Cucumber-Sake Sparkler: A Refreshing & Fizzy "Simple Saturday Sipper"

There seems to be an awful lot of green happening on my blog this week so why not continue it with today's "Simple Saturday Sipper" this refreshing Cucumber-Sake Sparkler.

My local co-op had R.W. Knudsen's Sparkling Essence on sale so I tried the cucumber flavor. Very spa-like, light and good. I like that the ingredients are just carbonated spring water, organic brewed lemon extract, organic natural cucumber extract, organic lemon juice concentrate, and citric acid--no added sugars or artificial ingredients. It is good on its own, but I got to thinking it would be great in a drink and then my thoughts turned to sake as they sometimes do. I wanted to pump up the cucumber flavor so I juiced a cucumber and lemon together to come up with a base juice. (If you don't have a juicer you could use a blender). I used the base, added some sake and topped it off with the sparkling cucumber essence. It was good, but a teaspoon of agave gave it a little sweetness and brought out the flavors.

photo from R.W. Knudsen website

Cucumber-Sake Sparkler

by Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

(Recipe is for one serving but is easily multiplied)

1/3 cup cucumber-lemon juice*

2 oz sake

1 tsp agave syrup (optional)

4 oz Sparkling Essence Cucumber or soda water

cucumber spear or slice to garnish

Place cucumber-lemon juice in the bottom of glass, add sake and stir in agave syrup if using. Fill with ice if desired and add sparkling cucumber water. Stir, garnish with thin cucumber spear and serve.

*For cucumber-lemon juice base--For juicer: place 1 large cucumber and one lemon in juicer, juice on low, strain and reserve. (I left the peels on but you could peel them too--I'm just lazy and like the darker color!) Can also be made in blender--peel and chop cucumber and place in blender jar, squeeze in lemon, blend until smooth, strain and reserve--with peeling the cucumber and just adding the lemon juice you will get a lighter green base. (Makes about a cup of base depending on the size of the cucumber).

Notes/Results: Light, fresh and really good--this is a simple drink that would be great with your favorite Asian food. I used some local small Japanese cucumbers because that is what i had on hand, but any cucumber will work. If you are not a sake fan, replacing it with a lemon vodka or even gin would also work well. I will make these again.

Happy Saturday!

Nigella's Three Fishes with Three Herb Salsa & Braised Little Lettuces--It's Easy Being Green!

Although Kermit the frog disagrees, it is actually quite easy to be green, our theme for this week's I Heart Cooking Clubs. I knew exactly the recipe I wanted to make, Nigella's Three Fishes With Three Herb Salsa from her "Forever Summer" cookbook. I love fish and topping it with a bright green sauce of parsley, lemon, olive oil, mint, oregano, and my beloved capers seemed both green and pretty perfect. Thinking green in terms of the environment and food miles, I chose three different local fish--ahi (tuna), opah, (moonfish) and shutome (swordfish). My lemon and parsley were locally grown, as was the fresh mint I put in the sauce in place of dried. I decided to serve it with another recipe from the same book, Braised Little Gems, using some local Manoa lettuce in place of the Little Gem variety. Finally, although it doesn't look all that green in the pictures I added some Jade or Bamboo Rice--a short grain white rice that is infused with bamboo extract, that I picked up in my local natural food store's bulk bin. A very green and delicious meal.

Nigella says, "You can take the girl out of the eighties, but you can't quite take the eighties out of the girl. Far be it from me to call for a return to la nouvelle cuisine, but this is a chunky "hommage" to the seafood medleys of yore. You don't have to adhere to the three-fish rule if you don't want to; you don't even need to use the fish I specify. Any fish will do here, but certainly the coral, deep pink and whitish mixture specified looks, and tastes, wonderful."

