Belgian Soup

Other names that I thought of for this soup: Why Didn't I Think of That Soup, Jazz Soup (improvisation), or just Cream of Vegetable Soup. But I'm calling it Belgian Soup because it is modeled after my Belgian friend Carol's soup, which she says her mother often makes. As far as I can discern there is no recipe or one correct way to make this soup, but my first attempt at turned out so satisfying that I wrote down my recipe so that I can hopefully repeat the delicious results. What a delicious and easy way to eat your vegetables!

Belgian Soup

(one version )

1 onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small cauliflower, broken into small florets

7 small zucchini (I use those with light green skins), cut in the chunky pieces

5 carrots, chopped (doesn't have to be too small)

1 Tablespoon All Season*

1-2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)

Saute the onion and then the garlic in a little olive oil until soft and lightly browned. Add the rest of the vegetables and saute with the All Season for about five minutes, stirring.

Cover all the vegetables with water. Bring to a boil, and simmer until all the vegetables are cooked and soft.

Let the vegetables and broth cool a bit and then process all in the blender. I need to do about three batches.

Return to pan, salt, and add a little water if needed. 

Perhaps due to sweet carrots I used, this vegetable soup looked and tasted like a creamy squash soup. I thought it was Fantastic.  Dear Husband gave it a rating of only very good but that is because he considers creamy soups something you eat when you are sick or as a starter before a heartier meal. So, this will probably make it back to our dinner table only once in a blue moon, but we'll definitely be eating it for lunch this winter.

*I've begun substituting a homemade All Season mix for bullion seasoning as all the bullion seasoning available in Jordan is processed and includes ingredients I'm trying to stay away from, such as MSG and hydrogenated oils.

All Season 

1 cup salt

2 T sugar

2 T garlic powder

1 T curry powder

1 T chili powder

1 t. cayenne pepper

1 t. allspice

6 T paprika

1 t. dry mustard

2 T black pepper

1 t. ginger

1 t. nutmeg

Mix all spices in a bowl and store in a jar.

Everyday Food~Pakistani Kima (Ground Beef Curry)

Very few recipes have endured the tests of time (25 years) and taste, but Pakistani Kima, from the Mennonite More With Less Cookbook, is one such recipe. It has all the requirements of a great family recipe: easy-to-find and healthy ingredients, economical, one-pot meal, delicious. And, notice the TS notation in the top right-hand corner of the recipe. That stands for Time Saver--yet another great feature of this recipe. I made this ground beef curry just last night and Tayta reminded me that it is one of her favorite meals. I recall others of my children saying the same.

You can see from my well-used cookbook that I've made this dish often. I've strayed from the original recipe over the years, so I offer here my version which increases the spices and vegetables. I've made this so often that I've come to add vegetables by sight, but yesterday I took the time to measure everything so that I could share my recipe accurately.

Nothing-Fancy-But-Always-Satisfying

~Pakistani Kima~

Saute in a large pan:

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion. chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

Add:

1 pound ground beef

As meat browns, add:

1 1/2 Tablespoons curry powder

2 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

dash each: cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric

Stir in:

3 medium-large potatoes, diced

2-3 cups diced carrots (I cut half or quarter carrot slices depending on the size of the carrot--we have quite a variation of sizes in Jordan!)

1 1/2 cups or so frozen peas-or-corn-or-green beans. The original recipe calls for peas, which my kids weren't crazy about as frozen peas in Jordan were dry. I used corn for a number of years, but as we've tried to make our eating healthier, I've omitted the corn and added green beans.

I saute the vegetables together with the meat, onions, and spices a bit before adding the liquid.

Add:

3 cups tomato puree. If you live in tomato-land-of-plenty as I do, you can toss several fresh tomatoes into the blender to make your puree, or you can used canned or boxed diced tomatoes.

Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. If you've cut your potatoes and/or carrots on the larger side, you may need to cook it a little longer. Check at about 20 minutes and add some water if necessary.

EDIT: I am now using cauliflower instead of potatoes to make a healthier version of this meal. Substitute a small-medium head of cauliflower.

I served this with rice and a yogurt/cucumber/garlic sauce on the side:

Yogurt Cucumber Garlic Sauce

2 cups plain full-fat yogurt

1 cup finely chopped cucumbers (cut out seeds if you are in using American cucumbers.)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cloves finely chopped garlic

some chopped fresh mint or a little dried mint if you have it on hand

Many thanks to Ann Naylor of Ames Iowa for contributing the original recipe. Give the popularity of The More With Less Cookbook, I 'm sure it has been enjoyed by thousands of people, if not families.

Sahtayn~ Moussaka, Middle Eastern Style

I've long been meaning to post some our my staple middle-eastern dishes, and a request this summer from a good friend was just the impetus I needed.  Last week I happened to have a lot of ripe tomatoes that I needed to use, so I decided to make Moussaka, a dish I made a lot when all the kids were growing up, but I had sort of forgotten about  in recent years. Too bad, as it is delicious, easy to make, and would have made a great crowd-feeding-pleasing dish when I had all those young bucks in my home this summer. This dish, made with two pounds of ground beef, fed Dear Husband, Tayta, and I for most of the week! Thankfully, it was delicious and hearty enough that no one minded, and like a stew, it tastes even better the next day.

Moussaka is a Greek name for a Greek dish, but I gather that variations of this layered vegetable and meat dish are made throughout the Middle East.The recipe that I started with was written for a western kitchen by an Iraqi woman, and I've tweeked it some as I prepare it in the Middle East.

