Rice and Potato Soup

We love soups! After all the measuring, peeling, chopping, and stirring, they are worth it. I usually end up with enough soup for two or three days which allows me do something else apart from making dinner.

 

rice and potato soup

Rice and Potato Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
10 cups chicken broth
1 cup long grain brown rice
salt
pepper

In a deep pot, cook the potatoes in the olive oil, turning occasionally, until brown, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots, onions, and celery; cook 2 – 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in garlic.

Pour chicken broth into pot; heat to a boil, then turn down and simmer for 40 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Add rice and cook 12 minutes, or until rice is tender. Serves 4.

For the dairy crowd: sprinkle some Romano or Parmesan cheese on top.

Happy Sundae Day!

Sometimes a person just needs to indulge his or her sweet tooth, and this is one of those times. Sundaes come in many flavors, but hot fudge is my favorite. Warm, gooey chocolate atop a scoop of creamy, rich vanilla Tofutti…yum! I would have whipped some soy cream, sprinkle some chopped nuts and added a cherry on top to make it a proper sundae, but it didn’t last long enough once I tasted the sauce. My modified version of Nancy Siverton’s hot fudge sauce recipe from Food & Wine turned out incredibly decadent. Enjoy!

hot fudge sauce

Hot Fudge Sauce

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tablespoon instant espresso granules
2 tablespoons Kahlua®

Melt chopped chocolate. Keep warm until ready to use.

In another pan, bring sugar, corn syrup, water, cocoa powder and instant espresso to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly to dissolve cocoa powder and sugar and to prevent burning on bottom of pan.

Whisk in melted chocolate. Boil hot fudge for few minutes to achieve the consistency you desire. Cool slightly and beat in Kahlua. Makes 2 cups.

spoonful

Cranberry-Orange Muffins

Beside the fact that cranberries are good for you, they supply beautiful color and a festive spirit. I love cranberries! In this recipe, I used turbinado sugar which gave the muffins a slightly denser texture and a crunchier topping. Regular white sugar will result in a lighter muffin and a more distinct orange taste-I like both. I, also, used a “Texas-size” muffin tin, but a standard size would work fine, just adjust the cooking time to 15 – 17 minutes.

cranberry orange muffin

Cranberry Orange Muffins

1 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange peel
2 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons Rumford baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup safflower or canola oil
1/2 cup orange juice
2 eggs

Topping:
Cut 2 tablespoons cold margarine into 2 tablespoons pecan meal, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup flour.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease large muffin pan. Mix cranberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and grated orange peel; set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, mix oil, juice, and eggs; pour into dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Add cranberries. Scoop into prepared pan; sprinkle with topping. Bake 22 – 25 minutes. Makes 6 large muffins.

Apple Pancakes

Because I am cooking for just the two of us now, I am trying to find recipes that can be scaled down, and it isn’t always easy. This recipe called for three eggs, I used two-splitting eggs is not not my style-which changed the consistency, but I liked it.

This recipe is very sweet. Unless you need that sugar-high in the morning, this would be much better served as a dessert.

apple pancake

Apple Pancakes

2 tablespoons Earth Balance® Margarine
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 cup vanilla rice milk
1/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 450°F. In a small ovenproof skillet with curved sides, melt 1 tablespoon of margarine. Add the sliced apples, cook over medium heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar and stir.

In a small bowl, mix the cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, salt, rice milk, and flour together. Pour the batter over the apples in the skillet. Place skillet in oven and bake until puffy, about 10 minutes, remove from oven and dot with remaining tablespoon of margarine. Sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar mixture over the margarine. Bake an additional 10 minutes or more, until top is browned. Remove from pan and sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Serves 2.

