Category Archives: Food

January 18, 2014 · 1:00 PM

So I have this fennel bulb….

I have always wanted to do something with fennel. The bulbs are beautiful at the farmer’s market and the fragrance is a pleasant reminder of licorice. I found a recipe for fennel and potato soup which looked easy and adapted it to my taste! You can save the ferny tops and use them to flavor just about anything!

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Potato and Fennel Soup

  1. 1 teaspoon olive oil
  2. 1 large fennel bulb (about 2 pounds), chopped
  3. 1 cup chopped onion
  4. 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and sliced
  5. 3 cups chicken broth
  6. 1 cup milk
  7. 1 clove of garlic

1) In a Dutch oven, coat the bottom with olive oil and place it over medium heat. Add the fennel, garlic, and onion. Saute until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.

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2) Stir in the potatoes, chicken broth, milk, and salt and pepper. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Once they have softened I used a potato masher to mash-up most of the fennel and potato. The recipe calls to blend it but I don’t have an immersion blender and its messy to use a counter top blender. Plus, I like the rustic look and taste of having some large pieces of potato and fennel bulb in the soup.

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3) Ladle into individual bowls and garnish with a few fennel leaves. Serve immediately.

The fennel added a sweetness to the usual potato soup flavor. I served the soup with sides of curried chickpeas and potatoes, and rice with zucchini and carrots.

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I made buttermilk dill biscuits, too! (recipe will be posted later).

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Adapted from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/recipes/potatofennel-soup/RCP-20049814

xxx

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January 1, 2014 · 6:46 PM

Coconut buttermilk pound cake

I fell asleep somewhere around 10:30 pm on New Years Eve! I must have been tired or something after working all day?

Therefore, I was up at 6 am on New Year’s Day and what else is there to do but bake?

I love pound cake and I had some buttermilk, too. I wanted a different flavor than the usual buttermilk pound cake and the spice rack gave me the idea of adding coconut flavoring.

Coconut Buttermilk Pound Cake

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon coconut flavor
1 cup buttermilk

1) Preheat oven to 360f. Grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans with butter. Dust with flour if you wish.

2) Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

3) Beat together butter and sugar in an electric mixer until lightly and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each. Blend in vanilla and coconut flavor.

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4) Add flour mixture and mix well. Add buttermilk mix well. Pour into the bread pans.

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5) Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

6) Cool the pans on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes. Use a knife to loosen the edges and remove the loaves to cool on the racks. You could ice them with a powdered sugar and lemon juice mixture or nothing at all!

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Yum!
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December 14, 2013 · 10:12 PM

Penne rigate with homemade cheese bechamel sauce

Nothing is better than a fresh made bechamel sauce. It is called the mother sauce for good reason. It’s the beginning of so many good sauces.

I strongly believe one of the issues that is wrong with the American diet, besides eating too much, is not consuming a varied diet. In previous times people ate a changing diet based on fresh seasonal food. Today most of us eat the same thing almost on a daily basis. It’s unhealthy and doesn’t allow our body to rid itself of unhealthy elements, as well as a chance to absorb all the various nutrients it needs.

But I digress! Picture it. Sicily, a young hungry peasant girl buys a large bag of penne rigate…

Penne Rigate with homemade cheese bechamel and roasted Brussel sprouts in olive oil and lemon juice

2 3/4 cups dry pasta
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheese
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Salt and pepper

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1) boil the pasta in four cups of water until al dente – about 9 minutes

2) meanwhile, in a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter

3) add salt, pepper, dry mustard, and flour and cook for about 1 minute stirring constantly

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4) add the milk and stir constantly until thickened. After about four minutes the bechemel will thicken.

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5) add the shredded cheese and stir constantly until smooth.

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6) when the cheese has been incorporated, lightly butter a 2 quart casserole dish and pour in the drained pasta.

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7) pour the cheese sauce over the pasta evenly and mix it in. I sprinkled fresh pepper on top.

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8) bake at 350f for 25 minutes.

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Roasted Brussel sprouts with lemon and olive oil

1) remove stems from sprouts and cut in half

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2) place sprouts in a bowl and coat with the juice of one lemon and about a quarter cup of olive oil.

3) spread the sprouts evenly on a pan and roast for about half an hour at 400f or until the edges become crispy.

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Enjoy! I am posting this from my IPhone- please excuse the sloppy editing. I will have to clean it up later! 🙂
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