Raspberry and Chocolate Smoothie

 

1 cup unsweetened unflavored almond milk

1/3 cup full fat coconut milk

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup raspberries

use cocoa powder, or chocolate protein powder, or Ensure (a small portion) or chocolate syrup or chocolate chips to achieve the chocolate flavor.  I used about a third of a cup of Ensure for this drink.

1 scoop collagen or protein powder

2-3 drops vanilla extract

sweetener, such as truvia, as needed

ice

Put all of the ingredients, minus the ice, into a blender and run until smooth.  Add 1/2 or more ice to blender and blend well.  Garnish with a few fresh raspberries if you want the drink more decorative.

Four Mushroom and Barley Soup

 Four Mushroom Barley Soup

1/3 cup dried mushrooms like porcini

1 pound of mushrooms (varied.)  White, brown-cremini, shitake. Sliced or diced.

2 tablespoons oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium carrot, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup of barley, farro, or spelt

6 cups low sodium salt free beef broth (vegetable or chicken can be subtituted)

1/4 cup dry sherry

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Prior to cooking put dried mushrooms in a separate bowl and pour 1 cup boiling water over them, letting them set for 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the soup

Trim, slice and dice the rest of the mushrooms.  Where there were stems, I diced them.  The caps were sliced thinly.

Pour oil in a dutch oven and saute diced carrot and onion over medium heat, about ten minutes.

Add fresh mushrooms and cook until they release liquid, about ten minutes.  If the pot seems dry, pour a tiny bit of water in.

Add broth, add reconstituted dried mushrooms.  I add the garlic at this point so it hasn't burned in the earlier process.  Add the barley, dry sherry, tomato paste and sherry vinegar.

Season the soup with salt and pepper.  

Cook on low-medium heat for about 40 minutes until the grains are tender.  Adjust seasonings and serve.

NOTES:

* I did use four different mushrooms, including reconstituted dried porcini.  You could use one, if doesn't really matter.  I like the variety of tastes and texture.

*  I did use sherry products, but I imagine you could use red wine.  I did have a tiny splash of balsamic vinegar to add.  Also, a few shakes of Louisiana hot sauce if you wanted heat.

* I almost always use the Italian tubes of tomato paste now rather than even the tiniest cans which means an open can of leftovers.  The tube can allow you to get a tablespoon at a time and refrigerate it until needed again.

* You could turn this into a cream of mushroom soup with a litte cream added.  You will get a very dark broth as you see in the photograph, which I wanted to reflect a January winter meal.

*  I think you could also slightly increase the amount of grain, if people wanted that for a carb substitute, rather than bread on the side.

Peach & Almond Butter Smoothie

Peach & Almond Butter Smoothie

1 cup unsweetened, unflavored almond milk

1 tablespoon almond butter

1-2 drops almond extract

1 peach, pitted and diced or 1 cup frozen peach slices

1 scoop of protein powder or collagen power

Sweetener (2 packs Truvia)

Broken down ice, about one cup

Pinch of nutmeg (optional)

In a blender, combine all ingredients, minus the ice (if using.)  Go through first blend, then add ice and blend again.  Garnish with a fresh peach slice or a pinch of nutmeg.

Notes:

*  I use fresh peaches, seasonally.  During the cooler months, I use sliced frozen peaches.  I've also used white peaches, which have a sweeter flavor.

* Even though the original recipe says you can use nutmeg, I find even the smallest amount is still too much for the delicate flavor of this smoothie.

*  When I've been short of almond butter, I have also resorted to using regular peanut butter, crunchy or smooth.

Covid Cosmo

 Ina Garten posted a photograph of herself on Instagram, holding a comically large martini glass full of the cocktail, Cosmopolitan.  With bars and restaurants still closed down during the pandemic, it seems timely to be posting cocktail recipes that can be made in large batches to divulge in during the week.

Duke's Hotel, London

Ina posted a Cosmopolitan cocktail which is true for the one I usually make.  She borrowed this from Duke's Hotel in London which uses fresh lemon juice, but I've always used lime juice and which Garten also uses in her own concoction.

Duke's Cosmopolitan

4 ounces freshly squeezed lemon (lime) juice (two lemons.)