Potato Soup

If there is potato soup on the restaurant menu, it is almost always made with milk or cream-so far I haven’t found a place that doesn’t serve it that way-and I like potato soup! After several attempts with different recipes, I came up with my own version that you will, hopefully, find as easy to make and as incredibly delicious as I do.

potato soup

Potato Soup

4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium celery stalk, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Pour olive oil into a medium saucepan; add onion, celery, and carrots, and cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring. Add potatoes, broth, salt, pepper, and 2 cups water; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

In blender at low speed, with center part of cover removed to allow steam to escape, blend potato mixture in small batches until smooth. Pour puréed soup into bowl after each batch.

Return soup to saucepan; heat through over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Serve with a warm crusty baguette.

Hot Chocolate

Sitting in front of a crackling fire with a mug of rich dark cocoa evokes such a warm feeling inside and out. But to enjoy hot cocoa or hot chocolate without milk or cream creates a challenge. So I experimented. I started with bittersweet chocolate and boiling water, but it was too strong. Then, I added a little vanilla flavoring and a teaspoon of sugar; it had a rich chocolate taste but I missed the creaminess of milk. (I think I am beginning to sound like Goldilocks-too strong, too chocolatey….) On to the next bed, I mean cup. I added some unsweetened vanilla almond milk to the chocolate mixture I already had, and it was just right.

hot chocolate

Hot Chocolate

1 ounce Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 teaspoon sugar
dash of vanilla, optional

Heat the water and almond milk until it simmers. Pour over chopped chocolate mixed with a teaspoon of sugar; whisk together. Serves 2. Enjoy!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I used to call these cupcakes spice muffins so my children would eat these, but I didn’t need to do that, they loved them anyway. Even though they like what I bake, they think my mom bakes the best carrot cake in the world, and we use the same recipe!

carrot cupcakes

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

1 ¾ cup unbleached flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup wheat germ
2 cups turbinado sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 lb carrots, peeled
1 ½ cups canola or safflower oil
4 large eggs

Put carrots, oil and eggs in blender; blend until smooth. Pour into mixing bowl. Add sugar, vanilla and dry ingredients; mix well. Pour into greased muffin tins. Bake at 350˚ for 18 -20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool. Makes 24 cupcakes.

carrot cake

Or use two small loaf pans for cake!

Oatmeal

National Oatmeal Day!

oatmeal and chopped apples

Celebrate this healthy day with a warm bowl of oatmeal topped with a touch of margarine and sprinkled with chopped apples and dark brown sugar. Yum!

Pumpkin Muffins

Happy Pumpkin Day!

In celebration of Pumpkin Day I made some pumpkin muffins. And because there never seems to be enough chocolate in my life, I added chocolate chips to half the batter. I hope you enjoy these moist, flavorful muffins as much as I do.

pumpkin muffin

Pumpkin Muffins

2 3/4 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup turbinado and 1 cup white sugar)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 (16-ounce) can pumpkin
1 bag Sunspire Bittersweet chocolate chips

Note: I used 1 cup of homemade apple butter instead of the applesauce and spices, and it turned out wonderfully.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl.
Combine eggs, sugar, applesauce, and pumpkin.
Add to dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Bake 18 – 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool on rack.

“Buttermilk” Biscuits

Okay, these are really not made with buttermilk, but they taste just as good. I made the apple butter and thought, “I need biscuits to put this on.” so, I found a buttermilk biscuit recipe and used vanilla rice milk instead. These turned out light, fluffy, and incredibly delicious.

"buttermilk" biscuit

Skillet Biscuits

2 cups unbleached flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup Earth Balance margarine, chilled
3/4 – 1 cup vanilla rice milk
2 tablespoons margarine for skillet
2 tablespoons margarine, melted

"buttermilk" biscuits

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Stir together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
Cut 1/4 cup margarine into flour mixture until crumbly.
Stir in rice milk until moistened.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to 3/4-inch thickness.
With a round cutter or drinking glass, cut out biscuits. (I used a 2 1/2-inch cutter and got about 10 biscuits)
Place 2 tablespoons of margarine in a cast-iron skillet and place in oven until margarine is melted.
Remove pan from oven. Add biscuits and bake for 18 – 20 minutes. Brush 2 tablespoons melted margarine over the top of the baked biscuits.