Kohlrabi soup for a kohld winter day

Another gem from our CSA share: kohlrabi.  At first, we had absolutely no idea what to do with this rather odd vegetable.  We soon discovered, however, that it is delicious peeled and roasted in the oven with salt and pepper...kind of like french fries (especially since I like to cut it into matchstick pieces).  In an attempt to empty our fridge before our next CSA pick-up, I was presented with two kohlrabi.  What to do, what to do?  I didn't want to just roast them again.  Delicious...but boring to do the same thing over and over.  I would make a soup instead!  Soup is one of my all-time favorite things to eat, and the beauty of soup is that you can really make a soup from anything.  Furthermore, no soup is ever the same; each is unique!  I browsed the internet for some kohlrabi soup recipes...and got a few hits, but nothing that was perfect...or I just didn't have the necessary ingredients (and going to Whole Foods every day is getting to be a little excessive).  Thus, the following recipe is my own invention, an amalgamation of many recipes I read.  The result was delicious!

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 very large clove of garlic (or two normal-sized cloves), minced
• two large-ish kohlrabi, peeled and cut into half inch cubes (6-8 cups in the end)
• 1 tbsp flour
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock, divided
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp cayenne (or more if you're daring)
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and a pinch of salt.  Cook for several minutes until the onions are soft and translucent, stirring often.
2. Add the garlic to the pot and stir almost constantly for a minute or two until very fragrant.
3. Add the kohlrabi cubes to the pot and stir well.  Cook for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
4. Sprinkle the flour, paprika, and cayenne over the kohlrabi and stir.  Allow to cook for 3 minutes, stirring a few times.
5. Add about 1/2 cup chicken stock, stir, and then cover the pot.  Cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the kohlrabi cubes are almost tender.  (It may take shorter or longer depending on your kohlrabi.)
6. Add the remaining 3 1/2 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, adjust the heat to a steady simmer.  Cook, partially covered, for another 15 or so minutes until the kohlrabi are fork-tender.
7. Turn off the heat.  Using an immersion blender*, puree the soup to your desired consistency.  If your soup is too thick, add some broth or water.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. If you notice that your soup still has some fibrous bits (mine did...maybe I didn't peel my kohlrabi well enough), pass it through a food mill or fine strainer.
9. Garnish with kefir or plain yogurt and something crunchy, like sunflower seeds!  Enjoy!

*You can use a food processor or blender, working in batches, instead.  But beware: you must wait for the soup to cool partially before doing this!  It is dangerous to blend super hot liquids in a blender/food processor as they can create a hot vortex and cause an explosion of sorts.

A yummy, warm bowl of soup, garnished with plain kefir and sunflower seeds.

Fro-Ba!

I am a firm believer in "good things come to those who wait" and "delayed gratification", which is why I enjoy making breads and pastries that require multiple steps and a looot of waiting time.  The end product just tastes that much sweeter!  Another one of these time-commitment-good-eats is ice cream.  First, you must gingerly make the custard.  Then, you must wait at least eight hours for it to thoroughly chill in the fridge.  Then, you must wait for your ice cream maker to churn and freeze that delicious cream.  And finally, you must wait for the ice cream to further firm up in the freezer.  It's a long process, but oh so worth it in the end.  Today, I started making an agave-sweetened chocolate ice cream from David Lebovitz's blog.  While melting the 70% dark chocolate and stirring the custard, I began to have a major major craving for chocolate ice cream.  The only way to get rid of a craving is to satisfy it.  Ignoring it (or trying to) will only make matters worse.  Thus, I decided to make "instant" ice cream, which is really not ice cream at all but rather frozen banana.  If frozen yogurt can be nicknamed "fro-yo", then this concoction certainly deserves to be called "fro-ba", just like its cool cousin.  The great thing about bananas is that if you freeze them and then blend them, they turn out to have a consistency similar to that of ice cream.  Leave the bananas plain or dress them up a bit with other fruits, cocoa powder, or nut butter, and you have instant ice cream!  While not quite as luxurious as real ice cream, it will temporarily satisfy any craving until you can actually dive into your own homemade ice cream, keeping you sane and well-fed.  And it's nutritious to boot!