4 ounces Cointreau liqueur

7 ounces Cranberry juice

7 ounces vodka

Dash of raw egg white (optional)

Ice

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In a pitcher, stir ingredients together: lemon juice, Cointreau, cranberry juice, vodkka and egg white (if using.)

Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice and pour enough of the drink mixture into the shaker to almost fill it.

Shake the cocktail for a full 30 seconds (it's longer than you think) and strain into martini glasses.

Serve ice cold.

NOTES:

* I doubled the recipe

* I used lime juice

* I used Tito's vodka

* I skipped the egg white

* Because I fell short of vodka, I used up the last of Italian limoncello liqueur that I had (maybe a fourth of a cup.)

YIKES!!!!

Banana Bread Cake

Ingredients:

Non-stick baking spray, for the pan (baking spray has flour mixed in)
8 tablespoons (one stick) salted butter (melted and cooled)
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs (beaten)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4-5 over ripe bananas, mashed

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1-2 tablespoons sugar, if you feel it is needed

Turbinado sugar, for covering the top

Directions:

1)  Preheat the oven to 350F°.  Spray an 8x8 pan with non-stick baking spray or line it with     parchment paper.

2)  In a stand mixer with paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand-held electric mixer), beat together the butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended.  Add the bananas and mix until combined.

3)  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Add the dry ingredients in to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined.  Add the pecans (if using) and mix until combined.

4)  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly.  If you wish to follow this step, sprinkle the Turbinado sugar over the top.  The author recommends covering the who surface completely with sugar; as much as you like.  This and baking sugars maintain their crystallization and give a pleasant crunch.

5)  Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.  Let the bread cool slightly in it's pan on a rack.  Slice and serve warm with salted butter or cream cheese.

6)  When completely cooled, cover the pan with foil and store at room temperature for up to two days.

Makes eight servings


MY NOTES:

*  I've made this recipe about four times and it's come out perfectly each time.

*   The recipe calls for an 8x8 pan.  I am going to try it with a bundt pan the next time I make this.  I think as long as the banana isn't in big chunks (which she says you can do) but rather smooth, a bundt pan should work.  I would warn you should leave cakes in bundt pans about a half hour for ease in removing.  I put the pan on a large cooling rack.

*  The recipe calls for salted butter.  You are already using salt in the batter recipe.  I don't think it's needed.  I've always used unsalted butter.

* The recipes says 4-5 bananas.  I've always used five.  I make sure they are fully ripened and I slice them into the mixing bowl before using the hand mixer to get a really smooth batter.  Just a matter of personal preference.  Also, with more banana, I have never felt the need to add extra sugar to the batter.

*  I've always used the chopped pecans, because I am used to making banana bread this way (my mother's recipe which is on this blog.)  It is stated you can also use chocolate chips as a substitute for the nuts.  I'm not sure I would like that combo, but I agree that it would work.

*  I do use the Turbinado sugar over the surface of the batter.  It makes a nice crunch.  I do not use it thickly, although I suppose you could.

*  As an aside, it says the prep time is 15 minutes, cooking is 45-50 minutes.  You might even get buy with 40 minutes depending on how your oven runs.  Let cool 5-10 minutes...or longer.

Rossi Pasta

I discovered this pasta company called Rossi Pasta in Marietta, Ohio.  It may be the same company I used to have available through Whole Foods where they had extra long pasta in spinach or tomato.  There are truly no artificial ingredients in these dried pastas.  I made the "Tomato Basic Garlic" recently and have the "Parsley" still to use.  It's hard to explain what makes them so unique other than you would think dried pasta is dried pasta, yet this product has a remarkably fresh taste.  It costs more than the boxed pastas from Italy, but oh so far superior.  

The company link is:  https://www.rossipasta.com/

….and now I won't forget again when re-ordering.  There is only one shop (in Ellicott City) that carries this line and one in North Truro on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Poultry Stock

 

 

When making stock from chicken or turkey carcasses upon which little meat is left, there are two points to be made:

First, use them quickly, without waiting for them to get dried up and stale.

Second, it is a mistake to cook them too long, or a strong and unpleasant flavor of bone will result (this is what makes pressure-cooked stocks so horrible) and the stock will be cloudy.  Whenever possible, it is a great improvement to add a small portion of raw veal or beef when making such stocks, and to add onions, carrots, celery and herbs.

~~ Elizabeth David