Bounty...

While winter lingers, long and cold, it is hard to remember how bountiful the earth is. Last night I had a sweet reminder of last year's garden harvest, as I took the last of the grape tomatoes from the freezer to add to my pasta sauce.

Artichoke & Spinach Sauté

Sauté in 2 TBSP olive or canola oil:
1 medium red onion, halfed and sliced thin
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

Spash in 1/4 cup wine (red or white) or flavorful vinegar

Add the following:
1 14oz can artichoke hearts
1 1/2 cups frozen (or fresh) chopped spinach
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas or white beans
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes quartered or halved

Season with black pepper, herbs, and a seasoned salt mix to taste. (I used black pepper and Jane's Mixed Up Salt.)

Drizzle with a bit more oil or with vegetable broth. Serve over whole wheat pasta, couscous, or just eat it in a big bowl with some bread and a salad on the side.

Notes: To make this *really* low fat, skip the oil in the first step and use only fat free veggie broth. Also, next time I hope I have mushrooms on hand. They would be amazing in this!

The amazing photo of a Jelly Bean Grape Tomato was taken by Haiku last summer!

Photo 2 by Aisling, February 27, 2007

Ginger Chickpea Stew...

My favorite dinner this week was inspired by a recipe in one of my "heart smart" cookbooks. The original had chickpeas and tomatoes, broth and spices. I thought there wasn't enough going on for a filling meal, so I revamped the recipe based on my tastes and what I had on hand at the moment. The result was delicious, filling and very nutritious:

Ginger Chickpea Stew

Put all of this in a big pot:

1 quart vegetable broth
2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 sixteen ounce can)
1 small red onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced or chopped
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 potato grated
1 potato cut in small cubes
1 sweet potato cut in small cubes
1 cup chopped spinach

Season with:

1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon coriander
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put the lid on and cook over medium heat until potato and sweet potato cubes are falling apart and shredded potato has thickened the broth; 30 to 40 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Note: You could sauté the onion and garlic in extra virgin olive oil before adding the broth and other ingredients. It’s so good without that though, that I prefer to skip the oil and keep things lower in fat. Also, this is a slightly sweet stew. For a change of pace Southwestern or Indian Spices would also be delicious. I'm going to try one of those options the next time I make this stew.

My omnivore husband loved this in his thermos for lunch the next day. He told a co-worker that he liked it even better than the beef stew I sent with him the day before.

photo by Haiku, February 2007

Banana Oat Scones...

My original recipe for scones came from a book called The Joy of Snacks. I don't remember the book and may have to track it down sometime to refresh my memory. I think it was borrowed from the library. I have modified the recipe so much over time, that it is quite different than the original (which contains egg and raisins, and does not use bananas.)

Ingredients:

(scant) 2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup non-hydrogenated (no trans-fats) margarine, melted
1/3 cup soy milk (plain or vanilla)

1 ripe mashed banana

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients; set aside. Blend mashed banana, melted margarine, and soy milk until fairly smooth. Add in dry ingredients and mix just until moistened. Shape dough to form ball; pat out on lightly flours surface to form 8 inch circle. Cut into 12 wedges (scones); bake on oiled baking sheet at 425 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Serve warm.

Note: I go "skimpy" on the flour at the start and reserve some to add at the end if needed. Not all banana's are created equal! I will (carefully) add more if the dough is too sticky to shape and cut.

photo by Aisling, February 19, 2007

Baby Bella & White Bean Stew...

Four days into a winter storm, the school is actually closed for a "snow day." This rarely happens here. Mostly, we just take winter weather in stride; we're used to it. However continuous snowing and blowing ultimately will slow those of us who live on the back roads down a bit more than usual. Sub-zero temps (taking wind chill into consideration) just adds to the equation.

For lunch, I just ate a big bowl of yesterday's Baby Bella & White Bean Stew. This is a recipe that I came up with after hunting for one online, but not finding what I was looking for. I thought I would share, in case anyone else looks for excuses to buy Baby Bella (little portebello's, a.k.a. crimini) mushrooms. This warm, filling stew is a really good excuse!

Baby Bella and White Bean Stew

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

3/4 cups chopped onions (a combination of red and green, or just whatever you have on hand)

6 cloves garlic, (4 chopped roughly and 2 crushed)

2 cups sliced Baby Bella mushrooms

2 (16 oz) cans veggie broth

2 (16 oz) cans white beans

1 cup frozen chopped spinach

1/2 cup plain or whole wheat couscous

1/4 cup red white or balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

1/4 to 1/2 crushed red pepper

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat olive oil. Saute onions, garlic, mushrooms and spices until mushrooms are golden. Deglaze the pan by stirring in wine or vinegar. Add broth, white beans, and spinach. Cook on medium high until the broth comes to a soft boil. Add in couscous and turn off heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

This will really thicken up, so add more veggie broth if you want it more soupy. If you like things spicy, this is good garnished with crushed red pepper and/or a little shot of hot sauce.

