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Peruvian Quinoa Chowder

Peruvian Quinoa Chowder

  Cue the pan flutes, or, better yet, throw on an Yma Sumac CD. (If you don’t have a Sumac CD, here is a link: Yma Sumac. Sumac was a 1950’s Peruvian vocal phenom with an amazing five octave vocal range and a legendary temper that befitted…

Zucchini: An embarrassment of riches

Zucchini: An embarrassment of riches

    Stop me if you have heard this one. A neighbor walks into his backyard. Innocently, he plants a generous row of zucchini seeds in his garden. Almost overnight, he has pretty green plants. Then, one morning, to his delight and amazement, there is…

Cream of Carrot Soup Chez Claude

Cream of Carrot Soup Chez Claude

 

My friend Sarah said to put this recipe on Blue Cayenne. Believe me, when Sarah gets that insistent tone in her voice, Blue Cayenne listens.

I’ve been making this gorgeous (and delicious!) soup for a very long time. This recipe was adapted from one that  first appeared in Gourmet Magazine in 1977.  I’ve added a few extra carrots over the years. 1977! That’s forty-one years ago. Whoa!

In the great scheme of things, forty-one years is a drop in the bucket soup pot. Research done by John Speth, Emeritus Anthropology Professor at The  University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), points to evidence that soup first became a part of the human diet at least twenty-five thousand years ago. That’s a real whoa!

Speth believes that early man dug holes in the ground, lined them with animal skins, filled these “pots” with liquids and other ingredients, and cooked the whole thing by dropping in hot rocks. It was the earliest incarnation of the Instant Pot, I guess.  Later, heat-proof pottery vessels were used.

The word “soup” is a product of more modern European times, evolving as it did from the practice of using a piece of bread to sop up broths and stews–the word sop became soup. Bread was a necessary accoutrement since soup was typically served on the same plate with other foods. At other times, soup was served in a common bowl that was passed around for a common slurp. (Let’s not spend too much time pondering the hygienic ramifications of that practice. Yuck.)

Sixteenth and seventeenth century fashion also impacted soup history. When fashionistas began wearing stiff collars called ruffs, drinking soup out of a bowl (or off a plate) became an even more messy proposition and the soup spoon came into common usage. Spoons weren’t exactly new; they had been around since Pharaonic times, but their use had been primarily ceremonial– a symbol of wealth and power. In the beginning, spoons were a class thing in Europe, too, with the elites using silver spoons or utensils crafted from other valuable materials. Later, cheap spoons for the masses– made out of cow horns, wood, brass and pewter– were adopted. Interestingly, it was common to travel with one’s own utensils.

At about the same time, the practice of selling restorative concentrations of liquid (soups) caught the public’s fancy. Soup was now seen as a health food. It restored flagging energy and the public places where one ate soup were called restaurants.  A little later, in the 1800s, so-called “pocket soups” were popularized. Pocket soups were dehydrated soups that could be easily carried and reconstituted.

More recently, soup became the easy-to-prepare everyman’s food when Campbell’s introduced unrefrigerated condensed soups in the late 19th century followed by the introduction of a seemingly-endless number of soup varieties. (Minestrone with Kale anyone?)

It was probably inevitable that a creative would eventually come along to chronicle the ubiquitous role soup had played  in western society. Enter Andy Warhol with his pop-art homages to Campbell’s soups.

 

But let’s get back to the present and our recipe for Cream of Carrot Soup Chez Claude.

This velvet-smooth gourmet soup has stood the test of time in my kitchen. Best served the day after it is made when the flavors have had a chance to bloom, this soup is good enough to serve to guests but it is also a great self-indulgent way to wind down after a tough day.

If you do serve it to guests, be sure everyone checks their ruffs at the door. Carrot soup stains are the worst!

 

 

Cream of Vegetable Soup Chez Claude
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Ingredients

  • 2 Large potatoes (peeled)
  • 2 Leeks (white parts only, sliced)
  • 2 Stalks celery (chopped)
  • 1 Onion (chopped)
  • 3-4 Large carrots (chopped)
  • 1 Green bell pepper (chopped)
  • 8 Cups vegetable broth
  • 1/2-1 C. heavy cream
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Additional cream for garnish and/or minced parsley

Instructions

  1. Prepare vegetables, put them in a large soup pot and sweat them over a moderately low heat for 8 minutes covered with a piece of buttered wax paper and a lid.
  2. Add 8 cups of mild vegetable broth. Bring the soup to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer the soup over a low heat for 30 to 40 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
  3. Cool the soup a bit and then puree. Add cream to your taste. Garnish with additional cream and/or minced parsley. Add salt and pepper to your taste.

Nutrition

Calories

1869 cal

Fat

173 g

Carbs

71 g

Protein

16 g
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info
7.8.1.2
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)

 

 

Apricot Crumble Cake

Apricot Crumble Cake

Apricots evoke strong emotions. For poet John Ruskin, they conjured up a visual and tactile beauty. He described them as “shining in a sweet brightness of golden velvet.” For Chilean novelist Isabel Allende, theirs was a melancholy comfort. She wrote: “At the most difficult moments…

Yes! Another Banana Cake

Yes! Another Banana Cake

  Banana cake. Cream cheese frosting. Chopped pecans. This is a great banana cake. You may even want to eat the frosting by the spoonful. I did.   OK. That’s a fair criticism. I have posted a number of banana cake and bread recipes on…

You’re Invited For Trader Joe’s  Dip

You’re Invited For Trader Joe’s Dip

 

You know the feeling.

