Happy New Year! And an Update

"And now we welcome the New Year, full of things that have never been."

- Rainier Maria Rilke

Happy New Year everyone! I've missed you! That's my black eyed pea stew in the photo above. It's something I usually make on New Years day, since the legume is supposed to bring good luck. I've included the recipe below.

But first, a bit of an update. I've been crazy busy around here. Managing Christmas, and my shops, House of Lucien and Coco's Kitchen. We also had a big Christmas party here for my husband's sailing friends. I wish I had more photos to share, but I got a photo of the punch! (When it was half gone.)

I was too busy getting everything done, the food prep and such, to take proper photos. That about sums up how I've felt the last few months. Frazzled, in fact too much so to stop and take it all in. It was a lesson for me. It's something I vow to change this year, and heck, right now for goodness sake. To live more in the present, to do everything I can to relax and live in the moment, while getting the things done that I want to. This is life going by! And I want to make the most of it in 2015.


We had a great Christmas. My husband and I love decorating the house. He went crazy this year with the lights on the outside of the house! I wish I had photos of that!

My little snowman scene in the family room

The fireplace, I love my Mickey! 

The pantry door in the kitchen

The tree

My pot rack which of course we had to decorate too!

This is one of the smallest decorations in our home, but it's my favorite. I love the sentiment.

I also made some Christmas cupcakes for a friends party.

These are my Best Moist Chocolate Cupcake Recipe topped with my 7 Minute Frosting that I broiled to make a Hot Cocoa Cupcake! 

These are my Best Moist Chocolate Cupcakes topped with a cream cheese frosting that I added peppermint extract to, and topped with candy canes for a chocolate peppermint cupcake.

These are my Moist Banana Cupcakes topped with Christmas Sprinkles.

I hope you all had a great Christmas as well. And I wish you a fabulous New Year with lots of great adventures in the year ahead!

I'm off for a vacation to visit my family in Orange County California. I'll be back in the middle of January when I will be back in the kitchen baking. I have a few great recipe ideas to kick off the New Year!

Thanks so much for being a reader, I am so grateful for you!!

Now here's that Black Eyed Pea Stew Recipe!

Black Eyed Pea Stew

Ingredients

one bag (16 oz.) dried black eyed peas, or 3 cans
one ham bone with 3 cups diced ham
3 carrots chopped into bite sized pieces
3 ribs of celery chopped into bite sized pieces
1 onion chopped
2, 15 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, or 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

if you like some heat, you can add some dried chipotle pepper, or even a tablespoon or so from a small can of chopped chipotle peppers, (the smokiness works well with the smokiness of the ham) if you are using the canned peppers, and aren't familiar with using them, start with a small amount first, (they can get spicy), and adjust to your taste.

Directions

Cook the black eyed peas if using dried. I used a crockpot. (I think this is the best way to cook them, because all of the ham flavor gets infused into the black eyed peas.) Add the peas, a tsp of salt, the bay leaves, the ham, the bone and the chopped onion to the crockpot and fill the crockpot almost to the top with water. (I used a 4 quart crockpot.) If using a larger crockpot, I'd start with 8 cups water, add more later if needed.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or until the peas are soft. If you are using a larger crockpot and have the time, you can add everything else and cook until the carrots and celery are soft. (an additional 3 hours or so.)

I poured it all into an 8 quart pot on the stove and added everything else and cooked for 20 minutes or so, until the vegetables were tender.

If you are using canned black eyed peas, drain the peas and rinse, throw it all in a large pot on the stove, add 4-6 cups water or broth, cook on medium heat for an hour or so, until the vegetables are tender and the flavors have blended. If needed, add water or broth to get the consistency you like.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!


 

Black Eyed Pea Stew

" We will open the book. It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and it's first chapter is New Year's Day."

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce

I'm taking a little break from blogging till mid January. Until then please enjoy this Black Eyed Pea Stew I made in 2011. It is hearty, delicious, and perfect for a New Year Meal!
 

Happy New Year everyone! Like most of you know, eating black eyed peas on New Year's day is supposed to bring good luck. We had some ham and the bone left from Christmas, so I put it to use in this easy, and flexible stew. If you don't have black eyed peas, no big deal, use another bean, like navy, or even kidney beans. I used a bag of dried beans but you could use a few cans of beans instead.

 

This recipe makes quite a bit, but it freezes nicely.









Black Eyed Pea Stew

Ingredients

one bag (16 oz.) dried black eyed peas, or 3 cans
one ham bone with 3 cups diced ham
3 carrots chopped into bite sized pieces
3 ribs of celery chopped into bite sized pieces
1 onion chopped
2, 15 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, or 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

if you like some heat, you can add some dried chipotle pepper, or even a tablespoon or so from a small can of chopped chipotle peppers, (the smokiness works well with the smokiness of the ham) if you are using the canned peppers, and aren't familiar with using them, start with a small amount first, (they can get spicy), and adjust to your taste.

