Winter Vegetable Soup

UGH. I did it again. Ate too much on New Year’s Eve and for the entire weekend.

I do this every year.

And to make matters worse, I went to the movies and ate an entire tub of popcorn.

So I need to get back to culinary reality. Eat sensibly.

Time for a hearty, nourishing, tasty and filling soup. But one that also is low calorie and low fat.

This one:

Winter Vegetable Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium leek, chopped

2 medium cloves garlic, chopped

3 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

2 parsnips, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

2 small turnips cut into bite size chunks

2 medium all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size chunks

6 cups vegetable stock

2 cups water

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

28 ounce can tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 cup cut up green beans

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn (or extra peas or canned beans)

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, leek and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until softened. Add the carrots, celery, parsnips, turnips and potatoes and cook for one minute. Add the stock, water, salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat. Cover the pan, lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the tomatoes and green beans and cook for 15 minutes. Add the peas and corn and cook for another 10 minutes. Makes 8-10 servings

Sauteed Crispy Potatoes with Rosemary

Do you do the same thing every New Year’s Eve?

We do. But only for the last 35 years or so, so we’re beginning to get the hang of it.

My cousins, brother and sister-in-law will be coming for dinner.

It’s always the same schedule and dinner but we don’t think it’s boring because after years and years of trying this and that, we figured out what we like to eat and to do.

For example, we all know we like roast beef, except Eileen, for whom I will make a chicken breast her favorite way: baked until it’s really really dead and all the juices knocked out of it.

I used to do try a new dish every so often on New Year’s eve. They were mostly fine. But we all still joke about the time, many years ago, when I made the infamous Beef Stroganoff, which was really horrible.

So why not, on this one occasion, just cook something tried and true that happens also to be delicious and everyone (but one) likes and we also rarely get to eat — if ever— during the rest of the year?

Besides it’s also important to make stuff that won’t leave me with too much preparing, serving and cleaning. I want to enjoy the evening too.

We’ll start at 2:00 p.m. with cocktails or wine and hors d’oeuvre, all pre-made, either to serve cold or just pop in the oven. Like cheeseballs (recipe posted yesterday) and smoked fish canapes, gougeres and scallion pancakes.

Dinner will start at 8. Roast beef; one really really dead chicken breast plus a vegetable and ALWAYS Sauteed Potatoes with Rosemary because my cousin Neil loves them and it wouldn’t be New Year’s with that side dish.

Here’s the recipe for those potatoes, which you can pre-cook, up to a point, a day or two before.

Sauteed Crispy Potatoes with Rosemary

18 “new” or small Red Bliss potatoes

lightly salted water

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with lightly salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the potatoes and peel them when they are cool enough to handle. Cut each potato in half. Heat the butter and olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the potatoes and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Saute for about 10 minutes, turning them from time to time. Sprinkle the rosemary into the pan and cook for another 5-15 minutes or until as crispy as you like them. May be reheated in a preheated 425 degree oven for 6-8 minutes. Makes 6 servings

Cheese Truffles

Remember Cheese Balls?

Maybe your mother or grandmother (or you) made them once-upon-a-time? They were popular in the 1950s, right up there with Deviled Eggs and Franks-in-blankets. But those two items never went out of style. Especially Franks-in-blankets, the downscale hors d’oeuvre people like to sneer at but are always the first to be gobbled at any gathering.

Anyway, Cheeseballs didn’t hang on the way the other two nibbles did.

Maybe it’s nostalgia for some lost, long-ago time, but Cheeseballs are back in style. They’re a terrific hors d’oeuvre for New Year’s or any kind of cocktail party or with before-dinner drinks. They’re easy to make and extremely versatile — add herbs, spices, chopped fruits or vegetables; use different kinds of cheeses, roll them in different coatings for a better visual effect: bread crumbs, crushed nuts, chopped parsley, paprika, crushed peppercorns and what have you.

And if you think Cheeseballs are, well, too cheesy for your guests, make them smaller and call them truffles.

After all, what’s in a name?

Cheese Truffles

• 8 ounces blue cheese

• 8 ounces cream cheese

• 4 ounces fresh pineapple, finely chopped, including juices

• 2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeno or serrano pepper

• sea salt, seasoned salt or Adobo seasoning to taste

• chopped nuts, chopped parsley, paprika, breadcrumbs

Mash the blue cheese, cream cheese, pineapple and jalapeno pepper together until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Season to taste if desired with sea salt, seasoned salt or Adobo seasoning. Shape the mixture into small balls about 1-inch in diameter. Roll the balls in one or more of the toppings.

Makes about 4 dozen

Kumquat-Date Chutney

Aren’t these beautiful? They’re kumquats, which I mentioned yesterday. They’re small, oval and bitter and most people don’t like them raw. But they’re good stuff when you cook them. Kumquat chutney is a real winner. Goes very well with roasted chicken, turkey or lamb, so you can use it as a special little side dish for New Year’s dinner if you’re entertaining at home.

You can also use it as an hors d’oeuvre: serve it with mascarpone cheese, cream cheese or Brie and crackers. 