When you freeze your bananas, you want them to be super duper ripe so that that sweetness really comes through in the final product.  Most people peel and cut up their bananas before they freeze them, but in my family, we are a little too lazy for that: we freeze them whole, peel on.  If you choose to freeze them whole like I do, just run the banana quickly under hot water after you remove it from the freezer, and then using a sharp knife, slice off the peel.  Then, you can slice the frozen banana into large chunks.

Ingredients:

• one frozen banana, cut into large chunks
• 8 or so frozen cherries
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Place the frozen banana chunks, frozen cherries, and cocoa powder into your blender (or food processor will work, too).
2. Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping the sides of the blender as needed.  Do not over-blend because the friction from the blades is constantly warming up your frozen treat, and you don't want to end up with soup!  If your blended fro-ba comes out a little too soft/un-frozen, just pop it into the freezer for a few minutes.
3. Serve the fro-ba in a pretty bowl with a little garnish (optional, but always encouraged).

Banana chips make everything just that much cuter.

The agave-sweetened chocolate ice cream custard is chilling in the fridge...tomorrow it will complete its ice cream journey...ending in my belly.  Stay tuned!

Bread sponge back to work

I am so proud of my little bread sponge.  Look at how stretchy and wonderful he is!  I told you he had his own personality...

Strech...

...still going!

So it was time to put Mr. Bread Sponge back to work.  As previously promised, this time his task was multigrain sourdough, the recipe again from the Flour cookbook.  There are several reasons why I instantly fell in love with this recipe.  First of all, the recipe employs lots of seeds, and I looooove seeds.  Bird food = Fred food.  Second of all, the recipe calls for buckwheat flour, which I recently purchased and fell head over heels for because of its intense, earthy grey/brown color and its very unique, well-defined flavor.  This bread is much more dense and hearty than the country bread I made earlier.  It has such a great taste that it can be eaten by itself, but it is also delicious with goat brie, almond butter, and in a salmon melt (today's lunch...my take on the classic tuna melt).

First couple of ingredients (flours, water)...mixer get ready for your work out!

Shaggy dough.  Isn't the color the buckwheat gives the dough divine?  Rather rustic, I'd say!

Salt, honey, and sponge up next.

Everyone into the bowl.

The dough has come together.  Time for some seeeeds!

Millet, flax, and pumpkin seeds (recipe originally called for sunflower seeds, but I had to substitute because I was too lazy to go to Whole Foods...and perhaps embarrassed to go back because I have been so many times in the last week.)

Pretty colors...

Blinged-out dough!

Time to rest for a few hours...see you after your nap, little bread dough!

Shaping time.

Plump little ball at first...

...a little flatter ("relaxed") after resting for a few hours.

Slightly deeper, more confident slashes this time around.

Look how he puffed up at the bottom...ready to take off from the baking sheet, I think!

Deep brown (don't worry, he's not burnt...the buckwheat just makes it look super dark).

Yumm can't wait to eat you!

All sliced up.  Beautiful crust on the outside, soft inside, and seeds evenly distributed.

As mentioned, today's lunch was a salmon melt.  Instead of canned tuna, I used canned salmon.  I added a little olive oil mayonnaise and freshly ground pepper to the salmon.  I cut a slice of bread in half, loaded some salmon on one half, added a few shreds of extra sharp cheddar cheese, closed up the sandwich, and toasted it in a pan with some butter on the stove until the cheese was melted.  Served over a bed of baby spinach, it was the perfect lunch.  (N.B. I eat my sandwiches with a fork and a knife...makes them taste so much better and really gives you a chance to savor your sandwich.)

Mmm yummy in my tummy.

Scutternutbosh?

Throughout the fall and early winter, as I browsed foodgawker.com and the myriad food blogs I regularly visit, I kept seeing recipes for butternut squash mac and cheese.  Who doesn't love cheese?  Who doesn't love butternut squash?  Their marriage in one warm, comforting dish was destiny.  Unfortunately, I was not brave enough to attempt b.s.m.&c. in a dormitory kitchen.  Too many different elements and tools I simply did not have available to me.  Therefore, I craved this dish for months!

