The Interval

So... We're home for a short interval, then on to Napa. I get the chance to re-center, focus, and to prepare and eat some homemade meals. CA is always appreciative when I deign to cook.

Tuesday night, I managed this...

Easy Cream of Broccoli Soup and Gluten-Free Peach Crepes.

The basis for my gluten-free crepes.

Filled with peach jam.

The crepes are a bit fragile. No gluten does that.

The Easy Cream of Mushroom Soup was a concoction I put together when we were at the beach many years ago. Just a few ingredients, and yet tasty and filling. This time, I actually did the mirepoix, but in the past I've just sautéed onions. The proportions are as follows:

Easy Cream of Broccoli Soup
1 cup Carrots, sliced or diced
1 cup Celery, thinly sliced
1 cup Sweet onion, diced
3 T. Butter
1 bag Broccoli, frozen
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1-1/4 cup Half-n-half, or milk (as preferred)
Salt and pepper, as desired.

1. Sauté vegetables until somewhat soft.
2. Stir in Cream of Mushroom soup.
3. Add milk.
4. Heat through.
5. Season to-taste.
6. Blend together until mixture is still somewhat lumpy.

Gluten-Free Peach Crepes
1 egg
1 cup Milk
3 T. Butter, melted
3/4 cup King Arthur Gluten-Free Pancake Mix
Peach jam

1. Mix liquid ingredients together.
2. Stir in pancake mix, stir just until dry ingredients are mixed in,
3. Measure 1/3 to 1/2 cup of batter onto oiled and heated crepe pan.
4. When top of crepe is almost dry, spoon on 1-2 T of peach jam.
5. Gently filed crepe in half and then quarters.
6. Makes approximately 4 crepes.

I got a late start this morning and CA had gone about his errands and appointments, but I made this for myself...

Eggs-in-baskets. Gluten-free, Udi's bread.

Then for dinner tonight...

My Americanized version of chicken curry.

Mise en place.

I chopped the chicken while the sweet potatoes roasted in the
oven at 400º. And, this time I sautéed the apples separately.

After the chicken was almost cooked through, I added the onions.

Chicken, onions, apple chunks, white raisins, and curry paste.
About 1/3 of the jar, or to-taste.

Our curry paste, of choice.

First time I've tried this. Worked fine.

The fresh Cilantro really kicked it up.

Our chutney, of choice. Quality and price.

We've experimented with adding sweet potatoes to the sauté sometimes raw and others boiled slightly. The results were under-cooked and over-cooked. This time, I oven-roasted the sweet potato chunks in a bit of olive oil. I then placed the Jasmine rice and roasted sweet potatoes side-by-side into the bowl and ladled the  curry over.

Chicken Curry
2 sm Sweet Potatoes, diced
Olive oil
1/2 med Onion, diced
1 med Apple, diced
1 cup Raisins, white
1 cup Peas, frozen
1 whole Chicken breast, boneless; diced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper (for chicken as it sautés)
3 - 4 T. Curry paste
1 can Coconut milk
Cilantro, chopped

1. Oven-roast sweet potatoes at 400º until soft and slightly caramelized.
2. Sauté apple chunks separately in olive oil, if desired.
3. Sauté chicken breast chunks until almost cooked through; add onions and continue sautéing until onions are translucent.
4. Add apple chunks to chicken-onion mixture; stir in curry paste.
5. Stir in raisins and peas. Heat through.
6. Pour in coconut milk and heat thoroughly.
7. Serve over both rice and sweet potatoes.
8. Sprinkle on Cilantro, if desired.

The Magic Pan Crêperie

(c)1970s
Began at Ghiradelli Square in San Francisco by
Hungarian immigrants Lazlo and Paulette Fono.

Nostalgia for food is a pretty strong driving force in my life. Whenever anyone talks about crêpes, I reminisce over The Magic Pan. This happened a few weeks ago. I first tried the easy route of Googling for recipes, but came up almost empty-handed. There is some mention of the fact that the Spinach Crêpe was actually Stouffer's Spinach Soufflé. Love that clue.

I managed to also unearth a menu:

I finally searched through my unruly recipe collection to find two of the three recipes that I remember enjoying so much way back in the late '70s. Not sure what the source for these recipes was at the time, but I am oh-so-happy to have them--handwritten. The third recipe was for Cheese Palacsintas. I'll add that if and when I come across it.

