Spiced Vegetable Dal

This is the one dish that my beloved Housemother has said is my "restaurant" worthy recipe. Our boys love this and usually lick their plates when they are done. It is taken from a cookbook titled "All Around the World Cookbook".

Spiced Vegetable Dal

1 cup red lentils (this is important. These are not brown lentils.)

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil (I use coconut oil instead.)

2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger

1 tablespoon diced garlic (or if you love garlic like our family, lots more!)

1 large onion, halved and slivered

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

pinch of ground turmeric (another pinch of saffron...if you can.)

4 cups vegetable broth (use the low sodium kind. If you would rather, use the same amount of water.)

4 ripe plum tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro (or if you are us, use as much as you can!)

salt and pepper to taste (IF you like, we don't it is yummy before this point.)

1. Saute butter and oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat with ginger, garlic and onion stirring, about 10 minutes.

2. Sprinkle in cumin, cloves and turmeric (saffron, see above), stirring another 2 minutes.

3. Stir in lentils and broth and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered until soft but not mushy, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Stir in tomatoes and cilantro, and cook another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. The flavors should be well-blended and the lentils very soft.

This cooks fairly quickly, so you can do it not that long before you are going to eat. Don't be like me and forget to make rice until it is too late!

Split Pea Soup

"Peas are ancient. This we know, one archaeological find, in a cave on the border between Burma and Thailand, was carbon-dated at 9750 B.C. The first mention of eating dried peas, however, is from ancient Rome. Peas are a legume, and like their kin--lentils and beans--they maintain all their nutrients (which are substantial) and flavor when dried, even when stored for a couple of years at warm room temperatures.

Most dried peas, both yellow and green, are sold split, are very inexpensive, and, I think, as decorative as they are delicious. One suggestion states, keep them in a canning jar that has a rubber gasket, in a screw-top jar, or in a jar with a ground glass stopper and display them on a counter or shelf. Besides being attractive, this will also make you think of them some late fall or winter day when you want to eat something substantial but don't know what."
--excerpted from Arthur Schwartz's "What to Cook..."

Split Pea Soup

This is a very thick soup, but in no way a stodgy soup. Plenty of onion, carrot, and celery see to that. If you want, you can use a food processor not only to blend the soup at the end but also to chop up the veggies. We do not do either.

Serves 6 to 8

1 pound green or yellow split peas (2 cups)
1 cup very finely chopped carrot (about 2 medium or 3 small)
1 cup very finely chopped onion (1 large or 2 or 3 small)
1 cup very finely chopped celery (2 or 3 ribs)
7 cups water
1 large bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper

1. In a large pot, combine all the ingredients except salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer about 50 minutes, until peas are soft.

optional 2nd step. In two or three batches, puree the peas and vegetables in a food processor or blender or through a food mill.

3. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Return to a simmer and cook briefly to make very hot for serving. (The soup will keep for several days in the refrigerator, you can add extra water as you desire. We do not add any, simply reheating a bowl at a time.)

Variations: If desired, add a ham bone, smoked ham hock, or diced bacon to all the other ingredients (yes, the bacon will cook through in 50 minutes!). (The ham hock, on the other hand, will flavor the soup, but it won't really cook through in an hour, so have another meal ready for it if you chose the ham hock.) If not using meat, serve with a dollup of sour cream (daisy brand or another that has no extra ingredients added in, some have corn syrup added!)

Substitutions: This is a vegetarian soup and it has a clear, sweet pea flavor. The author prefers that to the meat-muddied soup, but chicken broth does add a depth that can be desirable. Use canned broth for some of the water.

We do not include the pepper or salt at cooking, preferring to add that seasoning at the table.

Optional Croutons:
Toast 1/2- to 1-inch-thick slices of bread on both sides, either on a baking sheet or toaster oven. Rub one side of the bread with a cut clove of garlic (we use powdered garlic), drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Eat.
A Fresh Touch: Top with diced tomatoes, if you have them, and chopped garlic and olive oil.

Vietnamese Cooking Class

Last night, Thursday, I went to a local class taught by the High School Home Economics teacher. She taught us how to cook a Vietnamese menu. Vietnamese cooking uses a range of fresh produce. Such distinctive ingredients as are used sets it apart from other Asian cuisines. Such cooking as this, as with much Asian cooking, is a simple and healthy way to eat. However, for our area this is a special occasion menu as all the recipes include specialty items best purchased at an Asian market.

Our menu included: a Saigon Pancake (Bahn Xeo), Rice Paper Rolls (Goi Cuon), Rice Noodles with Stir Fried Beef in Chili and Lemongrass (Bun Bo Xao), a classic Vietnamese Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Mam Cham), and a Table Salad (Sa Lach Dia). There were five other students there, we all had a lot of fun cooking and talking. It was fun to get out and learn something new.

Once we were all done, then we sat down to a nicely set table and enjoyed trying our new creations. Everything was very good, especially the Saigon Pancake. I am not just saying that because I made that recipe, everyone at the table agreed that this was the best of the menu. Most of the students also took leftovers of this dish home with them. This surprised our teacher, she had included kind of on a lark. She thought it seemed more difficult and just was generally not sure about how it would go. The best part of this, the teacher made copies of all the recipes used for each student to take home.

