Celery Cashew Soup

I ran on to this interesting recipe for Celery soup the other day.  I decided I was going to make it but I wasn't sure I'd like it, so I kept putting it off, until tonight.  When I decided to make it I didn't realize I didn't have all the ingredients I needed, and I couldn't get everything I needed here in our little town, so I made my own Celery Cashew Soup.  Here's my version

1/2 cup salted cashews
12 to 16 celery stalks - try to get young, fresh stalks.  They're less stringy
6 to 8 cups of water
Juice of 2 lemons
salt and pepper
4 tablespoons olie oil
4 cups vegetable broth
6 table spoons cilantro
4 to 8 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 cup white wine or sherry

Wash the celery and remove the tough outer strings. Chop into 1 inch pieces and put in a pot with the water and lemon juice.  Let sit for 10 minutes.  Add 1 tsp salt and a pinch of pepper.  Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain.

Pour 4 tablespoons of live oil into pan, heat and add the celery back into the pan. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Add vegetable broth, homemade preferably, cilantro and garlic and cook another 5 minutes.  Add cashews and puree in a blender in batches.

Return the soup to the pot, stir in the white wine or sherry, simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.  Serve immediately.  Top with croutons if you want.  Personally, I think crumbled bacon would really take it over the top.

Loleta Bakery

I woke up this morning to my husband "gone fishin' " and not a single drop or speck of coffee in the house. Ugh! I was mortified! But then! My foggy mind woke up just enough to remember we have a new bakery in town and they serve good strong fresh hot coffee starting at 7 am every morning (except Monday and Tuesday). Today is Saturday and I looked at the clock. 7:36 am. Yeah! I was stoked! Coffee! My oldest woke up right about that time and I told her, "I think I'm going to run to the bakery and get some coffee."

Her response, "Awesome! Get me one of those chocolate filled croissants please."

Well, you can't just buy a $2.00 cup of coffee on a debit card and feel okay about that can you? So down I went. I got my large cup of coffee, a ham and cheese muffin for me (OMG was it good!) and two chocolate filled croissants for the girls.

Here's the front window of our new little bakery. The sign was just painted on yesterday:
Here's the bakery right next door to the Loleta Meat Market. (The Butcher, the Baker, where's our Candlestick Maker? - apparently we have one, but he sells his wares in Ferndale - I'll settle for our cheese maker instead - Loleta Cheese Factory, just up a block from the Butcher and Baker)

Here is what I came home with, minus the croissant my oldest snapped up before I could get a picture. (And yeah, I took a bite out of the muffin on the way home.) As my daughter sat savoring every last bite of her pastry, she commented, "I wish this croissant was an everlasting croissant so I could keep coming back and eating another bite, all day long, and it would still be warm." They had just come out of the oven when I got there. They were so nice and warm, I thought she was going to cuddle with it rather than eat it. If you live in Humboldt come try out our new bakery in Loleta, or if you're traveling through Humboldt on highway 101, stop by for a cup of coffee and some sweets. They also make panini sandwiches, and I've been told they plan to make soups from local ingredients for lunches. You can find them by taking the Loleta exit and heading west. You can't miss them in the little downtown area in the gold building at 348 Main St. 707-733-1789

http://www.loletabakery.com/index.htm

Peasant Soup

Minestrone soup was sounding good to me the other day. I started to explore the many different versions of this soup there are out there and also ran onto some Portuguese soups that were similar, but all involved sausage of some kind. Well, I had a fridge full of various things, including sausage, that needed to be used up, so I came up with this recipe.

6 cups of water ( I added about a tbsp of Superior Touch Better than Bouillon Chicken Base - but I think the soup would have been just as good with plain water.)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 sweet potato peeled and cubed

1 yellow potato cubed

1 chopped carrot

1 chopped red onion

3 cloves of chopped garlic

3 cups of chopped curly kale

1 15 oz can cannellini beans

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes (I used one flavored with roasted garlic and onions)

1 cup cooked and chopped smoked sausage

2 ribs of chopped celery

2 sliced zucchini

1/2 cup dried orzo pasta

1 tsp salt

1tsp fresh oregano

2 tbsp fresh basil

1 tsp fresh thyme

parmesan cheese for topping.


Heat oil in a large stock pot. Add onion, celery, carrot, sweet potato, potato, and garlic and saute for until lightly browned. Add water (or broth), canned tomatoes, kale and seasonings. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add beans, sausage, zucchini and pasta and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until pasta is cooked and vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper and top with parmesan cheese.

Using up leftovers

I had a half head of napa cabbage and some leftover sausage in my fridge last night and I was wondering what the heck I was going to make for dinner after spending the last five hours peeling and coring apples for apple pie filling and apple chutney. Well, here's what I came up with:
It was yummy!
Cabbage and Potato Soup

• 2 or 3 tblsp olive oil


• 1/2 head napa cabbage thinly sliced


• 3 large potatoes sliced in 1/4 inch pieces, peel on


• 1/2 lb cooked pork sausage (I used Gourmet Signature roasted red bell pepper and carmelized onion sausage)


• 1 can black eyed peas drained and rinsed


• 1 small yellow onion thinly sliced


• 4 cloves garlic chopped


• 5 cups chicken stock


• 1 tbsp Mexican oregano


• 1 tsp dried marjoram


• 2 tsp dried thyme
• pinch of allspice
  


• Parmesan cheese

1. Heat olive oil


2. Add chopped potatoes and large pinch of salt and cook on medium high covered until softened, about 8 minutes. Stir occasionally.


3. Stir in onion and garlic. Cook until onion starts to turn clear.


4. Add stock, canned black eyed peas, cooked sausage and spices. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.


5. Stir in chopped cabbage and cook until it has softened, about 10 more minutes.


6. Salt to taste. You'll need more or less depending on whether you used homemade or canned stock.


7. Serve up topped with Parmesan cheese.


8. This is a hearty soup and is great with some crusty bread. It makes great leftovers, as we found it tasted even better the next day.

Cabbage Potato Soup @ Group Recipes

Yummrific Soup

The soup I made last Sunday was DELISH! The lemon grass ginger and star anise gave it a very Thai, or maybe even Vietnamese flavor. The only thing I did wrong was not skim the fat. That was a bit of a mistake. It made the soup a little too greasy. Otherwise, very good! And, not too hard to make. Unfortunately it is all gone, and I have none to share so......You want soup?
NO SOUP FOR YOU! :-)