Novel Food - Butternut & Bean Soup

I belong to a book club with a good group of intelligent women, who also appreciate that art of gastronomy. Each month we rotate who hosts and picks the novel. When we meet to discuss the novel we always have a dinner party themed around the book, particularly any ‘culinary inspiration’ offered by the book. We have enjoyed African food after reading What is the What by Dave Eggers, Sri Lankan food – Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost, 50s Chicago style dinner after reading Revoluationary Road and most recently Jewish Food after enjoying A.J. Jacobs humor book called A Year of Living Biblically. I have blogged about this before and had vowed to blog about each book club dinner, but have not followed through.

Therefore when I stumbled upon the new edition of Novel Food, a culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and Simona briciole co-launched a few seasons ago I was excited to blog about Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. For this meal we all contributed to the dinner potluck style. This novel made it easy for us to decide on the menu considering the whole novel is literally about food and provides recipes in the text. In this post I have provided a brief summary of the novel and posted a couple of the recipes I enjoyed the most. In keeping with Kingsolver’s theme about eating local we attempted to buy all the ingredients and products in season from local vendors.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is a narrative & part memoire of Kingsolver’s family journey from an urban life in Arizona to a rural lifestyle in West Virginia, where they vow to eat only locally grown food for one year (Exceptions: spices, coffee, olive oil and flour whereby fair trade alternatives were purchased). The chapters flow from month to month and season to season recounting how the family learns about farming, gardening, cooking and ultimately become an integral part of their community.In Kingsolver’s words: “This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals & vegetables whose provenance we really knew and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbours, drank the water, and breathed the air."

THE MENU

The first course was this wonderful butternut bean soup, which a bookclub member decorated so elegantly with local organic thyme.


BUTTERNUT BEAN SOUP

1½ cups dried white beans, soaked overnight and drained

3 medium portabella mushroom caps, sliced (optional)

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbs. thyme

1 tbs. sage

4 tsp. rosemary

2 butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

Olive oil

Combine beans and spices in a large sauce pan, add water to cover amply, simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until beans are tender and most water has cooked off.

Add mushrooms toward the end.

While beans are cooking, drizzle a large roasting pan with olive oil and arrange squash skin-side-down.

Cook at 400 for about 40 minutes, until fully tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and serve each half squash filled with a generous scoop of bean soup.

The soup was hearty and delicious. Locally speaking, my dad was able to grow over 30 butternut squashes with nothing but sun and water.

~

SWEET POTATO QUESADILLAS

*Original recipe adapted to use green house spinach rather than Swiss chard and jalapeno cheddar & monterey jack instead of brie. The sweet potatoes, onion, garlic and spinach came from a local organic greenhouse. The flavor and texture of these quesadillas were likely the best I have ever had.

2 medium sweet potatoes

1/2 onion1 clove garlic

1 T oregano

1 T basil

1 tsp cumin

chile powder and cayenne powder to taste

Olive oil for saute

Cut sweet potatoes into chunks, cook until soft, then mash. Chop and sauté garlic. Add onion in a large skillet. Add spices and sweet potato, mix well, adding a little water if it’s too sticky.

Turn burner very low to keep warm without burning.

4 flour tortillas

4 oz. jalapeno

cheddar (St. Albert Cheese Factory)

5 leaves spinach

Preheat oven to 400. Oil a large baking sheet, spread tortillas on it to lightly oil one side, then spread filling over entire toritillas. Top with slices cheese and spinach. Place another tortilla on top of filling and press down. Bake until browned and crisp (15 min.). Cut into wedges & serve.

Taste of Wellington

A few weekends ago I was able to enjoy a wonderful urban food experience called the Taste of Wellington. This festival was held on Wellington Street in Ottawa and all the amazing restaurants, bakeries, catering stores and food shops provided delectable food samples.

The samples were more than samples, as in some cases the portions were full meals. There was diversity in foods including gastro-pub fair, ethnic foods such as Indian, Thai, Italian, Japanese, French and Greek to the local market providing samples of seasonal fruits and vegetables. There were also other shops offering up free yoga sessions, free skin care products and massages, along with art galleries showing off their new exhibits while musicians played funky jazz music.

These establishments provided the food in exchange for donations to a charity, so it was a worthwhile venue.

Here are some of the wonderful tastes of Wellington I went to:

Thyme & Again featured marshmallows coated in coconut and amazing turkey meatballs with blueberries.

Absinthe had gourmet burgers with homemade chutneys.

