Candy Roaster Squash, Ginger & White Bean Soup

Quite a few years ago, I worked as a cook in a Natural Foods Cafe. One of my jobs was to make the soup of the day.  Regular customers loved and clamored for the delicious Butternut Squash, White Bean & Ginger soup, a recipe from The Horn of the Moon Vegetarian Restaurant in Vermont.

I didn't make it very often because it was hard for me to get it done in the allotted time. I would go to work at 7 AM and lunch started being served at 11:30 AM.  While 4 1/2 hours may sound like ample time to make a pot of soup, may I point out that I made a huge (HUGE!) pot of soup and stirred it with a wooden paddle that looked big enough to use as a boat oar.  I also made 8 to 10 quiches each day and washed and prepped all the vegetables in the cold table for the sandwiches and salads. 

That job is where I really developed my knife skills and learned to efficiently chop cases full of vegetables every day.

While the original recipe calls for butternut squash, I used some candy roaster squash puree I had frozen last fall. Use your favorite winter squash--they all work just fine and taste delicious. I also used  large white limas because I had them on hand and love them, but navy beans or cannelini beans are also delicious.

Winter Squash, Ginger & White Bean Soup
1 cup dry white beans
2 lbs. winter squash
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup sliced celery
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
2 tsp. minced fresh garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Cook the white beans in salted water until tender.

Cook and puree the squash.

In a soup pot, heat the oil, then saute the onions, celery, ginger, and garlic, stirring occasionally. When tender and beginning to brown, add the squash puree. Add the beans to the pot using a slotted spoon. Add some of the bean cooking liquid, vegetable stock, or water to obtain the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir in the fresh parsley.

Simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes and serve.

Toasted Walnut and Raisinette Cookie Bars

As a Christmas gift, my brother gave me subscriptions to a few food magazines. What a great gift for someone like me and a gift I will enjoy all year.  One of the magazines is Food and Wine, which I had not read before. Great choice on Brother's part! The March issue has several recipes I thought sounded great and are on my current menu plan.

These cookie bars are (sort of) one of them. I loved the idea of  making chocolate chip cookies as bar cookies. So much easier to make.  I did deviate from the recipe quite a bit, but that's what we do, right? Use a recipe as a map, but take side roads to the final destination? 

Toasted Walnut and Raisinette Cookie Bars

(adapted from Food and Wine Magazine)

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. canola oil

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup toasted and chopped walnuts

1 cup Raisinettes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment.

Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Beat together the butter, canola oil, and both sugars until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the dry ingredients just until combined. Stir in the toasted walnuts and Raisinettes until evenly distributed.

Press into the prepared baking pan. Bake for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cook completely, then remove from the pan and cut into bars.

Linked with Sweets for a Saturday #8 at the blog, Sweet as Sugar Cookies

Crock Pot Jambalaya

Today is Fat Tuesday, the climax of Mardi Gras, which a season of carnival, feasting, and merrymaking prior to lent, which begins tomorrow. 

I have visited the City of New Orleans a number of times and it is a city that is very near and dear to my heart. I went to Mardi Gras only once and I have to say that was enough. I am so glad I had the experience--it was so much fun, and quite fascinating. I did see boobs a few times and once in a crowd I was groped in the nether region, but otherwise everyone seemed to be behaving quite well. Considering that it was one big party!  One of the things I heard often was that in order to properly enjoy Mardi Gras, you should eat twice your weight in food everyday and wash it down with lots of Dixie beer.  Revelers from all walks of life happily greeted one another, with a "Happy Mardi Gras"!

I loved all the Mardi Gras parades, which occur for several weeks, all over town. The parades are hosted by Krewes, which are groups whose main purpose of existence is organizing and participating in parades and balls during carnival.  Most, if not all the floats in the parades are made by Blaine Kern Studios,  and are  breathtaking.  The Krewe members ride the floats and toss beaded necklaces and dubloons to parade goers who raise their hands and shout, "Throw me something mister".  It really is fun and exciting. 

Some of the parades I saw were the Krewe of Endymion, the Krewe of Thoth, The Krewe of Bacchus (Charlton Heston was the King of Bacchus the year I attended, this year it is Andy Garcia), the Krewe of Proteus, the Krewe of Orpheus, the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, and the Krewe of Rex.

