Recipes

Apple Cream Pie

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This is a recipe I learned about from Amber, one of my daughter’s dear friends, and my surrogate daughter. Amber posted this pie on FB, and said she was never going back to “chunky lumpy apple pie.” So I asked her for the recipe which leads to another brief story.

She got the recipe from this post on Post Secret.

My first introduction to Post Secret was a dozen or so years ago when we were visiting our daughter in Chicago. She had been gifted a Post Secret book which I read cover to cover. Post Secret was the brainchild of Frank Warren who was working on a community art project. He asked people to anonymously mail him a postcard with one secret on it. He took his art project online, and it became widely popular. For a time there was a Post Secret ap, but that has since been taken down. I still occasionally see Post Secrets on Instagram.

Thanks to Post Secret the family secret is out of the bag. Now onto the recipe. With the exception of the type of apple I followed the recipe as it was written by Grandma. I did not have Granny Smith apples so I substituted Pink Ladies, and I used four apples instead of three because mine were not very large.

Ingredients:

3 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and grated

4 T of melted butter

1 1/2 cups of sugar

2 T flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs beaten

Start out with a pie crust (homemade or from the grocery refrigerator section). Using a box grater, grate the apples into the pie crust.

Pour the melted butter over the apples. Whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Whisk in the milk and then the eggs. Pour the cream mixture over the apples.

Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Slice, and enjoy warm with a dollop of whipped cream or a little ice cream. I used butter pecan gelato.

NOTE: Having made this for the first time I would do a couple of things differently. I usually think of recipes as guidelines that can be tweaked based on personal taste. I would cut the nutmeg down to 1/4 tsp vs. 1 tsp. It was too nutmeg forward for me. Granny Smith apples are much tarter than Pink Ladies but, regardless, I would cut the sugar back a bit. My husband however, who is the connoisseur of all things sweet, did not think the sugar level was too high.

I am glad the family secret is out and I will definitely make this again.

Sheet-Pan Quesadillas

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I’m sure I’m not the only one, but I am hooked on Instagram reels. Some people love Pinterest, I love Instagram reels. This is a “reel” recipe that I thought would be a perfect way to make quesadillas for a group of people. I made a couple modification and, second time around, will make a couple more modifications. The construction is really easy with very basic ingredients. On Saturday nights we have a group of friends, twelve folks if everyone is able to join, and we play trivial pursuit or sing karaoke or gather around a bonfire. And we eat very well. Our group first began getting together during the pandemic, and we started out sharing finger foods. Everyone brings something to pass. The finger foods soon evolved into full fledged meals. We call ourselves the Saturday Nighters. The pandemic will be long gone and our group will still be getting together on Saturday nights.

To make these quesadillas you’ll need to have two jelly roll pans measuring approximately 18×13. The first pan to assemble the quesadillas, and the second to weight it down while it bakes. I also used my cast iron fry pan for additional weight while it baked.

Ingredients:

8 – 10 large tortillas (Burrito size)

2 T olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

1 sweet pepper chopped

Meat from a rotisserie chicken shredded (my shredded chicken weighed out at 1.5 pounds)

1 can black beans

1 cup frozen corn

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

3 cups of shredded cheese (cheddar, jack, or a combination of both)

Heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onions and peppers until tender, about 5 minutes.

Rinse the beans and the corn. In a large bowl stir together the shredded chicken, beans, corn, and sautéed onion and peppers.

Measure out the seasonings and stir into the chicken mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Preheat your oven to 425. Line the first jelly roll pan with parchment paper, and spray with Pam. Put 2 tortillas in the center of the sheet pan and put down 6 additional tortillas half in, half out of the pan.

Spread the chicken and vegetable mixture evenly over the tortillas.

Sprinkle the cheese over the meat and vegetable mixture.

Put two tortillas over the filling in the center of the pan and fold the other six tortillas over.