Nicastro's featured mini porchetta sandwiches on crusty loaf with roasted garlic and rosemary.

Bagel Shop had sesame bagel topped with corned beef.

Bill's Bistro had pull porked on a baguette.

Three Tarts Bakery had nainamo bars and mini cupcakes.

The Royal Oak featured chicken curry with flatbread.

Sushi Umi had of course sushi. Cute asparagus wrapped sushi.

There were so many other places to try from burgers at the Metro, fresh fruit from the Parkdale Market, pasta from Parma Ravioli, pancakes from a breakfast place etc....there was only so much food I could try in one afternoon. But I will certainly be back next year to try more amazing foods from these great restaurants.

Ginger Crinkle Cookies

I am always so impressed by the talent and creativity that emerges during the Christmas month, be it crafts, cooking or baking. I am particularly impressed by the vast array of cookies that are made for this holiday. Through a fellow blogger I linked to a food blog event called Eat Christmas Cookies Season 2. This great event allows bloggers to submit their christmas cookie recipes and be compiled all together for all of us to be wowed and inspired. You can check out the round up page for this awesome compilation of cookies.

I have been wanting to make many cookie recipes since the 1st of December, but somehow it kept being put off. One weekend a bunch of us girls got together for a weekend entitled "baking and boozing". It is more innocent than it sounds. We were able to cook up a storm that day with brownies, cookies, shortbread, oatmeal-raspberry bars etc.. Since then I have had the bug to cook more. So today being my day off I was determined to get a few things baked. The first cookie I baked were these simple and delicious Ginger Crinkle Cookies that I got from a coworker.


GINGER CRINKLE COOKIES

2/3 cup oil
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup molasses
2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp bakingsoda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/4 cup sugar for dipping

Blend oil and sugar thoroughly. Add egg and beat well. Add molasses. Add dry ingredients. Form in balls and dip in sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet 3 inches apart. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Do not flatten before baking.

FoodBuzz 24 24 24

Here is a video of te inaugural 24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs event—which showcases 24 Featured Publisher blog posts around the globe in a 24-hour period. I think this video is really neat as it captures visually how international the Foodbuzz community is, while at the same time making us all feel so connected.

Spicy Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

I have been pretty sick this week with my throat being so sore soup is/was all I could swallow. Luckily I had some homemade soups - broccoli and potato leek in the freezer. However, when those ran out I went to the store and bought some sort of vegetable and rice soup, as I had no energy to even consider making anything. I was quickly reminded that these soups are tasteless and infused with so much sodium I could feel my blood pressure rising. Today I found out I have strep throat and have been put on antibiotics...however I do have a bit more energy so I was determined to make more homemade soup. I posted this on Two For Tuesdays Blog Hop, check out the link and post your own recipes.

While sick I have had the opportunity to browse some of my favourite blogs and stumbled upon an event I have been meaning to participate in No Croutons Required hosted by Holler of Tinned Tomatoes. This months event is Hearty Vegetarian Soups. With all the soups I have been making and eating lately I felt like this event was made for me. It was also good timing that on Thanksgiving I was fortunate to have my dad give me a butternut squash and a jalapeno from his lavish garden, both perfect vegetables for soup. The squash certainly looked better than my poor pumpkin, which the squirrels have slowly carved into a Jack-O-Lantern. Verdict on the soup is that it turned out to be silky smooth in texture with spicy warm flavors, exactly what my throat needed.


Spicy Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

1 large butternut squash (about 3 cups of 1" cubed pieces)
1 T butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
2 carrots peeled and sliced
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup whipping cream 35%
1/3 cup parsley for garnish
pepper to taste

Prepare all vegetable first by peeling and chopping them.

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, jalapeno, cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cayenne. Cook until onions are soft.

Add apples, carrots, squash and 3 cups of chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until vegetables are soft.

Transfer in batches to a blender and puree mixture. Once pureed return to pot and place on stove on low to med heat. Add cream and pepper. Adjust taste as desired.

Serve in bowls and top with parsley.

Try these great soups:

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Broccoli and Cheddar Soup
Potato Leek Soup
Roasted Sweet Potato and Ginger Soup

Tried, Tested & True....Take Two Grilled Blackened Scallops

Back in April 2008 I heard about this event called Tried, Tested and True hosted by Equal Opportunity Kitchen. I had every intention of participating in this event, but never got my submission in on time due to procrastination. So when I noticed that Gizmar of Equal Opportunity Kitchen was hosting Tried, Tested and True….Take Two, I was not going to miss the opportunity to participate again. This time there are prizes!! And the judge is Christine Cushing of Food Tv. How cool is that...although a little intimidating.

