Blue Cayenne

Certain things in American life are understood. You don’t mess with Old Glory, for example, or Texas. You don’t cut off a phalanx of Hells Angels on PCH. You don’t open wrapped candy during a performance at The South Coast Repertory Theatre. You argue with an English grammarian at your own peril. And, as it turns out, you don’t ever mess with the recipe for guacamole.

The New York Times found that out the hard way when they published a recipe for guacamole with peas on Twitter back in 2015.

You read that right. Guacamole. With. Peas.

No, really.

People from around the world waded in on that one. Even President Obama got involved. In the end, the editor of the NY Times Food Page, Sam Sifton, survived the pea guacamole brouhaha and continues to defend the recipe to this day. Sifton posted this entertaining reply to his tormentors:

Sam Sifton Replies to “Guacamolegate”

So, here is my personal contribution to the guacamole challenge. This week’s recipe is for a traditional guacamole, one that was made famous by Chef Josefina Howard at the Rosa Mexicano Restaurant in Manhattan. The recipe was published in a New York Times review of Howard’s cookbook, Rosa Mexicano. (Times food writer Florence Fabricant also reviewed Diana Kennedy’s My Mexico cookbook in the same article.)

To my taste, Howard’s guacamole is everything a guacamole should be–bright clean flavors, chunks of just-ripe avocado, the bite of fresh chile pepper and red onion pounded into paste in your authentic molcajete (or just in a boring old bowl).

Stay tuned, though. Next week, I’ll give the pea guacamole a try and post the results (and recipe) here. I’ll tell you what I think and you can give the two recipes your own taste test.

As I see it, either way, I’m a big winner. Two weeks. Two big bowls of guacamole. Life is good.

Yields 2 Servings

Guacamole: Give Peas A Chance?

15 minPrep Time

15 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

• 3 T. chopped red onion
• 1/2 t. minced Serrano chili (or more, to taste)
• 1 1/2 t. finely chopped cilantro leaves
• 1/2 t. salt (or more, to taste)
• 1 small ripe tomato
• 1 ripe Hass avocado
• Juice of 1/2 a lime
• Tortilla chips for serving

Instructions

1. Mash 1 T. onion, fresh chile, 1/2 t. cilantro and salt in a bowl or Mexican lava stone molcajete.
2. Squeeze the juice out of a tomato that has been cut into two halves and remove seeds. Chop the pulp. Add to the bowl with the onion mixture.
3. Cut the ripe avocado in half. Use a sharp knife to slice the avocado of both halves lengthwise, then crosswise, cutting down to the skin, to form a grid. Scoop the avocado into the bowl with the other ingredients.
4. Add the remaining onion and cilantro to the bowl along with the juice of 1/2 a lime and gently mix.
5. Season with more chili and salt to taste. Garnish with extra tomato, cilantro and thinly-sliced red onion.
6. Serve at once with tortilla chips

Notes

I used a jalapeño chile in my guacamole rather than a Serrano chile.

Nutrition

Calories

62 cal

Carbs

14 g

Protein

2 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

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https://bluecayenne.com/guacamole-give-peas-chance

Here is the link to the NY Times guacamole recipe used in this post:

Rosa Mexicano Restaurant Recipe for Guacamole

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What’s not to love about broccoli?

First, it is not kale.  (I rest my case.)

Second…no wait! Gimme a moment. I can think of something. Really.

Love it or hate it, nobody, it seems, takes a neutral position about broccoli. In fact, there are some very interesting theories why some people hate broccoli. It is not their fault. Here is an interesting link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/evolution/Why-we-hate-broccoli.html

Nutrition scientists don’t mince words about broccoli’s nutritional benefits either . Broccoli, they remind us, is high in fiber, vitamins C and K, iron, and potassium and has more protein than most other vegetables. On top of that, a cup of broccoli has 31 calories. Wow!

So, the next time you have an opportunity to grab a fresh bunch of broccoli, why not make  this wonderful rich soup?

This soup is touted on any number of sites as a “take” on Panera Restaurant’s broccoli cheese soup served in a bread bowl. That bread bowl concept sounds pretty good to me, but, absent a boule of bread appropriate for the occasion, I decided to serve this beautiful soup in a traditional bowl.

