More Pea Soup!

I bought split peas for a previous post and when I saw them in the pantry the other day, I thought a vegetarian soup would be good for a Friday supper during Lent.

Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks has a Vegetarian Split Pea Soup with these exact ingredients – I just halved her recipe and wrote the recipe based on what I did.

1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup split peas, rinsed and picked free of white shells/skins
2 cups vegetable stock
½ cup water
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Cayenne pepper
Hot sauce, optional

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft and slightly brown, 2 minutes. Add peas, stock, water and salt & pepper to taste. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 20-25 until peas are tender. Remove half of the peas & broth into a cup/container and use a handheld blender to puree the peas. Return to pot. Add more water or stock if soup needs thinned to your liking. Ladle into bowl and drizzle with olive oil and hot sauce (if using). Sprinkle with cayenne pepper. Serves 2.

I used Wegman’s brand culinary vegetable stock, which added to the body of the soup. Chicken stock would have been good too. Heidi also says you could use water completely instead of any stock but I think that would be rather bland.

To only puree half of the peas, gives the soup texture instead of it being completely pureed.

Greg had the idea to add hot sauce to his soup. I did too but the smell was a little overwhelming and it made me think of hot wings, which was a bit unappealing to me. But Greg liked it.

I still have more peas so I need to think of something to do with them other than soup....

Juliana's Italian Restaurant

My newest PAadventure blog post.

This was a pleasant, unintentional find!

Apple Tarte Tatin

After visiting a friend in Normandy and eating her mom's incredibly delicous apple tart, I knew I had to work on creating something like it myself. This visit was nearly 4 years ago and I haven't tried a French apple tart yet. Since Normandy is famous for it's crepes and tarts and I've been there to try the real things, I thought I would be up to a big challenge to match the perfect taste, which I have now realized I am...

I was going through some of my Aunt's old cookbooks - the ones at the grocery store check out that are 5 1/5x 8 1/2 - and many of the recipes didn't look too appetizing to me. Then I found a Land O Lakes Recipe Collection called From The Market: Fast and Fresh (date unknown but I'm guessing from the '80s), and inside I found a recipe called Caramelized Apple Tarte Tatin. We were having leftovers for dinner but didn't have a dessert, so I thought I'd give a French tarte a try. It was interesting... read on...

Pastry:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour (1/2 cup minus one tablespoon can be used instead of cake flour - what I did)

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup butter

3 tablespoons cold water

Apple Layer:

6 small tart red cooking apples

6 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

In a medium bowl combine flours and 1 tablespoon sugar. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until crumbly (I used my hands). With fork, mix in water just until moistened. Form pastry into ball. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm (1-2 hours).

Core, peel & slice apples into 1/8-inch slices. Keep slices in a bowl of cold water until ready to put in pie plate.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll chilled dough into 12-inch circle; set aside.

Grease sides of a 10-inch quiche pan or pie plate (I used pie plate but wished I had a tart pan to use), then arrange sliced apples in pinwheel form; dot with 6 tablespoons butter. In 2-quart saucepan, cook 1/3 cup sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and forms a caramel syrup (approx. 7 minutes - watch very closely; burns easily). Drizzle over top of apples. Place rolled pastry over apples, tucking edge of pastry into pan to seal. Prick all over top of dough with fork. Bake 30 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Let cool 15 minutes in pan, then invert onto serving platter; serve warm with whipped cream.

The flour, sugar and butter as I was adding the water.

The pastry right before I wrapped it up and put it in the fridge.

You can see the little recipe book in the background and how the tart is supposed to look!

Slicing the apples. I used empire which are sweet but worked well anyway - may tart was probably sweeter than intended but that's how I like it!

The pastry over the apples right before it goes in the oven.

The tart inverted on a plate. The shell cracked a little in one area because the edges stuck to the pie plate. You could leave the skin on the apples to give it color. Adding cinnamon may give it color too, although it's not typically used in a French tart.

I say to grease the sides of the pan because the portion of the dough I tucked into the plate stuck to the pan and didn't cleanly invert. Also, I had to make the caramel sauce twice because the first time the sugar burnt. The second time I was very cautious and I think I didn't let the sugar get to the correct stage before I poured it over the apples - as soon as the caramel hit the apples, it sizzled and then hardened. It baked up just fine but I think it is intended to let it get to more of a soft ball stage. Either way, it will work. My tart didn't look fancy, but it was very tasty. I need to work on my pinwheel formation. I lost count of how many apples I peeled so I think I just tried to crame too many in there! Once the fall comes around and there are tons of apples available, I'll try again at home where I have a tarte pan. Chez Greg is slowly getting a stocked kitchen but it's a work in progress.

Postcards

From reading a fellow Pennsylvanian's blog about handmade goods, I found an artist from Pittsburgh who made postcards out of recycled soda, beer and energy drink boxes. She (The Point) cut the cardboard in postcard-sized rectangles and they are perfect cards for another hobby of mine: Postcrossing.

You can find more of the The Point's works at Etsy.

This is very semi-food related, but I am excited by these postcards so I had to share. Tonight I am making a dessert so tomorrow there will be a recipe posted!