The purpose of this particular event is also to bring awareness to organ donation. Gizmar has therefore asked anyone to share an experience or story they had relating to this topic. I cannot say I have had much experience with this issue myself, but my cousin, who has kidney disease and whom requires dialysis, struggles with this everyday.

She was at one time on a list for organ donation and found out how the long this waiting list can be and how difficult it is to find a perfect match, as there is more to consider than simply blood type. It was determined that she would not be a candidate to receive an organ at this time and perhaps never would be. Learning about the desperation of needing a new organ, the long waiting list and the difficulty in finding the right match, definitely brings light the important of the issue and the need for more donors and more awareness about the issue. I am constantly inspired by her courage and positive outlook on life despite her daily struggles.

The Tried, Tested and True….Take Two is also to be a health-promoting dish. I would have to say that most of my dishes fit that description and hence this was not a huge leap for me. Whether it meets the other criteria for taste, inventiveness, ease of preparation, and visual appeal will be left up to the judge.

Considering that it is summer time I knew that I would likely be grilling something for this event and that I would include fresh market vegetables. While walking around the market for veggies, I found some really fresh looking scallops from the fisherman’s market. Knowing these are low in saturated fats and low in calories (about 26calories per scallop) I decided to use them for this event. Not only are they low in cals, but they are not your everyday meal (at least not for me) and hence thought it was a nice food to serve company. One of my new favorite dishes to make for company is Moroccan Scallops with Eggplant Confit, which is a beautifully looking dish to serve company. However, as noted above I could not resist the urge to use the grill.

I coated the scallops in my favourite blackening spice and grilled a bunch of asparagus, zucchini and cherry tomatoes on the side. This recipe is not only healthy but very quick and easy to make. I sort of went a little camera crazy.

Ingredients

12 medium to large scallops (6 per person)
blackening spice (recipe below or follow the link)
1 bunch asparagus, cleaned and with the ends snapped off
1-2 T olive oil
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
1 zucchini, sliced 1/2" thick

Blackening Spice

1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp cayenne
1 tbsp white pepper
1/2 tbsp thyme
1/2 tbsp ground black pepper
1/2 tbsp oregano

Preparation

Combine all ingredients and store in airtight container for up to 2 mths. Makes 1/2 cup. In a small bowl add about 1/4 cup of the blackening spice. Add the scallops and toss to coat. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.

When ready to cook, preheat a grill to medium-high heat.

Divide the scallops between the skewers, threading them through the sides. I used metal skewers, but if using bamboo skewers make sure to soak them in water for 20 minutes prior to grilling.

In a roasting dish add the cleaned asparagus, cherry tomatoes and zucchini. Add 1-2 T of olive oil and add the ground black pepper. Toss to coat.

Method

Place the vegetables in a non stick grill pan and place on one side of the grill, leaving room for the scallops on the opposite side. Grill the veggies for about 8-10 mins, tossing occassionally.

After the vegetables have been on the grill for 2-3 minutes add the skewered scallops. Grill the scallops on both sides for about 4 minutes per side. The scallops should look golden brown on both sides and opaque in the center.

If serving to company you can serve individual plates. Or place all the asparagus and vegetables on a large serving platter and lay the skewers on top of the asparagus and let company serve themselves.

Serves: 2

Other Recipes:

Moroccan Scallops with Eggplant Confit

100th Blog Anniversary

Well I started my food blog back in August 2007 - almost 1 year ago. My first recipe was Grilled Vegetable Couscous Salad. When I look back at all my posts, I feel that with inspiration from the foodies, my blog and culinary skills have grown.

At the time I started my food blog I had no idea that a foodie community or shall I say world even existed. When I started to find more and more foodies, I was astonished at the vast number of food bloggers and what incredibly inspirational sites they had. I was seriously impressed by so many of your blogs, from the write ups, photography and the food itself. I am happy to be part of a growing community that is so passionate about food and cooking.

Since my start in August 2007 I have developed some faithful blogger buddies and will continue to reach out to more of this fabulous community. Thank you for those who have supported my blog and left messages, it is much appreciated.
In reviewing my past 100 blogs (or shall I say 99) there are certain blogs and/or events that stand out to me.

