Auntie June's Hamburger Soup

This has been my go-to soup for over two decades. It’s my hearty winter lunch soup and my ‘I feel like crap and want something warm and comforting in my tummy’ soup.

I remember the first time I had it in my Auntie June’s kitchen – it was the best soup I’d ever had. I _needed_ that recipe; well my dad needed it so he could make it for me.

I still have the recipe he wrote out in my Auntie June’s kitchen – it’s on a small piece of pink notebook paper that was torn from my super sparkly unicorn note book (good God I was a girlie girl growing up!)

This recipe is a little bit changed from my aunt’s original because it’s me and that’s just how I roll but the basic ingredients still remain the same.

Aunt June’s Hamburger Soup

Ingredients

2 lb. hamburger

1 20 oz. can diced tomatoes

2 medium onions – chopped

3 carrots diced

3 ribs of celery diced

1/3 cup of pearl barley

¼ cup of ketchup or Heinz chili sauce

2 tbsp. beef bouillon (low sodium)

2-3 thai bird chilies, thinly sliced

A handful of chopped fresh cilantro

2 tsp. homemade seasoned salt

1 tsp. dried basil

1-2 bay leaves

6 cups of hot water

Directions

1.       In a dutch oven, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, brown the ground beef and drain off excess fat.

2.       Stir in the rest of the ingredients and add in the 6 cups of water

3.       Bring to a boil and reduce to medium low and simmer for an hour

4.       Season to taste with salt and pepper, remove the bay leaves.

5.       Serve in individual bowls and top with shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of no fat sour cream (both are optional)

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Eat!

Enjoy!!

DIY Seasoned Salt

If you're like me you never think about seasoned salt until you're in the middle of making a recipe and go 'd'oh!' as you realize you need it but don't have it.

Have no fear intrepid bloggers! There is a solution!!!

It's my:

DIY Seasoned Salt

2 tbsp. salt
2 tbsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 tsp. onion salt
1 tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. smoked salt

½ tsp. mustard powder

Combine. Blend thoroughly, use in place of regular salt for a little extra kick or where the recipe calls for seasoned salt – like my Auntie June’s Hamburger Soup! (recipe to follow sometime this week)

Enjoy!

Lightened Up Tom Kha Gai Soup

Today's your lucky day because this soup was so phenomenal upon the making that I had to post the recipe right away!!!

Traditional Tom Kha Gai doesn't have the spinach, carrots, edamame or baby bok choi in it. This is my take on the soup and I've tried to lighten it up a bit as well as beef up the veggie quotient because veggies are good for you!  (heh 'beef' up the veggies - punny, Tracey, very punny!)  

Anyhow if you like Thai flavours, if you like hot and spicy with a little creamy and sour MAKE THIS SOUP! soooo good. 

And now I'm going back to slurping my bowl down....

Lightened Up Tom Kha Gai Soup

Or Spicy coconut soup

This is my take on the classic Thai chicken soup which gets its rich flavor from quintessential Thai ingredients:  coconut milk, lemongrass, fresh ginger, lime juice, chiles, and cilantro.

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Ingredients

2 quarts (8 cups) chicken stock[1]

2 stalks lemon grass, cracked open with the flat side of a knife or chopped very thinly[2]

3 kaffir lime leaves, fresh or dried, hand torn (1tblspn kaffir lime leaf powdered[3]

1 (4-inch) piece fresh ginger or galangal, peeled and thinly sliced

2-4 small Thai chilies, halved lengthwise (add more if you like hot)

2-4 garlic cloves, finely diced

1 can light coconut milk

4 tablespoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup sliced shitake, cremini or other variety of mushroom[4]

4 limes, juiced

2 cups shredded roasted chicken[5]

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1 cup shredded carrot

½ cup frozen edamame (without the shells)

Handful of fresh baby spinach, washed and chopped

6-8 baby bok choi (halve the larger ones)

Handful of rice noodles (linguini size)

  

Directions

1.    Bring the stock to the boil over medium heat in a soup pot.

2.    Add the lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, chilies, and garlic. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and gently simmer for 10 minutes to let the spices infuse the broth.

3.    Uncover and stir in the coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, mushrooms, lime juice, rice noodles, baby bok choi, edamame, carrots and chicken.

4.     Simmer for 5 minutes to heat everything through; season with salt and pepper.

5.    Add in chopped spinach and simmer until wilted. The spinach will look a strange green brown colour but think of Popeye - spinach does a body good and you can't taste it!!

6.    Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Eat!

Enjoy!!