Ingredients:

About 2 medium eggplants, depending on the size
3 medium onions, sliced
About 7 medium potatoes, again, depending on size
2 lbs or 1K lean ground beef
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon  middle-eastern mixed spice mix  (I highly recommend using such a mix, but short of that you   can use allspice, or a mixture of allspice, nutmeg, and a dash of cinnamon)*
As many fresh tomatoes as you can spare for the top layer
4 cups fresh tomato puree or puree from a box, can, or tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

*edit: I checked the ingredients of my mixed spices: allspice, cloves, coriander, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves. However, I don't know what the ratios are.

1. Wash and slice eggplant about 1/2 inch thick. Place it in a colander and salt it. Let it sit for about 30 minutes and then rinse it and pat it dry. This salting/rinsing process helps to extract the bitter flavor.

2. While waiting for the eggplant, wash and slice the potatoes, also about 1/2 inch thick, and cook the potatoes in a saucepan of boiling water for 6-8 minutes. Drain.

3. Place the onions in the baking pan first, and then cover the onions with a layer of sliced eggplant.

4. Next, prepare the meat patties: knead the minced garlic, salt, pepper, and mixed spices into the meat. Knead well for several minutes, until the meat becomes smooth and uniform. Form into thin patties and place them over the eggplant slices.

5. Next comes the layer of potatoes, and some olive oil, which I drizzled on just because it makes everything taste better.

6. Aren't these tomatoes beautiful? Yes, we are blessed with an abundant supply of  fresh, flavorful, and inexpensive tomatoes from the Jordan Valley, so I try to use them in as many meals as I can. I had a big box of tomatoes to use up and so didn't even count how many I used. You could manage with only three or four  if you slice them very thin and spread them out a little more.

7. The last step is preparing the tomato sauce to be poured over the top of the layered casserole before baking. Again, I like to use fresh tomatoes, but you can use boxed or canned tomato puree. I put half tomatoes, cored and unpeeled, in my blender, along with the water, salt, and pepper. I do this in a couple of batches. Try to pour as much of the sauce as you can between the tomatoes and other vegetables so that the casserole will cook in it. As you can see some of the sauce will end up on top, but that is okay. It all cooks down together in the end.

8. Place casserole in a 350 F  (180 C) oven for about one hour or until potatoes and eggplant are cooked through. You might need up to an hour and a half.

I serve this with yogurt, salad, and pita bread.

Sahtayn! 

(literally, double your health, but the Arabic equivalent to Bon Appetit) 

The New Sweet Potato Casserole

First of all, the New Sweet Potato Casserole is not a casserole at all, but it does replace our longstanding, well-loved, yea even passed down from my dear mother-in-law, traditional holiday sweet potato casserole. I felt a twinge of sentimentality and disloyalty giving up this recipe, but since one serving probably has more sugar and fat in it than a piece (or two) of sweet potato pie, the twinge quickly passed. We are moving on to healthier menus, as is my mother-in-law so I'm sure she wouldn't begrudge the new recipe.

Besides being healthier, this new recipe is so easy to make and can be adjusted to any amount of sweet potatoes you decided to roast. I have only this measly portion of roasted sweet potatoes to offer in my picture as I forgot to photograph them right away, and this is all that was left.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Olive Oil and Brown Sugar/Chipotle

Peel and cube as many sweet potatoes as you wish to roast. I make my cubes approximately 1-1.5 inches square. Place sweet potatoes in large bowl and toss with some olive oil. Sprinkle with spice mixture, tossing well to coat all the potatoes.

Below is the recipe for the spice mix and you can use as much or as little as you want, depending on the amount of potatoes you are roasting. I confess, I haven't really measured how much I've used as I've roasted disparate quantities. While the chipotle adds a pleasing, distinctive flavor, this spice mixture is great without it. Confession: on Thanksgiving I accidentally added taco seasoning instead of chipotle and everyone loved it.

Place prepared sweet potatoes on a backing sheet (or two) and roast for about 45-60 minutes about 375 degrees F. This is an estimate--I check mine and when they look like they are browning on one side I turn them carefully with a large spatula, so not to mush the soft potatoes so that they will roast/crisp evenly. Don't worry about making too many--these will disappear quickly and make great leftovers.

Spice Mix
(inspired from Donalyn's Ketchum's blog for a different recipe)
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

My Summer Salad

Last summer my friend, Brenda, informed me that every summer she makes a new salad recipe which she then designates as her Summer Salad. Nice idea. I am officially dubbing this Simply Delicious salad as my 2011 Summer Salad.

I knew I'd love this salad when I saw the ingredients as it has all the flavors I love: tomato, chickpea, mint, olive oil, and of course, basil. I've tweaked this recipe and come up with:

Tomato and Chickpea Salad

3 cups (or so) cherry or grape tomatoes. Depending on their size I cut them in half or leave them whole.
2 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
a handful or two of fresh basil, chopped
some fresh mint, chopped
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
coarse sea salt

Toss all tomatoes, chickpeas, basil, and mint together. Drizzle/dress with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with coarse sea salt according to taste.

Szechuan Style Noodles with Chicken

If my blog seems to be morphing into a food blog, the preponderance of posts of late being recipes, it is because much of this summer has been about preparing food; kids are home from college, kids college friends are visiting kids home from college, and we're enjoying having friends in for meals and coffees during these summer months when our schedules are accommodating.

