Hamentashen – Favorite Jewish Delicacies

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Ready for the Oven

Ready for the Oven

 

A beloved (but lesser known to the outside world) and joyous Jewish holiday is Purim – and this year the holiday begins at sunset on Saturday, March 15, and ends on Sunday evening, March 16. Purim recalls a time when Jews living in Persia were saved from extermination.

It is one time where Jews whose background, especially those of Eastern European or Mediterranean (Ashkenazic and Sephardic) descent, observe the date with lots of partying and drinking. And there is one food that is found at nearly every celebration – or one filled cookie I should say. Hamentashen (plural) ! Pronounced HAH-men tash en, these triangle-shaped, filled cookies remind us of Haman (the villain’s) three cornered hat.

In my case, these cookies remind me of my Aunt Tillie aka Teensy and my Aunt Esther, my mother’s older sisters. They made the very best hamentashen and I love, love, love these little delicacies. While my three kids were in college, I used to send boxes of these adorable cookies for them to enjoy in their dorm rooms and to share with friends.

The oil dough is so easy to work with and the filling isn’t too sweet. Best of all, they freeze for up to three months and travel well – no crumbling or fragility here. I like these so much I make a few times during the year – not only for Purim!

Heavenly Hamentashen

Heavenly Hamentashen

Aunt Tilly’s and Aunt Esther’s Fruit Hamentashen

Makes approximately 30-40 cookies

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PASTRY DOUGH:

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup canola oil
  • 1 Tbsp fresh orange juice
  • ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • Rind of one medium orange, grated
  • dash of salt
  • 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. non aluminum baking powder

Instructions

NOTE: I know I talk about playing with recipes from time to time… but FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS for good results!

Combine flour with baking powder, salt and orange rind. Using a food processor or heavy mixer, mix eggs, oil, orange juice, sugar and vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients. The dough will be soft. Scrape it into an oiled bowl and cover with saran; refrigerate the dough overnight so it firms up.

FILLING:

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces dried California apricots, dice in food processor or by hand
  • 12 ounce pitted prunes, dice in food processor or by hand
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup apricot or other flavor jam (don’t use sugar free)

Instructions
Dice prunes and apricots, stir in jam and cinnamon to combine. This fruit filling will be thick.

A Dollop of Fruit Filling

A Dollop of Fruit Filling

ASSEMBLY:

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly oil them. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and adjust so the cookie sheets fit on the middle racks.

Divide dough into 4 pieces and keep it refrigerated except for the piece you’re rolling. Roll each quarter of dough on a lightly floured board or pastry cloth into a 1/8” thickness. Using the top of a 4” glass dipped in flour, cut out circles.

Put a heaping teaspoon (walnut size) of the fruit filling in the center of each cookie, and pinch the dough around it so it forms a triangular shape. You can recombine the scraps of dough and roll them again to form additional circles. Bake 15-20 minutes until nicely brown. Cool on rack. These can be frozen between layers of waxed paper for up to three months.

Notes: I have a really cute circular ruffled cookie cutter that I used for these cookies – it makes them look a little fancy when I am in that kind of mood. And from time to time, I fill the hamentashen with a nice thick poppyseed filling…next year I might share that recipe too!!  At times I have rolled the dough much tinned which yielded many more cookies, but thicker dough seems to hold the cookies better-otherwise they seem to “flop” over and they aren’t so pretty.

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Old-Fashioned Beef, Barley & Bean Soup

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Beef, Barley & Bean Soup

Beef, Barley & Bean Soup

It’s still cold and blustery, so I’m posting yet another soup recipe.  This one rotates through our dinner menu at least every three weeks and is filed under “Things I love” in my recipe files.  It’s origins?  My friend Anita’s grandmother, my mother, Wayne’s bubbie, my tastebuds…in summary, it seems like almost every family I know has their own version. And now I have my own.  Compared to other recipes I’ve seen, I add more soup meat and legumes, I omit dry bouillon, there are no canned tomatoes in my version and I make mine in the pressure cooker.

