Monthly Archives: March 2021

Split Pea Soup

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I like a silky thick Split Pea Soup. Some like it with roughage, but I like it silky.  The way I make it silky is with a hand blender.

Ingredients:

2 celery stalk (Peeled and chopped)
½ onion (chopped)
3 carrot (shredded) (Retain one carrot for later)
1 garlic clove (minced)
1 potato (peeled and cut into squares)
~4 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine
1 cup ham cut into squares (I also added Tasso, a Cajun ham and apple chicken sausage)
1/2 Lb. split peas (I use the New Orleans Favorite, Camellia brand, rinsed)
1 bay leaf
Sea Salt
Pepper
Water
Olive Oil

Prepare the onions, carrots and celery and set aside in a bowl and place in the frig. 

Put the pea in a pot and cover with water and gently cook until the pea get medium soft.  Remove and drain.  Put the potatoes in another pot and add water and boil until the potatoes get half cooked.  Remove and drain.  In the soup pot add the oil, onions, carrots, celery, garlic and on low heat sweat the veggies.  Add the white wine.  Return the peas and potato.  Add some broth just to cover the peas, add salt, pepper and bay leaf and cook on medium until the peas get soft. 

Remove the bay leaf and set aside.  With the hand blender blend the peas and veggies until silky.  Return the bay leaf and if needed add broth.  The soup should not be too liquid or too thick.  Just silky.  Add the meat and cook 20 minutes.  Serve with bread.

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As of 3/30/21

















					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Mediterranean Salad

			
						

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Salad





This is a steady for Monday nights.  No meat, just olives, olive oil, nuts and salad fixings.  This is really good for you and we need this kind of olive oil in our diet.





½ can green olives (pitted) can have pimentos
½ black olives (pitted)
½ can garbanzo beans/chick peas
1 small jar of marinated artichoke hearts
¼ bag of dried and sweet cranberries with glazed walnuts
Goat cheese with herbs or Feta Cheese Mediterranean Herb
¼ red onion thinly sliced
3 large leaves NAPA cabbage or large Romaine leaves cut long ways and thin sliced ¼ inch cross cut





Dressing





¼ cup olive oil
1 TBSP white vinegar
1 TBSP dry red wine
(This is actually red wine vinegar)
1 TBSP Dijon mustard





Mix and pour on the salad and toss salad










Serve





As of 3/29/21

					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Redneck Leberkäse

			
						

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In the year of liver-cheese, that would be 1776, which happened to also be a leap year, and the signing of the American Declaration of Independence; Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria, invented the loaf of meat called Leberkäse.


Leberkäse translated means “liver- cheese”. When I Google translate the word Leberkäse in addition it means meatloaf. Which it is – a loaf of meat. Traditionally, it is made with onions, bacon, corned beef and pork, but no cheese and no liver. As I research it, there are many variations of Leberkäse.  According to current Bavarian food disclosure laws, only products called “Bavarian Leberkäse” are allowed no liver content, otherwise, all other variations must now contain at least 4% liver.


Since I do not live in Bavaria, which is a shame b/c it is completely beautiful, and since I don’t wear Lederhosen and the Little Woman doesn’t wear a dirndl, which is too bad b/c I never met a dirndl I didn’t like, this is how I get ready for Oktoberfest which should be starting at the end of this month (September 20, 2014 to October 5, 2014).


I make a Redneck Leberkäse for working-class people like me who sit on a tractor all day in a rural area in Southern America. I serve this dish with Southern mashed potatoes instead of potato salad and a layer of curry catsup (mixed with turmeric) and cover it in buttered mushrooms.


Leberkäse


    

  • 2 spring onions (scallions)
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  • 1 garlic clove, minced
    • 

  • 6 stalks of fresh oregano
    • 

  • ½ lb. ground pork
    • 

  • ½ lb. ground beef
    • 

  • ¼ cup bread crumbs
    • 

  • 1 egg, beaten
    • 

  • Salt and pepper to taste
    • 

  • Dash of Worcestershire
    • 



Directions: In a food processor add onions and garlic and finely chop.


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Add the leaves of the oregano and all other ingredients and grind the meat mixture in a food processor until it begins to look like a Pâté.


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Form in a covered dish and bake in a 350° oven for 45 minutes. Remove and drain the fat for the gravy.  Add the fat from the meatloaf to the brown gravy.  Cover the top of the meatloaf with the curry ketchup and bake another 15 minutes.  


Curry Ketchup
2 TBSP ketchup
2 tsp of red curry paste or 1 tsp turmeric
Directions: Mix together in the bowl.


Southern Mashed Potatoes


    

  • 2 large baking potatoes, skinned and cubed
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  • 2 TBSP butter
    • 

  • 2 TBSP whipping cream
    • 

  • Sea salt to taste
    • 



Directions: Boil potatoes until soft, drain, return potatoes to pan, add the rest of the ingredient and mash the potatoes using a potatoes masher.


Brown Gravy


    

  • Mix from a pack as instructed.
    • 



As of 5/16/21





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Breakfast Crumpets

			
						

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125 g. all-purpose flour
1 cup milk microwaved for 1 minute (to 110°)
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. yeast
½ tsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt (if you like)
1 TBSP clarified butter





Mix everything together except the butter with a whisk until the batter is sort of runny.  Let batter rise and bubble 30 minutes.





In a 8 inch pan, melt the butter and get pan hot on medium heat.  Pour in the batter and brown on bottom (~3 to 4 minutes), turn over, brown for another 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove like a large pancake and cut into 4 pieces.  Serve with breakfast.  I serve this with banger sausage and an egg over easy.  I don’t have crumpet forms so I use an 8″ pan.

As of 3/7/21

					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Tomato Sauce from the Vine

			
						

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One big batch of fresh San Marzano tomatoes or a combination of San Marzano, Roma, Cherry and another tomato.










Run the tomatoes through a tomato miller. This mill machine separates the seeds and skin from the meat. This yielded exactly 56 oz. of meat.










In a large pot, add all these ingredients.
1/3 cup olive oil
Pinch of red pepper flake
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
56 oz. milled tomato meat










In a small food processor chop:
½ onions
4 garlic cloves
1 TBSP fresh oregano
1 TBSP fresh basil
1 TBSP fresh mint





Add the herbs to the pot and cook all on a low temp until the water evaporates and the sauce gets thick. Maybe 3 hours or more on low.  Refrigerate overnight.





Spoon 15 oz. in quart size freezer bags and freeze for next year.





I also grew my own garlic, oregano, basil and mint.










As of 3/4/21