Three Fishes With Three Herb Salsa

"Forever Summer" by Nigella Lawson

(Makes 6-8 servings)

For the Three Herb Sauce:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
zest of 1 lemon, juice of half
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons capers preserved in vinegar, drained but not rinsed
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp tsp dried mint
salt and pepper

2 salmon fillets, approx. 5 oz each
2 swordfish fillets, approx. 5 oz each
2 tuna fillets, approx. 5 oz each
3 tablespoons olive oil for frying

Make your herb sauce by combining everything in a bowl, whisking it together rather like a salad dressing. Leave it to macerate for at least 15 minutes for the flavours to develop.

Cut each fillet of fish into three pieces so that you have longish strips. Fry them in the olive oil beginning with the salmon as it will need the longest, then the swordfish and finally the tuna.

Arrange them on a large flat plate so that the different fish intermingle, and drizzle the herb sauce over the top. Serve the remaining sauce in a bowl alongside.

Nigella says, "If you thought that lettuce had texture rather than flavor--an easy assumption if most of your salad is supermarketed and plastic-wrapped--then try cooking it. The tightly budded leaves become tender and, infused with chicken stock, take on a delicate herbalness. Any pan juices left make a wonderfully soothing single portion of light summer broth."

Braised Little Gems (Lettuces)
"Forever Summer" by Nigella Lawson

(Serves 6)

6 Little Gem or Baby Boston lettuces, left whole

2 1/4 cups chicken stock

5 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

handful of fresh thyme sprigs

salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the ends off the lettuce, and remove any discolored outer leaves. Lay the lettuces snugly in a baking dish, then pour in the chicken stock. Drizzle over the oil and pull the leaves off the sprigs of thyme and sprinkle them over, then season with salt and pepper.

Cover the dish tightly with foil, and put it in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the lettuces are softly wilting and tender.

Notes/Results: Excellent! The sauce was delicious on the fish--a great blend of acidity, herby flavor and salty, tangy capers. I made one little change which was to add about 1/2 teaspoon of dried red chili pepper flakes to the sauce for a little kick. It would have still been great without the chilies but I liked having a bit of spice in the mix. The three fish all have different flavors and textures, the shutome or swordfish is tender and mild, the opah is an oilier fish with a moist texture and a sweet flavor, and I just seared the outside of of my ahi, leaving the center red, enhancing it's rich flavor. The sauce would be great with any fish or even with chicken or veggies.

Braising the Manoa lettuce brought out a lot more of its sweetness and the thyme was an excellent compliment. The jade rice, I cooked in some chicken stock and then drizzled with a bit of olive oil and toasted sesame seeds. The rice has a sweetness to it and tasted great with the fish and lettuce, and with its short grain and slight stickiness, it would be great in sushi rolls. The whole dinner went together very quickly and easily--I made the rice and salsa, put the lettuce in the oven and then cooked the fish (in about 1/3 of the olive oil Nigella called for). BTW--I made a 1/2 recipe of both the fish and the lettuce but made the full amount of sauce because you can't have too much sauce! ;-) This meal doesn't photograph quite as good as it tastes, but trust me it was a healthy and very tasty dinner.

You can see what green creations the other IHCC participants came up with and if they also found "It's Easy Being Green!" by going to the IHCC site here and following the links.

Vanilla-Walnut "Shortbread" Cookies: A Tasty Raw Foods Treat

I have been having fun experimenting with raw snacks and desserts lately. I like that they contain few ingredients that are minimally processed and can give me a sweet treat "fix" with some added healthy nutrients. These Vanilla-Walnut "Shortbread" Cookies are from a great little book called "Raw Energy: 124 Raw Food Recipes for Energy Bars, Smoothies, and Other Snacks to Supercharge Your Body" by Stephanie Tourles. I haven't committed to buying a dehydrator yet, but this book has plenty of delicious-sounding recipes that don't require more than a food processor or blender.

I get a craving for a buttery shortbread cookie now and then and I liked the fact that with 5 simple ingredients, I could get a similar taste with these. Of course I had to tweak things a bit, and in addition to making part of the batch as the recipe was written, I dredged some in coconut for a different texture, and also made several "thumbprints" to fill with my mom's homemade strawberry jam and my sister's blackberry jam. Neither jam is raw nor sugar-free, but at about a 1/2 teaspoon of jam in each small cookie, it is a minor indulgence

Tourles says, "These goodies are ultra-rich with a melt-in-your-mouth velvety texture bursting with creamy vanilla flavor; they taste a bit like traditional shortbread. The dough would make a terrific crust for a raw pie."

