This soup is Teh Yummah.  It brings yummy home.  Also, it’s easy.

Take one butternut squash.  Split it in half.  Scoop out the seeds.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle with oil.  Bake until soft in a 350 degree oven.  Obviously on a baking sheet.  You can line the pan with parchment paper, it makes clean up easier to deal with.

When it’s done, remove it from the oven, cool it.  Scoop it out of the husk/shell/skin stuff.  Put it in a bowl, set it aside.

In a largeish pan on medium heat, throw in a few tablespoons of butter or olive oil.  When the oil/butter is hot add a few finely chopped shallots.  For a medium sized squash I use 3 shallots.  Saute for until just begining to brown.  Add pepper and salt to taste.  Add a teaspoon each of turmeric, rosemary or some other aromatic herb.  I like dill in this too.  Saute the herbs for a minute, especially if you are adding turmeric.

Add the squash innards, some chicken stock to thin it out and simmer for about half an hour.  Test the seasoning, see if it needs something.   If you like this sort of thing, add a some white wine.  You will need to simmer for another 10 minutes or sow to get the rawness of the alcohol out of the soup.  About 5 minutes before you are ready to take it off the heat, add about 1/2 cup of heavy cream.

The beauty of this soup is that you can do just about anything to butternut squash puree on the way to soup and it’s still quite tasty.  I’ve added freshly squeezed orange juice and been really happy with the results.

Serve with bread.  Crackers.  Nothing.  It’s good.

When Nick went to the butcher on Thursday to pick up our Thanksgiving turkey, he was met with an unpleasant surprise.  The 4-kilo turkey I had ordered was actually 5.4 kilos!  After some debate and bargaining with the butcher, it came out that that was the smallest bird they had received that day, and they had indeed reserved it for me.  A three-pound difference might not sound like a big deal, but when the bird costs 6 euros 50 a kilo, and we were already unsure if a whole turkey would fit into our tiny oven, and it was already 3pm on Thanksgiving Day, it felt disastrous.

After some oven reconfiguration, we managed to get the turkey in without it touching the heating element, and it roasted up beautifully – since turkey isn’t the commodity in France that it is in the US, the ones you get here are never frozen or wrapped in plastic.  The air-dried skin browns and crisps like no other turkey I’ve made, and the flavor, like that of French chickens, is somehow just more.  The menu went off just as planned, except in lieu of the brittle I served the potimarron pie with bourbon-maple whipped cream.

We were joined by five friends, and actually have very few leftovers (one scoop of mashed potatoes, one spoonful of Brussels sprouts, one sliver of pie…) except for the turkey, of which about two and a half pounds remain.  Having spent 35 euros – that’s right, upwards of 50 bucks – we don’t want to let a single scrap go to waste.  Yesterday afternoon I made stock from the carcass, after Nick had cleaned it of meat.  Meanwhile, he simmered a piece of kombu in a pot of water in preparation for a very welcome light lunch: turkey miso soup.

If you’ve never made miso soup before, you’re missing out on one of the simplest, fastest, and tastiest soups around.  It’s as easy as whisking a couple of spoonfuls of miso into a pot of hot dashi (the Japanese staple broth made with water, kombu seaweed, and bonito tuna flakes – which we have as yet been unable to find in Paris, so we did without – steeped for about five minutes) and garnishing with a few little pieces of whatever.  It should be brothy.  In this case, we used a bit of shredded turkey and some snipped chives, leftover from the mashed potatoes.  It made a fantastic day-after-Thanksgiving lunch.

But there’s plenty more turkey to be eaten.  As soon as I’m done writing, I plan on heading down to the kitchen and mixing up a big batch of herbed turkey salad: mayo, sage, chives, parsley, maybe a bit of crème fraîche and shallot.  I’ll eat it for lunch on top of some lettuce with a dollop of cranberry sauce, and hopefully there will be enough left to make a couple of weekday sandwiches.

Tonight or tomorrow I’ll put that fresh turkey stock to use in a turkey risotto.  Garnishes will include the rest of the fresh sage, chopped turkey (duh) and grated aged provolone.

So what are you doing with your turkey leftovers?

Originally published on Croque-Camille.

Ok, I’m ready for some healthy food after a wonderful Thanksgiving feast.  Soup is one of my favorite things to make, and we’ve got lots of leftover turkey…so here goes!

1 tbs Olive Oil

Large clove of garlic, minced

1 medium shallot, minced

2 slices of turkey bacon, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

pinch of red pepper flakes

1 large carrot, sliced into coins

1 stalk of celery diced fine

4 cups of chicken or turkey broth

Leftover turkey, any remaining skin & bones removed

1 can white beans, rinsed & drained

1/4 cup ditalini pasta

Saute bacon in olive oil until just underdone, add the garlic and shallots and saute a minute or two more until the garlic is fragrant.  Add the red pepper flakes, celery and carrots and saute a minute or two more.  Add the chicken broth, turkey & white beans.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer.  Add the ditalini and simmer for 30 minutes.

