The Immersion Blender

This Christmas I received one of my kitchen dream toys....The Immersion Blender from Tim's parents. Right after Christmas I ran to my favorite soup cookbook "The Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special" and found the spicy carrot peanut soup recipe I love. I also used the great chopper attachment for my blender that Nancy (Tim's mom) had given me a couple of months ago. The immersion blender was fantastic.

Spicy Carrot Peanut Soup

1Tbl oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 pounds of carrots, peeled and sliced

1 celery stock, thinly sliced

1 ts salt

1 ts chili paste

6 cups water or chicken broth

2 Tbl peanut butter

3 Tbl soy sauce

2 Tble lime juice

In a soup pot on medium heat, warm the oil and add the onions, carrots, celery, salt and chili paste. Saute on high heat for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the water or broth, cover, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until carrots are soft, about 25 minutes. Stir peanut butter, soy sauce, and lime juice. With the Immersion Blender or a blender of your choice puree the soup and reheat if necessary. Serve with lime wedges.

Chopping the carrots

I'm like Spiderman with a blender.

Seriously, blending this soup was so much fun.

Up close and personal.

Looking at the underside of the blender.

The finished product.

Pumpkin Carving Day!!!

My pumpkin.

Root vegetables cut and roasted with olive oil and salt and pepper for 30-40 minutes at 400.

Garlic, Beets, Carrots, Yams and Golden Beets

Made a puree with turnips, parsnips, sweet potato. Added puree to base of shallots, roasted garlic, celery and veggie stock.

Put soup in pumpkin and baked at 350 for 35 minutes.

Tim carving his pumpkin.

Our table setting with the runner I made for Thanksgiving last year and the new fiestaware plates Tim's mom just gave us.

The finished pumpkins.

Ready Or Not Here Comes Fall....

Lentil Sausage Soup

2-14 oz cans of broth (chicken)

1-2 cup(s) of water

1 cup brown lentils, soaked, rinsed and drained

2 celery stalks, chopped

-3-4 medium potatoes

2 carrots, chopped

1 yellow onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic chopped

olive oil

2 large sausage links, cut into bite sized pieces

salt, pepper, curry, red pepper flakes

-Soak lentils overnight, rinse and drain

-In a sauce pan combine oil, garlic, carrots, onion, celery, potatoes, curry, S&P and red pepper flakes

-Cook veggies until tender

-Add stock and lentils and simmer for about 30 minutes to incorporate flavors

-Add sausage

Topping for Lentil Sausage Soup

1 cup sour cream

1-2 TBl lemon juice

Fresh basil and parsley, chopped

-Mix ingredients and use as topping for soup

More on Soup and Chicken Salad

Curried Chicken Salad

1 rotisserie chicken

2 celery stalks, chopped

3 scallions, chopped

1-2 apples, sliced thinly

mayo

curry powder

salt and pepper

-Pull chicken off the bone

-Roughly chop chicken

-Add celery, scallions, and apples

-add mayo, curry powder and S&P to taste

Black-Eyed Pea Soup

1 cup black-eyed peas

2 carrots

3 celery stalks

1 yellow onion

2 cloves of garlic

2 cans of diced tomatoes

1 red pepper

1 box chicken stock

3-4 cups of water

3-4 bay leaves

couple of dashes of hot sauce

cumin

red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

-Soak peas in water for 4 hours, rinse and rain

-Add peas to soup pot with half the stock and two cups of water

-Bring peas and water/stock mixture to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes

-While the peas are simmering saute carrots, onion, celery, red pepper, garlic, cumin, red pepper flakes and S&P.

-When peas are tender add sauteed veggies, tomatoes, the rest of the stock, 1-2 cups o water (your preference), bay leaves, hot sauce and re season with S&P

-Cook till the flavors blend--about 30 minutes.

-Serve with hot sauce and greens on the side.

Stews and Soups

This weekend even though it was the last hot days of summer I got into the fall mood and started making some soups. Saturday night I made jambalaya for JP and Peg and Sunday I made butternut squash soup for M&J. The recipes below were all adapted from information from friends, family and our CSA.

Quick Garlic Bread

1 loaf ciabatta

2 garlic cloves

1/4 to 1/2 cup of olive oil

basil

parmesan

-blend olive oil, basil and garlic

-spread on ciabatta and grill

-top with shaved parmesan

Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash, halved peeled and cubed

1 celeriac root

2-3 carrots

1 yellow onion

3 cloves of garlic

5 sprigs of thyme

1 box chicken stock

1 can canelli beans or northerns

2 cups swiss chard cleaned and chopped

4-5 pieces of bacon cooked and chopped

-saute squash, celeriac root, carrots, onion garlic and thyme until tender

-Add broth and boil

-In batches blend soup

-Put back in soup pot and add beans, swiss chard and bacon

-season with salt and pepper

Art's Quick Jambalaya

3-4 chicken breast cubed

2 pieces of bacon roughly chopped

1/2 cup of olive oil

1/2 cup of flour

4-5 tomatoes

4 celery stocks

2 carrots

1 yellow onion

2 red peppers

salt, pepper, paprika and creole spices

3/4 cup of white rice

spicy sausage

1 box chicken stock

10 okra or bag of frozen okra

-Heat bacon in soup pot and add chicken to brown

-Remove chicken and bacon and place on plate for later addition

-Add olive oil and flour to pot remembering to scrap up remnants from browning

-Stir continuously to form roux and cook until dark carmel color

-Add veggies and spices and coat with roux

-add stock and bring to a boil

-add rice turn to simmer and cover, cook for 20 minutes or until rice is tender

-add sausage and okra and cook for 5 more minutes

-add salt pepper and hot sauce to your liking.