Vanilla-Walnut "Shortbread" Cookies
"Raw Energy" by Stephanie Tourles
(Yield: About 22 cookies)

2 cups raw walnuts
1 cup unsweetened coconut, finely shredded
1/4 cup raw honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt

Blend the walnuts, coconut, honey, vanilla, and salt in a food processor until a granular, moist dough forms, about 60 seconds. It will not form a cohesive ball and will be very oily when handled.

Scrape the dough into a medium bowl. Pinch off pieces of the dough and gently squeeze, knead, and roll the pieces into balls about 1 1/2-inches in diameter. Press each ball between your palms to slightly flatten into cookies.

Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.


Recipe Health Notes: A good source of omega-3 fatty acids, plus B vitamins, calcium, zinc, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, manganese, natural sugars, protein and fiber--all of which provide for a constants flow of energy.

Notes/Results: Really good, they actually do taste buttery, although the texture is more moist and these raw cookies are a bit chewier than shortbread. The recipe is great as written but the jam filled ones were even better. They also taste great straight out of the freezer. These cookies are rich enough that one or two are very satisfying. I would make them again.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Shrimps in Pumpkin-Seed Sauce & Rice for Cook the Books: "Like Water for Chocolate" by Laura Esquivel

"Like Water for Chocolate" by Laura Esquivel was one of the first foodie novels that came to my attention and I read it when it was first published here in the U.S. in 1992. I loved the charming story of Tita, who as the youngest daughter in her well-to-do family, is forced by tradition to spend her life taking care of her aging and dominant mother while her heart longs for Pedro, her true love. The book is full of magic and sensuality and of course food, as Tita spends her days in the kitchen where she cooks dishes that contain all of her suppressed emotions and that have an amazing effect on those who eat them. Wanting to revisit the book, I chose it for this round of Cook the Books, the virtual foodie book club, hosted by Rachel of The Crispy Cook, Johanna of Food Junkie Not Junk Food and yours truly. I thought it would be nice to dip back into some foodie fiction and also be able to explore some Mexican cooking in creating a dish to represent the book.

For inspiration in choosing my recipe(s), I looked to two authorities on Mexican cooking and cuisine, Dianna Kennedy and Rick Bayless. I only own one of Diana's books, "Nothing Fancy: Recipes and Recollections of Soul-Satisfying Food" (published in 1984), which she wrote from her ranch in the mountains of Michoacán, Mexico. The book is a collection of Kennedy's favorite recipes from all over the world but includes many Mexican recipes and the Shrimps in Pumpkin-Seed Sauce immediately caught my eye and sounded so delicious--I knew I had to make it. I wanted a very simple rice dish to accompany my shrimps in their sauce, so I went through my Rick Bayless cookbooks and found a recipe for Classic Mexican White Rice in his "Mexico One Plate at a Time." And while I know it is not traditional and I may have to beg for Rick's (and Tita's) ;-) forgiveness, I used a medium-grain brown rice in my recipe. I just don't buy white rice much anymore--I like the fiber boost I get from brown rice. Along with a simple green salad with red bell pepper, avocado and toasted pumpkin seeds with an lime & olive oil dressing, it made for a delicious meal.

Kennedy says, "This is one of the most delicious and elegant ways of preparing shrimps. Of course, you can do as some of my friends do: substitute for the shrimps lumps of crab meat or delicate white fish, but it would be advisable to have some fish stock on hand. This recipe will serve from 4 to 6, depending on whether it is a first or main course. Always buy small or medium-sized shrimps, which have much more flavor than the giant ones, and of course they must be fresh, with the skins on."