Szechuan Style Noodles is a favorite family dish which I made last week for eight. Lauren's friend, Holly, requested this recipe, making it a good candidate for my blog. My recipe is adapted from a recipe shared by friend, Alyse, who credits Helen Chen's Chinese Home Cooking.

This recipe makes a lot but if you're not feeding company, you'll enjoy the leftovers--perfect for lunch. And if you've been reading this blog for awhile you've likely discerned one of my cooking philosophies: Why make a little when you can make a lot?

Szechuan Style Noodles with Chicken
serves 8 hearty appetites

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds thin spaghetti
3 Tablespoons sesame oil
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in small pieces (see picture)

1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/4 cup sesame oil
4 teaspoons grated or finely chopped ginger
2 large cloves garlic (or to taste)
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1/3 cup light soy sauce (not to be confused with light salt soy sauce)
4 teaspoons sugar
red pepper flakes to taste

1 cup thinly sliced green onion
few handfuls of cilantro (unless you are Holly : )
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds


Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water just until tender. Drain the noodles, rinsing them with cold water. Drain thoroughly and mix with 3 T. sesame oil; place the noodles on a large platter or in a large bowl--my Italian pasta platter/bowl is perfect for this dish.

Saute the chicken pieces in a little oil with some spices. I gave the chicken a few shakes of a prepared Monterey Chicken spice mixture that I had on hand, but you could also use salt and pepper, a little lemon pepper, etc. Set cooked chicken aside.

Combine the next set of ingredients (tahini through red pepper flakes) in the blender and process until smooth. Pour over the noodles and toss to coat. Arrange chicken on top of the noodles and sprinkle with green onions, cilantro and sesame seeds. Since this is served at room temperature, you still have time to make a side dish:

Carrot Salad with Chinese Dressing:

1 or 1 1/2 pounds of carrots, peeled and grated (I like the coarser grate for this salad)

Dressing: (And most of these ingredients are already on your counter, unless you are a very tidy cook)
5 T rice vinegar
2 T water
1 T olive oil
1 T lemon juice
1 T sesame oil
1/4-1/2 tsp pepper
1 T sugar
optional: 1-2 T toasted sesame seeds.

Mix dressing ingredients and toss with carrots.

Holiday Fare~Two Recipes

These dishes aren't everyday fare but they are favorites that we enjoy on special occasions. We brought both to Easter lunch with friends last month and both recipes were requested--I didn't forget, but just got a little sidetracked.

This is our favorite salad and on most days the main ingredients can be found in our fridge and pantry; we enjoy living in a land of inexpensive and delicious feta cheese and tomatoes! I posted this recipe a couple years ago but I'm re-posting it as I've made a few corrections/modifications. It is adapted from Women's Weekly Cooking Class, Middle Eastern.

Tomato, Feta, and Green Onion Salad

1 lb. feta cheese (you could use less)
about 6 tomatoes, depending on size
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint (or more if you've got a potful in your garden)
about 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
3 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted
Coarse sea salt to taste

1. Cut tomatoes into wedges, remove seeds, and chop tomatoes finely.
2. Whisk oil and juice in small bowl until combined; add onions and mint. Mix well.
3. Combine the mint mixture with the tomatoes and let marinate for about 1 hour, but I've also made this without time to marinade and it is still delicious.
4. Crumble the cheese in (about) 1/2 inch chunks on a plate or platter.
5. Spoon tomato mixture over the crumbled cheese and sprinkle with the toasted walnuts and sesame seeds. Salt to taste.

Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting and Glazed Nut Topping

This is a good carrot cake recipe but it is the frosting which makes this cake so delicious. I vividly remember when carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting came into vogue in the 1970s: My mom made one and I found the cream cheese frosting irresistible--so irresistible that I put my finger on the frosted cake for "just a taste" so many times that I created a margin of un-frosted cake around the circumference of the pan. Yes, I was found out. This frosting is even better as it starts with browned butter. Think toffee/cream cheese frosting. I didn't lick the cake this time, but I do confess to eating a few teaspoons from the mixing bowl.

Carrot Cake
Adapted from Sam's Famous Carrot Cake recipe:
3 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple w/juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two layer 8 or 9 inch layer cake pans. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a larger bowl or mixer combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well. Add carrots and walnuts, whisking/mixing just until blended. Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees until golden and toothpick comes out clean--about 35 minutes (but Tayta's not sure. The original recipe had it one larger pan baking for one hour.) Cool the cakes about 20 minutes on a cooling rack and then remove from the pans.

Brown Butter Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Melt the butter in a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally until the butter turns a nutty golden-brown, about 4 minutes. Pour into a small bowl and let stand until the solids settle at the bottom of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Carefully transfer the bowl to the freezer and chill until just firm, about 20-30 minutes. Using a spoon, carefully scrape the butter from he bowl, leaving the browned solids at the bottom. Discard the solids.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light in color and the brown sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar and continue beating until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Note bene: once when Tayta made this we had to add a little more powdered sugar so that the frosting was firm enough. Make sure your butter is "just firm" all the way through and not liquidy before beating it with the cream cheese.

Nut Topping
1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the nuts and cook, stirring, until the nuts brown slightly, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle in brown sugar and salt and stir until the sugar melts and the nuts are glazed. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool in the skillet. Arrange in a ring around the frosted cake as shown in the picture above. Credit goes to Tayta for the creation of this beautiful and delicious cake.