Spray the bottom of the second pan with Pam and place that pan on top of the tortillas. Bake for 15 minutes with the pan on top. Remove the second pan and bake an additional 5 minutes until the top is a light golden brown. Remove from the oven to a cutting surface. Allow the quesadilla to cool for a few minutes before cutting.

Put out dishes of your favorite quesadilla toppings and dig in. I served ours with a red chunky salsa, a spicy salsa verde, jalapeños, and guacamole. Sour cream, black olives, sliced green onions, and additional cheese would also be great add ons.

NOTE. The next time I make these I will increase the quantity of onions and peppers, sauté a little fresh jalapeño in with the other peppers, and add cilantro to the mix. You could also substitute pinto beans or refried beans for the black beans.

For a vegetarian variation beans, cheese, and vegetables would be very satisfying.

The recipe recommended a 20 minute bake with the top pan on and 5 minutes without. I would reduce the initial bake time to 15 minutes. You can see from the picture that my tortillas were a little extra crispy. You could also sprinkle on a little additional shredded cheese for the last 5 minute bake.

German Sweet and Sour Cabbage

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I’ve been making this cabbage dish for years. It’s a perfect fall/winter dish, and I think it pairs especially well with pork. A friend gave me a large head of red cabbage, picked fresh from the garden, and I immediately decided what was for dinner. It’s an easy chop, chop, all in one pot dish, that makes your kitchen smell wonderful.

People usually think of the more common green cabbage, and dishes like boiled dinner, cabbage rolls, sauerkraut, and, of course, coleslaw. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are all vegetable cousins. Cabbage was considered a table luxury in the Roman Empire, and European sailors ate cabbage on long voyages to prevent scurvy. Apparently they knew it was high in Vitamin C and K, and red cabbage contains 10X more vitamins and cancer fighting flavonoids than it’s green cousin. Love when something that tastes this good is also good for us.

The ingredients are very basic, things you probably have on hand. If you see a nice head of red cabbage in the grocery or farm market I encourage you to try this. Aunt Nellie sells jars of sweet and sour cabbage in the vegetable aisle of the grocery, but homemade is so much better! And more economical. I’m on a mission to find a recipe for canning this.

Ingredients:

1 medium head of red cabbage, cored and sliced

1 medium sweet red onion sliced

2 large apples peeled, cored, and sliced

1 T butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups water

2 bay leaves

3-4 whole allspice

3-4 whole cloves

7-10 pepper corns

2 T of cornstarch for finishing

Get out a large Dutch oven or heavy kettle. Remove outside leaves, cut, core, and slice the cabbage.

Slice the red onion and peel, core, and slice the apples. I used Granny Smith but any good, firm apple will do.

Put your cabbage, onion, and apple in the Dutch oven. Add the sugar, butter, cider vinegar, water, and spices. Everything but the cornstarch goes into the pot.

Your kettle will be very full and it may be difficult to stir. Bring the pot to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Keep the cover on your pot. Simmer for one hour and forty minutes. Occasionally remove the lid and stir the cabbage. The cabbage cooks down making it easier to stir.

Once the cabbage has finished cooking combine 2 T corn cornstarch with a little cold water. Whisk together and add to the cabbage. Simmer until the juices have thickened.

I served up the cabbage as a side with sliced pork loin and corn on the cob.

Delicious!

NOTE: This sweet and sour cabbage is good hot, at room temperature, or even cold.

Red cabbage is great combined with green cabbage for coleslaw or just sautéed in butter until tender and seasoned with a little vinegar. Cabbage is plentiful this time of year. I’ll be back to share if I come across instructions for canning this dish!

Spring Rolls

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Spring Rolls were this weeks foodie project. I like to try new things to keep work in the kitchen interesting, and I’d never attempted spring rolls until now. There are a large variety of appetizers referred to as spring rolls. Wrappers differ as do fillings and cooking techniques. The spring rolls I made were filled with raw vegetables, a little mango, rice noodles, and herbs. They were wrapped in rice paper, and were not cooked. They were served at room temperature with dipping sauce. Ingredients and preparation vary from one Asian culture to another. After a little research, the preparation I used seems to me to most closely resemble Vietnamese salad rolls known as goi cuon. They can also be made to include cooked pork or shrimp. While these are not difficult at all to make the preparation is a bit fussy and tedious. All of the veggies need to be match sticked and that takes patience and a good sharp knife. Apparently you can buy the vegetables already prepared, but where is the fun in that?? You can easily personalize these and fill with ingredients of your choosing. This is what I used.