And there was the food. New Orleans certainly has a cuisine of its own, and one to be proud of. Jambalaya is a versatile Creole dish which combines cooked rice with a variety of ingredients, including tomatoes, onion, green peppers, and almost any kind of meat, poultry, and shellfish. The dish is quite spicy!

Crock Pot Jambalaya
(inspired by Steph of Plain Chicken)
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
3 - 4 plump garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
1 quart canned tomatoes with their juice (I used home canned)
1 pound cooked shrimp

Add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic to the crock pot. Add all the spices and herbs. Add the chicken broth and stir well. Cover the mixture with sliced sausage, then the tomatoes.  Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours. Add the shrimp during the last 30 minutes of cook time.  Serve with rice and pass the Tabasco sauce.

Happy Mardi Gras

Butter Dip Biscuits

Good, old-fashion, Southern buttermilk biscuits have never been my strong suit in the kitchen. I grew up eating them. My Grandmother made them almost every day. I have watched them being made many, many times. But I just don't have the knack for it.

When I saw this recipe on Steph's blog, Plain Chicken, I thought even I could master these easy biscuits. I made them last night for the second time. They are so very easy to do and they are delicious, with a very tender and fluffy texture with a slightly crunchy, buttery bottom crust. 

I had one split, lightly toasted, and topped with some of my homemade Ranier cherry preserves, for breakfast this morning. It was quite lovely with my cup of tea. 

Butter Dip Biscuits
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 - 1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Add butter to an 8-inch square baking dish and place in the oven for butter to melt, while the oven is heating.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in 2/3 cup of buttermilk. Continue adding more buttermilk, little by little until a loose dough forms.

Remove the baking dish from the oven and press the biscuit dough over the melted butter, using floured fingers.  Cut the biscuits into 9 squares, then bake for 12 - 15 minutes, until golden.

Tres Leches Cake

I was sitting at my desk with my morning cup of tea, thinking about food.  I was mainly thinking of two things, the leftover roasted chicken in the refrigerator and the fact that my husband was out of sweets.  I decided to make chicken enchiladas and when I did the Tres Leches Cake came to mind.

This cake circuited food blogs and also food magazines a while back. I had it on my list of things I wanted to try. As I searched for the recipe, I discovered several which listed amounts of the three milks to mix together, then went on to instruct discarding 1 cup of the mixture. Um, no. I am not going to purchase ingredients, mix together ingredients, then proceed to discard some of it before it even gets used?! The only time I dispose of food, and I try very hard to not let it happen, is if something spoils before we can eat it.  

I might also point out more than tres milks in the cake.  Three milks are poured over the cake, which is an amazing sponge. But there is also milk in the cake and it is topped with whipped cream. So, one might actually call this Cinco Leches Cake. 

I had fun making this cake. I got to use my great springform pan, which I think is very cool. I got to separate eggs, which for some reason I love to do.  And I got to beat the egg whites until they were puffy and voluminous, then fold them into the batter. I am very intrigued by this process and always like doing it.

Later, while Pritchard Parker was eating a slice, I told him how much fun I had making the cake. He replied, "Well I saw you poking holes in it and it looked like you were enjoying it:". 

Tres Leches Cake

1 cup sugar, divided

5 eggs, separated

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (5 oz.) can evaporated milk

1/4 cup heavy cream

additional heavy cream and sugar for whipping

Marachino cherries

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Butter and flour the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

Beat egg yolks and  3/4 cup sugar until pale yellow and doubled in volume. Mix in the milk, vanilla, flour, and baking powder until well blended.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and gradually mix in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Beat until firm. Fold egg whites into yolk mixture and pour into prepared pan. 

Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes.  Loosen sides of cake with a knife and then remove the side of the pan. Cool completely. Place the cake on a serving plate with an edge. Use a large serving fork to pierce the surface of the cake all over. Mix together the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Pour slowly over the cake. 

Serve with freshly whipped and lightly sweetened cream and garnish with marachino cherries. 

Linked with: Sweets for a Saturday #7 at the blog, Sweeet as Sugar Cookies