We have several butternut squash from our CSA, and I finally bought some cheddar cheese (for a week, I kept forgetting each time I went to the grocery store!).  Louisa came over, and luckily, she was just as enthusiastic about b.s.m.&c. as I was.  Our challenge: Louisa is currently gluten-free, so normal wheat pasta was a no-go.  However, given the recent popularity of being gluten-free, there are several varieties of gluten-free pastas at Whole Foods.  There is rice pasta.  There is corn pasta.  Our choice: a quinoa and corn pasta.  I was pleasantly surprised by this pasta!  It has a very interesting texture.  Maybe not as smooth as regular wheat pasta, but it has its own integrity and bite to it.  This pasta was just what we needed to hold up to a thick, creamy butternut squash and cheese sauce.

Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese (adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod)

Ingredients:

• 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 pound pasta (we used Ancient Harvest Quinoa Rotelle)
• 1 1/4 cups milk, divided
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp flour
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 cup extra-sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Toss butternut squash pieces with olive oil, salt, and pepper, to taste.  Spread the pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast in the oven for 30 minutes or until tender.  (It's ok, and perhaps preferable, if a few pieces turn brown on the edges.)
3. Remove the butternut squash from the oven and allow to cool.  (This whole roasting process can even be done a day or two before in preparation.)
4. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Make sure not to overcook!  Drain, and set aside.
5. Puree the cooled butternut squash with 1/4 cup milk in a blender, food processor, or with an immersion blender.
6. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a large pot on the stove.  When the butter is melted, add the flour and nutmeg and whisk constantly for two or three minutes.
7. Add the remaining 1 cup of milk and whisk until smooth.  Then, turn the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly.  When the sauce has thickened, turn the heat to low and add the pureed butternut squash and the two cheeses.  Whisk until smooth.  Stir in the rosemary.
8. Add the cooked pasta to the butternut squash and cheese mixture and stir with a spoon until all the pasta is coated.
9. Serve and devour. 

We tripled (at least) the amount of butternut squash from the original Two Peas & Their Pod recipe because we loooove butternut squash.  This made the sauce very thick, which we really liked.  If you would prefer a thinner sauce or a more pronounced cheese flavor, you may want to reduce the amount of squash used in this recipe.  Up to you!

Shredding cheese can be rather daunting...? ...confuzzling? 

My weak blender was not the tool to use for this butternut-squash-pureeing application, as is evidenced by my use of the back of a wooden spoon to dislodge lots of stuck squash at the bottom of the blender.  The smile is deceiving...this was annoying.  Next time: the almighty food processor.

Our delicious squashy and cheesy mac.  The butternut squash made the mac and cheese look like that generic, packaged orange mac and cheese heehee...but trust me, the taste was absolutely nothing like that yucky stuff.  It was scrumpdidillyumptious, and still fabulous the next day, reheated in the microwave.

We decided we needed a side of veggies to accompany our mac.  We raided the fridge and chose some beautiful root vegetables from our CSA: carrots, parsnips, and watermelon radishes.  We sliced them thinly, sauteed them in a little bit of olive oil, and seasoned with a tiny bit of salt and pepper.  These watermelon radishes are just so wonderful that they deserve a glamour shot here.  Isn't it amazing that a) these intensely pink vegetables grow in the first place and b) in the winter nonetheless!  I am so thankful that we have a CSA because otherwise I would never know these beauties exist as I have never seen them in a grocery store.

So vibrant!  Brightens up any dreary winter day.

Sauteed root veggies.  Simple but delectable.

Like magic...

