Beans and Greens with Sausage

This summer has been the summer of greens and beans, separately and together. I've picked up a bunch of rainbow chard or Swiss chard just about every week at the Tuesday Downtown Farmers' Market, and I've most often been tossing it into a pot of lentils and cooking it down to something between a lentil mash and lentil soup. Season it with a generous squeeze of sriracha and finish it with a splash of vinegar and lemon juice, and you have a fantastic dish.

Another favorite has been kale.

More often than not, in this house, kale ends its days as salty, crunchy kale chips, though I also enjoy a really simple preparation braising it in olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes. I'd heard people for years rhapsodizing over Tuscan white beans, escarole and sausage, and I thought I could make something similar using kale and a Portuguese spicy sausage like chouriço or linguiça. It's a lot like the Portuguese soup Caldo Verde, though minus the potatoes and not as brothy. The beans break down and release some of the starchiness into the broth, thickening it into a spice-speckled sauce, just begging to be sopped up with a crusty Portuguese roll.

Beans and Greens with Sausage

Ingedients:

• olive oil
• 1 lb. chouriço
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup roasted red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed well
• 1 large bunch of kale, washed and leaves ripped from the central rib (about 4 cups)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 t cumin
• 1/2 t smoked paprika
• 1/2 t granulated garlic
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar

Directions:

1. Slice the chouriço into 1/2 in. rounds, and then cut those into fourths. Saute them in olive oil over medium-high heat until browned, then add the chopped onion and cook until the onion is soft.
2. Toss in the roasted red bell pepper and cook for 2 minutes, then add the drained beans and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of the cumin and 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika and then toss the kale leaves on top and cover it tightly and let steam for 5 minutes. 
4. Stir to mix everything well and add 1 cup of the chicken broth and cover tightly and let cook until the kale is well wilted, and the beans are starting to break down and become creamy.
5. Uncover, add the wine vinegar, granulated garlic, the rest of the cumin and salt and pepper to taste and more broth. Stir well and let cook uncovered another 5 minutes, then mash down some of the beans with the back of your wooden spoon or spatula and serve.

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Shrimp and Grits with Roasted Corn

I had grits once when I was younger. They were gray, lumpy, gluey and looked totally unappetizing. I was unimpressed.

Then I actually tasted them.

Color me even more unimpressed.

Over the years I've heard people talk longingly of shrimp and grits and cheese grits and I would shudder and think, "How can anyone possibly EAT that?"

Then Renée set me straight about grits and corn grits.  She gave me her favorite recipe for corn grits with roasted corn, told me exactly what type of corn grits to buy, what to serve it with, and I was very interested. It sounded good, for sure- what's not to love about roasted corn, butter and heavy cream? So I filed it away for future reference.

For some reason, when I woke up today, I said to myself, "Now is the day for those grits, and I feel the need for spicy shrimp to go with it." Maybe it's the cold and dreary weather making me yearn for something hot. Maybe it was the fact that I caught sight of the bag of corn grits yesterday when I was hunting around for the bag of tapioca pearls. Who knows? Long story short, the recipe is fantastic and I am a grits convert.

The spicy and still sweetish shrimp contrast perfectly with the creaminess of the grits. It's insane.

I can't wait to try out cheese grits next. :)

Shrimp and Grits with Roasted Corn

Serves 3

For the grits:

• 3/4 cup stone-ground corn grits
• 3 cups water
• salt
• 1 t Creole seasoning or Old Bay
• 2 T chives 
• 2 T butter
• heavy cream

For the corn:

• corn from 2 ears of fresh corn (about 1-1/2 cups kernels)
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1 T butter, melted
• 1/8 t granulated garlic
• 1/8 t smoked paprika
• salt and pepper

