What do you do with black beans? How about a Mexican soup...

Last night I had the most delicious soup in a bread bowl, I'm dying to make it at home. It was vegetarian, but even meat eaters would love this one.

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup
Ingredients included: Water, black beans, onion, celery, red bell pepper, vegetarian vegetable base (baked carrots, lima beans, natural flavorings, tomato paste, cooked potatoes, corn oil, celery, onions), modified food starch, spices, salt, lemon juice, garlic.

Does anyone know of a recipe for this? The closest I can find is on AllRecipes.com and is called: Black Gold Bean Soup.

It was like having taco soup, I love Mexican foods. :) The bread bowl added a very nice touch - have any of you ever done a bread bowl? They are also great with chili.

Bread and circuses

Well, not really circuses.

We just got back from a place that served the most sumptuous chocolate bread. Michael ate some every meal and actually asked the chef for the recipe. So I was going to make some for his birthday. The problem is that the recipe is handwritten, and a little difficult to decipher. Unfortunately I don't make bread often enough to recognise what is credible, so I'm at a loss with the proportions. Perhaps some helpful soul out there can verify for me how much salt and yeast should go per cup of flour. (I tried looking up some basic bread recipes in my cookbooks to get an idea, but they were very unhelpful, giving all the proportions with packages of yeast.)

So the recipe calls for 2 lbs. of flour. (How much is that in cups, by the way?)

Then 4 TSP of salt and yeast. I assume this is teaspoon? Because otherwise there would be a B in there? But then why the all caps? Perhaps because the chef is French? Anyway, there's a big difference between tsp and Tbl, and I want to make sure the loaf doesn't end up too bland or too salty. Any help and guidance would be much appreciated. If it turns out well I'll post the recipe here.

Thanks for Lunch

This weekend we made tomato soup and grilled cheese for lunch. (I forgot to buy cocoa, so couldn't make the brownie pudding.)

I've detested canned tomato soup ever since my daycare days, but Rachelle gave me the courage to try it again. I am pleased to say that it turned out marvelously good. I sauted onions and celery, and seasoned the soup with garlic, corriader, and something else I forget now. As my brother would say, it was plumb edible.

Darren did the grilled cheese, and we added cream cheese, as the Queen suggested. It was very rich, but so good that Darren says he might leave off the cheddar next time. :)

So thanks for the ideas. I wouldn't ever have tried tomato soup otherwise. -- SJ

Menu Planning

Tomato soup, grilled cheese, and brownie pudding... I think I've got a dinner all planned out for this week. :)

Do the rest of you all plan menus for the week or month? We did for a couple of months and really liked it, but it was more effort than I usually want to put into meals. I'm just curious as to how y'all handle things. I might get back into meal-planning again, especially as it's more efficient and economical.

-- SJ

Quicky, but tasty dessert

Brownie Pudding

Preheat Oven: 350°

Mix together:
1 Cup Flour
3/4 Cup of sugar (or 1/2 Cup of brown sugar)
2 Tbs. Cocoa
2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt

In a separate bowl mix:
1/2 Cup Milk
2 Tbs. Veg oil
1 tsp. Vanilla

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. For the nut lovers now is the time to add 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts, but they are optional, so for those of you who hate nuts just skip this step.

Next our mixture into a greased 8x8 pan.

In another bowl mix:
3/4 Cup of Sugar
1/4 Cup of Cocoa
1 3/4 Cup of hot water

Pour over batter, which is already in the greased pan. It will flood the brownie mixture, but that's ok.

Bake 45 minutes. Take out and let cool. At first the liquid might be very runny underneath the brownie, but once it is cooled it will gel up into a nice pudding.

Scoop out with a spoon and serve with vanilla ice cream or alone.

