Mission's Conference Menu

Mission’s conference at Immanuel.  What a great time to make a meal using recipes contributed by our missionaries!  So that is exactly what I did.  (Yes, this post is long overdue.)

Menu

Tuscan Tomato Soup (p. 53)

Couscous Salad with Grapes & Feta (p. 37)

Indian Curry (p. 157)

Brownies (p. 289)

The first thing I did was make the brownies.  I did this early in the afternoon while my children were napping.  The last time I attempted to make brownies from scratch was while I was in graduate school.  My friend Beth had come over for the afternoon, and we really wanted brownies; so we attempted to make them using our common sense.  They were edible, especially to two hungry college girls, but nothing you would want to serve to company.  I was very curious as to how the brownies from the cook book would turn out.  I did not put nuts in them.  I have to admit here, time has faded my memory of exactly how they tasted.  They were definitely not like boxed brownies—not the same texture—a little more cake-like, and not quite as sweet (which is not necessarily a bad thing)!  I do remember that they were good and gobbled up by my family.  (Hmmm. . .maybe I should go make some right now to refresh my memory on what they are like.)

Next, I made the couscous salad.  I love couscous.  I was introduced to couscous by one of my graduate school roommates.  Ever since she made it for me, it has been part of my normal cooking.  It is quite versatile and simple to prepare.  For this recipe, I didn’t use boxed couscous. (I usually buy bulk whole wheat couscous.)  I used about 1 ¼ cups liquid (I don’t remember if I used water or chicken broth—I have used both so many times.), 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil, and a handful of raw pine nuts.  I brought this mixture to a boil, poured in 1 cup of couscous, turned the heat down to low, and put a lid over the couscous.  I let it sit for about 5 minutes and then stirred it to make sure all the liquid was absorbed.  After this, I followed the recipe, though I used the pine nuts as the nuts, rather than the walnuts or pecans.  I used green grapes, but this dish would be really stunning with green AND red grapes.  We usually eat our couscous as a hot side dish, but this cooler salad version was wonderful.  We will definitely be enjoying this again.

While the couscous was cooking, I also started the tomato soup.  Let me say up front that tomato soup has never been a favorite of ours.  Not that we dislike it, but rarely would any of us choose it if we had options.  (Maybe because of the many meals Brian and I made of canned tomato soup and grilled cheese when we were first married.  We were given a “pounding” by the church we attended in North Carolina and received many cans of tomato soup.  It was a blessing on many levels, but I think we may have gotten tomato souped out.)  This recipe, of course, is not your canned tomato soup.  It really was easy to fix.  I chose to use tomato juice rather than actual tomatoes and so left out the tomato paste.  The flavor was more complex than canned tomato soup—and of course, it is much healthier for you.  It really worked nicely with the couscous salad. 

While the soup was simmering, I got to work on the Indian curry.  I definitely cheated in this recipe.  In fact, you can decide for yourself if we should even say that I made this recipe.  I started with sautéing the onion in the oil (I used coconut oil).  I also added garlic, cinnamon, paprika, ginger powder, sugar, and flour.  However, as I didn’t have curry powder, I used red curry paste in place of the powder, turmeric, and cumin.  I followed the recipe the rest of the way.  I do use coconut milk when I make curry, as I think the flavor is far more interesting and delightful. 

We didn’t eat it over rice since I had made the couscous.  And we didn’t top it with anything, but it really can stand by itself.  If you have never tried to make curry, this is a wonderful recipe to start with.  You can find curry powder or curry paste in most American grocery stores now—look on the international aisle.  Red paste is more spicy than the green paste.  My kids eat the red without complaint, so unless you add a lot of cayenne or curry powder to it, or unless you are very sensitive to spicy foods, the red isn’t all that spicy. 

How fun to be able to connect with our missionaries in this way.  And while you’re cooking and eating, why not take some time to pray for them? 

