Rematch: Zu-quinoa Soup

Check and mate!

The alterations made a huge difference to last week's creation, and tonight I ladled up four bowlfuls of sweet, fragrant, mildly spicy deliciousness.  I think Tamsin ate more than the rest of us put together!

With it, we had cheddar and apple muffins (I played with that recipe, too, but the "healthening" of them rendered them a bit drier than I'd prefer.  So I buttered them.  :)

Nom nom nom.

DG of Quinoa? Qui, moi?

(apologies for the lame title)

As I have finally driven Chris away,* I now get to make vegematarian meals more often for the Hufflings.

My latest oeuvre** was -- and really, the name is inspiring by itself -- Curried Carrot Apple Zu-quinoa (Zucchinoa?) Soup.

Ingredients:

1 tbs butter
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 apple, diced
1/2 a ridiculously massive zucchini, diced
not enough curry powder
3/4 c quinoa
3 c homemade turkey broth (it was in my freezer)
salt and pepper, not quite to taste
goldfish crackers (to add salt/flavour)

Saute all the veggies in the butter, add the curry powder (but use more than I did... I'd recommend at least 2 tsp or 1 Tbs), add the quinoa and broth, let it simmer for... I don't know... a while... and add salt and pepper.

It was fairly bland, but I was coasting on the healthiness of it, and the goldfish really brought it to life... as long as you had a goldfish in every bite.  The next day, however, it had thickened up considerably (the quinoa was looking squiddier than the night before), and the flavours had improved.  It had redeemed itself enough to make me want to try it again, but with the following adjustments:

- 2 apples
- more curry powder and 1 Tbs lemon juice, added to just the onions before adding the rest of the veggies
- using a more flavourful broth, as the turkey was pretty bland (possibly even -- gasp! -- bouillon cubes)

I'm making it again this week, so we'll see how it goes.

Tonight, however, my esteemed colleague Chef Ailsa Encraque helped me make deeeelicious Creamy Green Spaghetti.  She picked lots of fresh basil from our garden yesterday, peeled 2 cloves of garlic, poured in some parmesan, some toasted pine nuts (I did the toasting, of course), and some olive oil,  cracked in a bunch of pepper, and then whirred them around in our little handy blender.  Today, she chose whole wheat spaghetti noodles at the store, and I boiled it up, added (the shame!) 1/2 a packet of white cheddar cheese sauce mix, some milk and butter, and stirred in half of the pesto.  I sprinkled on the extra pine nuts and served it to the critics.

Vaughn took one bite and actually shouted, "I LOVE IT!"   He is insisting that we make it again for Chris when he comes home next.  Awww.  "Ailsa, it's really good," he repeated.  What a good big brother!  Tamsin liked it too, as indicated by her kicky feet and eyes keenly watching the fork's trip back and forth between her bowl and her mouth.

And now, for a whole weekend with no lunches to make.  And peanut butter at every meal!  Huzzah!


* Literally.  I drove him to Toronto.  Ok, it's only for 10 months.  With many, many weekend visits.  But still.

** note to self:  look up "oeuvre" and make sure it means "extremely mediocre dish, lacking in flavour"

DG Soups it Up

In an effort to re-create the best soup I've ever tasted, I bought a can of coconut milk.

Lettuce back up: we went out for Date Night about a week ago... the first date we've had since the martini party (woo), and boy, were we overdue.

We chose Fraser Cafe for location (staggering distance of our house...well, it's a 15-minute stagger, but it counts...) and reputation. We decided to invest saved cab fare into extra awesomeness, and it didn't disappoint.

The kick-off was a silky smooth sweet potato soup - unbelievable texture and flavour. SO good.

Now, far be it from me to think I could ever cook like these guys. Their resumes include Domus, Beckta, and Café Boulud in NY. Mine includes an embarrassing 6-month stint at Tim Hortons, during which time I decided to quit before I got fired, because really, who can mess up Tim Hortons coffee?

Me. I can. And I did, repeatedly. And people who haven't had their coffee yet aren't very kind or understanding.

