Mango Gazpacho, Bean Brownies!?, Purple Soup, Memorial NotDogs

Mango-Orange Gazpacho
Summertime... time for a refreshing chilled soup.  I've made tomato-based Red Gazpachos, and White Gazpachos based on green grapes.  This was a first -- a real revelation -- Gazpacho based on tropical flavors; and out favorite tropical fruit at that!

2 cups Fresh squeezed Orange Juice
2 cups Fresh Mango filets
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced large
1 sweet White Onion, diced large
1 Cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
3-4 Tbsp fresh Lime Juice
Chopped Parsley, Basil, Mint and/or Cilantro to taste
Salt, White Pepper and sweet/hot/smoky Chili Powder or Paprika to taste.
6-12 oz Lemon-Lime soda or Seltzer Water as needed

Take the mango and OJ for a spin in the food processor, then transfer to a pitcher or large bowl.  Stir in the soda or seltzer water, lime juice, diced vegetables and spices, tasting as you go to get just the right balance of flavors.  

Chill several hours before serving.

Black Bean Brownies?  
Have I ever steered you wrong?  These bean-based brownies are outa sight!!   A birthday treat for one of Sally's work friends who is vegan.  You simply cannot tell that these brownies use black beans instead of flour!  All you taste is chocolate-y yumminess!  Based on a FOK recipe with the usual tweeks because they never quite get things right.

1 can Black Beans, rinsed & drained
1 cup Date Syrup -- expensive!!  Cane or Maple syrups will work too with a couple Tbsp of Molasses.
1/2 cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3/4 cup Oat Flour or ground Rolled Oats
1/2 cup unsweetened Applesauce --  don't leave this out!
1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1-1/2  tsp Baking Soda
1-1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract -- Peppermint or Orange extracts also work well
1 tsp White Wine Vinegar
Optional:  1/2 cup Walnut Pieces or a dusting of Confectioner's Sugar for topping

Take the beans, syrup and cocoa powder for a few pulses in your FP, to break up the beans.  Add the rest of the ingredients and spin to combine into a smooth batter.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan (add walnuts if using) and bake for 35 minutes @350F.

 Cool on a rack for 15 minutes (if you can wait that long) before slicing into wedges...

Purple Cauliflower Soup
Vibrant colors of cauliflower are all the rage.  They taste the same, but the colors can seriously enhance the appearance of a recipe.   This would be beautiful with the orange cauliflower as well.  Simple, and simply delicious.

1 head Purple Cauliflower disassembled into florets.
1 medium Onion, diced
5-6 cloves Garlic, minced
4-5 cups clear Broth or water (I used water + mushroom powder)
Salt and White Pepper to taste
Optional Garnishes including green pistachios, a dollop of Skyr (home-made naturally) or a dusting of sweet and/or smoky Paprika.

Saute the onion and grlic in your soup pot, in a splash of EVOO.  Add the broth and cauliflower, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cool for 30+ minutes. 

When the cauliflower is fork tender, scoop it from the pot, puree in your food processor, and return to the broth.  You can simmer to reduce the liquid and thicken, add a cornstarch slurry, or a tablespoon or two of Bistotm gravy crystals like I do.     Plate, garnish and serve with some nice fresh bread or rolls.

As The Kilted Cook, I once catered a posh luncheon for a chapter of the ladies Red Hat Society (check them out!), where I featured all red and purple foods (their signature colors).  Then,  made a red beet borscht as their starter.  Sure wish I'd had this recipe back then!

Irish Soda Bread Biscuits
I made these non-purple biscuits to accompany the soup, using a pretty standard Irish Soda Bread recipe:

2 cups Self-Rising Flour or AP Flour plus Baking Soda
large pinch of salt
2 Tbsp cold Butter, cut into slices
3/4 cup Buttermilk or Whole Milk with lemon juice

Mix the flour and salt.  I used about 1/4 of the measure of Whole Wheat flour rather than all AP, and added a couple teaspoons of baking soda. 

Cut the butter into the flour using your Mark I mixer (hands) until you get 'gravel'.