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[1] I took the lazy way out and used Campbell’s reduced sodium broth but if you can make your own so   much the better – I sometimes do but not today ;-)

[2] Lemon grass is mostly inedible in the long form but if you slice it very thinly you can eat it – I like mine that way, if you don’t then just cut the stalk in half and bruise it with the back of your knife and then fish it out before serving.

[3] See one of my earlier posts on how to make your own found  here:  Out on a Lime Leaf - Cheffy Tip/Trick

[4] the original recipe calls for straw mushrooms – I used oyster mushrooms which I just hand shredded

[5] I cheat here by buying store roasted chicken, removing the skin and using the meat from that. I figure if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and I can freeze the bones for when I’m ambitious enough to make my own chicken stock. 

Gluten Free, Mostly Dairy Free, and Almost Sugar Free Cranberry Ginger Biscotti

Well I've been a little lax in posting but that's because I've had an invasion of real life - how dare it!

Anyhow, finally got some time and so here's the biscotti recipe I've been promising. It's been office taste tested and given a rousing two thumbs up by gluten free and gluten tolerant people alike so I think I have another winner on my hands <G>

Gluten Free, Mostly Dairy Free, and Almost Sugar Free Cranberry Ginger Biscotti

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Ingredients

2 cups pastry quality gluten free flour blend with xanthan gum (if no xanthan gum in your flour blend add 2 teaspoons)* - I use El Peto brand baking mix
½ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup agave nectar or honey **

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Zest and juice of 1 lemon, zest finely grated
1 ½ cups crystalized ginger, stem ginger in syrup or combination of both

1 cup dried cranberries

White chocolate for melting and dipping

*you can make your own gluten free flour blend by whisking together 1 ½ cups superfine white or brown rice flour, ¾ cup tapioca starch, ¼ super fine sweet rice flour and 2 teaspoons xanthan gum

**because I used stem ginger in syrup I took out part of the agave and replaced it with the stem ginger syrup for added punch.

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.

Put the flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on low to combine.

Add the eggs, olive oil, agave, vanilla, lemon zest and juice.

Start the mixer on low then turn it up to medium and mix the ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl once.

Stir in the ginger and cranberries. 

Divide the dough evenly putting half on each of the prepared baking sheets and, with wet hands, shape into logs or ovals about 9 by 3 inches.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the dough feels firm to the touch and is lightly browned.

Remove from oven, increase the temperature to 350 degrees and cover each log with a doubled over tea towel. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Remove the logs from the baking sheets to a cutting board and using a thin, sharp knife or serrated knife, cut the biscotti onto ½ inch pieces on the diagonal.

Place the biscotti back on the baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes or until golden browned.

Store in an airtight container – especially important if you are in a humid climate.

Eat!

Enjoy!!!

PS.  I went a little overboard on the white chocolate as this was my first attempt. Next time I'll be employing a little more moderation ;-)

Home made Granola

Well it's a new year and after a year of decadently delicious brownies it's also time to turn over a new leaf and start eating a little healthier and lighter.

Amongst my new year's resolutions (yes I have a few) is to cut back on bread. Mmmm bread. I love bread. Sadness to give it up even a little :(  But bread is also sooo bad for the middle that I need to cut back a lot and try and substitute with things other than wheat bread. I'm terrified of reading a book called Wheat Belly - I have a feeling it would just ruin my life irrevocably.

However I had a conundrum in giving bread - a breakfast conundrum. I love me my bread at breakfast - toasted tomato and cheese sandwiches, blt bagels... what to do what to do...

Make Granola!

So I did some online research  looked for recipes that could be made both gluten free and were nut free (co-workers can use this recipe!) and then did a mash up of the ones I found. This is what I came up with...

Nut Free Olive Oil Granola

1 cup of toasted steel cut oats (or buckwheat )

1 cup of toasted large flake oats (optional)

1 cup of quinoa (I used red coz it's pretty and red!)

¼ cup of chia seeds

1 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds, hulled

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas), hulled

1 ½ cup coconut unsweetened flaked coconut

¼ cup pure maple syrup and agave mixed together

¼ cup Demerara sugar (optional)

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons coconut oil (or butter), melted

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

chopped dried apricots, cherries, and cranberries (about a cup each – more if you like fruit)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine oats, quinoa, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, maple syrup, olive oil, coconut oil, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and well toasted.

2. Transfer granola to a large bowl and add dried fruit, tossing to combine. Store in an air tight container and use it with yogurt and fresh fruit to make your own museli.

Eat!

Enjoy!