It's delicious! :)
~ SEM

The natural follow-up

So, once you have made the delicious tomato soup, what are you going to serve with it? Grilled cheese, of course. A sandwich with many possibilities. The core secret to grilled cheese, I finally realized, is cooking it on a low enough setting that the outsides don't burn before the insides melt. Pretty obvious, but I'm very impatient.

Some ideas for variations:

Different bread: I like a multi-grain bread with nuts for the texture; sourdough is also good.

Different cheese: Munster is my favorite. Cream cheese can blend well with another cheese inside.

Things besides cheese to add: Mustard. I like dijon, but DOB likes yellow. Avocados, thinly sliced (by far my favorite addition). Tomatoes. Dill pickles (after the sandwich is cooked, so they stay cool and crispy).

Tomato Soup with flair

One of my beloved former roommates (LMJ or DMR) left a can of tomato soup in the townhouse when they moved out. I hate tomato soup so it made it through two moves. Then in an act of low-fund desperation, I made it for my husband early in our marriage. He told me as he took a bite that he hated tomato soup but has continued to request it ever since. Last night, feeling a little sick, he requested it once again. Why? Because I fail to follow any directions printed on the can. Instead...

Make soup with milk instead of water, or even better, half-n-half and water mix.
Add onion soup mix or onion flakes for a little more flavor. (Or saute onion in the pan before making the soup.)
Another good add-in is orzo (rice-shaped pasta) and then
top it with fresh cilantro and fresh ground pepper.

Thanks to Linds or Dana for bringing out the creativity in me and helping us discover a family favorite.

Sprucing Up...

Tuna fish.

I really like canned tuna fish (although my one occasion of freshly-caught deep sea tuna opened a whole new world for me). I grew up eating tuna fish made with mayonnaise, dill pickles, and boiled egg. Later in life my mother started putting in apples and sweet pickles, which was an absolute desecration of a good dish. Not that I said that, in so many words, to my mother.

Recently I came across a great recipe for grilled tuna-fish sandwiches, along the lines of grilled-cheese. It even froze well (pre-grilled, of course). I'll look for the recipe.

Nowadays, I do half and half mayonnaise and sour cream, and throw in a dash of garlic and celery salt. And dill pickles, of course. If you cut the sandwiches into little triangles and have a picnic on the living room floor, it suddenly become delicious to kids, too.

-- SJ

Cooking lessons from my siblings

I discovered while visiting my family that my youngest two siblings (19 and 17) have taken over nearly all the cooking duties for the family. Some cooking tips I observed while there:

• It is impossible to have too much garlic. At my sister's direction, I peeled 6 heads of garlic for one meal's worth of garlic red potatoes. There were a few potatoes leftover--no garlic.
• It is impossible to put cayenne pepper in the wrong dish. Cayenne pepper in spaghetti? No problem.
• It's a whole lot more fun to make a big mess in the kitchen when Dad is going to do the dishes.

Pumpkin Bisque

Our Christmas Eve tradition....

1 1/2 T unsalted butter
1 sm. onion, chopped
1 C pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin
1 1/4 C chicken broth
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1 C heavy cream or 1 C half-n-half
Salt and freshly ground pepper
In medium saucepan saute onion in butter until translucent, not brown. Add pumpkin, chicken broth, 2 cups water (or 1-1/2 C if you are using half-n-half), cinnamon and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add cream/half-n-half. Gently heat bisque until hot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serves 2-4.

Martha Goes to India

These are recipes shared with me by Leah Z. I've been meaning to post them after I make them but decided to get them posted soon. I have eaten many of them when Leah made them. Yum!! Oh, Leah's dad is Indian, so these are some of their family's favorites. I hope Baby Focht survives this post as I believe Rose favors Indian as do I. (Warning: Ben and I got very sick when he was in utero and it took me a while to try it again. It was the American tummy, I'm sure.)

