Showing posts with label Winter Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Winter Food. Show all posts
I scored with a bag of broccoli at the grocery store today. Marked down to next to nothing.
I expect it had reached its sell-by date, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. It was a brilliant green, and all the florets were intact. I had to buy it.
I decided to make a delicious and warming soup/chowder with it. It's
been freezing cold today with a bitter wind blowing.
Soup is always welcome on a cold winter's day. All you
need to make a meal of it is some nice crusty bread really.
Todd usually likes his soupls pureed. I like a bit of texture in mine,
and so this is a bit of a combination of both our likes.
I mashed some of it with a potato masher,
which not only thickened it a bit, but made him happy . . . and the
chunks made me happy.
I added cheese. Broccoli and cheese are such good bed partners. They
get along quite happily. Use a strong flavoured cheese. A good strong
cheddar works very well.
I also added some carrot for colour and
additional texture. It's really a chowder I think . . . which is more
than a soup. A chowder is a meal.
*Broccoli and Cheddar Chowder*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe
A healthy and satisfyingly delicious winter chowder recipe using up bits from the vegetable bin.
1 TBS light olive oilA healthy and satisfyingly delicious winter chowder recipe using up bits from the vegetable bin.
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 pound fresh broccoli, stems peeled and chopped, florets, separated and cut into bite sized pieces
900ml of vegetable stock (3 1/2cups)
120g strong cheddar cheese, grated (1 cup)
(Lower fat cheese works fine)
(plus a bit extra to sprinkle on the finished soup when you serve it)Add the potato and garlic. Cook, stirring
until the garlic becomes fragrant. Add the flour, mustard and cayenne,
stirring it in well and allowing it to cook for a couple minutes.
Stir in the vegetable stock along with the broccoli stems. Bring to the
boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for about 10 minutes.
Uncover and stir in the broccoli florets. Cover and cook for a further
10 minutes.
Remove the cover and mash it a bit with a potato masher.
Don't mash it too much, as you want a coarse texture. Stir in the
cheddar and cream. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired with salt and
pepper. Ladle into heated bowls. Top with some grated cheese and
serve.
Bangers and Mash have to be Todd's favourite meal of all time. He is a meat and potatoes man through and through. If both are on the menu then he is a very happy camper. He hasn't been feeling the greatest lately. Very, very tired. He is a very thin man to begin with and it is a struggle to keep the weight on for him. (I wish!) In any case I decided to make him a comfort meal consisting of Sticky Maple and Mustard Glazed Bangers with Irish Champ!
I can still remember the very first time I tasted French Onion Soup. It was when I had been married for the first time. My husband and I were students at a University back home. We had a pair of friends who were very modern and living together, a very much unheard of thing back in those days in the bible-belt of Canada. (I know I am dating myself here.)
I am a real salad lover. I could eat them 365 days of the year, for lunch and supper. Todd is not so fussed, but I am slowly converting him into a salad lover, one salad at a time. It's nice to have great tools when it comes to making salads and I was recently sent a couple of brilliant tools by the people at ICTC (The Intercontinental Cooking and Tableware Company) to use in my salad making, and I have been really pleased with them I have to say.
Even though it's Winter and it's cold . . . I still find myself longing for the salad days of summer . . . there are some days when stodge just doesn't cut the mustard. I want lettuce, and I want it now!
Well, January is certainly going out with a big bang! We have had probably one of the mildest winter's on record (according to the weather people, it's still felt pretty cold to me!) and now Lady Winter has decided to remind us that she is boss by giving us a couple of really nasty days. These days are perfect for staying inside all warm and cosy by the fire.
I picked up a couple of bags of nice looking naval oranges at the shops the other day, and after eating as many as we wanted to eat fresh, I decided to make something delicious and yet unusual with them. I had in mind to make a crumble . . . and why not?
We use all sorts of fruits to make tasty crumbles with . . . apples, pears, rhubarb, plums, blueberries, gooseberries and so on . . . why not oranges? Juicy and sweet, I thought they'd make a fabulous crumble . . .
Especially with a buttery crispy topping shot full of flaked coconut. Oranges and coconut . . . ambrosia!
I was going to add some macadamia nuts to the topping as well . . . but alas, I had none in the cupboard. Do try it if you want though. I'd add about 1/2 cup chopped nuts. It would be a fabulous addition I think!
Each mouthful of this was sweetly orangy, buttery crispy and moreishly scrummy! I dare to say it's quite healthy as well as there is not a lot of fat in it really.