That’s it!  You can add more veggies if you like- sometimes I add baby spinach or greenbeans.  Mushrooms are good to add as well.  Pretty much a low fat, healthy soup- enjoy:)

it was difficult to comprehend cooking another meal yesterday, after the massive dinner party (‘massive’ being a relative term) on thursday night. but i think myself, my mom, and phil were all in dire need of a healthy light meal. prawn laksa. perfect.

during the day, my mom and i went shopping. she wanted to see the harrods christmas windows (currently they have a wizard of oz theme… it’s pretty ridiculous) and then we ventured down to peter jones for some kitchen goodies. she got me an awesome food processor for an early christmas/hanukah present, as well as a fabulous santoku knife, a new peeler, an apple corer, 4 more jam jars (more chutney making in the near future), and a huge saucepan. i’m a lucky duck. thanks mom!

so, dinner. i wanted to cook something soupy, and something i’d made before. so i went with this prawn laksa recipe from delicious mag. it’s so simple, as long as you have the right ingredients to hand, and have a few extra minutes and spices to prepare your own chili paste, this can be a wonderful warming dish.

prawn laksa

enough for 2 people (last night i used greater measurements to make enough for 3).

the particulars:

• 1/2 pack rice noodles
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 shallots, diced
• 1 heaped tbsp tom yam chilli paste (1 diced clove garlic, 2 tsp lemongrass paste, 2 kaffir lime leaves, 1 tsp red chili flakes, 1 tbsp canola oil, 1 tsp ground coriander)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 pack cooked and peeled king prawns
• 2 handfuls sugar snap peas, halved lengthways
• A handful of beansprouts
• 2 spring onions, shredded
• A few fresh coriander/cilantro leaves
• Lime wedges, to serve

1. in a bowl, pour boiling water over the rice noodles, leave for 5 minutes until soft, drain and refresh under cold water. meanwhile, prepare the chili paste in a small frying pan with the 6 ingredients listed.
2. heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large sauté pan and soften the shallots. stir in the chilli paste and fry for 1 minute. add the coconut milk and vegetable stock. bring to a simmer and add prawns, sugar snap peas and a handful beansprouts. simmer for 3 minutes until the prawns are cooked through.
3. divide the noodles between 2 bowls and pour over the laksa sauce. top with spring onions and a few fresh coriander/cilantro leaves. serve with lime wedges, to squeeze over.

lesson learned:

1. 1. In a bowl, pour boiling water over the rice noodles, leave for 5 minutes until soft, drain and refresh under cold water.
2. 2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large sauté pan and soften the shallots. Stir in 1 heaped tbsp tom yam chilli paste and fry for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk and chicken or vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer and add prawns, sugar snap peas and a handful beansprouts. Simmer for 3 minutes until the prawns are cooked through.
3. 3. Divide the noodles between 2 bowls and pour over the laksa sauce. Top with spring onions and a few fresh coriander leaves. Serve with lime wedges, to squeeze over.

lesson learned: as you can see from the photo above, phil added some extra chili flakes on the top of his. just to add a bit of extra heat. he’s such a manly man.

This would also be a good use for leftover turkey after Thanksgiving.  As a matter of fact, that is exactly what this recipe was intended for.  I had made a turkey a few weeks ago when they were 40¢ a lb. and had a lot leftover so I was coming up with all sorts of ways to use it up.  I went grocery shopping today and there were some pretty good deals and no one in the store.  Frozen turkeys were on sale.  This I had expected.  Got another 12 lb turkey for around 5 bucks (39¢ a lb. this time).  They also had some buy 1 get 2 free deals which I had never heard of but indeed that was what happened.  I was so happy with the savings I got tonight; who needs 4 am for good Black Friday deals.  I am not a morning person, in case you didnt know.

This is basically a thick chicken noodle soup but with turkey and orzo instead.  I learned this method from many on Food Network but I switch it up all the time with different pastas, stocks, meats, and veggies.  So what is orzo?  It is rice-shaped pasta.  It is made out of the same stuff spaghetti is, semolina, only they make it into a rice shape.  It is good and usually you dont need as much of it to fill people up.  I use about half as much orzo as I would spaghetti.

