Celeriac and Pear Soup

For two weeks in a row in my CFA box was this ugly weird root. It was a celeriac root. Bulb like, hairy, brown, a crazy looking, ugly thing. Teresa, the farm woman, tells me to make soup with it. OK, I can do that. I search my favorite - All recipes- for a likely experiment.
The recipe I found used root veggies and onions that I had on hand, as well a the pears that are in season right now, and herbs that I have on hand in the garden. The result was a mild flavored soup with a lovely perfume scent.
For the celeriac, I needed to peel it and get the brown stuff off. Underneath all the root hair and skin is a white, crunch root with a mild celery flavor. It can be eaten cooked or raw. The root that had been in my fridge for almost 2 weeks was a bit soft, but fine for soup.
As for nutrition, celeriac is a good source of potassium, magnesium and fiber. It is low in carbohydrate - 1 cup cooked has 8 grams, and low in calories - 42 calories per cup. It is a type of celery that is cultivated for the root. The recipe called for celery stalks, I just used the tops of the celeriac.

Celeriac and Pear Soup

3 tbsp transfat free margarine
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 onion, chopped
2-4 celeriac roots, peeled and cubed
3 carrots, chopped
2-3 stalks celery, chopped or top of celeriac
1 large potato, peeled and cubed (potato thickens the soup)
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth - reduced sodium
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried tarragon (or to taste0
1 tbsp dried thyme
2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
2-3 pears- peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 cup light cream

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in garlic, shallot and onion, C Cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. As this is cooking, chop remaining vegetables and add to pot. Add broth and herbs. Stir in pears. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
2. Remove from heat. Puree soup with immersion blender. Add cream and gently reheat if needed. Adjust seasonings if needed.
Makes about 8 servings.

Butternut and Apple Soup

This week was our last Farm Share Basket- so sad. The past 2 hauls did give us a lot of vegetables with a long keeping time, so we should be enjoying fresh vegetables for the next few weeks. We have carrots, onions, potatoes, winter squashes and sweet potatoes. I have been making some soups to freeze for later. I have some kale soup that was made a few weeks ago and I made butternut squash soup last night. Tonight I will be experimenting with the Celeriac root. Alien territory for me, the root looks a bit intimidating.
The Butternut squash soup uses mostly seasonal ingredients that were in the farm basket: potato, onion, leeks and carrots as well as the squash. The recipe also calls for a granny smith apple, for some sweetness. I have used other kinds of apples with good results. This time I actually had an opened jar of applesauce, so I used that to save time. I was really tired last night and needed to go to bed. For the squash, it was already cooked, left overs from a meal earlier in the week. I actually used a buttercup squash, which is dark green and roundish, not creamy beige and longish.

Winter squash and Apple Soup

2 tbsp transfat free margarine
3 large leeks, white and pale green parts only, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
2 1/2 cups butternut or other winter squash
1/21 cup diced carrots
1 apple, peeled cored and sliced.
1 quart low sodium chicken stock
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
pepper to taste
1/2 cup skim milk (milk or cream if you like)

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in leeks and onions, cook until onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add potato, squash, carrots, apple and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.
2. Remove from heat. Puree the soup with an immersion blender. Add milk , nutmeg and pepper. Stir to combine. Gently reheat if needed.

Leaks are often dirty things. After trimming, slice lengthwise and run under cold water to wash out any sand. Dry on paper towels or a kitchen towel.

Yummy Gluten Free Italian Cake

Last week we were invited to my in-laws for dinner. Usually when I am asked "what do you want to bring", I chime in "desert". Why? Because usually my honey can eat most of the dinner, but the desert is usually a glutenous thing. Yes. Cookies, cake, something containing cookies or cake...
My mother in-law made salmon, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and salad. I brought cake, ice cream (low fat) and whipped cream. I like to bring something that does not scream "gluten free, weird taste". I actually made no one, but two cakes, in case one was weird. Yes, I do experiment on other people. My family is used to it. I usually have a plan B. This time all was good, both cakes were good. I preferred cake #1, my honey preferred cake #2. Cake #1- Almond-ricotta cake had a nice texture and flavor. Not too sweet, good with ice cream. It was made with finely ground corn meal, almond and almond meal. The recipe follows.
Cake #2 was Almond-pumpkin cake, made with almond meal, potato starch and eggs that were beaten to death. I found the texture to be weird, but my honey loved it. He likes pumpkin and cinnamon, anything like pumpkin pie, which is what this was like. So I will save that for a separate entry. I am not sure I beat the eggs to death enough, my arm got tired ( I made 2 cakes)
So almond-ricotta cake. I found this in "Gluten free Italian " By Jacqueline Mallorca. I only made one change, instead of almond extract I used orange extract. Reason being, I had no almond extract in the cupboard. Very unusual for this Swedish girl.

