Cream of Vegetable Soup

I am still trying to make at least one meal a week with local foods. As I write this on June 3rd, asparagus, fiddleheads, lettuces, spring onions, radishes and rhubarb are the only fresh, local items available. We still have local root crops from last year such as potatoes, carrots and onions.
This meal consisted of cream of vegetable soup, asparagus quiche and rhubarb crisp and a salad.
The quiche recipe is here. I steamed the asparagus spears lightly and placed them in spokes in the pie. The rhubarb recipe is posted here.

Vegetable Soup

2 cups or more of your favourite vegetable
(carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. I used the asparagus ends, carrots and cauliflower)
One onion
one potato, diced or 1/4 cup rice
Garlic clove

Cook the vegetables in 4 cups of broth. Season to taste with herbs.

When the vegetable are soft, puree them with the broth in a blender.
Return mixture to the pot and thin to desired consistency with regular, evaporated or soy milk. Cream will also work well, if you can afford the fat. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Garnish with chopped chives and roasted peppers.

(If you use carrots, onion and rice, the resulting sweet soup is a beautiful colour)

Rhubarb Crisp

This recipe is made in the microwave oven and is quick and easy. You can use apples, peaches or a combination of fruits. I particularly like apples, cranberries and blueberries together. I generally do not add sugar except in the topping. But rhubarb needs some extra sweetener in the first stage.


4-6 cups of prepared fruit
sugar or sweetener to taste
I added 1/2 c Splenda to the rhubarb

Place in a microwave dish and cook on high for 2-3 minutes until the fruit starts to soften.

Topping

Mix 2/3 c oats with
1/2 c brown sugar
2-3 tbsp butter
cinnamon if desired

Sprinkle topping over the fruit and cook uncovered on high for 6-8 minutes, or until fruit is soft.
Serve with cream, ice cream or plain.

Mango Pudding

One of our homes in South Africa was backed by a mango grove. I never liked the fruit, finding it too stringy and "tasting like soap" in my opinion. In the past couple of years, I have come to love the yellow Ataulfo mango with its sweet flavour and smooth texture. They are in season in Mexico now and we are getting decent ones in our Canadian grocery stores. I have tried this recipe with frozen mango and it was awful. It is best to wait for fully ripe, fresh mangoes in season.
This mango pudding is often found at Chinese buffets. The recipe is adapted from the book Heart Smart Chinese Cooking by Stephen Wong.

2 envelopes unflavoured gelatin
3/4 cup sugar or sweetener
1 cup boiling water
3 cups pureed mangoes
1 cup 2% evaporated milk or cream
(I used plain soy milk)
8 ice cubes

Add gelatin and sugar to hot water and stir until well dissolved and smooth.
*In a large bowl, mix mango puree, milk and ice cubes.
Pour in gelatin mixture and stir until ice cubes are melted.
Pour into individual serving dishes or a jelly mold and chill until set.
Garnish with lime or mango slices if desired

6-8 servings

*(I puree the mangos in my VitaMix and add the milk, ice and gelatin mixture, blending together until smooth.)

Dandelion Jelly

This jelly was sold at the New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale. Mary Martin and her volunteers from the Elmira Mennonite Church make 400 jars of jams and jellies to sell at the sale including this recipe.


1 quart dandelion flowers, washed

Pour boiling water over flowers and let stand overnight. In the morning, put through a fine strainer and add enough water to make 8 cups

Put in a large kettle, add 2 packages of Certo, bring to a boil.

Add 12 cups sugar, 1 cup lemon juice and boil hard for 3 minutes. Put in jars and seal.

(Makes 25 half cup jars)

Tea Balls

This treat was sold, freshly made, at the New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale. The line up was so long, they must have a really good taste reputation. Here is the recipe from their booklet.


3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 tbsp melted shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour

Beat eggs. Add sugar, vanilla and milk. Add sifted dry ingredients. Beat well and then add warm shortening. Drop by spoonfuls into hot fat at 350-365 F. fry until golden brown, then remove and roll in sugar.
Enjoy fresh!

Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads (from ostrich ferns) are in season right now. Here is how I like to prepare them. All the ingredients are from local sources

1 lb fiddle heads
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
4-5 large mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp butter

Soak the fiddleheads in cold water to remove any sand and the brown scales that may still be attached to the fronds. You may need to change the water a couple of times to get them clean. Trim the stems if necessary.

Boil the cleaned fiddleheads in fresh water for 10 minutes. This step is very important to remove any possible stomach irritants that may be present in the plant. (source) Discard the water.
Heat a large frying pan. Saute the onion, garlic, mushrooms and fiddleheads in the butter. Season to taste. (I used Mrs. Dash)

I served these with a baked local potato and a slice of fresh chevre from a local dairy.
(The Becka liked this too!)

Doris Ramseyer's Rhubarb Custard Pie

This recipe is from a lady who attends our church. She brought this pie to a summer picnic a number of years ago and gave me a narrative description of the recipe. We know it is spring when we have this pie.



