in all your other veggies. Saute a few more minutes to get the veggies to wilt and start releasing juices. Cover veggies with stock, throw in bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Cover and turn down heat. Simmer 15-20 minutes, or until everything is nice and squishy. Turn off heat, taste, and add salt and pepper as needed.

Slowly pour in milk and cream. Stir in yogurt and add basil. Now take your lovely, fabulous immersion blender and Amalgamate! Amalgamate! If bisque is too thin, add more yogurt or cook longer. If too thick, add more stock.

If you do not have an immersion blender, get off your computer, go to the store, and buy one right this second. Or order one online and select one day shipping. I'm not kidding. They are inexpensive and you will hate yourself for having to do this with a blender.

Perform taste test. If satisfactory, you're done! If it tastes like it's missing something, add the other herbs, adjust salt and pepper, and blend again. This will likely depend on the quality of your stock. Nice stock will already have the flavors of parsley, etc. The stuff I used tasted like salt and food dye. Delicious.

When seasoning is satisfactory, ladle into bowls and top with cheese. Really any cheese would be fine. I used Parmesan because that's what was in the fridge. Serve with toast if desired. Voila.

BLT Pizza

The thing about lettuce is that it's very easy to acquire too much. Way, way, way too much. If you grow it yourself or, in my case, get it from your CSA farm share, you realize how quickly and easily it grows, and soon your handful of seeds leaves you with lettuce growing out your ears. (Heh. Leaves you. Geddit?) We're now on week three of our farm share, and still have half a gallon of lettuce left from last week, so we have been desperately trying to find things to do with it besides salad.

By the way, if you don't know what Community Supported Agriculture is, you should totally read about it here. You may even have a farm near you, and many of them are organic. Much more sustainable (and fresh!) than produce shipped from halfway across the country.

So the BLT pizza was an idea I came across on Huff Post, but unfortunately the link redirected to a page of ads. No biggie. I'm a native of NYC, good pizza is in my genes.* Time to get inventing!

Ingredients:
1 ball pizza dough, rolled out, on a pizza pan or baking sheet (you could make this, but seriously, just buy it at the store - it's really hard to mess up and is a pain to make)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
3 TBS fresh herbs, chopped (oregano would be good - I used savory as it was already in the fridge)
8 oz mozzarella, grated
4 oz parmesan, grated
2-3 tomatoes, sliced thin and patted dry
1/2 small red onion, sliced thin
Handful mushrooms, sliced
5-6 slices bacon, precooked to remove as much grease as possible, and sliced cross-ways (I tend to use veggie bacon - you could use turkey bacon, but I wouldn't recommend the pig variety as too much grease will make the pizza runny and gross)
2 large handfuls of baby lettuce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 475. Mix mayo with garlic and herbs. Spread on the dough. Layer everything else on top except lettuce - we did tomatoes on the bottom, then cheese, then the rest, but you could put cheese on the bottom. Bake 20 minutes or until the crust is slightly brown and cheese is melted. The last 2-3 minutes of baking, throw the lettuce on top and allow it to wilt slightly. This is a super-filling pizza.


*This was not a scientifically accurate statement. Don't believe everything you read on the web, folks.

Smoky Gruyere Scallioned Potatoes

Once upon a time, when I was young and stupid, I ate scalloped potatoes from a box and promptly gagged. No prince came to save me, but as a capable and independent woman, that's quite alright. I learned to cook properly and lived happily ever after, avoiding boxed potatoes. I never had any thoughts of trying to make scalloped potatoes in any form again until our first community farm share came home yesterday and it contained loads of potatoes and scallions. Welp, time to try again!

Ingredients:

3/4 lb yellow potatoes, sliced thin

3 scallions, greens and all, sliced

3 eggs

3 oz smoked Gruyere, grated

Splash of milk

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Microwave the potatoes for two minutes to soften them up a bit. Toss them in the largest sauté pan you have with a little oil or cooking spray, salt and pepper, and cook over medium-high heat in a single layer (or as close as possible) until nicely browned on the bottom. Flip them over, toss in half your scallions, and brown the other side.

Meanwhile, combine eggs and milk and gently scramble. Stir in the cheese. When the potatoes are done, turn heat to low, pour the egg and cheese over the potatoes, cover, and cook until the egg is set and cheese is melted. Turn off the heat and sprinkle remaining scallions on top. Add more salt and pepper.

This was yummy. I contemplated adding other things - hot sauce, salsa, guacamole... But any of that would detract from the yummy smoky gruyere. However with a less delicious, stand out on its own cheese, those would be very nice additions.

