Hearty Lentil Soup

Today I am making soup for a family in our community who is sitting shiva.  Our condolences to the family and friends of Nechama Gittel Chaya (Norma) Kuras.  I've always thought my lentil soup is very comforting, but this is the first time it will really be put to the test. 

In addition, this is the first time I am making it with dry lentils (not canned) and without store-bought broth.  If you want to use those time-savers. see Easy Lentil Soup.

Some other things I'm doing differentley include using my food processor to thinly slice the veggies, and cooking two kind of lentils separately.  Lets get started!

1. Chop 2 onions, 3-4 carrots, and 1 celery root/celeriac or parsnip (both optional), and 1 sweet potato/yam (also optional, but tasty) and start them cooking with oil in a pot.

2. Add a sprinkling of flour, celery, mushrooms, and tomatoes. to the pan.

This Week in Hyperlinks

In memory of Nechama Gittel Chaya bat Yakov http://ornechama.org/.  Donate money or leave your thoughts, memories, or stories of Nechama (Norma Kuras).

My interview with CookingManager.com http://www.cookingmanager.com/cooking-box-interview-yosefa/

Cooking Outside the Box

I admit it.  I'm guilty of Googling my blog.  "Cooking Outside the Box" is now over one month old and I decided to see if it came up in Google.  As of this morning, it is #7 for the key words: cooking outside the box.  (Maybe it will be higher if I keep mentioning "Cooking Outside the Box.")  Fifth on the list was a post on Danilo's Culinary Arts Blog.  Reading his article gave me confidence that I chose the right name for my blog, because I agree completely.  Maybe he can say it better than I:

With its precise recipes, strict procedures and rigid formulas, cooking can sometimes seem more like a science than an art. But with time and a solid grounding in a few basic principles, you may find that you're increasingly able to put the recipes aside and cook by feel -- by instinct.

That means being willing to experiment -- and make mistakes! After all, it's one thing for me to warn you not to add the oil to your egg yolks too quickly when making mayonnaise. Until you experience a broken emulsion firsthand, my words of caution will remain an abstraction. Once it happens, though (and it will), you assimilate it. Mere information is replaced by knowledge.

He continues to suggest choosing a produce item you have never tried before and preparing it through "what you can discover through your own senses,"  without cook books or internet searches.  That is one place I deviate.  I love to "Google" even things I've already tried.  Why reinvent the wheel?  And why excitedly post my "new knowlege" if it's already been writen about ad nauseum?  But in the end, I do usually try something a little different through a mix of other's knowlege and my own senses.

His post really expressed what my blog is about.  It's me sharing my experiences of trial and error with you.  You can see me make a broken emulsion (and make an excuse why it doesn't matter).  And mention things you can try to improve on what I did. 

My recently posted "Salmon Chowder" is a good example of a dish I am still working on.  It has been delicious both times I have tried it, but I want to work on improving on the time it takes, dishes it uses, and economy/ecology of the ingredients used or wasted.

This week I've been considering aquiring a domain name.  Of course this means commiting to a domain name and blog title.  I think I have decided to keep the title of "Cooking Outside the Box," which will be found at nonrecipe.com.  The runner up so far is cookingoutsidebox.com, but it may be confusing to drop the "the."  What do you think?

Salmon Chowder

I'm no vegetarian, but if a creature is killed to be our dinner, we should treat it with respect and use as much of it as we can.  When I lived in America, I never bought a fish with the skeleton included, but now I buy fresh fish at the market where I decide what to do with it.  If I ask my fish monger to fillet it, I usually receive the head and skeleton in the bag.  I was quite surprised the first time this happened, but of course, I had to find a way to use it!

OVERVIEW: The first time I made this I had a chunk of salmon skeleton and two full small tilapia skeletons.  I boiled all the raw remains with chunks of potatoes.  When the fish looked well cooked I fished it out (excused the pun) and threw in other vegetables and herbs.  I may have also added fresh or a can of stewed tomatoes.  I blended the soup, then picked the cooked skeletons clean and put the meat back in the soup.

Sweet Zucchini Muffins

Were you wondering what happened to the zucchini guts (shown below) from my stuffed zucchini?  I made muffins to celebrate some little successes in our family.  Including... Mazel tov on the one month anniversary of my blog!

I share Hannah Z.'s view expressed in her post "Odds and Ends Make the Best Muffins Ever" (Keen On Quinoa.)
"... You cannot mess them up. The following is merely a record of what I did- you can play with these however you want to. I'd recommend sticking with the basic proportions (2 eggs: 1.5 tsp baking soda: 1.5 cups flour, etc) but then make a mess of it!"

However, I was also inspired by Miriam Kresh (Israeli Kitchen) via Hannah K. (Cooking Manager) to actually measure and write down what I did.  So here it is, as close as a get to a recipe.  In theory you could actually do what I did and the same results.  (Like a delicious scientific experiment!)

1. Shred/grate:
3 zucchini or the guts of 4 zucchini (about 2 cups or 475 ml). 
3 carrots (about 1 cup or 240 ml).

2. Blend/mix, then add to above in a bowl:
2 eggs
1/2 cup (120ml) oil.  (I used olive oil and canola oil)
7 prunes
3/4 cups (175ml) brown sugar

 

3. Mix separately in a measuring cup:
2 cups whole wheat four
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (That's all I had.  You could use 3/4 tsp baking soda and 1/3 tsp baking powder)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla sugar (alternatively you could add vanilla extract straight to the set of ingredients in step #2.)
1 cup raisins

4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet by hand until the flour is just incorporated (don't blend smooth.)

