Soup Week 37 - Corn and zucchini soup

I love soup. I love making soup. I love making soup without a recipe, just composing it as I go along with ingredients I have on hand. So, if anyone should ask for the recipe to this delicious fall soup, well, there isn't one! But I can tell you how I made it:

1) Cut the kernals off three or four raw cobs of corn. Place the de-kerneled cobs in a soup pot along with a big carrot, a celery stalk and a spring of fresh thyme. Cover with 6-8 cups of water and boil. Turn down and simmer about an hour. Strain the stock (placing and vegetables in the compost -- gotta keep the worms fed, too). Clean out the soup pot.

2) Melt a nob of butter in the soup pot. Add a chopped onion and one chopped clove of garlic. Cook until soft. Add one red pepper, chopped in a small dice. Cook until soft. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and chopped fresh thyme leaves. Add corn kernels. Pour on the corn cob stock and bring to a bubble. Turn town and simmer until the corn is cooked.

3) Add two chopped zucchini -- one yellow and one green. I used young zucchini about 2 cm across. Since it was young, I didn't peel it. If you're using bigger older zucchini, you might want to peel it and scoop out the pithy centre before adding it to the soup. At the same time, add a tbsp (more or less) of fresh chopped basil.

Simmer until the zucchini is tender. It won't take long. Taste the soup and add salt and pepper if it needs more. Yumm.

CBC Radio calling - SCALLOPED CORN

Food is a wonderful part of the holidays, such as this cherished tree ornament, hand-made in the shape of a slice of olive loaf. (Okay, there's a long story behind it...)

As for special dinners, here are a few recipes I seem to serve over and over:

Scalloped Corn
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 cups creamed corn
1/4 cup onion, grated
1/4 cup red pepper, finely diced
1 cup fine bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter, melted

Heat oven to 350F. Mix everything in a bowl with 2/3rds of the bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into a casserole dish. Toss remaining bread crumbs with melted butter and sprinkle evenly over top. Bake 1 hour. To brown and crisp the top, turn on broiler for a few minutes.

Wild Rice and Dried Cherry Salad
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 cups small broccoli florets
2 cups small cauliflower florets
3 cups cooked wild rice
1 cup dried berries (such as cherry, blueberry or cranberry)
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup thinly sliced almonds (opt.)

Mix everything together in a serving bowl. Dress with a homemade fruity vinaigrette or use a purchased raspberry vinaigrette.

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Beet and Walnut Salad
2 beets, cooked
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
1/2 tbsp fruit syrup
3 tbsp olive oil (or canola)
salt

salad greens for four
2 tbsp crumbled goat cheese

(or more if you like!)

Cut cooked beets into a bite-sized dice. Heat 1 tbsp of water in a non-stick skillet. Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Add the walnuts, cooking and stirring until the water has evaporated and the sugar has caramelized on the nuts. Remove from heat.

Make the dressing by whisking together the vinegar, fruit syrup, oil and salt to taste. Toss half the dressing with the salad greens and the other half with the beets. To serve, divide the salad greens onto four plates. Scoop the beets into the middle of the greens, scatter each with walnuts and cheese

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Mushroom Orzotto

1 cup sliced mushrooms, sautéed in butter

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive or canola oil

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 sprig each rosemary, sage and parsley, chopped

4-5 tomatoes, choppedsalt and pepper

6-7 cups water or vegetable stock, boiling

2 cups pearl barley

1/2 cup red wine

1 cup Parmesan cheese

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Melt the butter and oil in a stockpot. Sauté the garlic, onion and herbs until soft. Add the tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the barley, stirring until the grains are shiny and little liquid remains in the pan. Add the wine and cook until evaporated.

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Add a cup of boiling water (or stock), stirring until it is absorbed. Continue to add water, one cup at a time, stirring until each one is absorbed before adding the next. As you get closer to done, the barley will need more stirring to ensure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

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When the barley is almost done (that is, when you can bite into it), add the mushrooms. The orzotto is ready when the barley is just tender to the bite. Stir in the parmesan cheese. To serve, sprinkle with a little chopped parsley and perhaps a bit more parmesan cheese.

Week 24 - CORN CHOWDER

Saskatchewan Menu of the Week -- 29 September 2005

Breakfast – Yogurt with pears.
Lunch – Spinach salad.
Dinner – Corn chowder. Baguette

CORN CHOWDER
This is perfect for those last few over-ripened cobs of corn from the garden. I froze quite a bit of corn this fall, so we should be eating this chowder all winter.

2t butter
1/8 cup prosciutto or Canadian bacon
1 diced onion
2 sticks each celery and carrot, diced
1t flour
1 cup milk
1 large potato peeled and diced (my husband likes lots of potato)
salt and pepper to taste
1t dried oregano (or marjoram)
1 cup corn kernels
water
a few sprigs of parsley

In a soup pot, melt the butter and sauté the meat, onion, celery and carrots. When the onion is translucent, sprinkle on the flour and cook one minute, stirring constantly. While stirring, add the milk. Boil. Add the potatoes, oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Pour in enough water to cover the potatoes and return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover the pot and simmer until the potatoes are cooked. Stir in the corn and cook until it is heated through. To serve, sprinkle each bowl with a pinch of freshly chopped parsley.