Directions

Cook the black eyed peas if using dried. I used a crockpot. (I think this is the best way to cook them, because all of the ham flavor gets infused into the black eyed peas.) Add the peas, a tsp of salt, the bay leaves, the ham, the bone and the chopped onion to the crockpot and fill the crockpot almost to the top with water. (I used a 4 quart crockpot.) If using a larger crockpot, I'd start with 8 cups water, add more later if needed.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or until the peas are soft. If you are using a larger crockpot and have the time, you can add everything else and cook until the carrots and celery are soft. (an additional 3 hours or so.)

I poured it all into an 8 quart pot on the stove and added everything else and cooked for 20 minutes or so, until the vegetables were tender.

If you are using canned black eyed peas, drain the peas and rinse, throw it all in a large pot on the stove, add 4-6 cups water or broth, cook on medium heat for an hour or so, until the vegetables are tender and the flavors have blended. If needed, add water or broth to get the consistency you like.

Tuscan Bean Soup

“The importance of reading, for me, is that it allows you to dream.

Reading not only educates, but is relaxing and allows you to feed your imagination - creating beautiful pictures from carefully chosen words.”

― Eric Ripert

One of my very favorite Christmas gifts this year came from my sister, Mel. It is the book, Avec Eric, by Eric Ripert. Funny thing, because Mel has given me many of my favorite cookbooks. Maybe because she knows me better than almost anyone. We are only 15 months apart in age, so we were close growing up. I miss living near her and her kids. She has a way of listening to me and my problems (though sometimes
ridiculously inconsequential) in a nonjudgmental and very helpful way. She's the kind of person you can just talk to. A virtue quite handy for motherhood, I always thought. Her college age children have always been able to say anything to her. I mean really anything. As if they were speaking to a close, very loving friend. I admire this quality in her and always have. Thank you Mel for all of my Christmas gifts, and for being such a great sister and mother. And thanks for listening.

The veg cooking on the left, on the right, the well seasoned beans

Over the years I have seen Eric Ripert on various shows such as No Reservations, and Top Chef. It's been only quite recently that I have watched the PBS show, Avec Eric. The show follows Eric while he travels to different locations around the world experiencing different cultures' food and traditions. He then comes home and cooks up a meal reminiscent to one he has just encountered, in his home kitchen. It's really a beautiful show.

The cookbook is just as wonderful, if not more so. The book is full of gorgeous pictures, of food as well as locations of places that accompany the food. In the chapter including this Tuscan bean soup for example, there are photos of a villa in Tuscany, stories of foraging for mushrooms as well as hunting for wild boar with the local Italians.

Bread cubes before being transformed into the greatest croutons of all time

These are recipes I want to cook. Some easy, (like this one.) Some more challenging, including a recipe that calls for said wild boar that involves making your own pasta. I could even see myself cooking every recipe in this book. I'm up for the challenge. Not only of skill, but of sourcing the wild boar and other difficult to find ingredients. Don't let that scare you, though. There are plenty of recipes with easy to find components.

Behold, the most wonderful croutons in the world.

Let's talk about this soup. Easy and simple. But these simple ingredients are well placed and well executed to create a very flavorful, delicious soup, in about an hours time. It's simple steps that most home cooks (myself included) overlook that make the difference. For example, in cooking the beans it calls for a whole tablespoon of salt. Seems like a lot of salt for a small amount of beans, but the end result is well, highly seasoned beans that are not at all salty. They pair well with the homemade chicken stock, that has little salt.

The soup is garnished with homemade croutons. These are the best darn croutons I've ever had in my life. I used some great, hearty sourdough bread, (he calls for some crusty Italian bread) (I'm sure the great bread helped) but I've made croutons before, though never this good. I loved taking a spoonful of soup with a crouton in it while it was still crunchy. Croutons in soup isn't something I usually think of outside of French onion soup. It's a nice touch. These are croutons I will definately be making again, perhaps next week in a salad. Thank you, Eric. I'm a better cook already because of you.

This isn't his recipe exactly, it is my riff on it. I used ham, he calls for prosciutto. etc. I've made a few changes, but with Eric's tutelage I managed to create quite a memorable soup.

 

 

Tuscan Bean Soup

serves 4

inspired by Eric Ripert's recipe in Avec Eric

Ingredients

3/4 cup (145 g. or 5 oz. raw) dried white beans such as cannellini, white kidney beans or great northern beans or you can also use one 15 oz. can of canned beans, rinsed and drained

1 Tablespoon fine sea salt

1 cup (8 oz.) diced ham

4-6 cups homemade chicken broth- if using purchased broth, make sure it's low in salt, in a carton preferably

2 carrots, diced

2 ribs of celery, diced

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

a small bunch of kale, sliced crosswise into one inch ribbons

3 plum tomatoes-seeded, cored and roughly chopped

2 thyme sprigs

3 Tablespoons chopped parsley- Italian preferably, (but I used curly because that's what looked best from my garden)

1 piece of Parmesan cheese rind, approx. 3 inches in size

salt and pepper to taste

For croutons

1/2 loaf crusty sourdough bread, cut into 1 inch pieces

olive oil

Parmesan cheese

For Garnish

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

The night before making soup, soak the dried beans in a bowl covered in water (don't add salt) by 4 inches or so. (The beans will absorb some of the water.)

