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African Curried Coconut Soup

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

As many of you know, one of the ways we stay within our grocery budget is to have meat as an occasional treat rather than a daily occurrence at our table. Jonathan mentioned that one of the reasons this is easy for him is that we eat things that aren’t just meatless versions of the meat and potatoes of our youth, but completely different recipes. Here is one such recipe from the last few weeks. It’s kind of like a summer stew.

African Curried Coconut Soup from Epicurious March 2009


  • Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil

  • 1 medium onion, chopped

  • 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

  • 1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped

  • 1 jalapeño chili, seeded and finely chopped

  • 3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

  • 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

  • 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

  • 1 cup chopped tomatoes, seeded and peeled, fresh or canned
    (Yes! I peeled tomatoes! They were so much better than canned tomatoes! see Cook’s Tip below)

  • 1 teaspoon mild curry powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

  • 1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk

  • 3/4 cup cooked white or brown rice

  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

In a medium stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and chili; cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add the broth, chickpeas, tomatoes, curry powder, salt, and black pepper; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Cook’s Tip: To peel fresh tomatoes, bring a medium stockpot filled with water to a boil over high heat; drop in the tomatoes and boil 20 seconds. Drain and rinse under cold-running water. Peel off the skin

Jonathan and I both enjoyed this soup. The next day it was definitely more stew-y and it was still really, really good. A keeper! Have you tried any new recipes lately that you’ve decided will become regular additions to your menu?

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Our Favorite Stir-Fry Recipe

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

I’m just going to confess right off the bat that this recipe comes from the Well-Rounded Pregnancy Cookbook, but I’m not ashamed! It is delicious!

Stir-Fried Vegetables with Coconut Curry Sauce (serves 2)

1.5 tsp canola oil
2  tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger (you can store ginger in the freezer and use it as you would fresh)
1 clove garlic, minced (or more, we always use more garlic)
4oz green beans, trimmed and cut on the diagonal into 1.5″ pieces
2 cups broccoli florets
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 bunch kale, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 tsp  sweet or hot curry paste
3/4 cup canned coconut milk (we use light coconut milk)
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp chopped scallions, white and green parts
2 Tbsp chopped roasted peanuts, optional
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
Add ginger and garlic and cook for one minute.
Add the green beans, broccoli, carrot, kale and stock, cover the pan and cook until the beans and broccoli have turned bright green, one to two minutes.
Stir the curry into the coconut milk.
Increase the heat under the skillet to high and add the curry mixture to the vegetables.
Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are crisp-tender, three to four minutes more.
Add salt and pepper to taste and stir in the scallions.
Sprinkle with copped nuts and cilantro leaves for serving.

We like to have this over soba noodles or rice. It is DELICIOUS.

Also, don’t feel that you can’t mix it up. I often add more green beans than broccoli, we’ve had this with beef or chicken. One of the options in the book is to replace the green beans with one cup of sliced mushrooms and the broccoli with 2 cups sliced zucchini. I’ve used frozen veggies too. It’s not quite as crunchy, but it works.

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For Tim

Monday, January 25th, 2010
Rachel & Tim

Rachel & Tim

Rachel and I are blessed to be loved by two men who are a positive delight. While they are not terribly similar, Tim and Jonathan do share one thing in common: they LOVE bread. When this month’s Martha Stewart Living arrived, I thumbed through it quickly and saw a recipe for “bread four ways” and asked Jonathan if he’d like me to make one of the recipes. An emphatic yes was his response and a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients we did not already have. Since I know Tim would like this bread too, I thought I’d post it up here so those in the UK without access to MSL will also be able to bake some delicious bread.