The frosting recipe is from the Oct/Nov 2010 issue of Fine Cooking (I was a sucker for those cooking magazines at the grocery store check-out while we were in the States last fall). The topping recipe was adapted from a recipe in the same issue.

A Big Pot of Comfort~Beef, Barley, and Mushroom Soup

I don't bring many food items from the States to Jordan anymore as more things are available here now and the baggage allowance has been reduced. Two carefully chosen items for transport, barley and dried porcini mushrooms, are needed for this favorite soup recipe and it was one of the first things I made upon our return to Jordan. If you need a good, inexpensive source for dried mushrooms (not to mention lots of dried fruit, nuts, etc.), check out Nuts Online. They offer the best price--by far--that I have found on porcini mushrooms.

This recipe can easily be halved. I like to have lots of leftover soup--we make a dinner of it one or two nights and still have leftovers for lunches.

Beef, Barley, and Mushroom Soup

• 1 1/2 cups dried porcini mushrooms, soaked for 30 minutes in 3 cups hot water.
• oil
• 1 1/2-2 lbs beef, cut into small pieces (I used topside which was already sliced thinly.)
• 4 ribs celery
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 12-16 oz mushrooms, finely chopped (that is how we like them but you could slice them if you'd like)
• 1 1/2 cups barley
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, leaves chopped
• 1 teaspoon thyme

In a large pot brown the beef in a bit of oil. Add onions, celery, and carrots and cook until just softened. Add the chopped fresh mushrooms and continue cooking until softened. Blend the dried mushroom mixture in the blender and add to the pot. Add approximately 16 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add the barley and seasonings. Cover and let simmer 45-60 minutes. (This soup thickens quite a bit so you may have to add more water as it cooks.--as always with soup, adjust liquid and seasonings.)

The 21st Day of Christmas...(and a great recipe)

Now that I've unpacked the camera and had time to upload pictures, we are enjoying some Christmas memories:

After writing my post about a tree-less Christmas, a dear and thoughtful friend called to ask if she could bring us a live Christmas tree. Sure! Dear husband had to trim off a few branches so that it would fit a borrowed stand and the needles were everywhere, but oh, the scent of fresh pine was lovely! (When making our bed one day I found a tiny bough from the tree, brought to bed by Dear Husband as he was so enjoying the fresh, outdoor scent!) We improvised on decorations: a few of my childhood ornaments we had with us, a package of candy canes, and a Jordanian headscarf.

We gathered as a small extended family on December 26, waiting until our young niece could join us. Mom set a beautiful table and made a delicious dinner. My contribution: the recipe, received from my cyber-friend, Teri. This dish is Delicious and I plan to make it just as soon as I can find some prunes for less than $10 a pound! (who would have that they'd be so expensive here?)

~Mediterranean-Style Chicken with Capers, Plums, and Olives~

(serves 4-6)

Marinade~

• 15 small garlic cloves, whole
• 2T dried oregano
• salt & freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 leek white & light green parts only, chopped fine
• ½ cup dried whole pitted apricots
• ¾ cup dried whole pitted plums
• 1/3 cup pitted green olives
• 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 1/3 cup capers with some brine

_____________

• 2 3 to 3.5 pound chickens, cut into pieces
• 2T packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup dry red wine such as zinfandel or syrah
• 2 T fresh parsley or cilantro, garnish

Instructions

1. Make marinade in bowl, stir well & place in bag w/ chicken pieces. Turn
and coat evenly. Seal and refrigerate 2-4 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 425. Place chicken in baking pans in single layer. Arrange
marinade ingredients around chicken. In small bowl, blend brown sugar and
wine and pour over chicken.

3. Roast, basting once or twice, 40-45 minutes, til nicely browned and
cooked through.

4. To serve, arrange chicken on platter w/fruit and olives and juices
around. Garnish and serve immediately.

After lunch, we broke into the gingerbread house. The yogurt and chocolate covered pretzel fence went first.

Next came the gift opening. Here is Aunt A. sporting one of Tayta's handknit hats, a popular gift-item this season.



On the day-after-the-day-after Christmas we headed up the mountain for some tube sledding.

Flying into the New Year...

Fashionable Frugality

Since returning to the US in June, Tayta and I have noticed a recession-induced reality: frugality is fashionable. People seem to be thrifting, consigning, and "repurposing" (we called it recycling) like never before--and they are talking, blogging, even bragging about it! I read in a recent article in Time, those who save the most money are now the "popular" ones; says a woman in a neighborhood mom's group, "Saving is like a sport in our group..."

Maybe this is my time to shine. Today I took Active Son to a thrift store by campus to buy him some winter sweaters . In a brief stop we snagged him a beautiful wool sweater from Cabela's and a cotton zip-up from Old Navy for about $4 each. I'm also working on a recycled denim quilt for his dorm room. I've found many clothes for the kids and myself in other around-town thrift and consignment stores and ebay has helped me save lots of money in the new shoe department.

In the spirit of our re-kindled frugality I offer two new hearty lentil recipes which we've embraced. Both are great cold weather comforts. The first is a recipe from my much used, much stained, and much-loved copy of More With Less, by Doris Janzen Longacre. My kids love this dish. Really!