For the shrimp

• 9 medium cleaned shrimp, raw
• Old Bay or Creole seasoning

• chopped green onion

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil.
2. Toss the kernels of corn and onion in a bowl with salt, pepper, granulated garlic and smoked paprika.
3. Add the melted butter and toss well.
4. Spread in the foil-lined pan and roast for 25 minutes, stirring them once half-way through.
5. While the corn is roasting, bring 3 cups of lightly salted water to boil and add the corn grits, lowering the heat to low. Stir frequently to be sure that it doesn't stick. Careful, like oatmeal, bubbles might burst out and splatter you with wicked-hot starchy grain. Ouch.
6. After about 10 minutes, add 1/2 teaspoon of Creole seasoning or Old Bay and fresh chives. Stir well and let cook another 15 - 20 minutes.
7. Once it has cooked through and is the thickness you like, add about 1/2 of the roasted corn and onion to the grits and stir well. Set aside the remaining corn and onions. 
8. Add the butter and stir well to let it melt. Then add heavy cream to achieve the consistency you like. I only used a few tablespoons. Taste to check and adjust seasoning. You may want more spice or more cream.
9. Season the shrimp with Creole seasoning or Old Bay. Heat a heavy skillet over high heat and sear the shrimp for 2 minutes on the first side, then flip them, cover the skillet and let them cook another minute or two until done, but be careful not to overcook them.
10. Divide the corn grits between 3 bowls and top with the remaining roasted corn and onion. Sprinkle with chopped green onion and top with seared shrimp.

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Peasant Breakfast

Crisis Brownies and other comfort foods is the title of the blog. Yesterday I brought you the crisis brownies - so named because sometimes when you have a crisis, the only solution is chocolate - today I'll bring you one of my favorite comfort foods; but first, a comment.

Sometimes, I derive comfort from making something elegant or fancy, like crèmes brûlées:

Other times, I'll be comforted by taking something simple and homey and presenting it attractively, like kimchi bokeum bap:

But then there are those dishes which are neither fancy nor plated professionally. I have been known to eat Stovetop Mac and Cheese straight off a wooden spoon from the saucepan as I stand in the kitchen.

This next dish is never plated attractively, does not use an elaborate recipe or expensive ingredients. There is no real name for it, and I've called it many things: Potatoes, Eggs and Vegetables, Mess-in-a-Bowl, but most often, I call it Peasant Breakfast.

It is just chunks of potato cooked in butter with vegetables, usually onion, bell pepper and mushroom, and once they've cooked down and browned nicely, I crack some eggs over it, let them set, and then mix it all together. Top it with a little grated cheese and serve. Presto. Yum. Really, for pure comfort bang for your buck, you just can't beat it.

When I was in Korea, I used to make this dish for my friends after a long night of partying in I-Tae-Won. We'd go back to my place, usually at 3 in the morning, and I'd make a huge mess of this in the name of hangover remedies, then we'd crash, sleep late and go out for kong namul guk (spicy bean sprout soup) or budae jjigae ("troop" stew) as additional help with staving off the hangover.

I also craved this dish throughout all of my pregnancies, and still crave it at times when I am cold and need something deeply warming. I made it last night as a mini-celebratory meal. I like to adjust with slightly different ingredients and spicing it differently.

Yesterday, I found hedgehog mushrooms:

They were almost too cute to eat. But I ate them, and yes, I washed them first. :)

Peasant Breakfast

Ingredients

• butter
• potatoes
• onion
• green bell pepper
• mushroom
• Creole seasoning
• Old Bay seasoning
• eggs
• grated romano
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Brown potatoes in butter. You can use leftover boiled potatoes if you have them, though I usually just use fresh. If you use uncooked mushrooms, you'll want to cover it and let them steam. Season with Creole seasoning.
   
2. Add the chopped onions, bell pepper and mushrooms and stir well. Add Old Bay or more Creole seasoning to suit your taste.
   
3. Cover and let cook through until the potatoes are tender and the vegetables browned. I like it when the onions get almost crispy.
   
4. Push the vegetables aside to make three holes, and crack an egg into each. Cover and let cook until the eggs are set, then stir the whole mess together and let cook. Dump into bowls and top with a bit of cheese and season with salt and pepper.
   