Vegetables:

Baby butter lettuce

Red cabbage

English cucumber

Carrot

Sweet red pepper

And a mango

Rice Noodles

I used 2 to 3 oz of Bifun. Most of the recipes I found called for rice vermicelli, but this is what I had. Prepare the noodles according to the directions on the package. Once they are cooked shock them in ice water to stop the cooking, drain, and return to the pan. Toss with one or two tsp of toasted sesame oil and set aside.

Herbs

1/4 cup finely sliced green onion

1/4 cup cilantro

1/4 cup thai basil

1/4 cup mint

Tear or chop all of the herbs, combine, and set aside.

Once all of your preparation is done, set up what I referred to as my rolling station. You want all of your ingredients in one place and within reach.

Fill a pie pan with about an inch of room temperature water. Put a wooden cutting board next to the pie pan. Put one piece of rice paper in the water for 10-20 seconds and remove to your cutting board.

On the bottom third of the moisten wrapper, leaving about a one inch boarder, start piling on your veggies. I started with the baby butter lettuce, then the cucumber, carrots, peppers, cabbage, and mango. Next I added the rice noodles and finished it off with the herbs. Then you want to fold the bottom up over the filling, fold the sides in, and continue rolling like you would a burrito. Try to roll them tight. I set them on a parchment lined sheet pan. Once you get the hang of it this part goes quickly.

Now you can prepare your dipping sauce.

Peanut Sauce:

1/3 cup natural peanut butter (no sugar added)

2 T rice vinegar

2 T tamari (or soy sauce)

2 T honey

1 T toasted sesame oil

2 cloves of garlic grated

2-3 T water

Soy Dipping Sauce

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 T honey

2 T rice vinegar

2 T water

1 T toasted sesame oil

2 cloves of garlic grated

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Bring all of the ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced and thickened, about 10 minutes. Pour into a bowl and cool. (I made a double batch of this sauce.)

Plate and enjoy.

NOTE: Zucchini or yellow squash, dykon radish, or other peppers would be delicious additions. You might also want to include cooked shrimp or thinly sliced pork if you prefer to add a protein.

Information I read regarding rice paper suggests not refrigerating the rolls because the paper may become chewy. Prep can be done ahead of time but the rolls should be made the same day as you plan to serve them. Keep them covered with a barely moist towel.

Cucumber and Daikon Radish Salad

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When I was in the grocery this week I spotted some daikon radishes and picked one up. I was impressed that the young man who rang up my groceries recognized every item of produce in my cart, including the radish. He went on to tell me he collects fruit and vegetable seeds from around the world and attempts to grow new, interesting varieties in his own garden. Daikon, in Japanese, means “big root” and that’s just what it looks like. The greens had already been trimmed away but I understand they are also good eating. Unlike the red bulbous radishes we are all familiar with, these are white and their shape resembles a large carrot. They are high in potassium and vitamin C and very low in calories. My husband just read a book that talked about the health benefits of turmeric so good to know this recipe also calls for turmeric. There are countless recipes for both cooked and raw daikons but I wanted them for a salad. I used my spiralizer to make the salad but you can also thin slice the vegetables on a mandolin. Basically what you are doing is pickling the vegetables. It’s a refreshing salad with a nice crunch.

Vegetables:

1 daikon radish (12-16 oz)

1 English cucumber

1-2 carrots

Medium size sweet onion

1/4 cup pickling salt

Pickling Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 cup rice vinegar

1/2 tsp turmeric

Combine the sugar, vinegar, water, and turmeric in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat until all of the sugar has dissolved. Set aside and allow to cool completely. While the pickling mixture cools prepare your vegetables.

