kale and lentil soup with hot peppers and cumin

Yesterday was just cool enough in the morning to start thinking soup recipes. First I made a fresh carrot soup that ended up somewhat unexciting, so I froze it and headed back to the stove. I rummaged through my pantry supplies and pulled out the lentils - nothing fancy, just the inexpensive brown lentils from the supermarket. I LOVE lentil soup, and I can tell you this recipe beats the pants off Progresso Lentil.

Way back in my mind I remembered reading a post last winter on 101 cookbooks that combined lentils and kale (http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/lively-up-yourself-lentil-soup-recipe.html) and thought - how brilliant to use kale rather than spinach! Spinach has a tendancy to fall to pieces during cooking, so kale is a far better green to use in this lentil soup.

Making the soup:

1 cup regular brown lentils

1 bay leaf

small amount hot pepper flakes or piece of hot pepper

sprig oregano or a shake of dried

Cover the lentils with water to spare ( by about 3 inches), add the herbs and hots, and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain. (this is supposed to keep the lentils from causing distress to your stomach)

Cover the drained lentils with half water, half chicken stock.

Add:

1 t. fresh oregano, or 1/2 t. dried

2 T. olive oil

1/2 t. dried thyme

1t. cumin

1 clove garlic, smushed

1 medium onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups canned plum tomatoes, cut into small pieces, plus juice

3 cups torn kale greens - discard the stems

2 t. red wine vinegar

Cook for another fifteen minutes, taste and add more salt and pepper, hot sauce or hot pepper flakes, cumin, and a little basil.

This freezes really well, so you might want to multiply the recipe for extras.

Have a great holiday weekend!

oeufs a la neige - the dud

We all know we cooks are prone to peculiar fits of passion, often going to remarkable lengths to either procure ingredients or experiment with a new recipe. Today was such a day.
It started so innocently. I picked up the September Gourmet and browsed through it, delighting in what looked like a return to the old Gourmet, which had “real” recipes and gorgeous photographs of Paris. Parisian food, I should say. I fixated on this recipe “Ginger-Cardamom Oeufs A La Neige” - or, in American cooking terms, Floating Island. I got the cardamom - pods and ground, since I couldn’t remember which was called for - and set aside a few hours today to make the recipe.

I whipped the egg whites and heated up the milk with the spices. Using an ice cream scoop, I placed the egg whites carefully in the hot milk for four minutes, turning once. The egg whites inflated quite suddenly, but I nudged them over, losing only one, which crumbled to bits. I took the skimmer and gingerly set them on a baking sheet.

I was halfway through beating the yolks into the hot milk to make the custard when I turned around and saw the puffs of meringue had shrunk to a strange gelatinous disc (see middle photo showing 1st and 2nd attempts)). I tasted it, and it had the texture of a very slippery, sweetened, poached egg. Struggling on with the custard, my eyes bugged as I saw the custard turning to a grainy, cornmeal-textured and colored sauce. I bravely plated it up and took a picture, swearing the whole time at the idiots who came up with this recipe ( see bottom picture).

About to flame out of the kitchen and take a walk, I felt that stubborn, ornery streak we all get at this point, and pulled out my cookbooks until I found "Oeufs" in a very old edition of Joy of Cooking. I washed the pots and started again. This time, the meringue stayed inflated, and I dollied up the custard sauce with pepper, lemon zest, and a crushed cardamom pod. I looked at the dish plated (top photo), tasted it, and wondered why anyone would want to go through this trouble for such a mundane dish - but email me if you'd like to try.

And now, I think I'll go smash a plate.

unexpected company: spinach quiche with onion jam

An unexpected call from my daughter saying they were coming for brunch - and had invited a few friends who were painting down the road from my house. Quick! Make the quiche, start the onion jam, race through the freezer, pull out the just frozen congo bars with cranberries, the odd assortment of mineral waters, run to the garden and pick the few cherry tomatoes bravely ripening after a month of rain, cut up the watermelon and strawberries, top with fresh mint - and put out a new tablecloth. Oops - coffee! And why not make a batch of blueberry muffins with pecans? Stir the onion jam again....

It was all pulled together in an hour, and we were all happy to have a final meal before the roundabout of preschool, jobs, and preparing for the autumn.

Here's my favorite spinach quiche, which is crustless, since none of us eat it:

Butter a pie pan and preheat oven to 340F.

Mix together in mixer bowl:

4 extra large eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

1/4 t. fresh nutmeg

1 1/2 cups good swiss cheese, grated

2 cups spinach, sliced thinly

lots of pepper

Pour into pie pan and cook about 40 minutes, or until quiche is solid in the middle. Remove and cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

I like to serve onion jam with many foods - chicken, meats, and even this quiche. It has a rich, buttery, robust taste, and it's incredibly easy to make.

