On the Mend

My good friend Steve recently got out of the hospital after some surgery, with specific instructions to simply take it easy and not overdo! You have to know Steve, to see how difficult a task this would be for him– he’s just one of those people that’s always on the go and a very active soul. About the only time he really slows down is at mealtime. But since he got home he’s been complaining about always feeling ‘cold’. Of course it being in the minus temps this week hasn’t help one darn bit.

So, I popped in on him the other day for two reasons. One to see that he was following his doctors orders {plus, I promised his wife I’d harp on him of the benefits of him following those orders! 🙂

… and also to bring him a warm pot pie, just out of the oven. What better dish will warm you from the inside out and brings a big smile to the recipients face? Chicken Pot Pie, that’s what! 🙂 I think he’ll now be on the mend and good as new in no time.

Thyme Goes By Chicken Pot Pie

This is a very easy pie to make, especially for those on the run, and these days who isn’t busy? We just love chicken pot pies around here, and though I typically make mine with a buttery flaky crust, this time I just used puff pastry sheets. I also like my chicken pot pies loaded with vegetables. You can prepare four individual — five inch pies or one large pie from this recipe. This one features chunks of chicken with big pieces of carrots, potatoes and peas jammed with a savory herb… and even better they freeze unbaked, just beautifully for a quickie meal.

3 cups chicken broth (homemade or stock)
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups boneless chicken breasts cut into cubes
1 1/2 cups fresh carrots, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups peeled potatoes, cubed
1 1/2 cups frozen petite peas
4 TBLS unsalted butter
6 TBLS flour
1/2 tsp fresh thyme 
sea salt & ground pepper to taste
One pie crust topping.. or puff pastry to cover

Pour the chicken broth and wine into a large skillet and bring to a simmer. Add chicken pieces, carrots and potatoes pressing them down into an even layer. Cover the skillet and return to simmer. Tilt the lid slightly to let the steam escape and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, add in the peas, cover and let sit 15 more minutes. Strain the hot broth from the mixture into a bowl and reserve. Let the veggies cool off.  

In a heavy saucepan melt the butter over low heat. Add the flour and whisk together for just a few moments. Add the reserved broth all at once and whisk briskly. Bring to a gentle boil–then lower the heat and stir until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Add fresh thyme leaves and seasoning to taste.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetable mixture in the skillet and stir well. Transfer the mixture to a 2 1/2 quart or four five inch individual pie tins and set aside. Top with your favorite pie crust or puff pastry cover. Pierce the pie to vent and bake in a 350 degree oven approximately 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and just bubbly. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Cheesecake to go ape over

Looking for a way to use up those old bananas? I mean really, how many banana breads can one make? 😉 Cheesecake is always an indulgence, but the clean flavor helps cut the richness of this luscious cake. Here’s a favorite of mine that you’ll just go ape over! The flavor of the bananas is subtle but pervasive. If you want a more pronounced banana taste, you’ll with have to monkey around with it a bit on your own, but we think it’s perfect as is. What’s not to love!

Read Full Post »

Mushroom Mogul

Two hot food trends for 2019 had been reported to be soups and mushrooms, and you’ll get no argument from my good friend Timmy, who’s my fave mushroom mogul in my neck of the woods. A true nature lover, Tim has been playing in the dirt and working on his green thumb, longer than he can remember, and seldom does he come to visit without bringing me a sack of his most recent foraging trips. Yum & lucky me! 🙂

His love of mushrooms, and living off the land led him here to Maine some 30 years ago where he bought a broken down old, neglected farm. The land around his farm was the deciding factor for his purchase, where he now primarily forages wild mushrooms and grows a plethora of healthy fresh mushrooms, organic veggies and some cut flowers.

With such a varied selection of mushrooms you’d be hard pressed making your selections… pink, grey, golden oyster mushrooms, shiitake, pioppino, lions mane, nameko and so many more! With all this harvesting to do, Tim keeps pretty busy supplying his long list of local restaurants from Boston to Maine. And then of course, there are his good friends he graces regularly with all of this fungi goodness, too! LOL

So, some of my ‘sack’ went into a large pot of mushroom spaghetti sauce and some into a fave soup, Mushroom Chick Pea & Veggie.

Now I realize it’s still 87 degrees here today, but I’m a planner! And before we know it.. I’ll be thrilled to have many containers of this scrumptious tummy warming, heart healthy soup in my freezer for those not so far off ( unfortunately!!) chillier evenings.

Mushrooms are a wonderful substitute for meat in a vegetarian and vegan recipes and are touted worldwide for their health benefits. What better way to use mushrooms than in a delicious soup loaded with healthy veggies?

