by Krista | Oct 20, 2010 | Compatriot Wednesday
Right after work on Monday I zipped up my jacket and headed into the woods for a hike. Ohhh, it felt SO good to wend my way through the cedars, breathing deeply of the fresh cold air, feeling strength in my limbs after sitting at my computer all day. Loved it!
Then I hustled back home to whip up the dough for Gluten-Free Cheesy Dill Scones to bring to CEC (Culinary Experimentation Club) for Squash Soup Night. I was a wee bit nervous as I’ve never made completely gluten-free scones before, but they worked out beautifully! I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour then added Aged Irish Cheddar, Grated Parmesan, and lots of butter. To save myself time cutting in the butter, I simply grated it like cheese and mixed it into the flour with a fork. I didn’t have any cream for the scones, so I mixed plain Greek yogurt with chicken broth and it worked just dandy. I drove into town, popped them in the oven and oh my – were they ever good! Just as good or better than the regular ones. Hooray!
The scones went splendidly with the three homemade soups that featured various squashes.
Darren made creamy pumpkin soup with fresh pumpkin puree he made himself. It was SO much better than canned, with great texture and pumpkin flavor.
Robin and Cameron made a spicy creamy squash soup that we ended up mixing with…
Kat’s beautiful lentil squash vegetable soup.
We ended the evening with Hot Apple Cider blended with our very own homemade Hard Apple Cider. A marvelously warming drink on a cold night.
Over the next few weeks I’ll introduce you to my cooking buddies. Today I present Robin, Kat and Jenny. 🙂
Darren’s Pumpkin Soup
Click here to view the recipe at AllRecipes.com
Krista’s Gluten-Free Cheesy Dill Scones
Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 stick cold butter, grated
3 large eggs
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp dried dill weed
2 cups aged Irish cheddar (or sharp cheddar)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In medium bowl mix dry ingredients. Add butter and toss to separate.
- In small bowl mix remaining ingredients. Add to dry ingredients and stir until incorporated.
- Form 1/3 cup size balls of dough and place on baking sheet 2 inches apart.
- Bake 20-25 minutes until tops start to brown.
by Krista | Oct 13, 2010 | Compatriot Wednesday
It truly felt like Autumn Monday night as my friends and I came in out of the cold and bustled about the kitchen stirring pots of simmering soups. Don shared bottles of his beloved “Two Buck Chuck” wine from Trader Joe’s, and it paired beautifully with Darren’s spread of savory sausage and Drunken Goat cheese.
As the last pot came to a boil, we set down three bubbling concoctions for folks to choose from.
I made Split Pea Soup with Prosciutto topped with Danish Crispy Fried Onions.
Cameron and Robin made a wonderful Rooibos Broth with Kale, Corn and Onions.
Toby made a deliciously cheesy batch of Potato Leek Chowder.
Jon rounded things off with the best twice-baked potatoes I’ve ever had stuffed with cheese, jalapenos, sun-dried tomatoes and sauteed sweet onions.
It was comfort food at its best. 🙂
What is your favorite thing to eat on a cold evening?
Toby’s Potato Leek Chowder
Jon’s Twice Baked Potatoes
Ingredients:
12 baby red potatoes
3/4 cup sour cream
3-4 Tbsp butter
1/2-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 jalapeno, chopped and seeded
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp chopped dried basil
1 sweet onion, chopped and sauteed
1-2 Tbsp Parmesan, grated
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cut a small slit cut across the top of each potato and bake 20-30 minutes.
- Remove potatoes from oven, carefully cut a wedge out of the top and gently scoop out the innards, leaving just enough ‘meat’ to keep the shape of the potato.
- Combine potato innards with sour cream, butter, cheddar cheese, jalapeno, sun dried tomatoes, sea salt, black pepper, garlic, basil, and onion.
- Stuff mixture into the potato skins and continue baking at 375 for about 15 minutes, or until cheese is sufficiently melted.
