Parsnip and Potato Soup with Roasted Pear Puree

Last week I had intended on making Rachael Ray's Pear and Parsnip Bisque from her October Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine.  But I realized I had forgotten to pick up heavy cream at the store so my plan was foiled. But I did remember the parsnips that trip to the store so I needed to figure out something to do with them.  Rather than venturing to the store again I decided I would make something using ingredients I had on hand.  I also came across a recipe on epicurious last week when I was in search of recipes using bosc pears that sounded delicious, Mashed Potatoes and Turnips with Roasted Pear Puree. Since I didn't have the complete ingredients to make each of these spearately, I came up with my own recipe which was inspired by both of these recipes.

Ingredients
1lb parsnips, peeled and cubed
5 medium sized yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
3.5 cups of chicken broth
2 shallots, chopped
1/4 cup soy creamer

In a Dutch oven I heated 1 tablespoon of olive oil and unsalted butter and then added the shallots. Cook the shallots until they soften up a bit.  Add the parsnips and potatoes, season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken broth.  Cook until the potatoes and parsnip soften up, they should be able to be cut with a fork.  Add 1/4 cup of soy creamer and begin to puree the soup with a hand blender   until it is smooth.  If you are not happy with the consistency you can always add a bit more broth to thin it out a little more.

For the roasted pear puree I followed the instructions from the second epicurious recipe but tapered the amounts back a bit.  The taste of the puree ended up being quite delicious, however I was a little disappointed in the coloring, I was hoping for something a little richer looking.  I think next time around I would roast the pears in a pyrex or corningware dish rather than on a cookie sheet with a baking mat.  I found that the juices just cooked to the pan so I wasn't able to use as much of the juice as I would have liked.

5 bosc pears, peeled, cored and cut into large chunks
2.5 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey

I roasted these for about an hour in total, 30 minutes on each side and then added them to the blender and pureed. I did add a splash of apple juice to the roasted pear puree when I was blending it.

To serve, add a couple ladles of the soup to a bowl and then swirl in a little of the roasted pear puree. Salt and pepper to taste. I also garnished with a little chopped green onion.

Caribbean Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup

I found this recipe on epicurious and it sounded very interesting so I thought I would give it a try, Caribbean Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup.  I followed the recipe for the most part but based on many of the reviews I noticed a lot of people said that it needed more spice, wish I would agree.  As a result I increased some of the measurements.  Please see the link above for the oriignal recipe, below I have included the tweaks I made.

Ingredients

·         2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

·         1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree

·         1 15-ounce can black beans, drained

·         1 14-ounce can light unsweetened coconut milk

·         1 cup canned vegetable broth

·         4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

·         2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

·         3/4 teaspoon grated lime peel

·         a pinch of cayenne pepper

·         a teaspoon of chili powder

Preparation
Stir cumin in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat 30 seconds.  Add pumpkin, beans, coconut milk, broth and 4 tablespoons cilantro.   Bring soup to boil, stirring constantly.   Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 3 minutes to blend flavors.  Add chili powder and cayenne pepper.  Mix in lime juice and lime peel.  Season soup with salt and pepper.  In each bowl add a few drops of Cholula Hot Sauce.

The recipe says this makes 2 servings however I would say it's more like 4 servings

This meal was rated 4 asparagus spears

Oktoberfest update

I was able to get my Sauerkraut made so its in jars just sitting on the counter.  I can't wait until I can give it a try. I got this recipe from my Farmer John Cookbook, its for Lacto Fermented Sauerkraut.

 Ingredients
1 small head of cabbage
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 tablespoons of sea salt

Preparation
Put all of the ingredients in a large wood or stainless steel mixing bowl. Using a pounder or meat hammer or a can from the pantry, pound the cabbage in the bowl for a full ten minutes so that the cabbage starts to release its juices.


Before



After 10 minutes of pounding

Transfer the cabbage to 2 clean 1 quart jars, leaving a good inch of head space below the rim of the jar. Screw on the lids. Let stand on the counter for 3 days. By about the second day you'll notice the lacto-fermentation process taking place-you'll see bubbles in the jars and the jars will hiss-this is good.
 

The sauerkraut will be ready and will have a wonderful sour, tangy taste after 3 days. The flavor will only get better with age. After the first 3 days, store the jars in a cool, dark cellar or in your refrigerator. This will keep for at least 6 months.

Yesterday I got Nanny's Sauerbraten recipe, which is apparently her grandmother's recipe, since I knew it took a couple days for the meat to be ready to cook so you have to plan ahead on this one.  As a result I am posting the recipe now but we won't actually be eating this until Friday night.