More With Less

Lentil Barley Stew/Casserole (my version)

2-4 Tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
6 cups water
1 cup lentils
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 cup barley
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon rosemary (or thyme)
1/2 cup grated carrots

Saute celery, onion and garlic until soft. Add water and lentils and cook for 20 minutes. Add tomatoes, barley and seasonings and simmer for 45-60 minutes. Add grated carrots and cook 5 more minutes.

I cut the amount of liquid in the original recipe so it turns out more like a casserole, served on a plate rather than a stew served in a bowl. But, you could increase the tomatoes by a can, add a pinch more salt, and serve it as a stew.

The second recipe, for French Lentil Soup, was found on an advertisement laying around my mom's kitchen. I don't know how authentically French this soup is, given the source of the recipe, but it is very good--thick and hearty. We ate it tonight with quick-under-the-broiler flat bread topped with mozzarella and fresh tomatoes.

French Lentil Soup

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
a little canola oil
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 (or more) teaspoon pepper
6 cups broth
2-3 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 cup lentils
3 T brown rice
fresh parsley for garnish

Brown onions and garlic in oil. Add chopped carrots and spices and saute a little longer. Add broth, lentils, rice, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour (mine simmered while I was at the thrift store with Active Son), until lentils and rice are cooked. Puree 1 1/2 cups of the soup and return to the pot of soup. Serve with fresh parsley.

I double both of these recipes as the leftovers make nice lunches.

In Which We Are Vegetable Gardeners

In Jordan we love to grow flowers in our garden, but due to the lack of water and relatively low vegetable prices we've never attempted vegetable gardening. However, the house where we are staying until the end of September has a small but well situated vegetable garden and last week was harvest time. Truthfully, we are not really vegetable gardeners but merely vegetable harvesters. The homeowners planted the crops before they left for Alaska in April and programmed their drip hoses to water without even so much as a flip of the switch by us. We have done nothing but harvest the literal fruit of their labor.

Tayta has never worked in a vegetable garden before and delighted in finding treasures amongst the vines. And although she can identify fig trees, olive trees, and caper bushes, she surprised me by asking me the name of this crop:

Yikes! She didn't know what a corn stalk looked like. Not a popular crop in Jordan, corn is primarily used for feed. It is sold in the supermarket but I don't buy it as it has never tasted like anything but feed corn.

Our bountiful harvest
Enough for us, some friends, and a couple of neighbors

The tomatoes are amazingly large and delicious. I've been eating tomato sandwiches for lunch every day for the past two weeks or so. Family and friends are asking me to discover the secrets of growing such beautiful tomatoes. Theirs, carefully tended, are not amounting to much this year, and "mine"--at least for this month--are plump and plentiful. The real gardener, in absentia, claims his secret is neglect--the bushes haven't been tended since April (!), but I'm prying further. There must be some yet undisclosed tomato gardening knowledge that he can share.

And here are a couple Armenian cucumbers we missed picking the first time around. Salad for a week!

So, what to do with our bumper crop of tomatoes besides make tomato sandwiches? If I weren't feeling so transitional I would make salsa or pizza sauce. Instead, I determined to use these fresh and/or give them away; I've made two new and well received tomato dishes.

~Tuscan Bread Salad~

Last week I made this salad twice, a modification of this recipe from the Food Network.

Ingredients

• 8 large vine ripened tomatoes, cut into large cubes
  
• 8-10 cups cubed artisan bread (I used sourdough), cubed, a little stale, and lightly toasted in the oven.
  
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• a couple cups cucumbers, cut into cubes
  
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  
• 1/2 cup Italian extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 /2-1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped thinly
  
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large bowl, mix the bread with the garlic, oil, and vinegar, and let sit for 15minutes at room temperature. Add the rest of the ingredients toss to combine. Serve. Delicious!

~Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup~

This recipe was easier to make than I expected it would be when I first read the title. Neither the peppers or the tomatoes require peeling and everything is given a final whirl in the blender. I found this recipe in "Cooking With Paula Deen", a magazine which comes to the house in which we are staying. As usual, I've modified the recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips
  
• 2 T. olive oil
  
• 1 cup chopped onion
  
• 4 cloves minced garlic
  
• 10 medium tomatoes, chopped
  
• 1 cup chicken broth
  
• 1-2 tsp. salt
  
• 1 /2 fresh basil leaves, or 1 tsp. dried basil
  
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 T balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil , arrange pepper strips on the sheet, and bake for 15-20 minutes or until soft and a little brown around the edges. In a large pan, saute the onion and garlic in oil. I add a couple teaspoons of sugar when I saute the onions and garlic so as to caramelize them. Add the tomatoes, broth, and salt, and cook for another 10 minutes or so. Puree tomato mixture, roasted peppers, and basil leaves in a blender. Return to pan and add the balsamic vinegar and freshly ground black pepper.

This soup was good served with open faced broiled cheese sandwiches or toasted sourdough bread.

Chicken in Basil-Coconut-Curry Sauce

It's time to begin harvesting some of the basil I planted when we arrived in Boise last month and though my seven plants aren't yet producing enough basil to make this favorite recipe , there was enough to make some basil-coconut-curry sauce tonight. Variations of this recipe can be found around the web but my recipe comes from a 1997 Better Homes and Garden magazine. It was a "Prize Tested Recipe" submitted by Neeraga Narayanan, who won $400 for her recipe. Note the 30 minute "marinade" time.

