Veggie Stone Soup

After discovering yesterday evening that I did not have all of the ingredients required to make what I was going to make, I was forced to improvise.

I literally went on a scavenger hunt through my kitchen, discovering small amounts of leftovers along the way and putting them into the pot with our leftover veggie juice.

I found four parsnips, a can of green beans, a can of black beans, two stalks of celery, one small onion, & two small potatoes. I simmered these with Italian seasonings, garlic, cayenne & pepper. For a little over an hour.

The veggies were firm but soft, not mushy which is what we try to avoid around here. The flavors were delightful. The parsnips really came out, and paired well with the acidity of the tomato based veggie juice.

All in all, a surprise success. After we ate our fill, we felt warm & merry. With 4-6 bowls still in leftovers. We set out into the cold night to hunt down some new ice cube trays. (We had only two and one of them broke.) We came back, as well, with flowers & the ingredients for tonight's dinner (the ones I was missing yesterday).

Favorite Song (featured on my favorite radio station website):

A Hack and a Hacksaw- Cerventine

Guest Post: Maple Parsnip Soup

I could think of nobody more suited to guest post about a parsnip dish than my husband. He's a charming fellow, with his own angle on the world. I think we'll enjoy!

And so there we were, my horrorshow starries, an evening after a large lunch that stuffed us well into the evening. Good thing, too, because I'm rather slow at chopping things, and turned a 15-minute chopping job into a 45-minute one.

5 parsnips, sliced and chopped again: check.
2 garlic cloves minced: check.

2 onions chopped... well, obviously, I eventually managed it. I don't know if it was my slow chopping technique or they were simply oni-yons (鬼 四, demon four), but it was emanating strongly enough into the other room that my wife and brother-in-law's eyes started hurting, too.

Finally, when I got that done, I put 3tbsp butter into this giant pot of ours, and started it melting/browning. Before it burned, I put the chopped ingredients in, let the onions cook until translucent, and then poured in our 1.5L of chicken broth. On a side note, one hand-sized bottle of Dr. Pepper is 500mL. Not that I used one for measuring.

Cooking for 40 minutes left me time to discover wormux, xscorched, and lostlabyrinth, and download them. I got to start playing wormux, which isn't quite as sleek in actual gameplay as the commercial Worms games I've played, but at least it's got a decent menu interface, plays nice in a window (doesn't screw up your video or freeze when you try to switch away), and it's got at least the basic gameplay there. And it's free, so if you want to play it with friends at a LAN, you can do it without stealing.

I also set up my first Windows virtual machine using QEMU/KVM rather than VirtualBox. I want to know how to do it in as many formats as possible. Maybe I'll set up a miniature domain one of these times.

That took longer than expected, but I was reminded by the timer I set, so that's fine. I went back, took it off the heat, and added a cup of milk (subsituted for a half cup of evaporated milk). Then I proceeded to... look at the instructions and re-read the next section. I wasn't sure I was reading it right - blend it? Yup, blend it. So there I go and blend it, as much as I could reasonably fit into the blender/food processor at a time. Then stir in 1/3 cup of maple-y syrup and garnish with cashews (geseundheit). The recipe suggested pine nuts, but any nuts should do. Maybe not coconuts, though. That might have to be an experiment.

Quite tasty already, it didn't need the recommended salt, but I'm a salt junkie and still put some in. The sweet-but-earthy taste of that prince of root vegetables, the parsnip, was not lost. In the future, if I were to do this again, I would a) try to get better at chopping more quickly, and b) try leaving 1/3 of the soup unblended.

All in all, a nice experience and a tasty soup!

For your listening pleasure: Amy Beach- Dreaming

Winter Vegetable Crumble

This recipe was really a three part process: crumble, sauce, & vegetables.

To make the crumble combine two cups rolled oats, two tablespoons wheat flour (I used rye), one tablespoon fresh rosemary, and one half cup finely chopped cashews. Mix together with two tablespoons oil. Set aside.

To make the sauce saute one finely chopped medium onion for 4-5 minutes, add two tablespoons of cashews & brown for 4 minutes, add a little over one cup of broth (I used homemade chicken broth), and two thirds cup milk. Stir together. Add a little bit of milk to two tablespoons flour, stir to make a thick paste. Add to the rest & incorporate. Then bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. Then let slightly cool & send through a spin in the food processor.

To make the vegetables, choose two pounds of root vegetables ( I chose turnips & parsnips), chop to bite size pieces, steam for 10-12 minutes, then strain. (The book recommends you reserve the water for stock).

To complete the dish, put the vegetables into an oiled two quart baking pan, pour the sauce over the vegetables, & sprinkle the crumble over the top. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

(Last night I discovered I will be making no money from this blog. The google-folks decided the clicks on my ads seemed suspicious to them. But I don't think we will miss them too much, no?)

This dish was hearty & the rosemary was a delight. I just love the golden brown hues, to me so reminiscent of the comfort of harvest-time.

This batch of turnips was much better than our previous attempt, & I read in the front of Simply in Season that the other batch were probably too ripe.

The splashes of color from last month's ads brightened our night. And we sat absently doing the word searches while chatting.

I served this dish with some blueberry tea. My husband said it tasted like "blueberry pie". What is it about tea that leads us to sit at the table for hours discussing our deepest wishes?

The world was dark & cold, even our cozy apartment was a bit drafty. Our two cats, usually at odds, were snuggled together for warmth. And we bunkered down on the couch under several blankets and watched an episode of Fraggle Rock.

Favorite Song (on my favorite radio stationduring prep time): Boo Hewerdine-Harvest Gypsies

Savory Tempeh

This recipe recommends you use an oven proof dutch oven. I don't have one but luckily I have a nice cast iron skillet that does the same tricks.