Shrimps in Pumpkin-Seed Sauce

"Nothing Fancy" by Diana Kennedy

(Serves 4 to 6)

1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, unpeeled
2 1/2 cups cold water
sea salt to taste
4 oz (about 1 cup) hulled, raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds

3 fresh chilies serranos, or any fresh green hot chili
1/4 medium white onion
8 sprigs of fresh cilantro (coriander), or more to taste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup crème fraiche or homemade sour cream

Peel and devein the shrimps, reserving the shells. Place the shells in a saucepan together with the water and salt and cook over a medium flame for about 15 minutes. Strain, discard the shells, and reserve the broth. Put the cleaned shrimps into the broth and cook for about 2 minutes after they come to a simmer; they should just turn opaque, no more. Strain the shrimps, setting them aside and reserving the broth.

In an ungreased heavy pan, lightly toast the pumpkin seeds, which should puff up a little but not brown.

Put the broth, pumpkin seeds, chilies, onion and the leaves and tender stalks of the cilantro into the blender jar and blend until smooth. (If you want an even smoother sauce, grind the seeds first in an electric nut/spice grinder.)

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over a low flame, stir in the sauce, and cook for about 10 minutes over a low flame, stirring it from time to time so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. If the sauce becomes lumpy--the starches in the seeds tend to swell rather rapidly--then simply put the sauce back in the blender and blend until smooth. Stir in the cream and the shrimps and merely heat through, adjusting the salt to taste.

Classic Mexican White Brown Rice (Arroz Blanco Marrón)

"Rick Bayless Mexico One Plate at a Time"

(Makes 5 cups, serving 5 or 6)

2 1/2 cups chicken broth or water

salt

2 Tbsp vegetable oil or olive oil

1 1/2 cups white rice, preferably medium-grain

1 small white onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

3 Tbsp roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Heating the liquid: In a small saucepan or microwave oven, heat the broth or water until steaming; stir in about 3/4 tsp salt if using salted broth, 1 1/2 tsp if using unsalted broth or water. Cover and keep warm.

Frying the rice: In a medium (3 quart) saucepan (one that's about 8-inches in diameter is perfect for even cooking) with a tight-fitting lid, heat the oil over medium. When hot, add the raw rice and onion and stir regularly until the grains have turned from translucent to milky white, 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for a few seconds, until fragrant. For beautiful white rice, the grains should not brown.

Simmering the rice: Add the warm liquid and lime juice, stir thoroughly and scrape down any grains that are clinging to the side of the pan. cover and cook over the lowest heat for 15 minutes--the temperature should be low enough that only the slightest hint of steam escapes from the lid. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand covered for 5 minutes. Uncover and test a grain of rice: If it's still a little hard, re-cover the pan and set over low heat for about 5 minutes; if the rice has absorbed all the liquid (and is completely dry), sprinkle on 2 Tbsp of water before returning it to the heat.

As soon as the rice is done, sprinkle on the parsley and gently fluff the rice to release the steam and stop the cooking, then turn it into a warm bowl. It's ready to serve.

Working ahead: The rice can be successfully made ahead: turn it out onto a baking sheet in a shallow layer to cool, then cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, reheat in a microwave oven or a steamer. Or reheat on a baking sheet, covered with foil in a 325 degree F. oven until heated through, about 15 minutes. Toss in the parsley and serve.

Notes/Results: Wonderful! The shrimp are succulent and delicious in the flavorful sauce. The shrimp stock combined with the toasted seeds, chilies (I used seranno), and cilantro works well and the crème fraiche adds a nice tangy element. (BTW--In addition to tasting great, pumpkin seeds are one of the most nutritious seeds you can eat and are full of maganese, magnesium, phosphorus, tryptophan, iron and other essential nutrients and vitamins.) This is an easy dish to prepare and would be perfect for entertaining. I cooked the brown rice about 35 minutes, with a 10 minute standing time. The rice was simple and good with a nice hint of lime, and although not quite as pretty as white rice, the brown rice stayed moist and tasty. I would make both of these dishes again.

