Carrot mania

As a child, I was encouraged by my eldest brothers and sisters to eat a lot of carrots to improve my moods. As a result my skin took on a golden hue, or was that just the redhead in me? My moodiness unfortunately stayed about the same. Beta-carotene does work its magic on our skin and carrots are chock full of vitamin A, potassium, vitamin B6, thiamine, folic acid, and magnesium. Winter is a good time to eat lots of them. The four following recipes are using them raw for a starter, cooked as a companion to meat or fish and even as a dessert.

Bistro carrots (Easy, Preparation time: 10 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:

Dressing
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup (237 ml) of virgin olive oil
1/3 cup (76 ml) of red wine vinegar

Salad
1 lb (454 gm) carrot
1 Fuji apple
½ cup (113 gm) walnut

Material:
Food processor with the grate attachment on or manual grater
Peeler
Salad Bowl
1 glass jar with its cover

Place the tablespoon of mustard in the glass jar. Add salt and pepper. Pour in the virgin olive oil and the vinegar. Close the jar and shake. The sauce has become a thick emulsion and will keep in the fridge for several weeks. Just shake it again before using.

Peel the carrots and grate them. Peel, core and quarter the apple. Grate the apple. Place the carrots, apple and nuts in the salad bowl. Pour as much as sauce as needed and mix well.

Carrot Vichy (Easy, Preparation time 10 minutes, cooking time: 20, Cheap)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon (14 gm) of butter
1 tablespoon (14 gm) of sugar
1 lb (455 gm) of carrots
1 onion
1 cup (237 ml) of water
Salt and pepper to taste

Material:
4-quart pan
Peeler
Board and paring knife

Peel the carrots and slice them finely. Peel and cube the onion.
Place the butter in a 4-quart pan over the low setting of the gas. Melt the butter. Add the onion cubes and the carrot. Sprinkle the sugar over the vegetables and let them color, stirring constantly for about five minutes. Pour the water over. The water should just cover the top of the carrots. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the carrots are tender when pierced with a knife. If the water evaporates too quickly, add some. There should be a little left (28 ml) at the end of the cooking period.
It is a great side dish for a beef or veal roast.


Carrot purée (Easy, Preparation time: 5 minutes, Cooking time: 20 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients (for 2):
2 medium-size carrots
1 potato
1tablespoon (14 gm) butter
¼ cup (57 ml) milk

Material:
1 peeler
1 paring knife and board
1 4-quart pan
1 food processor

Peel the potato and cut them in quarters. Put them in the saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over the high setting of the gas.
Peel the carrot and slice them. Dip the carrot slices as soon as the boil starts and let potatoes and carrots boil harmoniously for about twenty minutes.
Drain the water and place the vegetables in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the sharp blade. Add a little milk and butter and blend thoroughly. Taste, seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.
This purée tastes and looks awesome with baked salmon fillets

Do not attempt to purée potatoes in a blender without another vegetable unless it is glue you want. You will need a ricer or an electric masher.

Carrot cake (Easy, Preparation time 20 minutes, Cooking time 30, Cheap)

Ingredients:
2 eggs
½ cup (114 gm) buttermilk
½ cup butter (114 gm) at room temperature
1 cup white sugar (237 gm)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (14 gm)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (14 gm)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1½ cups of all-purpose flour (350 g)
2 teaspoons baking soda (14 g)
1 cup shredded carrots (100 g)
½ cup chopped walnuts (60 g)
½ cup fresh apple juice (110 ml)
½ cup (60 g) raisins

Toppings:
1cup autumn compote from November blog

Material:
2 Salad bowls
Colander
Food processor with fine shredder attachment and then with dough attachment
Juicer
1 small bowl
10 individual molds silicone or greased and floured


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place a colander over a salad bowl and sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
Juice the apple and place in a bowl with the raisins.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, butter, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.
Combine the shredded carrots and walnuts with the apple juice and raisins.
Using a large wooden spoon, add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.
Pour into the individual molds and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes check for doneness by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean. It is done.
Allow to cool at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.

Turn the mold over onto a plate and surround with apple and quince compote. Alternatively, serve with crème anglaise (5th December blog described in green tea mousse)

Christmas Jewels

This is a lengthy cooking project for all the family: it can take a whole day to decorate the tree with home made ornaments from start to finish but, what fun when even a failed experiment reaps so many rewards. No broken ornament will be left uneaten. I guarantee that the little (and older) helpers who hung the lower decorations after having licked their fingers clean, shall often come back during the holidays to eat the cookies off the tree. My daughters still remember fondly their Hansel and Gretel forays.
The miniature Christmas trees are a fun and fast way to create an unusual Christmas table.

