I-Must-Be-Irish Soup

In my "sneak peak" share from my Little Ridge Farms CSA I got a whole mess of leeks. These are one of my favorite veggies, and my kids, because of their mild onion flavor. My boys LOVE potato anything soup (it must be the Irish in them), so I decided to whip up this seasons first batch of Potato Leek soup. I had some cabbage from my last winter CSA still sitting in the fridge so I added that too....in case the soup wasn't Irish enough!


I-Must-Be-Irish-Soup
2 quarts stock (or water if you don't have stock on hand....or a mix of both)
4 large potatoes, washed and cubed
3 large leeks, white and pale green parts sliced thinly (set aside dark green tops)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 head cabbage, chopped
4 T butter, unsalted
salt & pepper
2 T soy sauce
Olive Oil

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Toss leeks with olive oil and place in roasting pan. Roast in oven, stirring one or twice until starting to brown.

3. Meanwhile, bring pot of stock/water to boil and add potatoes. Cook until soft.

4. Remove potatoes from heat and puree in food processor (most like this will have to be done in batches and very carefully). Return pureed potatoes and stock into pot over medium heat, adding 2 T butter.

5. Add leeks, garlic and cabbage. Stir thoroughly and cook for 30 minutes, until cabbage is soft.

6. Meanwhile, slice green tops of leeks thinly. Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan and fry leeks until starting to brown. Remove from heat and place in a bowl, then toss with salt.

7. When soup is done, add 2 T butter, a bit of pepper, soy sauce and salt if necessary. Stir thoroughly until butter is melted.

8. Serve in bowls with a garnish of fried leeks.

Sweet and Salty

Even though we've been eating mostly raw, I still wanted to toss in a beef meal to help my son's iron levels. This week I bought a sirloin tip from Caldwell Farms and then loooked through the cupboard for anything to add to it. I must admit, after being a vegetarian for 4 years, I have a really hard time cooking meat. I find I can't get the spices right, and I don't know if I should leave it bloody or not. So far, every meal has been alright, but if I could just get the cooking of the beef right, it would be great. Tonight falls into the mediocre category. The meal (aside from the beef) was perfect. The sauce on the beef was divine, but the beef itself was just alright. Then again, maybe I just don't like beef....Anyway, try this one out. And for those that cook meat often, please comment on tips for me to enjoy the darn stuff!

Sweet Candy Squash
1 small sweet dumpling squash
2 T local honey
1/3 C water
2 t Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400. Cut squash in 1/2 from top to bottom and scoop out the seeds. Slice the squash into wedges, working from center, outwards, all the way around. Peel and place in a baking dish. Mix honey, water and cinnamon and pour over squash. Add more water if necessary to fill entire bottom of baking dish with a smidgen of sauce. Bake for about 30 minutes, watching carefully so it doesn't burn. If it's still a bit tough when you pull it out, bump up the oven temp to 425 and bake for another 5 minutes.

Sauteed Veggies
1/2 head of cabbage, cored and sliced
2 carrots, peeled, halved and sliced into sticks or half moons
4-6T unsalted butter
salt and pepper

While squash is cooking, melt butter in large skillet. Add carrots and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat until they start to brown. Add cabbage and stir thoroughly. Sprinkle in salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes.

Beef Tip in Mushroom Sauce
1 lb sirloin tip
1/2 onion, sliced thinly
pepper
1 T oil
1/2 C mixed dried mushrooms (I used Oyster Creek's Maine Wild Mushroom Mix), reconstituted for 30 minutes in 1 C hot water (keep water after removing mushrooms)
3 T unsalted butter
2 T onions, minced
4 Cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1 T flour

In a cast iron skillet, while cabbage & squash is cooking, heat oil over medium heat. Heavily pepper sirloin tip on both sides and add to skillet when oil is hot. Place sliced onions over the top and cook 7-8 minutes. Flip over meat so onions are under it and cook 5 minutes. Pour 2/3 of the mushroom water over steak and cover, turning to low. Meanwhile in a saucepan melt butter and add minced onions and garlic. Chop mushrooms and toss into saucepan, stirring thoroughly. Add salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes to release flavors. Add remaining mushroom water and stir. Bring to boil and add flour then boil hard for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Remove beef from heat, keep covered until ready to serve.