Drain the beans and place them in a medium pan covered in water. season the water with the 1 Tablespoon of salt. Bring the water to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer on low till beans are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain off most of the cooking liquid, reserving about 2 cups of water with the beans.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat the olive oil to medium high heat and add the carrots, celery and onion and cook until lightly caramelized, about 6-8 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and ham and cook a few minutes more. Add the chicken broth (start with 4 cups, add more later if it needs it, mine did) beans with their 2 cups of liquid, tomatoes, kale, parsley and Parmesan cheese rind. Pull the leaves off the thyme sprigs and add them. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, 190 degrees Celsius, Gas Mark 5.

While the soup is cooking, make the croutons. Place the diced bread in a bowl and generously drizzle with olive oil. Add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and toss. Place on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes then use some tongs and toss them, then bake for another 5-15 minutes more, until they are golden brown and crispy.

Taste your soup. Add salt and pepper. Taste again. Add more broth if it needs it.

Place soup in bowl and top with some croutons and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Fresh Clam Chowder Pot Pie and a Seattle Trip

"There is nothing better on a cold wintry day than a properly made pot pie."

 ~Craig Claiborne

We live about 2 hours south of Seattle, and 2 hours north of Portland. When we want a city fix we go to one of these wonderful places. This time it was Seattle for my husbands birthday. We visited the Seattle Museum of History and Industry,  (his choice.) It was pretty fun and interesting.

We also stopped at Pike Place Market, a place I can never get enough of. We picked up some fresh clams for me to turn into this clam chowder pot pie.

rinsing my fresh clams

On a recent visit to Vancouver, BC, we saw a clam chowder pot pie being sold at a pie place called A La Mode in the Granville Market . My husband and I looked at each other and said, "Genius !" Alas, we couldn't eat one since we were full from lunch. So I walked away with only the idea.



fresh clams at Pike Place Market

 I took a clam chowder soup recipe and made it a little thicker. First you cook the fresh clams with some water and veggies to make a broth. This broth, though only cooked briefly until the clams open, is extremely fresh, bright and flavorful. A much better flavor than canned clams or bottled clam juice would provide.

Yes, the fresh clams are amazing, but not something I will do everyday, due to availability and expense. But it sure is nice to have them when you do.

For pot pies I'm usually a 2 crust type of girl, but for this I used puff pastry for a top crust only, due to the fact that the clams are already cooked when they go into the soup portion of this dish. I didn't want them to have to be recooked for too long when they go in the oven. With the puff pastry top, it's only 15 minutes.

The end result is a delicious, rich, flavorful, and fresh as the sea tasting pot pie. We devoured these babies.

The throwing fish guys at Pike Place Market

Cake Spy Shop

We also visited the Cake Spy Shop while in Seattle. I always enjoy reading Cakespy's blog and when she announced she was opening up a store I knew I wanted to check it out next time I was in the area. While I was there I was lucky enough to meet the head Cakespy herself, Jessie Oleson . This is a really fun store stocked with artwork by Jessie, as well as other artist's creations. You can also go to her online shop and see what she's got.

I went away with one of her prints that now lives in my kitchen.

 

If you are using fresh clams, you will be making a broth that makes more than what is called for here. I froze the leftover broth to use at a later date.

New England Clam Chowder Pot Pie

This made me 3 -1 1/2 cup (350 ml) bowls

Ingredients for clams

If using fresh clams

4 lbs fresh clams in shells

plus one chopped onion, 1/2 of a chopped red bell pepper and 1 or 2 pieces of celery chopped, for the broth

If using canned clams

 If using canned clams, then 1-10-oz. (283 g) can whole clams (chopped) and 1.5 cups (350 ml) bottled clam juice, or just use the juice from the can with water to make 1.5 cups, although bottled is better.

Ingredients for soup


1/2 cup (80 g.) chopped onion

1.5 lb. (600 g.) russet potatoes peeled and diced

2 Tbs. (16g) all-purpose flour

1 cup (235 ml) whole milk
1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream
4 pieces of bacon, uncooked
Salt and pepper

For the top
 
1 sheet puff pastry (1/2 of a 17.3 oz. (490 g.) pkg.)
1 egg beaten with a little water for an egg wash
 
Directions
 
Place the puff pastry on the counter to thaw. It needs to be at room temperature.
 