Stir in the milk to make a shaggy dough,  then pat it out with a bit more flour into a 1"  thick disk, and cookie-cut 2" or 3" biscuits.  Bake on a parchment paper lined tray for about 15 minutes at 350F.

Memorial Day NotDogs
It's become a tradition for me to make these NotDogs for holiday picnic type meals.  Look again -- that's not a hot dog or sausage!  

That's a carrot-dog!  Better tasting by far than any of those faux sausages usually offered to vegetarians/vegans!!   The taste is phenominal.  The mouth feel is similar too.  On a roll with your favorite toppings it's heavenly.

Here's the link to where I gave the recipe a couple years ago:
Fooding Around With The Kilted Cook: Search results for notdogs (foodingaround-kiltedcook.blogspot.com)

Basically you peel some large carrots  (you could also use parsnips) into hot dog.sausage shape, make a marinade that flavors the carrots, and marinate the carrots for 12-18 hours.  Then you par-cook them in the microwave until fork tender, and finally fry them in a splash of oil.

There's no reason you couldn't make a marinade with the herbs and spices used to make bratwurst, for example and create your own NotWurst or similar spicy sausage.  Hmmmm let me check my spice cupboard... 

Deviled Egg....plant, Mushroom Bread, DIY Skyr, Skyr-ziki

Deviled Egg.... plant
Thanks to my old friend and dock-mate Houseboat Jim Visone, for the definitive name of this Mediterranean-style dish!   I've always just called it Stuffed Eggplant.   I've been making it for years, can't recall where I first saw it.  Super tasty, and open to a zillion interpretations and variations.   

Dinner for two:

1 Medium to large Eggplant
1-2 cups Other Veggies -- celery, onion, bell pepper, carrot, tomato, parsnip, etc.
1-2 Tbsp Spices -- Italian, Latin, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern,  etc.
1/2-3/4 cup cooked Protein -- canned tuna, chicken, diced ham or even Spamtm, shrimp, etc.
Bread cubes or Panko as needed
1/2 cup Shredded Cheese for topping

Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, and using a sharp knife cut around the edge of each half and across the length and width with cutting through the skin.  Leave about a 1/4" wall.  With a spoon, remove the "meat" and start sauting it is a splash of oil.   Reserve the eggplant "shells" for stuffing.

Chop the other veggies and add them to the saute pan, along with 1/2 cup of water or broth.  

When the veg is just about done, add your protein of choice.  If you want to keep this a vegetarian dish, then chickpeas make a good protein addition here.

Now you'll want to add a slice or two of cubed bread or 1/2 cup more or less of Panko or other bread crumbs to absorb any free liquids and 'tighten up' the stuffing.

Then spoon the eggplant shells full -- pack it down pretty good, so you use up all the stuffing.  Top the mounds with shredded cheese, and bake the stuffed eggplant at 400F for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is all nice and crusty. 

Mushroom Bread
I wanted something that wasn't another 'cheese heavy' pizza or calzone , which featured a nice crust and mushrooms.    Throw in some spinach for Sally and some shallots for me,  and some cheese for both of us (but not too much).  The result?  This seriously stuffed quick bread.

2-1/4 cups Self-Rising Flour (or AP plus baking soda)
1/2 tsp Salt
3 Eggs beaten
1-1/2 cups Milk or milk plus lemon juice for "buttermilk"
6 Tbsp  Canola or Vegetable oil
8 oz Whole Mushrooms, quartered, plus more if you want
1  Shallot, chopped
2 cups Baby Spinach
1 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Spray or line an 11" round baking tin.

Saute the mushrooms and shallot in a bit of butter, and, when browned nicely, add 1/4 cup of water, the spinach and cover.  Cook for 4-5 minutes more to wilt the spinach.  Drain and cool.

Mix together the flour and salt.  In another bowl mix together the eggs, milk, lemon juice if using, and oil.    Stir together the liquid and the flour mixtures.  Fold in the mushroom mixture and form a 'shaggy' dough/batter.  

Transfer the dough to the baking tin and spread it around.   Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes, to an internal temp of 190F. 

EXCELLANT!   Not exactly what I was looking for, but very tasty! 

I wanted something that would be similar to a calzone, but this stuffed bread is a great consolation prize!   