To plate: Place squash in center of plate and add a cut of beef to the top, making sure to get some of the onions from the skillet. Top with a large dollop of mushroom sauce. On the side place a serving of cabbage and carrots. Enjoy the wonderful mix of sweet squash and salty beef and veggies. This was a very filling meal even though we split the tip between 4 people.

RAWsotto

In considering ways to shed some poundage before my mid-summer wedding, I decided to add as much RAW foods to my diet as possible in the coming months. For those not familiar with this diet, it means eating only raw and dehydrated foods. Cooking certain foods can diminish the nutritional value and our bodies more often than not have an easier time digesting raw foods over cooked. I do not fully believe that only raw is best, but I do believe eating a healthy mix is exactly what our bodies need. I also know, having done a raw cleanse in the past, that eating a raw diet leads to weight loss, increase of energy and healthier skin that glows - all things I need to prepare for my big day! I'm not sure how long I'll do the 100% raw, but I do know that as we head into warmer months, our diet will be about 75% raw all summer long, as our CSA's begin to bring us cukes, salad greens, tomatoes, and lots of fresh herbs.

As some of you know from my blog, Risotto is my absolute FAVORITE food...I love to cook it, eat it, and serve it to all my loved ones. The art of making risotto is not for everyone, but if you learn to do it right, it can be a very rewarding meal to share. SO, as our first raw day came to a close, I decided to make an uncooked version of my favorite meal. Here are the scrumptious results.

RAWsotto! (Serves 4)
3 small celeriac, peeled, cleaned & chopped (or 3 cups when processed)
2 lemons, juiced
1/2 t Maine sea salt
fresh ground pepper, lots of it!
1/2 C raw sunflower seeds, soaked in water for at least 4 hours, if not overnight
1 T olive oil
1 handful baby spinach
2 T nutritional yeast
1 large head of broccoli, cut into bite sized florets
3 small sweet yellow peppers, sliced into thin slivers
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T olive oil
salt & pepper

Place broccoli florets in a bowl and massage oil and vinegar into it with hands for a few minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix in yellow pepper. Set aside. In food processor place celeriac and drained sunflower seeds, processing until a rice consistency. Place in a bowl and add lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and stir thoroughly. Add spinach, olive oil and nutritional yeast to food processor and process until finely mixed. Toss with celeriac risotto. Drizzle with olive oil.

To serve, scoop heaping mound of risotto in middle of plate, add a big spoonful of broccoli over the top. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Serve with a side of raw carrot sticks.

All-Star Pie

For our Easter dinner, which we had the night before Easter, I thought a good pie was the best way to end the night. I had some fresh cranberries from my last CSA at Wolf Pine Farms and some big juicy apples. I put them together for this amazing pie.

All-Star Pie
3 large apples, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
2 C fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 C raw sugar
3 T flour
1 t vanilla
2 t Cinnamon
recipe for 2 9" pie crusts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place one crust in pie plate and poke with a fork. In a large bowl combine apples and cranberries then gently toss with sugar, flour, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour into crust. Roll out top crust and using a star cookie cutter, cut out 4 stars evenly spaced. Gently place crust over pie filling and place star cut-outs around the top crust. Bake in lower 1/3 of oven for about 55 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack for 30 minutes. Serve, devour, repeat.

Bon appetit!

Easter Egg Cups

With Easter coming, I thought we would have an egg based dinner. We decided to do it the night before Easter because that was when we would have all four kids. Since none of us are religious, Easter is really just a day for the kids to pig out on chocolate. BUT, I can't pass up an opportunity to make an extra special meal.

