Dairy Free Clam Chowder!

Our family has always made Clam Chowder on Christmas Eve.  It started as a tradition from my French grandparents, who made bouillabaisse - a fish stew- for the holiday.  My father, upon marrying my mother, could not stand the dish and they began their own tradition.

My mother's clam chowder is always delicious, but never the same!  She doesn't follow a recipe and plays around with the ingredients every year adding sweet potatoes, spicy ingredients and other touches as she feels like it.  Our chowder has been orange in the past!  So when we discovered that it was best for me not to consume dairy, she quickly discovered that she could save me a portion of her chowder before she added cream- her last step.

When I got married and left home, I began making my own chowder, but mine is completely non-dairy.  I like the idea that my mother's recipe is the base for mine, but that it can change and grow with each generation. 

Dairy Free Clam Chowder

Ingredients:

• 1 small leek, rinsed and chopped roughly
• 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 6-8 strips of pepper bacon
• 3 cans of clams, drained
• 1 bottle of clam juice
• 3 carrots, chopped roughly
• 6 potatoes, peeled and chopped roughly
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire
• 1 tsp. Tabasco/ hot sauce
• 6 cups chicken broth (more if your potatoes are large or you add optional ingredients)
• a bunch of parsley chopped
• Optional ingredients:  Sweet potatoes, other fish, scallions, shallots, anything that sounds good to you!

1. In a large pot cook bacon then remove to drain.  Pour out all but 1 Tbsp of the grease.
2. Saute onions, garlic, and leeks until slightly soft.  Add carrots for about 1 minute.
3. Add clams, juice, potatoes, broth, Worcestershire, Tabasco, and any optional ingredients you desire.  Cook until all veggies are VERY soft.
4. Either mash by hand or blend the soup with a food processor until creamy.  Crush and stir in bacon and parsley.  
5. Serve with fresh bread and a delicious dessert!
6. Enjoy!

Make Ahead Apple Pie Filling

This Thanksgiving I volunteered to do the Thanksgiving baking for the family celebration.  Pies, cake and rolls, all my responsibility.  To quote the cashier at the grocery store "Wow!  You're ambitious!"  The truth is, I love baking!  There is nothing like kneading bread or whipping up some pie crust to get your frustrations and stress out at the end of a long day.  I was eager to make all of the pies.
That is until two things dawned upon me.
1.  I work full time and will be working the day before Thanksgiving.
2.  My husband's family, who we are celebrating with this year, is huge!

So tonight when I returned from work, I went in to Thanksgiving prep mode.  Lists made, shopping done, and I have plans made for 1 cake, 4 pies and a large batch of home made rolls.  Of course, I had to start prepping tonight!

Luckily, I remembered how my mother would make apple pie filling and freeze it ahead of time, sticking it in a crust and baking it when she needed it.  So that's what I did tonight.

Make Ahead Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients:

• 8-10 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and cored, sliced and diced
• 3 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. flour

1. Mix all ingredients together to coat apples in sugar and others.
2. Pour in to a Ziplock Freezer Bag and store in freezer until ready to use.
3. When ready to use, pour in to your favorite pie crust and dot with 2 Tbsp. butter.  
4. Cover and bake  at 425 for 10 minutes.
5. Lower the heat to 350 and bake for 30-40 minuted until done.
6. Enjoy!

 Tip:  For a nice golden crust, brush the top with milk before baking.

Cheryl's Corn Dip

Here's another wonderful recipe from my aunt-in-law.
She made this delicious dip for my husband and I as part of our rehearsal dinner.  It's simple and delicious, great for a game day treat!

Corn Dip

Ingredients

• 3 (11 oz) cans Mexican corn -drained
• 4 oz can diced chilies
• 3/4 cup mayo
• 5 green onions chopped
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 jalapeno pepper chopped (or from a jar)
• 10 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1. Combine and chill.
2. Serve with tortilla chips.
3. Enjoy!

Fall is Here! Split Pea Soup!

Fall has always been on of my favorite times of year.  I love the beautiful colors, I loved heading back to school (this is the first fall since I was 2 that I haven't had school!), and I loved the warm filling fall foods!

One of my favorite fall foods is split pea soup.  When I was young I remember asking my mom what was for dinner one night.  Her answer was "split pea soup."  Joyfully I ran towards the kitchen as I screamed "Hooray!  Slit-see-poop!" and promptly slipped and displeasure behind the couch.  My mother, hearing my strange exclamation looked to see me and couldn't find me anywhere.   When I told my husband, he found my clumsiness hilarious, and slit-see-poop has been our family pet name for this warm favorite ever since!

So here is my recipe for one of my fall favorites.

Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

2 onions, chopped

3-4 carrots, sliced

3-4 stalks of celery, sliced

2 potatoes, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

olive oil

2 bay leaves

2 pounds dried split peas, washed and sorted

16 cups of water

salt and pepper

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. cumin

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a stock pot.  Add onions, carrots, garlic, and celery and saute until onions are soft.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil, keeping the lid on the pot.  Cook about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the peas and vegetables are quite soft.  Remove lid and let some of the water evaporate until it looks creamy like a typical pea soup.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Note: Don't be skimpy on the salt.  Both the peas and the potatoes with absorb the salt.  Add enough that it tastes good.  I probably added about a Tablespoon.
3. Serve with warm bread or cornbread.
4. Enjoy!