• 1-2 cups of cooked chicken or turkey, chopped
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup of celery, chopped
• 2 tsp poultry seasoning (this has things like thyme, rosemary, marjoram)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 16 oz. bag of frozen peas and carrots
• 1/2 box of orzo, about 8 oz.
• salt and pepper

1. In a dutch oven or large pot preheat olive oil over medium high heat.
2. Then add onions, garlic and celery.  After about 7 minutes, the veggies should be soft.
3. Add the poultry seasoning and season with salt and pepper.  Then stir to combine.  Let it cook for about a minute to develop some of those flavors.
4. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
5. Add the orzo and give it a good stir.  Follow the cooking directions on the package for al dente.  Mine was about 7 minutes I think.  The orzo is going to help thicken the soup.
6. Stir in the chicken or turkey and let it cook another few minutes just to heat through and then add the frozen peas and carrots.  This should bring the temp of the soup down considerably and make it easier to eat.  Test for seasonings and re-season with salt and pepper if necessary.

This is a good one pot dish that isnt too difficult.

Turkey Orzo

Kid Approved:

After thanksgiving, there seems an endless supply of leftovers. Don’t let any go to waste. Once you’re done with the Turkey, don’t throw it away. Out of the bones we can make a delicious Turkey Noodle Soup.

Ingredients: Leftovers of Turkey (mostly the remains of the breast bone), 3 stalks celery, 1 potato, 5-7 fresh mushrooms, ½ yellow onion, 1 carrot, chicken broth, handful of thin spaghetti, salt, pepper

Save the Turkey breast bone remains. Throw away any small bones that are loose.

Fill a big pot with cold water. Immerse the Turkey bone into the pot until it is completely covered.Add salt and ground pepper.

Cook on medium high until foam begins to appear. Once the broth is done, remove the breast bone and any other pieces of skin or bones that you don’t want in your soup. The remaining liquid is your soup base.

Peal and dice one potato.

Next, chop half of an onion, 1 carrot and 3 stalks of celery in small cubes.If you like your vegetables differently cut in your soup, feel free to cut them differently.

Fill a small pot with water and set it on heat. When the water boils, add salt and a handful of broken spaghetti.

Drain the spaghetti as soon as it done (follow the instructions on the pasta box).

Set another pot on medium heat. Add olive oil and then drop all the vegetables in. Saute all for 10 minutes.

Add chicken broth (or if you prefer water) and let it cook for another 5 minutes.

Next mix the vegetables and spaghetti into the soup base.

Season with salt, pepper and with a little bit of Italian Seasoning. Cook all together on medium heat for 30 minutes or until foam starts to appear.

Bon Appetit!

Thanksgiving was great.  All the dishes and more importantly family I remember were there and then some.  There were even a couple of new dishes there that I may have to try and make.  My mom hosted and did an awesome job for over 30 people.  I however was not feeling well.  Blah.  I think it might be one of the worst things to wake up on Thanksgiving and not be able to swallow.  I had lots of hot beverages and was luckily able to eat my Turkey Day feast…  well, at least some.  We watched the parade and my daughter loved seeing Abby Cadabby, Dora, and even Santa.  Loving my DVR BTW.  It means no commercials.  Ah, bliss.

I first heard of this dish from a friend who was bringing it to a work party for a football game.  Even at work southerners like to celebrate football.  She told me it was simple and that she made it in a crockpot which was ingenious for the party which lasted all day.  Usually I think of this last minute though and it comes together very quickly hence my nod to Speedy Gonzales in the title.  I have made it with ground beef, chicken, or turkey.  I have even used leftover chicken or turkey which would make it a good Black Friday dish.  If you use the leftover turkey or chicken make sure you cut or tear the meat to around spoon size about an inch across or so.  You want to be able to eat the soup without a turkey leg on your spoon.  You can feel free to leave out things you don’t like, add more of what you do and even throw in extras. I will give you the basic recipe that I elaborate on all the time.  These days we often do not have a dish more than once because I am always changing something about it.  I often use things that are running out as long as they match the flavor profile.  This soup is great for a cold night and quite healthy: mostly lean meat and fiber.

• 1 lb. or 2 cups of meat (ground beef, chicken, or turkey OR leftover chicken or turkey)
• 1 cup or 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 TBSP garlic salt and 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes
• 1 can of whole kernal corn (some people use shoepeg, but I think regular corn is fine)
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 package of dry ranch dip seasoning (I use Hidden Valley)
• 1 package of taco seasoning mix (I use whatever is on sale), the seasoning contains things like chili powder and cumin.  nothing too hot.

1. Brown meat in a skillet.  Once it is brown add in onions and cook 7 minutes or so until soft.
2. Season with garlic salt and pepper and give it a stir to combine.
3. Add tomatoes, Ro-Tel, corn, and beans to soup and stir to combine.
4. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer for about 30 minutes.

Great served with sour cream and cheddar cheese on top.  Some times I put a squirt of lime juice on top too.  Others put oyster crackers or fritos on top.  Anything you would use to garnish your chili you can use for taco soup.  Leftovers freeze well and are great on a baked potato.

