Christmas Week -- Blueberry Scones, Mushroom Soup, Christmas Dinner & More

Dried Blueberry Scones
I made these for our annual viewing party showing A Child's Christmas In Wales on Sunday, along with the mincemeat mini-tarts I test baked last week.

1 cup dried Blueberries
2-1/3 cup AP Flour
3-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
3 Tbsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1/3 cup Butter
3 Eggs beaten
1/2 cup Dairy (cream, milk, half&half)

Place the blueberries in a bowl cover with boiling water, soak for 10 minutes.  Drain, pat dry, reserve.

Preheat oven to 425F

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.    Cut in the butter.  Stir in the blueberries, then add the eggs and dairy.

On a floured surface, gently knead the mass and pat it into a 3/4" thick round.  Cut into 8 wedges, and place them on a baking sheet.  Brush the tops with additional airy and dust with additional sugar.  Bake 15-20 minutes, until slightly brown.  Traditionally these are served with a dollop of Clotted Cream, sometimes called Devon Cream or Double Cream -- a cream as thick as Greek yogurt.

Mushroom Potato Faro Soup
Sally wanted Potato Soup, I wanted Mushroom Faro soup.  Thus are new dishes born...

3 Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and cubed
8 oz Crimini Mushrooms
1 Cup Faro
1 very large Carrot, cubed
24 oz Vegetable Broth
1 Leek, sliced
1/2 large sweet white Onion, diced

When does a soup become a stew?  The first night this dish was fairly liquid.  The next day it was thick as you see above.  The faro probably continued to soak up liquid overnight.  Either way this was really, really tasty.


Christmas Dinner 

Here are a few pix of the highlights of Sally & Holly's Christmas Dinner.

Here's the 4 lb Eye of Round beef roast that we feasted on.  Sally marinated in red wine after stabbing it and inserting garlic cloves.  Cooked in a roasting bag to an internal temperature of 150F.

These are Yorkshire Puddings.  They're made from a very thin batter of eggs, milk and flour.  These were baked in screamingly hot open topped molds.  Yorkies can also be served in a variety of other ways, with or without fillings.

Here you see the roasted roots that they made -- parsnips and potatoes.  They also made roasted green beans with sliced almonds and Brussels sprouts, but I didn't get a picture of them.

Christmas Pudding
This pudding is a dessert, and Christmas at Sally's would not be the same without it. Here's a video of us lighting the brandy to make it a flaming pudding.  Holly found this technique on a BBC cooking program and it works much better than any we've ever seen.

If you can't see the above video on the email copy of this blog, go directly to the site...

Last, but not least, I've got to show you my new Kilted Cook ensemble, a present this year!

Aubergine Stacks, Blackberry Crumble, Shrimp Alfredo Rigatoni, Berry Mini Tarts

Aubergine/Eggplant Stacks
I've made these stacks many different ways over the years, but this new version I like most of all.

1-2 Eggplant -- enough for 12 slices 3/4" thick x 3-4" diameter
4-6 oz soft Goat Cheese
1 jar or 1 cup Basil Pesto homemade or bought
1-2 Beefsteak Tomatoes -- enough for 8 slices 1/4" thick
1 jar Marinara of your choice

Cut the eggplant slices and lay them out on a baking sheet.  Turn on your broiler, drizzle the slices with EVOO, and broil 4-5 minutes until they start to color.  Repeat on the second side broiling 3-4 minutes.    

Do the same thing with the slices of tomato.  Don't cook either the eggplant or tomatoes mushy, leave them a bit al dente.  Cool and reserve.

In a 9x9 baking dish, lay down 4 slices of eggplant.  Spread each with a tablespoon or more of pesto. Top each with a 'dollop' of goat cheese.  Then top each with a slice of tomato.  

Repeat three more times until you have 4 stacks with 3 slices of eggplant and 3 slices of tomato in each.  Spoon the marinara sauce over the top of everything and bake at 400F for 30 minutes until everything is heated through and the cheese is nice and melted.

Blackberry Crumble
I picked up a box of blackberries from our SW Florida Produce Co-op, and just had to find something to do with them.  

This is the tastiest, easiest crumble recipe I know; good with any fruit, and can be multiplied to fit the size of your fruit crumble.   The recipe below covers a 6x6 baking dish easily.

6oz Blackberries

Crumble Topping
3 Tbsp Butter, softened
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup old fashioned or quick-cooking Oats
1/4 cup WW or AP Flour
1/8 tsp ground Cinnamon
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375F.

