Since there was no party looming on my horizon (still jammed up with work, I am) I enjoyed it for a few days, but one simply can’t live on bean dip alone! Once I hit my limit I started thinking about what to do with what was left.

I still had a good couple of cups of the dip, and it started looking more and more like soup base to me. I have used beans in the past, along with potatoes, to thicken soups and they word fine. Actually, I think beans work better than potatoes, which can become a bit gummy if they get overworked.

Even though I had almost no time this past week I found a few minutes to turn this into a fast dinner option. If you are not opposed (and I am most fervently not) to boxed broth, or if you happen to have some nice chicken or vegetable stock in your freezer (or goose… mmmmm!) you can go for zero to dinner in almost no time. And, much as I enjoyed eating cold dip, hot soup was a perfect change!

The thing that made this more than just ok was the mushrooms. I buy dried porcini (cepes) at my grocery. They cost the earth, but a little goes a very long way. And, they keep pretty much forever, so I make sure to keep ‘em on hand.

it may not look like much...

The trick is to give the ‘shrooms plenty of time to rehydrate. I grind them up in my “spices-only” coffee grinder (oh I love my thrift store!) and add them to soups, stews, sauces… they are so rich in flavor that it adds a whole dimension to something like this simple soup.

Depending on what you are creating, you can rehydrate them in a bit of hot water for a few minutes and add the resulting “tea” to your pot, or just toss the dried powdered mushrooms in and let the whole thing simmer.

I chose the latter method, and it took almost no time to turn out this

Leftover Bean Dip Soup

but it makes all the difference in the world!

3 cups Texa-Tuscan Bean Dip
1 T ground dried porcini
1 C water, vegetable stock or chicken stock (more if needed)
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Combine all (I used a whisk) in a heavy saucepan, bring to a bare simmer, turn heat to “as low as possible” and stir occasionally so it doesn’t stick. Cook for 15 minutes or so, check for salt and pepper, and there you have it!
***

Yes, a green salad would be nice with this soup, some good bread of course and red wine or a beer if you’re that sort (my sort!) or person… mmmmm!! Fast and easy, and even better tomorrow too!

First, I use my food processor for massive amounts of onions. It can reduce a large sweet onion to something like snow in seconds, and that’s just what I needed for the stew I wanted to make today. See, I got a bit excited and sort of over-committed myself work-wise, so I though it wise to make a big pot of something I can just reheat for suppers over the next week. Happily, if I like something I can eat it for days without tiring of it. And I like stew!

Backing up a bit, it all started with the beans. Now, if you know me at all you know I have never met a bean I didn’t like. I must have been Tuscan (maybe Etruscan…) in a long-ago life; beans just make me happy. So, my “seasonal” answer to the food processor question was, how about hummus? That’s a great easy, fast thing to do make, yummy and good for you. But, I was wondering, what if I used cannellini beans. Is it still hummus?

I mean, pesto means a general kind of sauce, yes? It doesn’t have to have basil, right? Does hummus have to be made from chickpeas by definition? Or does it simply mean “bean(ish) dip” without being specific? Even wikipedia is a bit vague.

The point to all this rambling is, I like to use my food processor to process as much food as I can before I have to clean it, so chopping the onions almost to distraction then starting the stew and without cleaning the processor bowl adding the cooked beans to make a white bean dip (hummus or not) made sense to me. Mmmm…

I love my food processor. It was my mother’s (my father just loved to buy toys… we had the first microwave oven ever made, but that’s another story) and when she “upgraded” to a new even larger one I got this. After many many years of use the steel blades are still sharp as tacks, and I love the size. Big enough to handle a large sweet onion, but not ridiculous, perfect for my kitchen. See?

This:

hunky chunks of onions

snowy mmmm...

in almost no time! So, about that bean dip (we’ll save the casserole for another day, OK?) I used cooked cannellini beans (canned would be fine too I think), added some garlic, didn’t wash the processor bowl so there was a little onion residue, and squeezed some lemon juice in at the end. I added a little olive oil to just smooth it out, some salt, and mmmmm!! See?