4 lbs. of beef chuck, round, or rump roast
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 onion sliced
3 bay leaves
1tsp. peppercorns
2 cups vinegar
2 cups water

Rub meat well with salt and pepper.  Place in pan with onions and bay leaves and peppercorns.  Heat vinegar and water, pour over meat to cover.  Cover pan and place in refrigerator for 4 days, turning every other day.

Place in a roasting pan with 1/3 to 1/2 cup of liquid with onions. remove bay leaves. Save the rest of liquid for gravy.  Roast at 350 degrees for 3 to 4 hours, depending on the size of the roast.
Heat gravy.  Add 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup raisins and 6 crushed ginger snaps.  Continue to heat gravy and stir until smooth.  Then add 2 Tbs. sour cream.  Slice meat and serve in gravy.

Nanny says she ususally serves with mashed potatoes but her grandmother typically made potato pancakes. She also said its good with a beet salad as opposed to a green salad.

How could I forget...

In the midst of our crazy week last week I somehow forgot to post and foodograph the Italian beef sandwich recipe I made.

Ingredients
Rump Roast (I used a 3.69lb roast)
12 oz of Three Floyds Moloko Milk Stout
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 medium/large onion, sliced
12 oz pepperoncini
2 extra large beef bouillon cubes

In a zip lock bag add 6oz of the Three Floyds Moloko Milk Stout, the 2 smashed garlic cloves and the rump roast. Let marinade overnight.

In the morning, place the contents from the the zip lock into a crock pot minus the garlic cloves.  Add the slices of onion and the pepperoncini including the juice.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  The meat should just fall apart with a fork.  Add the bouillon and season with salt and pepper.  Let cook on low for another hour or two.

Serve on italian bread rolls.  I have some leftovers in the freezer, I will have to foodograph next time around but I can assure you it was quite tasty!

This meal was rated 4 asparagus spears

Oktoberfest

Being that Chris and I are both German I thought we could have an Oktoberfest celebration of our own.  I am going to attempt for the first time to make my grandma's (Nanny) Sauerbraten recipe.  In addition, I am  tonight I am going to attempt to make my own sauerkraut.  The recipe I found takes about 3 days until you can actually eat the sauerkraut so hopefully by mid-week we will be enjoying some German cooking.  Wish me luck because I have never made either of these before!

Sautéed Baby Kale and Swiss Chard with Radishes and Cremini Mushrooms

Menu
Maple Chicken Breasts
Sautéed Baby Kale and Swiss Chard with Radishes and Cremini Mushrooms
Long Grain & Wild Rice

Swiss Chard

Baby Kale

With the amount of fresh vegetables we have in our fridge I thought I should make something using up as many of them as possible.  In a sauté pan, heat up a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter.  Add diced shallot, 2 minced cloves of garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  Cook until the shallots begin to soften up.

Add sliced cremini mushrooms and sliced radishes.  I used about 5 oz of mushrooms and 2 or 3 radishes.  Continue to sauté, salt and pepper for taste.  Add about 1.5 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar and continue to cook on low heat.

Add in your greens, I used Swiss Chard and Baby Kale but it would be good with spinach too.  Let the greens cook down and continue to stir in with the other vegetables.

Maple Chicken Breasts
Season two bone-in chicken breast liberally with The Gateway to the North Maple Sugar Seasoning from The Spice House.  This seasoning contains pure maple sugar, granulated brown sugar, coarse Kosher salt, Tellicherry pepper, garlic, onion, and green onion flakes.  Cook on 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the chicken breasts.  Be sure the internal temperature is 170 degrees.

I served this with a box of Near East Long Grain & Wild Rice Mix - Garlic Herb. The rice takes about 25-30 minutes to cook. So to time everything correctly you should start your rice when you are cooking the greens.

S loved the chicken and the mushrooms from the vegetable sauté.  Chris really liked the chicken but was not crazy about the vegetables, he is more of a corn and green bean veggie person.  I thought the vegetables were really good.

This meal was rated 3 asparagus spears

Homemade Apple Pie

I finally got around to making the apple pie on Thursday night and I am glad that I did! It was so good. I was a little hesitant since I was using the filling that I had put in the freezer a few weeks back. However I don't think you could even tell it had ever been frozen.  To make the filling check out my prior post, Apple Pie Filling.

I just used a freezer pie crust filled it with the defrosted Apple Pie filling.  For the topping, I took 1/4 cup of unsalted butter, approximately 3/4 cup of flour and 3/4 cup of light brown sugar and just continued to mix it together until it was like a dough almost.  Then just broke it up into pieces on the top of the pie. Bake on 400 for 30-40 minutes.

We ate it warm with a nice little scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Delicious!  We have so many apples and pears I think I am going to try and make some more tonight.