(sorry there is no picture, I thought about adding it to the blog after we all licked the plates clean)

Serves 6

Easter Egg Cups w/ Asparagus
6 eggs
1 T oil
4 small red potatoes, diced
1/2 celeriac, diced
1/2 onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large carrot, quartered and sliced
1 C vegetable stock
salt & pepper, to taste
1/4 shredded cheese
20 asparagus, ends trimmed
2 T olive oil
salt & pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 6 large muffin cups with oil. In a large skillet, heat 1 T oil over medium heat. Add potatoes, celeriac, carrots, onions and garlic and saute for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add stock, salt and pepper and stir thoroughly. Turn heat up to medium-high and boil until stock is soaked into the veggies. Remove from heat and scoop veggies into muffin cups, pressing firmly into bottoms and sides. Break eggs into each cup of veggies and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in oven for 15 minutes, then pull out and sprinkle each cup with cheese. Bake for 5 more minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 2 T oil in a cast iron pan over medium heat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once oil is hot add asparagus and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When eggs are done, gently remove from muffin cups (I used a butter knife and a tiny spatula) and place on a plate with 5 spears of asparagus and a small side salad.

Mushroom Risotto & Sirloin Tip

Risotto is my go-to meal, it's the one I can cook blindfolded and half dead on my feet. And it gives me an hour to myself as it requires constant stirring in order to give it the right texture. I love making risotto, but the process is not for everyone. Before you start, make sure you have everything chopped, sliced, shredded, etc. because once you start stirring, stopping could literally ruin the dish.

Sirloin Tip
1 large sirloin tip
1 T miso paste
1/4 C tamari
2 T honey
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 T sesame oil

Tenderize a sirloin tip (or any other cut of beef you want). Whisk the rest of the ingredients thoroughly and pour over beef. Cover and marinate for as long as you can in the refrigerator. When risotto (below) is finished, pan fry on each side over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Risotto
1 C uncooked arborio rice
1/4 C unsalted butter
5 C stock
1/2 C dried shitake mushrooms, reconstituted for 30 minutes & water reserved, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T fresh parsley chopped
1/4 C parmesan cheese, shredded
salt & pepper

In a saucepan heat stock over low heat. In a large skillet melt 1/8 C butter over medium heat. Add onions and saute 5 minutes until translucent. Stir in arborio and cook about 5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add reserved shitake water and start stirring! When liquid is absorbed, add a ladle of stock, shitake mushrooms and garlic. Stir! Continue adding a ladle of stock as the liquid is absorbed. Once rice is al dente, turn heat off and mix in butter, cheese, salt and pepper.

To serve, spoon a heaping mound of risotto onto a plate, slice sirloin tip thinly and place over risotto. Add a side salad and a slice of bread.

Mac & Cheese

My boys requested mac & cheese tonight...actually, they requested Annie's mac & cheese, but I decided to do them one better - I made mommy mac & cheese. I had about 2 cups of uncooked organic bow tie pasta in my cupboard and some yummy Pineland farms cheddar cheese in the fridge. Apparently it was a hit because my youngest declared this my best meal yet!

Mac & Cheese
2 C uncooked pasta
2 1/2 C shredded cheese (I used a mixture of mozzarella & cheddar for extra gooeyness)
2 T flour
1/2 C unsalted butter
1/4 t ground mustard
1 1/2 C milk
1/2 C cream
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/2 C bread crumbs

Cook pasta according to directions. Preheat oven to 350. Meanwhile, melt 1/4 C butter in saucepan over low heat. Add in salt, pepper, flour, and mustard and mix thoroughly. Continue stirring over low heat until a roux is formed - mixture will be smooth, bubbly and golden. Stir in milk and cream, then bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute, still stirring. Mix in cheese and stir over medium heat until thoroughly melted. Mix cooked and drained pasta with the cheese sauce and place in large glass baking dish. In small saucepan melt remaining 1/4 C butter and add bread crumbs, then continue to cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat until bread crumbs are nice and brown. Sprinkle crumbs over mac and cheese evenly. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.

Serve this with a nice slice of bread and a side salad.