Again this:

step one

step two: smoooooth!

in mere heartbeats! You can, and really should make this ahead. The flavors meld, and while it is dandy right out of the food processor bowl, it is even better the second or even third day. Mmmm…!! If you have the time (or really, the foresight – it hardly takes time), use dry beans, soak them in lots of cold water overnight, then cook them until soft with a bayleaf and some sage. If not, use canned beans but again cook them until soft with some sage and a bay leaf. Either way, here’s a

Texa-Tuscan White Bean Dip

3 cups cooked white beans, slightly cooled but not cold
2 T (or more to taste) olive oil
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced then smashed with the flat of a large knife
about 1 T finely minced onion (optional)
1 tsp fine sea salt (or more to taste)
2-3 T fresh lemon juice

Put all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and, using a steel blade, well, process until as smooth as you like. This can be dressed for serving with chopped parsley, chopped pitted black olives, a bit of olive oil and some paprika… its all good! Serve with sliced baguette, crackers, celery or baby carrots, or what have you. Mmmm…
***

As always, let us know if you try this, OK? Mmmmm… and we love feedback!

And, to end this post on a totally different note, a big woohoo and mazel-tov to my friend Debbie on the publication and launch of her latest book!! Wow…

Still I woke up this morning craving not just noodles but specifically noodle kugel. If you know this dish, then for you perhaps it is also the ultimate comfort food, creamy and crunchy, sweet and rich, completely satisfying, and if you don’t know it, well, walk with me…

Kugel can be made with potatoes or rice, but noodle kugel makes my heart sing. Actually, it can be a heart attack on a plate so moderation in consumption is advisable, but oh it is good! I don’t (dare) make it often but usually once a year, during the “cold dark days” of a Texas winter I find myself dreaming about it and I give in.

It is easy. Easy to make and easy to eat, and the house smells wonderful for hours. And, since you know I can never actually leave well enough alone, I reworked my recipe a bit this time and I think (she said modestly) it turned out even better than usual. Mmmmmm…

The only problem (really? problem? hmmm…) is that you almost have to make enough for a small army. I don’t think it will freeze, but somehow it always disappears before it can spoil, so I guess it isn’t a problem after all.

There is a debate in some circles as to whether this is a side dish, a main course, or actually a dessert. I refuse to be drawn into this conversation, just put some on a plate and give me a fork please!

The only bit of advice I will offer, should you decide to try this, is honestly, butter that casserole well or your clean up will take far longer that the “making” time. Other than that, no worries!

That’s a lot of fanfare and build-up for what is really almost peasant food, so without further ado I offer you:

Oodles of Noodles Kugel

1 pound dried wide egg noodles
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup milk (not skim!)
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp each cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cardamon
1 cup sour cream
2-1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup candied ginger, chopped
1/2 cup dried pineapple diced
1/2 cup Zante currents or just raisins
zest of one lemon, very finely chopped

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 350°F. Butter a 13- by 9- by 2-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.

Cook noodles in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until barely al dente. They will finish in the oven. Drain the noodles well, then put them back into the now empty but still warm pot and add the butter, tossing until the noodles are coated.

just another hour...

Whisk together all the other ingredients until well combined. Stir in cottage cheese last so it doesn’t get too mushed up.

Add this “custard” to the noodles, stirring to coat well, then carefully pour the entire mess into the (well-buttered, right?) baking dish.

now where's that fork?

The top will be crunchy, the inside will be moist, dense, somewhat chewy, sweet with little pops of flavor from the candied ginger… oh I wish you were here to share it!

This is actually a much lower fat recipe than the original. Half the butter and half the sour cream… and still it is decadent and delicious. I personally think it makes a fine breakfast, just add a cup of coffee on the side and mmmmm!!!

Let us know if you try it, and what you think, OK? Enjoy!

So, Happy New Year to us all, and I wish you good health, peace, and joy, whatever that may mean in your world. My year has sort of rolled over, food-wise, and happily!