To prepare the clams if using fresh- First rinse the clams well. If your fish monger told  you they are already cleaned then great. (Mine did), I still gave them a good rinse.
 
Place the clams in a large pot and cover them with 2 inches of water. Add the chopped onion, bell pepper and celery. Bring it to a boil. When it comes to a boil, give the pot a good shake. Turn the heat to low and cook clams another 30 seconds or so. Remove from the heat and remove all of the clams that have opened. (At this point all of mine had opened.) But if yours didn't, then put any clams that haven't opened back in the pan with the lid on, cook another 2 minutes. Remove the opened clams, and discard the ones that haven't opened.
 
Remove the clams from the shells using a spoon, dig them out of their shells and chop them. 
 
Strain the liquid that remains, discard the vegetables from it. This is your broth. You will only need 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) of this. Freeze the leftover broth for another use.
 
Cook the bacon in another pan. (not the pan you will be using to make the soup.) Cook it till it's crisp. Save the fat.
 
Now make a roux using 2 Tablespoons of the top (clear) part of the bacon fat, (not the brown bits on the bottom, this will turn your chowder brown/grey. If that doesn't bother you, then cool, add it.)
 
Add the bacon fat to a large pot (the one that you will be using to make your chowder) saute the chopped onion in the bacon fat until it has softened. Add the diced potatoes and saute until they have been covered by the fat. Now add the 2 Tablespoons of flour and stir it covering the onions and the potatoes.
 
Pour in the 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) clam broth (or clam juice if using bottled or canned) bring it to a boil and stir it. When it has come to a boil, reduce the heat, cover it and let it simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.
 
While that is boiling chop the 4 pieces of bacon.
 
Now stir it and add the milk, cream, the chopped clams and the chopped bacon.
 
Heat it up for a few minutes, and add salt and pepper to taste.
 
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 200 degrees Celsius, Gas Mark 6.
 
Now ladle the soup into oven proof soup bowls.
 
Place puff pastry on a floured surface. Cut squares to go just about an inch over the shape of your bowls. Brush the egg wash over the puff pastry, this gives it that beautiful color.
 
Place the bowls on a cookie sheet and pop them into the preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes until the pastry has puffed completely and is golden brown and delicious.

Black Eyed Pea Stew

" We will open the book. It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and it's first chapter is New Year's Day."

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce

.

Happy New Year everyone! Like most of you know, eating black eyed peas on New Year's day is supposed to bring good luck. We had some ham and the bone left from Christmas, so I put it to use in this easy, and flexible stew. If you don't have black eyed peas, no big deal, use another bean, like navy, or even kidney beans. I used a bag of dried beans but you could use a few cans of beans instead.

.

This recipe makes quite a bit, but it freezes nicely.


Black Eyed Pea Stew

Ingredients

one bag (16 oz.) dried black eyed peas, or 3 cans
one ham bone with 3 cups diced ham
3 carrots chopped into bite sized pieces
3 ribs of celery chopped into bite sized pieces
1 onion chopped
2, 15 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, or 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

if you like some heat, you can add some dried chipotle pepper, or even a tablespoon or so from a small can of chopped chipotle peppers, (the smokiness works well with the smokiness of the ham) if you are using the canned peppers, and aren't familiar with using them, start with a small amount first, (they can get spicy), and adjust to your taste.

Directions

Cook the black eyed peas if using dried. I used a crockpot. (I think this is the best way to cook them, because all of the ham flavor gets infused into the black eyed peas.) Add the peas, a tsp of salt, the bay leaves, the ham, the bone and the chopped onion to the crockpot and fill the crockpot almost to the top with water. (I used a 4 quart crockpot.) If using a larger crockpot, I'd start with 8 cups water, add more later if needed.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or until the peas are soft. If you are using a larger crockpot and have the time, you can add everything else and cook until the carrots and celery are soft. (an additional 3 hours or so.)

I poured it all into an 8 quart pot on the stove and added everything else and cooked for 20 minutes or so, until the vegetables were tender.

If you are using canned black eyed peas, drain the peas and rinse, throw it all in a large pot on the stove, add 4-6 cups water or broth, cook on medium heat for an hour or so, until the vegetables are tender and the flavors have blended. If needed, add water or broth to get the consistency you like.

Thai Pumpkin Soup and other Smooth Foods

I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow. Yikes. I'm scared. I don't like the dentist, but I don't like being in pain, more. (One of them is hurting me.) Hence the smooth food. Not to be confused with smooth move. Which would be entirely inappropriate for a food blog. Not that talking about bad teeth in a food blog is so much better, but hey, I don't think I've ever really been appropriate anyway.
So this is one of the things I've made for my time of not being able to chew. This Thai pumpkin soup is so delicious. I was skeptical seeing that I put it together in about 15 minutes, and it has 5 ingredients or so. How could something so easy and simple taste so yummy?