Oranges . . . chock full of Vitamin C and fibre . . . and not just for juicing or eating out of hand anymore! I do hope you'll try this. ☺
*Orange and Coconut Crumble*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe
Deliciously different. You are going to love this!
For the fruit filling:
6 large navel oranges
2 ounces orange juice (1/4 cup)
1 1/2 TBS of quick cooking tapioca (or an equal amount of corn flour)
1 TBS Grand Marnier (Orange flavoured Liqueur)
Butter
For the topping:
3 ounces of plain flour (2/3 cup)
2.5 ounces sugar (about 2/3 cup)
1/2 tsp salt
2 ounces chilled butter, cut into bits (1/4 cup)
2 ounces flaked sweetened coconut (2/3 cup)
Single cream to serve
Peel and section the oranges over a large bowl, reserving 1/4 cup of the juices. (Don't throw away the peels. I'll show you what to do with them tomorrow!) Stir in the tapioca and Grand Marnier. Let stand for about half an hour before proceeding, giving it a stir every now and then.
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Lightly butter an 11 by 7 inch dish. Pour in the orange mixture. Set aside.
Whisk the flour, sugar and salt for the topping together in a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the coconut and then sprinkle evenly over top of the fruit.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm, spooned out into bowls along with some cream for pouring.
I had some lemons that I needed to use up today. I always buy too many. I just love the sight of a bowl of lemons on the counter top. They just look so cheerful to me, and homey. A little spot of sunshine on a dark and drizzly January day . . . lemons to me are the the perfect pick me up!
I decided to make some of my favourite slices . . . Lemon and Jam slices. Or Squares if you would rather call them that. I like to call them slices . . . sounds even more delicious when you call them slices. A rose by any other name and all that . . .
I love these slices because they encompass three of my favourite things . . . a buttery, crisp baked shortbread crust on the bottom . . . sweet strawberry preserves in the middle . . . a tangy lemoncurd like topping . . .
Oh my . . . but these are heavenly bliss. I love to enjoy them in the middle of the afternoon along with a hot drink. They're so good. These are the type of slices that you have a hard time walking past without picking at them . . . and I confess . . . I can never wait until they completely cool before I dig into them.
You're supposed to wait until they are completely cold to cut them . . . but they are awfully good warm . . . just sayin is all. They bring out the glutton in me. The tang of the lemon is soooo very good with the sweet fruitiness of the jam . . . and that buttery crust.
Of course you could use another flavour of jam if you wished. I just particularly love them made with strawberry jam. Cherry, raspberry or apricot are all rather good too . . . and then there is wild blueberry preserves, another favourite of mine.
I confess . . . I sometimes use limes and ginger jam. Those are awfully good too, especially if you add a little bit of ground ginger to the base. Mmmm . . . mmm . . . good. Are you not tempted???
*Lemon and Jam Slices*
Makes 15 squares
Printable Recipe
A butter, almost shortbread type of base, topped with sweet strawberry jam and a tangy lemon topping baked on top. Delicious.
For the base:
200g of plain flour (2 cups)
225g of cold unsalted butter (1 cup, or 2 sticks)
42g sifted icing sugar (1/3 cup)
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
For the jam:
6 heaped dessert spoons (about 3/4 cup)
For the Lemon topping:
281g of granulated sugar
the finely grated zest of one un-waxed lemon
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 TBS plain flour
3 large free range eggs
the juice of 2 1/2 lemons (1/3 cup)
Icing sugar to dust
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 11 by 7 inch baking dish, Dust with flour, shaking out any excess. Set aside. (Alternately you can line with foil and butter and dust the foil, leaving an overhang to lift the slices out when done.)
Whisk the flour, icing sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and drop it in. Rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until you have coarse crumbs. Press this mixture into the prepared baking tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, just until it is firm. Remove from the oven.
Whisk together the granulated sugar, lemon zest, baking powder and flour for the lemon topping. Beat in the eggs and lemon juice until smooth. Set aside.
Stir the jam together in a bowl with a fork to loosen it. Spread this over the warm base. Pour the lemon mixture over top and return the pan to the oven. Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until it is set and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack to cool completely before removing from the pan. Dust with icing sugar. Cut into squares to serve.
I don't remember ever having Brussels Sprouts when I was a child. They just were not a vegetable that was readily available back then. We basically only had peas and carrots and green beans and sometimes corn. I can remember discovering sprouts as an adult and falling completely and totally in love with them, and with cauliflower and broccoli too. I am a real brassica lover!