If you have been reading this blog for a while you may remember last New Year’s near thing. If not, well, go see what I’m talking about if you like, and in any event, let me just say that checking the goose carcass and a beautiful big package of goose shmaltz through in a nice strong zippered chill bag with frozen gel packs is the way to go! It traveled just fine in baggage, and it was frozen as hard when I arrived as when I left.

Soup being the order of the day, I thought about some of the soups I enjoyed while on hiatus. I think my favorite was an Italian “Wedding Soup”, and that’s what I’m making with a good portion of this year’s goose stock. Mmmm…

I’ve enjoyed this kind of soup and loved it for years. I have never been to an Italian wedding, but I sort of assumed (yes, bad idea, I know!) that this soup was often featured. Wikipedia set me straight, however. And I’m sure its true because it says so on the Internet (grin).

Anyway, you can certainly make a vegetarian version of this soup, and it would be just fine. I’m looking for something a bit heartier, though, during what is passing for “winter” around here so far. Hey, the weather-folk say it is supposed to “plummet into the 50s” on Monday! Wedding Soup for me!!

Once you have your basic stock it is easy. And, there’s no points taken off for using canned or boxed broth, chicken or even vegetable stock will do fine. I just happened to have a goose carcass…

getting stocked up!

The basics of a “true” (although I’m sure everyone’s grandmother would say I’m making it wrong) “wedding” soup seems to be meat and veggies and pasta all happy together in one pot. It isn’t a stew, nothing so dense. It is actually remarkable light for all the goodness it contains!

Now again, if you know me you know that I love lamb. I went of on a bit of a tangent for this soup, and I think it makes much more sense to call this version:

Greek Wedding Soup

Greek to me! Mmmm...

3/4 lb ground lamb
1 egg
1/4 C cooked rice
1/2 of a medium onion chopped really fine
1/2 T dried mint (hey, its winter)
olive oil
the other half of the onion, rough chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 good bunch kale (or spinach or other greens)
1 C (or more) dried pasta*
2 quarts chicken or vegetable or (mmm!) goose stock
1/2 of a fresh lemon

Make small (roughly 1-inch diameter) meatballs using the first five ingredients above. Brown well in a deep Dutch oven, remove and set aside. Add some olive oil to the Dutch oven, add the other half of the onion and sautée until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and sautée about five more minutes. Don’t let the garlic burn!

Clean and chop the greens, add them to the pot, stir well and cook until the greens are well wilted. Add the meatballs back in, comer with stock and simmer for 1/2 hour. Add the pasta (*small round pasta like Israeli cous-cous is fine or you can have fun with something like alphabet pasta, or you could certainly go gluten-free and use pearl barley, I won’t tell!) and cook until the pasta is ready.

Add the juice of 1/2 fresh lemon (mind the seeds – yikes!) to the pot and stir in just before serving. Enjoy!!
***

While this soup already contains pretty much all food groups except chocolate, you can add a green side salad, some crusty bread and a nice rough Chianti to round it out. Mmmm….!!

Apologies for not having a better photo of the actual final product – the steam fogged my camera and I didn’t realize it! And, as far as New Year’s resolutions, I promise to try not to be gone for too long at a whack again! Happy happy, y’all!

You can do this all by hand, but if you have a food processor of almost any kind I highly recommend it for the onions. I mean, you are welcome to hand chop the 3 cups required, but I won’t if I don’t have to!

This is quick and not labor intensive, other than the time it takes to actually stuff the leaves. I buy my grape leaves in a glass jar and honestly, the hardest part of the entire enterprise is extricating them!

These can be made ahead, hours or even a few days. I haven’t tried making them and then freezing them, but I see no reason that wouldn’t work. And, if you are certain there won’t be any vegetarians at your party you can certainly make a carnivore’s delight version, but I have yet to meet anyone who didn’t like them just this way.

The only other slightly tricky thing is hoping the leaves and filling come out close to right at the end. There always seems to be a bit of one or the other left over, and I have learned to “over-make” the stuffing by a bit. I can always buy a bit of ground lamb and use the uncooked stuffing as a “filler” for a meatloaf. Mmmm…

So, this recipe will make as many leaves as are in your jar with a bit left over (at least in my experience). Do NOT overfill the grape leaves and do NOT roll them too tightly as the rice will expand as it cooks and blowouts are not pretty (although they taste fine).