Notes:

• I change up the seasoning, sometimes using fresh thyme and rosemary, but I usually go for something spicy, and this does it for me. 
• I also will add in bits of leftover ham or sausage if I have them. I really like linguiça and chouriço in the spicy version or maple sausage in the rosemary and thyme version.

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Kimchi Fried Rice

Comfort foods come in all different forms: dark chocolatey brownies, succulent roast chicken, assorted finger foods and piping-hot pizza.

Comfort foods can be sweet, salty, savory, sour or spicy, depending on my mood.

Comfort foods can be as elaborate as a Sauerbraten dinner from a $35 piece of meat that took me 3 days to prepare, or a spicy noodle dish that uses a block of 29¢ ramen and requires a mere 10 minutes to fix.

Comfort foods can present a pretty picture plated and garnished meticulously, whereas others never see a serving dish because I devour them straight out of the saucepan, right off of a wooden spoon.

In a previous entry, I spoke of Mandu, my favorite street vendor food from my time in Korea. Another one of my all-time favorite comfort meals stems from my year spent in Seoul: kimchi bokkeumbap, or Kimchi Fried Rice. The perfect late-night meal to stave off a hangover after 8 hours spent partying in Itaewon or the ideal warming dish to push off the chill of the harsh winds blowing down off the mountains on a wintry weekend evening.

Don't be scared by fermented kimchi's pungent fragrance, frying the kimchi mellows the flavor and the smell, making Kimchi Fried Rice blend well with all sorts of ingredients - leftover chicken, fried tofu strips, mushrooms, julienned carrots, fresh baby bok choy, bell pepper strips, even a drained can of albacore, but this recipe below is fantastic just as it is.

Kimchi Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• canola or peanut oil
• 1 cup fermented kimchi,* cut into bite-sized pieces
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 t sugar
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 t sesame oil
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 egg
  
• sesame seeds
• nori strips
  

Directions:

1. Heat some canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chopped up kimchi. Saute for about 5 minutes.
   


2. Add the chopped onion and green onion and continue to saute for another 5 minutes.
   


3. Add the sugar and salt and stir very well.
   


4. Add 1 cup of the cold, cooked rice,* (See Notes) and stir well. Once it is all nicely coated, add the other cup of rice and cook for another 5 minutes.
   


5. Add a drizzle (1 t or so) of dark sesame oil, stirring well.
   


6. At this point, you can push the rice and kimchi to the sides and add a beaten egg to the center and scramble well.
   


7. Once the egg is cooked through, push the rice and vegetables back in, mixing it all together, cooking for another 2 minutes.
   


8. Serve in a bowl and garnish with toasted sesame seeds and nori strips.
   

Notes:

• All Kimchis are not the same. If you have a limited variety of kimchis available to you in your grocery store, you've got it easy: chances are the only kind they have for you is the fermented kimchi made from bok choy, which is just what this recipe calls for.
  
  If you live near a Korean grocery like I do, you may find yourself staring in shock at all the different jars of kimchi - all labeled in Korean, of course - and you might be at a loss over which one to choose. For Kimchi Fried Rice, be sure to ask for the fermented, sour kimchi instead of the fresh kimchi. I have found that the flavor of the fermented kimchi just tastes better in this recipe.
  
  


• For best results for your fried rice dishes, whether it is Nasi Goreng from Indonesia, Thai Basil Fried Rice or Kimchi Fried Rice, you need to use cold, cooked rice. Leftover rice is the best, though sometimes I make up a batch and cool it in the fridge for an hour before making the fried rice. There is something about the hot rice that can turn the dish into a sticky, glutinous mess.
  


• Sometimes I will cook the beaten egg into a crepe-like pancake in a separate pan first, let it cool and then cut into strips and use that as an additional garnish. In Korea, it was common to have kimchi fried rice served on top of a fried egg.
  

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Spicy Peanut Noodles

I absolutely love peanut butter. I prefer natural varieties. My current favorite is Smucker's Naturals, chunky, of course. I haven't bought the standard sugar and salt-laden pb in so long that when I had some a few months ago at someone else's house, I was shocked at how cloyingly sweet it was. Plus, for some reason, the texture struck me as unnatural and kind of icky.

