soup weather!

thank goodness for nan, because lentil soup is one of the more unattractive foods...

lentil, coconut, and spinach soup

adapted from celia brooks brown's new vegetarian

2/3 c. lentils, rinsed (the original recipe calls for puy, i used brown)
4 c. vegetable stock
1 onion, chopped
handful of baby carrots, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 t. cumin
1 can coconut milk
3 tbs. soy sauce
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
a couple a handfuls of baby spinach, roughly chopped
cock sauce (as sriracha is known colloquially as in the U.S., according to wikipedia (i had to look up the spelling). i've always called it rooster sauce, but cock sauce is so much better... and no, i'm not 13 years old)
salt and pepper (i used my favorite, hawaiian smoked salt)
olive oil

in a large pot saute onions in olive oil until they begin to get translucent. add garlic, carrots and celery. cook a few minutes, stirring.
remove vege from pot and add the lentils with enough water to cover them. boil for ten minutes.
return vege to pot. add cumin, sweet potato, coconut milk, soy sauce, and stock.
simmer 20-30 minutes, making sure that potatoes are soft.
puree about half of the soup in a blender, return to pot.
season with sriracha, salt, pepper and then stir in spinach.
double check seasoning and serve with nan. (which i sprinkled with smoked paprika)

yum.

another corner

my halloween cacti are in full bloom. about two weeks late this year but still dazzeling in their colours.

post script. i like these posts because they are forcing me to clean my house. one corner at a time...

on the road again

november is deer season. while i am always a fan of wildlife sightings i prefer them when they don't threaten the well being of my person and vehicle.

what i've eaten...

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (or in my case, put them in italics, since i don't know how to cross out)

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison- jerky. yum
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros- on a regular basis
4. Steak tartare- i wish on a regular basis
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding- i might have had this, but if i did it was probably a very small taste
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp- aside from the fact that i eat very little fish, carp seems very dirty to me...
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari- strangely, if done right, one of my favorite foods
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes- i miss summer
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras- lightly seared, it reminds me of wonderful bacon pudding
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper- at the botanical gardens pepper fest... stupid me
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters- once i get over the mental block
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl- i think i even liked it at some point
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar- separate, but not together. is that the point?
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects- nothing grub like, but i could handle crispy i think. crispy and spicy.
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk- does the cheese form count?
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel- carp and eel, both seem dirty
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi- seems like a salty seed.
53. Abalone- like sea urchin i think my no is mostly mental, too slimy. and endangered.
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine- how have i not had this? canada here i come
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads- maybe in a pate. but whole? i don't know
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst- sausage with curry sause, how have i not had this either!
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs- i'm sure they are tasty but way to identifiable. cannot really get a steak out of them...
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis- but only if i were in scotland. ok, drunk in scotland.
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette- uh, no!
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill- fresh, of course.
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail- way too snaily tasting.
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini- yumm. such a wonderful afternoon sitting on the street in vancouver drinking these
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef- please
86. Hare
87. Goulash- it seems weird that i haven't eaten this, so maybe i have
88. Flowers
89. Horse- it is weird that i have this crossed off but love me some cow. how's that for culture
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam- i'm a tad embarrassed to admit it, but i like the stuff.
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa- is the rose a brand? harissa yes, rose harissa i am not so sure
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor- maybe. the lobster thing isn't real appealing to me
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake- weird how crocodile is ok but i don't think i could eat snake

project update

finally, i am getting around to posting a recipe, oh back to life as a working girl...
anyway, the one comment i would make about this tart is to make sure you have something in the oven underneath the pan. after finding all of my custard had leaked out the bottom of my removable bottomed pan i had to remake to filling, tightly wrap the pan with foil, and stick it back in the oven. the end product was still absolutely wonderful, but what a pain in the ass.

Alsatian Apple Tart

From Once Upon Tart… by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau with Caroynn Carreno

3-4 big tart apples (1 ½ pounds) such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and halved from top to bottom

1 prepared (unbaked) 9-inch Flaky Tart Crust

2 large eggs

1/3 cup sugar

½ cup light cream

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup Apricot Glaze, melted

Makes one 9-inch tart

1. Position your oven racks so that one is in the center, and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Using either a knife or a mandoline, slice the apples thin (1/8 inch)lengthwise
3. Arrange the apple slices in your tart shell, starting from the top tart edge and working all the way around the perimeter of the pan. Repeat, layering the apples in rows of overlapping concentric circles, until the tart shell is full. Use small pieces of apple to fill any gaps.
4. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a small bowl until they are pale yellow. Whisk the cream, milk, and vanilla. Pour this custard over the apple slices.
5. The custard comes very near to the top of the tart pan with the apples on the oven rack with the oven door open and the rack slid out about halfway, and then pour the custard in the tart pan. Either way, with the tart on the center rack in the oven, bake the tart for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the apples are golden brown and the custard is set. It will feel firm to the touch and won’t jiggle in the middle when you shake the pan.

p.s. thanks ma for typing the recipe!

not from a cook book...

... so not checking a book off the list, but incredibly tasty none the less. soft organic baby romaine, prosciutto, and goat cheese encrusted in panko and then pan fried. all dressed in a mix of shallot, olive oil, red wine vinegar, with a dot of french mustard. man, i kinda want to have the same thing tomorrow night...

a project

i have a lot of recipe books. sometimes i might think too many, but i am going to just stick with a lot. one of the problems is that i have not made things out of a good number of them. so that is my new project, at least once a week i am going to choose a new recipe out of a different book, make it and share it. considering i have successfully made two such things over the past week and a half i guess i need to get caught up...

... and i will but first, i'm going to bitch for a second, i can be such an idiot. i bought myself a lovely little wedge of saint andre cheese and a crusty roll to have for lunch today. since the cheese needed to come back up to room temperature i had it sitting on a plate in my kitchen. of course i had the plate pushed all the way back towards the wall so that a certain 4 legged creature would not be tempted to stretch her tongue out onto my little treat. well you can see where this is headed, the call of the triple cream was just too strong and now i all i have is some crusty bread. well, some crusty bread and a very happy dog.

Ginger Peach Upside Down Cake

From Food and Wine Best of the Best, volume 9

For Topping

4 tbs unsalted butter

¼ c packed light brown sugar

2 c canned peach slices (in heavy syrup) drained and dried of excess moisture

2 tbs minced crystallized ginger

For Cake

1 1/3 c unbleached flour

1 ½ t baking powder

¼ t salt

½ t ground ginger

8 tbs butter

1 c sugar

2 large eggs

1 ½ t vanilla

½ c milk

Preheat the oven to 350

Melt butter in a round 9” pan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and cook, stirring, until smooth (about 3 mins). Remove from heat.

Arrange attractive circles out of the peach slices in the melted sugar mixture, making sure not to crowd them and keeping ¼ “ from the sides of the pan.

Sprinkle crystallized ginger over the peaches and set aside.

Wisk together first 4 cake ingredients in a small bowl.

In a large bowl use a hand mixer to beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. While continuing to beat mixture add eggs one at a time, then vanilla. On low add half the flour, then all of the milk, and finally remaining flour. Do not over beat.

Carefully and evenly distribute cake mix in the pan over the peaches.

Bake 40-45 minutes, until done. Cool for several minutes before inverting pan onto cooling rack and continuing to cool.

** I also made this using canned pears, which I might have actually preferred…

** Also a good idea to put a cookie sheet under the pan while baking in case any of the buttery goodness escapes (which it did for me).