- Remove, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and return to oven until cheese is melted.
Krista’s Split Pea Soup with Prosciutto and Danish Crispy Fried Onions
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3-4 stalks celery, chopped
1 package (six slices) prosciutto, chopped
1 bag dried split peas
8 cups water
4 cups beef stock
1/2-1 cup Danish Crispy Fried Onions
Directions:
- In saucepan heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and celery and saute until soft.
- Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Simmer uncovered over medium heat for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until peas are mushy and soup has thickened.
- Add salt and pepper as needed.
- Pour into bowls and top with Danish Crispy Fried Onions.
by Krista | Oct 6, 2010 | Compatriot Wednesday
It was a bright and briskly cold October day in Amsterdam as my brother Ryan, his girlfriend Melissa, my friend Amy and I donned warm sweaters and woolly scarves and headed out for lunch and a stroll.
The streets of Amsterdam are endlessly fascinating to me. I love the tall, narrow canal houses with their gabled tops and pert little windows, the cobbled streets lined with elegant pastry shops, haute couture, and bicycles everywhere.
Ry and Melissa led us to one of their favorite spots perched on the edge of a canal. We found seats outside in a sunny patch and ordered foamy coffee to warm our fingers and tummies. I think it’s splendid when my coffee arrives with a little extra something like these teensy chocolate chip cookies.
We had such fun soaking up that rare Autumn sunshine, chatting happily about our travel adventures and plotting how we would spend that day. We were off to visit Corrie ten Boom’s house, a place I’d read about over and over as a child through her book The Hiding Place. (This week I wrote an article on it for The Travel Belles. Click here to read more about this amazing woman and her family who rescued Jews in Holland during WWII.)
At last our food arrived and ooeee, was it ever good!!! We shared steaming Dutch pea soup – amazing!! – and I had a fantastic toasted sandwich: thick fresh grainy bread topped with a thick slab of tender smoked turkey breast, fresh tomatoes and gooey circles of melted brie. It was heavenly.
It was such a beautiful start to our day: dear friends, delicious food, and the anticipation of a new adventure.
What is your favorite lunch on a cold day?
This is my contribution to Wanderfood Wednesday. Click here to view more foods from around the world.
by Krista | Sep 29, 2010 | Compatriot Wednesday
(I made it safe and sound to Cancun!! 🙂 Miss you all but having a marvelous time. 🙂 )
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It was a wild, stormy night when my friends and I gathered to cook dinner and hang out. Wind hurtled through the trees sending them into a wild dance that only added to the mysterious feel of the evening.
We sipped wine and visited happily as we dipped tortilla chips in various sorts of hummus and salsa. Half the folks gathered around the big screen TV to cheer and groan as they watched UFC, and the rest of us parked ourselves cozily in the living room to get caught up on a life and our latest adventures.
Cameron, Robin, Jason and Darren had worked hard that afternoon chopping and juicing apples for our annual hard cider making, but they set aside one jug of juice for our drinking pleasure. Oh my. Is there anything better than cold, freshly-pressed apple juice? So refreshing, tart and scrumptious. 🙂
Cameron and Robin gutted and seasoned the gorgeous fresh salmon they’d found for only $3 a pound, then slow cooked it in the smoker with Rooibos tea leaves until they were fragrant, tender, and absolutely delicious.
Ben scrubbed up beautiful little red potatoes, tossed them with olive oil, garlic, dried dill, salt and pepper, and roasted them for a good 45-50 minutes until they were soft and sweet and salty skins. Mmm.
Dana (my brother), Rachel (my sis-in-law), Bekah and I chopped red and green bell peppers and sweet onion for kabobs, and a whole pile of asparagus. Darren grilled them up beautifully until they were lightly blackened and oh so sweet.