A Winter's Kale

After so many beautiful winter days, a gray, rainy day finally arrived.  It was the perfect soup day.  At first I thought I would make my regular potato soup.  It’s quick and easy---I had the ingredients---but, wait.  No, I didn’t.  I was out of ham.  I did have some bacon I could have used instead, but as I looked in my refrigerator and saw some kale I had just bought, I remembered a recipe I had seen in the IBC cookbook—something involving kale and potatoes.  So I looked it up and decided to make a new soup recipe instead.

Menu

Hearty Potato Sausage & Kale Soup (p.48)

Garlic Bread (storebought)

I did not have hot Italian turkey sausage, but I did have turkey breakfast sausage; so I used that instead.  It worked and used up something I had, but next time I will plan ahead to make this soup and buy the spicy sausage.  I put the onion and garlic in to sauté after the meat and then added homemade turkey broth instead of the chicken broth (because it was what I had).  I also added two leeks as they were in my produce drawer and needed to be used before they went bad.  Once they were cooked, I took my immersion blender and blended up the veggies as I personally don’t care for large chunks of onion.  (It’s a texture thing with me. . .and since I was cooking, I went with my preferences.)  Once that was blended, I put in the chunks of potato.  Ah!! Yet another recipe where I don’t have to peel potatoes.  I let those cook for a few minutes and then put in the kale. 

Kale might scare some people, and for those of you who know me well (or at least knew me when I was younger), I’m sure you are shocked that I would willingly buy kale.  I first bought it 2 years ago after a friend of mine posted a recipe for kale.  I never got up the nerve to try it, so the kale went bad and I threw it away.  I know how good kale is for you, though, so when I got a cookbook that had recipes using local/farmer’s market food and saw a recipe for kale chips, I thought, “It is time to try this again.”  So off I went to buy kale.  This time, however, I made the recipe for kale chips and they were a BIG hit with my family.  Andrew & Brian, and even I loved them!  (Not to mention a close bachelor friend we had for dinner.  Thanks, Tom, for being my guinea pig. . .)   Since that time, I get kale on a fairly regular basis and make kale chips.  I hadn’t used it in any other way up to this point, though.  This soup is a GREAT way to introduce kale, as you can chop it up so finely that you might think it is parsley or some other familiar, non-threatening green.  The texture and taste are both negligible and you are getting all the good nutrients!  (Well, most anyway.  I guess some probably cook out, but I would imagine they remain in the broth.)

It was time for me to begin my afternoon of teaching at that point, so I put the soup on low to simmer while I taught.  Technically, this soup is not an all-day soup.  But I had to just leave it as I teach through the dinner prep time and even into dinner time on Mondays. 

At 6:00, I have the changing of the students, and so while one was getting ready for her lesson, I went in and added the milk, sugar, pepper, and nutmeg.   I didn’t have any bouillon cubes, so I just left those out.  I also only put in about 2-2 ½ cups of milk rather than the 4 cups.  Once it got heated through, Brian dished it up for the kids and added the crumbled bacon and cheese to the top.  When I finished teaching, I was able to enjoy a bowl.  My children ate it without complaint.  (My daughter had 2 bowls!)  It is definitely one I will make again.  I do think it needed a little bit more pizzazz, which is why next time I will use the hot Italian sausage.  The rest of the flavors were fine. 

So next time it feels like a soup day, give it a try!

Hearty Potato Sausage & Kale Soup                                          Lois M.

1 (20 oz.) pkg hot Italian turkey sausage         4 c. whole or 2% milk

4 slices bacon                                                2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules

1 med. onion                                                 1 tsp. sugar

2 cloves fresh garlic                                       1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 med. potatoes                                             1/4 tsp. nutmeg

2 cans chicken broth (4 c.)                             Parmesan cheese

2 c. chopped fresh kale, washed 

        and stems removed  

Remove casings from the sausage. Dice bacon and brown in a large 4 to 6 quart pot. Remove bacon and drain, keeping the rendered bacon drippings in the pot. Brown the sausage in the pot with the bacon drippings over medium heat, breaking up the sausage links into small pieces as the sausage browns. (Tip: Turkey sausage is so lean that you need the bacon drippings to brown it.) 