Use a spiralizer or a mandolin to prepare your vegetables. The spiralizer is so much fun!

Once all of the vegetables are prepared put them in a mesh colander and sprinkle with the salt. Allow the vegetables to sit for about an hour, tossing occasionally.

Give them a couple of thorough rinses to remove the salt before putting them in a sterile glass jar.

Pour the cooled pickling liquid over the vegetables. The vegetables should all be submerged.

Refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving.

Now all you have to do is dish some up and enjoy. We each had a plate for lunch today.

NOTE: You can use more cucumber, red radishes, more carrot. Whatever appeals to you. I used half rice vinegar and half brown rice vinegar because that is what I had on hand. Be sure to allow the salt ample time to draw out the liquid in the vegetables so they have a nice crunch to them after brining.

Cheesy Cabbage Gratin

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One of the food magazines that I subscribe to is Cuisine at Home. It’s a magazine that has consistently good recipes, easy to follow instructions, and great pictures. The latest issue is full of “comfort foods.” We love cabbage and the September/October issue has several cabbage recipes including a chocolate cake with cabbage and this cheesy cabbage gratin. I haven’t tried the chocolate cake with cabbage but I’ve made this gratin recipe twice since this magazine came in the mail. The first time I made it we had it with polish sausage. Most recently we made it a vegetarian meal with sliced tomatoes and corn on the cob.

There is red, white and green cabbage. Cabbage is closely related to broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. Generally a head of cabbage is between one to two pounds. The perfect size for this recipe. I have a crock full of shredded cabbage right now that is working it’s way to sauerkraut. Each of the heads of cabbage I shredded for the kraut weighed between ten and twelve pounds. In the heat of summer cabbages can grow quite large…the largest recorded weighed in at a little over 138 pounds. You could make a lot of cabbage gratin with that!! Cabbage is a good source of dietary fiber and Vitamin K and C. It is economical and there are countless ways to prepare cabbage…stewing, frying, braising, pickling, fermenting. There are lots of great soup recipes that call for cabbage. If you like cabbage and bacon and cheese you will thoroughly enjoy this dish regardless of what you serve up on the side.

Ingredients:

1 head of green cabbage

2 T olive oil

Salt and pepper

6 strips of bacon diced

1 cup sliced leeks

1 T minced garlic

1 T AP flour

1 3/4 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 cup shredded gruyere cheese

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

2 T lemon juice

2 T chopped fresh thyme

Ingredients for the Topping

1 T olive oil

3/4 cups fresh bread crumbs

1/2 cup shredded gruyere

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1 tsp minced lemon zest

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Peel off the tough outer layers of cabbage and cut the cabbage into eight wedges. The instructions recommended leaving the core intact to help the wedges hold together while roasting. I removed the core before roasting and had no problem. Place the wedges on the baking sheet, drizzle with the oil and season with salt and pepper.

Roast for 40-45 minutes until the cabbage is tender and the edges are golden.

While your cabbage is roasting cook your diced bacon in a heavy skillet over medium heat until the bacon is crisp. Remove the bacon to a plate lined with paper towel.

Add the leeks to the skillet with the bacon drippings and cook over medium heat until they are softened. Stir in the garlic and the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute.

Stir in the cream and broth and bring to a simmer. Cook until the mixture begins to thicken, 6-8 minutes.

Off heat, stir in the bacon, gruyere, parmesan and lemon juice.

Set the cheese sauce aside and prepare the bread crumb topping. Heat 1 T olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the bread crumbs until they begin to toast up and transfer them to a bowl to cool for about 5 minutes.

Once the bread crumbs have cooled, stir in the cheeses and lemon zest.

Now you’re ready to assemble the gratin. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Arrange the cabbage in the dish, cut side down. Pour the cheese sauce over the cabbage wedges and sprinkle with the bread crumb topping.

Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes until bubbly and the crumb topping has browned.