You have until 3/26 to join us in reading and posting a dish inspired by "Like Water for Chocolate." I'll be rounding up all of the entries at the end of the month and you'll be able to check them out at the CTB site here. A winner will be selected by our esteemed judge for this round, the wonderful Ben Herrera from What's Cooking? Ben is a talented cook, photographer, and blogger who really knows his Mexican cuisine and is a fan of the book, so we are very excited to have him as a judge. Hope you join us!

BTW: I'll resume the usual Tuesday "Things I Am Loving This Week" next Tuesday. ;-)

Lamb and Guinness Stew with Potato Scones for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

It seemed like a good idea... make a Lamb and Guinness Stew that could do double duty both here at Souper Sundays, and serve as my dish for Regional Recipes: Ireland, hosted by one of my very favorite blogging friends, Joanne at Eats Well With Others. Not to mention that St. Paddy's Day is this week and it also gave me a chance to cook and post from another book in my collection and get me closer to my "Cook from Each Book" initiative. OK, so that is actually quadruple duty, even better. Plus I found a recipe for some Potato Scones in yet another cookbook to go with it that sounded wonderful too. So how did I go from my perfect master plan to a stew salvage and recovery effort? Can this stew be saved? For the answer, you will just have to keep reading below.

The recipe for the stew came from "The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals From Around the World" by Lynn Alley, a book I have had for a while but had not cooked from. The original recipe called for beef but Alley also mentions subbing in lamb shanks and I went a slightly different route, using some lamb shoulder pieces to keep it a bit more lean. I had the lamb, some nice locally-grown potatoes, carrots, onion and thyme and a large bottle of Guinness stout and it all went together smoothly. I didn't think the 2 cups of Guinness was going to give me quite enough broth, so I also added a cup or so of some low-sodium beef stock to the mix, browned my lamb and popped everything in the slow cooker. After the appropriate amount of time, the stew was cooked, the veggies just right, the lamb very tender, and the broth... well the broth was ...bitter. And not just slightly bitter, or beer bitter, this was nasty, bordering on inedible bitter. I've had Guinness and liked it, I have cooked a corned beef brisket in Guinness and loved it, but this stew was pretty bad. Tempted to toss it, I decided to search online and see if I could find a solution. The main suggestion that came up was brown sugar, so I added a tablespoon. Better but still more bitter than I wanted. I then found this article by Cook's Country suggesting bittersweet chocolate to "enhance the beer's complex coffee / chocolate flavors" and added an ounce and continued cooking the stew on low for another 30 minutes. Surprisingly, it was much better but still not quite right. I decided to let it rest overnight in the fridge and try it again in the morning. (I will not accept defeat!) The next day, I skimmed off the bit of fat that had collected on the top and using the rest of my beef stock, put together a roux, added the meat, veggies and about half of the broth into it and heated it through allowing the roux to thicken, then seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. It actually was good! Still with the complex flavor of the Guinness, but softened, not bitter and more than edible. Not my favorite stew ever but tasty and mission accomplished because I didn't have to toss it.

Alley says, "Root vegetables are always found in the cuisine of cold northern climates. In this delicious traditional Irish stew, beef is paired with carrots, onions, potatoes, and hearty Guinness stout. For a completely different flavor using basically the same ingredients, try using lamb shanks rather than beef. Both are Irish favorites."

Lamb & Guinness Stew

"The Gourmet Slow Cooker" by Lynn Alley

(Serves 4-6)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 lbs very lean stewing beef or lamb cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 to 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

2 to 3 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

2 large yellow onions, quartered

1 to 2 sprigs thyme

2 cups Guinness stout or other dark, hearty beer

1 tsp salt

hopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Place the flour in a resealable plastic bag. Add the beef to the bag, several pieces at a time, and shake to coat completely. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. In batches if necessary, add the beef and cook, turning , for 8-10 minutes, until browned on all sides. Using tongs, transfer to paper towels to drain.

Place the beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, and thyme in the slow cooker and pour the beer over the top. (If you prefer the vegetables with more texture, let the stew cook for 1 hour before adding the vegetables.) Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until the meat is very tender. Season with salt. Remove and discard the thyme.

Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish generously with the parsley.