While that's going on, rinse the berries and set them aside in your baking dish.  In  bowl, combine the crumble ingredients and stir with a fork until everything comes together and there is no loose flour or sugar.  Compact the mixture into a big lump and set aside for 15 minutes in the fridge or freezer to allow the oats to hydrate and stiffen the mixture.

When the oven is hot, break apart the lump over the dish of berries until they are covered with crumbles.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the crumble topping is golden brown.

Shrimp Alfredo Rigatoni
With the availability of jarred Alfredo sauces, this is really simple to make.  Or, you can start from scratch with sauteed garlic, whole cream and Parmesan cheese and make your own Alfredo sauce.  I made my Shrimp Alfredo with rigatoni rather than fettucini, since I already had some of that pasta shape on hand.

12 each 16-20 count shrimp
Alfredo Sauce (jar or homemade)
Frozen Peas
1/2 box Rigatoni

Peel the shrimp and saute them in a bit of oil and butter with a dash of Cajun seasoning if you want.  Set them aside.

Cook up the pasta to package directions, drain and rinse.  Transfer the pasta, shrimp and Alfredo along with the peas to a skillet and heat everything through.  Add a good amount of smoked paprika and serve piping hot!

By the way, "piping hot" does not refer to food being led to the table by a bagpiper.  Nor does it refer to food supplies being piped aboard a ship.  It refers to the high pitched sizzling whistling sound of escaping steam that comes from a really hot dish,

Mixed Berry Mini Tarts
Next weekend we're having our annual watching party of the 1987 A Child's Christmas In Wales movie, starring Denholm Elliott; and of course I'm providing munchies -- Strawberry Scones and Mincemeat mini-tarts.  Sally suggested that I make a test batch of the tarts so I could 'perfect' my No-Fail Tart Crust.  This was the result.

I had some blackberries and strawberries laying about so I just chopped them up and stewed them with a bit of water and sugar, letting them cook down  and thicken to make the filling

No-Fail Crust
This is a slight variation of a classic English Short Crust dough.  Very simple indeed.

1-3/4 cup AP flour
1 stick unsalted Butter 
1/2 tsp Salt 
2 Egg Yolks (no egg whites need apply)
3 Tbsp Ice Water

Makes a dozen mini tarts (2.5").

Preheat the oven to 375F. 

In your food processor, take the flour, salt and butter for a spin until the mixture looks like fine crumbs (10-20 seconds of pulsing). Don't overdo it!

In a small bowl whisk together the water and the yolks. With the processor running, add the yolk mixture and stop spinning as soon as the dough comes together in a ball – about 5 seconds!

Roll the dough out between sheets of waxed paper.  In this case roll the dough out a bit more than 1/8" thick.  Use a ring cutter to make disks that will fit your mini tart pan, trimming if necessary.  Leftover dough gets turned into the lattice or other top crust bits.

Dock the bottoms of the tarts with a fork and bake the empty crusts about 15 minutes until just starting to color.  Remove from the oven and allow the shells to cool in the pan.

Fill the cooled shells with a couple tablespoons of berry mixture, then add the topping crust lattice or disks with a center hole.   Bake the filled tarts about 15 minutes to cook the top crust.   Serve hot from the oven or cool to room temperature.

Did you know that mincemeat really was originally minced (ground) beef or venison, suet, chopped dried fruit, whisky, and spices??  Some modern mincemeats still contain animal fat (butter or suet) so if you're a hardcore vegetarian or vegan, make sure to read the label for the contents.

Stuffed Portobellos, Macque Choux, Romesco and more....

Bad Chef.... bad, bad, Chef.  I haven't posted in weeks....  Not writer's block, just kinda 'stuck chef' block.  Anyway, I'm back;  and here's an extra large collection of recipes and techniques for you faithful readers.

Stuffed Portobellos
Yeah... I know.  Everybody stuffs mushrooms -- big and small.  But these I'm really proud of -- both tasty and beautiful!

Portobellos -- 4 (two each)
Garbanzos -- 3/4 cup cooked (canned is OK), tossed with EVOO
Beefsteak Tomato -- sliced into rounds
Spinach -- de-stemmed, about 1 cup, packed
Sweet Onion -- 1/2 cup sliced
Goat Cheese - sliced or crumbled
Italian Seasoning to taste

Roast the garbanzos under your broiler for 8-10 minutes until just turning brown.  Reserve. 

Under the same broiler grill the portobellos (brushed with EVOO and dusted with Italian Seasoning) for 3-5 minutes.  Reserve.  Saute the onion in a splash of EVOO until it turns translucent.  Add the spinach, a 1/4 cup of water, and cover for a few minutes until the spinach wilts.

