15 February 2016 Wild Mushroom Soup

Wild Mushroom Soup

February 15, 2016 By

Wild Mushroom SoupWhat could be more comforting than a hearty, warm soup on a cold winter day? Nothing, that’s what!

This soup could easily be vegetarian by replacing the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1 ounce Porcini mushrooms
  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 2 celery stalks, minced
  • 1/2 cup onion, minced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 8 ounces Shitake mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 Tbs. flour
  • 1/2 tsp. oregano
  • 1/8 tsp. red pepper
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 1 Tbs. Madeira wine
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  1. Bring stock to a simmer.  Add porcini.  Remove from heat.  Cover and let stand for 30 minutes.  Stain, reserve soaking liquid and chop the Porcini. 
  2. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add celery, onion and garlic and sauté 8 minutes. 
  3. Add mushrooms and sauté and additional 3 minutes.  Add flour, oregano, and pepper and sauté 3 minutes. 
  4. Whisk in Porcini stock, half and half and Madeira wine.  Bring to a slow simmer, then educe heat and simmer 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4 Servings

Filed Under: American, Mushrooms, Soups, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , ,
30 January 2016 Turmeric, Cauliflower and Carrot Purée

Turmeric, Cauliflower and Carrot Purée

January 30, 2016 By

When I went to the market last weekend, I found the biggest cauliflower head I think I’d seen. Knowing bigger isn’t always better, I still bought it to make a soup with Indian-inspired flavors.

It’s simple to make, very comforting on a chilly day and, most importantly, tastes like a million bucks.

Note that I made this soup with homemade chicken broth I had in the freezer, but it can easily be made with vegetable broth for a meatless version. I added carrots since I had some on hand and they add a nice sweet touch to the soup, but you could omit.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1 medium Spanish onion, finely chopped
  • 3 celery ribs, finely chopped
  • 3 carrots, chopped
  • 1 large cauliflower head, chopped into bite-size pieces
  • 1 tsp. each salt & pepper
  • ½ tsp. each turmeric, garlic powder and onion powder
  • ¼ tsp. cumin and paprika
  • 32 ounce container chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1 cup heavy cream, optional

Directions:

  1. In a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, sauté the onion, celery and carrots for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cauliflower and cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  2. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the seasonings and broth. Simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes.
  3. Add the cream, if using, and warm for 2 minutes.
  4. Purée with an immersion blender until completely smooth, about 3 minutes. Alternatively, add the soup to a blender and puree until smooth, about 1 minute. Return the puréed soup to a clean saucepan and gently heat for 2 minutes.
  5. To serve, ladle soup into bowls.

Serves 6 as a starter or 4 as a main course.

Filed Under: Indian, Soups, Vegetables, Vegetarian Tagged With: , ,
27 January 2016 Nut Goodie Bars

Nut Goodie Bars

January 27, 2016 By

Nut GoodieNut Goodie is a candy bar that has been manufactured by Saint Paul, Minnesota’s Pearson’s Candy Company for over 100 years. The popular Midwest candy bar is a blend of chocolate, maple and peanuts and is decadent and purely delicious.

I’d never heard of this candy bar until my friend and colleague, Pam, brought bags of them to a conference our company exhibited at a couple years ago. Our midwest-based clients went nuts (pun intended) over the treats and we heard many stories of how they loved the bars as kids.

I was able to get the recipe for the tasty, chewy bites from Pam and sharing it with you.

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounces chocolate chips
  • 12 ounces butterscotch chips
  • 2 cups peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • ½ cup evaporated milk
  • ¼ cup powdered vanilla pudding (not instant)
  • 2 pounds confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 tsp. maple extract
  • 16-ounce jar of dry-roasted peanuts

Directions:

  1. Butter or coat in cooking spray a 12×16 pan.
  2. In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water), melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips and peanut butter, mix well to combine. Pour half the mixture into the buttered pan and refrigerate.
  3. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the butter, evaporated milk and vanilla pudding mix. Bring to a boil, cook for a minute and remove the pan from the heat.
  4. Add the confectioners’ sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the hot butter mixture to the confectioners’ sugar and mix until well-combined. Add the maple extract and mix for another 30 seconds, until mixture is smooth.
  5. Pour/spread the butter/confectioners’ sugar mixture over the refrigerated chocolate base in the pan. Put the pan back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  6. Add the peanuts to remaining melted chocolate mixture and spread over the chilled butter/confectioners’ sugar filling in the pan. Refrigerate for an hour then cut into squares.

Yields 24-32 squares.