Gingerbread ornaments for the Christmas tree (Easy, a whole day playing with the children, cheap)

Ingredients:
Gingerbread cookie dough

Dry elements
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
4 teaspoons ground ginger
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon of ground pepper
1½ teaspoons salt
Wet elements (at room temperature)
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1½ cups molasses

1 cup of brown sugar
Additional flour for dusting

Icing (glue and basis to paint)
3 large egg whites
4½ cups of confectioner sugar
1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
½ teaspoon salt
Juice of 1 lemon (4 drops)
Sugar sprinkles of different colors
Food colorant either in powder or liquid form

Material:
Food processor with the dough attachment on
Eggbeater
Parchment paper
Colander
Salad bowl
Cookie sheet
Cookie cutters
Rolling pin
Skewer
Thin thread or ribbon
Scissor
Salad bowl
2 to 3 paintbrushes varying from thin to thick

Place the colander over the salad bowl and sift the dry elements through.
Place the wet ingredients into the food processor and pulse until well mixed. Add the dry elements plus the sugar and pulse until well mixed. Do it in batches if you need to.
Dust your hand and a sheet of parchment paper with flour. Roll the dough in it and separate into six balls. Wrap in plastic and chill for one hour at least.
Prepare the icing, by mixing all its ingredients, except for the lemon drops, sprinkle and food colorants into the food processor at medium speed. Add the drops of lemon and increase the speed to high for 5 minutes or until the mixture has tripled in volume. Separate the icing in as many portions as you want colors. Mix in the colorant to obtain the desired colors. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Heat oven to 320. Place the ball between two sheets of parchment and roll out to ½ an inch using the rolling pin. Using the cutters dipped into flour, cut into desired shapes. Keep the cut out dough, roll into a ball and refrigerate. Create small indentations in the cookies with the tip of a pencil, and fill up with sugar sprinkles. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Remove the cookies from the oven and pierce a whole with a skewer about 1 inch from the cookie borders. Cool completely before icing and decorating with more sprinkles. Thread the ribbons through, when the icing has hardened and the sprinkles settled.
Repeat until you run out of dough.
Use on the tree as you would regular ornaments.

On our Christmas tree, I only use the cookies, a few silver balls and lights. You can of course add your collection of decoration.

Christmas Tree dessert
(Easy, Preparation time: 30 minutes, Refrigerating time: 2 hours, Cheap)

Ingredients:

Chocolate Mousse
7 oz bittersweet chocolate with at least 55% cacao content
2 tablespoons butter
1/3cup coffee
4 eggs
The zest of an orange

Green Tea Mousse
2 cups whole milk
4 yolks
¼ cup superfine sugar
1 cup of heavy cream
½ cup confectioner sugar
4 gelatin leaves
1 tablespoon of green tea powder

Tree:
18 sugar ice cream cones (the diameter must be slightly smaller than the glass)
½ cup royal icing (see recipe above)
4 oz dark bitter chocolate
1tablespoon coffee
M and M (baking size)

Material:
Salad Bowl refrigerated
Egg Beater attachment refrigerated
1 saucepan
2 salad bowls
1 wooden spoon
1 rubber spoon
18 small candle glasses

For the chocolate mousse:
Melt the butter in the saucepan over low gas. Break the chocolate in small pieces and add to the melted butter. Pour the coffee, stirring constantly until the chocolate has melted.
Let cool but not solidify.
Separate the white and the yolks. Add the yolks to the chocolate, when it is at room temperature, stirring well. Add the orange zest.
Beat the whites until stiff and, using the silicone spoon, fold them carefully into the chocolate batter. Pour into 6 glasses. Refrigerate for 1 to three hours. Consume immediately. Leftover chocolate mousse will tend to harden excessively.

For the green tea mousse:
Pour the gelatin in the cold water.
Prepare a crème by mixing the yolks and sugar in a salad bowl with the wooden spoon. Pour the milk in a saucepan and bring to a boil over the low setting of the gas. Remove from the gas and pour over the yolks and sugar. Return the cream to the saucepan and the pan to the gas on low. Constantly stir without bringing to a boil until thickened for about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the gelatin and the tea. Mix well and bring to room temperature.
To remediate any curdling of the cream, simply pour into a blender and mix.
Pour the heavy cream and confectioner sugar in the refrigerated salad bowl. Using the eggbeater, whip to soft peaks. Carefully fold into the green tea cream. Pour into 12 glasses and refrigerate until ready to serve.
If you freeze the mousse, you will obtain a delicious green tea ice cream.