This soup is an adaptation of a recipe from an inspired blog named Averie Cooks. The link to the original recipe appears at the end of this post.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

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Ingredients

• 1 T. plus 4 T. unsalted butter (divided)
• 1 medium onion cut into small dice
• 1 clove garlic (diced)
• 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
• 2 C. vegetable broth
• 2 C. half and half
• 3 C. broccoli florets (diced into bite-sized pieces)
• 2 large carrots peeled and sliced into thin rounds
• 3/4 t. salt (or to taste)
• 3/4 t. freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 t. smoked paprika (optional or to taste)
• 1/2 t, dry mustard powder (optional or to taste)
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 8 ounces of high quality extra-sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan. Sauté onion in the butter over medium heat for approximately five minutes while stirring intermittently. Onion should just be beginning to brown.
2. Add garlic to the onion mixture and cook for about one more minute. Be careful that garlic doesn't burn. Set onion/garlic mixture aside.
3. Using a large pan, melt 4 T. butter. Add flour and cook over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes, whisking constantly. You want mixture to thicken.
4. Slowly add vegetable broth to the butter mixture, whisking constantly. Then, slowly whisk half and half into the mixture. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until reduced and thickened. Whisk mixture occasionally.
5. Add chopped broccoli, carrots and onion/garlic mixture to the roux. Add salt, pepper, optional paprika, optional dry mustard powder and optional cayenne.
6. Simmer soup over low heat for 20-25 minutes or until it has reduced and thickened. Whisk while the soup is simmering. After simmering for 20-25 minutes, add most of the cheese. Stir until cheese has melted and is incorporated fully into the soup
7. Garnish soup with reserved grated cheese and smoked paprika.

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https://bluecayenne.com/broccoli-cheese-soup

Here is the link to the original recipe:

https://www.averiecooks.com/2015/01/best-broccoli-cheese-soup-better-panera-copycat.html

Sad.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).  That kind of sad.

That’s what I think has been causing my sense of self worth to crater for the last week. Those menacing dark clouds and torrential rains may have nourished my garden, but they sure tipped my mood toward melancholia.

When I’m blue, I get food cravings. Big ones. Often, it is refried beans–straight out of the can. More times than I want to admit, it’s been gorgonzola. This week’s craving has been for oatmeal cookies–a  favorite indulgence from my childhood. As a little girl, I could put away a whole package of those crisp flat oatmeal cookies that came right off the supermarket shelves.

Lest I feel guilty about my cookie indulgence,  I want to say up front: oats are good for you! I know. I know. It’s a cookie. But still.

Sages from the ages, Hippocrates and Galen among them,  have noted the healing properties inherent in oats, giving oats credit for everything from curing a cold to acting as a desiccant for the skin. More recently, scientific evidence has identified oat and oat bran consumption as an effective tool in the fight against heart disease.

Despite long-held beliefs that oats were a part of a healthy human diet, the early cultivation of oats was skewed towards feed grain for animals. In fact, until the 19th century, only the Irish and the Scots incorporated oats as a regular and significant part of their diets.

According to a publication about oats by The American Association of Cereal Chemists (Yes. There is such a group.), the consumption of oats by the Scots led to a dust up of sorts with the English. The AACC credits Sir Walter Scott with chronicling the details of that English-Scottish tiff and with uncovering what is undoubtedly history’s most famous quotation about oats. According to Scott, the renowned English writer Samuel Johnson, in a moment of puerility, described oats as “a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.” Johnson’s slur drew blood in Scotland and a prominent Scottish nobleman, Lord Elibank, responded to Johnson’s insult with a bit of trash talk, replying:  “True, but where can you find such horses, where such men?” Take that, Samuel Johnson!

So, it goes to figure that it was Scottish settlers who brought oats to North America. Interestingly, because oats were believed to be a food for the infirm, most oatmeal was sold in pharmacies in those early days  Gradually, oats got a reputation as a healthy breakfast cereal for broader public consumption and was moved to the grocery aisles.

Here is a very good recipe for oatmeal cookies. It’s easy. It’s quick. There are lots of healthy oats. You’ll feel better.

Me? It’s drizzling here this morning but, sitting here with a plate of warm cookies, a steaming hot cup of tea, and a dozing sweet Juliet in my lap, I’m seeing nothing but blue skies. Life is good.

The original recipe appeared on the AllRecipes site. A link to that recipe appears at the end of this post.

Oatmeal Cookies

20 minPrep Time

15 minCook Time

35 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

• 1 C. softened butter
• 1 C. brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1/2 C. white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 t. vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1 t. salt
• 3 C. quick-cooking oats
• 1 C. chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar together in a large bowl. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each egg is added. Add vanilla. (I used my Kitchen Aid standing mixer with its paddle attachment for this step.)
3. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Add this dry mixture gradually to the butter/egg mixture. Add oats and walnuts. Mix until just blended.
4. Drop heaping teaspoonfuls of cookie dough onto the cookie sheets. Allow two inches between each cookie to allow the cookies to spread while cooking.
5. Bake at 325 degrees F. for fifteen minutes or until cookies are beginning to turn a light brown and are firming up. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

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https://bluecayenne.com/oatmeal-cookies-trash-talking-scotsman

Here is the link to the original recipe:

Excellent Oatmeal Cookies