Serve hot as side dish to pork loin, chops or sausage or as the main dish. Maybe even as a Thanksgiving side dish. Enjoy!

NOTE: I save crusts and odds and ends of stale bread In the refrigerator, grind them in my food processor and freeze them in zip lock bags. The bread doesn’t go to waste and they’re perfect for recipes like this one.

Apple Fritter Bread

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A couple days ago my friend Patti brought me a bag of Wolf River apples.  I had never heard of Wolf River apples.  No one else I asked had heard of them.  I’ve made a lot of pies, apple crisps, and apple sauce over the years, been to numerous orchards, and I’ve never met a Wolf River apple.  So I went where all curious people go…the internet.  Apparently Wolf River apples are one of the stars of an orchard in Northport Michigan.  People are said to travel from Detroit, Chicago, and even oversees to taste the long forgotten apple varieties at the Northport orchard including the Wolf River.  These apples are use mainly for cooking and are notable for their large size.  They are not the best eating apple, but they keep their shape when cooked and need very little additional sugar.

I learned something new.  And perhaps you did too.  Now that  I had the apples I wanted to use them for something, and  the next morning I spotted a recipe on FB for Amish Apple Fritter Bread.  I doubled the recipe and made two loaves so don’t be confused by my photos.  The bread is excellent!  The recipe comes from Fadma Akir’s Homecooking Page so I must give credit where credit is due.  The recipe is for a single loaf.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups AP flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups peeled and diced apple (tossed with a little sugar and cinnamon to coat)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with Pam.  Peel and dice the apples and toss with just enough sugar and cinnamon to coat.

Measure out the brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

In a medium size bowl cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla.  (Remember, there are 4 eggs in the picture because I doubled the recipe.)

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir into the butter and egg mixture.  Stir in the milk.

Spread half of the batter in the prepared loaf pan.

Top with half of the apples, gently pressing them into the batter.

Repeat with the second half of the batter and apples.  Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture on the top.

Bake for 60-70 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack.  Mix the glaze while the bread is cooling.

Glaze Ingredients:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 T room temperature butter

2 T milk

1 tsp vanilla

Whisk together.  Once the bread has cooled for 30 minutes drizzle with the glaze.

NOTE:  I used 2 cups of apples per loaf.

The bread is very moist and kind of a cross between a quick bread and a coffee cake.  I used the Wolf River Apples but I think any good baking apple like Braeburn, Jonathan, Cortland or Northern Spy would work well in this recipe.

Chicago Style Giardiniera

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This is still the Finnish Dish, but this is definitely not a Finnish recipe.  Giardiniera means “from the garden” in Italian.  It is a very common condiment in Chicago, thanks to the communities of Italian immigrants that made it popular.  Pickling and marinating is a good way of preserving produce.  In Italy, Giardiniera is considered an appetizer, and the vegetables are cut in bite size chunks.  I have made that style before and just stored it in jars in the refrigerator.  The olive oil solidifies in the fridge so you need to take it out and allow it to come to room temperature before serving.  Chicago style requires a fine dice on the vegetables and the Giardiniera is used as a topping on pizza, salads, sausages, brats, nachos, sub sandwiches and the famous Chicago style Italian beef sandwich. The version I made today would most certainly be considered the “hot” version.  The Serrano peppers are what kicks up the heat level.  I did use half Serranos and half jalapeños, and I seeded the jalapeños, so my heat level should be a little lower than if I’d followed the recipe exactly and used all Serranos.  According to the internet, in excess of a million pounds of Giardiniera are sold in Chicago annually.

The recipe I used was one my friend John shared with me.  He had just made a batch and that inspired me to do the same.    Some of the recipes I read used a different ratio of spices and vegetables but in the end they were all pretty similar.  If you want to use your Giardiniera as an appetizer vs a topping you could follow the same recipe and cut the vegetables in larger, bite size pieces.

