Pickled Carrot Sticks

I first made these for Randy’s birthday in 2008, then again for Thanksgiving that year. For the first batch I used all apple cider vinegar, the second time half cider, half white wine vinegar. I used dill weed for lack of dill seed. They were a hit both times – a lite snack before the heavy Thanksgiving dinner. Since then they have shown up regularly on Sunday Nights, and I usually make the original dill seed version.

They have to be close to the perfect appetizer. You make them ahead, don't have to think about them until you need them, they work for your friends who don't eat meat or cheese, and even though they are addictive, they don't fill everyone up before the meal.

Today's batch is travelling tomorrow to a combined birthday celebration for all our November birthday boys (Randy, Andy and Andy). I didn't have any sort of dill today, so I upped the garlic cloves to three and doctored up the brine with a bay leaf, 3 whole allspice berries, 4 whole cloves and some black pepper (along with the other ingredients in the recipe). 

This brine is not nearly as sweet as, say, bread and butter pickles (for those of you who only like sweet pickles). But the carrots have a natural sweetness that make a great sweet/salt combination. Try the recipe as written first, then you can play with the amount of sugar if you like. 

For the original recipe you will need:

• 1 lb carrots,peeled and cut into sticks
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup cider, white wine or other white vinegar 
• 1/4 cup sugar 
• 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dill seeds1 1/2 tablespoons salt

Place carrot sticks in a bowl. (I usually use glass, and recommend a glass or ceramic container if you are going to be storing them in the fridge, but today's batch has to travel, If there happen to be any left over I will move them to a glass container for storage.)

Bring remaining ingredients to a boil in saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Pour pickling liquid over carrots and cool, uncovered.

Chill carrots, covered, at least 1 day for flavors to develop.

Carrots will keep, chilled in an airtight container, for up to 1 month. Remove batches with a clean spoon to serve. (I don't return carrots to the brine after serving.)

Leek and Potato Soup

It was chilly today, so soup was in order for dinner. I had  leeks and homemade chicken broth, so we were all set. Leek(ajo porro) soup has always been a favorite in our house. We ate up five portions last night and there are two servings in the fridge for today's lunch. To make this comforting brew you will need:

• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• 3 large leeks, cleaned and sliced (dark green portions discarded)
• 3 large cloves of garlic
• 3 Tbs butter
• salt
• 3 potatoes (I used Yukon Gold), peeled and cubed
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• white pepper

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pot. Add sliced onion and a sprinkle of salt. Cook slowly for 5-6 minutes. Don't brown the onion at all if you want a white soup. Add sliced leeks and peeled, crushed garlic cloves. Stir to coat all with butter. Cover the pot and cook on low for about 20 minutes, until leeks are tender.

Raise the heat and add the wine. Reduce the liquid a bit and then add the potatoes and the chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover the pot. Cook for about 40 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked soft.

I pureed the mixture with my immersion blender. If you are not going to eat the soup right away, stop here. You can let it rest for a while, or refrigerate it at this point if you want to wait for a longer time. 

When you are ready to serve, heat the puree just to a boil, to insure that you will be serving hot soup, Remove from heat and add in the heavy cream. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

You can heat up portions of the puree and add a bit of cream or milk to make individual  portions. Try adding milk instead of cream. A mug of leek soup on a chilly day makes a great starter for lunch or dinner.

On Sundays, in the tropics, I often serve this or other creamy soups in small bowls as part of the tapas bar, or even in tall shot glasses that can be passed around on a tray. Garnish with chives or finely chopped parsley.

Tomato Jam

Tomato jam is one of my most popular Sunday Night specials. It's great on sourdough baguette, with a bit of butter or not. It's amazing with a slice of manchego on a crostini. It also shines on a sandwich, or a burger. It's been called catsup for grownups...but it's so much more... and so much better for you.

To make a batch of tomato jam you will need several hours time, plus:

• 2 1/2 lbs tomatoes ( I use Roma, sauce tomatoes, but have seen recipes with cherry tomatoes)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar (I've lowered this amount over time. The original recipe used 1 3/4 c.)
• Grated zest of one lime
• 4 Tbs lime juice (about 2 good sized limes)
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp red chili flakes

Once you have made and tasted the jam you can play with the amounts for your next batch. I have lessened the sugar, increased the ginger and I play with the amount of chili flakes in each batch. It is an easy recipe to double. I have often made larger batches, just roughly increasing the other ingredients in proportion to the amount of tomatoes I have.