But I digress. And I present, for your consideration:

Faux Fraser Soup, à la Domestic Goddess

1 Tbs butter

1/2 onion, diced

3 small sweet potatoes, diced

2-3 cups chicken stock

1 can coconut milk

1 1/2 tsp red curry paste (or to taste)

2 kaffir lime leaves

salt

I melted the tablespoon (ish/give or take) of butter till it was bubbly, added the onion and sweet potatoes and let it all golden-ize (actual culinary term, or something) for about 5 minutes. Then I poured in chicken stock (not homemade this time, alas - forgot to take it out of the freezer to defrost) to cover, and let it simmer for about 8 more minutes. I pureed it with my handy blender, added a can of lite (not light, for some reason) coconut milk, the red curry paste, pureed it again, then threw in two kaffir lime leaves that I had lying about (thanks to TP#2). And a pinch of salt.

And voilà. Smooth. Silky. Flavourful, but not too spicy. Divine? Well, it's close.

I rock.

(but don't ask me to make coffee)

DG: A Weekend of Domesticking

DGK rides again!

This is written from one week in the future, I am very sad to say. I have no access to my blog from my new job. Or to my gmail account. Luckily, though, I am able to fill most of my work hours doing work, which is very novel to me, and kind of fun. For now.

But enough about that! What, you ask, has Karen-in-the-Kitchen been up to?

More than you could imagine, actually. I'm kicking myself for not photographing the Todd-and-Erin dinner of Friday night, in which I made a fantastic triple-veggie-cheese dip as an appetizer, chicken breasts stuffed with roasted peppers, zucchini, pesto, and mozzarella (His Huffness did the stuffing, but I did everything else, including the pesto, from scratch), roasted carrots, parsnips, and leeks; and Chris made this neat rice with pine nuts and spinach, which he also made for me on our 2nd official date (there was a bonus date between the first and the second, but we agreed that one doesn't count), in which he totally impressed me -- in fact, I was pretty sure that I'd marry him after that meal).

For dessert: individual molten lava cakes (another Donna Hay creation; buy the book), garnished with dark chocolate and raspberries, and looking pretty much like the photo from her book, right. I even impressed myself.

Until later that night, actually, when I slammed my thumb in a door, but then couldn't remember which door... mmm, wine. Lots and lots of mmm....wine.

Where was I?

Oh, yes. My weekend of domesticking.

Chris had to work all day Saturday, then had a mess dinner at night, so I thought I'd dedicate myself to practicing my new aerobics releases (they're awesome!!!) and cooking ahead for the freezer.

I give, for your consideration, a soup!

Saturday evening's first oeuvre is to the left. Rich and creamy (yet moderately low in fat), you see a velvety root vegetable soup with figs. Oven-roasted carrots, parsnips and rutabaga were pureed with some ginger, sauteed onion, a few figs and skim milk to create a delicious autumn taste. The finishing touch: a dollop of sour cream and some chopped figs as garnish. Magnifique! Chris has even approved it for the first course of Thanksgiving dinner next week.

Once this was cooling on the stove, I switched modes to Karen-the-Baker. I pulled out my Eat, Shrink and Be Merry cookbook, which I highly recommend. Not only is it full of puns and delicious, healthy food, but they promise to respond to every single email they receive. I checked it out for myself last year, when I made "Marla's Maple Pork" from their Crazy Plates; it was so good that I wrote them fan mail, and I got a response before the day was out! Incredible. Unsolicited sales pitch: for a taste of the background principles (and general silliness), click here. Then buy their books (available at all major book stores)!!! Ok, back to me. I made the Bran New World muffins. Yum again! However, a tip to fibre-challenged types: one a day is plenty.

Finally (it being a bit past 10 pm), I set to work prep-cooking. I trimmed the stew beef, cut up carrots, potatoes and onions, and mixed everything up in the slow-cooker, to be turned on, bright and early Sunday morning. Sunday morning I was neither; who am I kidding?

Anyhoo, I got up just before 10, plugged it in, added the tomato paste, beef broth, and bay leaf, and left it to do its thing till 6:30, when voila! A hearty meal of home-cooked stew, complete with whole wheat scratch biscuits.

My goodness, can it get any better?

Well, this Saturday, hungover, I made a beautiful chocolate brownie trifle for Nat-and-Mario's housewarming.

(But, you ask, how could you have constructed such a fabulous dessert with a nearly broken thumb, a pounding headache, and a queasy stomach?)

Easy, sez I. 'Twas but a trifle.