Archives for October, 2007
Yesterday was a bright and sunshine-y. Apple-crisp.As nearby Church-bells rang out eleven, I found myself basking in the day, with a seasonally appropriate pomegranate cocktail in hand.
I was sitting in the most delightfully welcoming garden, a space festooned with artifacts of a life well lived, surrounded by happy dogs lazing about.
My hostesses home, (the space I had to walk through, wide-eyed with awe, to get to the cocktails...I mean, garden) can best described as a compound (many structures, a few paths...voila, you have a compound) offering unexpected twists and turns. Truly charming. Perfectly homey, with a punk-rock ethos. It was flawless.
It was as we lounged in this tranquil glade, right after my hostesses boyfriend popped his head out of the second story stained glass window, squinted his eyes, smiled and asked if we wanted refills on our bevs, that I had my epiphany.
Life is good.
Nothing profound, but it is something important to be reminded of.
Life is good.
And with a bit of this soup...that much better.
When feeling frayed and needing to come back to a zen-space, (something I have mentioned more than once on this site, I'm sure) remember what stupendous friends can offer, what a fantastically beautiful place the world is, and so much more. And remember what a soul satisfying thing soup can be. All that, and everything seems right in the world.
I cannot tell you how quick this is to make. A few moments, and it tastes incredible. You can also make it with roasted squash - that certainly would make it super-fab...
Either which way, I recommend it. Autumn in a bowl.
And now, my peaches, I am off to the spa. (A day getting toasted in the garden helps a girl get her head on straight, but a day at the spa, well, that sets it in stone...)
Now try this, and enjoy!
2 15 oz. cans pumpkin
2 T. vegetable oil
1 large onion, minced (I did this in the Cuisinart)
6 cups vegetable stock
2 15 oz cans chick peas, with liquid
2 T tomato paste
pinch of cayenne
smaller pinch of nutmeg
cilantro or parsley for garnish
Saute the onion in the oil, until tender.
Combine the onion, squash, broth, liquid from garbanzo beans and one can of the beans. Heat a few minutes, then puree. This is best done with an immersion blender.
Add tomato paste, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne. Add remaining garbanzo beans, garnish with cilantro and serve.
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90 % of the pumpkins grown in the United States are raised within a 90-mile radius of Peoria, Illinois
Pumpkins are a fruit that are 90% water
An intense drought this year is going to cost Americans at the meat counter. Weather wiped out hay crops across the region, forcing cattlemen to sell large numbers of stock. Experts predict it will take three years or more for the nation's beef supply to recover. That will hurt consumers, National Cattlemen's Beef Association spokesman Joe Schule says, because supply is a big factor in the price of beef. -Al.com
Wheat crops have failed and forced up world wheat prices and shoppers can expect to see an increase in the cost of bread, meat, fruit and vegetables. Shoppers should get used to the high prices, even if the drought breaks soon. Food industry analysts and economists say prices of certain foods will stay high into next year. For the third year in a row, bakers are confronting big increases in the price of flour and other ingredients directly related to shortages caused by the drought. -ABC News
I had such high hopes for these Poached Pears with Chocolate Sauce. The recipe looked great and it was something new to try. Ok, so they weren't terrible, but of the five who were served this dish, two were pretty vocal about their disappointment. One friend said it was good, but I think he was just trying to be polite.
I thought they were fairly tasty, not the best dessert I'd ever made. My husband, however, loved them! (Or at least he said he did...) The warm chocolate sauce was definitely the best part. I would have been very happy to have had just a big bowl of that!
If anyone is up to the task and would like to try these pears out and let me know what you think, I would love to have some other's opinions. Here is the recipe that I found on this site.
Sumptuous Poached Pears with Creamy Hot Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients:(6 people)
4 Pears
1 bottle White Wine (fruity is best)
3 tbsp. Honey
1 Lemon
1 tsp. Black Pepper
10 oz. Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate
1 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
How to Make It:
1. Mix wine, honey, and pepper together in a pot. Bring to a light boil, and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
2. Peel pears, wipe with lemon juice, place in wine, and let cook for 20 minutes on a medium flame. Turn them over from time to time. Once cooked, remove pears from wine and let cool off.