 The beginning recipe:

Classic White Bread (yield two loaves)

1 Tablespoon plus 1.5 Teaspooons active dry yeast (two envelopes)
2.25 Cups water (110 degrees)
3 Tablespoons plus 2 Teaspoons honey
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the bowl, pans and brushing
7 Cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface and dusting
2 Tablespoons course salt

1. Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup of water. Add 2 teaspoons of honey. Whisk until yeast dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about five minutes. Transfer to bowl of a mixer fitted withe the paddle or dough0hook attachment. Add butter and remaining 1 3/4 cups water and 3 tablespoons honey. Whisk flour with salt; add 3 cups to yeast mixture. Mix on low speed until smooth. Add remaining 4 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing until dough comes away from sides of bowl and forms a ragged, slightly sticky ball. Butter a large bowl.
2. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, but still slightly tacky, about five minutes. Shape into a ball. Transfer to prepared bowl; cover with plastic wrap.
3. Let dough stand in a warm place until it doubles in volume (it should not spring back when pressed-go ahead! press it! It’s cool to see your finger leave a mark!), about 1 hour. Butter two 4.5″x8.5″ loaf pans. Punch down dough; divide in half.
4. Shape 1 dough half into an 8.5″ long rectangle (mine was more of a long snaky blob thing, this is fine). Fold long sides of dough in to middle, overlapping slightly. Press seam to seal. Transfer dough, seam side down, to pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Brush each loaf with butter, or dust with flour for a rustic look (we do not dust with flour in our house because when someone was a child he or she may have been a little mean to a younger sibling and advised said sibling that all bread with flour on the top is mouldy. The sibling has never gotten over it and somehow the one who originally came up with the idea began to believe it as well). Preheat the over to 450 degrees. Drape loaves with plastic. Let stand until dough rises about 1″ above tops of pans, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Bake, rotating pans after 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer to wire racks. Let cool slightly; turn out loaves. Let cool completely before slicing (yeah right-this was eaten almost immediately and we have no photos of our own for that very reason).

Okay, and for the variation I chose:

Mmmm bread

Multigrain:

In the ingredients, replace 5 cups of flour with 3 cups whole wheat flour and one cup rye flour

In Step 1: soak 1/2 cup bulgar in 1/2 cup water for 20 minutes; set aside. Add 1.5 cups water instead of 1.75 cups. Before the second addition of flour, mix in soaked bulgar, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/4 cup flaxseeds and 1/4 raw sunflower seeds.

In Step 4: brush tops of loaves with egg wash, not butter, and sprinkle with oats and sunflower seeds. Dab tops with egg wash to help adhere.

This makes a rather delicious bread for sandwiches and toast. Or you could just eat it on its own. Enjoy!

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Matchstick Pasta

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

It’s Christmasy because it’s red and green, right?  Since it looks so festive and I thought you might like it, here is one of our favorite recipes of late, matchstick pasta:

Matchstick Pasta

Matchstick Pasta

You can find the recipe here. If I’m honest, I think Jonathan’s photo is better than Heidi’s, but I’m probably biased. This meal is filling and an excellent balance between the salty goodness of pistachios, the crispness of the kale and the sweetness of the pomegranate seeds.

Here are some tips/hints from the McPhersons:

  • We buy the bag of pomegranate seeds from Trader Joe’s. I know, it’s cheating, but it’s such a time saver! 
  • I initially put a dollop of the sauce on the pasta and send it through the salad spinner as directed, but once I transfer everything to a bowl, I dump the rest of the sauce in and mix it all up. It’s the perfect amount of sauce for us.
  • I try to use more like 10 or 12 ounces of pasta when we make this because pasta is cheap and I’m cheap too-helps the dish to go farther.
  • This is delicious for leftovers at lunch or dinner the next day!
  • Please note, kale is one of the “dirty dozen” so you’ll want to get these greens in the organic section of the grocery store. It’s still only $1.99 (cheaper than beef). I’ll admit it hurt just a little to buy this at the store since we’ve been feasting on kale from the root connection until now.

Here’s one more beauty shot, courtesy of Jonathan: 

Delicious!

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Thanksgiving Recipe #4

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Pumpkins. I’m not going to lie, I avoided pumpkin pie for most of my childhood. It just seemed so inferior to pecan pie or blueberry or apple or blackberry or any type of pie really. The appeal of pumpkin pie for me was the spray whipped cream, which I liberally applied to my slice. So delicious that way. As you might be guessing, this recipe is not for pumpkin pie. It is for pumpkin bars. While I have come to love pumpkin pie, these pumpkin bars are a favorite! We do not usually have them on Thanksgiving day because they would compete unnecessarily with the pie, but they are worth mentioning here.