This recipe alone should entice all of you to go forth and purchase a pressure cooker, or P.C.  There is nothing like creating this hearty soup in just 35 minutes – enough to serve a bunch of people with enough leftover to freeze.

It’s an old fashioned soup so the veggies are not al dente and brightly colored.  This is more like something from yesteryear – filling, hearty, not especially beautiful but comforting and satisfying.

English Short Ribs

English Short Ribs

Beef, Barley & Lima Bean Vegetable Soup

Serves 8-12, makes over 20 cups of soup

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Ingredients
  • 2 ½ lb soup meat (beef neck bones or short ribs) – I use thick English shortribs  (see photo)
  • ½ (I round mine a bit)  cup pearl barley, rinsed
  • 1 cup dry lima or other small white beans such as Northern beans
  • ½ cup combination of yellow split peas and brown lentils
  • ½ lb fresh green beans – ends trimmed and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
  • 6 crimini mushrooms, stems removed and cut into 6 pie-shaped wedges
  • 5 large carrots, cut into ½ inch pieces (I don’t peel mine because they are organic)
  • 1 whole brown-skinned onion – remove the skin but leave the root end attached
  • 2 stalks celery, washed and sliced thin
  • 1 small tomato, cut in half
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste (remember the tube?)
  • Salt and ground pepper to taste
Instructions

Pressure Cooker Method:  Cover meat with water and bring to the boil and skim the grey gunk that rises to the surface.  Add the rest of the ingredients and water to cover the veggies and meat by about two inches. Cook until lima beans are done (approximately 30 minutes under high pressure).  Bring down pressure manually.    Using your handy dandy kitchen tongs, remove the whole onion and soup bones.  Trim the fat away from the meat and remove the bones, then cut meat into bite sized pieces.   Season with salt and pepper.  Return to the refrigerator and when it is cold, you can discard the orange fat layer that forms on top.  I leave this in place if I am freezing the soup and take it off after I defrost it because the fat protects the soup while in the freezer. THIS SOUP SHOULD BE EATEN A DAY AFTER MAKING IT!

The next day this soup thickens a great deal (we call it glue soup in our house) so add water if you want a thinner soup.  It tastes great with a hearty green salad and fresh bread.  This soup keeps for five days in the refrigerator and freezes for up to four months.

If you don’t own a pressure cooker, follow the same method but cover the pot with a lid and simmer for 2-3 hours until the meat is very soft and the barley is cooked through and through.

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Things I Love – Spicy Mayan Chocolate Cookies

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Marvelous Cookies (and milk)

Marvelous Cookies (and milk)

I cannot believe I am writing about yet another type of dessert I’ve just made.  If we spoke face to face, I’d assure you that I prefer savory food, that I don’t like weird (to me) combinations like cayenne and black pepper and chocolate and cinnamon and coffee altogether, ever.  So when my middle sister Susan came to town last November and announced that she wanted to make these concoctions for Thanksgiving, I protested heartily, confident in my belief that they wouldn’t do a thing for me.

BOY WAS I WRONG!  She pulled a few out of the oven and gave me a tiny bag (just five cookies) of these to take home.  I popped one into my mouth as I was driving back from the knitting shop and …Oh-My-Goodness.  The flavors were subtle and the spiciness came at the end of the bite.  I begged for the recipe, which Susan got from her friend Jill who got it from Momofuku in New York.  A close version appeared all over the internet with minor variations as well, some adding nuts, some with semi-sweet chocolate, some with more or less spice, some with allspice, some rolled in cinnamon..some recipes posted as far back as 2002.  The more things change, the more they stay the same, I suppose.

Susan’s cookie recipe is now included with my computer recipes under “cookies” … but also under “things I love.”  And I’m sharing her recipe with you.  These one or two bite beauties are the perfect ending to a nice meal, just my style.  And the word “Mayan” in the recipe?  Ha!  Mayan refers to a culture or civilization of indigenous people mainly in Central America who had a big hand in discovering the wonderful world of chocolate.  I’ve visited Mayan ruins in Belize, Mexico and Guatemala so the word resonates with me.

