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By mlb, on March 12th, 2012%
I have made quite a few batches of lentil soup in my time. All of them have been pretty good but this is the first one that I have absolutely, completely loved. I am giving credit for that to two things.
Thing #1 – I used awesome, homemade lamb stock for my soup, made from lamb shanks that had been braised in yummy things likes tomatoes, red wine and cinnamon.
And Thing #2 – I blended the soup, something I haven’t normally done when making lentil soup.
Now, if you have some awesome, homemade lamb stock go ahead and use that (especially if it has a tomatoes/cinnamon/red wine quality to it). If not, feel free to use chicken or vegetable broth for the soup but add half a cinnamon stick while simmering. Or if you don’t have that, I’d add maybe a 1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon along with all the other spices.
Egyptian Red Lentil Soup
Adapted very much from a recipe in Food & Wine Magazine
1 red bell pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chile powder
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup red lentils
4 1/2 cups chicken, . . . → Read More: Egyptian Red Lentil Soup
By mlb, on March 8th, 2012%
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie is indeed an onion biscuit. I liked these a lot. I made a half recipe and only seemed to have gotten seven biscuits, but I may have made mine a little big. Another item of note — I used red onion. I think that’s it. Oh, and they had a delightfully crunchy exterior.
If I try these again, I think they would be great with green onions too.
Here’s a link to everyone’s posts and my photos below. Good night.*
Sauteed red onions.
Onions, flour, butter…almost dough.
Patted out on top a floured board.
Before baking.
Light inside, crunchy outside.
* So here was my day yesterday: up at 6:30 AM, work at 8:00. I left early to go to a bread baking class at 4:00PM taught by Tim Healea at Bob’s Red Mill, then I had a Thursday night pottery class to go to right after baking class. Finally home at 8:30 PM. What a . . . → Read More: FFwD: Saint-Germain-des-Pres Onion Biscuits
By mlb, on March 6th, 2012%
Okay, this is one of those recipes that I saw during the day and went, “OH MY GOD!!!” And then when I got home I immediately made it for dinner. The original recipe is awesome but it’s also one of those recipes that is super-easily adapted to anything you feel like sticking in there. In fact, the first time I made these, I did so as written, except that I just about a tablespoon of defrosted, squeezed-out, chopped spinach per each enchilada for Spinach and Cheese Enchiladas*.
This dish below, however, might just be my new standard enchilada recipe. And, since I plan on making this once a week, I did do a few things to make it a little more once a week friendly. Namely, adding veggies, not frying the tortillas, and decreasing the cheese (!!). Also, and you may certainly not want to do this, but I used a combination of low fat cheese (1/4 cup) for inside the enchiladas, saving the good stuff for on top (3/4 cup). Yes, I know, crazy-talk!
But, wow, still so good and I feel a little bit better about eating this how frequently . . . → Read More: Veggie & Cheese Enchiladas with Chili Gravy
By mlb, on March 4th, 2012%
This…was really good. I feel like I had to futz with it a little bit to get it where I wanted it, but once I did, it was awesome. I added ginger and a little fish sauce. Also a drop or two of chili oil for garnish. When making this, use the basic recipe as a guide but then play around a bit with the ratios of miso to liquids and the amount of blending you do (with a stick blender, or even mashing the potatoes against the side of the pot), as you want.
The original recipe called for clams by the dozen, but my clams happened to be really small so I ended up with a lot less clam than I wanted. I’d suggest procuring the clams by weight. A pound works well for 3-4 servings (as listed below).
Miso-Ginger Clam Chowder with Cilantro Oil
Adapted from a recipe in Food & Wine Magazine
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 lb littleneck clams, scrubbed
1 tbsp unsalted butter
3 strips bacon, diced
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery ribs, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tablespoons white miso paste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1-inch piece of ginger, . . . → Read More: Miso-Ginger Clam Chowder with Cilantro Oil
By mlb, on March 1st, 2012%
In lieu of French Fridays with Dorie this week, which sounded delicious of course, I’ve opted instead to post about this awesome steak salad I made for dinner the other night. As someone who eats red meat pretty rarely (maybe a couple of times a month), I like to make it count. Kind of exactly like the steak in this meal.
The mint and cilantro work really well with all of the flavors here and if you can get a nice crust on your steak you will be rewarded greatly. This is definitely going into the rotation of one of those twice-a-month red meat meals and it’s definitely quick enough to make after coming home from work. Win-win.
Southeast Asian Steak Salad
Adapted from a recipe in Gourmet Magazine
3 cups baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup sliced red onion
1 red or orange bell pepper, sliced
1/2 cup thinly sliced broccoli florets
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp canola or olive oil (plus a tablespoon or so more for cooking the steak)
2 tsp Asian fish sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
a few dashes of sriracha or tabasco
1 1/4-inch-thick rib-eye steak (about 3/4 pound)
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup . . . → Read More: Southeast Asian Steak Salad
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