Thai Pumpkin Soup

2 cups pumpkin puree (or 1 15 oz can pure pumpkin)
1 can coconut milk
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
a tablespoon or so of oil
1-2 tablespoons Thai red curry rub (I bought it from Pampered Chef) but you can use Thai red curry paste which you can find at the local Asian market. Oh and when you are there pick up your coconut milk. It's cheaper than at the regular grocery store.
salt to taste
lime juice, a tablespoon or so, (optional)
fresh cilantro for garnish if you have it (optional)

Put your oil in a big soup pot. Saute the onion till soft, then add garlic, saute it for a minute or two. Add the pumpkin and coconut milk and the Thai red curry. Don't add it all at once. Add a teaspoon at a time if you are sensitive to heat. How much of this you will need will depend on how hot you want it, and the brand of red curry you have. Cook it for a few minutes to let the flavors marry, then blend it smooth in a blender, or food processor, or use an immersion blender. Add salt to taste and lime juice if using. Add enough water to bring it to the consistency you would like your soup to be. Garnish with fresh cilantro (if you have it.)


I want to say "hi" to those of you who subscribe to my blog because you listen to my show on BTO. As you can see, I am doing more posting here than just the posts I make for the show. I will continue to write my usual posts that coincide with my radio program. I hope that if you enjoy my radio program you will also find my other blog entries useful.

In other smooth food news, I made some really delicious banana sorbet(?) I guess you might call it. It's really just frozen bananas in the food processor with a little sweetener. I added a splash of milk also. Pureed bananas just have a great smooth and creamy consistency. But I've also done this with frozen strawberries with great success. When I do this with the frozen strawberries I add some water to get things going, and sweetener to taste. It's a great treat when you are watching your weight since strawberries are so low in calories. It comes out like soft serve. Of course you can freeze it it you'd like it to be harder, but if it's in there for more than a day, it will be too hard. Just set it on the counter for 10 minutes or so before you eat it.

I like the banana idea since I've pretty much always got bananas in the freezer. And one can only make so much banana bread. As soon as they start to get brown spots my wonderful husband won't eat them, so in the freezer they go, peel and all. Of course you can't peel them when they are that frozen solid. A few seconds in the microwave and they are ready to be peeled. (Or 10 minutes on the counter.)
Banana peels ready for the garden

My banana peels go in my rose garden, they are good for discouraging aphids.

Wish me luck with my teeth removal!

4 Soups, $5.00, 15 Minutes Prep in the Crockpot, Again!

Tuscan White Bean and Spinach Soup topped with fresh Parmesan

This blog post accompanies my talk on BTO for Friday July 30th.
**Edited to add- cinnamon roll recipe I spoke about here!

I had such a great time last time making soups in the crockpot for 5 bucks or less I decided to do it again! This time with a few more exotic options.

Lets get to the recipes!

Tuscan White Bean and Spinach Soup

Ingredients

3/4 lb dried small white beans- a whole bag is 1.09, so for this about .80 cents
2 sm cans (15 oz each) diced tomatoes, mine are .59 cents each, so 1.20
pkg frozen spinach, chopped (sm box) 1.25
4-8 cloves garlic, minced (I used about 6) .30
1/2 med onion , chopped.20
1 stalk celery diced .10
1 large carrot chopped .12
5 cups water or homemade broth or a combination of both
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
dried Italian seasoning, or if you don't have that, you'll want some basil, oregano, parsley and thyme and perhaps some rosemary, about 1 tsp each, or start with 1/2 tsp each, and taste it, adjust accordingly.

TOTAL $3.97

Directions

The night before, place beans in a bowl covered with water by 4 inches or so. They will expand.

The next morning when you are ready to make the soup, drain the beans and place in crockpot. And everything else except the spinach. Cook on high for 6-7 hrs. or low for 10-12. During the last half hour of cooking add the spinach and heat through. Remove the bay leaves. You can puree some of the beans to thicken it if you wish. Delicious topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Options- Use fresh spinach, it will take 4-6 cups or so. The directions for it are the same, just add it in at the end of cooking. Or you can use kale or escarole.

If you want to add meat, ground beef is good, or small meatballs, add them precooked at any time.

You can add pasta to this also to make it very hearty. Add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup during the last hour of cooking. It expands alot, so beware.

Pesto would be a good topper for this as well.