Food confession: I love peanut butter so much that I will sometimes eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon and call that a snack or a mini-meal. Now, I don't particularly care for peanut butter paired with sweet foods, except when combined with chocolate of course; I generally prefer peanut butter with savory foods. When I crave a peanut butter sandwich, I am more likely to add wheat germ and sunflower seeds instead of jam or jelly.

A nice spicy peanut sauce will really make my taste buds happy. Pair it with chicken, or tofu like I did today, toss in some noodles, and we're in business.

Spicy Peanut Noodles

Ingredients:

• Cooking oil (peanut or canola)
• Red pepper flakes
• 1/2 onion, halved and then sliced into thin strips
• 1/4 cup carrot, cut into matchsticks
  
• the whites of 2 green onions, chopped
  
• Minced fresh ginger
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed and chopped
• 1/4 package of tofu, pressed of water and cut into strips
• Noodles, vermicelli, spaghetti, Chinese noodles, whichever you prefer - today I used a block of ramen noodles
• 1/3 cup peanut sauce, jarred or homemade*
• Sesame oil
  
• Chopped peanuts
• Green onions, chopped (optional)
• Toasted sesame seeds (optional)
  

Directions:

1. Pour some oil into a large skillet, and sprinkle with red pepper flakes and let sit.
   


2. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the package. Drain the noodles, put them in a bowl and toss them with 1 T of sesame oil. Let sit and cool.
   


3. Over high heat, sauté the onions, ginger until onions are just starting to brown.


4. Add the carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Toss in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
   


5. Add the strips of tofu and cook until golden brown.
   


6. Add the peanut sauce to the skillet, stirring to coat well. Taste frequently and adjust seasonings to your liking. Add more of the sauce if you like.
   


7. Toss the drained noodles into the skillet, mixing everything well.
   


8. Garnish with chopped peanuts, green onion and sesame seeds.
   

*Homemade peanut sauce

Ingredients:

• 3 cloves of garlic.
• 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1/4 c. soy sauce
  
• 2 T honey or agave nectar
  
• 2 T rice vinegar
  
• 2 T. chili oil
  
• 1 chopped hot chili

Directions:

1. Put the garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.


2. Add the remaining ingredients and puree until smooth.
   


3. Add water to thin the consistency if you find it necessary.
   


4. Refrigerate any unused sauce in a tightly-lidded container.
   


5. You may use more or less chili pepper to suit your taste for spiciness.
   

Notes:

• I might start a series of recipes titled "Things to Do With Ramen Noodles."
  

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Red Beans and Rice

This is my adaptation of a classic Cajun recipe. I took some shortcuts by using canned kidney beans instead of cooking a mess of beans with a ham hock. I also added canned tomatoes which I know is a somewhat nontraditional addition to this dish, but my God, it is so tasty! The purists may scoff, but really, they should try it.

I did use the Holy Trinity of Cajun and Creole cooking though, that special Cajun mirepoix of celery, onion and green bell pepper, so perhaps I get a few points for effort if not a gold star for authenticity.

Either way, this is a hearty, spicy dish that helps warm me up on a blustery day.

Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• ½ green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Creole/Cajun seasoning
• 1 lb. Andouille sausage, sliced (I used an entire package of Gaspar’s)
• 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• Water
• Tomato paste
• Red wine
• Thyme
• 1 15 oz can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  

Directions

1. In a large, deep skillet, saute onion, celery and green pepper until soft.
   


2. Add garlic and sauté for 5 minutes more.
   


3. Push the sautéed veggies to the sides of the skillet and dump in the sliced andouille.
   


4. Sprinkle with creole seasoning.
   


5. Cook until the sausage is browned, stirring frequently.
   


6. Add the can of diced tomatoes, juice and all, add some more creole seasoning, mix well, lower heat and simmer, covered.
   