Just wait until you bite into this plain looking cookie and dark warm chocolate comes forth, followed by an intoxicatingly spicy aftertaste.  Just wait…

Balls of love

Balls of love

Mayan Chocolate Cookies

…via Susan via Jill via Momofuko but who knows where the recipe originated: with my changes and explanations

Yield about 3 dozen cookies

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Ingredients:
  • 3/4 cup (1 ½ sticks) salted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar, divided ( ¾ for the dry ingredients/dough and ¼ for rolling the cookies)
  • 1 1⁄2 cups all purpose flour
  • 
1 1⁄2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
  • 
1⁄2 tsp fine sea salt
 or table salt
  • 1⁄2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 
1 tsp instant espresso powder
  • 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
  • 
1⁄4 tsp fine ground black pepper (I used pre-ground)
  • 
3⁄4 cup unsweetened Scharfenberger or other great quality cocoa powder
  • 
1 large egg, room temperature
  • 
2 tsp pure vanilla
 extract
  • 1⁄2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I use Guittard 60% -they are pretty big so if you prefer semi sweet chocolate chips, use five per cookie rather than three)
Instructions:

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, espresso powder, cayenne, ground pepper and cocoa powder in a medium bowl and stir to combine.

In a small cup combine egg and vanilla.

Using an electric micr beat butter with 3/4 cup sugar for six minutes on high speed.  This will make the cookies lighter in texture, so don’t omit this step.  I actually set a timer, impatient person that I am.  Lower speed and add egg and vanilla until incorporated.

Add sifted dry ingredients together in three batches and stop the mixer when everything is evenly combined.  Do not overmix.

Cover the bowl of dough and refrigerate (it will be thick) for a half hour.

Preheat oven to 350.

Roll a piece of dough the size of a walnut (about 1 inch in diameter) in between the palms of your hand. Press an indentation in the center of the ball  and place three of the large chocolate chips in the center, and then mold the dough around the chips. Roll into a smooth ball and coat in the 1⁄4 cup sugar that was set aside. Place on parchment paper on baking sheet.  I put 18 cookies per sheet since they don’t spread much.

Bake for eight minutes.  Let them cool on the cookie sheets.They form cute little half domes. Let them rest five minutes or so.

Note: these are the best right out of the oven while the centers are gooey and chocolaty.  OR I put the pre-baked, room temperature cookies in my handy preheated toaster oven at 300 degrees for two minutes.  OR I zap a few in the microwave for 8 seconds.  In addition,  I roll the raw cookies in sugar, just like before baking them but “flash freeze” the raw balls of dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet in the freezer.  Once solid I store them in a ziplock container, then remove a few for 45 minutes before I bake them in the toaster oven.  This way you can do a few at a time and they are always fresh.

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Meat & Beets: Beautiful Borscht

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Beautiful Borscht

Beautiful Borscht

This recipe was incubated with my friend Eileen, and originated with Eileen’s mother. She raved about how filling and wonderful this old-school, hearty soup was and indeed it was everything I wanted and more. Sweet and sour, rich with meat and filling beets and cabbage…my red blood cells just gobbled up this dish.

Eileen kindly gave me her mom’s original recipe but I actually (gasp!) quantified it and changed a few things even more for you, my dear readers. The original recipe was a bit sketchy on the details, so before I made it I phoned with many questions… Did she forget to list onions as an ingredient? (no) How thick should the flanken be? (thin) How small a cabbage? (the smallest you can find). Should I discard the tiny bones in the meat? (no, keep them in-but I didn’t listen to this bit of advice).

Eileen even offered to come to my house after I made this dish to see if it was seasoned correctly. Hmmmm… I decided to try it on my own first and finally got the recipe to where I was happy. For me, getting the taste right was similar to seasoning meatballs rolled in cabbage. As an aside, she came over the following day and claimed it needed more lemon, garlic and salt.