One of the things I love about this soup is it’s flexibility. You can easily substitute whatever you like for so many of the ingredients. For example, you could use oyster mushrooms in this soup and substitute chicken for the chick peas ( if you’re not doing vegetarian or vegan), use bok choy instead of spinach, and make it very Asian. Or you could use a different vinegar, perhaps, Balsamic and leave out the soy sauce, use tomatoes instead with some chard and cippollini onions and adjust the seasonings, to make it more Italian. And it’s vegan and gluten-free too!

* 1/2 cup chopped onion

* 4 cloves minced garlic

* 1 cup sliced assorted mushrooms

* 1-2 tsp fresh ginger, minced

* 1/2 cup chopped carrots

* 1/2 cup other veggies ( like peppers, celery, sweet potatoes or whatever you like)

* 1/2 cup cooked chick peas

* 1/4 tsp cumin

* 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

* 1/4 tsp white pepper

* 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

* 1/4 tsp cayenne

* 2 tsp soy sauce

* 2 tsp rice vinegar

* 1-1.5 tsp sugar

* 2 cups vegetable broth

* 5 cups water

* 1 cup spinach, chard or bok choy, roughly chopped

* 1/4 tsp sea salt

* cornstarch to thicken (optional)

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and a pinch of salt and cook 3 minutes or just about translucent, stirring occasionally.

2. Add mushrooms and cook, and mix for 3 minutes or until they start to get golden.

3. Add ginger, carrots and veggies and cook 3-4 minutes

4. Add chickpeas and spices and cook another 3 minutes.

5. Add soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, broth and water. Partially cover and cook 20 minutes. Add in the spinach or other greens. Cook for 2 minutes. Taste and add sea salt if needed. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer another 15 minutes. Garnish with fresh herbs of choice or scallions serve it hot.

6. *** If you’d like to thicken, mix 2 tsp cornstarch in 2 TBL water and mix into the soup in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Makes 4 servings.

Read Full Post »

Summer Garden Risotto

As I work my way through our very abundant zucchini harvest this summer, I thought I’d post a few of my fave zucchini recipes. As well as zucchini, I am picking a bowlful of zucchini flowers pretty much daily that I feel the need to use in a productive way. Though the zucchini flowers do not have a lot of flavor on their own, their vibrant color makes them a great addition to many dishes, in addition to just stuffing them.

This week I made this creamy risotto using up some of my zucchini, summer squash and zucchini flower buds… along with a leftover ear of corn on the cob in the frig just screaming.. ‘use me up!’ LOL I also added just a spoonful of basil pesto made fresh from the garden that really added a bright note to the dish.

If there is one thing I have an over abundance of growing here, besides zucchini.. it’s the basils. I am constantly picking basil before it flowers and often make a batch of pesto to garnish a bowl of soup, to toss with hot pasta or to stir into a risotto, such as this one. If you do not have your own supply of fresh basil on hand, you could use a good quality store brand pesto instead. ( for shame! 🙂 Just a mere spoonful of pesto is all that is needed in this dish. If you use too much, it will take over and all you’ll end up tasting is basil, and you’ll lose the summer fresh flavor of the zucchini.

2 TBLS unsalted butter

2 TBLS olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1 small shallot, minced

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

3/4 cup dry white wine.. I used Pinot Grigio

5-6 cups vegetable or chicken broth, warmed

1 1/2 cups finely diced zucchini ( or summer squash, cousa, pattypans etc) (1/2 ” dice)

10-12 zucchini flowers, stamens removed & diced

1 ear, steamed corn on the cob, cooled and kernels removed

1 heaping tsp basil pesto

1 tsp lemon juice

Sea salt & ground pepper

To finish….

1 TBLS butter

1/3-1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Place the olive oil and half the butter in a saucepan and heat until sizzling over a medium heat.

Add the onion and shallot and cook until translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes.

Add the rice, and stir to coat the rice completely with the oil mixture. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, stirring often.

Add the wine to the pot, stir to mix and continue cooking over medium heat until the wine has been absorbed.

Add a large ladleful of warm broth and continue to cook, stirring constantly.

Halfway through the cooking period, or 10 minutes, add the diced zucchini.

As each addition of broth has absorbed, add another, stirring until the rice is just slightly firm to the bite.. about 20 minutes.

With the last addition of broth, add the chopped zucchini flowers, corn kernels, pesto and lemon juice.

Stir to mix, and season with sea salt and ground pepper.

Cook another 3 to 4 minutes, then remove from heat.

Stir in the butter and grated Pecorino cheese, stirring until the cheese has completely melted into the rice.

Serve immediately with some rosemary focaccia bread and a fresh garden salad as a stand alone meal. I served it as a side with grilled salmon. Either way, it’s just plain yummy! Enjoy.

Read Full Post »

Nature’s Bounty

Every summer when the vegetables in my garden burst into color, it’s hard for me to think about eating anything else.