If you want to prepare in slowcooker, cook ground meat and onions before adding them to slow cooker.  If you are using the leftover cooked poultry just throw it in.  Add all ingredients, stir to combine and set for 4 hours on high or 7-8 on low.  Honestly all the ingredients are cooked so it should be ready to eat in an hour or so.  The longer it cooks the better it gets as with most soups.

Some variations: this time I added about 2/3 cup of pumpkin puree because it was leftover (this makes the soup thicker), a few squirts of ketchup because the bottle was almost empty and a little hot sauce because I know my family likes it hot.

Hope you all enjoy it.  I bet Speedy would…

Taco Soup

Kid Approved

Hey Kate -

I guess that all new bloggers start off wanting to post all the time – but I figure I’ll give in anyways. Tonight for dinner I made Chicken Noodle Soup – which if you don’t know how to make, you probably should.

I went through a phase after university of not liking soup. I don’t know why – something about the warm soupiness of it all just wasn’t for me. But once you realize how stinkin’ cheap soups can be to make, you can’t say no. It’s pretty much the same reason I started eating eggs again after a teenage interlude of french toast every time my dad made Western Sandwiches for dinner.

So this is super cheap – frugal even. Something like I imagine the Havercroft Silver Stars (no relation) would eat before a “brill” twirling match.

My Chicken Noodle Soup actually started a week or so ago. That I don’t know is a lesson for us all in labeling things you make. But it smelled ok…

Chicken stock is one of those things that impresses people with your earthy rustic-ness, but it’s super simple.

I got a rotisserie chicken, ate most of the chicken, stuck about a cup in the freezer, and stuck the carcass in a pot and covered it with water. You then bring it to a boil, and let it simmer for an hour or so. Pour the whole hot mess through a strainer into a bowl. I guess you could use the hot mess for something, but it kind of grossed me out. I ended up with about a liter of stock. I put it in two 500 mL canning jars, and stuck one in the freezer.  Ready for warm (low sodium even) soupiness!

Chicken Noodle Soup

• 1/4 of a medium onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 500 mL chicken stock
• 1.5 cups chopped chicken, cooked
• 2 carrots
• 2 stalks celery
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1.5 cups dried pasta

1. Prepare and cook noodles according to package directions.
2. Saute onion and garlic in a bit of oil until soft and fragrant.
3. Pour in the chicken sauce, and bring to a boil.
4. While stock is coming to a boil, slice carrots and celery. Dump the vegetables in the stock. Boil for about 15, or until the carrots are just soft.
5. Add the chicken, salt and thyme , and reduce to a simmer until vegetables are soft, and chicken is warmed through.
6. Drain cooked noodles and divide into your soup bowls. Cooking the noodles separately makes sure that they don’t absorb too much water and get grossly mushy in the soup. Pour cooked soup over the noodles and enjoy.

If you have extra soup, make sure that you save the noodles and soup separately as well. I would only recommend making as much soup as you can eat in a week. Once the carrots and celery are added to the soup, it won’t freeze very well.

OK, that’s it for tonight! More baking to come, there have been requests!

Today I was craving for shabu-shabu but my friend was busy so we can’t go out on our usual weekend plan. I decided to make one myself. Here’s the outcome.

Luckily, in Taiwan we can buy freshly cook ingredients like tofu, taro, and even fresh instant noodles.

What I did was boil some water, then add all the ingredients. Let it boil again, then just drop some vege (any greens) that’s it! It’s good for 2 persons and it’s economical too!

Here’s the ingredients:

Taco Soup

Prep 5 min, total 25 min. Yield 12 1-cup servings

• 1 lb. extra lean ground beef
• 1 onion chopped
• 3 cans mild chili beans undrained
• 1 can whole tomatoes undrained
• 1 can corn drained (or frozen)
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 pkg. taco seasoning
• 1 ½ c. water
• 1 ½ c. shredded cheddar cheese

Brown meat with onions and drain.  Add all remaining ingredients except cheese; stir, breaking up tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Simmer on medium-low heat 5 min, stirring occasionally. Serve with cheese.

Stir in variations-

Sour cream, fresh cilantro.  You can use fresh ingredients for any of the above.  Make a lot of soup!

Contributed by Allison Crowell

To Print Click Here

What to do with the left over turkey, chicken, or beef ?  Well, I am going to make a super sandwich and  mushroom & potatoes soup for today lunch.  It easy to prepare and I don’t have to spend long time in my kitchen.