5. Pour into greased muffin tins or a pan and bake at 350 F or 175 C for 14-25 minutes depending on how big your muffins or loaf.

 

Makes 24 large muffins.

 Last night I was telling my son he needed to go to bed so I could make "cup cakes".
Him: But you need to buy them.
Me: I'm going to MAKE them.
Him: Then you need a recipe.
Very keen.  And now I have one!

Homemade "Mayonnaise" with Dill and Onion on Whole Fish

I've mentioned my technique for making a sauce for fish from mayonnaise.  I thought it was time to demonstrate. 



Traditional mayonnaise would include whipping a pasteurized egg yolk into an emulsion, adding a couple drops of vinegar (or acid of your choice), then VERY slowly at first adding an entire cup of oil.  You can do this with a whip attachment on a hand blander or food processor.

Comfort Food: Sweet Potato & Lentil "Salad"

This dish was inspired by Miriam Kresh's mush more elegant dish Sweet Potato and Lentil Salad on IsraeliKitchen.com.  I ignored Miriam's warning against overcooking the sweet potatoes and ended up making a delicious mush I would never serve to guests.  I'm almost embarrassed to post it, but it was yummy, easy, and healthy.  I would go as far as to say this may be a new guilty pleasure.

I simmered black lentils with a large red onion in a small pot and cubed sweet potatoes (yams/batata) in a larger pot.  I never would have thought of mixing lemon juice with date syrup and sweet potatoes, but it made a perfect dressing to add some complexity to the sweet potatoes.  I skipped the scallions and most of the olive oil, since my sweet potatoes had enough lubrication on their own.

Do you have any less than gourmet guilty pleasures?

Guilt-free Banana Ice Cream

My high school friend, Emily, likes her bananas a little green and crunchy.  She'd have it easy in my house.  I like my bananas freckled.  But no matter how many bananas I buy, either my son gobbles them all up, or they go bad before they get freckly.

On Friday afternoon my neighbor brought me around two dozen over-ripe bananas ready for freezing.  I've already been baking more than usual, so banana bread was not the solution.  Unfortunately for me, it is still warm enough where I live to eat ice cream.

Last night I took several of the bananas out of the freezer and left them in my food processor to begin to soften.  Then I just turned it on.  It's that simple.  Frozen bananas in a blender (or food processor).  You can add just about whatever you want.  Yesterday added vanilla and cinnamon.  Today, vitamin D and probiotics.  You could add mint extract and chocolate chips.  Or you could pulse in frozen or fresh pitted cherries after the bananas are smooth.  Top it with hot fudge or sprinkles.  A banana split might be going a little overboard.

Don't try to save leftover ice cream because it will freeze solid if it has even slightly started to defrost first.  (I tried it yesterday.)  Today our guest had to go home to do her homework right before I served the "ice cream" so I put it in the freezer, still in my food processor, and periodically took it out and blended it. That worked very well to delay eating it for several hours, and it may have kept overnight after that.  You could freeze it into ice pop molds.  Kind of defeats the purpose of the creaminess, though.  You might as well just eat a cold banana on a stick.

UPDATE: I had some moms and little kids over last night, but something came up and I couldn't get to the grocery store to pick up fresh fruits and veggies to put out.  Luckily, the night before I had frozen 4 ripe bananas (peeled) in a zip-top freezer bag.  When the crowd was over I blended them up with natural peanut butter and vanilla soy milk.  Most of the kids were too busy playing, but the moms loved it, even on this January evening.

Also see my post on freezing fruit and more ice pop ideas.

Stuffed Zucchini: Part 2

As I said in my original stuffed zucchini post, I suggested to my friend Tzippy that we both make stuffed zucchini and then compare what we did.  I filled my zucchini with a rice mixture and baked them.  When we ate ours they were still crispy and juicy.  Below is what Tzippy did, along with her gorgeous pictures.

Uncommon Uses: Medicine Syringe and Melon Baller

In this post I want to feature two things you probably have in your kitchen and don't use often enough: A melon baller and a medicine syringe.

The medicine syringe I just thought of today.  I have a 1.5 kilo container of honey and I wanted to get a tiny bit on some pears.  I strongly recommend it the next time you want to drizzle any syrupy substance on cake, toast, etc.  I also plan to try it for piping icing and filling donuts.

The melon baller I use all the time.  Anytime I want to carve out a zucchini or winter squash, or make avocado salad.  When pears are in season I use it several times a day.  Just slice the pear in half, pull the stem with your fingers toward the center and use the melon baller on the seeds.  Look how much less waste I have when I use a melon baller to scoop the seeds out of these apples instead of cutting pieces from the core.

My kids like when I put cinnamon in the middle.

When my kids come home from school I try to have fruits and veggies ready.  Today for a treat everyone (including my husband) got a drizzle of honey and cinnamon in their little apples and pears.  My son loves red bell pepper and my daughter likes avocado.  You can see I used the melon baller to scoop out the avocado.