For the trees:
Break the chocolate in pieces in a microwave proof bowl. Add a tablespoon of coffee. Microwave on high for two minutes. Mix well with a wooden spoon.
Using a paintbrush, paint half the sugar cones with the white royal icing, and half with the chocolate. Decorate the trees with the M and M. Let it dry

Before dinner, place each sugar cone over a glass filled with mousse and use as a decoration for your table.

All the recipes, except for the green tea mousse, includes raw eggs which are not recommended for consumption by pregnant women.

Multi cultural lentils

The most famous lentil soup of all times, the one Jacob gave to his twin brother Esau in exchange for his birthright and his father’s benediction must have been pretty good. It also gave rise to countless exegeses and paintings for our utmost appreciation.
Besides being of cultural importance this tiny member of the legume family, because of its high fiber content helps lower cholesterol and manage blood sugar. And it tastes great, as it has the ability to soak the flavors it is cooked with.
I cannot guarantee that my recipe is the original one. I only know that it is a good dish for an appetizer for 6 in winter, and can be combined with rice the next day for a light vegetarian lunch. The second variation on the lentil theme pairs the pulse with duck breasts and duck fat for a surprisingly rich dinner for 4. The use of duck fat to cook in is a tradition of the Southwest of France, whereas butter and cream are mainly used in the North, and olive oil in the Southeast.


Indian lentil soup

(Cheap, Preparation and cooking time 30 minutes, Easy)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup finely diced onion
4 tomatoes peeled and chopped
¾ cup lentils
31/2 cups of chicken soup or water
1tbsp.minced ginger
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 green jalapeño peppers seeded and minced
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tbsp. chopped cilantro leaves

Material:
1 heavy saucepan with lid
Wood spoon
Soup ladle
Paring knife and cutting board

Heat the oil in the heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions until softened. Add the garlic, half of the chili, the ginger, the coriander, cumin and turmeric. Cook for two more minutes until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, the lentils and the stock. Bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and cook until the lentils are tender.
The soup can be stored for up to three days at this point.
When using it, reheat gently over low heat. Before serving, stir in the lemon juice and add the remaining minced chili and cilantro.
For lunch the following day, prepare a cup of rice and mix with the leftover soup.
Warm lentil salad and duck breasts

(Reasonable, Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes, Easy)

Ingredients:
2 duck breasts
1 lb lentils
4 cups chicken stock or water
¼ lb carrots
1 medium onion
¼ pound celery root
Thyme sprig
1 teaspoon of salt
Salt and pepper

Material:
Cutting board and paring knife
Vegetable peeler
Small saucepan
1-quart pan
Oven proof dish

The day before, remove some excess fat from the duck breasts. Place the trimmings in the small saucepan. Add a cup of water. Simmer on the low setting of the gas stove for 40 minutes. Place in a little cup in the refrigerator overnight. The following day, the white fat will have surfaced, leaving the water under. It is the fat you are interested in, as it is a wonderful medium to cook vegetables, liver and potatoes.

The following day, turn on the oven at 400, with the top grill section on. Pick over the lentils and rinse them. Put in a saucepan, cover with broth or water and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes on the low setting of the gas stove.

With a sharp knife, crisscross the skin of the duck breasts, without reaching the flesh. Salt and pepper to taste. Place the breasts skin up in the ovenproof dish lined up with parchment paper.

Meanwhile, peel and cut the carrots, celery and onion. Dice them finely. Place the small saucepan with the fat duck on the low setting of the gas stove. Add the diced vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes. Bake and grill the duck in the oven for 7 minutes. Mix the vegetables with the lentils. Slice the duck breasts. Set a mound of lentils and vegetables on each plate. Top with slices of duck breasts.

Squashes three ways

Pumpkins are a beautiful American fruit and come in many shapes and hues. No wonder they figure prominently in Cinderella and grace our Halloween and Thanksgiving dinners. It would be a pity to confine them to these two festive occasions. Today’s three recipes play a variation on this beloved native squash. They do not need to be part of a same meal, although each plays on a different taste, from sweet, to piquant to rich. Each dish serves 6. All ingredients may, as always, be found in your local supermarket. No preparation takes more than thirty minutes.

