My All-Time Favorite Cream of Zucchini Soup

As soon as you harvest zucchini from your garden patch, make up a batch of this soup.  It has great flavor and is a wonderful soup to enjoy year-round!

Ingredients:

3 cups sliced Zucchini (4 small OR 1 lb.)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon Instant Minced Onion (or fresh onion very finely minced)
1 teaspoon Season-All (McCormicks)
1/2 teaspoon Parsley Flakes or finely minced Fresh Parsley
2 teaspoons Chicken or Vegetable Stock Base
2 tablespoons Butter
2 tablespoons Flour (for gluten-free, use rice flour or potato starch to thicken)
1/8 teaspoon White Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Bon Appetit (McCormicks)
1 cup Milk
1/2 cup Light Cream
Sour Cream, to top
Paprika, to garnish

If you have fresh onion and parsley on hand, use it rather than the dried.

Directions:

1. In a medium-size pot, combine zucchini, water, onion, Season-All, parsley flakes and 1 teaspoon of the stock base.
2. Cook until zucchini is tender and very little water is left.
3. Put the zucchini mixture in a sieve to mash, or puree in a blender (my preference).
4. In a medium-size sauce pan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour, remaining stock base, pepper, MSG and Bon Appetit; blend well.
5. Stir in the milk and light cream. Simmer, stirring until it thickens.
6. Stir in the zucchini mixture and thoroughly blend. If the soup is thicker than you prefer, add more milk until it is the consistency you like.
7. Serve the cream of zucchini soup with a dollop of sour cream and garnish with paprika.

Makes 4 Cups

Recipe from McCormick's 1978 Spices of the World Cookbook.

Moroccan Sweet Potato & Raisin Salad

I love this salad - a flavorful, ethnic side dish to complement your Thanksgiving Dinner!

 

Ingredients:

1 lb. Sweet Potatoes
5 oz. Raisins soaked in water
1 Tbsp. of Honey
Pinch each of Saffron, Turmeric Powder,
1/4 tsp. each of Salt and Pepper
1/2 tsp. of Cinnamon
Note: Adjust seasonings to taste as you are cooking.
Water, about a pint
2-3 Tbps. of Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Peel the Sweet Potatoes, and cut into 1" cubes.
2. Cook on medium heat; put the Olive Oil in the pan.
3. Add the Sweet Potatoes and along with all the Spices.
4. Cover with Water, and cover the pan; cook for 20 minutes - making sure there is always enough water in the pan.
5. Drain the Raisins from their Water and add to the Sweet Potatoes.
6. Add the Honey and stir, adding a little bit more of Water.
7. Taste the Sauce in the pan and see if it need any adjustment to the flavor.
8. Cover the pan, and let it cook for 10 minutes more to carmelized the sauce.
9. To make sure the Sweet Potatoes are ready, poke them with a fork - they should be soft.
10. This Moroccan salad can be served either hot or cold.

Note: I learned to make this dish from Alia.

Quiching in the Dark

Everything went black. It had been a cold and blustery evening. Maybe the wind caused a tree to fall across our power line; no one knows for sure. While the quiches were waiting for the wall-oven to come up to temperature, the whole house went pitch black. So black that we had to grope our way around the room to find the drawer with the lighter and the door to the laundry pantry where our candles and lanterns were shelved.

My husband reminded me that our commercial oven runs on propane, so all was not lost. By the glow of lanterns and with me holding the flashlight, he got down on his hands and knees and lit  the pilot light, then set the oven to pre-heat to 425-degrees. With a glass of pinot noir in hand, we sat by the glow and warmth of the fire to wait. Quiching in the dark and eating fashionably late turned out to be quite lovely under the circumstances. The quiches turned out perfect! Photo made possible  with fluorscent lamplight (blue cast), flashlight and white paper to bounce more light on the subject....

Bavaria Mills in Vancouver Washington makes specialty baked goods, including 9-inch gluten-free pie crusts. The pastry is made with white rice flour, palm oil, brown rice vinegar, eggs, chickpea flour, potato starch, water, rice vinegar, Xylitol, salt and xanthan gum. Quite good!

We picked the chanterelles ourselves in the woods near our home, but that story will be one of my next blog posts. Here is my recipe for "Quiching in the Dark" Chanterelle and Feta Quiche:

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup chanterelle mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup scallions (not green onions), finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup feta cheese
6 eggs
1/2 cup cream or Half & Half
1 pie crust
olive oil or butter for sauteing 
sea salt, a pinch

Directons:

1. Lightly saute the onion, garlic and chanterelles for a couple of minutes in a little olive oil or butter. Let cool.
   
2. Whisk the eggs and cream together.
3. Fill the pie crust first with 1/2 of the feta cheese, followed by the mushroom saute and the remaining feta.
4. Pour the egg and cream mixture over all and sprinkle a pinch of sea salt, some fine Parmesan cheese and paprika over the top.
5. Bake in a pre-heated 425-degree oven for 20-30 minutes; until set like a custard. If the center remains a little too liquid, turn off the oven and let the quiche set; check in 5-minute intervals.