Though this recipe was still fairly simple, I did think it was a bit more complicated than most in the Simply in Season cookbook.

That being said, we were excited to try two ingredients which are basically new to us, tempeh & kombu seaweed.

1. On medium heat, melt together two tablespoons each of butter & olive oil.

2. Add four three inch strips of kombu seaweed, three minced cloves of garlic, one tablespoon ginger, & two sprigs of fresh rosemary (you could also use sage instead of rosemary).

3. Cut one pound of tempeh into one inch squares & arrange on the top of the other ingredients.

4. Whisk together one cup water, two tablespoons soy sauce, & one tablespoon Maple Syrup. Pour over the tempeh.

5. Slice two medium onions, one and a half pounds of winter squash (we chose butternut), two medium parsnips, & two large carrots. Layer on the tempeh in this order. Sprinkle with salt. Cover and bring to a boil.

6. Transfer to a preheated oven & bake at 400 about 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

7. With a slotted spoon, transfer vegetables & tempeh to a serving bowl.

8. Add to the juices one and a half cups cold water, two tablespoons soy sauce, & two tablespoons cornstarch (or arrowroot powder). Simmer stirring constantly until sauce thickens. Pour sauce over the tempeh & vegetables.

Serve immediately! The recipe recommends serving over rice or bulgur. However, this already was plenty of food for us, so we opted out of the extra grains.

The recipe says 4-6 servings, but I think it's more like 10-12 servings. & so filling, too!

One thing the recipe promises is interesting & delicious smells even before the delightful flavors. & on this it delivers. These ingredients smell amazing from the moment they start cooking to the last delicious bite.

All in all a tantalizing & filling meal right before our weekend-journey!

Favorite Song (on my favorite radio station during prep time): Griogair Labhruidh - Marbhrann do dh'Uilleam Labhruidh

Wild Rice Bake

Yesterday I made the "Wild Rice Bake", and earlier in the day there was actually some sunshine coming into our apartment!

The wild rice & pearl barley were so visually appealing to me, and I enjoyed capturing that a bit in that sunlight.

The first step to this dish was rinsing and then boiling one cup of wild rice. This filled the apartment with an almost herbal aroma.

Next I sauteed the

two cups of onion in two tablespoons of olive oil. My brother taught me to pile the onions up in the pan, pour the oil over them, and then leave for five minutes. The onions cooked up quite nicely this way. He tells me they cook up quicker this way because they are containing the heat.

Next I mixed the wild rice, onion, and one cup pearl barley together in a 9X13 dish.

Then I chopped up four cups of sweet potatoes. The recipe called for two cups parsnips and two cups sweet potatoes. I think the parsnips would have definitely added to the dish. However, it was reaching the end of our grocery-week and this is what I had to work with.

I also chopped up two cups of butternut squash, any winter squash would do. I found a pretty easy way of chopping up butternut squash over here. I microwaved it for three minutes first, and this made the skin softer to cut through.

Then I mixed the squash & sweet potatoes with one pound of whole mushrooms (which the recipe reassures are optional). I spread this on top of the grain mixture, & sprinkled it with salt and pepper. In the future I may add some oregano or paprika. I'm not really a salt & pepper only person. But I tried to stay true to the recipe since it was my first go at it.

Then I poured over the top three cups of our homemade chicken broth & one cup of apple cider.

It baked for an hour at 375 degrees, filling the house with a grainy-sweet & chicken smell.

The result was what I would describe as a playful dish. The colors and textures of the meal were visually appealing and the flavors were equally tantalizing. The texture was firmer than I would have supposed. The result was a filling dish made to feel even more satisfying by mouthfuls of chewy goodness. The mushrooms were cooked to perfection, and balanced out the heartiness of the rest of the meal with a bit of softness.

The recipe said it serves 6-8. I would say it serves more like 8-10. We certainly have plenty of leftovers. I would also not recommend serving this dish as a side, I think it felt like the feature dish it was.

I served this dish with mulled apple cider. This added the smell of cinnamon to the aromas wafting through our apartment. The apple cider was great, but I felt its flavors were lost when paired with the meal. It made a fine dessert, however.

The meal gave us plenty of positive energy, which we spent grocery shopping for next weeks adventures...

Favorite Song (on my favorite radio station during prep time): Kathryn Tickell-Peter Man

Togetherness: Veggies & Hummus

You can roast just about any winter vegetables & all together, provided you chop them uniformly & toss them with oil/seasonings.

I'm still working on uniformity in my chopping, & find it particularly hard with the multi-shaped root vegetables of various sizes.

In this case I roasted turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, carrots, & potatoes. I mixed them with two tablespoons of olive oil, basil, & marjoram. (I used marjoram only because we are currently & woefully out of oregano.) I added some onion about ten minutes in, following the recipe.

I received the idea of serving these vegetables with hummus, from my good friend in Buffalo. She roasted me up some carrots and beets while I was up there this winter, & served them with hummus & pitas. I especially like beets with hummus.

Turnips & rutabagas are new to us. We enjoyed the turnips in the mix, they were strong & complex. I felt they would be a bit too bitter for me to like on their own. The rutabaga was a nice treat. I enjoyed its creamy-peach color firstly. I also enjoyed its subtle spiciness, an almost radish-like flavor.

My husband drove home in the snow, & came in cold as a snowflake. This dish really warmed him up. The comfort, aroma & warmth of the roasted vegetables being pulled out of the oven as he sat down to dinner went a long way toward that. As did the interactive nature of hummus & pita, & the warm colors they provided.

For dessert we sipped Chai tea, & we spent the evening lazy in love.

Favorite Song (on my favorite radio station during prep time): Sailing over the Dogger Bank