Two squashes soup
(Cheap, 30 minutes preparation and cooking time, Easy, Vegetarian)

Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash
1 Acorn Squash
1 large onion
2 large carrots
1 tablespoon of butter, divided in 4
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 sprig of thyme
2 cups of chicken broth or water
Salt and pepper to taste

Material:
1 six-quart pan
Board and paring knife
Blender

Cut the squashes in halves. Remove and discard the seeds, sprinkle the cavities with sugar and dot with butter. Cook in the microwave for 10 minutes, or until soft. In the mean time, peel the onion and halve. Peel and slice the carrots in two-inch pieces. Retrieve the squashes from the microwave and replace with the onion and carrots. Cook on high for 10 minutes.
Scoop the flesh of the squashes into the pan. Add the onion, carrots, water or broth and thyme sprig. Place the pan over the gas stove at high. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the sprig of thyme and pour the content of the pan into the blender. Mix until totally blended. Add salt and pepper to taste

Moroccan lamb with squash
(Reasonable, 20 minutes preparation time 3 hours cooking mostly unattended, Easy)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb butternut squash, skin and seeds removed cut in 2-inch pieces
1lb sweet potatoes peeled and cut in 2-inch slices
2 onions peeled and minced
1 cup of almond
3 lbs lamb for stew in 3-inch cubes
2-inch piece of ginger peeled and grated
3 garlic cloves peeled and minced
1 tablespoon of cumin powder
1 tablespoon of turmeric
1 pinch of saffron
Red pepper flakes to taste
1 cup of tomato sauce (home made or store bought)

Material:
Cutting board and paring knife
Frying-pan
Tongs
Slow-cooker or 6-quart pan*

Place the pieces of lamb on the cutting board and massage into the pieces the minced ginger and garlic. Sprinkle with the cumin powder.
Set the frying pan over the medium setting of the gas. Pour the olive oil in. After 30 seconds lower the gas. Add the pieces of meat and brown them 2 minutes on each side. Retrieve them with tongs and put them in the inset of the slow cooker.
Add the onions to the frying pan and stir-fry for 3 minutes or until soft. Add the tomato sauce, the pinch of saffron and the red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil and turn off the gas.
Pour the whole content of the frying pan over the meat in the slow cooker’s inset. Add the sweet potatoes and squash. Cover and set the slow cooker on low for four hours.

Serve six, with couscous on the side. Leftover can be blended and used the next day as a pasta or lasagna sauce.

* Using a slow cooker has my preference, as the preparation cooks at low temperature and does not require attendance. If you use a pan over the stove, the cooking time will be halved, 2 hours instead of 4, but you will need to check that there is enough liquid and that the dish does not burn. Add a little water if needed.

Pumpkin Mousse
(Cheap, Preparation and cooking time 20 minutes, Easy)

Ingredients:
2 cups of butternut squash peeled seeded and cubed in 2-inch pieces
3 cups heavy cream
½ cup of confectioner sugar
½ cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
20 Ginger snaps (store bought)

Material:
Microwave resistant recipient
Saucepan
Salad Bowl refrigerated
Egg Beater attachment refrigerated
Food processor or plastic bag and rolling pin or empty and clean wine bottle

Place the butternut squash in a microwave resistant recipient and cook in the microwave for 5 to 10 minutes, until soft.
Remove and place in the saucepan over the lower setting of the gas stove along with 1 cup of cream, the brown sugar, and cinnamon powder. Simmer for 5 minutes. Cool and bring to room temperature.

Whip remaining heavy cream, vanilla and confectioner sugar to soft peaks and fold into cooled pumpkin mixture. Pour into 6 glasses and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Crumble the ginger snaps using the food processor or put into the plastic bag and roll the wine bottle over it. Sprinkle over each glass before serving

Salmon and collard greens for 6

Steve, a friend who, with his family grows all his vegetables organically offered to me, among other vegetables a sample of scrumptious collard greens, radicchio salad and red cabbage. They look beautiful, but can be a little intimidating to cook. That should not stop you, as they have a high content in beta carotene, vitamin C and K, and therefore are said to fight cancer.
After immortalizing their warm colors, I cut them, removed the coarse stems and rinse their leaves. Using a salad spinner, I dried them. As they can have a slightly bitter taste, I decided to add a sweet sauce and to pair them with the buttery taste of just-cooked salmon for a light lunch.