Notes/Results: Although it ended up working out, I won't be making this particular recipe again but I will try others from the book. I wouldn't have thought of the brown sugar and chocolate, but they really helped with the bitterness and saved the stew. The Cook's Country article also recommended adding Guinness in at the beginning and then at the end for a fresh kick, but I didn't have any more Guinness and decided to leave things as they were. A good learning experience and speaking of good experiences, lets get to these tasty little Potato Scones.


I was looking through a used cookbook I bought called "Nothing Fancy: Recipes and Recollections of Soul-Satisfying Food" written by Diana Kennedy, noted author and authority on Mexican Cooking when I came across these Potato Scones, basically griddled little potato and oat cakes. The book is written from her ranch in Mexico and features the food she likes to cook and eat at home and recipes from around the world.

Kennedy says, "These doughy potato scones, a speciality of Scotland and Ireland, can become addictive, especially if you love potatoes as I do. They are generally made with white flour or rough oatmeal mixed with peeled mashed potatoes, and are eaten hot spread with butter. When I lived in Scotland, I used to eat them for breakfast with a fried egg on top, but they are also good with bacon, with melted cheese on top...what you will. Sometimes I add coarsely ground whole wheat flour (2 ounces) instead of the oatmeal."

Potato Scones

"Nothing Fancy" by Diana Kennedy

(Makes about 10 scones)

1 1/2 ounces (rounded 1/2 cup) quick oats

1/2 pound unpeeled potatoes, cooked and roughly mashed with their skins

1/4 tsp finely ground sea salt

1 Tbsp unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus flour for kneading and rolling

1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Put the oats into the blender jar and blend for about 3 seconds. They should be broken up rather than ground. Add them to the potatoes, together with the salt, flour, and melted butter. Knead well. Sprinkle the pastry board lightly with flour and roll out the dough to approximately 1/8-inch thick. Heat a griddle and brush with butter.


Cut the scones with a round 3-inch cutter, prick them well, and cook for about 3 minutes--by this time the underside should be lightly browned--turn the scones over, and cook for a further 3 minutes on the second side. As soon as they are cooked, cover with a napkin and keep warm until ready to eat. you can freeze them and then reheat on a well-buttered griddle.

Note: It is easier to work with the dough if the potatoes are still slightly warm.

Notes/Results: Kennedy is right about the addictiveness of these little potato cake-like scones, they are yummy. They are easy to throw together, cooking the potatoes is the longest step, and I liked the texture of the oats. I added some black pepper to them because I add black pepper to most things. ;-) They are a great little side dish and were excellent reheated with some eggs for breakfast. I also think they would be fun to make a bit smaller and top with some smoked salmon as a little pupu. I will definitely be making these again.

So one recipe that worked out well in the end and one with two enthusiastic thumbs up. Joanne will be recapping all of the Regional Recipes from Ireland at the end of the month on her blog so go take a look.

Let's see who is in the Souper Sunday kitchen this week and what delicious dishes they brought with them.

Olivia from Cooking with Libby is here again this week with a delicious Backyard Garden Tomato Soup. She says, "This is another recipe from the cookbook, Prevention's Quick and Healthy Low Fat Cooking. Just by glancing at this picture, you can tell that this isn't your normal, average Tomato Soup. I have never been a Tomato Soup fan. However, I made a vow to myself that I was going to try to make every single recipe in this low-fat cookbook, so I made this soup a couple of days ago. I have no regrets either :) It is chock full of tomatoes, onions, and red pepper. Since the recipe is low-fat, I was scared it was going to taste like cardboard and lack the flavor of most normal soups. But I'm happy to write that it is not bland, nor is it robust. It's perfect :) I also topped mine off with some grated parmesan cheese."

Tomatoes are popular this week! Joanne from Eats Well With Others has Michael Symon's Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup to share this week. She says, "Now. It's a commonly known fact that I'm not really a soup person. But this wasn't soup. This was heaven. In a bowl. I ate it hot. And I ate it cold. Sometimes both. In one day. Yeah it was that good. It tasted almost like a pink pasta sauce with a blue cheese/sriracha twang to it. And with that being said. I would consider pouring it over pasta. If I weren't pretty sure that I would just end up sipping it from the pot with a straw."