Note:  This recipe can be adapted to make curried split pea soup be omitting the bay leaves and other spices and adding 1 Tbsp. of curry powder.  This is also delicious!

Spice Challenge

I am often mocked for my immense spice cabinet.  Besides the cupboard full of my favorite seasonings, I have a counter top spice rack, and a few pots of fresh herbs.  However, this is never enough for me.  My husband laughs and his wallet groans every time I head for the baking and spice section in our local store.  Spices bring flavor and life to food.  Even simple ingredients come together to form an exciting culinary experience when spices are added.

My love affair with spices began as a young child.  I would often sneak into the kitchen and spend my time tasting and smelling my mom's various spices.  She'd laugh when she caught me with a palm full of cumin or a pinch of celery salt, stopping me quickly before I poured the cayenne pepper directly on to my tongue.  Through this experimentation I learned seasonings and I learned to play around with flavor, adding one for more zest and another for a stronger base, finding balance with food.  I am still finding new ways to mix my favorites every day.

My challenge to you is to learn your spice cabinet.  Spend time smelling and tasting the herbs and spices you have.  Research common uses for the ones you have never used, and go buy a new one.  Try to create your own taco seasoning or mix in some fun into that canned spaghetti sauce or soup.

Just maybe you'll discover a new favorite... but please, don't eat a mouthful of cayenne pepper.

Enjoy!

Kalua and Cabbage

I married into a Hawaiian family.  Ok, now those of you who know me will look at my blond haired, blue eyed, pale husband and say "No way, Rachel!"  But it's true!  Though the family may not be Hawaiian by blood, it is deeply ingrained in their family culture.  Along with this culture comes the food.  Kalua pig, poi, lomi lomi salmon, fresh pineapple, and lots of steamed rice grace the table at family gatherings, and I was quickly informed that I would need to learn some Hawaiian dishes.

By far, my husband's favorite is Kalua and Cabbage.  This salty dish is his constant request for special dinners, and I make it whenever I want to surprise him.  It is fairly simple and does not take much skill, just some time.  I will offer two different methods, one from my mother in law, and one from my husband's aunt.

Kalua Cabbage - Oven Method

Ingredients

• Pork Roast (shoulder, butt, or possibly loin, but I'd stick with one of the first two)
• Rock Salt 
• Liquid Smoke Seasoning
• Soy Sauce
• Cabbage, shredded (Chinese or simple green cabbage, I prefer the first)

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
2. Cut shallow slashes in the roast to create a diamond pattern on the top and bottom of the roast and place on a few large pieces of aluminum foil.  Pour on some liquid smoke and rock salt, rubbing to coat.  Wrap the roast in the foil sealing tightly.
3. Place the foil package on a broiling pan in the oven.  Fill the bottom of the broiling pan with water and replace as it cooks.
4. Cook 5 hours or until the meat shreds easily with a fork.  (Will vary based on size.)
5. Shred the meat with two forks and toss with a few tablespoons of soy sauce and your shredded cabbage in a wok until the cabbage wilts.

Kalua Cabbage- Crock Pot Method

Ingredients are the same as those listed above with the addition of chicken broth.

1.  Cut shallow slashed in roast in a diamond pattern and rub with rock salt and smoke seasoning.

2.  Place in a crock pot with about 2 inches of chicken broth.  

3.  Roast overnight or for the day (will probably take about 6 hours on high) until it shreds with a fork.

4.  Shred and follow instruction #5 from above.

5 Enjoy!  Great over rice and with some fresh pineapple and Hawaiian sweet rolls.

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

So this is another of the recipes I made over a year ago for a French final.  Poulet avec quarant gous d'ail.  Now I know my grandmother and my French teacher are going to cringe at my attempts at French spelling, alas, c'est la vie!

This is entirely from memory of a dish I made only once over a year ago.  I'm not sure why I haven't repeated it, it was amazing!  I have received a request for it however, and wanted to post it.  Maybe I'll make it sometime this week... hmm.

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Ingredients

• Whole Chicken quartered and separated into pieces - many grocery stores sell them this way
• 4 heads of garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 bouquet garni - this is a bunch of herbs tied together with cooking twine, don't worry if you don't have twine, just bunch together: parsley, thyme, and bay leaves.  You can also add sage and rosemary if you want to play with the taste
• celery stalks
• salt
• pepper
• pastry crust- either buy a pre-made crust from the store or make a basic one with flour, oil, salt and water.  It does not have to be perfect!  The crust is used as a cooking tool, not as part of the meal.  It can also be forgotten if you are cooking in a Dutch over or some stoneware with a lid to seal in the juices.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a casserole dish or Dutch oven arrange bouquet garni in the center with the celery stalks.
3. Toss chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, arrange around the garni.
4. Remove the loose hulls from the garlic and separate the cloves.  They do NOT need to be peeled as they will roast in their shells and can then be spread on fresh bread as a side for the chicken.
5. Tuck the cloves in around the chicken.
6. Cover the casserole with the crust if using, sealing the edges.  Do NOT vent the crust, it is being used to seal in moisture.  If you chose to forego the crust and use a lid, simply place the lid on your dish and place it in the oven.
7. Bake for an hour and a half.
8. Serve warm and break crust at the table.  It will smell amazing!
9. Enjoy!

Serve this with a vegetable side and fresh French Bread to eat with the roast garlic!

I hope you enjoy this dish, it was very popular with my French class.  I did get an A on that final!