We ended our evening at the hot tub, talking about all sorts of interesting things and soaking up that gorgeous warmth as the winds continued to go wild in the tree tops.
by Krista | Sep 22, 2010 | Compatriot Wednesday
Oil bubbled for frying, oven warmed for roasting, and ingredients lay waiting to be chopped, grated and minced as we gathered for Culinary Experimentation Club this week.
Don set up a Do-I-Yourself Margarita Bar, then proceeded to go ahead and make them for us anyways. Mmm, mmm, lovely and strong, they fortified us beautifully as we cooked then washed the mountain of dishes we made.
Darren started things off with a bowl full of salty tortilla chips for dipping in his wonderfully savory Roasted Pepper Salsa.
Jason made the best Beer-Battered Shrimp I’ve ever had in my life. I think dusting the shrimp with paprika and chili powder before battering is what took them over the top.
I whipped up a hodge-podge marinade of sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and Hoisin sauce to coat a pile of green beans Mums gave me from her garden. Then I roasted them for 40 minutes until they were soft with caramelized tips. Roasted Sesame Ginger Green Beans just became my new favorite veggie dish.
Jenny toiled over the stove to make this beautiful White and Wild Rice Pilaf studded with red bell peppers and baby prawns.
Robin and Cameron arrived frazzled and out of breath yet somehow managed to create this positively scrumptious Broccoli Cucumber Salad with Spiced Prawns in no time at all.
I have the photo of dessert at the end of our meal but, truth be told, we devoured most of these brownies before our meal even started. They’re that good. A few weeks back I won a box of King Arthur Gluten-Free Brownie Mix and finally got around to making them. I followed the directions exactly save for using walnut oil instead of vegetable oil. Oh. My. I confess I was skeptical, but every doubt was obliterated with one bit of these moist, chewy and oh so chocolatey brownies. I’ll choose these babies over regular brownies any day of the week. Well done King Arthur!!
What is your favorite food from your home area?
I’m so excited to have my article on Road-Tripping through Germany featured at The Travel Belles today!! Please click here for gorgeous views of mountains, meadows and a lake of deepest turquoise.
Jenny’s White and Wild Rice Pilaf
(Adapted from All Recipes)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 1/2 cups Swanson® Vegetable Broth (regular or Certified Organic)
1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 cup baby prawns
Directions:
- Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, red bell pepper, and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in broth and wild rice. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 25 minutes.
- Stir in white rice and baby prawns. Cover and cook over low heat 20 minutes or until rice is done. Stir in parsley.
Jason’s Beer Batter Shrimp
(Adapted from www.cookeatshare.com)
Beer Batter
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast (the type that does not have to be proofed in water first and can be directly added to the flour)
3 tablespoons warm water
One 12 oz bottle beer at room temperature
1 1/4 cups flour, sifted
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 litre vegetable oil, for frying
Directions:
- Add the instant yeast and sea salt to the flour and stir together. Add the water and beer and whisk together well. The batter should be thin like pancake batter. If the batter appears too thick or two thin you can add a little more flour or water as needed. Don’t worry if there are still a few lumps in the batter, this is not a problem, it is better not to over mix this batter. Set the batter aside to rest for 10 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees F.
Shrimp
Ingredients:
2 dozen fresh, raw, large shrimp, peeled, washed and deveined
lemon juice
Paprika
Chili Powder
½ cup flour
Directions:
- Toss the shrimp in the lemon juice, Paprika, and Chili Powder then dredge them well in the flour before dipping them into the batter and dropping them into the hot oil. Cook until golden brown turning them over once if necessary.
- Let cool and serve with a fresh lime.
Krista’s Roasted Sesame Ginger Green Beans
Ingredients:
2 handfuls fresh green beans, trimmed and washed (if large, cut in pieces)
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
4″ piece ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
1-2 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
ground pepper
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 450 F.
- Place beans in bowl, set aside.
- In blender add remaining ingredients. Puree until smooth.
- Pour over green beans and toss to coat.