Ingredients
cooked turkey/chicken – 6 slices
whole meal bread – 6 slices
low-fat cheese – 3 slices
mushrooms – 60g, sliced
tomatoes – 2, sliced
lettuce leave – 3
margarine

Method

1. Preheat the sandwich maker.
2. Brush some margarine on one side of the each bread.
3. Arrange the ingredients : lettuce, tomatoes, turkey/chicken slice, and then the cheese on top of one bread slice.  Add another bread slice on top of the cheese.
4. Place the sandwich into the sandwich maker and heat for 5-6 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Serves 3.

Here is the mushroom & potaotes soup recipe.

There are other recipes you can make if you don’t like making sandwiches.  Visit here for more recipes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let me tell you about soup.  Make your own stock with the leftover turkey carcass and the green parts of the leeks and stems of the kale and peels of the squash and a big fistful of parsley and 6-8 whole cloves of garlic and salt – cover everything with water, bring to a boil, and simmer for about an hour, strain well, and set aside to cool.  Skim off excess fat and funky stuff.

In the meantime, chop butternut squash, leftover turkey bits, kale, the white parts of the leek, and 2 cloves of garlic.

In a large heavy pot, sweat the leeks in in some olive oil for a minute over medium heat.  Add the squash and let them both cook in the oil for a few minutes.  Shake a good shake of salt and pepper over them.  Add the turkey, garlic, kale, and a splash of white wine.  Stir everything well and pour in 8-9 cups of broth.  Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes, until squash is tender.  Chop a handful of flat-leaf parsley and throw it in the soup.

Crushed red pepper makes a nice garnish and, in tandem with the garlic, prevents everything from becoming too Thanksgiving-y.

Variations on the theme:

• Turkey, (cooked) rice, carrots, celery, peas (garnish with parsley, black pepper, and lemon).  This is my Dad’s recipe and it is good.
• Stock (turkey or vegetable) with squash, kale & white beans instead of turkey.
• If you’re craving this on a weeknight or don’t happen to have a turkey carcass around, use commercially prepared chicken broth instead of laboring over a stock – no one will know and the soup will still be delicious.

Recipe from Ontario Apple Growers:

Makes 12 small servings or 8 larger servings.

1 TB vegetable oil

2C chopped onions

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp dried thyme

4C squash, peeled & chopped

3C apples, peeled & chopped

4C chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 C milk or cream

pinch of nutmeg

salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook about 7 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook for 1 minute. Stir in squash, apples and stock.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until squash is tender. Puree in small batches in blender or food processor. Return puree to saucepan and add milk/cream and reheat. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

My modifications:

• I used butternut squash
• I used 2 tsp of vegetable oil instead of 2 TB
• I used milk instead of cream
• I used Granny Smith apples

What I thought overall….

This was delicious and my hubby loved it but I found it a tad too sweet for me.  Next time I would:

• use an acorn squash
• use 2C instead of 3C of apples
• use more onion & garlic

I think that would give it a more balanced flavour so that the sweetness isn’t so dominant.

Cheers!

T

ps. Working 12 hour days both tomorrow and Sunday so my posts will go up in the evening.

Sandwiches and Saturdays go well together – here is a quick and tasty veggie sandwich to make you smile:

Roasted Red Pepper and Cucumber Sandwich:

1/2 cup chopped cucumbers
1 red pepper
1/2 cup  cream cheese – softened
3 tbs minced red onion
thinly sliced mushrooms
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 garlic clove – minced
Sliced whole wheat bread – soft tortillas can be substituted
6 romaine lettuce leaves
thinly sliced tomatoes

Cut red pepper into thin slices and saute in olive oil until roasted

Spread cucumbers and roasted red peppers in a thin layer on paper towels to drain excess moisture (about 5 minutes)
Place cucumbers and peppers in a medium bowl and mix the cheese, onion, salt and garlic – stirring with a fork until well blended
Spread mixture on bread, top with lettuce leaves and enjoy! (makes 4)

Minestrone Soup (beef optional)

3 tbs olive oil
2 tsp thyme
3 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves
1 large sweet onion, diced
8 carrots, peeled and diced
1 potato diced into small chunks
3 large celery sticks  – diced into small chunks
1 tbs sea salt
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corm (off cob)
1/2 cup penne or small shells (whatever pasta you have in pantry is fine – just chop it if needed) )
1 28 oz can plum tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 quarts water
1 cup beef or vegetable stock (see cooking basics tab above for stock how to’s)
1/2 cup red wine
Left over pot roast or roast beef is optional

Lightly coat bottom of a 10 quart pot with cooking spray.
Heat olive oil; add garlic, onions, carrots, celery, corn, potatoes, and salt – cook over low heat until onions are transparent.
Increase heat, stirring constantly for about a minute then add 3 quarts water, tomatoes,  stock, thyme and bay leaves.
Bring then bring then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.
Add pasta and cook for an additional 15 minutes, or until pasta of choice is tender.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with multi-grain bread, you can garnish with parmesan cheese of desired.