I recommend not adding herbs or spices, as the delicate flavor of the chanterelles along with the tang of the feta are wonderful to experience without overpowering the taste with aromatic ingredients.  

Serves 2-4

Raw Cranberry Relish

Sunday afternoon was our November "Rawking Lane County" Potluck. My raw cranberry relish was a hit. I brought small, biodegradable serving cups along and made up a number of them with a large dollop of Nancy's vanilla yogurt in the bottom topped with the relish. Others enjoyed it plain... although far from plain, this particular cranberry relish bursts with raw goodness and flavor!

I have a standard KitchenAid, but I don't have a food grinding attachment. However, my next door neighbors do; they have an industrial KitchenAid. Fortunately, their metal grinder fits my mixer perfectly. Using a food grinder, this recipe took me less than a half hour to make and clean up was easy!

When I returned home from our gathering, I made a second batch, dividing the mixture between two quart-size freezer bags and now have them in the freezer until a day or two before Thanksgiving. I'll let the cranberry relish slow-thaw in the refrigerator, until I'm ready to serve it.

Preparation time: 15-30 minutes.

Ingredients:

* 2 cups washed raw cranberries (I use a whole 12 ounce bag)
* 2 skinned and cored tart apples (I leave the skins on)
* 1 large, whole (peel ON) seedless orange, cut into sections
* 1 to 2 cups granulated sugar (depending on taste; I like it best with 1-1/4 cups)

Method:

1. Set up the grinder with a medium-sized blade on the edge of a table with a large roasting pan or bowl to catch the mix as it grinds. These old fashioned grinders tend to leak some of the juice down the grinder base, so you may want to set up an additional pan on the floor under the grinder to catch the drips. If you don't have an old-fashioned grinder you can use a grinder attachment on a KitchenAid mixer, you can chop by hand (though that will take a lot of work), or you can chop in a food processor (be very careful not to over-pulse, or you'll end up with mush).

2. Run fruit through a grinder. Use the entire (seedless) orange, peels, pith and all.

3. Mix in the sugar. Let sit at room temperature until sugar dissolves, about 45 minutes. Store in the refrigerator.

Makes about 3 cups.



Thanks, Tom! Enjoy!

Saturday's Omelet, the Perfect Omelet and Cracking an Egg with One Hand

Typically my omelets are light and fluffy. This morning I left the heat on a little to high to start and browned the underside (outside). Despite a bit of overcooking, not what I call the "perfect omelet", it still turned out moist and delicious. Made with three eggs with a splash of water, I cooked the omelet in a little olive oil and filled the center while it was runny on top with a large pinch of sea salt, a dash of cayenne pepper, chopped and sauteed garlic, chantrelles, scallions, orange and yellow peppers, sour cream and avocado. I let it cook from the bottom up. No lid. On the side I served a dollop of Tuong Ot Toi Viet-Nam Chili Garlic Sauce.

Try this technique for making the perfect omelet: 

1. Crack three eggs in a bowl and beat until thoroughly mixed with a splash of milk or water. 
2. Pour into a lightly oiled, oven-proof stainless omelet pan at room temperature; slow cook on medium heat on a stove top burner (gas or electric). 
3. Roll the pan occasionally to see how it's cooking on the bottom. 
4. While still a little runny on top, add your filling ingredients and shredded cheese. 
5. Next, place the omelet in a pre-heated oven set to broil for two minutes. 
6. Be sure to have your oven mitt on when pulling your omelet out of the oven by the handle. 
7. Because you oiled your pan well, the omelet should slip right out and fold over. 
8. Garnish the top if you like with herbs, and add a dollop of sour cream, sauce, salsa or another condiment and serve hot.

I had hoped to share a link to an article by Tom Barkin of Slow Food Eugene and freelance writer. The archived article is unavailable, but here is an excerpt from the full article Tom sent me, written for The Register Guard and published on March 19, 2009:

Eggs a la perfection - The simplest of dishes can be the most difficult to get just right; with eggs, start with the farm. 

 

 "Ah! The perfect fried egg. Picture it sitting on a warmed plate amidst freshly buttered toast and crisp, salty bacon. Steam rises from the cup of coffee sitting nearby. The morning paper lies within reach, waiting to be read. The vision calls up moments of peacefulness and indulgence.

Or, consider the hard-cooked egg that for some inspires religious fervor. Visualize the Easter experience of some Christians for whom hard-boiled, red-dyed eggs symbolize the promise of eternal life. Or, consider Jews sitting at the Passover Seder table discussing the egg as a symbol of life, Biblical sacrifices in the Temple, the infinite nature of God, or springtime and rebirth.

Even the raw egg can engender vehement argument and protest. One can imagine the theologian and the scientist debating passionately whether the egg preceded the chicken or vice versa.

Eggs can do that for people. Some people, that is.

For others, eggs spur moments of culinary obsession. Those are my people...." Tom Barkin

Video: How to impress your foodie friends - Cracking an egg with one hand:

Slow Food - Eugene

Thursday night, we attended our local Slow Food convivium's annual fall members' meeting and potluck at Eugene's Garden Club on High Street. What a turnout (I overheard a headcount of 75) and what a feast!