I cut the roma tomatoes in quarters and pulse them in the food processor to get a rough sauce. You can chop finely by hand if you prefer. The final sauce will be a bit chunkier.

Place all the ingredients in a large heavy bottomed pot. Cook over LOW heat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally. The total time will depend on the amount of tomatoes you are cooking and the heat you use. It's most important to watch the pot closely at the end and lower the heat if needed so that the sauce doesn't scorch at the end. When you have achieved the thickness you like, a dense jam-like texture, transfer the jam to several glass or plastic containers and store in the refrigerator. I recommend always taking a portion of jam out of the container to serve, and don't return uneaten jam to the storage container. That way your supply will last for quite a while.

Roasted Carrot Hummus

Hummus is one of my Sunday Night staples. I make it with canned chickpeas, or start with dried garbanzos...I make it plain, or, more often than not, add my own roasted red peppers along with some of the oil and garlic from their roasting. But I must admit, this roasted carrot hummus takes things to a whole new level. I found the recipe on The Kitchn and had it pinned for a while, intending to try it out. It was the first thing I made in the food processor I bought to tide me over during my stay in NJ, and even with the liberties I took with the original recipe....IT IS DELICIOUS!

To make this wonder you can follow the original recipe at the Kitchn, or wing it like I did with those ingredients you have on hand. My version used:

• 3/4 lb baby carrots
• 4 large cloves of garlic
• 1 can organic garbanzos
• olive oil. 
• 1/4 c tahini
• 2 Tbs lime juice
• 1/4 c water, plus more to thin
• seasonings: cumin, ginger, salt, cinnamon, paprika, allspice (you can play with this combination)
• fresh cilantro to serve

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat carrots and unpeeled garlic cloves in olive oil and roast in a single layer in a pyrex mold. Check after 20 minutes, stir and leave until garlic is soft and carrots slightly browned. Take out of oven and allow to cool.

Drain the garbanzos. Place in food processor with the roasted carrots and squeeze in the pulp of the roasted garlic (discard the skin). Add the tahini, lime juice, water and seasonings. The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp cumin, ginger and salt; 1/4 tsp of the others. I just sprinkled, probably using a bit more of the first three and pretty close to the stipulated amount of the others. Pulse until smooth, adding a trickle of olive oil as you go (about 2-3 Tbs.). Continue to pulse, adding water to achieve desired consistency.

Before serving, top with chopped cilantro, a bit of sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil. It's perfect on pita bread, but any plain bread or cracker will do...nothing that will compete with the taste of this sweet/spicy spread.

If you looked at the original recipe, you will see that it also used coriander (didn't have any), cayenne (didn't have it, substituted paprika), cloves (nope, didn't have them either) and black pepper (?? I forgot to put it in).  I also added an additional garlic clove...but then I do like roasted garlic.  Try it with all the original ingredients if you like, or not.  Try your own version after you try mine...my version is heavenly, but you just might be able to improve on it. There is not one recipe for hummus. It is delightfully customizable and forgiving...my kind of food.

Roasted Tomato Soup

...and this week's soup is...roasted tomato. I love tomato soup and have made it in different forms. Some day I will post my gingered tomato soup. But this week the tomatoes are roasted. To make this version of tomato soup you will need:

• 12 large, fleshy roma tomatoes
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 large onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the tomatoes in quarters. Remove the seeds and white centers. Drizzle olive oil in two large pyrex molds. Place the tomatoes in the molds skin side up. Add the 5 cloves of garlic, Drizzle with additional olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

 

Place the molds in the oven for 30 minutes. ->

Turn the tomatoes and roast for and additional 30 minutes. This is hotter and quicker than the roasting we did for the roasted tomato recipe. The tomatoes shrivel and cook, but don't caramelize quite as much as with the longer slower roasting. At the end of the second roasting time, the tomato skins should be easily removable. I took off most of the skins at this point to avoid having to strain the puree later on. The garlic can also be squeezed out of their skins.

While the tomatoes are roasting, dice the onion and cook it slowly in a couple turns of olive oil. Add a bit of salt. Cook until the onion is translucent. 

When the tomatoes and garlic are roasted, add them to the onions and simmer together for a few minutes. Add the chicken broth and simmer for 15 minutes. 