Like Joanne, Natashya from Living in the Kitchen with Puppies has Symon's Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup and also his Shaved Fennel Salad with Oranges, Lemon, Dill and Cress. She says that the soup is "made with Sriracha hot sauce and creamy, pungent blue cheese. This was an elegant soup to serve but very daring in flavour. Not for the faint of heart - we loved it."


And about the salad Natashya says it is "a light and crunchy salad with citrus and anise flavours. The key to the salad is to shave the fennel very thin - you will need a mandoline or it will just be too thick. We did enjoy this salad, it is light and crunchy with unique flavour, but I have to say the soup was my favourite."

Christine from Kits Chow has a unique Hot Nappa Cabbage Salad with Pancetta. Christine says, "I am making kimchi with Napa cabbage. I used the leafy part and was left with a big pile of white Napa pieces. What to do with the leftovers? I thought of making pickles but didn't have enough vinegar. Then I saw a little hunk of pancetta in the refrigerator. That's it. I'll braise the cabbage with the pancetta. Cabbage and bacon go very well together and I figured this combo would be good too. The salad was very good - crisp vegetables, crunchy, salty pancetta with a garlicky, sweet and sour dressing."

Last but certainly not least with have one glorious Reuben Sandwich from the talented Foodycat, who not only cured and smoked her own pastrami meat, but baked her own rye bread too. Foodycat says, "A good slice of bread, thickly smeared with mustard (we used Dijon), topped with overlapping thin slices of the pastrami, then forkfuls of well-drained sauerkraut and slices of gruyere cheese. That went under the grill until the cheese melted and the sauerkraut and pastrami was hot through. Topped with a second slice of bread and served with tall glasses of German beer, this was pretty much the perfect sandwich experience, and made a really delicious lunch. Genuinely worth the effort!"

Some really wonderful recipes this week--thanks to everyone who joined in. If you have something to share for Souper Sundays, just click on the logo on the side bar for all the details.

Have a great week!

Meditative Mint, Ginger and Tangerine Tisane: A Calming "Simple Saturday Sipper"

This week's "Simple Saturday Sipper" recipe for Meditative Mint, Ginger, and Tangerine Tisane comes from a new cookbook that I am enjoying, "Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen: Recipes from the East for Health, Healing, and Long Life" by Yuan Wang, Warren Sheir and Mika Ono. (BTW: Yes, I said new cookbook and yes I said I wasn't buying more cookbooks for awhile. Let's just move past that shall we and get on with the recipe). The book is about healing and staying healthy through the use of herbs and therapeutic foods and based on East Asian traditions and healing arts. It is a fun read, especially if you are interested in the power of food to heal the body, and it has some really delicious-sounding healthy recipes. Although some of the recipes may require a trip to Chinatown, a lot can be made from ingredients I can find readily at grocery stores here. I have a lot of the recipes tagged to make but I am starting with this simple tisane. A tisane is a tea-like drink that doesn't contain any tea, but instead is an herbal infusion. This one is a combination of mint, ginger and tangerine and sounded light, calming and perfect for a busy week.

"Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen" says, "Your grandmother might have served this terrific tea if she had only thought of it."

Meditative Mint, Ginger, and Tangerine Tisane

"Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen"

(Serves 1-2)

1 to 2 cups water

2 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped coarsely or 1 mint teabag

1 (1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger, minced

1 tsp dried of fresh tangerine or orange peel

honey (optional)

In a small pot, boil the water. Place the mint, ginger, tangerine peel in the hot water, then lower the heat and simmer, covered, for about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the brew steep for another 3 minutes. Remove the herbs by pouring the mixture through a strainer. Add honey, if desired, then serve.

Recipe Notes from the book:

Themes and Variations: This tea can also be made with ginger and tangerine peel only. For morning sickness, try combining the ginger and tangerine peel with two Chinese red dates.