Enjoy

Well, I had to give way to the Butterball all-out feasting for a couple of days but now that it’s over, I’m back in the green and sensible eating business.

Now, not only did I have fish, veggies and fruit pieces leftover from making the baked tempura, I also had a few tempura pieces that I didn’t get to finish. So I thought of making soup out of all this today. Which turned out to be a winner. The tempura gets soggy when dipped in the soup but that’s how you want it. I’ve never tried making soup out of fruits before and I gotta tell ya, this ain’t gonna be the last time. So yummy and refreshing!

Ingredients: Assorted Veggies (I used Zucchini, Mushrooms, Carrots and Sweet Potato) and Fruits (I used Apple, Pear, Peach and Avocado), Leftover Tempura Pieces, Chicken Stock, Dry White Wine, Garlic, Olive Oil, Chives or Scallions, Salt & Pepper

Directions: Dice all veggies and fruits into small pieces. In a pot or dutch oven, saute garlic in a little olive oil. Throw in all veggies and fruit pieces, season with salt & pepper and stir. Add just enough stock to immerse everything then add a splash of white wine. Let boil for 10 minutes or until the veggies and fruits are very soft. Ladle the veggie and fruit pieces and some stock into the blender and puree. Pour back into the pot and if needed, re-season to taste. Reheat leftover tempura pieces in the mircrowave. Ladle soup in a bowl, add tempura pieces and garnish with chives or scallions.

Tong Kee has a different idea of almond tarts than i do.

I bought an almond tart, a mini egg tart and a normal egg tart during brekkie at Old Town..

The top right is the almond tart RM1.50. It HAD almonds in it. but almond niblets. Sucks! Sigh. but i like the biscuit part of the tart.. It should be renamed almond CAKE tart. Only had half.. saved the other half for later.I should have just eaten the cheese tart.

Mini tart was great! Yum. and the egg tart (big one) is for dear.

I had a usual Nanyang Kopi C at Old Town.

Dear had a mee Jawa but i have no pic cos i totally forgot my camera-also forgot it for lunch!

We went home and watched “Where Got Ghost?”, a Jack Neo film.

Based on three stories. Kinda scary though it was only a Hor-medy. I still prefer Money No Enough II. Thought that was funnier!

During the movie, dear had his egg tart while i had my honey stars and some wheat thins.

We headed to lunch at Hong Seng Coffeeshop, Section 17 Road 17/38

The fav Teochew porridge wasn’t open.. so me and dear had vegetarian food since it’s a friday..

I had some lots of brinjals, taters cooked in some kinda herbs, and fake char siew.

The taters and brinjals were good but the charsiew was on the bland side.

Gramps ordered Real Char Siew.. and Siew Yuk.. along with Choy Keok.

I had some choy keok. Was not boiling hot. kinda disappointing also cos so little veg. I think the standard of this chicken rice/char siew shop has dropped a little.

Even gramps think the char siew and siew yuk wasn’t too good. I think we’ll only come back here for the Teochew porridge and veg food (for me) the next time around.

We headed to Carrefour for the prunes deal-RM5.99 compared to RM9.99

Tropicana City Mall has very bad design. They don’t maximize the space in the carpark. plus you have to validate you ticket though you’ve given the counter to “get a free parking” unlike Tesco.

I spotted this in Carrefour..

Yum.. opened it when i came home. it seriously tasted like Skippy Roasted Honey PB. i wanted to buy that PB but it cost RM16! I would have paid it myself, but i didn’t want gramps to pay. so i’m waiting till some other day to get it. But there was only two left though.

SAM! When are you coming back? I want nut butter!

We took a nap.. i know. such pigs! hehe

Got up. made dinner for dear since he’s off to work.. i feel i’m very “instant cook” kinda person cos everything i cook now is instant, except fried eggs. Must cook pasta one day!

While watching dear eat, i had me half of my almond tart, and half a orange after he left.

Studied som AFA. Current cost accounting, i hate you.

We couldn’t decide where to go for dinner. So we headed to Chandran mamak in Aman Puri..

Had me a Teh C. No foam. Boo.

Grandma had a roti telur. I had the eggy part and all the vege from the curry.

I also had chicken soup. VERY peppery. i guess that’s indian soup for you. I love thefried onions but they don’t have as much onions as Kayu’s chicken soup. The chicken pieces were quite soft and tender.

Came home.. had a prune. .

And studied and read up the damn assignment.

I PRAY i can get through this International Business.

God’s almighty and he can work miracles.

Loves,

… cream of turkey soup made with Thanksgiving leftovers.