Simmering Away

Simmering Away

Beautiful Borscht

Serves 8 – 10

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Ingredients
  • 3 lbs. flanken** short ribs cut about ¼ inch wide, fat trimmed***
  • 1 bunch large beets – peeled, halved and then sliced (3 -4 cups after slicing)
  • 1 small cabbage (about 1 ½ lbs) – cut into 3-inch by 1-inch chunks
  • Juice from 3 1/2 – 4 large lemons (plus more juice if needed)
  • 3 Tbsp dark brown sugar (I changed from the white sugar originally called for and I actually added an additional 2 Tbsp for my palate)
  • 5 cloves of minced garlic
  • 2 ½ Tbsp. sea salt (add more if you wish)
  • 3 quarts of water

**Flanken short ribs are very different from traditional English short ribs most of you have seen; they are cut across the bones rather than parallel to the bones. Just ask the butcher for Flanken style short ribs if you aren’t sure.

***Don’t get too neurotic about removing all the fat from the soup ribs before you start cooking because you can remove a solid layer of fat after the final dish is prepared and refrigerated overnight.

Flanken!

Flanken!

Instructions

Put meat and short ribs along with salt and water into a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, skim off foam and then cover and lower to simmer. Cook for 1 ½ hours. Add sliced beets and cabbage and bring back to a boil, lower heat and cover – cook for another hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so. When you first add the beets and cabbage it looks so colorful and beautiful like in the photo – don’t get too excited because the whole soup cooks down and turns ruby red and the cabbage pretty much melts away.

Remove the lid and add the lemon juice, sugar and garlic and put the lid back on. Continue simmering for a half hour. Taste for salt, lemon and sweetness and add more if needed. I take my tongs and remove the flanken – tearing the meat into bite sized pieces, cutting away visible fat and omitting the small bones.

I made this on a Tuesday night and by Wednesday there was a layer of fat that had solidified on top. I easily removed this fat layer prior to serving. In true Ukrainian fashion, I ate mine with thick slices of boiled potatoes, rye bread and a hard boiled egg! This kind of simple, nurturing peasant food really speak to me.

This is a great winter dish and makes enough for a few meals with leftovers to freeze. It is perfect when the temperature dips and you need something to warm the cockles of your heart.

End note: apologies to everyone who lives in my condo building for the smells that emanated from my unit. I know cooked cabbage and beets isn’t the sweetest smell – but it sure tastes good!

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Fabulous February Salad

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Beautiful Bowl of Salad

Beautiful Bowl of Salad

You have probably figured that I have a salad fixation. My love of fresh produce escalated enhanced after my last visit to Belize. I buy many vegetables there, but often at a huge cost. For example a single butternut squash cost $15.00 and sweet peppers, while vibrant and colorful, are a whopping $6.00 a pound…you get my drift.

By the time I returned to the United States I dreamed of salad and vegetables. I pulled up my “Returning Home Grocery List” and after oooing and ahhhing at my favorite Seattle supermarket, I filled my refrigerator containers with mostly winter items for salads: crunchy napa cabbage, fresh baby spinach, arugula, kale, parmesan cheese, garbanzo beans (from my freezer), roasted chicken breast meat, fresh mint from my still alive rooftop plants, tuna , toasted walnuts, toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds, hard-boiled eggs, cooked quinoa, cottage cheese, quickly made pickled red onion, cherry tomatoes, rainbow carrots, and homemade croutons.

All the fixin's

My Mise en Place

For your information, it takes me under 20 minutes of prep time to wash, chop and store what you see. To begin the week, I made one of my salad dressings by blending some Tahina sauce (similar to this recipe but thinned with a bit more water). I like to make an additional easy dressing and then I’m good  for several days to create simple or complex salads that I eat for either lunch or part of dinner. Like an artist, these are my tools.