The first would have to be joining the Foodie Blogroll, where would I be with it? So I wanted to thank Jenn, The Left Over Queen who developed the blogroll, allowing foodies everywhere to unite (is this what trekkies feel like?), as well as for her great blogs (interesting stories, fabulous photos and inspiring recipes).

The cancer events that I participated in were a unique way to bring awareness to this disease. Having had both friends and family battle cancer, these events were certainly more than just about the food, but a way to provide support to victims and their families, raise money, as well as provide knowledge on the prevention of this disease. My thoughts and prayers are always with those of you who have lost a loved one, or struggle yourself with this disease.

These cancer events included LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow hosted by Winos and Foodies, allowed me to try my skills at making a banana cheesecake (1) and banana cheesecake (2).

As well as Cooking to Combat Cancer, hosted by Mele Cotte in which I made a Mexican Black Bean Salad.

The final cancer event was one that was not a foodie event, but one that is close to home. My husband, brother in law, friend and I hiked 100km to raise $5000 for the Canadian Cancer Society, this hike was fueled by my mother in laws great spaghetti sauce.

My very first foodie event was a bread baking event hosted by Wild Yeast, where I was able to show off my Irish Soda Bread. Since then I have joined not only the aforementioned events, but also enjoyed making Spicy Mussels Wheat Beer for Mmmm Canada, hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict; and making Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms a Healthy Cooking event hosted by
Fun and Food.

Most recently, I have become part of the Foodbuzz community, which I am sure will introduce me to many more wonderful events and foodies from around the world.

For the next 100 blogs I am looking forward to joining the Royal Foodie Joust, hosted by the Leftover Queen among many more.

So thanks again to those that stop by my blog from time to time and thanks so much for inspiring me to work on my cooking and photography.

Mmm Canada...Spicy PEI Mussels in Wheat Beer

On Tuesday July 1, 2008 Canada will be celebrating it's 141st birthday. To celebrate I decided to join the food event Taste Canada, hosted by Confessions of a Cardamom Addict. For this event she is asking bloggers to write about what Canada tastes like to them - savoury or sweet. Confessions of a Cardamom Addict is hosting the savoury side of Canada and Jennifer of Domestic Goddess is hosting the sweet side of Canada.

Canada is known as a melting pot of different cultures, races and religions. Such diversity has brought so many great culinary delights to this nation. The days of going out to your traditional St. Hubert's (a traditional Quebec/Ontario restaurant) are far gone. Today going out for dinner can be a all day ordeal trying to figure out if you are in the mood for japanese, chinese, korean, italian, african, greek, indian, thai, english pub fare, mexican etc....

When it comes to Canadian food there are so many foods to think of from coast to coast and season to season (not to mention all the beer & wines). Rather than going through them all I will tell you what Canada Tastes like to me in my region.

I grew up in a small town in Ontario on the border of Quebec (near Ottawa and Montreal), thus some of my meals growing up were traditionally french- canadian. As a kid I remember eating Habitant French Canadian Pea Soup with grill cheese sandwiches, Poutine from the local frie stand with squeaking St. Albert's cheese curds, Montreal Smoked meat sandwiches, tourtiere/meat pie, butter tarts, and my all time favourite strawberry shortcake.

My background is not really known, but we figure my dad's ancestors were from England and my mother's from Italy. So there is a mixture of english-italian living in a french-english community. My husband's roots are thought to be from Ireland & Belgium before settling in French Canada. To this day they continue on with many of their traditional meals of pancakes with maple syrup, pate a rague, creton, peameal bacon and sucre a creme.

Now that I am living in the nation's capital, Ottawa, Canada taste's like Beavertales after skating on the canal; pints of a local cold brew (Clocktower) on a patio in the hot summer sun; a Poutine from Elgin Street Dinner (ESD). It tastes like local fresh berries from the Byward Market, tomatoes & cucumbers from my dad garden, backyard bbq's and my favorite - corn on the cob.

Canada Day itself use to make me think of partying in the capital in the Byward Market and on Parliament Hill. These days Canada Day is symbolic for cottaging with friends, bbq and beer and that is exactly what I will be doing. So as I will not be around to blog have a

HAPPY CANADA DAY, EH!!!

Tonight I was going to make a traditional backyard bbq with burgers or a beer butt chicken. But with the rain, I decided to stay indoors and make Steamed PEI mussels from LaPointe's Fishmarket in the Byward Market with Mill St. Wheat Beer, brewed at the Mill St. Brewery in Toronto. The flavor and aroma of this dish in incredible. I believe my husband found this recipe from Bobby Flay. I kind of went crazy on the pics!