Ham Palacsintas
(serves 8)

Filling:
1 lb. Ham, ground
1 cup Sour cream
2 Eggs
1/2 tsp. Onion powder
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and white pepper
8 - 8" Crêpes
3 Eggs
1 cup Milk
Cracker meal
Oil for deep frying

1. Mix ham, sour cream, eggs, onion powder, Worcestershire, salt and pepper to taste.
2. Fill each crêpe as follows:
3. Spread filling on 1/2 crêpe, forming a rectangle 6: long and about 1-1/2" wide.
4. Fold filled crêpe 1/2 over to the centerline of crêpe, covering filing. 
5. Roll up, pressing down lightly on edge so that it holds together and is slightly flattened.
6. Mix eggs and milk together.
7. Dip filled crêpes into egg mixture and let excess drain back.
8. Roll each crêpe in cracker meal.
9. Heat oil in deep fryer to 350 degrees and fry crêpes until golden, about 1-1/2 minutes.
10. Serve with mustard sauce.

Mustard Sauce

 (2 cups)

4 Egg yolks

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. White pepper

4 tsp. Vinegar

2 cups Salad oil

1 T. Lemon juice

4 T. Mustard

2 T. Honey

1. (In blender) Stir together egg yolks; add salt, pepper, and vinegar. Blend thoroughly.
2. Pour oil very slowly into egg mixture while blender is on.
3. Add lemon juice, mustard, and honey. 
4. Blend until well mixed.

Potage St. Germain

(3-1/2 quarts)

1 - 1lb. Ham bone

4-1/2 cups Water

2 cups Chicken stock

2 cups Split peas, rinsed

2/3 cup Green onions, finely chopped

1/3 cup Carrots, diced

1/3 cup Celery, diced

1/2 tsp. Sugar

1/8 tsp. Marjoram

1/8 tsp. Pepper

2-1/2 cups Milk

1 cup Whipping cream

3/4 cup Ham, finely diced

1/2 cup Chicken, cooked and finely diced

1. Place ham bone in large pot.
2. Add water, chicken stock, and peas.
3. Bring to a boil over high heat.
4. Skim impurities from top.
5. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes.
6. Add vegetables and seasonings.
7. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until peas are very soft and mixture is thick. About 30-40 minutes.
8. Remove ham bone.
9. Gradually stir in milk and cream.
10. Add diced ham and chicken.
11. Simmer, stirring occasionally. About 10 minutes.
12. Adjust seasonings.

Creamy Chicken Pasta Soup: modifications

Oh, yes. This soup has appeared before on this blog. It's my favorite soup. One that always merits homemade chicken stock.

We're having this for dinner tonight, and sharing some with my mother-in-law this weekend.
As I was making this batch, I realized that I should include some modifications that have evolved over time. The recipe as it first appeared in Bon Appétit in November 1999 was in fact excellent. I've made it so many times, tinkering a bit just happens.

Here are my suggestions:

• I never measure the vegetables precisely. Always a bit generous with quantites.
• I don't sauté the mushrooms as I don't want them to break apart. I usually add them just before the chicken when the pot is at a full simmer.
• This is a soupy soup, so I usually use close to 6 T. of flour. Because I'm cooking gluten-free, today I used cornstarch to good result. I used 6 T. of that, too, where usually when you substitute you use less cornstarch.
• If you're lucky enough to have a Fresh Market near you, their whole boneless chicken breast is the perfect size for this recipe. But, I've sometimes used rotisserie chicken or chicken breast.
• I have used uncooked pasta in this soup, but you can control al dente better if you cook it separately.

MAKING CREAMY CARROT SOUP FOR A COLD SPRING DAY

Cream of carrot soup with a sprinkle of herbs perfectly bridges the realities of Spring in the Midwest. The best part of this recipe is that the creamy part comes from rice pureed with the carrot mixture and then just a touch of half and half to add a bit of complexity and smooth out the veggie taste. You can convince yourself that this is a healthy dish.

Serve alongside a thick slice of multi-grain bread or buttery biscuits


CREAM OF CARROT SOUP [2 Servings]
1 C Sliced carrots
1 med Onion, roughly chopped
1 stalk Celery, roughly chopped
1-1/2 C Chicken stock
1/2 tsp Salt
1 pinch* Cayenne pepper
1/2 C Cooked rice
3/4 C Half and half [or milk]

1. Simmer vegetables in chicken stock until carrots are very tender
2. Cook rice in a separate pan
3. Add rice to soup mixture and puree with a hand-held blender or in a food processor
4. Stir in half and half [or low fat milk]; heat through
5. Season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper, or black pepper
and a bit of dill weed*