Shrimp Puttanesca with Spaghetti Squash and Artichokes

Spaghetti Squash. You'd think it would be completely logical to turn it into something resembling spaghetti, but only since the boom of social media did I realize that was a Thing. I have never in fact eaten a spaghetti squash before, let alone cooked one, but who am I to deny an experiment - or for that matter, produce offering itself at a dollar a pound?

 The inspiration for this came from a rather bad experience at an Italian restaurant - I really don't understand why Italian restaurants are generally the more expensive ones when a box of pasta costs 89 cents. $20 to slap some sauce on it, really? Anyway, this restaurant shall go unnamed (can you see my halo?) but it makes so much more sense to cook Italian food yourself when you can do it cheaper and just as well, and it's really pretty easy as long as you have the right herbs. Also, I tend to find pasta boring, so the vegetable version was more appealing anyway.

Ingredients:
1 large spaghetti squash, cut into 1/2" rings
Salt
1/2 lb shrimp
3 tomatoes, chopped, or handful of cherry/grape tomatoes, halved
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
15-20 Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
3 TBS capers
1/4 to 1/3 cup garlic and herb oil (see below)
Grated Parmesan  cheese (optional - I skipped this)

Garlic and herb oil:
Into a small dish, combine 4 cloves of garlic, minced or grated, 1 TBS onion powder, 1 TBS dry parsley, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp dry oregano, a pinch of cracked pepper, and a few red pepper flakes. Add 1 TBS water, mix, and let sit 5 minutes. Measure 3/4 cup pure olive oil (not virgin or extra virgin) into a fluid measuring cup, and add the herb mix. Stir well to combine. (You can do this while the squash is baking)

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 and spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray. Lay the squash rings down, give them another spritz of cooking spray and sprinkle some salt on top. Bake about 30 minutes, turning over once half-way through. Remove from oven and retrain yourself from grabbing them until cool enough to not get burned.

Here's the messy part: Use a fork to scoop the stringy flesh from the skin. The skin is tough but not thick, and you should be able to fairly easily pull all of the flesh away. If you have a quarter inch of flesh stuck to the skin, pop them back in the oven for a few more minutes.

Put a blob of your garlic and herb oil into a medium saucepan (2 quart-ish) and add shrimp. Cook until pink. Turn heat to the lowest possible setting. Add your "spaghetti," tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, capers, and enough oil to coat. Toss gently to avoid busting tomatoes - the goal is just to mix and warm everything, not cook. Serve with cheese if desired, or another drizzle of oil.

Smoky chili kielbasa and chickpeas with avocado mint zucchini noodles - VEGAN

This was an unusual creation, whose existence I blame on the fickle weather. It's winter. And then it's spring. And then it's winter again. And then it's summer for a day. Now back to winter. So do I want something warm and hearty or do I want something light and cool? I don't know anymore. Here's both! Bonus: the cool avocado offsets the intense smoked chili. It takes a couple of bites to get used to, but then is quite tasty. At first I wasn't sure whether Justin liked it, but then he went back for seconds.

Ingredients:

4 zucchinis, julienned into long strips (noodles)

1 onion, sliced thin

8 oz portabella mushrooms, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced (divided)

1 package Tofurkey kielbasa (or other veggie sausage if you can't find this)

1 can chickpeas

3 smoked, dry chilies, sliced thin or crushed

Additional chili powder, to taste

Pinch cayenne

Few drops liquid smoke

2 avocados

2 TBS miso

1 TBS tahini

Handful of mint leaves, finely chopped

2 TBS lemon juice

Salt, to taste

Directions

In a large saute pan, cook the onion over medium heat until starting to brown. Add zucchini and a pinch of salt, stir, and continue cooking until the zucchini just starts to wilt. Remove from heat and put a lid or plate over it to keep warm.

In another pan, saute three of the garlic cloves with the mushrooms until the mushrooms start to release their water. Add the kielbasa, chickpeas, chilies, chili powder, cayenne and liquid smoke. Stir and continue cooking until everything is cooked through.

In the mean time, combine the avocados, miso, tahini, mint, lemon juice, salt, and reserved clove of garlic in a blender. Puree. Add a trickle of water at a time and continue to pulse until it thins out enough to make a sauce.

Pour avocado sauce over zucchini noodles and mix. Put onto plates and top with kielbasa mix. This makes about six servings and reheats well. The avocado puree does not turn brown immediately either, so you can keep it in the fridge in tupperware up to about 3 days.

