The Charmed Kitchen

Basque Soup

I taught a couple of classes earlier this week on vegetarian soups. This one was one of the favorites we had. It is  a favorite of mine, too. The soup is hearty and rich flavored. I used oil and almond milk, so the soup was vegan. You could use milk and butter, if you prefer.  It tastes great, either way. It also comes together quickly, with ingredients you can keep on hand, so it is a great homemade soup when you don’t have a lot of time. The combination of milk, tomatoes and corn also makes it a pretty dish to serve.

Basque Soup

1 c. chopped onions

1 1/2 c. chopped celery

1/4 c. oil or butter

1/4 c. flour

3 c. milk*

1 (16 oz.) jar stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 can whole kernel corn, undrained

3-4 cans butter beans, drained and rinsed

3-4 cups water and 1T. paste-type vegetable soup base

or 3-4 cups vegetable broth

pepper to taste

hot pepper sauce to taste

shredded mild cheese, optional

Sauté onions and celery in oil until tender. Stir in flour until smooth and add milk, stirring to keep lumps from forming. Stir over medium heat until milk has thickened and begins to boil. Stir constantly as mixture simmers for an additional minute or two. Add remaining ingredients, except cheese and bring up to a simmer. Adjust seasonings. Ladle into bowls and top with cheese, if desired. Serves 8-10.

Note: You can use almond, rice or soy milk in place of the dairy milk, if you like.

Mocha Cheesecake

If you want a  tasty chocolate dessert that requires no baking, this one just might do it for you. Rather than being baked, this cheesecake is frozen. It also pairs chocolate with coffee- a classic combination. This is a fun dessert when you don’t have a lot of prep time. You do need to allow time to freeze it, but you can make it days ahead, then just take it out when you are ready to serve. I often make this cheesecake in hot weather, but to be honest, I’d eat this one during a blizzard.

Mocha Cheesecake

1 ¼ c. chocolate cookie crumbs, you can use chocolate graham crackers

¼ c. sugar

¼ c. butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese

1 (14oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

2/3 c. chocolate syrup

2 T. instant coffee crystals or espresso powder

1 t. hot water

1 c. whipping cream, whipped

Combine crumbs, sugar and butter and press into 9-inch springform pan. Chill. Beat cheese until fluffy and beat in milk. Stir in syrup and dissolve coffee in water. Add to cheese mixture and fold in whipped cream. Pour into prepared crust and freeze until solid, at least 6 hours. Garnish with additional cookie crumbs if you like or with shaved chocolate. Keep leftovers frozen and use within a week or two for best flavor.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

These breakfast sausage are so flavorful. The nice thing about making your own sausage, is knowing all the ingredients that go into them. You can adjust seasonings to suit your taste.

Making sausage does not have to be hard. I grew up in a family that had a sausage stuffer. So making sausage seems pretty normal to me. But if you never made sausage, you really should give it a go.

I have a home movie, from before I was born, of my parents making Polish sausage. They were grinding the meat, seasoning it, prepping the casings and getting the meat into the casings. They made it look easy.

But if you make sausage without the casings, like these little breakfast sausages, the process is pretty simple. You don’t need any special equipment, either.

I often make patties, but if you want links, just take the prepared mix, roll it out into tube shapes, wrap in plastic wrap and chill. Then just slice to the length you want. You can use ground pork, turkey, beef, chicken or any combo you like. I even splurged once, and used ground duck.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

2½ lbs. ground pork or turkey (leave on a little fat)
1 T. dried sage
2 t. salt
2 t. pepper
1 t. dried marjoram
½ t. dried thyme
¼ t. allspice
¼ t. nutmeg
¼ t. dry mustard
⅛ t. cloves
pinch of cayenne pepper
⅓ c. warm water

Mix herbs and spices with water and let stand 10 minutes. Add the water and spice mixture to the meat and blend thoroughly. Form into patties, and chill, or cook immediately.* Patties can be fried or baked. This sausage can also be frozen for later use. Makes almost 3 pounds.

* I have made my own brown and serve by cooking the sausage, over low heat in a large skillet. I add a little water and cover the pan, so they cook, but don’t brown. Cool and then freeze. When I want to have a few, I grab them out of the freezer and just brown in a skillet over medium-low heat.

