The Charmed Kitchen

“Bat” Wings

With Halloween fast approaching I thought I’d share this recipe for bat wings. OK, not really bat wings but you already knew that. I just add black food coloring to barbecue sauce and use it to color/flavor chicken wings. I made a batch for a Halloween party a few years ago and someone actually asked if there were real bat wings. A word of warning- when you use black food coloring it will transfer to you. No matter how careful you are when you eat the wings you’ll end up with purple fingers.  Also, for the best effect keep the wings intact- no trimming off of the tips.  They look pretty cool when set out on the table. Creepy- but very tasty.

Bat Wings

2-3 lbs. whole chicken wings

salt and pepper

1 c. barbecue sauce- store bought or home made

black food coloring- handle carefully- it stains

Place chicken wings in a roasting pan, season with salt and pepper and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Meanwhile in medium bowl combine sauce with food coloring. Add just a little black food coloring at a time. Too much will alter the flavor of the food. Remove wings from the oven and dip them in the bowl of sauce. Turn to coat. Place wings on a clean baking sheet and return to the oven. Bake an addition 45 minutes. You can baste them with additional sauce during the baking, if you like.  Place on a serving platter and provide plenty of napkins.

Dip wings in sauce

Return to oven to finish baking

A pile of “bat” wings

Lentil Soup

Also called Dal Soup this is a recipe I love to make when the weather is chilly. Satisfying and just spicy enough. It is a great dish to serve when vegetarian friends are over and still hearty enough for the meat eaters. The mix of spices gives it great flavor. I cook it just until the lentils are tender, but not cooked to mush. Serve with a lemon wedge to squeeze on the soup before eating.

Lentil (Dal) Soup

8 c. water

1 ½ T. ground turmeric

1 T. ground coriander

3 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ t. cayenne pepper

2 2/3 c.  Lentils, rinsed (about 1 pound)

¼ c. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 t. fresh minced ginger

1 t. cumin seed

½ t. mustard seed

2 T. fresh lemon juice

Salt to taste

Lemon wedges

Bring first 6 ingredients to boil in large pot. Add lentils; reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes.  Meanwhile, in skillet over medium heat cook onions and seasonings in oil until onion starts to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. Add this mixture to lentil mixture and cook until soup reaches desired consistency. Add salt to taste. Serve in bowls and garnish with lemon wedges.  Serves 8.

Potato Leek Soup

There is something very  comforting about a bowl of hot soup on a chilly day. In my Comfort Soup class last night we made several different soups. This is one of my favorites. It can be a meal all on its own perhaps paired with some warm, crusty bread.

Potato and Leek Soup

2 T. oil

2-3 large leeks

6-8 c. chicken or vegetable stock

2 c. chopped carrots

1 c. chopped celery

4-5 c. diced potatoes, peeled if desired

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

1/3 c. flour, optional

To prepare leeks, wash and trim off any dark green leaf tops.  Cut off bottom of leeks about ½ inch up from the root.  Split leeks lengthwise and rinse under running water fanning the layers to remove any dirt or sand.  Cut crosswise into ½ inch pieces and place pieces in large bowl of cold water.  Agitate to remove any remaining dirt and lift leeks out of the bowl. Drain.

Heat oil in Dutch oven. Sauté leeks until tender. Add stock, carrots and celery and simmer, covered until carrots are tender, about 20 minutes. Add potatoes and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes longer. Stir in milk and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Note: If you like a thicker soup you can mash the vegetables a little or you can stir the flour into a little cool water and stir into the soup, bringing to the boil for 1 minute. Serves 6-8.  

Overnight Red Cabbage Slaw

When I was growing up I had a neighbor, Ruth Stevens, who was like a grandmother to me. I adored her. She loved gardening and animals and had a gentle quality about her that I will never forget. I spent many happy days in her garden and learned so much from her. She gave me a version of this recipe. I was about 12 at the time. I still have her recipe, written in with her slightly shaky hand. When I look through old recipes and come across it- I always think of her and miss her even to this day.

Great time of year to get fresh cabbage either from the garden or the local farm market. I got some beautiful red cabbage from Blue Pike Farm and decided to make a salad to go with a recent dinner with friends. You can make the salad with red or green cabbage or a combination. After a few days in the fridge, if you make the combination of red and green the green cabbage will pick up the color from the red cabbage and the whole thing will look red. Because of the acidity of the cider vinegar in the dressing the cabbage not only maintains its color, I think it gets a little brighter. With the vinegar dressing the slaw will keep for at least a week in the fridge- it just gets more “pickled” over time.

Overnight Red Cabbage Slaw

inspired by Ruth Stevens

8 cups shredded red cabbage- about 1 medium head

1 c. cider vinegar

1/2 c. sugar, or to taste

1 T. celery seed

2 t. dried dill weed

salt and pepper to taste

Place cabbage in large bowl. In jar with a tight fitting lid place the rest of the ingredients and shake well until sugar is dissolved. Pour over the cabbage and stir to coat. Cover bowl and place in fridge overnight to let the flavor blend and the cabbage soften. Salad will wilt down quite a bit. Keeps in fridge for a couple of weeks. Serves 6-8.

Ginger Spiced Cider

It’s been chilly lately and I love a mug of hot cider to warm up. I made some recently and wanted to dress it up a little. Great late at night when I want something without caffeine, too. I ended up adding ginger and cinnamon and the result was really good. Simple, too. I always keep fresh ginger in my freezer. It is frustrating to buy a piece of ginger and then find it in the bottom of the crisper drawer weeks later looking like a science experiment gone bad. Freezing it solves that problem.When I want to use it I just  take it out of the freezer, scrape off the peel and grate or slice off what I need. It keeps pretty much forever that way and I have fresh ginger whenever the mood strikes me.

