Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Soup

I made this soup a couple of months ago and the jury is still out. I think mine came out a little too thick - I didn't have a flavor issue, although I probably didn't put enough salt, pepper and hot sauce. I had more of a texture issue with it. Especially for eating it room temperature. But I was in the mood for something a little different and this certainly fit the bill.

serves 6

2 red bell peppers (about 8oz.), seeded and cubed
generous 4 cups diced sweet potatoes
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 1/4 c dry white wine
1 1/4 quarts vegetable stock
hot pepper sauce, to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh chunky bread to serve

Dice a small quantity of the red pepper for the garnish; set aside. Put the rest into a saucepan with the sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, white wine and vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until all the vegetables are soft.

Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and process utnil smooth. Season to taste with salt, pepper and a generous dash of hot pepper sauce. Cool slightly. Garnish with the reserved diced red pepper and serve warm or at room temperature.

Mulligatawny

The name of this soup makes me think of Seinfeld and the soup n@zi. I had no idea what was in it until I decided to make it one day. I imagine there are probably different variations of it out there. One thing is for sure, this version from my Harry's Roadhouse cookbook fed us for about a week and we had extra to take to friends as well. If you're ever hosting a big group I think this would be a fun thing to serve.

1 c uncooked rice
1 c diced onions
1 c diced celery (I used celery seeds b/c I didn't have fresh, but wished I would have just put more carrot of apple for more texture...)
1 c diced carrots
1/2 c butter, divided
3 1/2 T good-quality curry powder (I used red curry paste...)
1 1/2 t turmeric
1/4 t cayenne
2 1/2 quarts chicken stock (I used homemade)
1 quart coconut milk (I used 2 cans which may not have equaled a full quart...)
2 apples, peeled and diced
3 cups cooked and diced turkey or chicken (I used chicken)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c flour
1/4 c chopped cilantro

Cook the rice in 2 cups of water. Set aside.

Sautee vegetables in half of the butter. When onions become translucent, add curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne. Cook for about 5 minutes; add stock and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer. Add apples. When apples are soft add the cooked turkey or chicken. Adjust seasonings for salt and pepper.

Make a roux with 1/4 c butter and 1/4 c flour. Whisk into hot soup, being sure to whisk out lumps. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Place rice in the bottom of six 12-ounce bowls, top with soup, and garnish with chopped cilantro.

**it says this feeds 6 but it went a long way for us - I just made fresh rice each time. You can make it stretch for awhile over rice. I liked it better over brown rice than white, but I prefer brown rice in general so that could be why

Lemon Chicken Vegetable Soup with Pita Chips

This is healthy eating in a spoon!  Super yummy and fresh tasting!  Jason's mom gave me a terrific lemon-chicken soup recipe.  I combined it with a local recipe from a friend here and the result was fabulous.

Lemon Chicken Vegetable Soup

1 whole chicken

2 large onions, chopped

5 celery ribs, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp olive oil

1-2 cups chopped veggies (carrots, zuchini, cauliflower)

2 TBSP lemon zest

1-2 TBSP fresh lemon juice

2 tsp salt

2 TBSP dried parsley leaves

other seasonings to taste (I used thyme and basil- small amounts)

Cook chicken in enough water to cover until tender.  I added onion, carrots and other seasonings to make a richer broth and cooked it in the crock pot over night.  Remove chicken, reserving broth and let cool 15 minutes.  Shred chicken.  Strain broth, discarding solids, and add enough water to equal 10 cups.  Saute onion, celery and garlic in hot oil until tender.  Add broth and other veggies.  Cover and cook over medium heat until veggies are tender.  Add chicken, lemon zest and juice and other seasonings.  Heat through.  

Pita Chips

pita bread cut into triangles

olive oil

garlic salt

sea salt

Spread pita bread on cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil.  Spray with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt and sea salt to taste.  Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned and crisp.  Serve with soups, hummus, guacamole or other dips or spreads.

Apricot Muffins

Let's go ahead and establish in case it hasn't become blatantly obvious by now, that I am a horrible food photographer.  It is simply not something that I care enough about to figure out how to do better.  Maybe one day when I have oodles of spare time, but not today.  I love to cook and if it's a recipe that I want to share I'll snap a picture of it before I eat it.  The end.

These little jewels have lots of memories for us.  On our third anniversary we went to Heber Springs, AR and stayed in a bed and breakfast.  We were hoping to do some poor man's fly fishing (read as- we couldn't afford to pay for a guide and all the equipment) and sure enough the hosts of the bed and breakfast took pity on us and he offered to take us out for a half day adventure on the house.  It was fabulous!  The breakfast they packed with us to take out on the river including a version of apricot muffins- super yummy especially wearing weighters, waiting for the fish to bite at 5 AM!  These also meet my husbands requirement of not being "too sweet" (poor thing thinks that's normal...)

APRICOT MUFFINS

13/4 cup flour (I use wheat)

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 egg beaten

*3/4 cup orange juice *

1/3 cup oil

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

1/2 cup walnuts (I sometimes leave this out since my weirdo families don't like muffins to crunch...)

Stir first 4 ingredients, make well in center.  Combine egg, orange juice and oil.  Add all at once.  Stir until moistened.  Add apricots and nuts.  Bake 400 for 20-25 minutes.  Dip tops in melted butter and powdered sugar.  

*I've started doing half orange juice and half lemon juice- makes it a bit more tart and less sweet*

Cocoa- Mint Yo-yos

This recipe has some background.  Click here for the full story..

Cocoa Mint Yo- yos

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400.  In large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until softened.  Add sugar and beat until fluffy.  Beat in egg.  In mixing bowl stir together dry ingredients.  With mixer on low speed add half of the flour mixture and beat well.  Beat in the buttermilk and then the remaining flour mixture until well mixed.  Drop by rounded tsp about 3 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets.  Bake 7-9 minutes until edges are firm and cookies are no longer shiny.  Move to racks to cool.  Mix up mint filling.

Mint Filling

3 cups sifted powdered sugar

6 TBSP butter softened

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

2 TBSP milk

3-4 drops green food coloring

In small bowl combine all and beat on low speed until smooth.  Add additional milk if needed until easy to spread.  

Assemble by spreading rounded tsp of filling on flat side of half of the cooled cookies.  Top with remaining cookies, rounded side up.