Onion jam

Peel 3 medium white onions very, very thinly.

Melt 3 T. unsalted butter in a skillet.

Melt the butter and add the onions.

Saute on medium for 10 minutes, stirring quite a bit, then lower the heat to very low and put a lid over the onions. let them cook for at least another 20 minutes, stirring now and then and checking to make sure they don't burn. I like to add a pinch of thyme to mine.

Serve in a small pot, or spoon over or next to the quiche.

my sweet potato sticks are about to be famous

I just found out that these delicious and darling sweet potato sticks are about to be included in a cookbook by Beth Sheresh on cooking for children. Did I mention not only how tasty they are, but low in fat and loaded with the kind of vitamins and fiber you dream of? You can read more here.

I usually make these in a toaster oven, just enough for two, but if you want to make a larger amount, just set your oven to 350F and wing the directions.

Sweet Potato Sticks

Peel a large sweet potato and cut into thick slices.

Cut the slices into large matchsticks.

Drizzle olive oil on a toaster oven tray and add sweet potato sticks, turning them until they're completely coated with olive oil.

Cook at 350F for about 20 minutes, or until sticks are softening.

Switch to the broil setting and broil until the sticks show some browning.

Remove, sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper, and finely minced fresh dill.

These are beautiful with roasts, hamburgers, fish, or chicken. Just add a green salad and you're good to go . And for kids, this is a perfect "fast food" treat. Just don't tell them it's good for them!

out of the kitchen and into the woods

After three weeks of thunderstorms day and night, and humidity that rendered every towel and piece of clothing saturated with moisture, the sun finally came out. As I walked to the car, I saw a huge brown mushroom, and then inhaled a waft of that intense, earthy, primeval scent of forest . I kept walking, into the dappled sunlight of the woodlands nearby. The brook was rushing noisily downstream, and, on either side, a wonderland of mushrooms had sprouted.

As I am not familiar with which mushrooms are edible ( except for puffballs), I simply enjoyed the rainbow of colors and shapes I saw spread out before me. Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me.

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little peach pies

I've gone berserk with peaches lately, making tiny pies almost every day. Actually, I suppose they should be called cobblers, since they only have a fat pastry top, sprinkled with sugar.

In the beginning, I loosely followed the traditional mixing of peaches with sugar and flour, but I felt the peach flavor didn't shine, as I felt it could. Then I remembered the traditional Greek and Italian marriage of peaches and honey, tried it out, and was delighted. The peaches tasted like peaches, and the juices were clear and fragrant.

To make:

The peaches:

Peel and slice enough ripe peaches to make 2 heaping cups

Squeeze on 1 t. fresh lemon juice

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. cinnamon

1 1/2 T. honey ( I used wildflower)

1 T. flour

Mix peaches in bowl with rest of the ingredients. Heap into 2 individual souffle cups or one larger 2 serving dish.

To make the pastry top:

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a mixer bowl, mix:

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

3/4 cup King Arthur all purpose flour

3 T. cold unsalted butter, cut in pieces

2 t. sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and butter until crumbly. Add the cream and briefly mix, until it forms a ball.

Roll out and cut with cookie cutters, or with a pizza wheel to fit your dishes.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Serve as is, or with softly whipped cream.

This serves two people.

Enjoy!

ooey gooey cheesecake brownies

I haven't made these brownies in years - but had a request for them yesterday, sooooo , here they are. They come out of the oven somewhat soft, and definitely gooey, but firm up as they cool. Since I'm not a die hard chocolate fanatic, I really like the cheesecake part - too much chocolate is too much for me.

To make:

1 rectangular cake pan, greased

Preheat oven to 350F.

You will need:

8 oz box ( I used Baker's) semi-sweet chocolate squares

10 T. unsalted butter

1 8 oz. package cream cheese

2 cups sugar, divided ( see recipe)

6 eggs

1 cup King Arthur all purpose flour, plus 2 T. for the cream cheese mixture

3 t. good vanilla

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

Melt chocolate and 6 T. butter in a saucepan, set aside when melted.

Mix cream cheese in mixer bowl with 4 T. soft butter until blended well. Slowly add 1/2 cup sugar, then 2 eggs, 2 heaping T. flour, and a teaspoon of vanilla. When mixed well, scoop into a bowl and set aside.

Clean bowl. Then add 4 eggs and 1 1/2 cups sugar and beat until light. Add the baking powder, salt, and 1 cup flour and mix. Blend in the chocolate mixture, the remaining 2 t. vanilla.

Spread all but a cup of the chocolate mixture in the pan, then cover with the cream cheese mixture. Drizzle the cup of chocolate batter all over the top. Take a skewer and swirl top in circles and squiggles.

Bake for 35 minutes, remove pan from oven to a cooling rack. Cool a good half hour or hour, if you want it firmer. Cut into squares and serve.