- Spread green beans in baking pan and roast for 20-40 minutes, stirring once, until tender and ends are browned.
by Krista | Sep 15, 2010 | Compatriot Wednesday
Monday night at CEC (Culinary Experimentation Club) we clustered around the counter nibbling deliciously greasy charcuterie and creamy goat’s milk cheddar as we sipped wine and chatted about our day.
It was Washington Night – and folks made dishes featuring the seafood, fruits and vegetables of our beautiful state.
Jenny and Deb made fabulous Apple Cheddar Bread that we tore apart and ate piping hot from the oven.
I baked Rock Fish with a buttery Pecan Lemon Crust.
Toby sauteed green beans with caramelized garlic and onions, and Jon whipped up a succulent and creamy shrimp sauce.
Cameron and Robin made a light and fresh salad from gorgeous candy-striped beets. You can view photos of these amazing veggies here.
Cameron also sauteed hearty kale with caramelized onions and it was pure salty goodness.
Jon went fishing and made us cornmeal crusted trout that went marvelously with his shrimp sauce.
Kat made a spicy Apple Chutney that went splendidly with, well, everything!
It was a truly delicious homage to our home state. What food best represents where you come from?
Last night as I was finishing up this post, I received an email from Cindy at Culinary Arts College letting me know that she’d included me on a list of Voracious Reading: 50 Amazing Food & Travel Blogs. I’m SO honored!! If you’re interested in a list of some truly fantastic food and travel writers such as Gourmantic, David Lebovitz, and Anthony Bourdain click here. Thank you, Cindy!!
Jenny and Deb’s Apple Cheddar Bread
(From All Recipes)
Ingredients:
2/3 cup white sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1 apple – peeled, cored and finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup milk
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon walnuts, apples, and cheese. Add the eggs, melted butter or margarine, and milk; stir until well blended. Pour into prepared loaf pan.
- Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until done. If loaf starts to brown too much, cover with foil.
Kat’s Apple Chutney
(From Epicurious)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 pounds tart green apples (such as Granny Smith), peeled, cored, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
10 large garlic cloves
1 2-ounce piece fresh ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups (packed) golden raisins
2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
Directions:
- Bring vinegar and sugar to boil in heavy large non-aluminum saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Toss apples and lemon juice in large bowl.
- Combine garlic, ginger, salt and red pepper in processor; blend until finely chopped. Add apple and garlic mixtures, raisins and mustard seeds to vinegar. Simmer until apples are tender and chutney thickens, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. Place in bowl. Cool. Cover; chill. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep chilled.)
Krista’s Rock Fish with Pecan Lemon Crust
Ingredients:
1 cup ground pecans
Zest and juice of four lemons (or limes)
3 pounds rock fish
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup butter, melted
Lemon/lime wedges for garnish
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
- In food processor blend together pecans and lemon zest until it resembles coarse meal. Set aside.
- Arrange fish in bottom of baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with lemon juice.
- Sprinkle nut mixture over fish, spreading evenly, drizzle with melted butter.
- Bake 10-15 minutes until fish is cooked through.
- Garnish with lemon wedges.
Jon’s Rainbow Trout with Shrimp Sauce
Ingredients:
rainbow trout, gutted with fins removed.
cornmeal
sea salt
1 bell pepper
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 cups shrimp
1 cup white wine
1/2-1 cup half and half
1 Tbsp flour or cornstarch
Directions:
- Mix cornmeal and salt together. Dredge fish and set aside.
- In saucepan heat olive oil then saute bell pepper, onion, garlic and shrimp until cooked.
- In separate bowl combine wine, half and half and cornstarch, stir.
- Pour into saucepan and stir over medium heat until thick and hot. Set aside in warm place.
- In another pan heat up some olive oil on high until it just starts to smoke, then carefully drop the trout in on its side. Fry for
- approximately 3 minutes per side, and when it’s out the meat should just fall off the bone.
- Plate trout and pour over shrimp sauce. Serve warm.
