Some Like It Hot.....

And some like it hotter.  After a winter in Maine some of you might think I'm talking about the climate, but this is about "hot in the pot".  As winter approached, we heard many of the year-round residents talk about how they hibernate and eat soup during winter.  We thought they were exaggerating, but apparently not.  In light of the fact there were many days when we looked outside and didn't see a person, car, or light in a window they were totally serious.  At one point, Dan commented he wouldn't be surprised to see tumbleweed rolling down Main Street.  This post is dedicated to all the year-round soup-eaters in Castine.

My first cookbook was The Nancy Drew Cookbook.  The Case of the Smothered Pork Chops could have been the beginning and end of my culinary adventures if my father hadn't been so kind and complimentary.  In hindsight, I'm thankful his stomach didn't rupture as I failed to understand rice increases with size and if you add more because what the recipe calls for doesn't look like a lot, you have to add more liquid.  Needless to say, the rice was more than a little crunchy.  Live and learn.

As I entered my teens and started dabbling with vegetarianism, I purchased Moosewood Cookbook.  Fast forward thirty-five years to the opposite coast as I was perusing the cookbooks at a bookstore in Pasadena.  There on the shelf was Moosewood Restaurant Cooking For Health.  How could I resist but have a glance inside.  I guess we've all grown up because there wasn't a kugel recipe insight and I wasn't wearing Birkenstocks. 

So what's with the hot factor?  The recipe calls for chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.  I had never tried or cooked with chipotles until we were living in L.A.  For anyone who loves cuisine with a kick, you understand there's hot and then there's hot with flavor.  Hot just for the sake of being hot isn't the name of the game.  Chipotles, on the other hand, have a divine smokiness, a sublime flavor, and fabulous heat.  They are the crowning glory in this recipe.  So who in our family likes it "hot" and who likes it "hotter"?  Let's just say I'm all about the burn.

Sweet Potato, Apple, and Chipotle Soup

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup thinly sliced celery
5 large peeled sweet potatoes, thinly sliced
2 cups peeled apples, chopped
1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
4 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
water

Warm the oil in a large soup pot on high heat.  Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring continually, until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes.  Add the celery, sweet potatoes, apples, chipotle peppers, vegetable broth, salt, black pepper, and enough water to cover the veggies.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer gently until the sweet potatoes and apples are soft, about 20 minutes.

Puree the soup in a blender in batches until smooth and creamy.  You may need to add a little water if the soup is too thick or if it refuses to puree easily in the blender.  Blend in more chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, and/or black pepper to suit your taste.  I've taken to drizzling the adobo on top of the soup after it's in the bowl as I don't want to burn Dan's taste buds off.

Note:  the above is a slight variation of the original recipe.  I've also discovered (in the depths of winter when the pantry is a little empty) you can substitute water for the vegetable broth. 

Moving Purgatory

This morning I woke up and decided I'm in "moving purgatory".  I know the end is in sight, but it doesn't feel that way at the moment.  While the bulk of everything is packed, it's those sniggly little stragglers still needing to be popped into boxes that are driving me crazy.  It probably doesn't help that I placed the first round of orders for the store on Friday.  Perhaps that makes everything worse as I really just want to be in Maine getting Lucky Hill up and running.  Speaking of which, you can check out my first blog post for Lucky Hill at luckyhillhome.blogspot.com

I realized I haven't had any cooking posts for quite awhile, as my kitchen is more or less packed.  More by my standards, less by others.  I've been trying to use up a lot of what I have in the larder, but this was one of those days we really needed veggies.  With packing at a height and tying up loose ends, I knew exactly what fit the bill.

The first time I had Israeli cous cous was in Miami in 1998 when I was there for my first freelance design contract.  As with a lot of my freelance contracts, I ended up working in my room most nights and ordering room service.  The first night I ordered the mixed vegetables over Israeli cous cous and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.  It was wonderful.  The second night I ordered the same.  And the third.  And the forth.  By the fifth night, when room service picked up they knew what I wanted before I ever uttered a word.