Puchatti (Cucumbers and Tomato in Yogurt)

2 Medium cucumbers
2 green onions (w/ tops) chopped
1 tsp. salt
2 tomatoes chopped
1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp snipped coriander (cilantro)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup plain yogurt

Cut cucumbers lengthwise into halves. Scoop out seeds, chop cucumbers into small pieces. Mix cucumbers green onions and slat; let stand 10 minutes. Add tomatoes. Mix remaining ingredients except yogurt, toss with cucumber mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Drain thoroughly. Just before serving, fold in yogurt.

Pulao (it goes great with the puchatti)

1 cup uncooked regular rice
1 med onion chopped
1/2 cup ghee (you can use butter or margarine)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1 tsp instant chicken bouillon
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups boiling water
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

Cook and stir rice and onion into ghee until rice is yellow and onion is tender. Stir in raisins, bouillon, curry powder and salt. Pour into ungreased 1 1/2 quart casserole pan. stir in water. Cover and cook in 350 degree oven until liquid is absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in almonds.

Carrot Halva ( sort of like pudding - one of my favorite desserts)
6 med carrots (about 1 lb) finely shredded
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup golden raisins (normal ones work just fine :)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted pistachios or slivered almonds

Heat carrots and half and half to boiling in 2 qt saucepan, reduce heat. Over and simmer, stirring frequently, until half and half is absorbed (about 1 - 1 1/2 hours).

Stir in brown sugar, raisins, butter, cardamom and salt. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until brown sugar is dissolved and mixture is desired consistency, about 15 minutes. Garnish with almonds or pistachios.

Cauliflower Masala (required a few spices that you need from an Indian store)
1 med onion
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger
1 head cauliflower
8 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 med tomato
1 tsp parsley flakes
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Blend onion, garlic, ginger with 1 tbsp water into paste. Heat oil, add paste and turmeric, add rest of ingredients. Cover and summer until cauliflower is tender. Add water if necessary.

Mushrooms with Tomatoes and Peas (serve w/ bread, at home we just warm tortillas)

1 med onion - sliced
1/2 - 1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ghee or vegetable oil
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen green peas, thawed and drained
8 oz whole mushrooms
2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/4 salt
2 med tomatoes, cut into wedges

Cook and stir in onion, turmeric and ginger in ghee in 10-inch skillet over medium heat until onion is tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in peas, mushrooms, lemon juice and salt. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until peas are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, heat just until hot.

Potato & Pea Curry (again, serve with bread)
1/4 cup oil
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1/2 t turmeric
3 med tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup fresh coriander (cilantro) chopped
20 oz pkg frozen peas, thawed
1 large potatoes, chopped
1 cup water
1 tsp garam masala

Mix together and cook until potatoes are cooked :) (my mom didn't write any directions)

Anguish-free Lasagne

I love lasagne. DOB loves lasagne. I hate making lasagne, as no matter how laboriously I stack the ingredients, it makes a goopy mess. But I promised DOB lasagne this week, a promise I was regretting yesterday evening when I looked at the recipe and realized it expected me to have three hours waiting between me and dinner time, which even if I had had there were lots of other things to do with them than wrestle with lasagne noodles.

Then it occurred to me that DOB was neither a chef nor an artist, and had never been known to complain about presentation of food. It also struck me that I had read somewhere a concept for making an unlayered sort of lasagne. So I did, as follows:

Brown 1 lb. hamburger, 1/2 medium onion, chopped, 1 clove garlic. Toss in crockpot with a medium can of tomato sauce and a large can of chunky tomatoes, a teaspoon or so of oregano and all the basil that was left in the jar (maybe 1/2 teaspoon? I would have added more if I'd had it.) Add 8 oz. lasagne noodles, broken into 2 inch lengths. Cook on high for about two hours, stirring occasionally, until noodles are cooked.

Add 2 cups cottage cheese and one cup mozarella, stir well, and cook another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is nice and stringy.