3. Meanwhile, let the wine reduce, on a high flame, until it becomes a thick syrup. Then, let cool off as well.
4. Prepare chocolate cream by bringing vanilla and cream to a light boil, add chocolate (chopped in small pieces) and stir until it is smooth over a very low flame.
5. Pour chocolate cream into individual serving bowls or cups and refrigerate.
6. To serve, place a pear in each bowl on top of cream and then top with syrup.
Voilà!
See article.
I have quite a few cookbooks, but there is only one that I pick up and read front-to-back like a “real” book: The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather. And I do it a couple of times a month. I can close my eyes and recite a couple of the recipes by memory, much like the way I recited simple German verb conjugations in the 6th grade.
I could psycho analyze why I’ve taken to her book the way that I have - maybe it’s because she’s a fellow Texan, maybe it’s because I’d love the idea of leaving this big city behind for the beautiful hill country myself. But there’s really no need for all the soul-searching psycho babble - just take one bite of her All Sold-Out Chicken Pot Pie.
I’d call it the “ultimate comfort food,” but depending on the day and my mood, I could apply that label to just about anything edible 
That’s why we had chicken pot pie on a day when it reached 92 degrees outside.
It’s a rich and creamy concoction that lends itself to the flavors of the season. I stuff mine full of produce (peas, carrots, potatoes, and sweet red bell peppers) in the summer and leftover turkey and green beans at Thanksgiving. I stuff my husband’s bowl full of chicken, without a green pea in sight. And the crust. Oh my goodness, the crust. Can you ever go wrong with cream cheese?
The long list of ingredients might look daunting for a Tuesday night dinner, but start to finish, it only took me about an hour and 10 minutes with all three components going at once. Shuffle the recipe around to suit your veggie tastes and accommodate what you have on hand. And then crank down the AC, turn on some Christmas music, and tell me if it doesn’t feel like winter-in-a-bowl to you, too.
Chicken pot pie, adapted from The Pastry Queen
Filling
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped
1 large russet potato, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 purchased cooked rotisserie chicken or 1 whole stewed chicken, cooled (I use 4-6 chicken breasts, poached and shredded)
8 ounces fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 (8-ounce) package frozen peas
Cream Sauce
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
Dash of Tobasco (I use 1/2-1 tsp or so)
Salt and freshly ground white pepper (I use black pepper)
Pie Crust
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
3 cups all purpose flour
10 ounces chilled cream cheese, cut into large pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (I use black pepper)
1 large egg
To make the filling:
If cooking chicken breasts, pound the chicken breasts to 1/4-1/2 inch thickness and place in a pot of simmering water before chopping veggies so they’ll be ready to shred while the veggies are sauteing.
Melt the butter in a large sauté pan set over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms and sauté about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the crushed red pepper, thyme and add salt and pepper to taste.
While the vegetables are sauteing, skin the chicken, pull the meat off the bones and shred the meat or cut into bite-size pieces. Stir the peas and chicken into the vegetable mixture. Set the filling aside.
To make the cream sauce:
Melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the chicken stock and cook the sauce over medium heat until it thickens to the consistency of a cream soup. Add the cream, hot pepper sauce, and salt and white pepper to taste. Pour the cream sauce over the chicken filling and stir to combine. Fill individual 1/4-cup capacity oven-safe bowls three-quarters of the way to the top with the creamed chicken filling.
To make the crust:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the butter and flour until crumbly. Add the cream cheese, salt, and white pepper. Continue pulsing just until the dough forms a ball.
Set the dough on a flat surface dusted with flour. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Measure the diameter of the pot pie bowls—mine are about 4 inches across—and cut out dough rounds that are 1 1/2 inches larger in diameter. Whisk the egg in a small bowl. Lay the dough rounds on top of the pot pies, making sure the dough hangs evenly over each bowl. Brush the dough lightly with the beaten egg. Bake the pies for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve immediately.
You can also bake this in two 9-inch dishes or a single 9×13 inch dish, rolling out the dough to just slightly larger than the dish and topping it with the pastry, and tucking in the sides of the pastry.