Kumquat-Date Chutney

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon anise seeds

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

6 whole cloves

1 2-inch cinnamon stick

1 cup sliced, deseeded kumquats

8 large Medjool dates, halved

1/2 cup raisins or dried cherries

1-1/4 cups orange or tangerine juice

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoon chopped crystallized ginger

Place the mustard seeds and anise seeds in a saucepan over medium heat and cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Let cool slightly, then place the seeds in a small muslin spice bag (or use a few layers of cheesecloth) with the peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon stick (fold the cheesecloth over the spices and secure with string or a plastic bag tie). Place the spice bag in the pan. Add the kumquats, dates, raisins, orange juice, apple cider vinegar, sugar and ginger. Bring the ingredients to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat, stir and simmer the ingredients for 35-40 minutes or until the chutney is thick. Let cool. Remove the spice bag. Makes about 2-1/2 cups

Braised Chicken with Kumquats

Ever tasted a kumquat? 

My granddaughter Nina bit into one the other day, assuming that that tiny oval orange fruit was some sort of miniature tangerine or orange or clementine.

Boy was she surprised!

Kumquats are bitter. Sure, some people eat them raw, maybe sliced into salad. But they’re really best for cooking, especially in a stew or braised chicken dish like the one in the photo. Or cooked into chutney. And they are really really delicious candied, when you get that bitter and sugary sweet all at once in the middle of your mouth. OHHHHHHH I could eat a pound of it right now.

I first found out about kumquats when I was a little girl and my family had dinner once a week at our local Chinese restaurant. Dessert was always either ice cream (vanilla, chocolate or, for some who-knows-why reason, pistachio!) or fortune cookies.

Or preserved kumquats from a jar. They were whole (seeds and all) and served with the thick, ultra-sweet syrup they were cooked in.

They gave me the shivers.

They still do. Bottled kumquats are mushy-soft and way too sweet and the bitter tang tastes like rust and fights too much with all the sugar. There’s no balance.

In those days you couldn’t get fresh kumquats anywhere. Not anywhere near where we lived anyway.

But you can today. And they are right smack in their seasonal peak at the moment.

Most of the stores I’ve been to sell them in a box, like strawberries. Our local Fairway market sells them by the pound so you can buy as much or as little as you wish and pick your own.

I can’t remember when I got up the nerve to try kumquats again, but lately I’ve been way deep into kumquat recipes. The chicken dish is one of the better experiments. 

Braised Chicken with Kumquats

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 large chicken breasts or whole legs (or a combo)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons honey

1 pound peeled and cut up butternut squash

12-15 halved fresh kumquats, seeds removed

6 large dried figs or pitted prunes

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook for about 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the chicken to a dish and set aside. Add the onion to the pan and cook for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for about one minute. Add the ginger, cinnamon, cumin and cayenne pepper and stir the ingredients. Pour in the chicken stock and honey and bring the liquid to a boil. Return the chicken plus any accumulated juices to the pan. Spoon some of the pan fluids and vegetables over the chicken. Cover the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the squash, kumquats and figs. Cover the pan and cook for another 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through, turning the pieces occasionally. Remove the chicken to a serving platter. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and surround the chicken with the vegetables. (Keep warm, if desired, in a preheated 250 degree oven.) Place the pan over high heat and cook for 3-5 minutes or until the sauce is reduced and slightly thickened. Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle with mint and serve. Makes 4 servings

Pear Torte

Creative People aren’t usually creative just about one thing. They think in unusual and varied ways about a lot.

Like my niece Rachel, who writes children’s books (such as Sometimes I’m Bombaloo and Justin Case) and young adult fiction (such as Lucky and Brilliant).

She decided she wanted to bake the Plum Torte recipe I posted a few months back. But plums aren’t in season now. So she made the cake with pears, and added a little vanilla to the batter, because pears and vanilla, well, it’s a perfect duo.

So here’s her recipe. We had this as one of the MANY desserts on Saturday night at her mother and father’s (my brother) annual Hanukkah party. It was DE-LISH!

Pear Torte

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup plus one tablespoon sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ripe pears, unpeeled, cored, sliced

lemon juice (about one tablespoon)

cinnamon (about 1/4 teaspoon)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and 3/4 cup sugar on medium speed for 3-4 minutes or until creamy and well blended. Add the flour, baking powder, lemon peel and salt and mix briefly to blend ingredients slightly. Add the eggs and vanilla extract beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Spoon the batter into the prepared springform pan. Arrange the pear slices on top, pressing them slightly into the batter. Sprinkle the cake with the remaining tablespoon sugar. Squeeze some lemon juice over the cake and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until browned, set and crispy. Let cool. Makes 8 servings

Salmon Couscous Salad with Blue Cheese and Dried Cranberries

Lighten up that Hanukkah celebration. Yeah, yeah, I’ve been going on and on about fried food. There’s nothing like it with its crunchy wonderfulness.

But last night our local Hadassah had its annual Hanukkah-time potluck dinner, especially to thank all the women who bake every two weeks for the Hadassah-sponsored teas at Stamford Hospital’s cancer center (which I have to say are wildly welcome and a raging success!).