 

I used an immersion blender to puree the soup. From here you can take this soup in the direction you want...add more broth for a thinner soup...add cream for a creamier version...add some paprika, or crushed pepper flakes, or some Italian seasoning.... I just adjusted the salt and served the soup thick and hot with some of the grated cotija cheese (extra from the corn dip) on top. It was delicious, and even better today for lunch.

Mexican Corn Dip

This dip is not one of my traditional favorites, but I have been seeing it all over the place on the internet. I made it last week and it was a hit. I made a double batch this Friday and it disappeared. So here's how I did it.

I must give credit to the inspiration from   closetcooking  and  damndelicious . I changed a few things, but their general recipes prevail. To please my audience here I left out the jalapenos.
To make this mexican corn dip you will need:

• corn, I used 6 ears of sweet corn
• 2 Tbs of butter 
• 4 Tbs mayonnaise
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 green onions
• chopped cilantro to taste
• juice of 1 medium lime
• 4 or 5 Tbs. grated cotija cheese, or crumbled feta, or queso maduro
• chili powder or creole seasoning to taste.

Cut the corn from the cobs. Melt butter in a pan and cook corn, leaving it to scorch and caramelize a bit. Stir it up so it is evenly seared.

Mix together the mayonnaise, minced garlic, lemon juice and green onions. Add to the corn and mix through. Add chopped cilantro and cheese to taste. Season with chile powder or creole seasoning. You can sprinkle more cotija on top to serve.

The first week I used feta cheese, for lack of options. The second time I used the cotija, and prefer the finer texture which allows the cheese to coat the corn. If you have a ripe avocado you can dice it up and throw it in as well. We had some left over the first week and I added it to a mashed avocado with a bit more lime juice and salt...it was delicious.

Enjoy with tortilla chips.

Butternut Squash Soup

It was a cool, rainy day. Just the day for soup making.

Ceci has been asking for a chicken broth recipe. I make broth every week. I buy chicken backs and necks, or other chicken parts, or I use a whole stewing chicken, or, as today, I use the left-over carcass from this week's roast chicken.

Chicken broth is not scary. Just put the carcass (or chicken pieces) in a large pot. Cover with cold water. Put it on the stove. When it begins to boil, turn down the heat so that the water is barely simmering, not boiling hard. I almost always add a few bay leaves and a few cloves of garlic to the water...not cooking school procedure, but that's what I do. If I know what I will use the broth for I may add chopped ginger as well. As the pot simmers, skim off any scum and excess fat every so often. If you started out with a whole chicken, or chicken parts with meat, take the meat off the bones when it is cooked and save it for shredding or salad (buffalo chicken dip??). Put the bones back in the pot. Add some salt to the cooking water. Don't over salt. You probably don't know where you will be using all of this broth later. I like to lightly salt each layer of a dish.
When you have skimmed off most of the fat and scum, add your chopped vegetables. The traditional mixture is onion, celery, and carrot, with more onion than the others. But what do you like? If you don't like the sweetness of carrots, use less. I recommend some carrot as a natural flavor enhancer, but it's all up to you. Today, for one good-sized chicken carcass I used a large onion, 3 stalks of celery and  one carrot. Let the pot keep simmering until you have a flavorful broth. Depending on taste, you can add some thyme, other vegetable scraps, mushrooms,.... but the stronger the taste the less universally useful the broth will be. If you know that the final dish will be Italian, or Asian, or Caribbean in flavor you can season accordingly. For an all purpose broth stick to the standard flavorings. When you are satisfied with the flavor and consistency, strain the broth into a clean container or two. I always try to keep some in the refrigerator and freeze some for future use.

For this butternut squash soup you will need

• a butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 2 Tbs butter
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• poultry seasoning (thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper, nutmeg)
• one small onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 small potato, peeled and cubed
• 4-5 cups of chicken broth (as needed)

The hardest part comes first. I hate peeling the squash. It's all downhill from there. I use a good vegetable peeler and take the peel off in strips. You need a good knife to cut the squash in two lengthwise.  Take out the seeds. Peel each half. Cut the flesh in cubes.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While it is heating, and you are fighting with the squash, put an 8 x 11 pyrex in the oven with the 2 Tbs of butter, until the butter melts.

Mix the squash cubes into the butter, then season with kosher salt, black pepper and poultry seasoning. Spread the cubes out into one layer and place the pyrex in the oven. Check on progress and stir after 20 min. You want the squash roasted through with some caramelized bits on the pan. When the squash is done, take it out and set aside. I actually drained off the butter from the squash and used it to cook the onion...