Chicken in Basil-Coconut-Curry Sauce

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamon
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1 large red onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (or, to taste)
cooking oil (I use canola)
1 14 oz. can coconut milk
2 tsp. cornstarch
3 Tsp. snipped basil (I use about 1/3 cup)
1 Tsp. finely chopped ginger root

Rinse chicken; pat dry. cut into 1-inch (or bite size) pieces; place chicken in a medium bowl. In a small bowl stir together the salt, coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, cardamon, black pepper, chili powder, and turmeric. Sprinkle the chicken; toss to coat well. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In a large skillet medium to large saucepan, cook onion, garlic and jalapeno in hot oil over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Add chicken. Cook and stir until chicken is cooked through. Combine coconut milk and cornstarch. Carefully add to skillet. cook and stir till thick and bubbly. Add basil and ginger root. Cook 2 minutes more to heat through. Serve over rice and garnish with fresh basil if desired.

(I use at least 2 or 2 1/2 lbs of chicken for my family of six. I adjust all the ingredients accordingly except I only use 2 cans of coconut milk even I more than double the chicken--it is still plenty saucy.)

The other birthday recipe: Oven Roasted Broccoli

Along with the Lemon Chicken recipe (two posts down), I handed my dear family a two pound bag of broccoli and this recipe for Oven Roasted Broccoli , found at a recently bookmarked blog, Honey and Jam.

Oven Roasted Broccoli
from Epicurious

1 1/4 pounds broccoli crowns, cut into florets (about 8 cups)
3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
Large pinch of dried crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss broccoli and 3 tablespoons oil in large bowl to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Roast 15 minutes. Stir remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil, garlic, and red pepper in small bowl. Drizzle garlic mixture over broccoli; toss to coat. Roast until broccoli is beginning to brown, about 8 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

I encourage you to click over to Honey and Jam to see the beautiful broccoli pictures this young blogger has posted. And speaking of beautiful food pictures and recently bookmarked blogs, just a little clicking around has revealed a noted blogging trend: young women--some still in high school--who are cooking, baking, photographing and blogging with amazing finesse. At their age I had barely mastered the basic chocolate chip cookie recipe. If you like Honey and Jam, you might also like some of the recipes (and photography) on:

Cooking for Seven
17 and Baking

A couple more cooking blogs I've been following:

Smitten Kitchen
Orangette

I may never buy another cookbook. Well, maybe that's going a bit too far.

Lemon Chicken

Lemon Chicken. Such a simple name for such a Wow! dish. My sister-in-law posted the recipe on her Italian food blog last week and when I read it I knew it was just the recipe to offer to my dear family who had offered to cook my birthday dinner.

"Chicken?" queried Tayta. "But that means I'll have to touch raw chicken." And so she did, facing down one her culinary fear factors. The lemon chicken was fantastic and Tayta proclaimed it our new favorite chicken recipe.

Lemon Chicken via my sister in law, Shandra, via Matha Stewart

~Allow time for marinating: 1 hour to over night

Combine in a bowl:

1/3 cup coarse (grosso) sea salt
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Loosen the skin of the chicken from the flesh and rub/pour the lemon/salt mixture under the skin and in the cavity of the chicken. For the best flavor and texture, marinate the chicken for a few hours or even the day before you roast it, but if you've only a half an hour it is still worth the effort. When done marinating, rinse the salt off the chicken and prepare the gremolata.

Gremolata
1 bunch parsley
2-5 cloves garlic
zest of 1 or 2 lemons

To make the gremolata, c the parsley, garlic and lemon zest togethe . Mix the gremolata with six tablespoons soft butter and spread under the skin of the chicken and in the cavity. Add a few quarters of lemons and bay leaves to the cavity of the chicken and roast at 180 celsius (350 f) for 45-60 minutes , just until the juices run clear.

Serve with roasted potatoes and the lemons scattered around.

We used chicken breasts on the bone w/skin (nine of them to be exact) so didn't have a cavity to fill. Tayta tucked the gremolata under the skin and for a couple of large breasts I made a large slit/slice in the chicken and she put in more gremolata. My family served this with garlic roasted broccoli...(to be continued)

The Sweetheart Special~Recipes from the Valentines Banquet

It is March but I am yet blogging February. Life has been such a wonderful albeit exhausting swirl of youth activity and I'm thankful for it all, for I know the day will come when the house will be too quiet. Love, love, love these teenagers!

Like last year I oversaw a great staff of cooks. We prepared all the food during three afternoon shifts and served it, again sans kitchen, to 50 adults, mostly parents of the youth.

While we busied ourselves in our makeshift kitchen, other costumed youth served the food and provided some very entertaining entertainment. Most notable was a previously filmed Jack Benny spoof with the youth acting to the dubbed in radio program. It was perfect! And, I only had one minor correction for Active Son/Sound Technician: Supertramp was a 70's band, not a 50's band. He had no idea--it just sounded like "old" music to him.


Our menu, based on our 50's theme, wasn't as elaborate as last year's Italian menu but the youth did a great job of preparing the food and we received a few recipe requests from the moms.