Turkish Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients
1 lb red lentils-mine are from the bulk dept. at Fred Meyer-1.99 lb
1/2 med size onion, chopped .20
1 cup potato peeled and diced, I used 1 med potato .25
2 cloves garlic, minced .10
1 sm can (15 oz) diced tomatoes .59
8 cups water or homemade vegetable stock
2-4 tsp paprika (I used part sweet paprika, and some smoked paprika, your choice)
1-2 tsp salt (to taste) be careful if you are using bouillon or broth it may add a good deal of salt
cumin about 1 tsp (or more if you like)
coriander about 1 tsp (to taste)
2 bay leaves
2 or 3 pieces roasted red bell peppers chopped(from a jar) .50 (or if you have a fresh red bell pepper, than by all means add that, chopped.)
1/2 to 1 tablespoon vinegar for the end of cooking
TOTAL $3.63

Directions

Add everything to the crockpot except vinegar. Cook for 6-8 hours on high, or about 10 hrs on low. At the end of cooking, taste and adjust spices as necessary, add the vinegar. And remove the bay leaves. Puree with a stick blender, or regular blender or food processor if desired. Red lentils cook down alot, they don't keep their shape as well as the brown variety, so it will be sort of almost pureed.

Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients

1 lb. Beef Stew Meat (which is Round Steak) or you may use Chuck Roast or Chuck Steak, Chuck has a little more fat, and some would say a little more flavor, Round is much leaner, your choice.

Mine is from Stewarts, both are about the same price at $3. 39 lb.

1 onion chopped .33

1 lg carrot chopped .12

one stalk celery chopped .10

one clove garlic chopped .5

one cup barley (the whole pkg of barley at Fred Meyer is .59 cents for 1 lb.) one cup is less than 1/2 pkg. .30

bay leaf

4 0r 5 shakes of Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp dried Thyme

1/.2 tsp dried Basil

1/2 tsp dried Oregano

4 cups water or broth

Salt and pepper to taste

TOTAL $4.74

Directions

Cut the beef in cubes if it's not already. Salt and pepper all of the beef. In a large pan add a little oil. Heat the pan to med high. Wait until the pan is very hot. Sear the meat in batches, making sure not to crowd the pan. Turn the meat to get a nice sear on all sides. Add the meat to the crockpot.

** If you are on a very tight schedule and don't have time to sear the meat, go ahead and throw it in the crockpot as is. (After it's been salt and peppered.) The sear you get from pre browning it gives it a nice flavor, but the meat is still going to be nice and tender.


Add everything else to the crockpot as well. Cook on low is best for 10-12 hrs. Cooking the meat low and slow is going to result in yummy falling apart tender meat. If you need to cook it on high go ahead, for about 7 hrs. When finished taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Remove bay leaf.

Options- You can add sliced or chopped mushrooms to this. Or you can omit the beef and add a pound of fresh mushrooms sliced or chopped and have mushroom and barley soup.

If you want a more meaty soup, you can increase the beef, up to 2 lbs.

Persian Split Pea and Barley Stew

This recipe is based on one from the Moosewood Cookbooks

Ingredients

1/2 cup barley (from 1 lb bag which is .59 cents at Fred Meyer) .20

1-2 garlic cloves minced .10

bay leaf

1 cup split peas (from 1 lb pkg, less than 1/2 the pkg) .42

one small onion chopped .33

1 lg carrot chopped .12

2 medium potatoes peeled and diced into cubes .50

one 15 oz can diced tomatoes .59

1/2 to 1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 to 1 tsp ground cardamom

pinch to 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper

6 cups water or broth or combination of both

bay leaf

lemon juice for finishing (optional)

fresh parsley chopped for finishing (optional)

TOTAL $2.26 This amount baffles me! This stew has so much flavor and is so unique. But I warn you, you must like cardamom to like this dish. It's not for everyone, but I think it's absolutely delicious.

Directions

Place everything besides potatoes in crockpot. Cook for 10-12 hrs on low, or 7-8 on high. Add the diced potatoes at the last hour or 2 of cooking. OR if that isn't convenient for you, you may add the potatoes in the beginning, they will just be quite soft, but if that doesn't bother you, then go for it! When the stew is done, taste and adjust seasonings as necessary, remove bay leaf, and if using, stir in some lemon juice, and top the bowls with some chopped parsley.

Spices

A note about the spices in these recipes. I talked last time about buying spices, but if you are reading this and didn't read my last post, this is for you. The best place to buy spices is in bulk at a natural food store. In this area, the co-op in Olympia has bulk spices very inexpensively. Also Fred Meyer has a bulk spice section. This allows you to buy only the quantity that you wish. It really cuts down on waste, and lets you try different spices you wouldn't have tried otherwise.

Crockpot and Energy Usage

Did you know? Using the crockpot instead of the stove can save you money.
This Blogger Energy Miser 101, states that using her stove for 3 hours to cook a soup takes one dollars worth of energy, whereas using her slow cooker for 8 hours to make the same soup only cost .20 cents! She states that if she cooked a soup in the crockpot every week with a savings each time of .80 cents, she could save $50.00 a year!

This article, How to Use Less Energy While Cooking, states that using a crockpot costs .2 cents an hour, whether on high or low. Using an electric oven costs .30-.60 cents an hour, a gas oven is between .5-.10 cents an hour.