Thant's right, the next step is to cook the onion slowly in a bit of butter in the soup pot. Crush the garlic cloves under a big knife, slip off the skins and add them to the pot. (This is actually a good time to use up all those little cloves that have been left behind. Just use the equivalent of 3 large cloves.)  Add a bit of salt to the onions so that they release their liquid and simmer in it. After a few minutes, when the onions look transparent, add the cubed potato.   Here I add a bit more salt and some more poultry seasoning. You can add more sage if you like. It works well with the butternut squash.  Light seasoning on each layer. Stir to coat the potato with the butter in the pan and simmer for a few minutes. Then add enough chicken broth to cover the vegetables, plus some. When the potato is cooked through, add the cooked squash, scraping in those dark bits from the pyrex. Cover well with more chicken broth as needed. Stir well and simmer for a few more minutes. The squash is cooked, you just want to blend the flavors. Taste...always taste. When you are satisfied, take the pot off the heat.

I use an immersion blender to blend the soup. You can use a standard blender, blending batches of vegetables and liquid and pouring into a clean pot. As you blend add more broth as needed to achieve the texture you want. Taste again. Adjust seasoning. 

This is a delicious, naturally sweet, flavorful soup with a good onion, garlic base. Enjoy with a sprinkling of feta or blue cheese on top., or swirl in some yogurt.. or drink it straight from a mug on a chilly day.

Pulled Pork

I make pulled pork a lot. It's great on sliders, or on crusty rolls,..we have it for lunch often with rice and veggies. It traditionally pairs up with cole slaw....and it probably never tastes exactly the same twice in a row. Don't expect a thick, sweet, barbecue sauce version. This is a bit more complex, more spicy  than sweet, with interesting depths of flavors.

 As I have said, I am not a strict recipe follower, nor do I have any desire to be a test kitchen. I will sketch out here the process I follow and the variations you can put into play along the way. Try it once as written, then play with the ingredients to suit your taste. You will need:

• a large onion
• 5 large cloves of garlic
• a few bay leaves
• pork
• juice of one lime
• spices (cumin, chili powder. paprika, allspice, cinnamon, ginger or cloves...)
• salt and pepper
• cooking liquid (chicken broth, wine, water..)

At home in Maracaibo I buy whatever piece of pork I can find; usually a boneless piece of indescribable cut. Here I bought a "4.37 lb pork loin bone in loin end roast", because it was the closest in size and look to what I was used to. Obviously the bone-in part is different, but it won't matter.
Start out by finely slicing a large onion. The onion will be used to make a bed for the pork in the pot. It will cook up and become part of the sauce by the end of the cooking time. Thinner slices disintegrate into the sauce better. I also crushed and peeled 5 good sized garlic cloves. Again, you can add more or less according to your taste, but try it this way first. I also added several bay leaves to the bottom of the pot.

Clean most of the excess fat off the outside of your pork. It will all cook down into the sauce, so the more you take off now the less greasy your sauce later.
Place the pork on the bed of onions and garlic in a heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid. This pork will cook slowly for hours. The better fitting the lid the less moisture will seep out and the less you will have to replenish liquids.
Now for the seasoning. My pork roasts and pulled pork tend to be a hybrid of the first pernil recipe I got from my husband's Tia Nena about 40 years ago, and a great Caribbean spiced pork recipe I came across years later. Hers was sweeter, mine is now spicier, not hot, spicy. You can add or leave out seasonings as you wish. You will need some type of liquid (broth, wine, juice...I've been known to throw in a bit of black coffee), and a seasoning mix that you like.
Here's what I did.
When I put the pork in the pot I bathed it in the juice of one large lime. (Tia Nena used orange juice, sweetened as most Venezuelan orange juices were and are). Then I began layering on the spices. Just shake a layer of each over the surface of the meat. Cumin, chili powder (paprika, aji molida...), some red pepper flakes, allspice, cinnamon.  You can add ginger and cloves, but I didn't today. (I have been known to simplify things by using a creole seasoning mix in our everyday lunch pork at home, always adding a bit of allspice and cinnamon. It seems to me that a bit of cinnamon sweetens meat sauces without adding sugar.) You want a spicy, aromatic mix that YOU like...if you hate cloves, don't add them.