7. After 30 minutes or so, add 1 cup water and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and a bit of wine (1/4 cup or so).
   


8. Mix well, and add 1T thyme. Let cook down some more.
   


9. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more creole seasoning to taste. You may add more tomato paste and water for the consistency you like.
   


10. Add the drained kidney beans, cover and let simmer a while longer.
    


11. Serve over rice.
    

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Black Bean Soup

This soup is replete with tomato flavor, so if you are looking for a more deeply "beany" soup like the kind at Panera, you'll have to look elsewhere. Like that other soup, this is deeply satisfying on those cold winter months.

The fresh cilantro in this dish makes a pretty bold flavor note, so if you happen to be one of those people who absolutely cannot abide cilantro, don't worry, it's plenty flavorful without it.

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

• ½ cup black beans, dried 
• 1 bay leaf
• pinch (less than 1/8 teaspoon) baking soda - See Notes
• water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• ½ red bell pepper chopped
• ½ hot green pepper, chopped
• ½ teaspoon chipotle chili seasoning*
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
• ¼ cup salsa
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• fresh cilantro, chopped plus additional (to garnish)
• Greek yogurt

Directions:

1. Soak the beans overnight or do a quick soak by placing the dried beans in a medium sauce pan with enough water to cover twice over. Add a pinch of baking soda and bring to a boil and let boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit, covered for 2 hours.


2. Drain the beans and rinse very well. Then place beans back in the saucepan.


3. Add 3 cups water and bay leaf.


4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover and let cook 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, until beans are tender. Check the water level occasionally, adding more as necessary.


5. Remove bay leaf. Drain the beans.


6. In a medium sauce pan, over medium-high heat, sauté onion, and shallots in olive oil until they become soft and translucent.


7. Add the celery, hot pepper and bell pepper and saute for another 5 minutes.


8. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.


9. Add the chipotle chili seasoning, the can of tomatoes and vegetable broth and bring to a rolling boil.


10. Add the drained, cooked beans.


11. Reduce heat and simmer 5-7 minutes longer.


12. Remove about half of the mixture to a blender and puree return pureed soup to the pot - or if you have an immersion blender, use it in the pot.


13. Stir in the salsa and about 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro.


14. Taste to adjust seasoning. Add the cumin and more chipotle chili seasoning if necessary.


15. Ladle into bowls and garnish with a healthy dose of Greek yogurt (or sour cream if you prefer) and a few more sprigs of cilantro.

* Chipotle Chili Seasoning

I made this to replace the sodium-laden packet of taco seasoning for that 7-layer Taco dip. It was so good, that I've decided to use it in everything that might be considered remotely Mexican.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder, or pulverized dried chipotle chili
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika - if you can find pimentón, smoked Spanish paprika, use this
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.


2. Store in an airtight container, like an empty spice jar.

Notes:

1. Adding baking soda to the soaking phase is supposed to help reduce the gas factor of the beans. I honestly do not know if this is real or just another kitchen myth, but in my experience, it seems to work. Then again, I also take Beano some of the time. I am also used to a diet rich in beans and legumes, so perhaps it doesn't effect me as harshly as it does others.


2. For a "beanier" taste, you could add the beans' cooking liquid in lieu of some of the vegetable broth.


3. More fun links dealing with the cilantro issue:
   
   • Why Do People Hate Cilantro?
   • Fuck yeah, Cilantro
   • NPR: Getting to the Root of the Great Cilantro Divide
   • Science Blogs: Do You Love or Hate Cilantro?

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Aloo Gobi

This past weekend, I had an intense craving for Indian food. While there are a few good Indian places near me, I love to fill up the house with the amazing smells as cumin seeds toast in hot oil and then mingle with the other distinctive seasonings in the various curry sauces.

Plus, you have to admit, it's way cheaper to make it yourself.

I had a large menu planned, but I found that I was missing a few key ingredients. I would have had to drag along a sick child to the grocery store for the three missing ingredients, and I finally decided that the risk (child puking all over the produce section) was not worth the reward (green pea and potato samosas). Fear not, I will make those samosas soon.

