Autumn Vegetable Soup with Matzoh Balls

Last night I made vegetable matzoh ball soup for dinner. Matzoh balls are a comfort food here in Barnacle-ville.  You may recall Summer Vegetable Matzoh Ball Soup, which was a simple water based version.  Last night I made it with homemade chicken stock that was in the freezer..  Chicken stock is pretty easy.  Bill loves rotisserie chicken so I save the bones to make the broth. I like that nothing is wasted from the chicken.   Respect the chicken.  I admit that I use a pressure cooker, which speeds up and simplifies the process.  You can save up the bones in the freezer until you have time to make it.  You can use other bones or veggie scraps instead.

Barnacle Broth

yield 1 quart of broth concentrate

1 carcass from a rotisserie chicken

1 quart water

Place carcass (include skin if you wish) and water in the pressure cooker, and bring to a boil.  Bring up to pressure and simmer 45 minutes.  Turn off the heat and let the pressure come down naturally.  Drain the soup, discarding bones.  Pour the cooled broth into a quart sized container and refrigerate overnight.  The next day, remove the yellowish layer of fat from the top of your broth, (which may be jellied).  This golden disc is schmatz.  Use it like bacon grease, or instead of oil in your matzoh balls. If you wish, freeze the stock and the schmaltz for later.  When you use the broth, thin it with about 1/2 - 1 quart of water or to taste.

Autumn Vegetable Soup with Matzoh Balls

1 T olive oil

2 leeks, thinly sliced

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1 red pepper chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 bunch of swiss chard, stems chopped, leaves chiffonade

1 tomato, chopped

1 qt Barnacle Broth

1 qt water

1 tsp salt

Matzoh Balls

1 C matzoh meal

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 C olive oil

1/4 C seltzer

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

black pepper

Make the matzoh balls: mix all ingredients into a thick batter and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Saute leeks, celery, pepper, carrots, and chard stems (reserve leaves) in oil.  When golden, add broth and water.  Bring to a boil, cover and allow to simmer while you make the matzoh balls.   Divide batter into 8 portions and roll into balls.  Drop into soup, cover and simmer 20 minutes.  After 20, add reserved chard leaves, cover and simmer for 10 more minutes. 

Dish Bitch

1 glass 1 quart measuring cup

1 c measure

1 teaspoon

knife

cutting board

pot 

wooden spoon

Chocolate Cherry Pudding Cake

Today's recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Pear Pudding Cake.  I heard an interview with Ms. Lawson  on NPR in January 2009, in which she described this cake.  It was a cold January day, after the mania of the holidays.  She made it sound so inviting, so comforting without any pictures, that I went to the website and printed out the recipe.  I made the other recipes from the show, but for some reason didn't get to the cake. 

I'm on a mission to use up things I have on hand, so instead of pears, I used a can of dark sweet cherries, which are my favorite.  I made 1/2 the recipe for our small household, and fit to the ingredients on hand.  

1 can (15oz) dark sweet cherries
1/2 C + 1T sugar
6 1/2 T flour
2 T cocoa powder
5 T softened butter
1/2 t baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400.  Butter a 1 qt baking dish.  Drain the liquid from the cherries, and put cherries in baking dish. 

In a food processor, combine remaining ingredients. 

Process until you have a thick batter

Spread batter over cherries.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing

What I Learned
Very good, but a bit sweet.  Add a pinch of salt to the batter, and decrease the sugar by one tablespoon.  Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for added decadence.

Dish Bitch
Food processor
baking dish
measuring cup
measuring spoons
spatula

Tarocco Orange Salad with Avocado, Chicken and Tortilla Chips

It's been really hot for the past three days.  I made this salad tonight to avoid heating up the apartment.  It was surprisingly good: creamy, crunchy and chickeny. The blood oranges are a beautiful color, and their juice colors everything in this salad a deep red.  Next time I will add the avocado just prior to serving, in order to keep the beautiful creamy green color intact.

The hardest part of this recipe is supreming the oranges.  It's one of those tricks that really makes a dish special.   Please click for instructions for supreming an orange from Coconut and Lime Blog. 

4 Tarocco oranges, supremed, juice reserved
2 avocados, large dice
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 stalks of celery, diced
juice and zest of one lemon
Breast meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, large dice
black pepper to taste
broken tortilla chips
blue cheese with bacon salad dressing for garnish

Toss first 7 ingredients together in a bowl.  Cover and refrigerate for several hours.  For each serving, place two handfuls of broken tortilla chips in a bowl, and top with the chicken salad.  Garnish with a small dollop of salad dressing.