Unbaked 9" pie crust
Sprinkle crust with a teaspoon or two of sugar

Prepare 4 cups of fresh, diced rhubarb and mix with 2 tbsp of flour
Mix three eggs with 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 cups of white sugar until thick and creamy. Add rhubarb to the egg mixture and pour into the pie crust.

Bake at 425F for 12 minutes and reduce to 350F for another 40 minutes or so, when pie is set and fruit is soft. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

(Doris used 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, reserving the egg white for a meringue topping. I do not make the meringue and put three whole eggs in the pie. She also dotted the top of the pie with butter, but I usually forget this, and don't notice the difference)

Quiche

This is a fast and easy dinner or brunch dish, especially if you have some frozen pie crust on hand. The cheese, vegetables and type of milk can be varied. (pictured here)





One unbaked 9" pie crust

1 cup of lightly cooked vegetables ( I have used broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, red peppers, spinach, onions, or you can make it without vegetables)

4 eggs, beaten with,
1-1/2 cups of milk (evaporated, soy, regular;- add a tablespoon of flour if using regular milk)
3-4 ounces of grated cheese ( I prefer old cheddar, but milder cheeses work well too)
seasonings to taste;- I use 1 tsp salt and ground pepper

Place vegetables in the crust
Sprinkle with cheese
Pour egg and milk mixture over the top

Bake at 400F for 30-40 minutes until set.

Mango Chicken or Tofu Curry

One of my favourite dishes at our local Thai restaurant is Mango Chicken Curry. It is spicy and delicious, and I have come up with a version that is easy to make at home, especially when yellow Atuflo mangoes are available. The first ones of the season are in the stores this week, so I used them for this supper dish.




2 cooking onions sliced
1 tbsp oil
3-4 small chicken breasts, or 250 g extra firm tofu, diced in 1/2 inch pieces

Heat oil and cook onions and chicken until chicken is no longer pink.

Slice

1 green pepper
2 red peppers
4 oz mushrooms
1-2 mangoes, diced or sliced

Add to wok and cook until tender crisp. I sometimes add some chopped spinach or other dark leafy green to this mixture.

2-3 tbsp curry paste ( I use Patak's hot curry paste)
1/3 c coconut milk is a nice addition if you have it on hand.

Add curry paste and mix until everything is well blended with the spices. Serve with rice.
Serves 4-6

Oat pancakes (wheatless)

I have found that I do not tolerate a lot a wheat, especially white flour. I do love breads and grains and have found ways to eat less wheat and still have some of my favourite foods.
These pancakes are high protein and low fat, but most importantly, are delicious.


1 cup rolled oats
1 cup creamed cottage cheese (low fat or regular)
2 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Whirl oats in a blender to make a coarse meal. Add cottage cheese and 2 egg yolks and blend well. You may need to add a little milk or yogurt to get it to blend. The mixture is thick.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold them into the oat batter.
I added some blueberries to this batch as well.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a hot, oiled pan and turn when edges are lightly browned.
Makes 10 pancakes the size shown in the photo.

Serve with fruit or syrup.

Butternut Squash and Chicken Pilaf

I love the spicy flavours in various curry dishes. In this dish, the rice is cooked along with the spices, chicken and vegetables. Most of the ingredients are ones used frequently in Indian cuisine. I often use cubed tofu instead of chicken. This pilaf tastes even better the next day.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a wok or skillet
Add 1 tbsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds and 1/2-1 cup chopped onion
Cook the spices and onion in the oil until the seeds start to pop.
Add 1-2 diced chicken breasts
1/2 a cinnamon stick
Dash of cinnamon, turmeric, saffron and cayenne pepper
Handful of raisins and chopped almonds
Add 1 cup basmati rice and make sure rice gets coated in the oil
Fry the ingredients together for a minute or two, then
Add 3 cups water or broth
1 tsp salt (if you use water)
2 cups of vegetables ( I like to use green beans and/or cauliflower)
2 cups diced butternut squash

Cover with a lid and simmer until done and the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes if you use white rice.

Variations for vegetarian versions-

• I use brown rice if I have extra time as it takes about 40 minutes to cook. I add the vegetables a little later, about half way into the rice cooking time. If I use tofu instead of chicken, I add it with the vegetables.
• Add 2 -3 tsp miso to the water instead of using broth. Add a package of diced tempeh with the cauliflower and fast cooking vegetables.
  

Chocolate Custard

This recipe is from the New Moosewood Cookbook and is perfection from my chocoholic perspective.

In the top of a double boiler melt
3/4 to 1 cup of pure chocolate chips in
2-1/2 cups of milk (regular, skim, soy, whatever)

Let the mixture cool a little, then mix the chocolate milk in a blender with
4 eggs

Pour into buttered custard cups. Place the cups in a pan of water and bake at 350F for about 45 minutes until set. This makes 7 custard cups as shown in the picture.
You may want to eat it right away, but the custard is better when chilled.