Tabouleh (Tabouli)

Ta-bless you? No, Tab-oo-ley. This is a middle eastern salad that uses several contrasting flavors to produce a beautiful taste sensation when you eat it. The first time I made tabouleh (or tabbouleh or tabouli), the recipe was a very traditional one out of a vegetarian cookbook and it made me very happy. The next time I had it, it was prepackaged and bland and disappointing. But this is why I cook. The idea of tabouleh is tomato and onion with parsley, mint, and a lemon sauce, sometimes with bulgur wheat. You could also use other grains - this time I used beech smoked barley leftover from home brewing experiments. While delicious as is, there are a number of improvements I have made that make it delectable, rather like the fresh version of chocolate lava cake. Or something. (Can you tell I wasn't an English major?) So if you have had yucky tabouleh, don't despair! Try this recipe! An added bonus? You'll feel good eating this - it's just so fresh and healthy!

 

Ingredients:

1 cup bulgur wheat

1 small red onion, diced 

1 cucumber, chopped

1 lb tomatoes, chopped

6 oz reduced fat feta, crumbled

1/2 cup Kalamata olives, sliced

1 bunch parsley, chopped fine

1 bunch mint, chopped fine

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 TBS olive oil

Salt to taste

Directions:

Bring two cups of water (or broth!) to a boil, add bulgur, cover and simmer about 10 minutes or until tender. Drain excess liquid and allow to cool. Combine everything else in a large bowl and toss. Put salad in a bowl and top with bulgur. Serve cold or at room temperature. Done. Easy. What are you waiting for? Go make this right now!

 

Cheesy Seared Asparagus with Garlic and Pepper

Every time I have eaten asparagus in the company of a friend, I have been asked incredulously, "You like ASPARAGUS??!!" as if I had just declared my undying love of sparkly vampires. Admittedly if cooked anything but perfectly it tends to be pretty gross, and loads of people don't seem to know how to achieve this, including at a couple of restaurants I have visited (sigh). Luckily there are a couple of very easy ways of making asparagus delicious rather than revolting.  Here's a very easy one.

Ingredients

1 TBS garlic oil (or substitute olive oil and a clove of minced garlic)
1 bunch asparagus
Salt and fresh cracked pepper
1/4 cup Asiago cheese, shredded

Directions
Prepare the asparagus by peeling the ends. That's right, peeling. Most people cut or snap them off, but this is much less wasteful - it's really only the outer part that's tough and chewy at the bottom.

Heat a large saute pan on medium-high heat and add the oil. When hot, throw in the asparagus and turn to coat with oil. Sear the asparagus about 2 minutes, turn over, crack pepper and salt all over the top of the asparagus and sear two more minutes. Turn heat to low. Cover pan and saute gently for 5 minutes or until you can stick a fork through them easily but there is still a bit of resistance.  Cooking them until completely soft is how they end up tasting slimy. Remove from heat and  sprinkle cheese on top.

This recipe is easily adaptable. Omit the cheese and squirt some lemon juice over the top. To reduce calories, omit oil and use cooking spray. Or once cooked, put them in sandwiches or eggs.

Mushroom Chestnut Stew/Pie with Red Wine

Pictured above as stew, below as pot pie.

Happy weekend! Today you get a two-for-one recipe! You can make this either as a stew or a pot pie, whichever happens to strike your fancy. With temperatures a good 10 degrees below average, and the coming weekend twice that, it's a good one for warm, hearty comfort food. I'm a big fan of stews in the winter, and while I don't usually care too much for pot pie, I think this actually works better as one. Also I found a whole potato was a good amount for the pot pie but was a bit much for the stew, so consider a small potato if you're going for the stew.

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
8oz portabella mushrooms, sliced
5oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced or chopped, depending on how much you like the flavor of garlic and how much you hate vampires
2 large or 4 small sausages of your liking (I used tofurkey apple "chicken" - dry and  unimpressive on its own but soaks up liquid nicely.)
1 cup chestnuts, peeled, chopped roughly
3/4 cup broth of your choice
3/4 cup red wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Bunch fresh thyme or 2 tsp dried
1/4 cup flour
1 potato*

Directions:
First, decide whether you want this to be stew or pot pie. If stew, cube the potato into small pieces. If pot pie, turn it into mashed potato as you would normally prepare this. If you are making stew, use any pot; if pot pie, a Dutch oven is your friend.

Saute onion 2 minutes over medium heat. Add mushrooms and garlic, and saute another 10 minutes until the mushrooms have released some moisture. Add sausages, chestnuts, potato if making stew, broth, wine, salt, pepper, and thyme.

Drink some wine while simmering 5-10 minutes until the liquid reduces. If making stew, cover and simmer another 10 until the potatoes cook through, and drink more wine.