Next time, I'll use half the flour and other batter ingredients, but the same amount of mushroooms,  so the result will be more like a stuffed pizza than a filled bread.  


DIY Skyr
Skyr is an ancient food which dates back to at least the 800s in Iceland.  I keep calling it "Icelandic Yogurt".  Well it is... sorta.  It's also sort of a soft cheese, like Lebanese Labneh.   

Unlike conventional yogurt, Skyr is made with no-fat "skim" milk instead of whole milk.  We eat a lot of Skyr since discovering it a few years back.  And... prices being what they are, I decided it was time to try and make my own Skyr.   The process is simple, but a little time consuming.   Well worth the effort!  You need:

1/2 gallon No Fat Skim Milk
1/4 cup "starter" --  "live Active Culture" Skyr -- I used Siggi'stm American-made skyr

You do not need rennet to make Skyr -- the Norse didn't use rennet, and you don't need it either.   Rennet is used in making cheese.  It comes from the stomach lining of ruminants like cows; there are modern vegetarian versions as well.  What rennet does is speed up the separation of the curds (the part you'll eat) and the watery whey (which can be used for other things if you're so inclined).  Curds, when pressed into blocks or wheels, and aged, become cheese.;

To make your own Skyr, you'll also need cheesecloth, a colander/strainer, a $10-12 instant-read thermometer, and a temperature controllable "cooker" like an instant pot or crock pot-- although you can do it with an ordinary stockpot as long as you are careful when heating the milk not to actually scald/burn the liquid.

Test your cooker's temperature setting with a 1/2 gallon of water and the thermometer.  Set the temperature for 185F and give the cooker some time to bring the water up to temperature.  Remember 185 on the dial may not be the same as 185 on the thermometer; trust the thermometer.     My cooker's 200F setting gives me 187-188F every time.  Experiment to find a cooker setting which gives you 185-195 and will hold that temperature for at least 10 minutes.  Holding the temperature for ten minutes is the critical factor of the whole process!  That's what kills off the "bad" bacteria before we cool the milk and introduce our own special skyr bacteria.

1.  Heat the milk to 185-195F, slowly, stirring as you go to prevent the milk from scalding and sticking to the bottom.  That stuff is nasty!  Keep the milk at temperature (+/- a degree or so) for at least 10 minutes.   The Icelanders didn't have thermometers.  They probably used the old "hold your finger in the hot liquid and stop heating when you can't count to ten" method.

2.  Take the milk off the fire, and let it cool down to 85-100F.  The Icelanders probably cooled it to "body temperature" (using another finger).   As it cools below 120F, ladle a cup the warm milk into a bowl (I used my 2-cup measuring cup) and whisk into it  1/4 cup of active culture skyr.  Then pour that into the main pot of cooling milk. 

3.  Wrap the pot of "in0culated" milk in a heavy towel (to help moderate temperature, and set it in a warm, draft-less place for 12-15 hours to ferment and thicken.  No more than 24 hours.

4.  After the Long Wait, it's time to get rid of the whey (save it for other things if you want).   Line your strainer with a double layer of cheese cloth (or a 'clean' Viking shirt) and place it over a big bowl.   Scoop the fresh curds with a slotted spoon into the strainer and drain for another 2-6 hours (the longer you drain, the firmer the final product.  You can move your draining rig into the fridge if you want at this point (medieval Icelandic houses were cold, so they just set the skyr in a corner to strain).  Check periodically make make sure that the whey doesn't come up to the bottom of the strainer,  and pour it off.  

I let my first batch ferment for 13 hours and then strained it for 6.  The result is a little 'softer" than Siggi's -- but VERY tasty -- not nearly as acidic/tart as the commercial product.   

The longer I strain, the firmer the skyr will be.  I'm pretty happy with the result, but as a test, next time I think I'll strain even longer -- say over night.  If I start a batch early in the morning, it can ferment all day and then strain all night!

I got about 4 cups of skyr from a half gallon of skim milk.  Milk plus a few cents for the cheesecloth came to about $3.50 -- less than half the price of Siggi's at my grocery.  I'll certainly be making more... 