A new cookbook

After a few days of anticipation, last Friday I received a new cookbook I ordered online - John Ash: Cooking One on One. A friend of mine, Tim, who is a chef, let me borrow his copy and I liked it so much, I wanted a copy of my own. I know of a certain book store website that I have been dying to use: http://www.betterworldbooks.com/. Better World Books uses their proceeds to fund literacy programs throughout the world. They sell new and used books, and the shipping is free. I found John Ash's book used for about $7 and besides missing the dust jack and a few dings on the hardcover, the interrior of the book is perfect!

For students: the site was originally created for buying and selling textbooks, which they still do today.

Not only can you find great books for great prices at this site, the sales fund a good cause!

Back to the cookbook... There are tons of great, versatile recipes for marinades, sauces, vinaigrettes and salsas. As the name implies, there are detailed tips to explain how the recipes work. There is a wine pairing section, cooking time charts, a detailed glossary in the back, and descriptive introductions to each of the chapters.

Some dishes I am looking forward to:

Soba and Chicken in Green Tea Broth

Grilled Tequila-Lime Marinated Salmon

Vanilla Baked Peaches and Blueberries

Oven-Dried Mediterranean Salad

Basic Red Wine Pan Sauce for Hamburgers or Steaks

Yogurt & Mint Marinade

Pineapple Melon Salsa

Wow... those are just a few... I have a lot of work ahead of me!

Thai Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

Last night I made a scrumptous Thai Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry. I got the recipe from the South Beach Diet Cookbook that Angie let me borrow, but I changed it a little. It doesn't call for chicken but I wanted to give it more substance. Sadly, I didn't take a picture last night.

1 13.5-oz can coconut milk (no sugar added)
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp. grated lime peel (and lemon peel if you have it)
1 cup asparagus, cut in 1-in. pieces
1 red pepper, sliced in strips
1 cup sliced mushroom (I used baby bellas)
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 cup dry roasted cashews (or peanuts)
1 whole boneless, skinless chicken breast, oven roasted with olive oil and salt & pepper, chopped into bit-sized pieces
1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce (preferrably soy sauce but I didn't have any and this tasted good too)
1 tablespoon lime juice (& 1 tablespoon lemon juice but I didn't have it)
2 tsp. dried basil (but a handful of fresh would have been sooo much better)

With a hand blender, combine the coconut milk, garlic and lime peel. Pulse to process (the cookbook says it will turn into a paste but mine didn't, which is ok). Pour into a large skillet. Place over medium-high heat and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the asparagus, mushrooms, bell pepper, cashews, and red-pepper flakes and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the chicken, worchestershire sauce, lime juice, and basil and simmer, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.




If you have bok choy, you can add some just to give you more greens.

Let me tell you, this was great! I had to add some more salt at the end but it was hot and sweet. It was not quite like my favorite Thai dishes at restaurants, bit it was good enough. The unique combo of coconut milk, cashews and hot pepper flake... so good, I crave it!

You have to be careful not to over-cook the vegetables. I let mine simmer for longer than the recipe calls for because it was my intention to let the flavors meld more, but I guess it's not necessary - I like my veggies a little crunchy.

I cooked up some couscous (we were out of rice) to serve with it for Greg.

One Good Woman

My newest post for the PAadventure blog is now up!

I love this shop! My co-worker and my aunt introduced me to the place. It's a good spot to get stocking stuffers at Christmas time.

They have a lot of really chic lunch bags too if you're in the market for one.

Of course, like any gourmet shop, it's a tad expensive but it's fun to visit every once in awhile to treat yourself or buy gifts. They will make great gift baskets - if you pick out the contents, they'll wrap it up in cellophane and ribbons! They also have gift bags in which they'll neatly wrap a gift.

Surprise Chili

Because I hadn't had meat in a few days, I was craving it. So I searched for a SBD-friendly chili recipe. I have made chili before on this diet - and several times not on the diet because it's easy, filling and delicious. And it's a good way to pack a lot of protein into a meal. I was inspired by this recipe but as I went forward with the soup, I omitted and added according to what I had on hand. I thank Marisa at Slashfood for the inspiration!

This is how my recipe went down:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 Roma tomato, chopped

1lb ground beef (90/10 - or less fat if you can), browned and drained

1 14-oz can black beans, rinsed (I used the Giant brand Nature's Promise)

1 14-oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed (I used the Giant brand Nature's Promise)

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes (I used Hunt's Fire Roasted with Garlic)

1 14-oz can tomato sauce (I used the Giant brand Nature's Promise)

1 tablespoon (approx.) chili powder

1 teaspoon (approx.) cumin

Salt & Pepper

4 or 5 dashes hot sauce (I hope this didn't have sugar!)

1 large leaf (I should have added more) green chard, sliced in 1-in ribbons

Make sure all ingredients are free of added sugar.

In a 3 quart saucepan, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the onions and a minute later, the garlic. Saute until soft but not brown. Add all ingredients, in the order listed, except the chard. Let it all simmer for about an hour. Next add the stalkier parts of the chard to get it cooking - about 10 minutes. Then add the remainder of the chard and let it cook on low for 20 minutes - keep checking to make sure chard doesn't get over cooked and lose it's greenness.

Greg ate his with tortilla chips as I jealously watched. Fat free cheddar would have been good on top too.

Oh and I call this a surprise because of the chic peas, chard and dashes of hot sauce which gave it an extra kick! They were great additions and the chard gives you some green veggies in the meal.

Eggs, Eggs, Eggs...

... and more eggs!

That sad time has come when I have to go on Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet. What this means is no sugar, fruit, carbs, caffeine or alcohol - all of which I love! What I can eat is beef and chicken breasts, vegetables, beans and EGGS!

I originally started this diet last Thursday and was good until Friday when we had lunch at the 3rd Street Deli and then everything went downhill... until yesterday.

So I ate Scrambled Eggs with Sauteed Mushrooms and Feta Cheese for dinner last Thursday, breakfast on Friday and again for breakfast yesterday morning. It was soooo good (sadly, I forgot to photograph it)! By clicking above, you'll find the recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen, a great blog with South Beach recipes. I will be trying more of her recipes in the near future, especially some soups.

Last night for dinner, because I forgot my chicken at home and only have veggies, eggs and turkey bacon at Greg's, more EGGS it was! I get the SELF magazine recipe of the week and yesterday the feature was Veggie Scrambled Eggs. I tried it (minus the carrots because of SBD) and found it quite satisfying.

Below is the origional recipe, which serves 8.

From SELF Magazine

8 asparagus stalks
6 whole eggs
6 egg whites
2 small carrots, grated
1/4 cup reduced-fat Parmesan
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons sweet chili powder
1/2 teaspon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 teaspoons olive oil
8 slices whole-wheat bread
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (plus sprigs for garnish)

Steam asparagus 1 minute; chop. Whisk next 9 ingredients in a bowl. Add asparagus. Coat a large pan with cooking spray. Add oil; heat on high heat; reduce to medium. Cook egg mixture, stirring, until eggs are cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes.

However, this is what I did for just myself:

5 stalks asparagus, chopped into 1-in pieces, microwaved for 30 seconds
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
a few shakes of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
olive oil

Heat a skillet with about 1 tablespoon olive oil and then turn heat to medium-low. Crack eggs into bowl, add spices and beat with whisk until a bit frothy. Add asparagus and cheese. Pour into pan and immediately start turning until done to your likeness.

Three eggs with chili powder, s&p. The chili powder gave the eggs an unexpected kick!

I probably shouldn't have had this cheese on SBD but it's great cheese from Italy that I found at Wegman's.

The final, yummy product! It was a satisfying dinner (well, I am trying to convince myself it was).

I intended to have another egg scramble for breakfast but I think I need a break from eggs for a little while!

Oh and don't worry... lots of yummy things can be made on Phase 1 so I'll have plenty of good recipes/inspirations to share along the way. And I don't do the diet in it's entirety - just Phase 1 for 14 days because it does wonders for the belly! Then I'll be back to chocolate- and carb-filled creations (in moderation, of course. HA!)!

My Weekend with Susi

On Saturday I went to visit my friend Susi and her husband Jeff in Kensington, MD (a few miles from D.C.). I haven't seen Susi since her birthday in September so I was so excited to see her since she is working on her 6th month of pregnancy. She now has a perfectly round belly and lots of preparing to do for her little arrival, but other than that, I'm happy to report she's the same Susi that I miss so much. We had a great weekend of catching up, shopping for baby things, and most importantly, eating!

I brought Susi some gifts - outfits for the baby girl and a necklace for her.

After a day of shopping, Jeff went off to the gym and Susi and I enjoyed ice cream sundaes - mint chocolate chip, coconut pineapple, and chocolate ice creams, sliced banana, sliced pear and hot fudge. This was quite a melange of tastes but it hit the spot (I really love the coconut pineapple by Edy's)!

I also made apple crisp, one of Susi's favorites that I used to make for her while we were at Hollins. I failed to take pictures, but I will be making it again soon and I will post the recipe then.

That night for dinner we had pizza - we bought the the par-baked tomato and mozzarelle pizza at Whole Foods, and added ham and pineapple. And to wash it down, some sparkling apple cider.

Susi, Jeff and Alex (she will be named Alexandra)

After dinner, we ventured out to Savannah's, a bar near their house. We enjoyed the karaoke, the entertaining town-folk and a few drinks before we were ready to head back home. Once we got back, Jeff poured shots of Blutwurzlikor, liquor made from the wurz root. This liquor is from Susi's hometown, Eschlkam, and when she's home or when her parents come to visit, they make sure to stock up their freezer (there is a kirch from her hometown that I love even more). At 45% alcohol, it was a nice send-off to bed! The color and taste is very similar to Jager. It's for medicinal purposes, so they say... as Jeff said, the Germans will come up with an reason to have some yummy liquor! And at 45% alcohol, it was a nice send-off to bed!

Susi and Jeff will be having a wedding and christening in Germany in January, so I am anxiously awaiting that trip, which I'm sure will provide me with great blog fodder.