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts Tagged With: , , , ,
11 January 2016 Slow Cooker Vegetarian Stuffed Cabbage

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Stuffed Cabbage

January 11, 2016 By

This is a great recipe for those chilly winter days or for any day where you simply don’t feel like slaving over a hot stove. These stuffed cabbage are hearty and you won’t even miss the meat as the cremini mushrooms are earthy and meatlike. I use a Savoy cabbage for this recipe as I like the look of the frilly leaves and the fact that I can make smaller rolls for weekday lunches. A standard cabbage would be absolutely okay too.

Cabbage leaves cooking method: To get perfectly-cooked cabbage leaves, get salted (1 tsp.) water boiling in a large and tall stockpot. Add the head of cabbage to the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the cabbage head from the water with tongs and peel off about 10 leaves. Add the leaves to the boiling water and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove the leaves and place on paper towels to drain. Stuffing Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1 medium Spanish onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cups diced butternut squash
  • 2 cups chopped cremini mushrooms
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ½.tsp. each black pepper and dried thyme
  • 1 cup cooked long grain rice

Stuffing Directions:

  1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil then add the onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
  2. Lower the heat to medium and add the butternut squash to the onion. Cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes, until the squash has softened.
  3. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the mushrooms to the onion/squash mixture, cook for 3-4 minutes until the mushrooms have softened.
  4. Add the garlic powder, salt, pepper and thyme and stir to combine.
  5. Add the rice to the mixture and stir to combine. Take off the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Assembly Ingredients: 3 cups tomato sauce, homemade or store-bought Assembly Directions:

  1. Place a cooked leaf on a plate or cutting board and remove the hard core with scissors.
  2. Add ¼ cup of the filling to the base of the leaf and roll up like a burrito – start at the base, roll once, tuck the ends in the roll all the way to the edge of the leaf.
  3. Add 1 cup of tomato sauce to the bottom of the slow cooker them top with the cabbage rolls. Pack them as tightly as possible then top with the remaining 2 cups of tomato sauce.
  4. Cook for 6-8 hours on low.
  5. Serve the rolls with tomato sauce.

Serves 5 guests for a light dinner.

Filed Under: American, Appetizers, Entrees, Vegetables, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , ,

Getting Freekeh on Meatless Monday

January 4, 2016 By

As I did in 2015, I’ll be continuing with my mission to go meatless on Mondays. It’s been rather easy to make the change as I love roasting a whole bunch of veggies on Sundays that I then use on Mondays in salads with couscous, quinoa or freekeh.

For those not familiar with freekeh, it’s an ancient grain that has long been recognized as a main ingredient in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking.

Freekehlicious is the leading importer of Greenwheat Freekeh, a product of Australia. A couple months ago, the company sent me samples of its cracked and wholegrain freekeh for me to try and I’ve been addicted ever since.

The cooking process for freekeh is very simple:

  • In small saucepan, place ½ cup of Freekehlicious and 1½ cups of water or broth and bring to a boil.
  • Stir, reduce heat to simmer.
  • Cover and cook – cracked freekeh: 20 minutes and wholegrain freekeh: 40 minutes. .
  • Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
  • Yields 1½ cups.

The cooked grain can be used hot or cold and lasts in the fridge for up to 8 days. I love serving the cooked Freekeh like I would Irish steel-cut oatmeal with a bit of maple syrup or in salads, as I did today.

My favorite salad to make goes like this:

Freekeh is 100% natural, with no additives, chemicals, coloring, pesticides/herbicides, GMOs or chemicals.

Cheers,

Veronique

Filed Under: American, Entrees, Sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , ,
12 December 2015 Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread

December 12, 2015 By

Day 12 of my “12 Days of Baked Goods” series!

Pumpkin Bread on Bottom Right

Pumpkin Bread on Bottom Right

Right before Thanksgiving, my friend, Alli Meyer, posted a photo (included here) of all the desserts she made for her parents’ Thanksgiving dinner. She was willing to share the recipe she uses for her pumpkin bread that I thought you’d enjoy.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup pumpkin pie filling (not pure pumpkin pie, the filling)
  • ½ cup canola oil, plus more for the pan
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup molasses
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ¾ tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp. ground cloves
  • ½ tsp. ground ginger

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Oil a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
  3. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin pie filling, oil, sugar, molasses, and vanilla.
  4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.
  5. Slowly stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture.
  6. Pour into the prepared loaf pan.
  7. Bake for 60 – 65 minutes.
  8. Transfer pan to a wire rack for 10 minutes to cool.
  9. Using a knife, loosen the bread from the pan.
  10. Inver the bread onto a cutting board or serving plate and serve warm.

Inspired by a recipe by Real Simple Alli found about eight years ago.

Cheers,

Veronique

 

Filed Under: American, Breakfast, Desserts Tagged With: ,
11 December 2015 Four Ingredient Fudge

Four Ingredient Fudge

December 11, 2015 By

Day 11 of my “12 Days of Baked Goods” series!

fudgeSeeing that I was doing a holiday baking compilation, my mom sent me her easy fudge recipe that you can make with just four ingredients (three if you don’t want to use nuts). If you like marshmallows, you could easily add ½ cup by reducing the nuts by ½ cup.