The components change every few weeks depending on my mood. I might have citrus fruit sectioned or dry cherries on hand, vary the nuts, add steamed colorful potatoes, avocado, swap out sliced steak for chicken or fish, and add different grains. Often in the winter I warm a lot of the ingredients when I eat at home.  In the summer I lighten up and include many varieties of fresh herbs…and every salad I make isn’t an exact carbon copy of the previous one. I thrive with variety.

One reason I believe many people don’t eat healthfully is that it takes too much time and effort. When we’re hungry – seldom do we want to take the time to prepare a nutritious meal or snack. So I plan ahead! If I have a lot of work to do or will be on the road I put my salad in a huge jar or container along with the dressing; very early in the day–that way I never have to hunt for something healthful and filling to eat.

Here’s an example of a lunch salad I composed the other day: Napa cabbage, arugula, beans, mint, hard boiled egg, roasted chicken breast, toasted walnuts, toasted sunflower seeds, pickled onions, cherry tomatoes, and lots of fresh black pepper. And I topped it with my latest salad dressing obsession my son concocted – delicious!

February Salad Dressing

Just enough for one person

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Ingredients:
  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ Tbsp sherry vinegar
  • About 8 drops   toasted sesame oil
  • pinch of sea salt
Instructions:

Put everything into a small jar with a lid and shake, shake shake. You can double or triple the ingredients and make enough for the whole week. It keeps well at room temperature.

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Kitchen Essentials – Gloves & Citrus Squeezers

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Marilyn
My beloved kitchen gloves & citrus squeezers

My beloved kitchen gloves & citrus squeezers

Two more mainstays in my kitchen!

Number 1: Disposable gloves

I use these primarily for removing roasted chicken from the bone, for mixing ground meat or poultry combinations, or for anything where my hands would be hard to clean. They are absolutely necessary when I work with hot peppers that would otherwise burn my fingers.   I started out catering and donning gloves while tossing salads with my hands and now I keep a box of medium sized gloves on my kitchen shelf-that way they fit most everyone in our family.

Number 2:  Juice Squeezers

I used to think these were exotic tools and now I see them in pretty much every kitchen store and grocery store I visit.  I use the smaller of the two for limes or small lemons, and the larger takes care of larger lemons or oranges.  Mixing drinks, adding lemon juice to culinary surprises, juicing oranges or lemons for fruit salad?  These beauties can be used in so many ways and I find myself reaching for them almost daily. Note – once you cut your citrus fruit in half, be sure to place the cut side DOWN in the squeezer. It might seem more intuitive to place it cut side up as a half a piece of fruit settles nicely into the “bowl.” But be sure to turn it around – you get much more juice that way!

The paint on these gadgets is wearing off a bit from the acid, so I always rinse them immediately after use, and if I were starting over I’d buy the squeezers that are not painted.  They may not look as cute but they would last longer I am sure.

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Comforting Cassoulet

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Marilyn

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Colorful Cassoulet

Colorful Cassoulet

One of my favorite winter dishes hands down is Cassoulet. This traditional dish from Southern France, full of rich white beans, fat and chicken and/or meat, is cooked very slowly, the flavors building and melding over time. The name Cassoulet depicts the traditional casserole-like pot.

My version does not resemble the traditional Cassoulet recipe – it is certainly not as rich in flavor but it is not as time consuming to prepare either.  It’s on my “favorites” list this winter though and I think if you try this you’ll agree it warms you inside and out. Served alongside a hearty seasonal salad, with crusty bread it is regularly in our lineup of comfort foods.

I don’t know the origin of my recipe except I can tell you I have tweaked it over and over so I’m sure this version is a far cry from the original formula.