This will make 4 to 6 generous servings.

photo by Aisling, February 5, 2007

Gathering...

A few years ago, we gathered frequently with friends for potluck dinners, campfire circles, and front porch picnics. We are still on friendly terms with all of those people, but all of our lives seem to have moved into a different gear. Some of the kids are older, going more and more in their own directions. The adults are older too, of course, and perhaps going out less, staying in more. I have a goal this spring, as soon as snow and mud are no longer a concern on our little private lane, to have friends over more often for a big pot of soup and a few loaves of home-baked bread.

I want our Quiet Country House to be like this farmhouse in France, which Alice Steinbach writes about in Educating Alice, in the chapter called "The Secret Gardens." She says:

"Eventually, pots of chocolate mousse flavored with bits of orange rind appeared, accompanied by a big bowl of ripe juicy strawberries coated with sugar. I ate everything placed before me, my appetite whetted not only by the superb food but by the company as well. This was a house of many appetites: for books and music and art and flowers and conversation and, of course, food. It was a house that had been nurtured by hardy, elegant people whose lives, like the olive trees surrounding them, had put down deep roots here. And it was a house from which I would take away many good memories."

Come to think of it, I'll bet I have a few friends who would brave even this snowy road for some Pumpkin Bread fresh from the oven! Maybe I wont wait until spring after all. I want this to be a house for books, music, art, flowers, conversation, food, and of course, friends and family... all gathered together.

photo by Aisling, January 2007

The Quiet Country Kitchen...

Haiku and I enjoyed a light, easy dinner with an Asian attitude last night. I made Butter Bean Cakes with Asian seasonings. These were too delicate and flaky to be used as a veggie burger, but were wonderful, drizzled with Hoisin Sauce, and served with rice and steamed green veggies.

I'll post a recipe when I make it again - which I will. I am a "little bit of this, little bit of that" cook and don't always know how much of each ingredient I used. I made this up as I went along, using what I had on hand, because I didn't have the right ingredients for the Butter Bean Burger recipe I've used in the past. I did use my favorite Food Network trick though (which I think I learned from watching Rachael Ray), which was to make a mini-burger and completely cook it. After a taste test, I decided things were "just right" and went on to make the whole batch. There were supposed to be two left over for Limerick, who likes to add our vegetarian main dish to his omnivorous meal as a side dish. However, Haiku *really* liked these, so there were no left-overs!

I'll post again later this weekend about our morning with the Sled Dogs!

photo by Haiku, 2007

Pretzel Days...

About once a month, we bake pretzels on Sunday afternoon. We have nothing on the calendar for today, so this will be a pretzel day, I've decided. Once I've made two big pots of soup - chicken noodle for the omnivores and spicy black bean soup for the vegetarians - I will clean the kitchen and the fun will begin.

I will make a big double batch of pretzel dough, divide it by five and give everyone enough dough for several large pretzels. I'm the non-creative pretzel maker in the bunch, always trying to perfect a quick, simple twist into the perfect pretzel shape. The kids tend to use their imagination, creating various symbols and character. Little Tanka tends to make a lot of 'Snakes" or "blobs."

These are not your typical pretzel shop creations, golden and heavily salted, but they are fresh from the oven, made and home, and whole lot of fun!

Soft Pretzels (single recipe)


Ingredients

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
  
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups flour
• 1 egg
• Salt for sprinkling on the pretzels

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add the sugar, salt and flour, and mix until dough starts to form ball. Knead until perfectly smooth, on a floured surface. Roll into long strand and form pretzel or other shape. Place shaped dough on greased baking sheet.

Brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

photo by Aisling, Fall 2006

The Quiet Country Kitchen...

As I write this, bread is baking in the oven. Why am I always so intimidated by baking bread? I have been making bread for my family for years, sometimes not purchasing store bought bread for weeks at a time, and yet I always feel like I am undertaking something really big when I think about beginning the process.

The ridiculous thing about that is that from the moment I say to myself, "I am going to make some bread" to the moment I place the loaves in the sunniest spot on the counter to rise, is about 15 minutes. It's not really such a big deal after all, and it is so much more satisfactory to eat these loaves made right here at home, of simple, wholesome ingredients.

I use my Kitchen Aid mixer rather than kneading by hand, but have not yet succumbed to the lure of the bread machine. Aside from the expense, I'm not sure where I would store a bread machine in my small kitchen, with its limited counter space. Usually I make the English Muffin Bread recipe from the recipe book that came with my Kitchen Aid mixer when Limerick gifted it to me 12 or 13 years ago. I'm still looking for a milk-free recipe that is as fool-proof as this recipe, and that my family loves as wholeheartedly as they do this one.

photo 1 by Haiku, photo 2 by Aisling