Make a slurry with the flour and 1/4 cup water. Stir into the stew and cook 2-3 minutes until thickened.

If stew, you're done, ta-da! If pot pie, remove from heat, cover with potato mash and bake at 425 10 minutes or until potatoes brown slightly. Have more wine.

Creamy Beets with Horseradish (Great for Valentine's Day!)

I am not a fan of commercialism or candy, but Justin likes hearts everywhere, and I see no reason to not take advantage of having a nice day with the person you care about most. I also used to hate beets because, like half the population it seems, I had never had them prepared well. I tried them in a restaurant last summer where they were properly roasted, and changed my mind immediately.  Since then we have roasted beets at home numerous times. I'm honestly not sure where this idea came from - we had a beet in the fridge and no dinner plans. "Mashed beet with horseradish" just tumbled out of my mouth as if some divine being (or cousin of Groot?) had wanted me to use ALL the horseradish FOREVER.

Ingredients:

1 large (or 2 small) beet(s)

1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)

2 TBS butter

2 TBS+ horseradish

Pinch salt

Directions:

You're basically going to make these like mashed potatoes, but beets are a little more unwieldy. A few options:

-Use a good peeler to peel, then cut in chunks and boil till tender

-Wrap in foil whole and roast at 350 for 1-2 hours depending on size of beet, then scoop flesh out of husk

-Microwave till starting to soften, cut in half and scoop out of peel; cut into chunks and boil it the rest of the way tender

Mash with milk and butter, add salt and horseradish to taste, and stir. Or mix everything except the horseradish, and squeeze some of that into a heart shape on top of the mashed beet. Present to your lover with a sickeningly sweet expression.

Sick Day Chicken Soup

Blarg. Sorry for not posting in a bit. I have been sick and mostly subsiding on bread and pretzels, as simple carbs appeared to be the only thing I could keep down. Yesterday, however, was a big day: Yesterday, I graduated to chicken soup! From a can. (It was gross.) Justin found this quite unacceptable and made some real chicken soup for me to have today (isn't he great) instead of more gross stuff. Since we have pretty much the same idea when it comes to chicken soup I don't feel bad putting a picture of the soup he made and giving you my recipe. It'll look and taste pretty much the same. There's nothing really special or unique about this recipe, but it's good, solid (and liquid), feel-better food.

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 small onion, or 1/2 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 small potato, peeled and cubed
6 cups chicken broth
handful fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Egg Noodles, optional

Directions:
I like to use my 3 quart crock pot for this, but you could do it stove top.

Saute your onion and celery about 5 minutes or until just getting soft. (You can skip this step but it tastes better if you don't.) In the mean time, rinse chicken, pat dry, and season with a little salt and pepper. Put them in the bottom of your pot. On top, layer carrots, potato, then onions and celery. Pour in your chicken broth. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours (or cover and simmer on stovetop 30 minutes to an hour). I like the slow cooker here because when it's done, the chicken just falls apart and is super tender.

If you are going to use noodles, cook them separately 10 minutes before soup is done. Drain, and store separately from soup so they don't turn into soggy, half-disintegrated noodles. You can add them in serving by serving before reheating.

Five minutes before soup is done, toss in the parsley. You want it wilted, not super soggy.

Slurp down and feel healthy.

Buttercup Mac and Cheese with Horseradish

Sometimes it's good to be healthy. And sometimes it's good to have a big bowl of mac and cheese. Luckily I start feeling guilty if I'm just eating cheese and pasta so usually I spruce up my mac and cheese with some healthy stuff. (Besides, pasta is boring.) I used Buttercup squash because I like the nutty flavor but you could easily substitute butternut squash instead if you happen to have18 of them lying around anyway. (Right Suzanne??) The horseradish isn't overpowering in this, and it could easily take more if you're big on horseradish. I will definitely be adding more next time I make this.

Ingredients:
1 box of your favorite pasta
1 buttercup squash
1 sweet onion
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp mustard powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 cups (12 oz) horseradish cheddar* (see note), divided
Prepared horseradish*
Handful of pretzels

* Vermont may have horrible winters, but one thing we do have is lots of cheese. The Cabot creamery produces a horseradish cheddar that is very easy to find around here. If you cannot find a horseradish cheddar, simply use regular cheddar and add prepared horseradish as indicated.

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta and drain. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Using a good peeler, peel the buttercup squash. (I'm not kidding about the good peeler. Spend a few extra dollars and get a nice one. It will save you so much time and frustration. Right now I am using the Titan that comes with a julienne tool. It was $15 but so worth it.) (Not a Titan sales person.)