This dish travels well, and is dandy for potlucks as it doesn’t have to be served piping hot. It is actually best, I think, just slightly warmer than room temperature. These can also be served cold for summer picnic fare. Versatile, easy and yummy, can you beat it? So, here is my take on:

Jeff Smith‘s Vegetarian Stuffed Grape Leaves

onion and walnuts and herbs, oh my!!

filling:
1 C rice (raw)
3 C chopped yellow onions (about 3 medium onions)
2 cloves garlic minced very fine
1/2 C olive oil
1/4 C chopped parsley
1/4 C chopped fresh dill
juice of one lemon
1/4 C chopped walnuts*
1/4 C currants

steaming liquid:
1 C water
juice of one lemon
1 T tomato paste

Chop the onions fairly fine. Mix all the filling ingredients well. The original recipe called for pine nuts. I use chopped walnuts rather than pine nuts as I think they are mostly for texture. I could never taste the pine nuts and they are sooo expensive.

this is how I roll...

Fill the leaves (removing the stems, that’s what the little bits are on the table), taking care not to overfill!!! Layer in a skillet, cover with the “steaming” mixture. Cover the pan (it should have a fairly tight lid), bring it to a boil, reduce the heat immediately to a low simmer and “steam” for one hour. Remove from heat.

Without removing the lid (yup, no tasting yet!) let cool for one hour. Serve warm or refrigerate overnight and serve cold or rewarm later.
***

You can make the filling as chunky or smooth as you like. I like to leave the nuts a bit chunky but mince the onion. Then I make almost a pesto with the fresh herbs and olive oil and lemon juice and mix the whole mess together. I like a bit of garlic although the original recipe doesn’t call for it.

This travels well, as I said, but is happy to stay home and sit out on a buffet. Easy and yummy holiday (or any day!!) fare! Enjoy, be safe, and mmmmm!!

You see, it is (or recently was, I’m not sure) hunting season here in central Texas, and this year my neighbor’s boy (as they say in these parts, meaning the son of my neighbor) got two deer. Mmmm… I do love venison!

I heard that he’d had a good hunt, as word travels fast in my little cul-de-sac. I mentioned (hint hint, shameless aren’t I?) to his mom that I’d sure love a little of the meat if they had any to spare, and sure enough, the happy hunter showed up at my door with a nice plastic sack of stewing bits.

These were young deer, and the meat didn’t have any of the gaminess sometimes associated with, well, game. It did need a bit of cleaning up, and the hunter is not a practiced butcher, but that was fine by me as well. I ended up with a nice pile of stew meat and a smaller but equally nice pile of broth fodder. Mmmm…!!

So, the weather being “cold”, at least for these parts these past few days, I decided to make up a nice stew, some for the freezer and some for immediate gratification. Funny thing is, I’ve talked with four or five of my friends this week who’ve had the same idea – make stew and quick before it gets warm again!

Now, there are as many stew “recipes” as there are cooks, and actually probably more, as many folks have more than one. You can go tomato-based/cacciatore style or not, you can use wine, stock, or (ahem, see below) beer as your “stewing” liquid, you can add almost any vegetables you like if they are sturdy enough to stand up to the process.

You can substitute one meat for another; this could certainly be made with beef if your neighbor had a poor hunt this year. Just adjust the fat accordingly. Deer meat (only the fancy folks really call it venison) is notoriously lean.

All that being said, here’s what I did with that windfall treat:

Beery Deery Stew

promising already!

olive oil
several onions (peeled and chopped)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped (more if you like)
several pounds of deer (or beef) stewing meat
1 T ground cloves
1 T ground cinnamon
1 bay leaf
several pounds of Yukon Gold or other white (or red) potatoes
2 or 3 medium carrots peeled and chopped
1 bottle of dark beer
2 C unsweetened apple juice or cider
1 C dried blueberries (yes really)
2 slices good pumpernickel bread, crusts cut off and torn in pieces

In a large Dutch oven, sauté the onions in the olive oil until translucent. Remove the onions and set aside. Add a bit more olive oil and brown all the meat in a single layer so that it really does “brown”. Add the onion back in and add the garlic. Add the spices and sauté, stirring every few minutes, for another 5-10 minutes.