Day One Ingredients:

1 pound Serrano peppers sliced in quarter inch thick rounds

1 pound jalapeños seeded and diced small

1 pound sweet red peppers seeded and diced small

1 pound cauliflower chopped into small pieces

1/2 pound white onion diced small

1/2 pound carrots peeled and diced small

1/2 pound celery diced small

1 cup of salt

Now it’s time to chop, chop, chop.  And remember to wear gloves when you’re working with the Serrano and jalapeño peppers.  Get out a large glass or stainless steel bowl to put the diced vegetables in.  I weighed all of the veggies as I chopped them.

Now that you’re done with the hot stuff you can take your gloves off.

White onion.

Carrots.

Sweet red bell pepper.

Cauliflower.

Combine all of the vegetables in your bowl and add the salt.  Stir well to mix.  Cover with Saran Wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The colors are beautiful!

Day Two Ingredients:

12 oz of sliced green olives with pimentos

1 cup of reserved liquid from the olives

2 T minced garlic

2 tsp cracked black pepper

3 T dried oregano

5 cups white wine vinegar

3 1/2 cups grape seed oil

Get your canning jars ready.  If you’re using pint jars expect to fill between 10 and 12 jars.  I used jelly jars (1 cup) and finished with 24 jars.  Wash your jars well and keep them in a 200 degree oven, on a sheet pan lined with a towel, until you are ready to use them.  Fill your water bath and turn the burner on because Day 2 is much faster than Day 1.

Pull your vegetable mixture from the refrigerator and drain off as much liquid as possible.  I used a plate to push down on the vegetables while I poured off the liquid.  Now, more chopping.  Reserve 1 cup of liquid from the jarred olives and slice the olives.

Add the olives, olive brine and all of the remaining ingredients to the chopped vegetable mix.  Stir well to combine.  Now you’re ready to bottle your Giardiniera and process the jars.

Based on the advice John gave me, fill the jars just to where the rim begins.  You don’t want the jars leaking oil while they are in the water bath.  Be sure to wipe the rim of the jar well before putting the lid on and screwing it in place.  Process your jars in the water bath for 20 minutes.   Remove your jars to a towel or rack and allow them to cool down for at least 12 hours before storing them. Check all of the jars to make sure that they have sealed properly.  If you have a jar that did not seal put it in the refrigerator.

NOTE;  Like I mentioned earlier, if you want to use the Giardiniera for an appetizer, cut the vegetables into bite size pieces.  If you want to make a much milder version scale the hot peppers WAY back and add more sweet peppers, cauliflower and carrots.  You can leave the olives whole.

I have a beef brisket in my freezer.  I think I’ll cook up that brisket and try to replicate a Chicago style Italian beef sandwich.

 

 

Butternut Squash Soup

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There was a restaurant that my friend Jane and I used to go to for lunch on Tuesdays when we felt like splurging a little on ourselves.  On those occasional Tuesdays when we wanted to enjoy a nice cocktail or glass of wine with our lunch, and have consistently good food and service we would go there.   The atmosphere reminded me of an upper class, members only men’s club from another era.  Beautiful table settings and good wine and top shelf liquor behind the bar.  Lots of dark wood, big stone fireplace, dim lighting, comfortable chairs…a very formal appearance.  You expect to look around the corner and see a billiard table or library, and men in suits smoking big cigars with a snifter of bourbon to cap off their meal.  Obviously my only experience involving “men’s clubs” is from novels or movies, but I think the friends who have joined us there for lunch would agree with my observations and know exactly the place I’m talking about.  One of the things that we frequently enjoyed there was their butternut squash soup.  It was served with a few salted and chopped pistachios and a small dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche in the center.  It always tasted so good!  Everything we ate there was excellent but I really liked the soup.  I looked through a lot of recipes and came up with an amalgam of two or three recipes.  It doesn’t taste quite the same but it was good.  The leftovers actually tasted even better.  Fresh squash is plentiful right not so it’s a perfect time to make it.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash peeled and cubed

1 medium sweet onion diced

1 cup of celery diced

1 russet potato diced

3-4 cloves of garlic minced

2 T butter

3-4 cups of broth (vegetable or chicken)

1 T fresh ginger minced

2 cinnamon sticks

8 oz package of cream cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Dice the potato, onion, and celery and mince the garlic.  Peel, seed, and dice the squash.