I’m not really a homemade soup kind of gal, and I attribute that to three factors; one, I don’t often cook things that have the potential to be turned into soup (I tend to run with boneless chicken breasts and steaks; as bones are often the basis for stocks, no bones means no stock).  Two, I don’t have the capacity for the storage of bulky things; my freezer is pretty small, and I can’t afford to fill that space with tubs of soup.  Three, while we do eat a lot of soup here at Chez Chili, we all like very different soups, so the convenience of ready-to-eat really works for us (and there’s nothing at all wrong with Progresso).

Yesterday’s Thanksgiving dinner yielded the ribs and back of a smallish turkey, though, and Mr. Chili decided, after stripping the thing of as much turkey dinner sandwich fodder as he was able, to drop it into a cauldron of water and set it to simmering.  Whether he was inspired by the fact that I’ve been sick for a week or the fact that trash collection is delayed a day this week because of the holiday I’ll never know; regardless of the reason, there’s a pot of turkey broth simmering on my stove as I write this.

Turkey soup isn’t hard (NO soup is hard, really), it just takes a while.  Start with some bones and a pot sufficient to hold enough water to cover said bones.  I drop in a quartered onion (don’t bother peeling it; the skins impart a pretty color on the broth) and a clove of garlic and maybe some other herbs – whatever strikes your fancy is perfectly fine.  Bring all that water to a rolling boil, cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer for a long time – we left the pot on overnight.

Fish the bones out, then line a colander with paper towels and set it over another large pot, sufficiently sized to hold the broth you’re about to strain into it.  Return the stock to the stove top, then add some diced turkey (I pick whatever meat still looks yummy out of the colander, then add some more from my leftover stash) and whatever vegetables suit you; this time, I’m going for some diced carrots, and some chopped onions (really, though, you needn’t stop where I did; diced potatoes, sliced celery, chopped tomatoes, even peas would go nicely here).  You can also add about 1/4 cup of rice for each cup of stock (if I do, I use brown rice and I eyeball it, but then again, I’d rather too little rice than too much; this time, though, I’m using orzo, instead).  Adjust for seasoning here – you’ll probably want some salt, and perhaps a little pepper, and there’s nothing that says a cube or two of chicken bouillon is off limits, either; if you use it, though just remember to adjust for salt after – then let the whole thing gently cook some more, until everything is tender and yummy.

L. and I were engaged in massive, deserved loafery involving leftover pie, hot coffee, and a Criminal Minds marathon when we realized we were hungry again. (How is it you always get hungry again?) I heated up and split in two a dish of vegetable barley soup and toasted the last harvest roll. I used to think I didn’t like raisins, but when they’re golden and toasted and studding a homebaked roll with sweet potato and nutmeg? Not bad, not bad, warm and relaxing.

Submitted by: dunno source via Submit a Kludge!

My parents recently enjoyed this soup at a JW Marriot in Michigan.  They requested the recipe and surprisingly their server brought out a printed copy for them.  With our crop share came a large batch of carrots, perfect timing for me to try this soup.

Original Recipe

• 4 oz Sweet Onion
• 3 oz Leek
• 6 lbs Carrots,  3 lbs juiced & 3 lbs chopped
• 1/2 oz Ginger Root
• 1/2 oz Garlic
• 2 t Honey
• 2 Quarts Chicken Stock
• 1 Quart Vegetable Stock
• S&P

1. Juice half of the carrots needed and set aside.
2. Rough chop all vegetables (carrots, onion, and leeks) to similar size.
3. Sweat the carrots in olive oil, then add the onion and sauté together.  Add the leeks after the onion water starts to break, season.
4. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté just until fragrant.
5. Add the honey and caramelize it around vegetables.
6. Deglaze with stock and add seasoning again, simmer until carrots and tender and the flavor is properly developed.
7. Puree and strain.  Adjust consistency if needed and season.
8. Label, date, and refrigerate.

I pretty much followed the directions except no chicken stock just veggie stock and I used more ginger then the recipe calls for.  I made this soup a couple days in advance so I added the carrot juice right before refrigerating; I only wanted it to be heated up once.  The soup was delicious but next time I’ll stick to using less ginger, it takes very little to overpower the carrots.  Also I didn’t strain the soup after blending and I roasted a fennel bulb to serve on top of the soup which was a perfect compliment.  (Use agave instead of honey for a vegan approach).