A week ago, Mags and I started a conversation about nut butters.  Having a fridge fully stocked of nut (and seed) butters of various sorts, I gave Mags a little butter-tasting.  She seemed instantly hooked and was interested to hear that such things could easily be made at home.  For some reason, almond butters in the grocery store are grossly expensive.  Making almond butter at home is much more economical, and let's be honest, it's more fun, too, because you can mix and match various flavors and nuts.  Venturing into the world of making nut butters for the first time can be daunting to do on your own, so I decided to invite Mags over for a little almond-buttering.  I found a great recipe online for hazelnut almond butter, which was perfect because we currently have delicious hazelnuts from Turkey, given to us by mother's Turkish friend.  What I love about the nut-butter-making-process is that it is just that: a process.  In the first few minutes, you are wondering how the chunks/powder of nuts (sounding like sand hitting the walls of your processor) will ever come together into a butter...you start to worry that something has gone wrong!  But it hasn't because a few minutes later, the noises coming from your food processor change (glug glug glug), and you notice that you have the beginnings of a paste.  Like magic.  You breathe a sigh of relief.  Additionally, the smell coming from the food processor (especially if you've toasted your nuts beforehand) is to die for...or to slobber for.  Yumm

Hazelnut Almond Butter (adapted from The Healthy Foodie)


Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups raw organic almonds
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts (mine had the skins removed, but I imagine either way is fine)
• 1/4 cup flaxmeal
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (you can also use 1 tsp pure vanilla extract instead)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees F.
2. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet, and bake at 170 degrees F for 40 minutes, stirring twice throughout the baking process.
3. Turn up the temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake the almonds for another 15 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
4. Allow the almonds to cool for at least 30 minutes.
5. Place the almonds, hazelnuts, flaxmeal, and vanilla bean paste in the bowl of your food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Process for 10-15 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl every few minutes, until you have a lovely drippy almond butter.
6. Package in glass jars.

If you would like, you can add a little bit of salt to taste, but Mags and I decided it was perfect as it was: nutty and smooth followed by a kick from the hazelnuts.  

Just four simple ingredients.

Mags did a lovely and artistic job of putting the ingredients into the food processor bowl.

About halfway through the process...

The final product!  (No, we did not coordinate our nail polish, but it's rather fantastic, isn't it?)

Granola, two ways

My mom and I started making our own granola a few years ago, and although we mixed it up each time with different seeds, nuts, flakes, dried fruits, etc., we always followed the same basic recipe/proportions.  So although each batch of granola was unique, I found myself getting bored of the same old, same old granola routine.  I found a recipe on ohsheglows.com that uses applesauce, nut butter, and brown rice syrup to give the granola a certain clumpiness, which was always missing from my previous granolas.  I was thrilled to see that the recipe specifically called for the maple cinnamon almond butter with hemp, chia, and flax also from Oh She Glows, which I had just made the week before!

Almond Granola (adapted from Oh She Glows)


Dry:

• 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped raw almonds 
• 1/2 cup uncooked millet
• 2 tbsp flaxmeal
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Wet:

• heaping 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 brown rice syrup (apparently you can use other liquid sweeteners, too)
• 3 tbsp Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter with hemp, flax, and chia (from ohsheglows.com) or any other nut butter
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 325 degrees F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Stir together dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a small, microwave-safe bowl, mix together the first three wet ingredients (not the extracts!) and microwave on high for 60 seconds.  Then, stir in the extracts.
3. Add wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until everything is coated.  The mixture may look dry, but don't worry, it will come together as you keep mixing.
4. Spread mixture evenly onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, stirring two times during the baking process.  Allow the granola to cool completely on the baking sheet.  Then, you can package it into air-tight containers.

Dry ingredients.

Wet ingredients.

All mixed together.

The finished product: crispy clusters of nutty yumminess. 

Close up.  This stuff is truly addicting!

This granola is sooo good.  I have already eaten it plain (just off the baking sheet), in yogurt, and with milk.  Very versatile, nutritious, and delicious.