Spicy Mussels in Wheat Beer

3 T olive oil
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp dried curshed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt

1 wheat beer (2 cups) - Mill St. Wheat
1 lemon sliced
1/4 inch thick
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 lbs fresh mussels, cleaned
1 medium to large chopped and seeded tomato
Serve with crusty whole wheat italian bread.

Heat the stove to high. Heat oil in large pot and add onion, cook until soft. Add garlic, fennel seeds, crushed red pepper and salt. Cook for 1 minute. Add wheat beer (or use a white wine), lemon slices and 1/4 cup of parsley, bring to a boil.

Add mussels. Cover pot and cook until mussel shells open, stirring once, about 6 minutes. Discard any mussels that do not open. Using spoon, transfer mussels to large shallow bowl. Boil broth in pot until reduced to 1 cup (about 3 mins). Season with pepper and salt. Pour broth over mussels and sprinkle with the tomatoes and remaining parsley.

Skating on the Rideau Canal on Valentine's Day....Mmmm Beavertails.

Stuffed Portobellos & Healthy Cooking

While reviewing some of my favorite foodie blogs, I stumbled upon a food event hosted by Fun and Food. This Healthy Cooking event seemed perfect for me as the basis was to create a healthy vegetarian recipe. Anyone who knows me, could tell you that I have a passion, sometimes obsession, with health and fitness. The majority, if not all of my meals are cooked using healthy foods & healthy methods. Although I am not a vegetarian, I do advocate eating less meat and more vegetarian meals for environmental and health reasons.

In fact I am currently reading a great book called In Defence of Food, by Micheal Pollen, which talks about the need to eat "real food" to be healthy. I must say I agree with his point of views and if I can add my two cents about health and health weight, I'd advocate eating more vegetables and fruits and what Pollen states as "real food" as oppose to substitutes like low-fat snacks (muffins, cakes, cookies, chips) and diet drinks. These types of food provide no health benefits, depsite any disclaimers made on their fancy packaging.

The vegetarian meal I decided to submit to this challenge was one that I have been wanting to make for a while - stuffed portobello mushrooms. However, the rain seemed to deter me again and again from putting these delicious stuffed portobello mushrooms on the grill. Alas, I decided not to let the rain deter me anymore.

Never having made or eaten a stuffed portabello mushroom before I was amazed at how great they were and what a hearty and healthy vegetarian meal they made. At only 26 calories per mushroom (not stuffed) and about 90 calories stuffed these were actually filling.

Ingredients

I decided to stuff the mushrooms with some of my favorite flavors tomato, garlic, green onions, rosemary, feta and zucchini. Tomatoes are a staple for me in the summer, as the local tomatoes are so flavorful and fresh. Not only are they delicious, but they contain lycopene known to be an anti-carcinogen. Studies have shown that lycopene can lower risk of certain cancers such as lung, pancreas and prostate. The other ingredients also provide their own set of health benefits. And buying organic eliminates any unhealthy chemicals.

Method
Before placing the mushrooms on the grill I brushed them with a light coat of olive oil & lemon juice. Grilling the mushrooms with a light coat of olive oil not only prevents them from sticking to the grill, but provides essential oils for the body. It is important to know that en if you are trying to lose or maintain weight health oils and fats are needed for proper body functioning.

These portabellos can be served as an appetizer, a side dish, or a main dish. I found 1-2 with whole wheat couscous or a spinach salad pretty filling.

1 medium tomato chopped
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/3 cup feta
1/2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1 green onion, sliced
1/2 zuchinni diced
1 clove garlic minced
salt and pepper
4 portabello mushroom caps (stems and gills removed)
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp olive oil

In a small bowl combine the tomato, bread crumbs, feta, oil, rosemary, salt, pepper, green onion and garlic. Mix well.

In a small skillet cook the zuchinni over med-high until slightly soft. Add to tomato mixture and stir.

Once the mushrooms have been de-gilled and cleaned brush them with a mixture of oil, lemon juice and soy sauce.

On a med heat grill grill the mushroom caps stem side down for 5 min and then flip and grill other side for 4-5 min. Before the 5 min is up, scoop heaping amounts of the tomato mixture into the cap of the mushroom. Then close lid of bbq and grill for 3 mins, should be enough for cheese to melt.

Serve immediately as an entree with couscous, an appetizer or a side dish.

Serves 4.