There is casual remark among your group of friends and some knowing laughter. Gradually, it dawns on you.

There was a party. You weren’t invited.

That’s the way I felt with this recipe. Apparently a whole lot of people know about this Trader Joe’s bruschetta dip and have served it at parties forever. I’ve never had it, though. I figure that some of you may have been left out of the loop, too. So, here is the recipe.

It is very good, very substantial and very satisfying for a party dip. It is quick to prepare, too.

Who woulda thought of throwing lentils into a dip? Genius.

 

TJ Dip
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Ingredients

  • 7 1/4 oz. (1/2 container) Trader Giotto's Fresh Bruschetta Sauce or homemade
  • 9 oz. (1/2 container) Trader Joe's Steamed Brown Lentils (TJ Ready to Eat Lentils or cook your own)
  • 3 oz. Crumbled Feta
  • Juice from 1/2 of a Fresh Lemon
  • 1/4 C. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Kosher Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix thoroughly.
  2. Serve garnished with a pretty cherry tomato and a sprig of basil and accompanied by tortilla chips, pita chips or slices of French Bread.
7.8.1.2
137
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Apricots!

Apricots!

    JOIN ME FOR THE WAVE! IT’S STONE FRUIT SEASON, PEOPLE!               In my mind, it doesn’t get better than stone fruit season–ripe as it is with the promise of baking and aromas and pleasurable eating, but, alas,…

Gorgonzola-Baked Fennel and Cannellini Bean Salad

Gorgonzola-Baked Fennel and Cannellini Bean Salad

It takes a neighborhood and sometimes a bicycle! This salad recipe is adapted from Hetty McKinnon’s salad cookbook Neighborhood. McKinnon is an Australian cook who currently lives in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn but has hung her hat in the Mediterranean, Asia and France.…

A simple Strawberry Tart for a lazy summer day

A simple Strawberry Tart for a lazy summer day

 

Brilliant red strawberries picked at the peak of their ripeness floating on a bed of creamy mascarpone and suspended over a crisp rye flour crust…

You need this tart.

We are on the cusp of strawberry season here in California and this easy-peasy (and indulgent) strawberry tart is a perfect recipe for those lazy days of early summer when it is a chore to so much as peel a carrot. You know those idyllic days. You switch off the phone. You find a warm corner in your sunny summer garden where you slip off your shoes, rub your toes in the warm garden soil, and take a few yoga-ish deep breaths of the fresh garden air. Undisturbed (except for for the occasional plucky hummingbird whizzing by), you read a good book–for hours. Then you take a nap. (Feel free to substitute your own summer fantasy here. This one works for me every time.)

 

This recipe is adapted from Yossy Arefi’s Sweeter Off The Vine. You can buy the book on Amazon. Here is the linkAmazon.

 

 

Simple Strawberry Tart
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Ingredients

    For the Rye Crust
  • 2/3 C. all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 C. rye flour
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1 1/2 t. apple cider vinegar
  • 9 T. very cold unsalted butter (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
  • 1 large egg (lightly beaten--for egg wash)
  • For the Tart
  • 1 C. mascarpone (at room temperature)
  • 3 T. granulated sugar
  • 1 pound small, sweet strawberries
  • 3 T. high-quality strawberry jam

Instructions

  1. To make the crust, whisk all-purpose and rye flours together with the salt.
  2. Add cold butter to flour mixture and mix in your food processor until the flour butter mixture looks like coarse meal with some pea-sized lumps of butter.
  3. Mix apple cider vinegar with 5 T. ice water. Sprinkle 3 T. of the cold vinegar-water mixture over the flour mixture and pulse in your food processor until the dough begins to come together. If your flour mixture is too dry, add in more of the cold water-vinegar mixture. (I did.) Your dough is finished when you can squeeze it together in your hand and it doesn't fall apart. My dough actually began to form a ball in my food processor.
  4. Form the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours.
  5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  6. Using a lightly-floured piece of parchment paper, roll out the dough into an oval shape that measures about 15 inches by 6 inches and is 1/4-inch thick. Trim the edges of the dough with a knife to make a rectangle with straight sides. Place the dough (still on the parchment paper) on a rimless baking sheet. Dock the crust with a fork and brush the dough with the egg wash.
  7. Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees F.. Check the dough halfway through baking to see if it has formed any bubbles on the surface of the dough. If it has, use a spatula to press them flat. Cool the crust completely in the pan. When the crust is completely cool, ease it out of the pan and off the parchment paper onto a serving plate.
  8. To prepare the tart, combine the mascarpone and 2 T. sugar. Mascarpone should be at room temperature so that it mixes and spreads easily. Spread the mascarpone on top of the cooled crust. Put strawberry jam on top of the mascarpone and spread the jam across the mascarpone with a spatula. Top the mascarpone/jam layer with a layer of sliced strawberries. Arrange the strawberries in a decorative pattern with the edges of the strawberries slightly overlapping. Sprinkle the remaining 1 T. sugar on top of the strawberries.
  9. Slice and serve. This tart is best when eaten shortly after assembling.
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Dear Meghan. It shoulda been banana cake.

Dear Meghan. It shoulda been banana cake.

  Dear Meghan. You are one lucky girl. Movie star good looks. Handsome prince. Loaded grandmother-in-law. But why didn’t you put that elegant little foot down and insist on a real cake for your wedding? What was it with that frou-frou elderflower cake anyhow? I know.,…