4 Soups, 15 minutes, less than $5.00!

black bean and vegetable chili

This post is to accompany my talk on BTO for Monday 6/21/2010

I told Nancy and Elena this week I wanted to do a talk on making soups and stews in the crockpot, and that each one would be, under $5.00 (for the whole pot), take less than 15 minutes in prep work to make, and be made in the crockpot. I let them know I would take them some of the soups to taste for themselves.
The reason I wanted to do this is because I just know that if the people who don't cook, knew how easy it could be, so simple, and so inexpensive, that perhaps they may give it a try. I thought doing it in the crockpot would work well since you can leave it unattended. Perfect for us who want delicious food with very little effort. The crockpot (or slow cooker) allows you to leave your dinner cooking away unattended while you are away at work. To come home after working all day to a delicious and healthy meal hot and ready to be eaten is a wonderful thing.

These soups are really the definition of alchemy itself. Which is turning something of little value, into something of great value. I love that about cooking with simple inexpensive ingredients.
The great thing about these recipes specifically, is that they are based on dried beans and peas, and canned tomato products for the most part. Since these are good food storage items, you can learn and feel comfortable about using them. Also since you may store these items in the pantry, if you don't have alot of fresh food in the fridge, you can throw together a great pot of food! And if fresh vegetables aren't readily available, dried garlic, or dried onion can be used instead of fresh. Dried celery or celery salt and dried carrots may be used, instead of fresh, or be omitted altogether.

Here are some points I want to make before getting into the recipes.

1. Broth or soup base- The best broth available to you is broth you've made yourself. I buy chicken with the bone so I can freeze the bones until I have enough to make chicken broth. Also when I have celery or carrots that are wilting, I freeze them to make vegetable broth in the future. I figure since these items would be wasted anyway, the broth is basically free. You'd be surprised how much flavor you can coax out of a few vegetables. Once I only had some celery and some onion to make a broth out of, this time I used the celery leaves as well. (You normally wouldn't use the leaves because the flavor is very strong in the leaves and it might overpower your broth.) So I basically made a celery broth. I used it as the base of a chili recipe.
So the cool flavor of the celery worked well with the boldness and spiciness of the chili.
If you don't want to make broth, you don't need to buy it. Canned broth doesn't add very much in my opinion. On the other hand, you can make a broth with bouillon, (there are many good makers of bouillon these days, natural stores are a good place to find them.) You can also purchase a soup base. In the bulk spice section (locally the Olympia Co-Op is a good place for this) they sell vegetable, chicken and beef soup base.
Also, sometimes you don't need bouillon or broth you just need water. I'll specify what I think will work best in the recipes.

2.Spices- The best place to buy spices is the bulk section of a local natural food store. Locally, for me it's the Olympia Food Co-Op. Another option is Fred Meyer also has a bulk spice section.The great thing about buying spices in bulk is if it's something you aren't going to use much of you can just buy a teaspoon of it. So many times in the past I've purchased a jar from the grocery store of a spice I never needed to use again until 5 years later. Spices are best if used within 1-2 yrs so this is such a great way to purchase spices. Also even if you buy a whole jars worth, it's going to be a fraction of the price of that jar in the store. I'm always shocked about how little my spices cost there.

Another local source for spices that you can't find at the co-op, is a wonderful place in Downtown Olympia called Bucks Fifth Avenue. They carry every spice imaginable at very low prices. They will also ship to you, no minimum. This is a wonderful little store! If you go into downtown Olympia often this is a wonderful place to check out.

If you don't have a store with spices in bulk nearby, in regular grocery stores they have a "Hispanic" section where you sometimes can find basic spices in packages for .99 cents.

Shopping-I noted where I found most items in the recipes and the price I paid for them, but another option if you want organic beans and peas, the Co Op in Olympia has organic lentils, split peas and beans in their bulk section for not a whole lot of money more.
Onto the recipes!

Black Bean and Vegetable chili (pictured above)

Ingredients
1-1lb bag of dried black beans, $1.55 at Safeway if you go to Walmart, it's under a dollar
1or 2 onions chopped, (I used 1 and 1/2 in mine) .33 cents. Based on 3 onions in 1 lb, at 1.00 a lb.
2 carrots chopped fine, carrots loose, were 60 cents a lb at Fred Meyer where I bought mine, there were 6 in a lb, so the price here is .20 cents.
2 cloves of garlic, chopped. garlic is cheap. My estimate is .10 cents.
2 stalks celery. chopped fine. Celery is usually 1.00 for a bunch. The estimate is .20 cents
1 large, (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes, or 2 smaller ones, Safeway large can tomatoes is $1. 69, but at Fred Meyer I bought some small cans (15 oz) of diced tomatoes for .59 cents each, so if I used those, this estimate would be even less!
2-3 tablespoons chili powder (I chose not to figure in for the spices, since most people have a basic spice cabinet, but if you need to purchase them in bulk separately, they will be very little.
2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

total cost for whole batch $ 4.07 serves 4-6 big servings

optional for more spice- a diced jalapeno, a canned chipoltle pepper, or dried chipoltle pepper, or cayenne, or crushed red pepper. Depending on how spicy you like it.
optional for more vegetables, you could add some diced squash or some bell pepper, corn would also be great in this.
optional for meat-add some browned ground beef or some browned stew meat. Or even browned ground turkey or ground chicken, shredded chicken would be good too.
optional for topping-cheese or sour cream
Directions