Ingredients:

  • 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (or other nuts like almonds, hazelnuts, Macadamia)
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Butter or coat with cooking spray a 9-inch baking pan.
  2. In a heavy medium saucepan over low heat, add the condensed milk and the chocolate chips. Cook, stirring frequently, until fully melted – do not allow the mixture to boil or scorch. Remove the pan from the heat, add the walnuts and the vanilla and stir well to fully combine into the chocolate.
  3. Pour the chocolate mixture into the greased baking pan and allow to fully cool. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. Cut the fudge into 24-28 squares, depending how large you want your pieces to be – a little goes a long way!

Yields 24-28 squares.

Cheers,

Veronique

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts Tagged With: , ,
10 December 2015 Pouding Chômeur – Poor Man’s Pudding

Pouding Chômeur – Poor Man’s Pudding

December 10, 2015 By

Day 10 of my “12 Days of Baked Goods” series!

Pouding ChomeurGrowing up in Quebec, my sister and I always loved Pouding Chômeur, literally translated as “poor man’s pudding. It was dubbed as such because the recipe became popular during the depression when the cake in this recipe was replaced by day-old bread.

A little goes a long way with the portions as this dessert is quite sweet. Don’t omit the requisite vanilla ice cream.

Cake Batter Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • ¼ cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup whole milk

Sauce Ingredients:

  • 1 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • ¼ cup butter, softened

Cake Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and the baking powder. Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another 2 minutes, until fully incorporated.
  3. Add ½ of the milk then ½ of the flour mixture to the butter, mix then repeat with the rest of the milk and flour.
  4. Butter or coat in cooking spray a 13×9 baking pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, set aside.

Sauce Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add all the sauce ingredients and whisk to blend. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 1 minute whisking continuously.
  3. Pour the sauce over the batter in the pan – do NOT mix. Bake for 45 minutes.
  4. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream.

Yields 10-12 servings.

Cheers,

Veronique

Filed Under: Canadian, Desserts Tagged With: , , , , ,
9 December 2015 Pepparkake – Spiced Cookies

Pepparkake – Spiced Cookies

December 9, 2015 By

Day 9 of my “12 Days of Baked Goods” series!

PepparkakeMy friend Kim Ihms is of Scandinavian descent, Norwegian actually, and has neat holiday dessert recipes that I’ve shared in the past (see Berliner Kranser Cookies she shared a couple years ago).

This year, her sister Karen shared a Scandinavian spiced cookie recipe that I know my Dutch hubby will enjoy as they’re similar to the Dutch Speculaas. These cookies can be cut in any shape and decorated like a gingerbread cookie would.

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 3 Tbsp. lard
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 4 3/4 cups flour, divided
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cloves
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

  1. Mix honey, molasses, lard, brown sugar and butter in large sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Do not scorch. Remove from heat and add to the bowl of an electric mixer. Add 2 ½ cups sifted flour and the spices and mix with a paddle attachment then allow to cool.
  2. Add the beaten eggs.
  3. Combine the remaining flour with soda and powder in a small bowl. Add to the cookie batter and knead to incorporate. Let rest 1 hour, then roll out dough on a floured work surface and cut cookies using any shape cookie cutter.
  4. Place the cookies on greased cookie sheets and bake at 425°F for about 5 minutes.

Cheers,

Veronique

Filed Under: Desserts, Norwegian Tagged With: , , , , , ,
8 December 2015 Chocolate Silk Pie

Chocolate Silk Pie

December 8, 2015 By

Day 8 of my “12 Days of Baked Goods” series!

Growing up, my favorite dessert was chocolate silk pie. I loved it so much that y Grandma made it for me for my birthday instead of the typical birthday cake. Flaky, buttery pie crusts, rich, decadent chocolate and slightly sweet whipped cream topping – just what dreams are made of.

This version uses marshmallow fluff in the chocolate layer, reminding me of Fantasy Fudge a bit.

Ingredients:

  • 1 baked 8” pastry shell, homemade or store-bought
  • 1 7-ounce jar marshmallow fluff
  • 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
  • ¼ cup butter, cubed
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 2 Tbsp. strong brewed coffee
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

Topping Ingredients:

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Directions:

  1. Melt the marshmallow fluff, chocolate chips, butter, unsweetened chocolate and coffee in a large bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring until smooth, about 5 minutes. Make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl, risking scorching. Cool completely then fold in whipped cream. Pour into the baked crust.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar to the cream in the bowl and continue beating until stiff peaks form, about 2 more minutes. Top the chocolate layer with the whipped cream and refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

Yields 6-8 servings.

Recipe from Taste of Home.

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts Tagged With: , ,
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