Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

While we were in Washington DC a few weeks ago, we spent a Sunday morning visiting The Phillips Collection of art in one of the row houses in Dupont Circle.  We had decided that we wanted to stay in the neighborhood where our apartment was located.  As much as I admire the Metro System in DC, we found that the Red Line was undergoing an upgrade this Winter and parts of the track were closed.  On Saturday we had experienced delays, overcrowded cars and none of the ease that we had experienced in our previous visits.  Besides that, the morning was very cold, so being close to our warm apartment made sense.

The most well known painting in The Phillips Collection is Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party.  Duncan Phillips, an avid collector of modern art, acquired the painting in 1923.  He had opened his row house in Dupont Circle as an art museum in 1921.  Luncheon of the Boating Party “captures an idyllic atmosphere as Renoir’s friends share food, wine and conversation on a balcony overlooking the Seine at the Maison Fournaise Restaurant in Chatou.  Parisians flocked to the Maison Fournaise to rent rowing skiffs and . . . eat good meals.”   We also ate a good meal in the museum cafe, Tryst.  Chicken and barley soup was on the menu.  Due to the fact that I was still chilled to the bone, that was exactly what I wanted.  Lots of Hmmms later, David said “I know what you are thinking. You want to make this soup when you get home.”  He had it right.

The only decision was finding the right recipe that would be as close as possible to the soup that I had eaten.  Martha Stewart’s recipe won out.  It is full of vegetables and aromatic chicken and broth.  The barley is a quick cooking variety and I had this on the table in no time.  Each spoonful was as good as I remembered.  Even though we are all looking forward to Spring meals, this last hurrah to winter soups is worth your attention.

CHICKEN AND BARLEY SOUP  (Martha Stewart)

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 carrots, diced small
• 4 celery stalks, diced small
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 5 sprigs thyme
• 1 cup quick-cooking barley
• 5 ounces baby spinach (5 cups)

  1. STEP 1

     In a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add carrots, celery, and onion. Cook until just tender, about 8 minutes. Add chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until chicken is opaque at edges, about 2 minutes.

  2. STEP 2

     Add broth and thyme and bring to a boil. Stir in barley. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until barley is tender and chicken is cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.

  3. STEP 3

     Add spinach and cook until wilted, 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

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What a lovely little risotto cake.  I love food that can be stuffed in a ramekin, baked, and then un-molded.  I was perusing Nourish Magazine, a quarterly magazine from New Zealand, on-line recently and found this recipe for a vegetable filled risotto cake.  Nourish promotes local, seasonal and vegetarian fare, although the vegetarianism is not total.  There are recipes using meat products as well.  It is always fun to get a fresh prospective on eating.

The recipe makes six to eight risotto cakes.  I think this would make a lovely luncheon dish topped with a small dressed salad.  For dinner, it makes a pretty side to fish or chicken.  The risotto can be made ahead of time, placed in the ramekins and baked right before you are ready to serve the risotto cakes.  The flavor of the tomato, corn and basil adds lots of interest to the dish.

So simple, but yet so lovely and delicious.

On a change of subject, the above picture was taken at last year’s Bloggers’ get together at Larry, of Big Dude’s Eclectic Ramblings, and his wife  Bev’s Almost Heaven South lakeside pavillion in Tennessee.  We had the most wonderful luau with authentic delicious food, great company and a chance for all of us bloggers to connect with each other.  The event for 2014 is scheduled for either June 7th or 8th.  The official date will be announced in March.  We would like to invite any of our fellow bloggers to attend.  I can guarantee that you will have a good time.  You can contact Larry or Chris, at Nibble Me This, if you are interested in attending.

We had some of the best barbecue gurus in blogland manning the grills.  This grill line-up still brings a smile to my face.  Come and join us.

TOMATO, SWEET CORN AND BASIL RISOTTO CAKES

2 onions, diced
2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1 cup Arborio rice
3 1/2 cups tomatoes, diced (I used canned)
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
2 spring onions, chopped
2 tbsp basil pesto
⅔ cup sweetcorn (I used frozen)
⅔ cup grated cheese (I used Parmesan)
3 eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot, soften the onions in the oil.

Add Arborio rice and cook for a couple of minutes being careful not to let the rice catch on the pan.

Then add the tomatoes, mix well and let the Arborio rice absorb some of the moisture from the tomatoes before adding the stock.

When the Arborio rice is nearly cooked through take it off the heat and stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Spoon into greased ramekins and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden.  Un-mold by running a knife around the sides and inverting onto plates.

Serve with salad.

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Okay.  Everyone says you should plate your food in a white bowl so that it shines on its own.  Today I did not do that because the only bowl I could get to was this one.  I think Ina’s couscous looks just fine in a colorful bowl.  I am having some issues right now.  My kitchen is out of service due to a major leak under the sink.  David is working on it, but it has turned into a long, long …. process.