Add the beer, and enough apple juice to just cover everything. Add water if necessary. Add the potatoes and carrots, cover the pot and barely simmer for two hours. Add the dried blueberries and bread (for thickening) and simmer 1/2 hour more. Mmmm…

the done deal - mmmm!!

This will, of course, taste even better tomorrow. And, if made in a crock pot or slow cooker it travels well to holiday potlucks or other parties. Mmmm… I hope you have a hunter in your neighborhood who is willing to share! If not, try the stew with beef and enjoy it either way. Stay warm and safe, and enjoy this season!

Now understand, you don’t have to have a melon baller to make this, it just makes coring the apples a little easier. It probably isn’t easier if you decide to buy your melon baller on the opening day of the new huge blue Scandinavian home furnishings box store, a day that just happens to coincide with one of the worst wind storms of the year, but that’s another story.

The trick, such as it is, is to partially peel the apples leaving enough skin on to be pretty but taking enough off that you get bits of the peel when you take a bite, but no long strings. Look closely at the photo below and you can see that the peel retains color, so you have festive bits of green (Granny Smith) and red (Braeburn or Gala) showing. Pretty, no?

everyone needs one!

Once the apples are prepped, toss them with sugar, spices, and a bit of flour, and arrange. Pretty simple! You did make your crust yesterday, didn’t you? As long as it is well-chilled it should be just find!

Here are specifics for my

Oh So Simple Apple Galette

sugar and spice and...

crust:
1-1/2 C flour
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 T shortening
(roughly) 1/4 C very cold water

Mix the dry, add the shortening, blend until nice and crumbly, add ice water and mix until it just holds together. Store in a plastic bag or whatever works for you in your fridge overnight.

filling:
6 or 7 apples (some red some green)
1/4 C brown sugar
2 T flour
1 tsp mixed spices or just cinnamon as you like
1 T butter

optional:
1 egg white or a bit of milk

Prepare the crust in advance as above, at least one hour in advance. Preheat the oven to 370F, roll the crust out between two sheets of parchment, leave it on the bottom piece of parchment and carefully transfer the crust to a large cookie sheet. Chill until the apples are ready to place on the crust.

et voila!

You can brush the edges with a bit of egg white or milk before baking if you like. Bake at 370F for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350F and bake for another 35 minutes or so. Once the galette is cool you can slide it onto a large cutting board for serving, pretty and so easy!
***

This goes down fine with tea or coffee any time of day, serves nicely as a festive dessert, or, if you have the time and patience you can make tiny single serving ones for a bake sale or just for fun. Mmmm… enjoy!

The plan is:
traditional pecan pie
non-traditional ricotta tart
apple “galette”

Mmmmm! So far this morning we’ve finished two, only the galette is yet to be done. The house smells grrreat (she said modestly) and I’m hungry already!

Made the crusts last night so they would have a chance to chill in the fridge. I do it the easy way, no egg or fancy stuff, just:

One Crust Pie Crust

1 C AP flour
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 T shortening
(roughly) 1/4 C cold cold water

Mix the dry, add the shortening, blend until nice and crumbly, add ice water and mix until it just holds together. Store in a plastic bag or whatever works for you in your fridge overnight.
***

I love pretty much all pies, but the ricotta tart makes me especially happy. At home I use candied orange peel, here we have citrus allergies so I use dried apricots with the chocolate chips. Use what you like – that’s what makes cooking fun!

For 1 9 or 10 inch tart pan:

Ricotta Tart

1-1/2 lb fresh ricotta
3/4 C sugar
1/2 T mixed spices*
4 large eggs
pinch of salt
1/2 C chopped dried apricots
1/2 C chocolate chips
(zest of 1 lemon if no one is allergic)

Preheat oven to 350f. Roll out the crust and place it in the tart pan. Refrigerate until the oven is hot and the filling is ready.