Chili Stew

This would be a great dish to serve on Superbowl Sunday. We made this dish in class the other night. Everyone liked it a lot.  It’s a  great option when time is short.

I love this recipe, but didn’t quite know what to call it. It wasn’t quite a traditional chili, so I decided to call it Chili Stew.  It comes together in no time, and still has plenty of flavor. Of course, you can cook it longer, if you have the time. You can also move it to a crock pot, once the meat and veggies have been sauteed and drained.

It can be served as is, or topped with cheese, sour cream or chopped onions.  Perfect dinner for a “chili” night.

Chili Stew

1 pound ground beef or turkey

1 medium onion, chopped

1 small sweet pepper, chopped

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 (16 ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 c. corn, fresh, frozen or canned (drained)

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 T. minced garlic

1 t. paprika

1 t. cumin

1 t. oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

hot sauce to taste

In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, cook the meat, onion and pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serves 4-5.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings

Rumor has it that chicken wings are one of the most popular appetizers served on Super Bowl Sunday. I don’t think you need to wait for a football game to enjoy these.

If you want something different than Buffalo Style wings, you might want to try this recipe. The wings are baked in a pineapple sweet and sour glaze. They are just the right combination of sweet, sour and a little salty.  No matter who you are cheering for- your guests will cheer for these.

They are pretty simple to make and you can even make them the day before, then just reheat before serving.

Sweet and Sour Glazed Chicken Wings

12 chicken wings

1 medium onion, chopped

1 can (or jar) of pineapple chunks, drained, reserving liquid- I used a pint jar- if using store bought use the 20 oz. can.

salt and pepper

Sauce:

1/2 c. apple cider vinegar

1/2 c. sugar

3 T. ketchup

3 T. sherry

2 T. soy sauce

1 t. minced garlic

1 t. red pepper flakes

reserved pineapple juice

3 T. cornstarch

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place wings in pan and season with salt and pepper. Bake chicken wings in roasting pan for 20 minutes. Add the onions and pineapple chunks to the pan with the chicken wings and return to the oven for 30 minutes longer. While chicken is cooking combine the first seven sauce  ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil. Check baking pan for any juices- Spoon them out and add to the sauce. Combine pineapple juice and cornstarch in small bowl, stirring until smooth and add to the sauce. Return to boil and stir until sauce is thickened and bubbly. Pour hot sauce over chicken and return to the oven to bake 20-30 minutes longer or until wings look nicely glazed and sauce has started to brown. Serves 3-4.

Chocolate Coconut Snowballs

Right about now, these snowballs look pretty good to me. They are a variation of the coconut cake squares you can buy at local bakeries, or make yourself. Normally you bake the cake, freeze it and then cut it into squares. I make cupcakes instead. That way, when you dip the cupcakes in the chocolate sauce, then the desiccated coconut, they look like snowballs. Well, sort of.

You can bake the batter in mini muffin pans or standard muffin pans. It just depends on what size you want your snowballs to be. After the cupcakes  are baked, freeze them. The frozen cakes are dipped in a chocolate sauce and then rolled in desiccated coconut.

Desiccated coconut is dried and unsweetened. It looks like coarse, white bread crumbs. You can find it in stores that carry baking supplies and at Asian markets. It is the same kind of coconut used to make coconut shrimp.

Here is the recipe for making the “snowballs”. The recipe for the cupcakes is listed below, as well. I just doubled my classic white cupcake recipe, but you could use a box mix, if you prefer.

Coconut Cake Squares aka “Snowballs”

1 white cake, prepared and frozen solid*
1 c. cocoa
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 c. water
1 t. vanilla
1 c. desiccated coconut (available at cake supply stores and some health food stores)

Cut frozen cake into small squares, or cake can be baked in regular or mini cupcake tins. Keep cake frozen until ready to use. Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients, except coconut, in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil then simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Using toothpicks or fondue forks, dip frozen cake in sauce let drain a few seconds, then roll in the coconut. Can be enjoyed right away or frozen again for later use.

*If you make the cake in muffin tins you’ll get 24 cupcakes or about 60 mini cupcakes.