Especially Good For: Anyone with stomach upset or hangover, or for those who love the taste of tangerine, ginger and mint--yum!

For Those Familiar With Traditional Chinese Medicine: This beverage is good for calming the stomach and eliminating food stagnation.

Notes/Results: Simple and very good. I didn't really follow the recipe quantities--I used the peel (orange part only) from a tangerine and probably more mint and ginger than the quantities listed. I also brought the water to a boil in my tea kettle and poured it over the ingredients in my French press and let it steep about six minutes rather than simmering it in a pan on the stove. (I have a separate press that I use for teas and tisanes so no coffee oil alters the flavor). It is good on its own, but the honey does add a nice sweetness to the mix that adds another layer of flavor. I think this tisane would also work well over ice and I will make it again.

Happy Saturday! Hope you enjoy the weekend.

Nigella's Smoked Trout Pâté for an Afternoon Tea

It's Tea Time at I Heart Cooking Clubs this week. I love tea and think that an occasional afternoon tea, the kind with scones, sandwiches and little desserts accompanied by tea in pretty china cups, is good for the soul. As much as I love the baked goods and sweets, my favorite part of an afternoon tea service is the little sandwiches. They are cute, usually crustless and often come in a wide variety of flavors--cucumber, egg salad, smoked fish, and watercress, to name a few. In looking through Nigella's recipes for the tea theme, I kept coming back to her Smoked Trout Pâté, from "Nigella Express" and thought it would make the perfect afternoon tea sandwich spread. Since I had a couple of tins of smoked trout in my pantry, I could throw it together quickly and easily--perfect for a busy week.

For the sandwiches, I used a small, thinly-sliced pumpernickel bread and in addition to the pâté, I added paper-thin slices of fresh local radish and Japanese cucumber. My tea pairing to compliment and stand up to the smoked fish, a dark and smoky Lapsang Souchong. Lapsang Souchong is a robust, strong black tea that is whithered over pinewood fires and then pan fired. As the tea leaves oxidize they are pan fired again, rolled and they do their final drying in bamboo baskets over smokey pine fires. The aroma of the dry leaf is very smoky and a bit woody. The aroma of the wet leaf is even stronger, like a smoky campfire and the flavor reminds me of the outer crust of a toasted marshmallow when you slightly burn it. For some people it is too smoky but I enjoy the flavor and thought it would work well.

Nigella says, "Smoked fish was an absolute staple of my childhood--I used to have smoked mackerel with horseradish in my lunchbox--and I feel if I've got some form of smoked fish in the fridge,there is always going to be, instantly, something to eat. Pepper and lemon, that's all you need for it. And it's a gift to the cook in a hurry too: This pâté takes the merest moment to make and yet it is a wonderful start to a meal or, indeed, a whole meal in itself. I don't even need a salad with it: I'm happy with toast, crusty bread, or maybe even some good bought English muffins or cheese scones, along with a few cornichons and any other tangy pickle. This doesn't make very much, but it is filling and also--which is obviously how I like it--full of pep. If you want something a little milder, with less boisterous heat, then add a mere sprinkle of cayenne."

Smoked Trout Pâté

"Nigella Express" by Nigella Lawson

(Serves 4 as Starter)

2 smoked trout fillets, about 4 oz total

1/4 cup cream cheese

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp horseradish sauce

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Put all of the above ingredients into a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth and pâté-like. Spatch into a bowl--I use a small terra-cotta dish of about 4 1/2-inches diameter--and cover with plastic wrap before chilling in the fridge.


Notes/Results: Delicious! The pâté takes just minutes to make and has great flavor and a nice little kick from the horseradish and cayenne pepper. It was great as a sandwich spread and would also be wonderful on toasted baguette. I would make it again especially as an easy last minute pupu for a gathering. As for the tea pairing, I was a little concerned that the pâté and Lapsang Souchong combination would be too smoky together but they went together well and neither overpowered the other.

You can see what the other IHCC participants made for their Tea Time treats by going to the post (here) and following the links.