5.  Transfer your skyr to storage containers, preferably sealable glass.  Skyr will keep in the fridge for at least a week or ten days.  

Low on fat, high in protein, skyr is a great 'food' by itself when topped with berries or a drizzle of honey. 

Skyr-ziki   
Like tzatziki, but not the quantities, and skyr instead of drained yogurt.

1 Cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded, chopped and drained
"Some" Skyr... half a cup?
1 clove Garlic. minced
1/2 tsp Lemon juice
1 dash each, Salt & White Pepper

Stir it all together and chill.

 I served it as a side dish with a Sunday Lunch of air-fried salmon filets and fried potatoes.

Cauliflower Tapa, Roasted Eggplant Spread, Avocado Toast and a 3-Flavor Stirfry

Coliflor al Ajo y Pimenton
This twice-cooked Spanish cauliflower tapa comes to us from the Canary Islands.  

                                 

1 head Cauliflower, disassembled into roughly equal sized florets
1 tsp Sweet Paprika
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
6 cloves of Garlic, minced
2-3 Tbsp EVOO
Salt & Pepper to taste
Optional Garnish -- chopped parsley

In a large pot, boil the florets for 4-6 minutes.  Drain, sprinkle with salt & pepper and reserve.

In a large skillet heat the oil, garlic and paprikas together for 3-4 minutes, then toss in the cauliflower and stir to coat the florets with the spiced oil and heat them through.   Garnish with parsley when you serve.

Eggplant Sauce/Dip
We were gifted with a lot of Japanese Eggplant recently, and I had to find something to do with them!

Is this a pesto or a version of Baba Ganoush?  It reminds me somewhat of Spanish Romesco sauce.   Whatever you call it, it tastes great and has a ton of possibilities!  

2 lbs Eggplant   I used Japanese Eggplant because I had them...
2-3 Red Bell Peppers
3 oz Sundried Tomatoes
8-10 Cherry Tomatoes
1 large Red Onion
3-4 Tbsp minced Garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 Tbsp EVOO

Optional -- other spices like Cavenderstm Greek blend, my Scarbrough Fayretm blend, or your own combination of Mediterranian spices like basil, rosemary, oregano, sage, marjoram, etc.

Halve the cherry tomatoes and reserve.  Chop everything else into 1" pieces and toss or spray with the EVOO.  Salt & pepper to taste.  I used Cavenders instead of S&P.  Roast everything at 400F for 30 minutes until starting to brown/char.

Let the cooked veg cool a few minutes, add the reserved tomatoes, then take it all for a spin in your food processor and whirrr until you get a smooth consistancy.   That's it.  Transfer to screw-top jars and refrigerate.

Serve as a spread/dip for crackers, flatbread, foccacia, or raw veggies. 

Toss with hot cooked pasta like this yellow pepper and mushroon cavitappi:

Use as a base for a pizza.  What else can you think of?


Classic Avocado Toast
Pretty as a picture!  Simple tasty, and filling lunch for a marvelous May day...   Multigrain toast, avocado, heirloom tomato and sliced onion with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

If the avocado is very ripe, I often mash it together with some chopped sauerkraut!   Yes, that's right, sauerkraut.  The tartness of the kraut balances out the unctuousness of the avocado and you don't particularly taste brine-pickled cabbage.


3-Flavor Stirfry
We had all that Japanese eggplant I mentioned above, and a request from the donor to make a take-away lunch for Sally and her friends using some of it.  I had red bell peppers, wax beans, and off course the eggplant.  Three veggies, three flavors.  I sauteed each seperately and let the diners pick and choose how much of each they wanted, and sent along a small bucket of rice to complete the meal.

The eggplant sticks were sauteed with garlic.
The bell pepper strips were sauteed with fresh grated ginger.
The wax beans were sauteed with a splash of toasted sesame oil.

Seafood Tacos, Cashew Crema, Mulberry Tart, Chilled Romaine Soup

Mother's Day Taco Fiesta
By request, this year's Mother's Day Luncheon featured one of our favorite meals -- fish and shrimp tacos with all the fixings...   