In a dutch oven, melt the butter and sweat the onion, celery, and potato.

Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant.  Add in the butternut squash, the cinnamon sticks and ginger, and the broth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil.  Once it starts to boil reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour.

You want the squash and other vegetables to be nice and soft.  At this point you’ll want to remove and discard the cinnamon sticks.

Cube up the cream cheese and stir in.

Use an immersion blender to get a nice, smooth consistency.

If you feel the soup is too thick add additional broth.

Now you’re ready to dish it up.  I didn’t have any pistachios or creme fraiche so I used some homemade garlic croutons.  Enjoy!

NOTE:  After eating this soup I’ve decided the potato didn’t add anything significant so I will not use that component next time.  I did add another cup or so of broth to mine after blending.

My friend Jane and I decided that the soup we enjoyed at the “men’s club” had a little brown sugar or maple syrup and was sweeter than this recipe.  Also, the flavor of ginger is more pronounced in this recipe.  Adjust to suit your palate.

It’s not for everyone.  For some people the consistency would be off-putting.  My husband did not like it at all, but I didn’t expect that he would.  And I actually liked it best the second day which is frequently true of soups.  If you like butternut squash and if you like puréed soups I think you’ll really enjoy this recipe.

Pizza Sauce

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It’s once again canning season.  I was really excited to find Roma tomatoes this year.  I had already canned two bushels for 90 pints of stewed tomatoes and diced tomatoes.  We love dishes with tomatoes and I go through a LOT of them every year.  But Romas make really good sauce so I had to buy another peck.  A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.  Does anyone else remember that??  It’s from a very corny Doris Day song.   I’ve made pizza sauce in prior years, but my friend Jane adds carrots to hers  for natural sweetness and a nice consistency, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  I’m a little more heavy handed on seasoning than she is, but I really liked the addition of the carrots.  If you’re fortunate enough to find Romas I’d recommend using those but, if not, regular tomatoes will also make a fine sauce.

Ingredients:

16-18 cups of peeled, cored, and diced tomatoes

2 cups of finely diced carrots

1 large onion diced

6-8 cloves of garlic

3 T olive oil

3 T oregano

3 T basil

1 T garlic powder

1 T pepper flakes

1 T fennel seed

3 T kosher salt

1/8th tsp citric acid per cup of sauce

The first thing you have to do is core, peel and dice all the tomatoes.  One peck made two batches of sauce.

Peel and dice the carrots, dice the onion and mince the garlic.

Add the olive oil to a deep heavy kettle.  Sweat the onion, garlic, and tomatoes for a couple minutes.

Add the tomatoes and bring them to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce reduces and begins to thicken.

Add the spices and the salt.

Continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reached your desired consistency.  It’s not a fast process so you have to be patient.  My sauce simmered for a couple of hours. I used an immersion blender during the simmering process.

Once the sauce has reached the desired consistency you can start filling your hot jars and getting them ready for the water bath.  I used some cup and a half jars as well as some one cup jars.  Add 1/8th tsp of citric acid per each cup of sauce as you jar it.  Carefully wipe the rims of the jars before putting the lids and rings on.  Process in a water bath for 30 minutes. Allow your jars to cool on a towel or mat for at least 12 hours before storing them.

I saved a little more than a cup of sauce from the last batch and made us a pizza for dinner.

NOTE:  Let your own palate be your guide with the seasonings.  Taste while your sauce is cooking.  You can use pint jars if you prefer but I think the smaller jars are perfect for a single pizza.  If you do use pint jars increase the processing time to 40 minutes. This sauce is also good to use on pasta, a meatball sub, for dipping cheese bread, or on a veggie crepe.  Unlimited possibilities!