Thanks to the generosity of our kids, we were able to shop while we were in town earlier in the afternoon for fresh ingredients and baked a double batch of our Vegetable Strata in their oven in Springfield, as our kitchen was 20-miles away from our destination. Other members and guests contributed an array of fabulous entrees, side dishes and desserts. Fortunately for me, many of them were gluten-free and vegetarian! We filled our plates to overflowing with the bounty of colorful, savory and sweet foods made with mostly produce, meats and products grown or produced by members and bought from local natural foods markets: Polenta Pie, Homemade Bread Bowl filled with Cheese in Brie with Shitake Mushrooms, Kale and Quinoa Salads, Vegan and Mushroom Farro Soups, Lemon Chicken with Garlic Potatoes, Pizza, Yukon Potatoes with wild Mushrooms and Apples, Scalloped Potatoes and Potatoes (with milk and sour cream from chef's cow), Neapolitan Ragu,Vegetarian Pesto Salad, Beet Risotto, Carrot Date Nut Muffins, Hazelnut Tarts, Berry Cobbler and much more....

Members bring their own eating and serving utensils, plates and bowls, cups and goblets, beverage of choice and a potluck dish to share with the group to all gatherings. We enjoyed the evening with our new friends and members John Karlik and Lynn Cosby of Good Food Easy, a CSA located in Creswell, Oregon, who graciously shared their soup spoons and wine with us.

Education is an important feature of Slow Food gatherings. This evening was no exception. After introductions and announcements Tom Barkin awarded checks to several non-profits from fund-raising events this past year. We heard from Jim Crane about the Time for Lunch initiative - "It's time to provide America's children with REAL FOOD at school."  and the School Garden Project:

We also enjoyed learning about the Farm to Table Program and the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition. Nicki Maxwell explained the Seed Ambassador program and introduced Seed Ambassadors Sareh Kleeger and Andrew Steel of AdaptiveSeeds to share their seed saving story with us.

I hope you will be inspired to find a local chapter of Slow Food near you! Contact Slow Food USA.

About the Eugene Convivium

Slow Food Eugene: "The Willamette Valley Convivium was established in 2000 by Nonie Fish, food writer, restaurant reviewer, and cooking instructor. In 2002, a leadership board was established to sponsor educational events, form partnerships with other local organizations, and coordinate with Slow Food USA. Slow Food Eugene is a vibrant and diverse convivium whose members include restaurateurs, food purveyors, farmers, educators, and committed food-and-wine lovers from all walks of life.

Eugene, Oregon is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, one of the richest agricultural regions in the world. Eugene and the surrounding areas of Lane County are recognized centers of small-scale sustainable agriculture. Our markets overflow with organically raised vegetables, fruits, nuts, meat, poultry, and cheeses. Local wineries produce award-winning pinot noir, pinot gris, and many other varieties. The nearby Pacific Ocean provides the finest seafood. The Cascade and Coast Range mountains offer fish, game, and mushrooms. Slow Food Eugene is dedicated to the celebration and preservation of this bountiful heritage through events, education, and political action.

Membership: Interested individuals and families are also encouraged to join Slow Food USA, the parent organization, to support the important goals of the national and international Slow Food movement and receive Slow Food publications."

Vegetable Strata

This festive vegetable medley is one of my family's favorite side dishes. Not only is it colorful, but it is delicious and nutritious. For variations, make this strata with seasonal vegetables from your garden or to complement holiday fare with winter squash and root vegetables like parsnips, turnips and rutabagas.

Ingredients:

2 cups Green Beans, fresh or thawed

2 cups Celery, bias cut

2 cups Carrots, sliced

1 large Onion, thinly sliced

4 Tomatoes, cut in wedges

1 green or red Bell Pepper, sliced

1 8-ounce can Water Chestnuts, drained

1/4 cup Butter

Dry Mix:

1-1/2 Tablespoons Tapioca

3/4 teaspoon Seasoned Salt

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

Directions:

   1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

   2. In a buttered 1-quart baking dish layer half of the vegetables in the order listed above.

   3. Sprinkle all of the dry mix evenly over the top of the first layer.

   4. Add a second layer of the vegetables, again in the order listed.

   5. Dot the top with butter (1/4 c. = 1/2 stick of butter)

   6. Bake covered for one hour; uncover and bake an additional 20-minutes.

Serves 4-6. To serve 6 or more, double the recipe (do not double the salt). With the doubled recipe, I turn up the oven to 375-degrees for the last 10-minutes of cooking. If you are taking this dish to a party, bake ahead and reheat just before serving.

Support your local farmers' market; buy organic produce, as often as you are able. Local Harvest is an excellent online resource for locating the best organic produce closest to where you live. Use the locator-map or type in the product, city, state and zip code to find family farms, farmers' markets and other places to buy organic produce in your locale. The LH online store catalog is a way to shop for items you can't seem to find locally. Enjoy the Blog Barn, a gathering place for Local Harvest bloggers.

He makes... plants for man to cultivate - bringing forth food from the earth.... Psalm 104:14