I have been washing dishes in the bathroom and trying to avoid his work area.  That is one of the reasons that Ina’s couscous sounded like a good choice for dinner; minimal sink time and easy cooking.  What makes it different from the original recipe is the use of Israeli couscous. Israeli couscous is larger and alternately called pearled couscous. I have paired the couscous dish with my Apricot Chicken, which is another easy recipe.  Just put it in the oven on a foil lined baking pan and you are done.  I have broccoli ready to steam on the stove and dinner will be ready.  My kitchen is a mess, but at least we will eat well.

I kinda think this looks like a work of art, but then I am probably a little punchy from cooking on the fly.  Hopefully dinner will be good.  David is still under the sink.  I have done my best and so has he.  Unfortunately, the work will continue for a while.  Take-out tomorrow night sounds like a good idea.

INA GARTEN’S CURRIED COUSCOUS RE-INVENTED

1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup small-diced carrots
1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup dried currants or raisins
1/4 cup blanched, sliced almonds
2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup small-diced red onion
Directions

Melt the butter in the boiling water and add the couscous. Cover tightly and cook the couscous on low for 8 to 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Place couscous in a large bowl.

Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, curry, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Pour over the fluffed couscous, and mix well with a fork. Add the carrots, parsley, currants, almonds, scallions, and red onions, mix well, and season to taste. Serve at room temperature.

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We had the perfect warming soup for the snowy weather that descended on the Southern States.  This winter will surely go down in the history books as one of the coldest and crippling on record.  Schools throughout NC were cancelled from Wednesday onward through the week.  If we had been home in Florida, we would have missed the snowy weather, but we also would have missed spending time with the Grand Kids.  Snow is more fun with kids.

It is a North Carolina tradition to let the three, four and seven year olds clear the driveways of snow.  Or so it would appear from this picture.  Our Grandson Cameron is clearing his driveway while the neighbor boys are clearing theirs.

The trees were covered with ice and we were lucky that we did not lose power.

The tortilla soup that Kristen made was just what we needed to keep the chill away.  She served it with a delicious jalapeno cornbread.  Kristen has a way of taking a basic recipe and making it her own.  The original tortilla soup recipe came from The Neiman Marcus Cookbook.  She added the chilies and adjusted the seasoning.

TORTILLA SOUP

Ingredients:

• 3tbsp. olive oil

• 1 medium onion – large dice

• 1 poblano + 1 cubanelle pepper (or any peppers you wish) – large dice

• 3 garlic cloves – diced

• 1 tsp. coriander

• 1 tsp. cumin

• 1 can chopped green chiles

• 1 28 oz. can peeled tomatoes, chop tomatoes into small pieces

• 1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)

• 6 oz. of reduced fat cream cheese (¾ of a block)

• 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

• 1 cup of half and half

• 4 tbsp. lemon juice

• julienned corn tortilla strips (for garnish)

• cilantro – chopped (for garnish)

• green onions – chopped (for garnish)

Instructions:

Heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions, season with salt & pepper and saute for about 5 minutes.  Add peppers, season again with salt and pepper and saute for another 5-10 minutes over medium heat.

Add garlic, coriander and cumin and saute until fragrant – 1 to 2 minutes.

Add green chiles, tomatoes, black beans and cook mixture until some of the liquid evaporates (about 8-10 minutes), stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat to medium low and add cream cheese.  Stir until cream cheese is completely melted.  Add chicken broth and half-n-half and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Ladle into bowls and top with tortilla strips, then cilantro and green onions.

Optional soup additions: chicken, sausage (or chicken sausage!), noodles, corn, etc… if desired to soup.  Avocado would also be a nice addition to this soup!

Other Notes: pairs well with corn bread.

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I am always looking for interesting appetizers to serve during the holiday season starting with Thanksgiving.  This wafer or savory cookie recipe is perfect because of the cranberries and walnuts studded throughout the cheese dough.  But before I look forward to the holiday season I would like to share with you two pictures of our Halloween festivities with the Grandchildren.

Our Grandson was an adorable gnome.  Our Granddaughter was a leaf fairy.  Her creative Mother made her costume.

Rachel took her role very seriously.  The kids were out with their parents trick or treating while Mimi and Gampy passed out treats at their house.  It has become a tradition since the time that Rachel was 6 months old on her first Halloween.  She was dressed up like a hot chili pepper then.

But back to the Chipotle Cheddar Cranberry Nut Wafers.  Help yourself.  The above picture is almost life size.  I think the key to these wafers is finding the chipotle cheddar.  I could not find it.  So I substituted regular sharp cheddar with 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder.  They did not have quite the kick I wanted.  But I am on the right track here and if you can find that chipotle cheddar, I think that you will be glad that you had these logs ready to go in the fridge or freezer for holiday entertaining.  Let the season begin.

CHIPOTLE CHEDDAR CRANBERRY NUT WAFERS

2 sticks (1 cup) softened butter
8 ounces chipotle cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups flour

Place butter in a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy.  Add cheese, stirring to combine.  Add walnuts and cranberries and stir well.  Add flour and beat until incorporated.  Divide dough in half and form into 2 logs about 1 1/2-inch thick.  Roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place parchment paper on baking sheet.  Cut the logs into 1/4-inch slices,place on baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Keep reserved dough in fridge until ready to bake.  Makes about 3 dozen wafers.

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