Salmon and sweet and sour collard greens

(Reasonable, Preparation time: 10 minutes cooking time: 2 hours unattended, Easy)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
¼ lbs pancetta diced
5-6 lb. mixed collard greens, radicchio salad and cabbage
4 quarts water
Sauce:
¼ cup sugar
½ cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 cup shallots minced and peeled

6 4-oz salmon fillets

Material:
1 slow cooker or 6-quart pan
1 saucepan

Place the vegetables in the inset of the slow cooker. Add the water and cook on the low-heat setting for 2 hours. Alternately, place a pot filled with 4 quarts of water on the high gas setting. Bring to a boil and add the vegetables. Reduce the heat to medium and cook partially covered, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes.
The vegetables should be tender by the end of both cooking time.
Twenty minutes before serving lunch, turn on the oven to 400.
Remove the salmon from the fridge. Cover the ovenproof dish with parchment paper. Place the salmon fillets skin down. Salt and pepper to taste, preferably with coarse grains.
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the saucepan and place on the medium range of the gas stove. Lower the gas and add the pancetta and shallots. Cook for 6 minutes. Remove and place on a paper towel to dry.
Set the salmon in the oven and cook for 7 to 10 minutes.
Wash and dry the saucepan. Prepare a caramel by dissolving the sugar in 1 tablespoon of water in the saucepan. Place over medium heat. Boil without stirring until you obtain liquid caramel, about 5 minutes. Add vinegar and crushed pepper. The liquid will then bubble. Stir until well mixed. Drain the greens in a colander. In a salad bowl, mix the drained vegetables with the sauce, the pancetta and the onion. Serve hot along the salmon fillets.

Borscht

I love the comfort of a hot soup, when the temperature starts falling. Borscht especially conjures the fantasy of red flames against cold snow. I imagine a Russian princess wrapped in furs gliding in her sled. It must be the combination of earth tastes, cabbage, beets and a cheap cut of beef, with the sharpness of red vinegar tempered by sugar. Dill, more often associated to fish, works beautifully to freshen the whole dish. A dollop of cream brings both esthetic and sensory pleasure.
Leftover soup freezes well, especially prior to the addition of potatoes.
Cabbages of all colors store beautifully. Once the outer leaves removed, wrap the head in newspaper and keep in a cool, dark place for several months. If you are not willing to try, use the second half of the cabbage as coleslaw.

Borscht

Ingredients:
2 lbs beef oxtail rinsed, or beef shin with bone
1 small onion, skin on, cut in half
2 medium carrots peeled, I grated, 1 quartered
3 medium red beets well scrubbed
6 tablespoons tomato paste
4 medium cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 half red cabbage, shredded
2 medium tomatoes, cored, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 lbs firm potatoes, peeled, cubed and cooked in boiling salted water until tender
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/3 cup chopped dill

Material:
1 4-quart saucepan or slow cooker
Slotted spoon
Strainer
Salad bowl
Paring knife and cutting board

Place the beef, the onion and the quartered carrot in a 4-quart saucepan. Cover it with 6 cups cold water and set on the medium setting of the stove.
Bring to a boil. Skim any impurity rising to the surface with the slotted spoon.
Lower the heat and simmer gently for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Place the strainer over the salad bowl and strain the liquid. You should obtain 4 and ½ cups of beef stock. Discard the carrots and onions. Place the meat on the cutting board to cube it when cool enough to handle.
Return the stock to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the beets and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the beets with tongues and cool them in cold water. Peel them and cut them in small pieces. Return the beef and beets to the boiling stock.
Add the tomato paste, grated carrot, cabbage, tomatoes, bay leaf, vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 1 hour 30 minutes.
Add the cubed potatoes, salt pepper and the ½ cup dill. Return to a boil for 2 minutes, or alternately, if you know you will freeze a part of the soup, warm up the potatoes and dill aside.
To serve, ladle the soup in 6 bowls. Top with a dollop of kefir, yoghurt or sour cream.


Note that the cooking time is roughly is 4 hours, of which preparation time is ½ an hour. A slow cooker, although certainly not indispensable, is an appreciable time savior.

Red cabbage coleslaw

Ingredients:

Dressing
1 yoke
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup kefir or 0% yoghurt
6 sprigs chives
Salt and pepper to taste

½ cabbage head shredded

Material:
Food processor
Salad bowl
Eggbeater

Place the yoke into a salad bowl. The secret is to keep all the ingredients for the mayonnaise at room temperature. Add the mustard. Beat with the yolk and mustard with the eggbeater until well mixed. While beating, add the oil in a light stream. The mixture should solidify. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the kefir or yoghurt. Cut the chives finely and add to the sauce.

Shred the cabbage using the shredder attachment of your food processor, any other implement or a good knife and cutting board. Add to the sauce and toss well.