On a Cold, Winter Morning...

Is it a Soup Day?

The thermometers all say the outside temperature is in the upper teens. An excellent day to prepare soup for supper.

Yesterday we bought some beautiful leeks from Quebec. One beauty is now in the soup pot in a Colcannon Soup.

Recipe:

• 1 onion, diced
• 4 T butter
• Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the onion and onion. Saute until soft. 
• Dice
• 4 med. potatoes
• Add to soup pot. Cook for 5 minutes 
• While that is cooking, thinly slice 
• 1 C cabbage
• 1 C kale after removing the stems
• Add 
• 3 C vegetable stock 
• Bring to a boil. 
• Add the cabbage and the kale
• Reduce the heat. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes.
• With an immersion blender, puree. 
• Now your soup can be left on the stove until it is time to heat for supper.
• Heat until warm. Add
• 1 C milk. 
• Heat but do not boil. 

PS:

• I am planning on using 
• 0.5 C Greek yogurt 
• 0.5 C cream 

 

 

Recipe swap

I do not usually participate in email programs that involve emailing family and friends but this time it sounded interesting. Here is the only recipe I received It is from Annalei, another person who could not resist!

SNOW PEA - SPINACH - AVOCADO SALAD

2 cups snow peas, very lightly steamed & cooled
4 cups fresh spinach, chopped or baby spinach
2 avocados cubed
1/2 lime, juiced
2 T or less olive oil, to taste
fresh cilantro, chopped
fresh parsley, chopped

Mix and serve immediately or cover in a glass bowl in the fridge

Frugal idea . . .

This time of the year brings different foods to the kitchen, oranges and grapefruit, for example. I have a very hard time just composting the rind.

Well, it CAN be made into some thing!

Here are the two recipes I use. They both start the same way.

Wash the fruit. Remove the inside fruit flesh and save to use separately. Cut orange and/or grapefruit peel into approx. 1/8-1/4" strips leaving the white pith on the rind. Fill a glass jar loosely with the peel. Add water to cover leaving some room at the top for expansion. Put lid on jar. Give a good shake to be sure all the peel is covered with the water. Set aside for 12-48 hours in a cool place or in the refrigerator until tender.

Or, if you are in a hurry, put peel in a large saucepan. Cover with water. Simmer until tender. Add more water, if needed.

Marmalade

Proportions:

• 2 parts rind
• 2 parts water
• 2 parts sugar

Drain the rind and save the water. Measure the rind that has been soaked. Measure the saved water. Add more water, if needed. Put the water and sugar in large saucepan. Bring to a boil dissolving the sugar. Add the rind. Bring to a rapid boil, stirring constantly. If you have a candy thermometer bring mixture to 225°F (at sea level). Remove mixture from heat. Pour into sterilized glass preserving jars. Clean top of jar with wet cloth or paper towel. Put on 2 part cover to seal.

If you wish to put in canner at this point follow canner's instructions. If you do not process in a canner, let jars cool and store in refrigerator.


Preserved fruit rind

Put drained rind in sterilized glass preserving jar. Add 80-proof liquor of your choice to cover rind. Let mixture infuse for 4 - 6 weeks before using. Add the rind to cake, cookies, bread dough, pudding.

This week it's scallops . . .

The broccoli was ready to use and I had some ginger left from another dish . . .

Sauteed Scallops with Ginger

What to do with scallops? Head for the garden and greenhouse. Pull a few large wild onions - about 1/2" across and a garlic bulb - still small but smelled wonderful! In the greenhouse pick the broccoli that was ready to eat.

First
Cook 1/2 c brown rice in 1-1/4 C water. Keep warm.

Second
After the rice is ready, steam broccoli cut into bit sized pieces.

Prep the other ingredients
1 T olive oil
1 T unsalted butter
1 lb sea scallop
2 T minced peeled fresh ginger root
1 T wild onion, minced
1 T garlic, minced
3 T lemon juice & a bit of the zest

Third
Heat oil and butter over moderately high heat until the foam subsides. Pat the scallops dry. Drop into pan in a single layer. Sauté the scallops for 30 seconds on each side or until they are heated through.
Put the rice onto dinner plates.
Place cooked scallops on rice.
Add the ginger, onion & garlic to pan.
Add lemon juice & zest.
Cook for 2-3 minutes, medium/high.
Pour over scallops.
Serve immediately.

The recipe is flexible. I love being able to combine what I have on hand. Use pasta or potato instead of rice. Or spinach in lieu of the broccoli. Haddock instead of scallops. Suit your taste buds!

Sweet potatoes . . .

This is the first year we have grown sweet potatoes. They were planted in a cool and a sometimes shady place so its not the plants fault they are not bigger! The skins are very pink as they appear in the photo.

Because the area for the sweet potatoes was not the best we selected:
Beauregard (Ipomoea batatas) - One of the most popular sweet potato varieties. Dark red-orange skin with moist, sweet, orange flesh. Quick maturing and well adapted to difficult growing conditions. High percentage of usable roots. Excellent choice for cool season areas.
Plants from Johnny's Selected Seeds

The potatoes we cooked were very tasty.

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Ginger

• 9 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 c honey
• 2 T grated fresh ginger
• 2 T walnut oil
• 1 t ground nutmeg
• 1/2 t ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Parboil the whole potatoes, peel & cut into cubes. Combine sweet potatoes, honey, ginger, oil, nutmeg and pepper. Grease shallow baking dish. Pour in mixture. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the mixture in the pan over. Bake for another 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender and caramelized.

Beets for those who would rather eat a different veggie . . .

Roasted Beets for the Non-Beet Lover

Toss beets in olive oil with salt and pepper to taste. Roast @ 425 degrees covered for 40 minutes. Cool and remove beet skins. Quarter the beets and add capers, chopped pickles, parsley, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Unusual but was yummy. Great, easy way to cook the beets especially for those who would not make beets their #1 choice.

Recipe from Susie O'L

Make your own mustard . . .

There are several red mustard (Brassica juncea) plants still producing - an excellent taste booster in salads! Today I harvested the plants that have gone to seed. They make a very interesting addition to a dried flower arrangement but this year the seeds will be made into mustard.

While looking for a homemade mustard recipe (and also checking to be sure the Brassica juncea seeds would be good to use in a mustard) I found an interesting blog My New Roots by Sarah Britton (BFA, CNP, RNCP) where you will find lots of interesting and healthy-for-you recipes.

DIY Gourmet Mustard recipe


On the Whole Foods site there is some very interesting information on the benefits of mustard seeds - worth reading!

A few of the nutrients in mustard seeds:

• selenium
• tryptophan
• omega 3 fatty acids
• phosphorus
• manganese
• magnesium