Dish Bitch: :)
knife
cutting board
bowl with lid

Six Minute Chocolate Cake

As you may recall, I've been participating in 52 Weeks of Baking Swap on Swapbot.  I'm really enjoying this swap!  It's a great opportunity to sort through the pile of 'to try' recipes.  I've been intrigued by this recipe for chocolate cake.   It's vegan, thrifty, and made with ingredients that most people have in their pantry.  For those of you who share my dislike of dirty dishes: YOU MIX IT RIGHT IN THE PAN!  The recipe and my evaluation are below.

The recipe is included in Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home by Mollie Katzen, who credits a 1976 "House and Garden" magazine as the source.

Six Minute Chocolate Cake
CAKE
1 1/2 C unbleached white flour
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 C sugar
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 C cold water or coffee
2 t pure vanilla extract
2 T vinegar

GLAZE (optional)
1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate
3/4 C hot water, milk, or half and half
1/2 t pure vanilla extract    

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

    Sift together the dry ingredients directly into an ungreased 8" square or 9" round baking pan.  In a 2 C measuring cup, measure and mix together the oil, water or coffee and vanilla.  Pour the liquid ingredients into the baking pan and mix the batter with a fork or a small whisk.  When the batter is smooth, add the vinegar and stir quickly.  There will be pale swirls in the batter where the baking soda and the vinegar are reacting.  Stir just until the vinegar is evenly distributed throughout the batter.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.  Set the cake aside to cool, and if you choose to make the glaze, reset the oven to 300 degrees.

    For the glaze, melt the chocolate in a small ovenproof bowl or heavy skillet in the oven for about 15 minutes.  Stir the hot liquid and the vanilla into the chocolate until smooth.  Spoon the glaze over the cooled cake.  Refrigerate the cooled cake for 30 minutes before serving.

What I learned:

Instead of sifting, I whisked the dry ingredients together in the pan. It worked well. Just be gentle or you will have a cloud of flour. The batter came together easily. The weirdest thing was the yellowish streaks from the vinegar and baking soda reacting. It looked strange but posed no difficulties. The cake rose evenly in the oven, and kept it's nice high crown even though I accidentally slammed the oven door.

I did not make the glaze, although recipe is included below. The recipe suggests dusting with powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, or your favorite frosting and to serve with whipped cream, ice cream, fresh fruit, or orange compote.

I am totally pleased with this recipe. It's a simple and elegant chocolate cake with a firm yet tender texture. It was delicious plain. Glazed or served with any of the above suggestions will make a fine choice for company. I plan to stock the pantry with bittersweet chocolate for the next time.

DISH Bitch: LOW
8" cake pan
2 C liquid measuring cup
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
whisk
thin bladed spatula to help release the cake from the pan

Pantry Macaroni and Peas

Barnacle Bill is working late tonight so I made an old favorite for dinner: Macaroni and Peas.  It is inspired by peas my grandmother made every Thanksgiving.  She cooked canned peas with onion and oregano.  They came out mushy and delicious.   This is total comfort food. 

1 T olive oil
1 med onion chopped
1 can sweet peas
1/2 lb ditalini
1/2 t dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
grated locatelli romano cheese

Saute onion in the olive oil until soft and golden.  Add the peas with the liquid, and 1 can full of water.  Bring to a boil.  Add the ditalini, and stir well.  Let it simmer, stirring frequently.  If it seems very dry, you can add a bit more water.  When the macaroni is halfway cooked, and there is little liquid left, stir, turn off the flame and cover the pot.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  Stir the pot, then serve with grated romano cheese.

Cucumber - Chickpea Salad with Lemon and Mint

I made cucumber salad last night. Bill requested the addition of chickpeas. Have I mentioned Bill's addiction to chickpeas? It seemed a reasonable addition and one that would guarantee that Bill's interest.

2 Large cucumbers, seeded and cut in 1/2 " pieces
1 15 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 scallions, white and green bits, finely sliced
1-2 tsp dried mint (or 2T fresh)
1/4 C lemon juice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Prepared Blue Cheese Dressing for garnish (Optional)

Put cucumbers through pepper in a bowl with a tight fitting lid (1 1/2 qt capacity). Toss everything by shaking the container. Let sit in the refrigerator for several hours. Serve with a small dollop of dressing.