The Sweetheart Special

Soft Sliced White Bread
Not-Your-Mom's Coleslaw
with
Peanut Dressing
~~~
Mom's Meatloaf
Twice Baked Potatoes
Sauteed Green Beans
~~~
Mom's Apple Pie
Tea or Coffee

For the salad we combined:

Curly kale (sometimes called Chinese cabbage)
Carrots, coarsely grated
Yellow and red bell peppers, julienned

No specific quantities: I was buying vegetables for 50 so just bought what seemed the right quantity, and thankfully, it was. I'm sure what elicited the recipe requests was the peanut salad dressing, provided by Martha Stewart.com


Super-Simple-And-Delicious-Peanut-Salad-Dressing
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup salted peanuts
2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Puree 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 1/4 cup salted peanuts, 2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt in a blender until smooth.

The most requested recipe was for Mom's Apple Pie aka The Only Apple Pie Recipe I've Ever Made And I Learned It From Fanny Farmer. I've always thought it to be a basic apple pie recipe--no special ingredients or anything. I'm guessing that the "secret" that people asked me about is in the slicing of the apples--the youth, upon my insistence, sliced them oh so very thin. Overheard in the kitchen from one of the youth: "Cut them thinner or she'll send them back."

"Pidy, Widy, Tidy, Pidy, Nice insidy apple pie!"

Apple Pie with Crumb Topping
6-8 large Granny Smith apples (about 10 cups)
3/4-1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 Tbsp flour


Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples. Toss them in the sugar/spice/salt mixture, coating them well. Pile them into a prepared pie crust. Top with crumb topping and place in the oven. Bake 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 degrees F and bake about 40 minutes longer--or until the apples are tender when pierced with a fork.

Hint: Place pie on a baking/cookie sheet before placing in the oven in case bubbling apple goodness spills over from the pie pan.

Crumb Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/4 pound (1/2 cup) butter, chilled

Mix the sugar and flour until blended. Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.

The recipe for the pie crust is here.

Diario dell Cucina~Risotto alla Zucca

One of the lasting memories I have from my visit to my brother and his family who live in lovely Tuscan village overlooking Florence, is the food. That inspirational memory is due in large part to the culinary proficiency of my sister-in-law, Shandra. I was in awe of what she could whip up in her typically small European kitchen--if I remember correctly you can't open the dishwasher and the refrigerator at the same time--or something like that!

Shandra says that cooking traditional Italian food has for her been a window into the culture and she once shared a story with me which illustrated the the care and concern Italians show for the quality of their food: she was summoned to the primary school which her boys attended for a very important parents' meeting. The topic under discussion and even debate: the quality of the pasta the children were receiving for school lunch.

I've requested recipes from my sister-in-law in the past so I was very pleased when she began posting her kitchen notes on Facebook, and then her recipes at Diario della Cucina. Last week, thanks to Shandra's risotto tutorial, I made my first risotto, Risotto alla Zucca (Pumpkin). I had long wanted to try making risotto, but had heard that it was a fussy dish, easily ruined. Shandra's About Risotto post primed the pump and and when she posted her Pumpkin Risotto recipe, I went shopping.

With the cost of imported foods in Jordan, risotto will not become everyday fare, but it was a delicious treat. Per Shandra's instructions, I made sure to release all my stress before begining so that it wouldn't be absorbed by the risotto. (I think it's like pie crusts sensing hesitancy and fear.) I even made Artist Son stop practicing his drums ("The risotto absorbs the stress? What??) and turned on some YoYo Ma for stirring to.

Risotto alla Zucca
(served in a bowl I purchased with the help of my sis-in-law in a Florentine market)

Making the risotto was not difficult and the results were delicious. My children had never before eaten risotto but they all liked it, especially my Carbo Kid (Active Son) and Tayta; "This is better than mac and cheese!" I made my brodo, or chicken stock, to be used in making the risotto, early in the day and then I roasted the already boiled chicken in the oven to serve with the risotto, first topping it with an impromptu tomato-leftover-handful-of-fresh-basil-clove-of-garlic sauce I made in the blender. I also drizzled the chicken with olive oil and sprinkled it with a little sea salt.

nota bene: quantites for butter and parmesan cheese: 3 T butter and 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (though I used Grand Padano as it is more readily available to me).

Next up: Tuscan Beans and Ribollita

Fish with Preserved Lemons and Tomatoes

The fish I prepared using this recipe from Cooking Light, and found online at myrecipes.com was so delicious, it would be worth preserving lemons to make this dish and this dish alone.

Cooking light has called the recipe Fish Tagine with Lemons and Tomatoes, probably because of the dish's traditional Moroccan flavors, however it isn't cooked in a traditional clay pot, or tagine, nor is is a slow-cooked stew.

I've reproduced the recipe below; I followed this recipe almost exactly with the following exceptions:

~I used more lemon (1/2 a preserved lemon) .
~I used regular paprika.
~I used blacks which tasted somewhat like Kalamata olives.
~I used catfish fillets. I bought these on accident but was very pleased with their consistency and flavor; no fishy taste at all.

Note: this recipe requires a 30 minute marinating time.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 6 ounces fish, 3/4 cup vegetable mixture, and about 1 tablespoon sauce)

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped whole lemon
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 12 pitted green olives, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 pounds mahimahi (or another firm white fish)
  
• 2 cups thinly sliced onion (about 1)
• 4 cups coarsely chopped seeded tomato (about 2 pounds)
• Cilantro leaves (optional)

Preparation:

Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add lemon, 1 tablespoon water, 1/2 teaspoon oil, and sugar; cook 3 minutes or until water evaporates and mixture just begins to brown, stirring frequently. Set aside.

Place remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons oil in a small microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at high for 10 seconds at a time just until oil is heated. Stir in saffron; let stand 10 minutes.