I got a huge bag of sprouts in my Christmas Vegetable Box and of course we did not use them all and so I sat here looking at them the other day and thought to myself, I better use them up before they go off and so I thought I would make a sort of gratin with them.
I did a search on line to see if I could find any suggestions and found what looked a lovely recipe on the BBC food web page by Sophie Grigson. I like Sophie's recipes and so I thought I would use it as a basis for what I wanted to do myself . . .
So I loosely followed it, cutting the amounts in half and then using pancetta lardons and more bread crumbs on top and grating the cheese coarser. I also changed the way I put things together and added a bit of butter to the bread crumbs, because I thought it would make them extra tasty . . . and it did.
In any case it was absolutely flippin delicious! It made a fabulous side dish and in all truth I could have quite happily dined on it alone and nothing else! Yes, I do love my sprouts! And when you mix them with bacon, cream and cheese, I love them even more!
*A Gratin of Sprouts & Bacon*
Serves 4
2 further tsp melted butter
3 TBS coarsely grated Parmesan Cheese
Melt the 2 tsp butter in the skillet and add the bread crumbs. Toss to coat and cook for a few mintues until they begin to crisp up a bit. Remove from the heat and mix together with the Parmesan Cheese. Sprinkle this mixture eveny over top of the sprouts in the gratin dish.
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Once it is heated place the gratin dish inside and roast the sprouts for 15 to 18 minutes until the cream is all bubbling up and the crumbs are golden brown. Serve hot.
I do the same thing every year. I buy in far too much veg for the holidays and then am left with a surplus which I am trying to use up at the beginning of the new year. It's usually a whole lot, but not a whole lot of anything, if you know what I mean.
When I looked into my vegetable drawer yesterday I saw a whole lot of normal carrots, a couple of white carrots (Yes, I did say white. Apparently that's a variety. I got them in a veg box in December) a few purple carrots (see my last explanation) an acorn squash, a small to medium sized white turnip.a bunch of fresh thyme and a few other odds and sods . . . most not in quantities large enough to cook any one thing, with the exception of the orange carrots.
I peeled and chopped them into large pieces and added a chopped red onion and then I roasted them in a hot oven along with some garlic, a good grinding of black pepper, a few sea salt flakes, some olive oil and a few springs of that fresh thyme . . .
Then . . . I roasted them in that hot oven for about 20 minutes, stirring them now and then . . . until they were all nice and cooked through and beginning to caramelize. There is nothing so tasty as caramelized oven roasted root vegetables . . . and while they were making their magic, I cooked some wheatberries in some vegetable stock until tender . . .
And then . . . I tossed them all together in a bowl . . . the cooked wheatberries and the roasted vegetables and I added a deliciously tangy lemon vinaigrette . . . made with a couple of the lemons from my fruit bowl on the counter . . .
After that I added a few broken up and toasted English Walnuts . . . again leftover from our Christmas Celebrations . . . and a handful of dried cranberries, just for some chewy sweetness and texture . . . and I mixed, them all together, yes I did, and sprinkled some flat leaf parsley over top, leftover again, from Christmas . . . and then . . . do you know what we did???
We ate it. With large lumps of buttered crusty bread and some leftover stilton crumbled over top. And do you know what else???
It was very, very . . . very good.
*Roasted Roots and Wheatberries with a Lemon Vinaigrette*
Serves 6 to 8peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
a small handful of flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
60g of dried cherries or dried cranberries, coarely chopped (1/2 cup)
Preheat
the oven to 220*C/425*F. gas mark 7. Toss the diced vegetables on a
baking sheet with about 2 TBS of olive oil, some salt and black pepper
and the sprigs of thyme. Roast in the heated oven, on the bottom rack
for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring them once or twice. They should be
cooked through and beginning to slightly caramelize.
Once cooked, drain the wheat berries and toss them into the dressing, whisking it first. Add the roasted root vegetables, discarding any thyme branches. Stir in the cherries or cranberries and the nuts, if using. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Toss in the parsley and serve.
You may serve this warm or at room temperature. You can make it several days in advance, in which case you should store it in the refrigerator and then bring it to room temperature prior to serving. Do not add the nuts or parsley until just before serving. A bit of feta, blue cheese or stilton crumbled over top makes a nice addition!