Simply whisk together all the filling ingredients (use spices you like – I use a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom… mmm!) in the order listed. Fill the tart “shell”, bake at 350f for 50 minutes to an hour. It should not “jiggle” if you move the pan.

It will rise while baking but will sink back when cool. It does need to chill before serving, so I started it early this morning. Mmmmm…

Now I just need to make the galette. You’ll have to wait to see that another day, but I promise to share.

I wish us all a safe and happy start to the holiday “season”, safe travel, and of course good food shared with family and friends! Mmmmm!

Others have no idea what inspiration I got from their blogs, cookbooks and cooking “apps”, magazine articles, or just walking past their restaurants or bakeries or… you get the idea. Mmmm, indeed!

That said, (and I mean to thank you all year, but this is the season, so…) I thought you might enjoy this reworked cranberry nut bread recipe. More and more of my friends are going gluten-free, either by need or want, so I tried this “re-work” and it worked well; I thought I would share!

I usually just follow the standard recipe on the back of my bag of fresh cranberries. It starts with
2 C flour
1 C sugar…
and goes from there. A nice solid traditional recipe. This isn’t far off that mark, but it’ll do nicely when wheat flour isn’t an option. It is a bit crumbly, but if you make it a day ahead, cool it, and let it spend the night in the fridge well wrapped I think it’ll do just fine. Or, just be extra gentle when slicing!

The big change I made is to use rice and quinoa flours rather than wheat, and less sugar than the original. The friend I foisted some of this off onto this morning told me that she thought it was still a little sweet, ymmv. Anyway, if gluten-free is your thing, give this a go:

Moderately Traditional Cranberry Nut Bread

ain't it purty?

Preheat your oven to 350F
generously butter and (rice) flour a loaf pan

1 C white rice flour
1 C quinoa flour
scant 3/4 C (or less) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Armenian 7-spice or
1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon and ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated fresh orange peel*
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 egg, well beaten
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped**
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

remarkably bread-like!

Whisk together all the dry ingredients, add the nuts and cranberries, add the liquid (juice and shortening) and the beaten egg, mix well. Pour it into the loaf pan, let it sit in the pan on the counter for 5 minutes before baking, then bake for about 55 minutes. Check with a toothpick, but don’t peek until you think it is done! Let it cool for a few minutes in the pan, then finish cooling on a rack. Mmmm…

***

If you don’t tell anyone, no one will know that this is gluten free! It is a bit more tender than a bread made with wheat flour, but it slices nicely, tastes just fine, and since you let it sit for a few minutes before baking it avoids that “gritty” feeling that rice flour can “bring to the party” (as they say). This’ll keep in the fridge (if there’s any left), and should freeze nicely (and more importantly thaw nicely!) although I haven’t tried it.

Enjoy this with your turkey, with a nice cup of tea or coffee for breakfast or a snack, with friends and family… and with good health and my thanks! Mmmm…

I love this bakery – and what an incentive to get on a bike! Lots of new bike lanes on the avenues since I was last here – yay!

This one made me smile:

Clever.

I have no idea what makes this ice cream “gay”, but pretty much all ice cream makes me happy!

We ate a wonderful lunch in Chinatown at Nom Wah Tea Parlor, had some real bagels from David’s, and I munched my way through the Union Square Green Market (twice!). I do love this town.

The best thing I ate? Hmmm… Maybe the rosemary and garlic jelly from Beth’s, or quite possibly the maple ginger candy from Deep Mountain Maple, or perhaps the shrimp and eggplant at Nom Wah that I’m going to try to recreate (and if I can get close I promise to share – wait for it) once I get home.

Oh and there was the duck “cassoulet” at tree bistro ( they don’t capitalize themselves, so I won’t either). Gee it’s amazing how many wonderful meals one can pack into a few days!

One last thing. In answer to the question in the photo below, let me just plead the fifth.

After all, how much is “enough”, and how do you know, really?

I’ll be home tomorrow evening if the travel gods smile on me. Monday morning I promise to get some baby eggplant and start working on that recipe for you! Mmmmm…