Place the mushrooms open side up.  Divide the spinach and onion among the mushrooms.  Then to half the mushrooms add a slice of tomato artistically surrounded by garbanzos.  Dust the tomato with Italian seasoning. To the other half of the mushrooms add a just a layer of garbanzos and the seasoning.  Top all the mushrooms with strips or shreds of goat cheese.   Broil the mushrooms again (on a lower rack)  until the cheese starts to melt.

Macque Choux
Pronounced "mock shoe"!!  I was reminded recently of this Cajun classic recipe and wondered why I don't make an serve it more often -- it's a very accommodating side dish.  Think of this as a Cajun take on the Native American dish Succotash.  Great with almost everything.  Also really good just as a plate full of yummmm.  This is more of a technique than a fixed recipe.  What you'll need is some:

Celery, diced
Onion, diced
Red and/or Green Bell Peppers, diced
Corn off the cob -- fresh cut is best, but frozen is pretty darn good too
Cream or Half & Half
Cajun Seasoning, to taste

Use about equal amounts of the Trinity -- celery, onion, bell pepper sautéed with a splash of EVOO.  To that add some corn and spice, and cook until just about done.  Then add some dairy and simmer until it starts to tighten up just a bit.

Plate with barbecued shrimp, pulled pork, gator bites, or all by itself,  and dig in!!

Up by the shrimp you'll see a couple spoonsful of the next recipe>

Romesco Sauce

This sauce originated with Catalonian (Spanish) fishermen, who created it from the region's pimento peppers as an accompaniment for all kinds of seafood.   You can buy Romesco, but it's cheaper, and almost easier to make your own.  If you can get a deal on red bell peppers from your local Farmer's Market during 'pepper season', roast your own.  Or you can buy jars of roasted red peppers and use them.

12 oz  Roasted Red Peppers (about 2 large peppers)|
1 large Beefsteak Tomato
1 cup sliced Raw Almonds
1-2 Tbsp EVOO
1/4 cup Parsley
1/2 tsp Salt
2-3 cloves Garlic
2 Tbsp Sherry Vinegar
Juice of half a lemon
Take everything for a spin in the blender until it comes out smooth and thick and creamy.  

If it's too thin, add some Panko bread crumbs and spin again until it's almost as thick as mayo.

Here's the final sauce topping some angel hair pasta with sautéed julienned zucchini:

Guava Goodness
Guavas are in season now, and their aroma fills the house with the scent of strawberries.  

Other than just spooning them out of their skin, we like guava smoothies.  But make sure you spin it real well -- guava have a zillion tiny seeds that will add crunch where you don't want it.

Chickpea, Golden Beet and Pickled Onion Salad
This one came from Forks Over Knives, but of course I tweaked it myself.  Frankly, mine's better!  They wanted you to use ordinary red beets from a jar.  Bah!  If you're going to get closer to the source of food, stop buying jars and cans of stuff.  Buy real whole foods and prepare them yourself.  Eating healthy is a lifestyle.

2-3 large Golden Beets
1 cup sliced red or white Onion
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 cup cooked Garbanzos -- cook at home --  don't use a can (too much salt and preservatives)
Package of mixed Baby Greens
8-12 leaves fresh Basil
Mustard vinaigrette dressing

Put the vinegar in a screw-top jar and add the sliced onion.  Shake well and set aside for at least half an hour (or a couple days in the fridge) before using.

Peel the beets (much less messy than red beets) and cube them.  Cook until just tender in a half cup or so of water.  Drain and cool.
Lay down a bed of greens and add some basil leaves.  Top with beets and garbanzos and garnish with the pickled onions.  Serve with a mustard vinaigrette on the side.

Squash Cubed, sorta

Spaghetti Squash Boats
You've seen me do this a number of times.  Cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.  Nuke until the skin starts to soften and then rake the flesh to make 'spaghetti'.  Add a ladle of your favorite pasta sauce or other gravy, and devour.  

As pictured above, you can make a variety of "passengers" for the boat -- shown is a mixture of farro and vegetables.  Some folks (not me) like to unload the boat --  completely remove the flesh from the skin, lay it out on a plate and top with the gravy.

Spaghetti Squash Fritters
Ever notice you can find spaghetti squash so small they'll barely serve two or else so large you can feed a platoon??  Our last Co-op box brought us one of the latter; so we had plenty of leftovers with which to try this dish.