In the end, I settled for Aloo Gobi, Onion Kulcha and Mango Chutney.

Aloo Gobi (Cauliflower-Potato Curry)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
  
• Large bunch of fresh coriander, separated into stalks and leaves and roughly chopped
• Small green chilies, diced
  
• 1 head of cauliflower, leaves removed and cut evenly into eighths
• 3 large potatoes, cut into even pieces
• 1 28-oz can of diced tomatoes with juice
• Fresh ginger, peeled and diced
  
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 2 green cardamom pods
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• mirch achaar (optional)
  

Directions:

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan.
   


2. Add the chopped onion and one tablespoon of cumin seeds to the oil.
   


3. Stir together and cook until onions become soft and translucent.
   


4. Add chopped coriander stalks, two teaspoons of turmeric, and one teaspoon of salt.
   


5. Add chopped chili peppers - more or less according to taste.
   


6. Stir tomatoes into onion mixture, reserving the juice.
   


7. Add ginger and garlic; mix thoroughly.
   


8. Add potatoes to the sauce plus the reserved tomato juice and a few tablespoons of water. Stir well.
   


9. Toss in the green cardamom pods.
   


10. Cover and let cook for 10 minutes, then add the cauliflower.
    


11. Stir thoroughly so that the cauliflower is coated with the curry sauce.
    


12. Cover and allow to simmer for twenty minutes (or until potatoes are cooked). You will want to stir from time to time to make sure that it's not sticking. Add more water as necessary.
    


13. Add two teaspoons of garam masala and stir.
    


14. Taste to check the seasoning. Now is when I add the chopped mirch achaar (pickled hot chili peppers) for added kick.
    


15. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves on top of the curry.
    


16. Turn off the heat, cover, and leave for as long as possible before serving.

Notes:

1. If you like spice, you can use 2 14-oz cans of Ro-Tel diced tomatoes with green chillies instead of the plain tomatoes.

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Spicy Lentil Soup

This totally fulfilled my craving for something warming, earthy and spicy. If I skipped the sour cream at the end, it would have been totally vegan. But sometimes, things call for sour cream.

Same rules apply to bacon.

Oh, and it's ready to eat in less than an hour and a half, and that does account for the time spent on a mad scramble for ingredients.

Note: I snapped the picture of this before I put any sour cream on it and by the time I started digging into it, it was gone about 4 bites later. Then I had another bowl, but the bowl was too messy to take a nice picture, so... next time, I'll not be so hasty. :)

Spicy Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• olive oil
• 1 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes with green chilis (like Ro-Tel) – drained, and with the juice reserved
• 1 cup dry brown lentils
• 4 cups water or vegetable broth
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• sour cream

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat.
   


2. Add onions, carrots, and celery; cook and stir until onion is translucent and soft.
   


3. Stir in garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
   


4. Stir in lentils, add broth, drained tomatoes & chilis and bay leaf, and oregano.
   


5. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for at least 1 hour.
   


6. Stir in the reserved juice, and season to taste with salt and pepper and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
   


7. Top with a generous dollop of sour cream.
   

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Scraping the Pantry

Ok, you know by now that I love to cook and bake - why have a food blog if I didn't? I also really enjoy grocery shopping. If I go to the super Wegman's, I can spend ages just in the produce and deli sections marveling over some of the more exotic ingredients and imagining what I'd make with them.

As much as I enjoy a fridge packed full of fresh ingredients, somewhat perversely I also look forward to the end of a really long grocery cycle; I like to see how long I can stretch things before I have to resort to a trip to the store.

My pantry is pretty well stocked, and although my fridge is small (only some 18 cubic feet), I still manage to lose items in there from time to time. For example, yesterday I found a celery root I'd forgotten about in the vegetable crisper. Still good! Raiding the pantry and the fridge and using whatever I can find to create new meals has been good practice for me when it comes to creative substitutions and figuring out what works, and what really, really doesn't work.

Does anyone else do that or do you start to freak out when you can see bare shelf space in the fridge?