Soak dried beans overnight in water. The next day rinse beans and place in crockpot with 2 cups of water or water mixed with bouillon. Either is fine. Add all other ingredients and stir.
Cook on low for about 12 hrs at least, on high for probably 8-10 hrs, this recipe takes some time because the dried beans need time to cook. Sometimes that's a good thing if you have to be away all day. Like most soups and stews this tastes better the next day. It also freezes well.

split pea with ham

I grew up eating split pea soup, this is one of my very favorite things to eat.

Super cheap too if you don't need the ham. I made mine with the ham, (My husband is a meat eater) although I can take it or leave it personally.

Ingredients

a 1 lb bag of split peas at Fred Meyer where I bought these they were a whopping .85 cents!

1 carrot chopped fine, .10 cents

1 or 2 stalks celery .10 cents

one onion or 1/2 onion chopped fine .33 cents

bay leaf

ham -which is optional, 3.50 for a ham steak I found at Fred Meyer

salt and pepper to taste

Total cost for whole batch which serves about 4 people $1.38! without ham

with the ham, $4.88 (still under 5 bucks)

also optional- a ham bone for cooking to accentuate the ham flavor if you have ham lovers, if it has meat on it, you can shred the meat off of it and use it in the soup.

Directions

Throw it all in a crockpot, along with 5 cups of water to start if you want it thick, you will probably need to add more later, otherwise you can use 6 or 7 cups. (I like mine thick). As it cools it will thicken more, just add a little water to reach your desired consistency.

Cook on low for 8 hrs or high for 6.

Minestrone with ground beef

This soup is so hearty and flavorful. Since it is broth based, it is one that benefits from the use of homemade broth or a broth made with a soup base, or bouillon. The meat really is optional, it's great and filling without it.

Ingredients

2 Sm cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes. Mine were .59 cents each. so $1.18

1 onion, chopped .33 cents

1 can kidney beans or garbanzo beans or a can of each if you wish, I used kidney, .85 cents

2 chopped carrots .20 cents

2 celery ribs, chopped .20 cents

3 cloves garlic, chopped .15 cents

1/2 to 1 cup pasta (I used macaroni) and I used 1 cup, it's alot of pasta, if you don't want that much just go with the 1/2 cup. 1 cup pasta .50 cents (based on 1 box being 2 cups and 1.00.)

4 cups homemade broth or broth made with soup base or bouillon

1-2 tsp dried basil

1-2 tsp dried oregano

2 bay leaves

a pinch of dried crushed red pepper (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

total cost for whole batch $3.41 serves 4-6

optional for more veggies, add some chopped zucchini or other squash, or add some spinach

optional for meat, add 1 lb browned ground beef

Directions

Add all ingredients to crockpot except pasta. Cook on low for 6 hrs or on high for 4 or so. The last 45 min. of cooking add the pasta, and turn to high (if it's already on low.) And cook an additional 30-45 min. until pasta is done.

This is nice with Parmesan cheese on top, or even a spoonful of pesto.

Lentil soup with kielbasa

Lentil soup is so wonderful and nutritious. It's full of fiber and iron. This is another soup that doesn't need meat, but my husband likes to eat meat in most main dishes. (And all of these we ate as a main dish.) So that's why mine is shown with the kielbasa in the above picture. If you are also a meat lover, kielbasa is a nice choice for this soup, but sausage is good too.

Ingredients

1 lb bag of lentils .97 cents at Safeway

1 Sm (15 oz) can tomatoes .59 cents Fred Meyer

1 onion chopped .33 cents

2 ribs of celery chopped .20 cents

2 carrots chopped .20 cents

2 cloves chopped garlic .10 cents

4-5 cups homemade broth or water with bouillon or just plain water works too

1-2 tsp dried basil

1-2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried parsley

1 pinch of dried red pepper flakes (optional)

a splash of vinegar at the end for finishing

salt and pepper to taste

total cost for whole batch $2.39 serves 6 at least

optional for meat- add a diced browned kielbasa, or a pound of browned Italian sausage

optional for more veggies- add a package of chopped spinach

Directions

Add everything except vinegar to crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hrs, or high for 5 hrs. When done cooking add a splash of vinegar for a little brightness. Or lemon juice works for this too. You can't really taste it, it just wakes it up a little bit.