Combine lemon mixture, saffron mixture, chopped parsley, and next 7 ingredients (through garlic) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add fish to bag, and seal. Marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Layer 1 cup onion slices and 2 cups tomato on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Remove fish from bag, reserving marinade. Top tomato with fish; pour remaining marinade from bag over fish. Cover with remaining 2 cups tomato and remaining 1 cup onion. Cover with foil. Bake at 400° for 40 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from oven.

Transfer fish and vegetables to a serving platter. Drizzle remaining liquid over fish. Garnish with cilantro leaves, if desired. Serve immediately.

I've served this with rice and with couscous. This makes a lovely company meal. Delicious! (note the "outstanding" rating on myrecipes.com)

When life gives you lemons...

...preserve them. Fresh lemon is one of my favorite cooking and baking ingredients so when I saw mention of preserved lemons in one of my Middle Eastern cookbooks I  knew I needed to try preserving them myself. Preserved lemons are part of the Moroccan culinary tradition, which would technically make them North African rather than Middle Eastern, but their flavor is distinctly Mediterranean. Think lemon olives. After reviewing a few recipes I came up with the recipe below and it worked perfectly.

Preserved Lemons

10 lemons, thin skinned works best
1 1/2 cups rock salt (I use coarse sea salt)
1 litre boiling water
juice of one lemon
8 cardamom pods
a few pieces of cinnamon bark
about 12 peppercorns
2 red chilies
2 bay leaves
olive oil

-Soak the lemons in water for three days, changing the water daily.
- Make deep cuts in the lemons, dividing them into quarters but not separating them completely. You can see how I've cut my lemons (sort of) in the picture above.
-Pack the cut lemons generously with salt and arrange in a glass jar.
-Add the cardamon pods, chilies, and bay leaves. I sliced my red chilies and distributed them around the lemons. These are optional and depending on how large/small and hot your chilies are you may want to use more or less--or none at all. I found other recipes that didn't include cardamom so you could leave that out if you don't have access to it.
-Pour the boiling water, lemon juice, and any extra salt over the prepared lemons Top it off with a thin layer of olive oil. If one liter isn't enough water to cover your lemons, add enough to just cover. If you add much more, add more lemon juice too.
-The lemons will be ready to use after one month.

These are really very easy to make and add a deliciously intense lemon flavor to cooked dishes. I'll soon post our new-favorite-fish recipe which includes preserved lemons, so start a jar of these today. They look very pretty in the kitchen, besides.

A Healthier Artisan Bread

Below is my recent modification of the Artisan Bread recipe and method I wrote about here. Since I've become comfortable with the original recipe I thought it time to do a little experimenting in an effort to produce a healthier loaf of bread. This is what I've come up with so far:

A Healthier Artisan Bread
(following the method here)

3 T sea salt
3 T yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour
6 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup cracked wheat
1/3 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup millet
6 1/2-7 cups warm water

Turkey once, turkey twice, cooking turkey soup with rice

As our post-Thanksgiving pot of turkey soup simmers on the stove, I'm thinking that I should have posted this favorite recipe before Thanksgiving, giving anyone who doesn't already save their turkey carcass a heads up to do so; though you can make an equally delicious soup using chicken. So beloved is Turkey Carcass Soup-perhaps I should consider modifying the name- at our house, that everyone will willingly give up a round of turkey leftovers if they know that turkey will be used for soup.

This is the most used and best loved recipe from my Jane Broody Good Food Book, which I acquired in the first years of married life. My "adjusted" version:

Turkey Carcass Soup

~A good soup begins with a good stock~

Stock
1 large turkey carcass, broken into pieces (today I'm suing two smaller carcasses
water to cover the carcass ( I use 35-40 cups, approximately)
4 onions coarsely chopped
a few ribs of celery with leaves, if available
4 carrots, chopped
1 large turnip, chopped
5 cloves garlic
salt (a put a couple of tablespoons in now but you can add more later when you make the soup.)
4 bay leaves
a handful of fresh parsley (or some dry)
2 tsp dried thyme

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot, bring to a boil, and simmer it for 2 to 3 hours. When stock is ready, strain it--I use a mesh sieve. Remove any remaining turkey from the bones before discarding them.

Soup
1 cup minced onion
6 cloves minced garlic
1/3 cup butter
6 cups diced carrots
3 cups diced celery
3 cups finely chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup flour
36-42 cups stock
2 Tbsp sage
2 cups brown uncooked brown rice
6 cups diced turkey meat
1/2-2/3 cup chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

(I use my food processor to chop/mince all the vegetables but the celery, which I chop by hand.)

1. In a large stockpot, saute the onion and garlic in butter until soft.
2. Add carrots, celery, and mushrooms; cook the vegetables, stirring them, 3 to 5 minutes longer.
3. Add the flour, and cook the mixture, stirring it, for another minute.
4. Add the stock, sage, and brown rice. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the soup for about an hour.
5. Add the turkey meat, salt and pepper, adjusting seasonings. I sometimes add a few shakes of hot pepper sauce instead of black pepper.
6. Sprinkle the soup with parsley just before serving.

As you can surmise from the quantities of the ingredients, this makes a very large pot of soup. You could halve or even quarter my recipe. Tonight we will enjoy this pot with friends and I will store some in the freezer for our traditional Christmas Eve supper. And, there may still be enough for another meal...