Almond-Ricotta Cake

3/4 cup (3 1/2 ounces) fine stone-ground cornmeal. (this can be bought or made by putting regular cornmeal through a coffee mill is used just for grains or has been thoroughly cleaned)
1 cup (4 ounces) almond meal
1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) confectioner's sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (or transfat free margarine)
1/2 cup (4 ounces) sugar
6 ounces ricotta
4 large eggs
1 tsp orange extract
confectioner's sugar for top of cake

Makes 10 lovely servings.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the sides of a 9 inch cake pan, line base of pan with parchment paper and grease that too.
Combine cornmeal, almond meal, confectioner's sugar, baking powder and salt, mix well. I like to put through a fine sieve so there are no lumps.
beat the butter and sugar untill light and fluffy , then beat in the ricotta. Beat in the eggs and orange extract. Fold half of the cornmeal mixture into the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula. Repeat with the remainder.
Transfer to the prepared cake pan,smooth the top and bake for about 30 minutes, until the cake is golden and an inserted toothpick emerges clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then loosen the sides with a knife and unmold. Peel off the parchment paper and let cool completely on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving if desired.

this is good - I have left overs that I keep eating.

Another spagetti sauce

Just a quickie and then a longie a bit later.
Have been looking for lower salt spagetti sauces since my honey has the high blood pressure. A common issue among old dudes. I found this one at Big Y - a New England chain grocery store. "Brad's Organic Pasta Sauce", tomato basil flavor. It is fat free and really low in salt. I could not believe this - it is the lowest I have ever seen- 25 mg of sodium per 1/2 cup serving. The kicker, it actually tastes good. It has a very fresh taste. I always doctor up jarred sauces. I sauteed some onion, garlic, mushroom and zucchini squash and poured sauce over. This leaves the sodium content vertually the same and adding some vegetable nutrition power.
The sauce is also gluten free!!!!! Kudos to Brad.

Summer Squash Soup

Every week I've been getting summer squash in my farm basket. Every week. Zucchini too, every week. I'm really not complaining, but I don't think I would buy 6-8 squashes each week. I pick out the smaller ones. I have been keeping up with them pretty well. I've grilled many of them. Last night I did a vegetable saute for pasta. Onion, garlic, yellow squash, zucchini and eggplant. Very yummy. I have a few product comments about this meal.
#1- rice pasta - never trust the cooking time on the label. The time is always too long. The pasta I made last night had a cooking time of 15-19 minutes (no kidding), I checked after about 6 minutes and it was done. If I had cooked it the time suggested (and I have done this in the past) the pasta would have been total mush. I suggest checking at 1/2 of the suggested time and then one minute there after. Make a note of the cooking time for that shape and brand of pasta. I put my note on the inside of the cupboard.
#2- pasta sauce. Most jarred sauces are gluten free, but as always check the label. We usually use Muir Glen Organic because we like it and the sodium content is fairly low - 350-380 per 1/2 cup. Fat content is 1 gram. there is no added sugar.
Recently in Walmat I can across Bea's Brookklyn's Best sauces. The sodium content is remarkably low - 150-180 mg per 1/2 cup. The Fat is higher at 6 grams per 1/2 cup, one gram being saturated fat. This one also has no added sugar. The taste was good, we tried the vodka sauce.

So back to chatting about squash:
Last week, when the temperatures were a bit cooler, I made a soup using the summer squash.
I changed a few items in the original recipe. Mostly by using more vegetables than were called for.

Creamy Summer Squash Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium potatoes, washed and cubed
4 carrots, sliced
3 small yellow squashes, sliced
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Saute onion in oil in large sauce pan over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Stir in potatoes, carrots, squash, pepper and turmeric.

Add broth and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until vegetables are soft.
Blend with an immersion blender. Add milk and cheese. Gently reheat.

Serves about 7-8.