chick peas and leeks

Hi Patricia, I am one of those people who tend to throw stuff together and rarely measure anything. So getting recipes from me can be a problem, but I did make this soup and loved it. I find between your recipes and the internet there are lots of choices of what to do with our veggies.

Ingredients:

Chickpea and Leek Soup

• 12 oz chickpeas, soaked overnight in water
• 1 medium potato, peeled
• 6 leek, finely, sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• knob of butter
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely, sliced
• salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 850 ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 handful parmesan cheese, grated
• extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Chickpea and Leek Soup

1. Rinse the soaked chickpeas, cover with water, and cook with the potato until tender.
2. Remove the outer skin of the leeks, slice lengthways from the root up, wash carefully and slice finely.
3. Warm a thick-bottomed pan, and add the tablespoon of oil and the knob of butter. Add the leeks and garhc to the pan, and sweat gently with a good pinch of salt until tender and sweet.
4. Add the drained chickpeas and potato and cook for 1 minute. Add about two-thirds of the stock and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Purée half the soup in a food processor and leave the other half chunky this gives a lovely smooth comforting feel but also keeps a bit of texture.
6. Now add enough of the remaining stock to achieve the consistency you like. Check for seasoning, and add Parmesan to taste to round off the flavours.
7. This is classy enough for a starter, but I like it best for lunch in a big bowl with a good drizzle of my best peppery extra virgin olive oil, a grinding of black pepper and an extra sprinkling of Parmesan.

   © Jamie Oliver 2002

   http://www.jamieoliver.com

Five Days of Squash

Some squash inspiration from Martha & Tom

Recipe from Elizabeth

Hi Patricia,
I wanted to post ASAP before I forgot to. One of the recipes I've made in the past week was Minestrone Soup. It was divine. Since embarking on our journey with the CSA one of my children has become vegetarian, so I've been playing in the kitchen with some new recipes. This recipe isn't entirely vegetarian, but I made it that way.

Minestrone Soup (adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

1 1/2c. Great Northern Beans
3 tsp. salt
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2lb salt pork diced fine (optional)
1/3c. finely chopped parsley
2 large onions, chopped fine
leaves from 3 stalks celery chopped fine
1 tsp dried thyme, crumbled (I used a handful of fresh sprigs)
4 tomatoes peeled and coarsely chopped
2 carrots diced,
3 stalks celery, diced
3 or more cups beef broth (I used more tomatoes instead)
2c. chopped cabbage
2c. chopped zucchini
4 swiss chard leaves sliced (or about 1/2 bunch spinach)
2tsp dried basil, crumbled or 1tbsp. fresh, chopped
grated parmesan

Soak beans overnight in water to cover. Drain and simmer in 3qts of water with the salt. Cook until tender (about 1-1 1/2 hrs).
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medum heat. Add the salt pork (if using), parsley, onions, celery leaves, and thyme, and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, carrots, celery, broth, and beans. Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the cabbage, zucchihi and chard (or spinach). Add water if necessary and simmer for another 20 minutes or so.Stir in the basil and taste to correct seasonings. Serve with parmesan cheese.

I served this with a crusty bread and we had it along with a cheese fondue, which the kids love!

NOTE: the recipe says to puree the beans but I like to leave them whole for texture

Celeriac coming!

Patricia mentioned that celeriac will be harvested and available sometime soon. Celeriac is one of my favourite strange veggies. My daughters call it mandrake (all you Harry Potter fans will understand why). Here is the way my mother prepared it, from the Mamma Leone cookbook (Mamma Leone's was a famous Italian restaurant in New York City, and Mom made several really excellent dishes from the cookbook). The comments in italics are actually from my father when he sent me the recipe.

Marinated Celeriac

Peel 1 lb celeriac after cutting off greens - reserve greens for optionally adding them - or some of them - to the boiling water. (After peeling the celeriac was down to 7/8 lb.)

Cut into 1/2" x 1/2" strips (Leone's says 1/4" - I think this is too fragile). Boil the strips 5-10 min. in salted water & drain (or rinse with cold water in strainer & then drain).

Marinade consists of:

1/4 cup olive oil

3 Tbsp. wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, mashed or minced

1/2 tsp. powdered mustard

5 Tbsp. lemon juice (Leone's says juice of one lemon - the 5 Tbsp. comes from mom)

salt & pepper to taste

Pour over the strips. I let it marinate for several hours at room temp. (If you refrigerate it the oil solidifies).

I like this as an appetizer on a plate with olives and other savoury tid-bits or in a salad. It could be a side dish, too.