It was a goopy pile, but not much more so than when I generally try to make lasagne. I bet you could also do it even quicker in a pot on the stove by cooking the noodles separately, it would just require more attention and stirring. DOB actually liked it better, because he doesn't like the crunchy spots that form on regular lasagne, or cleaning a regular lasagne pan. I'll still stack the layers for company, but for family meals this one is a keeper.

Pasta with Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Sauce

This is a very tasty dish and it makes yummy leftovers. We don't like mushrooms so I included them here but I leave them out. Oh, and when having the Mehrens over (which I'm sure you ALL do,) leave a little set aside for Nathan without the onions.

1 lb pennette (small penne) or other small pasta
1 T olive oil
5 C thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms (about 3/4 lb whole mushrooms)
4 C vertically sliced onions (I never quite make it to this much--I'm crying at 2 cups)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 T chopped fresh sage (you could use dried too)
1 12-oz can evaporated milk
1-1/2 T cornstarch
1-1/2 T cold water
1/2 C crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1/2 C canned pumpkin
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1/8 t nutmeg

Cook pasta according to pasta directions, omitting any salt and fat. Keep warm.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and garlic; cover and cook 3 minutes. Uncover, cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.
Combine chopped sage and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Combine cornstarch and water, stirring iwth a whisk. Add cornstarch mixture and cheese to milk mixture, stirring with a whisk. Cook 2 minutes or until thick and smooth, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in pumpkin, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Mix all three things (onion mixture, pasta and pumpkin mixture) together. Toss well to combine. Garnish with fresh sage sprigs, if you would like.

Breakfast Idea: Peanut Butter Parfait

My former roommate used to fix yogurt parfaits for breakfast at least once a week, usually with frozen raspberries. They were good, but out here in Ohio I encountered two problems with the concept: a) berries are more expensive out here; b) a yogurt parfait does not have enough protein for me to make it through the morning even when I'm not feeding someone else, too. I switched to banana parfaits (with homemade granola) which were much cheaper, but they were still a tad low on protein. This morning I got an idea from my favorite sandwich and created:

Peanut Butter & Banana Parfaits
1/2 c. vanilla yogurt (I can't find one with fructose sweetner out here, so I add a spoonful of honey and a dash of vanilla to plain yogurt.)
1-2 T. peanut butter

Mix together; then if you want to be fancy you can layer the mixture in an elegant glass dish with 1 chopped banana and 1 cup of granola, or if you just want to eat breakfast you dump the banana and the granola in on top and mix it all up. If you do it that way, it's not much harder than a bowl of cereal for those who like bananas in their cereal. In slightly smaller quantities, it would be a great snack or maybe even dessert. Amounts are very approximate, except for the banana.

I survived until 11:45 before I was ready to kill for lunch, so I think it had adequate staying power. Now to convince DOB that he likes it, which might be hard because he thinks peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches are gross.

Tortellini Salad

While rummaging through my cookbooks for an idea for what to take to our church dinner yesterday I rediscovered this recipe. It is very simple to fix. I know this is the wrong time of year to mention this, but I especially like this as a simple dinner on a hot summer day.

Tortellini Salad

1 pkg. (8 oz. usually) frozen cheese tortellini
1 cucumber, chopped
2-3 roma tomatoes, chopped
several green onions, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup Italian dressing

Note: I take the veggie amounts as a guideline and sort of eyeball it until I think I have enough to balance out the pasta. You could be creative and add other veggies as well.

Cook cheese tortellini according to directions on the package. When finished cooking rinse with cold water. In separate bowl, toss veggies and dressing. Add tortellini last. Gently mix. Serve immediately or chilled.

~Alison

Help!

We just got back home from Oklahoma at 2am this morning so my brain is still a bit foggy. Please help! :-)

We're going to a friend's house for a Christmas get together tomorrow night right after work and I'm supposed to bring some kind of finger food. Any ideas for quick and easy snack food that doesn't take long to fix?