Classic White Cupcakes

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 12paper liners. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cupcakes are done when they springs back to the touch. Makes 12.

Spiced Applesauce Cake

I wish I remembered where this recipe came from. I have a piece of flowered stationery, a little crinkled around the edges, creased from being folded many times, with the recipe written on it. It is not my handwriting. I would love to credit the source of this wonderful recipe.

As a kid, I loved eating applesauce, right out of the jar. I still do. I admit to being spoiled these days, because I make, and can, my own sauce.

You don’t have to limit yourself to just eating applesauce as is. You can bake with it, too.  This cake is one way to enjoy applesauce, homemade or store bought. I used butter in the recipe, but if you used coconut oil instead, the recipe would be vegan.  The spices work so well together. Simple and full of flavor.

Before someone asks, there is not a mistake, there are no eggs in the recipe.

Spiced Applesauce Cake

2 c. unsweetened applesauce

½ c. butter

2 c. sugar

3 c. flour

1 T. baking soda

½ t. salt

1 t. each cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg

¼ t. cloves

1 c. raisins or chopped nuts

Heat together applesauce and butter until butter melts. Cool down a bit. Preheat oven 375 and grease 9×13-inch pan. Stir all ingredients together bake 30 minutes. Cool in pan.

Chili Bean Spoon Bread

This is a great dish when you want to go meat free, but still have a hearty meal. It combines the flavors of chili with a cornbread topper. A classic combination, for sure.

The base is a lentil chili that you place in a casserole dish, then top with a cornbread batter. The dish is finished off in the oven until the cornbread is baked.

To serve, spoon some of the cornbread onto your plate and top with the lentil chili. I have made it for friends and it is always a big hit, even for the meat eaters. Perfect to warm you up on a chilly day.

You can serve this as a vegetarian main dish, or  as a side dish.

Chili Bean Spoon Bread

 1/2 lb. lentils

pinch of ground cloves

2 c. milk

1/2 t. salt

2/3 c. cornmeal

4 T. butter

4 eggs

4 T. oil

2 large onions, chopped

1 clove minced garlic

1 T. chopped parsley or 1 t. parsley flakes

1 T. chili powder

1 t. ground cumin

1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained

salt and pepper to taste

In saucepan cover lentils with about 2 cups water and add cloves. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook, covered, until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. You may need to add a little more water. Meanwhile in another saucepan heat milk and salt almost to boiling. Stir in cornmeal and continue cooking, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and eggs and set aside. In oil sauté onions and garlic until tender. Add seasonings, tomatoes and lentils and heat until bubbly. Adjust seasonings. Pour lentil mixture into greased 2-quart casserole dish. Spoon over the cornmeal mixture. Set casserole dish in larger pan and add 1 inch of hot water to larger pan. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 30-40 minutes, or until bread is firm and golden. Serves 4-6.

Blueberry and Cheese Coffee Cake

One of the perks of defrosting the freezer, is finding stuff you forgot about. Apparently, I froze more blueberries than I thought. Seemed like the perfect time to make this wonderful coffee cake, and share the recipe with you.

Even though I love eating fresh berries when they are in season, there is something special about baking with berries as snow flies outside. Makes me think about warm, summer days.

This blueberry cake is not too sweet, and the combination of cream cheese, with the blueberries reminds me of a blueberry blintz. It is a wonderful dessert, but can also be served as a breakfast or brunch dish.

You can also freeze leftovers, to be discovered and enjoyed another day.

Blueberry and Cheese Coffee Cake

1 1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter

2 eggs

2 1/4 c. flour

1 T. baking powder

1 t. salt

1 c. milk

2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

8 oz. cream cheese, cubed

1 t. grated lemon peel

Topping:

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. flour

1 t. grated lemon peel

2 T. butter

Preheat oven to 375. Grease and flour a 13×9 inch baking dish. Cream together sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Combine 2 cups of the flour with baking powder and salt and beat into batter alternately with the milk. Toss berries with the remaining flour and fold into the batter along with the cheese and lemon rind. Pour batter into prepared pan. Combine sugar, flour and lemon peel for topping and cut in butter to resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter and bake for about 45 minutes. Use toothpick to test for doneness. Serves 12.