I still remember sitting in the middle of my dad’s victory garden, where each vegetable seemed a work of art, creating my own private pageants by lining up the eggplants, zucchini and peppers, arranging them — then re-arranging them as the light bounced off their shapes, sizes and colors.

Once I tired of my game, I would help myself to an impromptu picnic, the ripe tomatoes, radishes and carrots still half covered with dirt. And today, I still conduct these pageants… and still enjoy biting into the first pulled carrots.. dirt and all. After all, which man-made image can surpass the silhouette of a plump purple eggplant, a pear shaped yellow pepper or even a bulbous garlic? And what of the elongated cylindrical zucchini? Or.. that perfectly rounded juicy first tomato off the vine. But in today’s fast paced world, most rarely pause to appreciate them.

More often, they arrive in our kitchens swathed in paper and plastic and are sliced, diced, squeezed, chopped, julienned.. even puréed, becoming secondary components of larger dishes.

Since I love ❤ examining these miracles of nature, I use every excuse to create dishes where I can keep my vegetables whole. Crazy I know LOL.. but hey, that’s just me.

But think about this for a moment.. by leaving vegetables whole, scooping out the center, then piling back complementary ingredients, a new and nourishing relationship is born. Sometimes, the outside indicates the inside. But even though zucchini traditionally cries out for onions, and peppers and tomatoes; mushrooms provoke Parmesan, shallots and bread crumbs; and sweet peppers propose meat, tomatoes and garlic, when we travel afield… you begin to realize the choices and combinations are endless and flavor synergies are limited only by our imaginations. And if you are imagination stumped hop over to my other blog here for some new ideas.

Nature’s bounty can produce parades of stuffed veggies for your tables, from the plethora of various squashes, to eggplant and even tomatoes! Plus offering you some tempting new items for your menus, rather than just plain old boring steamed zucchini, for next to pennies if you plan right. Stuffed vegetables– the summer’s bounty–can make any meal a special event and so healthful too!

Read Full Post »

Thawing Out with Minestrone

 

It’s a raw, cloudy dismal day today in Maine, and getting ready for a rainy/snowy mix…. sigh 😦  When  I came in from my walk I was reminded of warmer days and a delicious soup.
While once vacationing in Sorrento we spent a week at the Albergho Lorelei Hotel located off the main Piazza, overlooking the Bay of Naples and Mt. Vesuvius. Within it’s vine covered patio overlooking this breathtaking view, they serve their  guests and visitors scrumptious meals..all made to order.

One cooler afternoon after shopping all over Sorrento.. we returned back to the Lorelei exhausted, but not too hungry, as we had been sampling all the street vendors we came across, tempting treats. Not wanting a full course meal, I asked if they could make me some minestrone soup. They were more than obliging… a half an hour later I was served my soup. It was the best minestrone I’ve ever tasted.

I asked if the chef would share his recipe with me.. and graciously Marco agreed, though it took another hour for me to translate all that he was explaining to me. LOL! I make this soup often, sometimes as I recorded it.. and sometimes with my own twist.. either way, it’s one of my favorite meals.

So while waiting for this wonderful soup to cook.. pour yourself a nice cold birra and dream of blue blue seas, with the warmth of the sun lounging lazily under a bougainvilla vined pergola. My kind of day! 🙂

 

Read Full Post »

Just One

Is there a correct way to eat an Eclair or Cream Puff?  Some friends and I were just discussing this the other day. Are you one of those that starts with the filling or one that slowly licks the chocolate sauce on top first? Have a favorite filling? Custard or whipped cream? Can you stop with just one?!  C’mon, fess up all you eclair & cream puff officianado’s!  🙂 I know my friend Paul says ‘one is just not enough’…. and my friend Joe says ‘Jady, the correct way to eat them is by yourself so you don’t have to share! You can share the second one.. with me 🙂  Merry Christmas!

I suppose if I’m to be honest, I’d be hard pressed to argue his point. 🙂

I’ve been wanting to make these for some weeks now, and since it’s been years since I have made them … and it’s baking season, I decided to cheat on my boring special diet and give them a whirl. And besides, I’m certain my friendly neighbors would enjoy any leftovers..  Ha! Fat chance that’ll happen! Excellent executive decision..  They are light and yet still slightly butter flavored and brown up beautifully. The biggest problem I had was piping them onto my cookie sheet and filling. (Yes, my piping bags and tips are also still missing since the kitchen make over… ugh!) But I’m certain the  Ziplock Storeage Bag Company just knew there would be millions of cooks across America just like me, with this same dilemma when they designed their handy little bags. 🙂

As I moved along piping a lovely scrumptious custard cream and whipped cream into these delicious morsels.. I thought to myself.. ‘you’ve been very good this       year’ ( *insert… as I chuckled to myself! LOL) ‘ if you’re going to cheat.. why not a major cheat’?  So… I then drizzled a chocolate bourbon ganache over all of them! Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas to me!

Read Full Post »