I didn’t want to bring fried. It doesn’t travel well. Fried gets soggy when you tote it anywhere (although someone brought 3 different kinds of latkes and they crisped up nicely). 

And I figured everyone there had already had their fill of the stuff.

So I cooked this really easy, pretty, colorful, light-but-filling Salmon-Couscous Salad. Everyone loved it. Use it year ‘round. Whenever. 

Salmon Couscous Salad with Blue Cheese and Dried Cranberries

1 pound fresh salmon

olive oil or vegetable oil

1-1/2 cups Israeli couscous

1 cup thawed frozen peas

3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

4 medium scallions, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons orange juice

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat a broiler, grill pan or outdoor grill. Brush the salmon with a film of olive oil or vegetable oil. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until the salmon is cooked through. Remove the fish to a cutting board, let cool and cut into small chunks. Cook the couscous until al dente, drain and place in a bowl. Add the fish, peas, cheese, scallions, cranberries, orange peel, dill and mint. Toss ingredients to distribute them evenly. Pour in the vegetable oil, lemon juice and orange juice and toss ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let rest for at least 15 minutes before serving. Makes 4 servings

The Oil Spill

All this talk about Hanukkah and oil reminded me of the time my nephew, who was then about 4 and the type of kid who was mischievous and always getting into trouble, reached for a bottle of olive oil that his mother had left on the counter.

It was a liter size bottle made of glass, so that when he managed to get hold of it it did exactly what you’re now picturing.

There were large shards of glass all over the floor and a liter of olive oil trickling everywhere.

My sister-in-law managed to get hold of the glass pieces before any harm was done. That only took a minute.

The olive oil spill cleanup was like the BP accident in the Gulf. 

She used a few rolls of paper towels to get the puddles dry. But an oil slick? It takes more time than you think because even after it you wipe it dry there’s that film of oil underneath. So then you have to use soapy water and rinse that and dry that but there still may be a film underneath.

It goes on and on.

I’d bet that when they sold the house several years later there was still some olive oil under the fridge.

So —be warned! Be careful where you leave that oil bottle is all I can say. My sister-in-law still talks about that incident, which was more than 30 years ago.

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

Last year I mentioned that I make a roasted goose every Hanukkah (recipe and all). Well, yesterday I bought the bird and my goose will be cooked next weekend, for our traditional family Hanukkah dinner. This isn’t an old tradition in our family. It started with me, after I read that in German Jewish families goose is a traditional dinner on the Fifth night of Hanukkah.

Well, we all love goose so we can pretend to be German that night, just like on St. Patrick’s Day we eat Irish-style: corned beef and cabbage and Irish Soda Bread. 

Lo and behold! Our Hanukkah dinner this year falls on the fifth night of Hanukkah (December 24th). How nice!

In addition to the goose we’ll have roasted potatoes (using some of the goose fat that renders), a green vegetable and this Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage:

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons margarine or butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium tart apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1 medium head red cabbage, shredded

1 bay leaf

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 cups water

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

4 whole cloves

salt to taste

Heat the vegetable oil and margarine in a large, deep saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and apple and cook for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Add the cabbage, bay leaf, brown sugar, water, wine vinegar, lemon juice, cloves and salt and toss the ingredients until they are evenly distributed. Cover the pan. Simmer the ingredients, stirring occasionally, for one hour. Remove the bay leaf (cloves usually disintegrate). Makes 6-8 servings

Mashed Potato Pancakes

There’s no proxy for a real, crispy fried potato latkes. No mock-fake-oven version. No sweet potato or zucchini substitute. I would never even suggest such a thing. It’s almost sacrilegious. Even though these items may actually taste fine. They’re just not the same thing.

On the other hand, even during Hanukkah, after a feast of the classics, you might want to eat something else with dinner. So I am suggesting Mashed Potato Latkes. My mother used to make something similar whenever there were leftover mashed potatoes. Which wasn’t very often. I’m just sayin’.

They go with everything from roasted chicken to fried eggs to bulgur wheat casserole.

Mashed Potato Pancakes

2 pounds boiling potatoes

4 tablespoons butter, margarine or olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 to 1/3 cup milk, dairy sour cream or vegetable stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, optional

1 large egg

all-purpose flour or bread crumbs

vegetable oil and/or butter/margarine/vegetable oil mixture for frying

Wash and peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with lightly salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. While the potatoes are cooking, heat 2 tablespoons butter in a saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the onion and cook for 6-7 minutes until tender and lightly browned. Drain the potatoes but leave them in the saucepan. Add the onions and remaining 2 tablespoons butter and mash the ingredients until fairy smooth and without large lumps. Add 1/4 cup milk, salt, pepper, parsley and chives, if used, and stir to blend ingredients until evenly distributed. Add more liquid if the mixture seems too thick. Set the mixture aside in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or until chilled. Shape the mixture into patties about 1/2-inch thick. Dredge the patties in flour to coat both sides. Heat some butter and/or vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the patties a few at a time and cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until hot and crispy. Repeat with remaining patties, adding more fat to the pan if necessary. Makes 6-8 servings