I'm at that point now. I had an unexpected, not-so-cheap car repair last week that has eaten into my grocery budget. Then there's the holiday. I'll be driving 5 hours to spend Thanksgiving with the parents, so yesterday I didn't see why I should go to the store when we won't even be home for part of the week.

So, that brings me to scratch-together meals:

• Between my fridge, freezer and pantry, I found that I had everything I need for my butternut squash soup.
  


• I still have some multigrain bread from this weekend to accompany it, but it would be easy enough to bake another loaf;
  


• This weekend I made my Sandra Lee type coffee cake, which didn't last long. In theory, I could make another, since I still have all the necessary ingredients.
  



• For snacks, over the past few days I've finished the last straggling tablespoons of peanut butter scraped from 2 jars - spread on apples from the 1/2 bushel of Northern Spies which I'd bought at an orchard roadside stand several weeks ago.


• I'm thinking I could do something with the leftover sausage, apples and sauerkraut, yes? My SIL gives me a quart of homemade sauerkraut every year and I think I have, um, four quarts of it still. It's great stuff, but I crave it only rarely. It should probably get eaten up though.
  
  How about sausage-apple-kraut piroshki? I have some wonton wrappers I could use.


• I can probably make a curried split pea & carrot soup.


• I could make a mushroom quiche using some of the dried mushrooms I have (porcini, morels and chanterelles), but the only cheese I have:
  
  
  
  • a half a block of mozzarella that I'm saving for pizza;
  • about 13 ½ string cheese sticks;
  • 2 little triangles of Laughing Cow cheese;
  • a ½-inch bit of a block parmigiano reggiano still clinging to the rind (so now it's difficult to grate without losing some skin, too);
  • ¼ pound of Cabot horseradish cheddar;
  • whipped chive cream cheese;
  • fat-free cream cheese which I picked up by accident - the Price Chopper brands of the cream cheese use blue boxes that are kind of similar, so I grabbed the wrong one by accident. I need to find a use for the fat-free stuff; perhaps I can substitute it for some of the regular cream cheese when I make a cheesecake;
    
  
  
  Now, I bet that horseradish cheddar might work well with the mushrooms.
  


• Can you make welsh rarebit out of horseradish cheddar? I've certainly got some beer that could go into it.

See? So many possibilities. All that limits us is a lack of imagination... or spices. :)

This butternut squash soup recipe is entirely a result of my warped and unpredictable cravings. A few years ago I'd seen a recipe for a curried butternut squash and turkey sausage soup. The idea of a savory and spicy butternut squash piqued my taste buds' interest. So, after some experimentation, I came up with this recipe. I've made it for people on two occasions, and it was well-received, so it's not just my crazy taste buds that like it!

Butternut Squash Soup with Corn, Chouriço, and Jasmine Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• ½ cup jasmine rice
• 1 unpeeled butternut squash, halved and seeded
• olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 chouriço sausage, casings removed, broken into crumbles, I use Gaspar's
  
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 2 14-ounce cans chicken broth or homemade chicken stock, warmed
  
• salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper, or to taste
• ½ cup heavy cream (optional)
• smoked Spanish paprika, (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pour water into 9x13 baking dish until it's an inch high.


2. Place the butternut squash into the prepared baking dish, cut side up.


3. Bake in preheated oven until a fork can pierce the flesh easily, about 45 minutes.


4. Meanwhile, place the jasmine rice and 1 cup of water into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat.
   


5. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until water is absorbed and rice is fluffy, about 20 minutes.
   


6. Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork.


7. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and shallots and cook until tender and transparent, about 5 minutes.
   


8. Push the vegetables to he sides of the skillet, making a hole in the middle. Mix in the crumbled chouriço; cook until crumbly and evenly browned.
   


9. Drain any excess fat. Stir in the cooked rice and corn and mix well.


10. Scoop out cooked squash and place in a blender or bowl of a food processor. Pour 1 cup of the warmed chicken broth into the blender or bowl of a food processor with the squash. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute.
    


