Sausage and Swiss chard soup

This recipe is from Williams Sonoma. Last time I made it, I used chorizo sausage. I think I'll make an onion bread to go with it.

Serves 6 to 8.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 1⁄2 lb. chicken andouille sausage
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 leek, white portion only, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp. minced fresh thyme
• 6 cups chicken stock, warmed
• 1 cup water, warmed
• 2 cups cooked white beans, drained
• 4 oz. Swiss chard, stems removed, leaves cut
    into 1⁄2-inch strips
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for
   garnish (optional)
• Garlic crostini for garnish (optional)

Directions:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, boil the wine until reduced to 1/2 cup, 7 to 10 minutes. Set aside.

In a soup pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the sausage and cook until browned, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and let cool, then cut diagonally into 1/2-inch slices.

In the same pot over medium-low heat, cook the onion, celery, carrot and leek, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes more. Add the reduced wine, the stock and water, increase the heat to medium-high and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Add the sausage, white beans and chard and cook until the chard wilts, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into warmed bowls, and garnish with the cheese and crostini. Serve immediately.

** I ended up using pork andouille sausage from Whole Foods. We did not add the bread and cheese on top. It ended up being too spicy for the kids and a little fatty for my tastes. I still like the soup- I think I'll try turkey keilbasa next time- should be less fatty and not spicy.

Date and Apple Cake with Coconut topping

I found this recipe in New Zealand. I haven't the slightest idea where it came from. It was transcribed on the back of a scrap sheet from the local library.

1 C dates, chopped
1/2 C boiling water
1/2 C oil
2 t vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 C flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 C sugar
2 apples, peeled and grated

Preheat the oven to 350.

Put dates into boiling water and soak till cool.
Mix oil, vanilla and eggs together. Add and mix in the flour baking powder and soda. The add the sugar. Next comes the apples with the dates.
Bake for 40 minutes.

Coconut Topping
1 C coconut
1/4 C sugar
1 egg

Mix and dot on top of cake. Cook an additional 10 minutes.

**I didn't make the topping. I cut the sugar to 3/4 Cup. I might substitute apple sauce for the oil next time. It was very easy to prepare. I was ready before the oven was preheated. It is a nice moist cake. Should be great for lunches this week.

Baked Beetroot with balsamic vinegar, marjoram and garlic

This comes from The Return of the Naked Chef, by Jamie Oliver. He doesn't have this recipe on his site, but he has several others. I haven't tried this recipe. The hour in the oven sounds wonderful this week!

Serves 4

1 lb fresh beetroots, scrubbed, golf-ball size
10 cloves of garlic, unpeeled and squashed
1 handful of fresh marjoram or sweet oregano, leaves picked
salt and freshly ground black pepper
10 T balsamic vinegar
6 T olive oil

Preheat oven to 400.

Tear off around 5 ft of kitchen foil and fold it in half to give you double thickness. If you can only get larger beetroots,halve them to speed up their cooking time otherwise use them whole. Place them in the middle of the foil with the garlic and marjoram, season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then fold the sides in to the middle. Before you seal the foil, add the vinegar and olive oil. Scrunch or fold the foil together to seal at the top. Place in a preheated oven and cook for around 1 hour until tender. Serve in the bag at the table-lovely.

**This is an amazing way to cook beets. Delicious and easy.  My husband prepared them while I was in Nob Hill listening to A Band Named Sue at The Yarn Store. He used dried marjoram rather than fresh.
***I made it a second time and put the mixture into a casserole dish and covered it with foil. Still delicious!

Cuban Green Rice

This recipe comes from a cookbook I received many years ago from my sister. It is a great vegetarian cookbook with recipes from all over the world, World Food Cafe: Global Vegetarian Cooking. Normally I would serve plain rice with the aloo gobi, but I felt like this week's menu has been short on greens, so I thought to try this rice. If it isn't green enough, I might saute some spinach as well. I didn't make it in time to save the parsley from the deep freeze, so I ended up buying it.

Serves 4-6
3 T oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded de-ribbed, and finely chopped*
large handful of fresh parsley sprigs, chopped
large handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 C rice, rinsed and drained
2 1/2 C vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and saute the onion and bell pepper until they start to soften.
Stir in the parsley and cilantro. Add the rice and stir to coat all the grains in oil. Add just enough stock to cover the rice and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until all the moisture is absorbed. Add salt and pepper.

*I don't like bell peppers, so I'll skip this ingredient. I'll use Basmati rice.

** No picture. But I can tell you this was a great rice dish. It went well with the aloo gobi. The flavors were great. You'll need to keep your eye on it at the end of the cooking- it didn't take very long. I was surprised the rice cooked through with just 2 1/2 C of liquid, but it did.