Simmering Ingredients

Simmering Ingredients

Chicken “Kind of Cassoulet”

Serves 4

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Ingredients
  • 4 ounces turkey bacon, chopped ½ inch
  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large brown skin onion, sliced in half lengthwise then into 1/8 inch semi circles
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
  • ½ cup dry vermouth or leftover white wine
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste (remember the tube?)
  • 5 large crimini mushrooms, stems removed and cut into six pie shaped slices
  • ½ cup fresh tomatoes – chopped into 1/2 inch pieces or larger
  • 4 cups chicken broth – homemade or canned
  • 3 ½ cups fresh cooked cannellini or Northern beans or 2 15-ounce cans of organic Great Northern or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 3 carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch rounds
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme (I use the whole branch)
  • 1 4-inch branch of fresh oregano
  • 1 dried bay leaf
  • Salt and pepper taste (since I use salted broth I add very little salt and do so at the end)
  • 3 cups leftover roasted chicken thighs, skin and bones removed. Cut into 3/4 inch chunks
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley leaves
  • Extra virgin olive oil to add at the end
Instructions

Heat a 5-quart heavy pot and add about one tablespoon olive oil.  Add the chopped turkey bacon and sauté for about five minutes, turning and stirring at least three times. Remove the cooked turkey bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings in the pot.   Add the olive oil, onions and a pinch of salt to the pot and cook until golden brown, stirring every three minutes or so, about 12 minutes total. Add the garlic and wine and simmer for about two minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and broth.

Add the beans, carrots, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, salt, pepper and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15-20 minutes or until the carrots are tender.  Add the turkey bacon and chicken and continue simmering another three to five minutes.  If the stew is thin, let it cook, uncovered for a few minutes.  If it is too thick, add a bit more broth.  Taste to adjust the seasoning and top with chopped parsley and an extra drizzle of olive oil when serving.

Note: Chicken thighs are preferable here so the meat doesn’t dry out.  And if you eat pork bacon, by all means use it in place of turkey bacon!

 

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Winter Salads with Lemony Honey Mustard Dressing

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Wonderful Winter Salad

Wonderful Winter Salad

Cold salads, admittedly, aren’t something I eat often in the chilly winter months.  At lunchtime on these cold, dark days, I typically heat up a large bowl of steamy soup or leftovers from the previous night.

This invention, however, is one exception.  I construct it from hearty cabbage, readily available peppery arugula, shaved imported parmesan cheese and red onion slices.  And I find that the zing of the lemon adds a brightness that removes any longing for a warm bowl of soup.

Everything can be prepared and kept in separate containers in the refrigerator – so it’s quick and easy.  My son often takes this in a container for his lunches at school and adds leftover protein and even more veggies or cooked grains  for a heartier meal.

Winter Salads with Lemony Honey Mustard Dressing

Salad #1: Arugula and Cabbage Salad with Onion, Lemon and Parmesan

Serves 4

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Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup sliced Bermuda (red) onion
  • 3 cups finely sliced Napa cabbage
  • 2-3 cups loosely packed baby arugula (Spinach can be substituted too if you want a milder taste)
  • 1/4 cup imported Parmesan cheese, peeled into strips with a potato peeler
Instructions

Cut and soak the onion slices in a small bowl of cold water for 20 minutes while prepping the rest of the salad.  Drain and dry on paper towels.

Cut the cabbage into quarters.  With a sharp knife, slice the cabbage into thin strips until you have around three cups;  refrigerate the rest of the cabbage to use later.   Place the cabbage in a bowl with the washed and dried arugula, the drained onions and a little of the dressing.  Fold in the Parmesan cheese, taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary.  It only takes a few tablespoons of salad dressing – do not over dress!

Salad #2: Arugula with Roasted Beets & Tuna-serves 304

I am including an alternate salad that I improvised and served with the same honey mustard dressing.  Everything was in my fridge, prepped and ready for the week!