On Sunday our couples class is having a pot luck after church and Sunday school. I'm completely drawing a blank as to what to bring for a main dish and/or side dish that can be cooked before church and still taste good sitting around until lunch time. I'm not for sure if there is a place to plug in crock pots or any way to heat things up before eating. . . .

Two-Potato Salad

This one is easy and a nice change from greasy mayonaise-saturated potato salad.

1-1/2 lbs small red potatoes, halved
1-1/2 lbs peeled sweet potatoes or yams, cut into 1-in pieces
3 T white vinegar
3/4 C creme fraiche (or sour cream, which is what I normally use)
1/4 C chopped fresh chives (or green onions, which are much cheaper)
3/4 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper

Place potatoes in a large Dutch oven; cover with water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 18 minutes or until tender. Drain. Place potatoes in a large bowl. Drizzle with vinegar; toss gently to coat. Let cool to room temperature.

Combine creme fraiche (or sour cream) and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Add to potatoes, tossing gently to coat. Makes 6-8 servings.

A Cake for All Seasons

The following chocolate cake recipe has many virtues. 1) It's delicious: rich, moist, very chocolatey. 2) It's super easy and fast. It's as easy and fast as making a mix; easier if you factor in how hard it is to get those stupid plastic bags open. 3) It's cheap: it doesn't use butter or eggs or expensive chocolate. It's perfect for "oh, let's have something chocolate" or "we need to plan a cake for the party."

Mrs. C's Cake
3 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1 t. salt
2 t. soda
6 T. cocoa

Mix dry ingredients. Add:
3/4 c. oil
2 t. vanilla
2 T. vinegar
2 cups water

Mix well; bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

It handles well and tastes good with buttercream icing, which is handy if you need to do fancy decorations for some purpose. (I'm making one for my brother-in-law's graduation tomorrow.) But for the ultimate chocolate cake experience, you leave the cake in the pan and make

Chocolate Skillet Icing
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. milk

Mix in a skillet and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute; remove from heat. Add 2 t. vanilla. Stir until lukewarm, then pour on cake.

WDIDWT? Leftover Ice Cream

I know, I know, that's such an oxymoron - who on earth heard of such a thing? But the situation can arise if, say, you have someone over who wants to bring something, so you tell them to bring ice cream to go along with your dessert, and you use it just as a topping to your brownie, so you have almost a whole carton left in the freezer, and then you get hit with the early-pregnancy blahs and don't want sweets for a few weeks, and by the time you're back in the market for ice cream, it's turned all icy and freezer-burnt....well, anyway, the scenario is possible. I expect it would also be an excellent way to use up leftover cheap store-brand vanilla ice cream that you wouldn't really want to eat straight but which would lend itself beautifully to a little clever disguise.

This is the second time in a week that I've pulled this off, so I think it's an official recipe by now:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshakes

(The proportions are a little shaky - I just tossed the ingredients in without measuring until it looked right)

1/4 cup milk (or less - the more milk, the runnier the shake)
A few Tbl. cocoa
An equal amount of powdered sugar (maybe less - Michael thought it a bit rich the 2nd time)
1-2 Tbl. creamy peanut butter
1 Tbl. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Several scoops of vanilla ice cream

Melt peanut butter and butter in microwave. Stir until smooth and add a dollop of ice cream to cool it. (The first time I did this, I didn't add this step, and the shake was very runny.) Set aside.

Put milk, cocoa, and sugar in blender. Blend until smooth. Add vanilla and ice cream; blend until thoroughly mixed. Add peanut butter mixture and blend very briefly. Serves 2, with small second helpings all around.

Very quick, rich, smooth, creamy, and delicious.

With Thanks to Martha

Just wanted to show how the Martha blog is improving my life. DOB wanted to cook my birthday dinner but he wanted a recipe, of all things! Then I remembered Amy's recipe for alfredo sauce that sounded good. Sure enough, it was quite elegant and delicious, and manageable for someone who hasn't cooked a meal in seven years.