Irish Yellow Broth

Irish Yellow Broth

Irish yellow soup is a traditional irish soup that is one of my family's new favorites. Very simple to make, this soup is thickened with and given its flavor by steel-cut oats.  I promise, you will not even taste the oats. They take on the flavor of all the wonderful vegetables and stock. This recipe helps use up left over vegetables in the fridge, as well.  I served with fresh cut fruit and homemade rolls. 

  Ingredients:

4 TBS olive oil or butter

2 onions, minced

2 celery stalks,  minced

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 potatoes, finely chopped

4 TBS all purpose flour

8 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1/2 cup medium steel cut oats

3 cups chopped kale or spinach

4 TBSp cream (optional)

salt and freshly ground pepper

chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

Directions:

1.  Heat the oil or butter in a large saucepan.  Add the onion, celery, carrot and potato, and kale and cook for 2 minutes, or until the onion begins to become soft.

2.  Stir in the flour and cook slowly for 1 minute longer, stirring constantly.  Pour in the stock and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender. 

3.  Stir in the oats and cook for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally.   Turn off the heat and allow to sit for 30 minute.  When serving, add the cream and season well with salt and pepper.  Garnish with parsley.  

I am so thankful to live in one of the prettiest places on earth.  

             We turn toward love like sunflowers to the sun, and then the human part kicks in.

                                                                                - Anne Lamott

            Perhaps everything terrible is, in its deepest being, something that needs our love.
                                                                                -Rainer Maria Rilke

Kale Salad even the Kids Love

Kale Salad even the Kids Love

Kale Salad with garlic lime dressing

Ingredients:

5-6 cups de-ribbed, finely chopped, curly kale

1 and 1/2 limes, juiced

3 TBS olive oil

1 TBS soy sauce

1/8 tsp nam pla (fish sauce)

a dash of saracha 

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1 TBS brown sugar, or equivalent sugar base

1 clove garlic, grated finely

1 carrot, grated finely

With your hands, mix the above ingredients together in a bowl, ensuring that the kale is well massaged.  Doing this breaks down the sometimes tough leaves of the kale, leaving the kale crunchy but deliciously edible!

"It (hope) is not so much about believing the impossible but believing that, because our knowledge is limited, there may be many possibilities of which we have not conceived. It is about leaving room for the improbable or at least the unproven; actually, not just leaving room, but actively making room. It is the daring act of staking a claim in the unprovable.  That is what makes it hope rather than optimism, because it is active."

                                               - Denise Inge, taken from the book A Tour of Bones

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

                                             

Black Bean Cakes

Great Black Bean Cakes 

(Finally, and thank you Cook's magazine chefs)

Ingredients

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

2 large eggs

2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

4 scallions, minced

3 Tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon hot sauce (optional, but I use Siracha sauce)

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup tortilla chips, crushed

8 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Hamburger buns ( or just eat plain with the chipotle corn sauce)

Directions

Triple line a baking sheet with paper towels and spread the beans over them.  Allow to stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and flour in a large bowl.  Stir in the scallions, cilantro, garlic, cumin, hot sauce, coriander, salt and pepper until well combined. 

Process the tortilla chips in a food processor until well combined.  Add the beans and pulse 5 times.  Transfer the beans and tortilla chips to the egg mixture and combine well. Cover and refrigerate for 1-24 hours.

Heat 2 tsp of the oil in a non-stick skillet.  Arrange the bean mixture into firmly packed balls, about 8 all together.  Flatten out to 3 inch patties and fry in the oil, adding oil each time you flip.  Each side should take close to five minutes. 

Chipotle corn sauce:

Dry fry 2 cups of corn, cool and add 

3 Tablespoons plain yogurt

3 Tablespoons mayonaise

2 tsp minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp Siracha sauce

I love to stack 2 cakes and then heap on corn sauce and cilantro.



"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
                                                             - Aristotle

Warm Apple Salad

Warm Apple Salad

Ingredients

2 apples

2 red or white onions

2 red skinned potatoes

1 squash, any winter variety

olive oil

sea salt flakes

3 oz walnuts 

3/4 cup whole oat groats (you can find in any health food store) or substitute wheat berries

1 3/4 cup water

1 vegetable bouillon cube

2 Tablespoons berry flavored balsamic vinegar

freshly ground pepper

baby spinach, red chard, or arugula

5 oz blue cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cut the apples, onions and potatoes into wedges. Cut the squash into smaller chunks.  Coat with 2 tsp olive oil and salt.  Lay out on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes.  When 10 minutes of time remain, add the walnuts. When finished, cover with foil to keep warm. 

Boil the groats in the water with bouillon for 12 minutes. Allow to sit for 10 minutes and add the the balsamic and the remaining oil. 

Arrange the lettuce on plate.  Mix the groat mixture with the vegetables and pour evenly over the lettuce.  Season with salt and pepper. Top with crumbled blue cheese. Serves 4. 

"I see a generation of people ON THE HOOK.  Man, we are tough on one another, starting with ourselves.  When Jesus said to "love your neighbor as yourself," I don't think He meant judgmentally; but that is exactly how we treat our own souls, so it bleeds out to others.  Folks who thrive in God's grace give grace easily, but the self-critical person becomes others-critical.  We "love" people the way we "love" ourselves, and if we are not good enough, then no one is."

                                             - Jen Hatmaker,  For the Love

Sour Dough Bread

     I have spent time over the last six months testing and compiling recipes to share with you. I am so excited!  In addition to cooking, my life has been a whirlwind of kids' events, work, and trying to keep a peaceful house and marriage (sometimes, not too organized OR peaceful).  So, when I share my recipes and thoughts with you, be encouraged to stop for a few minutes each day and taste something savory and healthy.

     I have been enlightened on numerous occasions this year with friends that have come into our lives and continue to be in our lives.   I have read books that revitalize me, books that make me laugh, and books that leave me haunted and sorrowful, but thankful to be alive. I will share some of these amazing experiences with you. I have been reminded to take the time to connect with others.  Food and drink are great bonding enablers. Go ahead, break bread and sip with those you love. 

Easy Dutch Oven Sour Dough

     I love this recipe!  It is so easy.  Virtually NO EFFORT.  The results are a wonderful-crispy outer crust and a soft, springy middle.  Try to time the results so you can eat the loaf warm (this is the hardest part of the recipe- 22 hours from start to finish).  The bread is fine one day later to cut and toast, as well.  

     Ingredients

     

     17 1/2 ounces of bread flour, plus extra (about 4 1/4 cups)  I have used whole wheat flour, a combination of white and whole wheat, and even added wheat germ and nutritional yeast to the bread. I would start simple for your first go around.

     1/4 teaspoon active-dry yeast

     2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

     12 ounces of filtered water

     2 Tablespoons cornmeal

     Directions

     Whisk the flour, yeast and salt together in a large mixing bowl until well combined.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 19 hours.

     After 19 hours, turn the dough on a floured surface and punch down a few times.  Cover with a towel for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, shape the dough into a ball.  Place on the towel and sprinkle cornmeal over it until the ball is covered.   Close up the towel and allow the dough to rise for 2-3 hours. 

     Near the end of the final rising, heat the oven to 450 degrees and place the dutch oven in the oven to preheat.  Carefully transfer the dough to the oven, cover, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.