 

Pumpkin Bars

Ingredients:
For the bars
4 eggs
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup oil
1 (16 oz) can pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Put first four ingredients into a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spread batter into ungreased 10×15x1″ pan (jellyroll pan).
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool. Frost with cream cheese frosting.
Try not to eat the whole pan. Really, the max you could eat at once is probably four. Maybe five. Anymore than that gives me a stomach ache.

Enjoy!

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Thanksgiving Recipe #3

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

This is not necessary a traditional Thanksgiving recipe, but we’ve enjoyed it at Thanksgiving time and it’s just good. It’s also tasty in the summer or the spring. Frankly, I’ll come to your house anytime I know you’re making this. I believe it may originally have been a Pampered Chef recipe, but what do I know? It’s written on a piece of a paper bag here in my kitchen.

 

Cool Veggie Pizza

1 can (8 oz.) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 teaspoons plain yogurt (or mayo if you must)
1 teaspoon dill weed
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of a variety of fresh vegetables cut very finely: broccoli, red, green and yellow bell pepper, carrot, green onions

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Spread crescent roll dough onto a cookie sheet or baking stone and pinch seams together.  Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Blend cream cheese, mayonnaise, dill weed, salt and pepper. Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of cooled crust.
Sprinkle layer of each vegetable over pizza. 
Refrigerate before serving.

Makes 8-10 appetizer servings

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Thanksgiving Recipe #2

Friday, November 20th, 2009

 Cranberry sauce. It’s another favorite of mine. The recipe we’ve had the last few years is from Dave Lieberman. I maybe had a little crush on him when I discovered this recipe. Then I met Jonathan and stopped trying to figure out how to meet Dave and get him to fall in love with me so we could have a television program together.

 Dave Lieberman’s Fennel Orange Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
8oz fresh or frozen whole cranberries
1/2 navel orange, zested
1 whole navel orange, juiced
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C water
1/2 tsp fennel seeds

Directions:
Put everything into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat to a simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring frequently until berries burst and water evaporates, 8-10 minutes. Cool before serving.

Confession: this always takes longer than 8 to 10 minutes to cook. And the berries? Maybe they burst because I squish them in impatience. Hey, Thanksgiving isn’t about lying.

Thanks for marrying me Jonathan. You’re hotter than Dave Lieberman!

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Thanksgiving Recipe #1

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Next week is Thanksgiving. I’m oh SO VERY excited. It’s my favorite holiday. MY FAVORITE! Here’s why: no unattainable expectations. Just food, hanging out, yelling at the television while we watch football in the afternoon, eating delicious things like turkey and cranberries and pie and sweet potatoes (or yams) covered in marshmallows and remembering that we have so many reasons to be thankful. I also enjoy watching “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” to cap off the night and ring in the Christmas season. Oh Thanksgiving.

I’d like to share a few of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes with you over the next few days.

Toasted Pecan Dressing (or Stuffing, if you prefer)
~from the Seattle Times at some point

Ingredients:
2 Cups chopped pecans
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, finely diced
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
2 pears, cored and diced
1 Granny Smith apple, cored, peeled and diced
1 T lemon juice
2 t ground sage
1 T fresh thyme
1 12oz box cornbread stuffing crumbs (I have never been successful in locating this in the Seattle area so I either use a preseasoned box and omit the above seasonings or just plain bread cubes)
1/2 t salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
2 eggs
1 cup apple cider or juice concentrate
1 cup chicken broth

1. Toast the pecans in 325 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add celery and garlic, saute for 5 more minutes. Add pears and apple, lemon juice, sage, thyme, cook for 5 more minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. Add the pecans, bread crumbs, salt, peper and parsley to the sauteed vegetables. Whisk together the eggs, apple juice and broth. Pour over stuffing, mixing until all moistened.
4. Spray casserole dish with cooking spray. Transfer stuffing to dish and cover with foil. Cook in 325 degree oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
**Can be prepared in advance and refrigerated until ready to cook. Should be mixed the same day as it is cooked. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.
Serves 10.