I was immediately obsessed with this granola, and I wanted to share the deliciousness.   Unfortunately, my mom is allergic to both nuts and apples, so I could not give her any of my granola.  I was determined, however, to find a way for her to experience this new granola.  Now the beauty of granola, as I previously hinted upon, is that you can really personalize it because there's no exact science to it.  I looked in the pantry and the fridge, and found exactly what I was looking for: pumpkin seeds and roasted pumpkin seed butter I had made earlier (recipe from weelicious.com).  With just a few tweaks to the Oh She Glows granola recipe, I was able to make a mommy-friendly version with the same clumpiness and general texture as the original recipe.

Pumpkin Seed Granola (adapted from Oh She Glows)

Dry:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas) 
• 1/2 cup uncooked millet
• 2 tbsp flaxmeal
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Wet:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 brown rice syrup (apparently you can use other liquid sweeteners, too)
• 3 tbsp pumpkin seed butter
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 325 degrees F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Stir together dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a small, microwave-safe bowl, mix together the first three wet ingredients (not the extracts!) and microwave on high for 60 seconds.  Then, stir in the extracts.
3. Add wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until everything is coated.  The mixture may look dry, but don't worry, it will come together as you keep mixing.
4. Spread mixture evenly onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, stirring two times during the baking process.  Allow the granola to cool completely on the baking sheet.  Then, you can package it into air-tight containers.

Dry ingredients.

Wet ingredients.  (Looks kinda gross, but trust me, it's delicious)

All mixed together.

Roasty toasted!

Close up.  Look at all those beautiful seeds and millet.

Granola version 2.0 was quite the success!  Mom was similarly addicted to it...

Already planning subsequent versions in my head...suggestions welcome always!

Quick snapshot of yesterday's breakfast

What do you do with a tiny piece of leftover brioche after a few days?  Why you make French toast of course!

The most scrumptious and light French toast I have ever made!  I topped it with a little blueberry jam or maple syrup.  I even took a piece, cut it in half, and sandwiched a piece of goat's brie in between, leaving it on the stove for a minute to melt the cheese...obviously it was delicious as I devoured it before I even had a chance to take a photograph!

(Oh, and that's the previously mentioned Rodney in the picture.  Handsome, isn't he?)

My bread sponge needs a name!

This blog is not dedicated to the Flour cookbook, I promise.  However, it is rather difficult not to want to make one of the recipes from this book as you flip through it!  That being said, I attempted another Joanne Chang recipe: Country Bread.  The first part of this recipe requires making a sponge (my very first bread sponge!).  Joanne calls her sponge at Flour "the Mother" or simply "Mom".  I have been feeding my sponge since I first put it together, and I think by now my sponge has its own personality and microbes, so it absolutely must have it's own, unique name.  I am at a loss - I can't think of anything appropriate.  Usually these names come to me instantly.  For example, C's bf, "B", just gave me a plant for Christmas, and I immediately knew he was a Rodney.  So please, I am desperate: help me name the sponge!  (Only nice names please - he is very much alive and has feelings, too...oh and he's definitely a boy).

Newborn sponge...only five hours old!

Once the sponge had time to "do it's thing" in the fridge overnight, it was time to gather the rest of the ingredients for the country bread.

Starting with AP & bread flours and water. 

Shaggy, stiff dough, time for the sponge!

Hello, little sponge.  Time to get to work.

Now for waiting...round one.  The dough sits in the "tropical" oven (78-82 degrees) for three hours.

Puffy puffy puffy and "relaxed".

Out of the bowl.  Plop.

Smooth and lovely.  Time to divide.

I decided to do two small loaves and a big loaf.  I spaced them three inches apart as per the recipe directions...

...clearly this was not enough space after two or three hours...amorphous blob bread?...mickey mouse bread?

Flour dusted and slashed!

500 degrees and a steam bath on the lower rack made these loaves deeply golden with crisp crust.

After surgery to separate the loaves...

Glamour shot.

Up close at the slashing...looks a bit like wheat perhaps?

Posing with the bread...Mimi tried to get in the shot, too (she was present throughout the baking process, so she does deserve some credit).

Cutting into the bread - always such a scary and exciting moment!

Divinely chewy and elastic on the inside with a crust with integrity on the outside.

Perfect with soup, nut butter, anything!

...next task for the nameless sponge: multigrain sourdough!