Aloo Gobi

There are many recipes for aloo gobi. I think I must have gotten this one from one of Roz Denny's vegetarian cookbooks. I am still on the search for the best one...

Serves 4

1 lb potatoes, cut into 1 in chunks
2 T oil
1 t cumin seeds*
1 green chili, finely chopped*
1 lb cauliflower, broken into small florets
1 t coriander
1 t cumin
1/4 t chili powder
1/4 t turmeric
1/2 t salt
chopped fresh coriander, to garnish

Parboil the potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the cumin seeds for 2 minutes until they begin to sputter. Add the chili and fry for a further minute.
Add the cauliflower florets and fry, stirring, for 5 minutes.
Add the potatoes and the ground spices and salt and cook for a further 7-10 minutes or until both the vegetables are tender. Garnish with fresh coriander.

* Get cumin seeds from the Talin Market. I'll probably use NM green chiles instead of Thai chilis. I imagine that I will add some additional liquid in the bottom of the wok and try to steam the cauliflower rather than dry fry it.

**You can see I used the purple potatoes that I had left. The cauliflower didn't get the same charred effect since I didn't dry fry it. I thought this recipe was OK, but not flavorful enough to make a second time. The rice was great, though. We all ended up putting a variety of sauces on the top- Linzano Salsa from Costa Rica, A1 steak sauce, Sriracha hot sauce, and (gasp) ketchup.

Black bean enchiladas with guacamole

Tonight I am going to try a slow cooker enchilada recipe. I was originally thinking about using pinto beans, but I didn't get them cooked. I found this recipe on a site I've never used, The Kitchn.

Slow Cooker Enchiladas
Serves 4-6
1/2 yellow onion, diced small
1/2 bell pepper, diced small (any color) *
1 16-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups cheese, shredded and divided
2 16-ounce jars of your favorite salsa
12 6”-8” tortillas, flour or corn*

Optional: 1 cup leftover meat - chicken, pork, hamburger, or shredded beef

In a medium bowl, mix together the onion, pepper, black beans, corn, spices, meat (if using), and just 1/2 cup of the cheese. Pour about a cup of salsa (half a jar) into the bottom of the slow cooker and spread it around evenly.
Scoop about 1/3 cup into one of the tortillas, roll it up, and nestle it into the bottom of the crock pot. Repeat with the half of the remaining filling, rolling tortillas until the entire bottom of of the crock pot is filled. Spread another cup of salsa over this layer and sprinkle it with another 1/2 cup of cheese.
Continue with the remaining filling and tortillas to create a second layer. Top with another cup of salsa, but reserve the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese for later. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 2-4 hours. In the last 15 minutes of cooking, sprinkle the leftover cheese over the top and let it melt.

Serve the enchiladas with the remaining salsa.
* I'll be using green chili instead of bell pepper and my leftover corn tortillas.  My daughter will be making "Uncle Lee's famous guacamole". Let me know if you want the recipe.

 The filling was good and it was easy to make. Next time, I would use a green chile sauce- like Tio Frank's instead of two jars of salsa. I would also layer rather than roll the tortillas. I think this is a good alternative if you don't have the time to cook your enchiladas when you get home at night. Using a timer on the crockpot would make it worthwhile.

Bosc Pear- Gingerbread Cake

I can't remember where I got this recipe. I cut it out of an Albuquerque magazine over the holidays. I chose it because I wanted to use up my leftover bosc pears from the other week.

1/2 C, plus 1/4 C butter
1 C packed brown sugar
3 Bosc pears, peeled, cored, thinly sliced*
1 egg
1/4 C molasses*
1 1/2 C flour*
2 t ginger
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t clove
1/3 C hot water

* I used 4 pears, unsulphered molasses, and spelt flour.

Preheat oven to 350.
In a saucepan, combine 1/4 C butter and 1/2 C brown sugar and slowly heat until sugar melts. Add pears and simmer until soft, then transfer to a nine-inch cake pan, covering the bottom of the pan.
Combine and sift all dry ingredients.
With an electric mixer on high speed, beat 1/2 C butter and 1/2 C brown sugar together until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and molasses and beat for another minute.
Slowly add sifted ingredients and water, alternating three times until batter just comes together. Ladle batter over pars and bake about 35 minutes.
Let cool for 5 minutes and turn over onto serving plate.
Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

**Very nice and easy to make. The sharpness of the ginger is a nice contrast to the brown sugar sauce that caramelizes.  (the sauce is a bit runny on top once you turn the cake over) We ate it without the cream.