This surprised me, I thought it was not that difficult of a recipe. The directions were not the best but it only took time to finish it.

Saigon Pancake recipe

Serves 4

200 grams (g) Rice flour (we used regular wheat flour)
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
250 milliliters (ml) water
1/2 teaspoon salt
150 ml Coconut milk
1 tablespoon Spring onions, finely chopped (we used green onions)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
200 g (1/2 lb approximately) lean pork, thinly sliced
200 g shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
100 g bean sprouts
100 g split green beans, soaked and steamed until soft
10 sheets Vietnamese rice paper, sprinkled with hot water to soften

Garnish:
2 tablespoons mixed fish sauce
1 lettuce leaf
4 mint leaves
1/4 cucumber, thinly sliced
Pickled carrot and radish, to serve (optional)

Directions:

--In a large mixing bowl, blend rice flour and turmeric powder with water, then add salt, coconut milk and spring onion. Mix well into a batter.

--In a large frying pan (skillet), heat cooking oil over medium heat until very hot. Add pork, shrimp and onion. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes until meat is lightly cooked.

--Stir batter well and scoop into pan. Add bean sprouts and green beans.

--Cover for 5 minutes until pancake is crisp. Fold pancake into half and combine to cook for another 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

--Serve pancake with mixed fish sauce for dipping and rice paper, lettuce, mint leaves, cucumber and pickled carrot and radish on the side (this means each of the condiments are arranged like a relish tray and you add them at the table.).

--To assemble, place a sheet of rice paper on a plate and top with a small piece of pancake and some garnishing ingredients. Wrap and dip into mixed fish sauce before eating.

These ingredients are all surprisingly available. The only things that for our rural area that would require an Asian grocery would be the rice papers, fish sauce and the pickles that are an optional garnish.

Potato and Leek Soup

I always enjoyed the pre-made potato leek soup that I could get at the grocery store in England when I studied there for a year. I did not have the cookbook or supplies to do the much cooking on my own but that was one of those warm comfort foods that I remember from that time.


Now, this spring, we tried to plant leeks thinking that doing so would be a good way to make this soup. That did not work. My wife injuring her ankle, a couple of vacation trips later and we had so many weeds there was no chance of ever finding the leek shoots. Even if they did survive. Sadly, they did not.


So, the other day when I was in a neighboring town, I stopped at the local vegetable stand and picked up some groceries. He happened to have a few leeks sitting in a dish and so I bought two. I thought that this would be more than enough for leek soup. Boy was I wrong. We made soup anyway and simply added a few more potatoes.


This was a yummy soup and just the right thing for supper on a cool fall day here on the frozen tundra. Though only one out of three of our boys ate all of his soup tonight. This is because we are all recovering from what the doctor thinks is the H1N1 flu (though this is not official). Appetites are not what they usually are.


Smooth Potato Leek Soup (Potage Parmentier)

For extra smoothness, push through a sieve after it has been pureed in a food processor.
Melt in a soup pot, over low heat:
3 Tablespoons butter
Add and cook, stirring, until tender but not browned, about 20 minutes:
8 large leeks (white part only), cleaned thoroughly and chopped (I cut the white parts in half and then diced them)
Stir in:
3 medium or 2 large baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (I left the skins on, more nutrition that way).
5 cups chicken stock or water
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes. Puree until smooth. Season with:
Salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper (we added ours at the table.)
Thin if necessary, with additional:
Stock or water
Reheat gently, then ladle into bowls and serve.

Of course, if you want to have a cream soup and be really fancy, you can always make Vichyssoise. The "classic french" soup was actually invented by French chef Louis Diat around 1910, when he worked at New York's Ritz-Carlton Hotel. During the Second World War, when the french spa town of Vichy became the capital of the collaborationist government, this soup was served in the United States under a variety of names. You can garnish with shipped fresh chives (or dry!).

Thank you to the The Joy of Cooking for the recipe.

Summer Squash Pasta

The other day, a nieghbor gave us a box full of garden fresh vegetables. So, we have been diligently using them. The end of last week, I used some of them to make up a pasta dish. Everyone loved it. The tomatoes are from a local produce stand, also fresh from a garden.

Summer Squash Pasta

1 box of pasta, about 1 pound.
1 yellow summer squash, chopped.
2 onions, diced. Preferably red, but what ever you have.
2 tomatoes, diced.
A good sized handful of frozen peas.
Some olive oil.
Fresh shredded parmasan cheese.

I cooked the pasta according to the box, drain.

I then cut up all the veggies and added them to a skillet with some olive oil drizzled over them. I cooked this until the vegetables were all cooked through and soft, but not mushy. Once I was that far, I added the tomatoes and the peas to warm them through. At the end I added the pasta and mixed the whole thing with some shredded cheese. I then left the cheese and a grater on the table so everyone could add more.

The whole family loved it!