3. Put the squash in the microwave for five minutes to soften. When it is done, remove the seeds and chop into small pieces.

4. Chop the onion and saute 3 minutes or until it just starts getting soft. All you are doing here is taking a little of the bite out of it, but you want it mostly still in tact texture-wise.

5. Melt butter in pasta pot. Add flour, stir, and cook till thick and bubbly. Stir in mustard, salt and pepper. Add milk, stir, and cook till thick. Add 2 1/2 cups of the cheese, stir, and cook till the cheese melts and you have a creamy sauce. (If you are adding horseradish, now's the time to do it. If you are using plain cheddar, start with a tablespoon, taste, and add more. I'd probably go with two tablespoons, but you may like more or less. If you are using horseradish cheddar but want MOAR HORSERADISH, add more 1/2 TBS at a time.)

6.Combine your pasta, squash and onion in a casserole dish that's too small. Spill it everywhere, and then transfer what you can salvage into a bigger casserole dish. Resolve to get a new casserole dish that is somewhere near the middle of two and six quarts in size.

7. Mix these well, then pour sauce over the top. Stir thoroughly to combine. Cover and bake 30 minutes.

8. Meanwhile go all Hulk on your pretzels and make them crumbs. (Or put them in a food processor and pulse, but what's the fun in that?) Toss them with the remaining cheese.

9. When the 30 minute timer you definitely did not forget to set goes off, turn the oven to broil and sprinkle your pretzel-cheese over the top. Broil 5-10 minutes until the topping starts to brown a little.

Frozen

No not the movie. Sorry to disappoint you, but I think I am the only one who hasn't seen it. I mean Vermont is frozen. The ground is frozen, the sky is frozen, even the very air seems to be maybe ten degrees from absolute zero. The only reason I would not say all atomic motion has ceased is because of the wind. Oh god the wind. We have wind chills of between -30 and -50 right now, which makes it a really great day to stay inside and do nothing but drink cocoa and eat SOUP. So here is a recipe for soup that is very warming. It has a mild heat to it and packs a lot of flavor with few calories and plenty of nutritional value.

I call it "International Soup a la Skittlez."

(Hi Skittlez!)

Skittlez is a really cool person who spent hours slaving away over a pot of soup for his friends, and it was delicious. It came from a fancy looking cookbook, but it was so good I figured I had to go home and try to replicate it immediately. It has basically every flavor of every cuisine you can imagine. You will taste curries of India followed by simmered Bok Choy reminiscent of Asian soups, followed by lemony cilantro of Mexican cuisine, and then it is brought back home via flavors of New England with apples and cider. I don't know if my rendition is anything like the cook book's, but I definitely didn't spend hours on it. Maybe just one. Another great thing about this recipe is it is highly adjustable. You can adjust all of the flavors to your liking very easily.

So here we go.

Ingredients:

One pound butternut squash, peeled and cubed (if you can't find exactly a one pound squash, no sweat. You can easily use more.)

2 large or 3 small carrots, peeled and sliced

One head of Bok Choy

Several cloves of garlic, minced (probably 3-4 unless you are me, in which case between 8-8,000)
4-6 cups vegetable broth
1 lemon, sliced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped (if you hate cilantro, use parsley, or better yet lemongrass if you can find it)
1 TBS ground ginger (or to taste)
1 TBS red curry powder or paste (you can add more to taste later)
Pinch cayenne (more if you like it hot)
2 large apples, peeled and chopped
1 package sausage of choice, sliced (I used apple chicken)

12 oz bottle hard cider (regular cider diluted a bit would also work)
1 TBS corn starch
1 bunch green onions, sliced

Directions:
Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Give it a spritz of cooking spray. (Or a slab of butter. Shh. I won't tell anyone.) Dump your squash and carrots in the pot and saute until the squash slightly caramelizes and gets a little soft on the outside (5-10 min depending on how big your squash cubes are). Add your bok choy and saute more until wilted.

Add enough broth to cover all those veggies, and toss in cilantro, lemon, ginger, curry powder/paste, and cayenne. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for as long as it takes to do the next part.

Throw your apples in frying pan. Saute until they get slightly tender, less than 5 minutes. Add sausage slices and cook through. Pour in half of your cider. Whisk the rest of the cider with corn starch to make a slurry, and add that as well. Heat until bubbly and the cider reduces by more than half.

In the mean time, taste your soup without paying attention to anything, burn your mouth, and promptly drop your spoon. Swear loudly. Adjust seasonings.

When the apples and sausages are done, divvy them into bowls and put the rest of the soup over the top. Sprinkle the green onions over the top. Wait for it to cool to non-burning temperature before eating.