Sometimes I put this into two smaller dishes because then there are more crunchy/crispy bits. We’ve also made this without the egg and with vegetable broth to accomodate vegetarians in our family and it works just as well.

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Another delicious recipe!

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

In the summer, I don’t usually crave meat, but veggies and other lighterish stuff (and chips and queso, naturally). I saw this recipe on Martha Stewart’s website and I knew I wanted to try it!

Okay, Brazilian Black Beans, adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Ingredients:
3 medium beets, scrubbed and trimmed, beet greens chopped
3 cans black beans
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 T vegetable oil
1 scallion, thinly sliced, plus more for serving
1/2 C. chopped fresh cilantro
Cooked rice, for serving
lime wedges and shredded cheddar for serving

The night before, roast the beets (I did this in our toaster oven) for 45 minutes to one hour until they are soft. Pop them in the fridge.
Peel and dice the beets into smallish pieces, whatever you like.
Chop the garlic or put it through a garlic press so it’s nice and squishy and small.
Heat the oil in a skillet and add the garlic, scallion and cilantro. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes, until the scallion has softened.
Add the beans and beets to the mixture. Cook for about twenty minutes to allow the flavors to develop.

In another pan, quickly wilt the beet greens. Add them to the beans (or don’t. I served them separately the first time, but I mixed everything together on my plate anyway so I just added the greens to the mix the subsequent time).  Also, we didn’t have cheese or lime the last time we ate this and it was still great!

If you’d like to see the original recipe. Here is the link. I made this to the letter originally, with the beet greens on the side because I hate to waste food. EDF has you cook the beets and dried black beans together, which did make for a nice flavor, but took a really long time (like four hours). I do believe that although it doesn’t mention it in the recipe as written, you should soak the beans overnight if you’re going to start out with dry beans. Let me know if you try this one and what you think!

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Sometimes you just have to consult the church cookbook.

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

 

I don’t know if everyone has a church cookbook, but I strongly recommend them. Along with recipes for coffee to serve 250 people, there are some gems that cannot be found in your standard Betty Crocker or Joy of Cooking.

A couple of months ago, Jonathan and I had a delightful potluck supper at the Sammamish Grange, which included, among many other things, a freshly baked rhubarb pie. I never really enjoyed rhubarb as a child, but this was amazing! I kept thinking about the delicious tartness of the rhubarb and the sweetness of the crust and thought we needed some rhubarb at our house too. Yes, rhubarb  is sold in the store, but I’m cheap and I know that people around here also grow it in their yard. One quick phone call to my Momma and I had a grocery sack of rhubarb in my refrigerator.  Last week, I was missing my friend April dearly. April makes the best bars in the whole wide world. I was looking through the 125th Anniversary of First Lutheran Church of Ogema, WI cookbook (which my mom snagged from my Aunt Dottie) and found a recipe for Rhubarb Dream Dessert Bars. Perfect!

Here is the recipe:

2 c. flour
8-10 T confectioner’s sugar
1 c. margarine (I use butter because margarine freaks me out, but this is really up to you)
1.5 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 t salt
4 eggs, beaten
4 c. diced rhubarb

Mix the flour, confectioner’s sugar and margarine together like a pie crust. Save about one cup for the topping. Pat the rest into a 9×13″ pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Mix together the sugar, flour, salt and eggs. Stir in the rhubarb and spread over the crust. Sprinkle on the topping and bake for an additional 35 minutes.
(Big thanks to Victoria Nelson and Rhonda Cummings for submitting this to the church cookbook!)

Here’s the final result:

  I liked them so much I just took another batch out of the oven. If you happen to work with Jonathan, there’s a good chance this could be your breakfast in the morning.

Three cheers for the church cookbook. It may not be as hip or fashionable out here where we’re all connected to each other through the internet, but sometimes what you need is a recipe from Victoria Nelson and Rhonda Cummings.

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