Israeli cous cous is now a staple in my pantry.  While this may not be the same dish I had in Miami, it is one Dan and I love.  It's super easy, totally yummy, and you can easily modify it based on the veggies that are in season.

Israeli Cous Cous with Mixed Veggies

4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 medium zucchini, sliced
2 medium yellow squash, sliced
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
Israeli cous cous, prepared per directions (I use a
      box of Trader Joe's Israeli cous cous)

Warm the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add the garlic.  Cook the garlic until slightly golden.  Do not overcook the garlic!  With a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic to a small bowl.  Add the zucchini and yellow squash slices to the saute pan and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until tender and beginning to color.  Add the grape tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes soften and start to break down.  Return the garlic to the pan and simmer with the vegetables for five minutes.  To plate, place the cous cous in the bottom of a bowl and top with the vegetables.

What's Up Doc?: Gluten-free Carrot Bread

Wishing everyone a Happy Spring!  By all accounts, it appears a good portion of the country has jumped right over Spring and landed in the middle of summer.  The sycamores in our neighborhood have started to green at the tippy top, my favorite bird has been singing beautifully, and Spring showers are predicted for this weekend.

Since I gave up white flour, my baking has come to a screeching halt.  I've wanted to experiment with some of my old recipes substituting gluten-free flour, but never got around to it until last weekend.  I thought the beginning of Spring and approaching Easter holiday would be as good a time as any to give our family's Carrot Bread recipe a go.  Amazingly, I think it actually turned out better with the substitution!

A little background before the actual recipe.  Most people who go gluten-free do so because of celiac disease or a wheat allergy. Why did I give up white flour?  Aside from my new eating regime, I had started to suspect white flour triggered a pain point on my lower left back.  Within a few hours of eating a product made with white flour, I would experience excruciating stabbing pains in that one very localized area.  When I eliminated white flour the pain went away.  In the years since banning white flour from my life, there have been occasions when I couldn't avoid eating it.  Like clockwork, the pain came back.  Some people might say it's all in my head.....what isn't in my head you might ask....but I can only respond to what I have experienced and I truly believe there is a connection.

 Gluten-free Carrot Bread 

4 free-range eggs
2 cups organic sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
3 cups Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour
1 teaspoon Bob's Red Mill Xanthum Gum
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups coarsely grated carrots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour the loaf pans.  This recipe will produce 2 full size loaves or 4-5 mini loaves.  Beat eggs and sugar together.  Add the oil, flour, xanthum gum, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon and mix well.  Add the grated carrots and mix well.  Spoon into the greased loaf pans.  For regular size loaves, bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the top.  For the mini loaves, bake about 40 minutes.

You can make this with regular flour if you prefer.  The recipe is exactly the same and the quantity of white flour is the same, simply omit the xanthum gum.

Abso-bloomin' Shrooms

There was a time in my life....not all that long ago... when "stuffed mushrooms" meant ooey gooey nuggets of joy filled with sausage and bechamel sauce.  Not anymore.  Now, my stuffed mushrooms are healthy and yummy in their own right.

This is one of those recipes I regard as a "kitchen sink" recipe, also known as whatever I have in the pantry that sounds good or needs to be used up.  That's what I love about this recipe.  As long as you have mushroom caps and the base of bulgur wheat, you can go in any one of a number of directions, adding this or that and deleting what might be missing on the larder shelf. 

The recipe below is a good starting point, but I've made variations that included sunflower seeds or nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, and various herbs.  Just by changing a spice to an herb or a couple ingredients, you have an entirely different flavor.  These little jewels are just as good reheated the next day as leftovers which make them ideal when you're having a hectic week.  I generally serve them with a great Spanish Rice recipe from The Healthy Kitchen cookbook by Andrew Weil, M.D. and Rosie Daley.