11. Stir the pureed squash into the sausage mixture until well blended. Add more broth until you reach the consistency you like. Season with pepper, and salt to taste. If desired, stir in the heavy cream.
    


12. Simmer soup over medium heat until heated through, about 15 minutes, but do not boil.


13. To serve, I like to sprinkle a bit of smoked Spanish paprika on it.
    

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Yellow Split Pea and Andouille Soup

I have a thing for spicy sausages: andouille, chorizo, chouriço (yes, there is a difference between those two). I also really love thick, creamy soups. Put the two of them together and add a loaf of freshly baked homemade bread and I'm in heaven.

Yellow Split Pea and Andouille Soup

Ingredients

• 2 andouille sausages cut into 1/2-inch slices
  
• 1 red potato, diced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 1/4 cups yellow split peas, rinsed
• 4 cups chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• Heavy cream to taste (optional)
  

Directions:

1. Sauté sausages in heavy large pot over medium-high heat about 4 minutes.
   
2. Add potato and onion. Sauté until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
   
3. Dump in split peas,stirring well, then pour in the broth.
   
4. Bring the soup to a roiling boil.
   
5. Reduce heat to low.
   
6. Cover and simmer until peas are tender, stirring occasionally, about 60 minutes.
   
7. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.
   
8. Ladle into bowls and serve with a tablespoon of heavy cream if desired.

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Quinoa and Rice with Corn and Chorizo

Quinoa is a wonderful grain with a light nutty flavor. I often include it in my mixed-grain pilafs. This was a spur of the moment, "the pantry is empty" recipe that ended up tasting delicious. I've made it several times since I first tossed everything together.

Quinoa and Rice with Corn and Chorizo

Ingredients:

Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup long grain white rice
1/4 cup quinoa
1/4 cup red quinoa
1 can Rotel tomatoes and chilies
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t (heaping) chili powder
water
1 chorizo, diced
3/4 cup frozen corn
dried, minced onion, reconstituted
chopped avocado
shredded cheese
chopped cilantro

Directions:

In a sturdy saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add the chopped onion and saute until translucent.
Add the garlic and the rice and two kinds of quinoa. Stir well, be sure that everything is coated.
Dump the Rotel tomatoes, chilies and juice into a measuring cup and add enough water to make 2 1/2 cups.
Add the spices to the rice and onion mixture, stir well, increase heat to high and add the tomato and water mixture.
Cover, bring to a boil and reduce heat to low and let cook for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat. Let sit at least 10 minutes before removing the lid. The longer it sits, the better.
In a medium-sized skillet, saute the diced chorizo in olive oil over medium-high heat until browned.
Add the corn and reconstituted onion, stir well and cook until it's as browned as you like. I like the corn to have a bit of color.
When it's done, add the chorizo mixture to the grains, stir well. Serve in a bowl topped with cheese, avocado and cilantro.

Notes: This recipe uses my basic pilaf technique:

• I saute the aromatics (chopped onion or shallot) in olive oil over fairly high heat until it just starts to sweat and turns translucent, then add the garlic and then almost immediately the grains.
  
• Up the heat to high, stirring pretty frequently, making sure that the grains are nicely coated. You can saute them longer until they're slightly browned and give off a nutty smell, and then add the liquid.
  
• Cover immediately with a tight-fitting lid and bring to a boil I like to use a pot that has a glass lid so I can see exactly when it's come to a nice boil - then lower the heat and let simmer for 13-15 minutes. This is where the glass lid comes in handy. You can see the surface of the rice if there are holes, like small craters where the hot air has forced through but there is no more liquid bubbling, it's perfect.
  
• Turn off the heat, and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before you remove the lid to fluff the rice.
• I use this for mixed-grain pilafs and when I was a dairy eater, would add grated cheese and a pat of butter at the very end when I would stir in the last ingredients.
  
• One of my favorite mixed-grain pilafs uses 1/2 cup of rice, 1/4 cup of bulgur and 1/4 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of liquid.

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