I love food this time of year . . . I know I say that all year round, but this is the time of year that we really start to get stuck into comfort foods . . . winter warmers . . . rich soups, stews, casseroles and bakes.
Food that, with the exception of a few small prep details, pretty much cooks itself. Simple and wholesome ingredients, but let me tell you . . . more often than not there it nothing simple at all about the flavours! Most pack a very delicious punch!
I've always been the kind of person that has been able to put things together and come up with something satisfyingly delicious . . . things like this Chicken, Bacon and Leek Casserole I am showing you here today.
It's simple. It uses stuff you most likely have in your fridge, larder and freezer right now. It tastes fabulously delicious, and it basically cooks itself. I like to serve it with some fluffy mash.
The Toddster is a real mash lover. I like to cook some greens on the side as well, just for some colour and vitamins. Today it was sprout tops. I do hope you will give it a try., and when you do that you'll come back and tell me how much you loved it! It may not look very exciting, but dull this isn't!
*Chicken, Bacon & Leek Casserole*
Serves 4
2 stalks of celery
1 large carrot, peeled and slicedsalt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
Add the wine and chicken stock. Bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and stir in the flour/water mixture. Cook stirring until the mixture begins to thicken. Cover tightly and then transfer the casserole to the oven. Bake, covered, for about 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes longer, until the chicken and vegetables are very tender.
Serve hot with some mashed potatoes and crusty rolls.
We've had a very dry day today, but it is bitterly cold with a strong wind from the North which just bites through you. Its pretty frigid really.
The sun almost more than makes up for it though. One feels as if they could almost forgive anything when the sun is shining, and I have always said there is nothing prettier than England on a sunny day!
Sunshine or not, this is the type of day that just begs for a warming soup for supper. We are wanting something filling, and hot.
We are craving a REAL belly-warmer-filler-upper!!! Something and warming and substantial, but not necessarily difficult or lengthy to make. Oh, I do so love Winter food . . . don't you?
A frigid cold day like today calls for something filling like a filling chowder. A filling chowder just like this corn chowder.
So what is a chowder you ask and why is it different than a soup?
A chowder is a thick, creamy milky and thick type of soup. It is usually made with fish or vegetables. Clam and sea food chowders are very popular where I grew up in the Maritime Provinces of Canada.
The origins of the word chowder are relatively obscure. It is often thought to have originated with the French word "Chaudiere." This was the type of pot first used to cook these warming supper soups in.
They are soups with very strong maritime ties . . . of the North American kind. And to be honest, it was the French were the first settlers there in the maritimes.
At the end of the day it doesn't really matter though . . . how it got it's name or where it originated. What matters most is that it tastes good and is comforting on a cold day like today.
I like the thought that whether across the ocean in Nova Scotia, or here in Chester, I can enjoy a nice hot bowl of corn chowder. Rich, creamy and milky. With lots of bits of corn stirred through, and a nice knob of butter melting on the top.
Me, this Canadian girl . . . I like to enjoy it with crisp salted crackers. Italian ones now . . . as that is all I can get over here that are like the Saltines from back home.
The other half . . . the Brit in him likes it with a thick slice of bread. Crackers or bread aside, this is comfort food. Its plain and simple. I like that.
*Corn Chowder*
Makes 4 servings
Printable Recipe
I have been
making this for years and years. It was always one of my children's
favourite soups and it quite easy and cheap to make as well. It's one
of those very comforting things that seems to enrich your soul as well
as feed your belly. I like it with buttered crackers, but Todd, he's so
English . . . he wants it with bread.
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped coarsely
2 stalks of celery, trimmed and chopped coarsely(try to include some of the leaves)
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped coarsely
2 ounces of streaky bacon chopped coarsely, or proscuitto
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp summer savoury
2 cups milk
1 14 ounce tin of creamed corn
1 knob of butter
Place
the streaky bacon (or proscuitto) into a large saucepan and heat over
medium heat. If necessary you may add a bit of butter to keep it from
sticking. Once it has begun to brown and render out some of it's fat
add the celery, onion, carrots and potatoes. Stir and sweat over medium
heat until they begin to soften. Add the water, making sure it covers
all the vegetables. Season to taste with some salt and black pepper and
add the savoury. Allow to simmer until the vegetables are tender,
about 15 minutes. Stir in the milk and the creamed corn. Gently heat
to a simmer without boiling. Adjust the seasoning as necessary. Add
the knob of butter and serve in heated bowls with crackers or bread.
Delicious!
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