Abso-bloomin' Shrooms

1 cup bulgur wheat
2 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
15-20 Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1 fire-roasted red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese**
1/2 teaspoon cumin
large pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
salt
freshly ground pepper
10 medium or 4 large portobello mushroom caps

Place the 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Remove from the heat and add the bulgur wheat.  Stir, cover, and allow to sit for 30 minutes.  The cooking of the bulgur wheat can be done well before mixing the remaining ingredients.

 Warm the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat.  Add the chopped onions and cook until soft, approx. 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  After the onions are soft and slightly translucent, add the minced garlic and continue cooking until the onions are golden and lightly browned.  Don't let the garlic get too brown.  Remove from the heat and cool.

Combine the bulgur wheat, cooked onion/garlic mixture, artichoke hearts, Kalamata olives, red bell peppers, and 1/3 cup of the Parmesan in a large bowl.  Add the cumin, cayenne, and salt to taste.  Season the cavity of each mushroom cap with a little salt and freshly ground pepper.  Generously fill the mushroom cap with the bulgur wheat mixture.  Gently press the filling into a domed shape so it doesn't fall apart during the baking.  Top the mushrooms with the remaining grated Parmesan cheese.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place the mushroom caps in an oiled baking dish and bake until the cheese is melted and the mushroom caps are tender when tested with a fork, approximately 40-45 minutes.

** This recipe can be a converted from vegetarian to vegan simply by omitting the Parmesan cheese or by substituting a soy cheese or dairy-free cheese.

Soup For You: Adzuki Bean Soup

Soup, or the lack thereof, entered the ranks of sitcom history thanks to Seinfeld and the episode entitled, "The Soup Nazi."  The declaration, "No soup for you!" will forever bring to mind Elaine's ill-fated attempt to order soup while imitating Al Pacino's famous "hooah"  in the movie Scent of a Woman.  Unlike the Soup Nazi, my rallying cry is more apt to be, "Soup for everyone!"

Soup in our house bears no resemblance to anything Andy Warhol captured on canvas.  It is made from scratch and always in a large batch.  When money gets tight or finances are uncertain, the first thing I say is, "No problem.  I'll just make more soup."  When work gets crazy or schedules are stretched to the limit, the first thing that comes to mind is, "No problem.  I'll just make a pot of soup."  And then, of course, there's the requisite chicken soup for colds.  It's amazing how many ills....physical and otherwise....a simple bowl of soup can remedy.

A recent addition to my soup repertoire is Adzuki Bean Soup.  After reading about adzuki beans, I happened upon them in the bulk food section of Whole Foods.  While some beans can become mushy in soup, these little maroon babies not only remain firm, they have a decidedly meaty texture.  This is especially nice if you happen to be living with any "default vegetarians".....people who are vegetarians only because the person cooking the meals is a vegetarian.  Welcome to our house.

This recipe makes a lot of soup which is why it is great for busy schedules.  I make a pot on Sunday for dinner.  We have it again a couple days later and the rest is frozen for another dinner or two.  I usually serve this soup with a batch of Spelt Biscuits.

Adzuki Bean Soup

2 cups adzuki beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
8 carrots, peeled and chopped
8 celery stalks, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 (28 oz.) cans diced tomatoes in juice
8 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 cups water
salt and pepper

Rinse the beans in cool water and discard and misshapen beans or stones.  Place the beans in a saucepan and add water to cover.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Boil for 4 minutes, then remove from the heat, cover, and let stand for one hour.  Drain the beans.  The beans will still be firm at this point.

Over medium heat, warm the olive oil in a large soup pot.  Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and saute, stirring often, until softened but not browned, about 15 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and their juice, broth, beans, water, and 2 teaspoons salt.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for at least 2-3 hours until beans are tender. Season with salt and pepper.  If the soup seems too thick, add a little more water.  When reheating the leftover soup, it may be necessary to add a little more water to thin.  As with most of my soup recipes, the recipe can be cut in half if this is just too much soup for you!

Obviously, this soup is vegetarian/vegan only if using the vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.