Ginger Spiced Cider

2 cups apple cider

1-inch piece of ginger, sliced

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

Place cider in a saucepan with the ginger and cinnamon. Simmer gently for 5 minutes- or a little longer if you want a more intense ginger taste. Strain and serve. Serves 2.

Note: Some of the cider will boil off so add a little more if you simmer it longer or keep the pot covered to reduce evaporation. I actually like the more intense flavor when it cooks down a little.

Cider simmering with ginger and cinnamon

Succotash

I catered a party recently with a western theme. We went over menu options and the hostess ended up choosing succotash as one of the sides. I know, kind of a silly sounding name. As a kid I didn’t like it- but then I didn’t like Lima beans when I was a kid. Succotash’s main 2 components  are corn and Lima beans. After that different ingredients are sometimes added. I went my own way on this one and came up with a side dish I didn’t just like- I loved. So did the party guests. It could even be a vegetarian main dish instead of a side. My additions- butter, garlic and sweet peppers.

Succotash

2 T. butter

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 sweet red pepper, seeded and chopped

1 lb. fresh Lima beans- I used frozen

5-6 cups fresh or frozen corn

salt and pepper to taste

In skillet heat butter and cook garlic over medium heat until just getting color on it- be careful not to burn. Toss in the pepper and cook 5 minutes longer- until pepper is tender-crisp. Add beans and corn and cook until heated through, stirring often. Adjust seasonings and add a little more butter, if you like. Serves 6-8.

Succotash with barbecue chicken

Autumn Sweet and Sour Cabbage

I think cabbage sometimes gets a bad rap. I know plenty of people who only eat it as cole slaw or maybe sauerkraut. It is a very versatile vegetable and can make a nice side dish sauteed with just a few other ingredients. I had several  heads of cabbage from my garden and wanted to use some as a side dish. I combined the cabbage with  a few additional ingredients, including apples, to make this. I kept this batch vegetarian but you can add cooked bacon or some diced ham. Either way it is a tasty and easy way to enjoy cabbage. Goes great with roasted meats, especially pork. I served it with a roasted chicken.

  Autumn Sweet and Sour Cabbage

2 T. oil

1 large onion, sliced thin

8 c. shredded cabbage

2 c. chopped apples and pears, peeled if desired

½ c. cider vinegar

2 T. balsamic vinegar

¼ sugar, or more to suit your taste

salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onion in oil until golden brown. Add cabbage and fruit and cook over medium high heat, stirring often until cabbage is wilted. Add remaining ingredients and cook until most of the liquid is evaporated. Adjust seasonings. Serves 4-6.

Note: You can serve this dish just as it is or you can add 8 oz. of cooked noodles when you add the vinegar for cabbage and noodles. Some people also like to make this dish with crumbled bacon or diced ham.

Pear Salad with Feta and Pecans

With the abundance of pears this time of year I find myself using them is everything. I love just eating them plain and of course baking with them. I also like pears added to salad. This salad hits all the right notes for me with pears, toasted pecans, bacon  and feta. If you are looking for something to do with pears you really might want to try this recipe. Simple but loaded with flavor.

Pear Salad with Feta and Pecans

8- 10 cups mixed salad greens, washed, dried and torn into bite-sized pieces

3 ripe pears, cored and sliced thin

¾ c. crumbled feta cheese

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

½ c. toasted pecans, but other nuts can be used

5 T. cider vinegar

½ c. oil

Fresh chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

In large bowl place greens. Add pears, feta bacon and pecans. Combine remaining ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake well. Toss over greens and divide into serving dishes. Serves 6-8.

Classic Apple Cake

This is a recipe that has been around for a long time. My Mother got the recipe from my Aunt Josie when I was just a kid. Love it and make it every year when the apples are local and fresh. I hope you’ll try it. Moist, not too sweet and very easy to make. You don’t even have to get out the mixer- ingredients are mixed by hand and ready in no time.

Classic Apple Cake

1 c. oil

4 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1/3 c. orange or lemon juice

Combine above ingredients and set aside.

Mix together the following dry ingredients. Make a well and stir in egg mixture to make a stiff batter

3 c. flour

2 c. sugar

3 t. baking powder

¼ t. salt

Mix ½ c. sugar and 2 t. cinnamon and set aside

Peel, core and slice 4 medium apples.

Grease a 9×13 inch pan or a Bundt pan. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Place ½ of batter in prepared pan. Arrange apple slices on batter and sprinkle on ½ of the cinnamon mixture. Pour on remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture. Bake 1 hour in a 9×13 inch pan and about 1½ hours in a Bundt pan.

Fresh out of the oven

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

I love a good oatmeal cookie. Heck I love cookies in general. It’s a classic and always popular. Like a lot of classics, though, it can be fun to change things up a little. Sometimes you create a new classic.  I had a request for oatmeal cookies but with something other than raisins.  I ended up using dried, sweetened cranberries and the result was quite nice. Moist cookies with just a touch of tartness from the cranberries. A new classic that I plan on making again.

Classic Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 c. butter

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1/4 c. water

1 t. vanilla

 3 c. rolled oats

1 c. flour

1 t. salt

1/2 t. soda

1 c. dried sweetened cranberries

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.  Beat together butter, sugars, egg, water and vanilla until smooth. Combine remaining ingredients and stir into butter mixture. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheet. I use a cookie scoop- it makes for uniform cookies and is faster than using a spoon. Bake for about 12-15 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen.