Squash Soup with Saffron and Ginger and Hugs for Barbara
December 7, 2008 by Andrea
Filed under Soups & Stews
I first found Barbara of Winos and Foodies through her Taste of Yellow event, a celebration of surviving cancer. Barbara really tugged at our hearts with her determination to beat cancer and for taking positive steps to raise cancer awareness, and many of us have participated in Taste of Yellow for the past two years.
Barbara is fighting again with a massive round of chemotherapy, and she’s got a long road ahead. Bron of Bron Marshall and Ilva of Lucullian Delights organized some virtual hugs for Barbara as a way for us to let her know we support her, even if we can’t be there in person. For my hug, I wanted to send Barbara some comfort food: a squash soup with saffron to lift her spirits and fresh ginger for her appetite. This vegan soup calls for light coconut milk though you can use soy milk if you prefer, and yes, the cilantro is optional.
Bron and Ilva are keeping track of all the hugs for Barbara, so please visit them for links to all the posts. And make sure you read Barbara’s touching post with her thanks.
More Squash Recipes
Risotto with Onions and Sage
November 25, 2008 by Andrea
Filed under Grow Your Own, Italian foods
Risotto is creamy, beautiful comfort food, and I can’t think of a better meal to make it for than Thanksgiving. Because it’s not a fix it and walk away kind of dish, I do not make it for weekday meals. The constant stirring and adding liquid demands careful attention, and the usual chaos surrounding our meal times prevents me from tackling anything involved on a weeknight.
This recipe from Marcella Hazan calls for quite a bit of sage, though it’s not overpowering. If you prefer you can make it with half the leaves and still enjoy a hint of sage, which will go beautifully with a turkey dinner. Hazan uses homemade meat stock, though I substituted homemade vegetable stock made with mushrooms for a slightly woodsy undertone. The finishing step, mantecare, gives risotto its characteristic gleam and adds to the natural creaminess. In this case, Hazan adds the sage at the end and finishes with a little butter and some Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Our sage, mint, parsley, oregano, and thyme are still going strong outdoors, amazing considering the cold temperatures we’ve had. Many varieties of sage die off after a frost, but the Woodcote variety that we have in our Zone 7a (but right on the edge of 6b) garden has persisted even with temperatures well below freezing at night, so we will be able to use it on Thanksgiving day as well.
This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, a blogging event that celebrates the dishes we create from foods we’ve grown, raised, foraged, or hunted ourselves. Rachel of The Crispy Cook is our host for this round, so be sure to visit her blog for more information about submitting your post. If you are new to the event, you can read more about the rules for participating at the Grow Your Own page. Read more
Red Potato Salad
May 21, 2008 by Andrea
Filed under Salads, Vegetables
Summer would not be the same without some of my favorite foods: barbecued ribs, potato salad, coleslaw, and ice cream. If we cook up a batch of ribs, we must have some potato salad on the side or the meal just doesn’t feel complete. When we first got married Michael wanted me to learn to make hot German potato salad, which uses a vinaigrette for the sauce, so I learned and enjoyed making it for him, but once he tried this mayonnaise salad it became his new favorite.
Many potato salad recipes call for boiling the potatoes, but I prefer to use steam instead because they do not get water logged and they retain their nutrients rather than pouring them out in the water. You want the potatoes to cook evenly and quickly, so use small red potatoes and make sure they are all the same size. I boil water in an electric kettle because it’s very fast, then pour the hot water into the bottom of a 6-quart pot and add the steamer basket, arrange the potatoes in a single layer and let them cook covered while the water boils beneath. Steamer baskets are inexpensive and widely available.
For boiling the eggs I recommend the Cook’s Illustrated method. Cover the eggs with cold water, bring to a boil, turn off the heat and cover and allow to sit in the hot water for 10 minutes. Then place the eggs in an ice bath for five minutes to stop the cooking. As long as I don’t forget about the boiling egg (must remember to use the timer), it cooks perfectly without any gray-green slime around the yolk.
Makes about six cups of potato salad, enough for 8 to 10 servings.
Other Recipes You Might Like
Comfort Foods for the Tax-Stressed Soul
The tax man cometh. It’s been a stressful few weeks trying to figure everything out for taxes, there are piles of paperwork laying around our office, and of course it just couldn’t be easy this year due to moving around and selling and buying homes. I need some serious relaxation time after this is all over!
Since I can’t possibly keep up with posting recipes for the next few days, I’ll offer some of my favorite soothing, easy recipes from the archives…comfort food for a stressed soul.
Lavender Mint Tea (photo above)
Slow Cooker Cuban-Style Black Beans and Rice
Quick Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Pizza is a staple around our house, something that we really enjoy making and eating. I have wanted to add a whole-wheat dough to our repertoire, and I’ve tried it a number of different ways but not always with good results. I also wanted to experiment with a quick dough, something that I could whip out on a busy day without a lot of rising time. I wish I could say that I had loads of time to make bread and pizza dough every day, but that’s just not the case! Maybe when I’m retired and the boys have all grown up and gone off into the world.
I saw this recipe on Eating Well advertised as a dough you could prepare and have in the oven in just 30 minutes. That’s not really time to rise, just enough time for gluten to start developing, but I thought it was worth trying. The whole wheat flour adds a lot of depth to the crust and can make it too heavy if you accidentally use too much, especially since it loves to soak up the liquid. I think the recipe works better with one tablespoon of flour subtracted from the full cup. The dough does not rise, so don’t expect that, it just has time to rest before shaping. If you can make it the night before and let it rest in the refrigerator it’s even better because the dough is a little slack and easier to roll out, plus the flavors have time to develop even more. It will even perform well after sitting for up to two days. If you like the refrigerated Trader Joe’s pizza dough in the bags, then you will probably like this as it’s pretty similar. Read more
Southern Sausage Gravy
This is the next recipe in the Southern Country Breakfast series. Sausage gravy is a Southern tradition that my family has indulged in for many years. Now that we are all watching our waistlines, we only have it for family get-togethers, but it always tastes yummy and brings back wonderful memories of the big country breakfasts that my grandmothers used to serve. Enjoy this over biscuits.
Equipment
10-inch cast iron skillet
potato masher Read more