Ingredients

Carrots, Onions, and Leeks

Blended Soup & Carrot Juice (not mixed)

Soup with Slices of Roasted Fennel

]]> http://glutenfreewelshy.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/soup-and-treats-for-stress/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:35:40 +0000 welshsarah http://glutenfreewelshy.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/soup-and-treats-for-stress/

Today I have two recipes to share with you whilst I take a break from party preparations for this evening’s birthday party for my mum (she’s hit the big 50; although she’s still in denial about it).  I have finally graduated from soft foods to more normal foods but before I did that I made this delicious nutrient dense soup:

It was really easy to make; just take…

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
2 tsps smoked paprika
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garilc, crushed
750ml veg stock
200g curly kale
1 red pepper, chopped
1 sweet potato, cubed

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based saucepan or casserole dish.  Add the onion and fry until softened, then add the garlic, spices, red pepper and sweet potato.  Stir together to cover the veg with the spices and release their flavour.  Add the veg stock, and simmer for 15 mins until the sweet potato is softened.  Slowly add the kale until it’s wilted a bit.  Leave the soup to cool,and  blend altogether until reached your desired consistency.  Reheat and serve, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

If you thought that was easy, the next recipe is even easier.  I don’t know about you, but when I’m stressed I crave sweet things like nobody’s business, especially chocolate.  So I thought I should embrace this by making healthy sweet treats, and I included dates (the stress-relieving fruit).

There are loads of variations of these treats out there, and they go by different names.  You  may remember I posted about raw chocolate bombs a few weeks ago.  These are the same but are also called fudge babies by the likes of Chocolate-Covered Katie et al.  In mine I used 1 cup of almonds (soaked for 8 hours), 1 1/3 cup dates,  1/2 cup dried apricots, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 3 tbsp cocoa powder/cacoa powder.  Just put all the ingredients into your food processor and process away until the mixture resembles fudge.  At this point you will be able to roll them into balls, or mould into whatever shape you fancy.  I have taken photos of these but I’m staying with my parents and have forgotten to bring the connecting lead to upload the photos onto my laptop.  I’ll insert the images as soon as I get back.  They resemble my raw chocolate bombs anyway, in case you’re wondering.

Chili Time!

I am posting this as a reminder of how easy and delicious chili is.  I pretty much followed the same recipe I came up with earlier this year.  My only changes were:

I didn’t steam the corn before adding it to the chili, I just sliced it off the cob raw.  Much better this way!

I added a serrano pepper for some heat.

For the can of tomatoes I used Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Green Chilies for some more heat.

I remembered to serve it with avocado.

Here is the link to the recipe.

]]> http://shteyndl.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/split-pea-soup-curried/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:25:45 +0000 shteyndl http://shteyndl.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/split-pea-soup-curried/

With the weather turning cold, my seasonal job ending, and the holidays approaching for whatever reason I haven’t been too inspired to be in the kitchen.  I intend to change this around this week and enjoy some hearty stews all winter season.  I started this soup late afternoon before an appointment I had and was hoping the beans would soften by dinner hour.  Of course that didn’t happen and we ate the soup for dinner the following evening.  Lesson to be learned is to soak beans of any kind in high altitudes!

Since I was rushing to get the soup started I decided to food process all kinds of veggies to make an on the spot stock.  This was a successful idea which will be used again.  Plus it is much easier to food process raw veggies than blend cooked chopped veggies in batches.  All ingredients used for this soup are from our crop share except a couple cloves of garlic (not pictured).  Note: due to the freshness of the veggies I also used the celery leaves which I highly recommend trying.

Ingredients: Turnip, 2 Red Potatoes, Tomato, 2 Carrots, Large Onion, Kale, Celery, Split Peas, and Curry Powder

I heated up some olive oil in our new 5 quart cast iron dutch oven (thank again nan), and added the veggies as they were food processed.

Veggies

Once the veggies started to soften and become aromatic I added about 8 cups water, 3 T curry powder, S&P, and the whole bag of split peas (12 oz.).

Ready to Simmer and Thicken

I let the soup simmer for hours, literally, until I went to bed and then left it covered on the stove to cool overnight.

Soup to Cool Overnight

The soup sat in the fridge all day and before dinner it simmered for about another hour.  This was the best split pea soup I’ve ever made : )

Curried Split Pea Soup

]]> http://yummy1982.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/soup/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:18:38 +0000 yummy1982 http://yummy1982.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/soup/

When I am sticking to weight watchers, I tend to eat a lot of home made vegetable soup. The majority of vegetables are ‘0 points’ – ie: you can eat an unlimited amount of them. (some exceptions are potatoes, parsnips, sweet potatoes, peas, sweetcorn and avacado).

So far this week I have made two large pots of soup and I’m about to make a third.

The first was spinach and onion, with a small amount of carrot and celery to add sweetness.

Soup number two primarily contained three heads of spring greens and half a head of celery.

I’m just about to make a third batch, which I will freeze for after the weekend, of celeriac and carrot soup.

When I’m looking for inspiration, I simply type the list of ingredients I want to use in to google with the word ‘recipe’ and then choose the one either most appetising to me or which I have all of the ingredients for!