The fish of choice this time was cod, although we also like mahi mahi and grouper for tacos. I cut the slab of cod into 'fingers' and dredged them in beaten, spiced egg, then in cornmeal before pan-frying.  The shrimp were 'barbecued' Cajun style -- sauted in a splash of oil spiced with Cajun seasoning, until they just turn pink (don't cook them into rubber bands!).

Fixings included sliced avocado, shredded cheese, diced onion and tomato, salsa roja, wedges of lime to squeeze, and home-made cashew crema (see below) instead of sour cream.  

We're not big around here on filling up tacos with a fist full of shredded lettuce.  K.I.S.S.

Cashew Crema
Are you lactose intolerant or know someone who is?  Don't like all the calories in sour cream?  Or just like something tasty and different?  Cashew Crema, a.k.a.  Cashew Sour Cream is a great recipe!  You'll find a hundred uses for it.

1 cup raw, unsalted Cashews
1/2 cup water
1 Lemon, juiced

Put the kettle on and boil up a quart of water.  Pour the water over the cashews and let them soak for an hour.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the soak water,  then drain the cashews.

Put the cashews and half the water in your food processor along with the lemon juice and take it for a loooong spin in the food processor -- 6-10 minutes minimum -- to get rid of any graininess.  As it spins, add more water, a tablespoon at a time, to get the consistency you want. 

If you put a Tbsp or so of sugar in this instead of the lemon juice, you'll end up with something close to English Double Cream...

A good trick to remember is that if the crema is still too thin, you can stir in a tablespoon or more of almond flour to tighten it up. 

Mulberry Tart 
Nice lady down the street asked if we wanted to "pick our own" mulberries from the tree in her front yard.  Heck yes!!  It's been dog's years since I messed (the operative word) with mulberries.  Much messier to pick and process than blackberries, or almost anything else I can think of.  Mother's Day was imminent so I decided a Mulberry Tart was just the thing for our Mother's Day luncheon dessert.

Crust
2-1/2 cups AP Flour
3 Tbsp Sugar
1 cup cold Butter
2 Egg Yolks (I added the whites to our breakfast omelets)
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
Water... as needed

Mix the flour and sugar.  Cut in the butter until you get "pea-sized" lumps; personally I like it finer than that.   Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix with your fingers until it starts to come together.  Dump onto a floured workbench and knead into a ball, adding a TBSP or two of water to make a stiff dough.  Divide the dough -- 3/4 and 1/4 if you want a lattice top, or half and half like I did to make a 7" tart and a 9" tart.  Wrap the divided dough in clingflim and chill for 30-45 minutes.

This makes a great tasting crust, but a bit too flakey for a stand-alone tart.  In the photo above you can see where some of the crust broke away as I removed the tart pan rim.

Filling
10 cups Mulberries -- don't worry about the stems, you'll go crazy trying to remove them!
1 cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Butter
1/4 cup AP Flour or Wondratm for thickener
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tsp fresh ground Cardamon seed
1 tsp fresh ground Black Pepper

While the crust chills. wash the berries  and place in a large pot with the sugar, butter and vanilla. 

 Simmer for 20-30 minutes unclovered,  then sieve-in the flour or Wondra and cook a few more minutes to thicken.  Remove from the heat, add the cardamon and pepper and let it cool before filling the crust(s).  The cardamon and pepper help the flavor of the berries 'pop' and the result is not just an over sweet mono-flavor!

Baking
Bake the filled crusts for 30-45 minutes @350F until the crust is GB&D -- Golden Brown and delicious.    Serve warm with a dollop of cream, crema, or vanilla ice cream.

Chilled Romaine Soup
Here's a blast from the past!  I first made this in 2017 after we'd been to Central Florida around Lake Wales, and seen the Chalet Suzanne restaurant where this recipe was made famous and featured in the 1961 edition of the New York Times Cookbook.

Quite simple, and suprizingly tasty.

2 Tbsp Butter
1 large Onion, diced  or a smaller onion and some diced shallot is good here too.
4 cups Vegetable Stock or Broth
10-12 cups chopped full-leaf Romaine, including the dark outer leaves for best flavor
Salt & White Pepper to taste

Juice of a Lime
Garnishes:  Croutons or buttered Toast Points, Bacon Bits, Sour Cream or Cashew Crema, shaved Almonds or toasted Pine Nuts. If you're daring, add a couple dashes of hot sauce. 