2 cups leftover Spaghetti Squash
2 Eggs
3 cloves Garlic. minced
1 Shallot, chopped
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Thyme
Pinch Salt
EVOO for frying

Chop the squash a time or two -- you don't want long strings.  Combine everything in a mixing bowl and spoon the batter out onto a medium-hot, oiled skillet, 2 heaping tablespoons per fritter, and flatten them a bit.  Cook 3-5 minutes per side until crispy & brown.   They're delicate, so be careful when flipping not to break them up.  I topped these with a wonderful black bean chipotle salsa that I picked up at Aldi.

These are tasty but very delicate.   Next time I'm going to do two things:  pat or otherwise remove some/most of the liquid from the leftover squash as it cools; and second -- add some panko to help tighten the mixture up a bit and give the fritters a bit more body.

Acorn Squash Soup
UF football night with our friends on Saturday, so I made, by request, an acorn squash soup.  Normally I would use Butternut or Buttercup squash for a soup, but I found this Guy Fieri Food Network recipe and thought I'd give it a try.  I modified the recipe to eliminate almost all the salt and dairy.

2 Acorn Squash (about 4.5 lbs)
2 Shallots, minced
2-3 cups No Sodium Vegetable Stock
1 tsp Sage
1/2 tsp White Pepper
1/4 tsp hot Hungarian smoked Paprika
1 cup Almond Creamer (half and half if you like dairy)
1/3 cup faux Parmesan

Halve the squash and nuke them in the microwave for about 15 minutes, or bake in a 350F oven for an hour if it's cold where you live.  Scoop out the flesh into your soup pot, and discard the skins.  Mash the flesh a bit to get right of the big lumps.  Add the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer.

While that's happening, saute the shallots and garlic in a bit of EVOO until translucent and fragrant, and then add that to the squash.  Add the herbs and spices and stir to combine.

Simmer for about 30 minutes, then puree in your food processor in batches if necessary.  If you've got a stick blender, skip the food processor and puree in the soup pot.

Stir in the creamer and parmesan, simmer for another few minutes to melt the cheese into the mixture.  Serve with crusty bread and a sprinkle of parmesan on top. 

The almond creamer gives the soup a unique sweetness, but the hot paprika and white pepper provide a 'bite' to the finish that is really very pleasant.  

Five Gem Korma, Chickpea Flatbread, Moroccan Stew

Three Gem Korma
Eggplant and Green Beans go together.  Green Beans and Golden Beets go together.  Why not put all three together with a bit of onion  and a handful of cashews as well?  Flavor it all with some Garam Masala and a little plain yoghurt to make a korma style curry!

This was 2 large golden beets, about 3/4 lb of green beans, and one small eggplant cubed, along with a small-ish diced red onion and a literal handful of cashews.  I added about 1/3 cup of plain yogurt near the end to make a thick 'sauce'.

Italian Chickpea Flatbread
This on is a real "olde countrie" recipe -- about as simple as they come:

2-1/2 cups Garbanzo flour; a.k.a. Chickpea flour or Besan (in Indian cuisine)
3-1/2 cup cold Water
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Fresh cracked Black Pepper
1/4 cup EVOO

About noon, whisk vigorously (to prevent lumps) as you slowly add the water to the flour/salt/pepper mix in a large mixing bowl.  Cover with a towel and let the dough hydrate for at least 3 hours.  At this point you have a very thin batter, not a dough in the conventional sense.

When ready, pre-heat the oven to 350F.  Pour the EVOO into a larg-ish rimmed baking sheet, and then, when the oven is hot, pour the batter into the oiled sheet, making a layer about 1/4" deep.  My baking sheet is 9x13 and it worked perfectly with this amount of batter.

Carefully (because it's gonna slosh), move the sheet to the oven and bake for 30 minutes until golden. 

  Let rest and cool a few minutes before slicing into manageable pieces.

Serving warm, either plain, or topped with pesto, grated or sliced cheese, chutney... you get the idea.  We found it goes really well with a Mango Chutney that Sally's Mum makes.

Moroccan Stew
Eggplant, onion and tomato are three staple vegetables of the Middle East.  This stew combines them with garlic and the Moroccan spice blend called Ras el Hanout.  This stew would also be fabulous with cubes of chicken or lamb cooked into it.

1 medium-large Eggplant, cut in 1/2" dice
2 Beefsteak Tomatoes, chopped
1/2 large Sweet White Onion, diced 1/2"
3-4 clove fresh Garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp Ras el Hanout

Start with the onion in a large skillet along with "some" EVOO.  Then add the garlic and tomato, and lastly the eggplant.  Add more EVOO as needed.  

Simmer over medium heat, covered, for about 20 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking.  

Serve with a slab of chickpea flatbread to sop up the juices.