Chop onion and garlic cloves and saute in the pot with browned sausage until soft. Scrub potatoes thoroughly, cut in lengthwise quarters, then in 1/4-inch crosswise slices with the peel. Put potatoes and chicken broth in the pot with the sausage, sauteed onions and garlic and cook 5 minutes, scraping bottom of the pot frequently.

Add the prepared kale and cook 15 minutes more. Stir in milk, chicken bouillon, sugar, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and drained bacon and bring back to heat while stirring to prevent the milk from scorching.  Serve topped with fresh ground Parmesan cheese with a tossed salad and crusty Italian bread on the side. Makes about 10 cups soup.

Trying something new

I am attempting to add the recipes into the blog for those of you who might not have the IBC cookbook but want to try the recipes.  I'm not certain as to the best way to do this, so I am trying a couple things.  I have a second page now where you can find the recipes.  (I have only added a few so far.)  Also, if you click on the name of the recipe you want to try, it should take you to the correct page.  You might have to scroll down to find the actual recipe, but hopefully it will be there.  I would love your feedback as to if this works for you OR if you know a better way to do this.  I'm definitely learning as I'm going, so any advice is appreciated.  Thanks!

Random Recipes

I’m baaaack.  Happy New Year! 

Life leading up to Christmas is crazy for everyone, and seemingly doubly busy for musicians.  Hence, I have 4 meals ready to blog about.  I had plans to write the posts over the Christmas/New Year break, but ended up using my time differently.  So here we are, finally getting around to writing about meals I have already made. 

On three different days in October, I made a recipe from the cookbook.  Since I didn’t really do a complete meal, I thought I would combine the three in a random post. 

The first recipe is Mild & Sweet Red Bean Chili (p.46).  I wanted chili, and I chose this recipe because I had all the ingredients and could make it quickly before I went to a party and then played at a wedding.  It ended up simmering quite a bit longer than 30 minutes (more like 4 hours).  I also made the very yummy and very unhealthy store-bought Texas Toast to go with it.  The chili was warm, delicious, and eaten down quickly by my family.  It is a good recipe for those with young children or those who might not enjoy spicy foods, as it lives up to the name of Mild and Sweet. 

One Saturday, I made The Kingsleigh Inn Granola (p.322).  I have needed to make granola for awhile and just haven’t gotten around to it.  I have a recipe that I really like, but decided I would try one out of the cookbook instead.  I did substitute cashews for pecans since I had those and didn’t have the pecans.  I also used sunflower seeds, not pumpkin seeds.  I used Coconut oil and raw honey.  My almonds, cashews, and sunflower seeds had all been soaked and toasted previously.  I over-baked it, so it was a little bit well-done tasting, but other than that, the flavor was quite good.  I will definitely make it again and try to hover over the oven in an attempt not to let it burn.

My third random recipe was a potato soup recipe (Potato-Cheese Soup, p. 49).  It was very easy to make.   I used actual chicken broth rather than cubes.  I loved the fact that it called for red potatoes with the skins on—not only does this add vitamins, but it also keeps me from having to peel potatoes!  Also used in this recipe are leeks.  

If you have never cooked with leeks, I highly recommend that you go get some and try them.  They look like very large spring or green onions.  I was introduced to them about 2 years ago and have incorporated them into my cooking ever since.  My favorite use for them is with potatoes.  (I use them in all kinds of soups and once made a Potato-Leek Gratin dish that was amazing.)  When cooking with leeks, you do need to give them a thorough rinse, and maybe even rinse a couple times as dirt will get down into the middle layers and not come out until you peel off the outer layers or slice up to the dirt.  But a little dirt never hurt anyone, right? 

I usually make my potato soup (well, my mom’s potato soup) with some ham in it.  I also have started adding dill or rosemary.  I don’t normally put cheese in it, though I do top it with cheese frequently.  Adding the cheese to the actual soup was a nice change for the palate.  My family devoured it within minutes. 

And speaking of soup—I made another soup last night.  But I’ll save that for another post on another day.  Happy cooking!