Tia Nena's recipe used a mixture of catsup and mustard over the top of the meat. I agree that a tomato, mustard mix is great. I use home made tomato sauce or tomato jam at home, but today I fell back on the catsup/mustard mixture. Just spread catsup over the top of the roast, add some mustard and spread it around. Salt and pepper well. There...

You need some liquid in the bottom of the pot. Not more than two inches. If I have home-made chicken broth I use that, with or without a bit of water. Today I added some white wine and water. The bone/in roast will make a nice broth all by itself as it slow cooks.

Place the pot on the stove. Bring the liquid just to boiling. Put the top on. Turn the heat down to LOW. Relax. We are going to cook this for hours. How many? Depends on the size of your pork and the temperature you're using. This roast went a little over 4 hours.You should check every hour or so, add liquid if it is drying out, and after a good while start giving the pork a poke with a fork. I had a tight fitting lid on the pot and so plenty of liquid throughout the cooking cycle. It's done when it falls apart and can easily be shredded.

Let the meat cool a bit, then shred it piece by piece using two forks. Put the shredded meat back into the cooking liquid and simmer for a while. If there seems to be too much liquid you can turn up the heat and reduce it as needed. You can taste the liquid now...and adjust to taste.

We enjoyed this pulled pork on open-faced, home made cheese biscuits, and there's still some left over for tomorrow!

Roasted Tomatoes

This is a Sunday Night staple. They are addicting with a good sourdough baguette or foccacia.... can be used to construct different tapas, with goat cheese, or avocado, or bacon..., or as part of a roasted veggie sandwich with peppers and mushrooms and....well, they are out of this world.  I certainly didn't invent this recipe. There are variations available all over. I will walk you through how I do it and then you can make it your own or incorporate ideas from other cooks. You will need:

• tomatoes
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• flat-leafed parsley
• garlic
• about 3 hours of your time, mostly just watching the oven.

In Maracaibo I use the Roma  (Italian plum or sauce) tomatoes which are often the only type available. I wait to have a good batch of almost too ripe tomatoes. The Roma tomatoes have fewer seeds than eating tomatoes and a good bit of natural sweetness. Here in NJ I found some smaller sweet tomatoes, about a third of the size of a regular on-the-vine tomato.

When I use the pear shaped Roma tomatoes I cut them in half, then scoop out the seeds and liquid. These little tomatoes seemed thick for their size so I sliced them in 3 or 4 parts. The Larger Roma tomatoes result in larger portions (1/2 tomato each). I thought these little guys would give a good snacking size, making it easier to portion.

Drizzle some olive oil in an oven proof mold. Place the sliced tomatoes in a single layer on the oil. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle a bit more oil over the top. I always like to add a good amount of olive oil. Don't drown the tomatoes, but don't be stingy either.  The liquid which is left at the end of the roasting is a mixture of olive oil, tomato juice and seasonings which makes a great bread dipping sauce all by itself, and always gets sopped up along with the tomatoes.

Place the tomatoes in a low oven. I use 100 degrees Centigrade in our big commercial oven at home. Here I used 225 degrees Fahrenheit.  It's doesn't have to be exact. You know if your oven is hotter or colder than the norm. You want the process to be long and slow. You're not frying the tomatoes, just slo-o-o-w roasting them. Check on the tomatoes after an hour and turn them over in the oil. Check again after a second hour and do the same. If they seem too dry at either of these points you can add a bit more oil. After the second hour you can turn them again and put them back in for 10 minutes or so while you chop the parsley and garlic. The tomato pieces should look shrivelled when they are done, somewhat dried, but not leathery. You want them to still be a bit juicy.


For an 11" pyrex mold of tomatoes chop two cloves of garlic and a handful of flat-leafed parsley. Again, this is to taste. If you really like the garlicky taste, add more. Not too fond of parsley? Add less. But get ready to love the taste of the parsley/garlic combination in these tomatoes.

Take the tomatoes out of the oven and add the chopped parsley/garlic combination. Mix together, scraping up any caramelized bits on the bottom of the mold, and let them sit to cool before covering and saving in the refrigerator. They definitely benefit from a bit of a wait so the flavors can blend.

To enjoy their full flavor, take them out to warm to room temperature before serving.

There, that was easy, wasn't it? And it gives you a final product with a deliciously complex taste. Now you can do it anytime you like, with the variations you choose. They will keep for several days in a covered container in the refrigerator, if you can manage to save them that long.  This is one of the dishes you can make a day or two ahead if you are planning a big menu.

Enjoy!