Squash Walnut Feta Dish to Inspire Patricia

This works as a side dish or as a vegetarian main dish. We eat this every fall.
Cut up a squash into cubes about 1" square or less so that they cook relatively quickly
In a hot frying pan saute squash in a good glug of olive oil, some chopped garlic, ginger & red chilis or hot pepper, when the squash is nicely browned lower the temp slightly & add about a Tbsp of water (too much will make the squash mushy, but adding small amounts until the squash is just done helps it hold it's shape). Keep an eye on the squash while in a separate pan lightly toast about 1/2 cup of walnuts. Stir squash & add water as needed. The squash will only take from 5-10 minutes to cook. When it is almost done, add a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg or garam masala. When squash is soft remove from heat, gently mix in 1/2 cup or more of cubed feta and top with toasted walnuts. Add salt & pepper. You can also adapt this to the oven, but I find it works best on the stove in a cast iron pan.

Recipes from Ellie

Slice green tomatoes on the bottom of an oven proof
casserole.
Spread mashed sardines on top of that layer.
Spread the mashed potatoes on the top.

Put in an oven 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

That's it. It doesn't seem to need anything else, but you
could add pepper if you want, I suppose.

I don't remember where I got this, but probably over 30
years ago in England.

I also have one for Green Tomato Chutney from the
same place and timeframe. The English know all about
not having the weather to ripen their tomatoes!

Green Tomato Chutney:

1 tsp pickling spice
1/2 pint vinegar
2 lb green tomatoes
8 oz onions, chopped,
8 oz apples peeled, cored and chopped,
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 rounded tsp mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger,
8 oz raisins or sultanas
8 oz sugar

Put onion into preserving pan with 2-3 tblsp vinegar and
simmer slowly untl soft. Add apple pieces, slided
tomatoes, spices, salt and pepper, mustard, ginger and
raisins or sultanas. Simmer gently until mixtgure is soft,
stirring occasionally. Add the rest of the vinegar and
sugar. When the sugar is quite dissolved, boil the
mixture until it is the consistency of jam. Pour into jars.
Seal at once.

For 8 lbs of tomatoes use about 1.5 pints vinegar. 8 lb of
green tomatoes makes 14-16 lbs of chutney.

Hope you enjoy if you get a chance to try them out.

Pac Choi Soup from Dave

Pac-Choi Soup

1 pac-choi

2tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

1 large potato, diced

1 large carrot, diced

8. garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

1” piece of ginger root, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 cups vegetable or chicken stock (I used homemade turkey stock)

1 can coconut milk

1 tbsp thai fish sauce

½ cup fresh coriander leaves

Wash the pac-choi and separate the leaves from the stalks. Tear the leaves into pieces and cut the stalks into 1” squares.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and cook the onions until soft.

Add the potato and carrot and cook for a few minutes.

Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a few more minutes.

Add the stock and coconut milk and bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer for about 10-15 mins.

Add the fish sauce, coriander leaves and pac-choi leaves and let simmer for another 10-15 mins or until everything is nicely cooked.

At this stage I used a steamer basket containing the pac-choi stalks, suspended over the soup mix and covered the pan. I steamed the stalks, over the soup, for about 10-15 minutes until they were slightly soft, but still had a bit of crunch to them. Alternatively, you could steam the stalks separately, or stir-fry them, or cook them for a few minutes in the microwave until tender.

Blend the soup mix (not the pac-choi stalks) in a liquidizer until smooth.

Add the pac-choi stalks to the soup.

Enjoy…..

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Hi Everyone!

I have a quick tip for all those tomatoes...wash them and put them in the slow cooker for 4hrs on HI or leave all day on low, then run through a food mill (I got mine at the Superstore). It purees everything and leaves behind the seeds and skins. Then you have beautiful crushed tomatoes for soup, stews, or sauces!

Seeing that pumpkin is on the list this week, I thought I'd post a recipe I tried last year and plan to do again. My mom saw it on Oprah, it turns out like a pumpkin mousse. I would tinker a bit though, add more gelatin and more pumpkin for a firmer texture and more pumpkin flavor; and I like a pie crust. You could probably skip the raw egg whites if you are worried about them. It just makes the texture more light and fluffy I find. By the way, it says that this is lighter desert option--it does not mean that it is "light" calorie wise...just means not as heavy on the tummy. :-)

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
Recipe created by Cristina Ferrare

When topping off a holiday meal, Cristina Ferrare suggests making pumpkin chiffon rather than regular pumpkin pie. It's a lighter dessert option for those who are already stuffed!

Ingredients: Serves 8

Pie:
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs , separated, yolks beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy cream , whipped
1 (9-inch) graham cracker crust

Topping:
2 pints heavy cream , whipped
Shaved dark chocolate

Combine gelatin, 1/2 cup of sugar, salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger and nutmeg in a saucepan. Stir in milk, egg yolks and pumpkin. Cook over medium heat until thick. Chill saucepan in refrigerator until partially set—about 1 hour.

In a bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/4 cup of sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Fold in 1/2 cup of whipped cream. Fold egg white mixture into filling. Pour filling into pie crust and chill for 1 hour.

Just before serving, top with remaining whipped cream and sprinkle some shaved dark chocolate on top.