Pasta e Vaianeia, Scottish Bread Update, Roasted Veg & Wheatberry Bowl, Carambola Treat,

Pasta e Vaianeia
That's Pasta and Green Beans, if you don't speak Italian.  My version of this regional Italian classic uses cubed Butternut Squash instead of potatoes and carrots as additional vegetables.

1 can White Beans
2 cloves Garlic
2 cups fresh Green Beans, tipped, tailed and halved
1-1/2 cups cubed Butternut Squash
1/2 box Rigatoni pasta
1 Tomato
1 Zucchini, chopped
Salt, Pepper, Thyme and Basil to taste

 Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta al dente to package directions.  Remove and reserve.  In the same water (add more as needed) cook the green beans about 1/2 hour until just tender.  Add the white beans, basil and squash and simmer about 15 minutes.

Add the (water) zucchini and whole tomato.  Cook 5 minutes, then smash the tomato in the pot and remove the skin.  Add salt, pepper and thyme to taste.  Fold in the cooked pasta and warm through before serving.

Carambola Empanadas
This is a simple and pretty as well as tasty dessert.  Trim the dark tips off of the ripe fruit before you start chopping and pureeing.

3-6 ripe Carambola, trimmed and finely chopped
1 Tbsp Ginger Cane Syrup (or cane syrup and fresh grated ginger)
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 box Puff Pastry sheets

Stew together everything but the pastry sheets until you get a thick textured 'glop' and the free water is evaporated.  Low and slow is best.  Or microwave for a 15 minutes before transferring to a sauce pan.   Allow the fruit to cool and thicken.

Pre-heat the oven to 400F.

While that's going on, start thawing the puff pastry, and cut each sheet into 9 squares.

Roll each square larger and fold into a triangle over a healthy tablespoon of the fruit mixture.  Seal the edges with a fork and/or eggwash the edges before folding.   Bake for about 15 minutes until GB&D.  Let them cool, at least a little, before devouring.

Scottish Bread Update
No need to soak that oatmeal in dairy overnight, as I told you a couple weeks ago!!

That means you can be at least somewhat spontaneous in your desire to make a loaf -- no longer do you have to start the process one day and finish the next.

You do need to give them about 4 hours of soak though.  I started the soak at 8AM the other day, and at Noon I added the flour, baking soda and salt, and made up the loaf.  

I will also say that this time I had to add almost no additional flour -- a bit less than 1/4 cup of bench flour to make a good dough -- and I increased the temperature to 400F and the time to 50-60 minutes.  Came out even better than the first loaf!

Italian Roasted Vegetables & Wheatberry Bowl
"Bowl" meals are all the rage these days.  It all started maybe 25 years ago with fast food places that served Rice Bowls -- a scoop of rice topped with stir-fried meat and/or veggies.  I remember a place in Prescott, AZ called Samurai Sam's that was very good.   I actually considered opening such a restaurant myself, on a couple of occasions.  At their best these restaurants supplied a healthy, inexpensive meal.  Not elegant, but tasty.  The restaurants seem to have faded away, but the concept has come home to family cooking.

Now, Bowl meals feature not just rice but all sorts of common and exotic grains, topped with a wide variety of things.  This FOK recipe has roasted veg and a splash of marinara sauce topping wheatberries -- whole grains of wheat stripped of their inedible outer coating.  You can easily substitute Farro or Bulgar Wheat if you can't find wheatberries at your local market.  Serves 4.

1-1/2 cups Wheatberries
5 cups Water
1 cup diced onion
4 cups chopped fresh or frozen Kale.  I used a mixture of frozen Kale and fresh Spinach.

Boil the wheatberries in the water for about 45 minutes, then add the onion and kale and cook an additional 15 minutes.  Season with a pinch of salt and fresh cracked black pepper.  Drain and reserve.

You can do this part of the recipe any time and store in the fridge until needed.

Preheat oven to 425F.  On a lined baking sheet place:

2 cups trimmed and halved Brussels Sprouts
2 cups Cherry Tomatoes or large chopped Beefsteak or Roma tomatoes
1 Zucchini split in half and sliced into 1/4" halfmoons
1 cup diced Bell Pepper, your choice of color
Balsamic Vinegar to taste

Season with Italian Seasoning, splash with Balsamic, and roast for 20-30 minutes until the Sprouts are tender.

You'll also need:
1 cup Marinara Sauce
1/4 cup toasted Pine Nuts
1/4 cup cut fresh Basil

To Serve:
Re-heat the wheatberry mixture and divide between 4 bowls.  Top with marinara and roasted veggies.  

Drizzle with additional Balsamic to taste, and garnish with pine nuts and basil.