Ingredients
  • 3-4 cups baby arugula, washed and dried (I usually keep this around for sandwiches and salads)
  • ⅓ cup cooked sliced roasted beets  (I always buy these in the winter and roast, remove the skin and cut them for salads or as a side dish)
  • ½ cup warm croutons (I actually made mine with leftover rye bread – cubed, tossed with olive oil  and put on a tray in the toaster oven on toast setting for about four minutes.  I sometimes make croutons with leftover sourdough or french bread too.)
  • ¼ cup peels of parmesan cheese (I am never without good imported parm)
  • ¼ cup orange pepper strips (some type of mild, colorful pepper is a staple for me)
  • 6 oz canned line caught tuna
  • 1 avocado, peeled and cubed

Honey Mustard Dressing

Makes ~1 Cup

Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 1½ tsp Dijon mustard
  • ½ cup canola oil
  • ½ clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 5 grinds of fresh black pepper
  • Juice of 1 lemon (about ¼ cup of juice)
Instructions

Place all ingredients in a small jar and blend with hand blender. This keeps in the fridge for up to a week and is delicious used on all kinds of salads (pictured with Arugula).  I usually make this at least an hour (or days) prior to using as the flavors mellow out.  This thick, lemon yellow dressing coats hearty greens and it takes very little to add flavor to any salad.

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Creamy Corn Soup à la Antigua

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Marilyn

Click here to view recipe.

Creamy Corn Soup

Creamy Corn Soup

Last week I described the Picaya Volcano hike we took near Antigua, Guatemala.  Most of the four days we had in this city was spent just wandering around doing a kind of self-guided tour.  The brick streets were lined with very colorful stucco shops and many, many churches. Pictured is one of the old churches close to our hotel.

A beautiful old church in Antigua

A beautiful old church in Antigua

A huge local gathering place in Antigua was the fountain in Central Park, bordered by government buildings, restaurants, police and churches.  Near the town square, abuzz with activity, we encountered a gentleman who convinced us to let him take us on a half day tour to sites around the city.

We visited a local chocolate “factory” in a nearby village – of course I bought a block of bittersweet cinnamon chocolate to mix with hot water or hot milk.  The tour continued to several more churches – I learned the Spanish word for church (Iglesia) and the guide spoke Spanish – how exciting that I could understand most of what he said!

We continued on to a famous outdoor public “laundramat.” About 20 women and one man (highly unusual, according to our guide) were scrubbing their clothing in the public waters since many folks living in the nearby mountain villages do not have running water or electricity.  Evidently they pack up the clean but wet laundry and walk home to hang their articles to air dry.

The "laundramat"

The “laundramat”

In one village we even encountered a funeral and the procession, accompanied by a small band.  The women were dressed in their aprons (gavochas like the one I purchased) with lacy black head coverings.  Our guide told us that, after the burial, the family of the deceased has visitors come to the home to pay respects.

Our evening ended with a fantastic fish dinner and memorable corn soup (sopa de maiz).  My recipe is much more rustic but still very tasty in the cold winter months here in Seattle.

Corn soup before pureeing

Corn soup before pureeing

Corn Soup for All Seasons

(serves 4-6)

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Ingredients
  • About 1 ¼ cups  Yukon gold potato, peeled and diced into ½ inch cubes
  • 2 1/2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • ½ large onion, diced ½ inch
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 teaspoons salt (or to taste) – I add more at the end
  • ½ large orange  bell pepper, diced ¼ inch  (about ¾ cup)
  • 1 medium stalk celery, diced ¼ inch (about ¼ cup)
  • 16 ounces of frozen white corn kernels (or kernels of seven ears fresh corn cut off the cob if you are making this in summer-reserve the cobs for the stock)
  • ¼ tsp ground white pepper to taste (I got lazy and used black pepper)
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
  • 1 cup 2% milk, at room temperature  (I am sure soy milk would be fine too)
Instructions

Combine the peeled and diced potatoes and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover, and cook for 5 minutes until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife. Set aside.

Melt the butter or oil in a 3-quart dutch oven. Add the onion, thyme, salt, peppers and celery and cook over medium-low heat, stirring. After about five minutes continue cooking very low, covered.

Add the cooked potatoes with all the remaining water the frozen corn, and 1/8 tsp white pepper.  Stir well, cover, and reduce heat, and continue to cook for five more minutes.

Using an immersion blender, pulse about 8-10 times until desired thickness and consistency.

Ten minutes before serving, stir in the milk and fresh basil. Gently let it heat in the soup.