In your pot, saute the onion in the butter until soft but not brown.  Add the lettuce and cover for a couple minutes to let it wilt.  Add the broth and simmer until everything is soft.  Puree the soup until silky smooth, stir in the lime juice, and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.  Garnish as desired.  

A perfect dinner for our hot Florida evenings.  Slices of cold tomato with a dollop of Bleu Cheese dressing make a tasty and colorful side 'salad' for this soup. 

If you don't have vegetable stock or broth handy, 2 Tbsp of my Scarborough Fayre spice blend in a quart of water is a good alternative.  This soup is very 'spice sensitive'; a little spice goes a long way in flavoring the final result.  

Soul Food Rolls, Green Mango Chutney, Fish Cakes

Sole Food Rolls
So we ran out of cod the other week, but the fishmonger had some nice Dover sole filets at a good price.  Naturally I wanted something different from the usual Sole with lemon butter or meunier sauce, and I found this interesting use for both rhubarb and fennel!

5-6 Sole Filets
1 stick Rhubarb
1 Fennel Bulb
1 Orange, juiced
1 tsp Sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste

Slice the rhubarb on the bias, and the fennel bulb into strips (you don't need much). 

Saute the cuts in the OJ, sugar and 1/4 cup of water.  Don't over-cook them they way I did, you want them just soft. I went too far and things got too soft and lost color.  Reserve the saute liquid Divide the sauted filling into portions for each filet.

Lay the filets out and dust them with salt & pepper.  I actually used Evergladestm seasoning instead.   Lay a portion of filling across one end of each filet and roll them up.  Secure the rolls with a toothpick.  

Arrange in a baking dish and bake at 350F for 6-8 minutes (not 10 minutes the way I did).

Pretty tasty.  Would have been even better had I not slightly overcooked the filling and the rolls!

Green Mango Chutney
This one is for my SW Florida Mango-holics! Every Spring we get blown-down green mangoes during the winds of March and April. Here's something great to do with the larger green mangoes (small ones are too much work). You may want to wear gloves while working with green mangoes as the sap can be sticky, and a skin irritant to some folks.

The recipe comes to us from Australia, but is avery Brit-style chutney.  They make a lot of chutney in the UK.  The Indians make a lot of chutney also, including versions with green mango. But Indian chutney is more like a spiced green mango puree.

3 lbs Green Mangoes – 7-8 fist-sized fruit
8-12 oz Raisins
1 Onion, chopped
2 Tbsp ground Ginger
2-3 Green Apples, unpeeled, cubed
Optional 1/2 cup whole raw Almonds
1 cup Malt or White Wine Vinegar
1 lb Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Salt

Peel, pit, and rough chop the mangos.

Heat the vinegar, sugar and salt in a large pot and stir until the sugar dissolves.

Add the mango, raisins, onion, ground ginger, and apple. Return to a simmer and cook for 45-60 minutes or until thick and saucy.  Add optional almonds in the last 5-10 minutes of cooking.

Spoon into clean sterilized jars and seal immediately. The recipe makes 4 pint jars plus a little.  This chutney is shelf-stable for 12 months in a cool dark pantry (if you can find such in South Florida and are that slow in eating it!).  

Fabulous flavor -vinegar-tart-sweet-fruity!!  Think tart-tangy micemeat.  Great on crackers with sharp cheese on the side, on toast, or even as the filling for a tart/pie!
 

Fish Cakes
Something different for our traditional Pescatarian Friday Night Dinner.

1,  5 oz Cod fillet
6 oz  skinned Salmon pieces from a side I portioned out
1 small White Onion, diced
1 cup Panko
1/4 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp spicy Mustard
1/8 tsp Everglades Seasoningtm
Dash of Cumin
1 Egg, beaten

Mix it all together, adjusting the amount of Panko as needed to make good patties.  Form 1/3 cup patties/cakes a bit more than 1/5" thick.

Fry on both sides about 7 minutes each. 

Serve as-is or with a sauce or shot of malt vinegar.  I served mine with malt vinegar and roasted vegetables.