Note:  You can puree more or less of the vegetables depending on whether you like chunky or smooth soup.  In our Guatemalan restaurant they totally pureed the whole pot of soup then passed it through a chinoise to make it silky smooth.

I like to serve this with some crispy baked tortilla strips and some additional corn and basil on top.

If reheating leftovers, do so on very low heat so the milk doesn’t burn.

In summer when I make this with fresh corn, I simply cut the kernels off the ears of corn and use the corn cobs in the soup too-removing them before pureeing at the end.

Finally, I think I’ll try some chicken stock in lieu of water for the potatoes.  It would give the soup more depth.

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Adventures in Antigua

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Marilyn
Sunset over the Picaya Volcano

Sunset over the Picaya Volcano

My latest adventure – a trip to Antigua Guatemala – happened by accident.  My husband and I traveled to our home in Belize for a few weeks, and since it was still “rainy season” we wanted to visit somewhere in Central America for a few days, a place that would enable us to practice our evolving Spanish language.

I’d heard a lot about Honduras and that is where we initially thought we would vacation. The weekend before we left Seattle, Wayne was visiting with one of his patients who was adamant that it would not be a good time for us to be in Honduras…particularly the way we planned to see the outskirts of the country — renting a car, and taking off on our own to explore the less visited mountains and ruins.  Apparently Americans were being targeted and crime was on the rise.  An internet search echoed these sentiments – urging American Nationals to stay in nice hotels or travel with a group…not our style at all.

Now what?  Well,  Antigua had been on my personal radar for a long time; I’d heard about the Spanish language schools, the historical sites, the friendly people.  And this was “low” season so hotel rates and tours were quite affordable.

We booked air flights, found an old hotel that was a former monastery, and I downloaded a guide to the city.  After packing a bag with some warmer clothing, off we flew – landing in Guatemala City in the evening.

The "young folk" on the hke

The “young folk” meeting the locals on our hike

I adored Antigua!  I’d visit again if for no other reason than to practice my Spanish.  We saw a lot, I loved the colors and the people…all good.  The last day we booked a “tour” to transport us to the volcano for what was supposed to be an easy hike.  A van picked us up downtown, and there were 10 others in the seats – all 30-somethings.  Uh oh.  Like Wayne said, we felt like chaperones.

The ride there took a lot longer than expected as there was a bad accident in the middle of the road.  Our driver actually backed up for twelve blocks (YES, twelve) in the middle of honking traffic to find an alternate route.  Finally, we arrived at the bottom of the trek. Several folks from the village there came up to us asking if we wanted a “taxi” (aka horse ride) to the top in lieu of hiking.  We politely declined.

The march started at around 4pm and it was straight straight up – like a very steep inclined stair master – the path never leveled out and it just kept going and going.  It took about 1 1/2 hours – I was sweating like never before. But we did it!

We elected to take a horse back down since the hike off the volcano was IN THE DARK – honest.  They did have bad flashlights but even if it were daylight, it was so steep and rocky it would have taken me two or three hours to come down.  Never mind Wayne’s recently repaired meniscus…the horse ride alone was hard for me and I hung on for dear life.

Me and my trusty horse

Me and my trusty horse

My horse was led by a woman, Wendy  who appeared to be 50 but was 33 years old.  She led the animal and walked so briskly in her plastic no-tread shoes.  Unreal.  I was just happy to get back in one piece. The rest of the younger folks came down just fine of course.

That night our hotel served a fantastic corn soup – silky smooth and made with fresh corn that was most likely pureed and put through a chinoise.  In next week’s post I’ll share my corn soup recipe, nothing like theirs, but still good and easy and warming for winter.

The Central Market in Antigua, as always, provided entertainment for almost an entire day.  My favorite section, of course, was not on the tourist path but rather featured vendors hawking native fruits, vegetables, and kitchenware.  I bought a couple of “gavachas” or long handmade aprons that I saw native women wearing in each tiny village.  And every time I wear my gavacha, I think about returning to Antigua.

Modeling my beautiful

Modeling my beautiful gavacha

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