Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup - Great Fall Warm-up!

Apparently, I made this soup on this day last year - as reminded by the book of face....
When I saw the picture and re-read the description, I decided I should preserve it for posterity.

Soak 2 C of dry black beans overnight and then pre-cook them with a bay leaf or two - until tender - about 1 hour.

I cooked the peeled and seeded pumpkin meat in some home made chicken stock - but could have used veggie stock just as easily. When it was tender I pureed it all together...


In a skillet I browned some sausage meat, added onions, garlic and a couple small turnips with their greens.
I let that cook for a while then added a green pepper and added the whole shebang to the pumpkin pot.

The sausage could easily be omitted and the veggies cooked in olive oil.

Stirred in the black beans (without the cooking water), added a couple of chopped tomatoes added spices and let it cook for a while. The spices I used that time were thyme, sage, coriander, cumin, cayenne, white pepper.

At the very end I added a little soy sauce for depth of flavorand some good red wine vinegar to cut the sweetness. 

As this was a chili-like soup, we added a little shredded cheese for an acccent!

It was pretty delicious!

Can't Believe MONTHS have passed!

It's not that there has been nothing food-wise to blog about, it's just that we've been so darned busy.
Thankfully my husband has also picked up some of the bigger cooking duties and has made several roasts etc.

One thing that hasn't changed is our weekly pots of soup.
I've been doing more with bean soups this year - cooking up a pound of dry beans at a time and then splitting the batch - freezing half and using half immediately.
We had a smokey ham stock/white bean w/greens soup a couple weeks ago that my oldest son LOVED.
The week after that I cooked up a Yule present from a friend who always gives us a soup mix from The Women's Bean Project which my younger son LOVED.
There have also been the usual turkey&rice, chicken&veggetable etc. Because we still belong to our CSG and have our root veggies to use; and because I routinely make meat stock whenever we have a poultry dinner!

One thing that HAS changed is that I've also been making veggie stock this winter too!
It all started because we're working with a musician who is a vegetarian. We've been working on learning songs she has written to be able to perform with her and we will be recording her songs come spring. Our habit is to be able to share a meal with the musicians we work with; to add time where we can get to know each other and to discuss the business aspects of the relationship.
Although I like vegetarian foods and have certainly made no-meat meals, I was facing the prospect of feeding someone who is especially experienced at this!
I have been making my stock by using the trimmings from veggies I put into my other soups and stews. I put all of the "scraps" into a small sauce pot with just enough water to come to the top of the veggie material. After it has boiled for a while, I let it cool and then strain it through a coffee filter.
It is delicious, fragrant and beautiful! I can't believe I have never done this before and that I 've let all of those nutrient rich veggie scraps go directly to the compost without stealing back some of the flavors and vitimins first!

My arguments about not adding veggies to my meat stocks have always been that I don't approve of the waste of putting whole veggies in and then throwing them away with the bones.
Now I'm upset with myself for the waste of the veggie scraps LOL!

Thanksgiving is Coming!!!

Wow! Thanksgiving is almost here and for the first time in MANY years I will not be cooking.
I'm not hosting, and I'm not going to a relative's home with a side dish...I'm going to be on vacation and will probably be eating my turkey in a restaurant.

Now, I usually LOVE hosting Thanksgiving because it means making the turkey - which we always brine Alton Brown style.
The sides are typically the traditional.....mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, bread and sausage dressing (never stuffed into the turkey!), cranberry sauce and applesause.

But I was thinking, what if you're tired of those typical sides? What would you make?
So I dug into my archives for some inspiration:

For some simple pre-turkey munchies you could put out some pickles! They're crispy, zesty, nutritious, you can make them WAY ahead of time, and you can plan in variety!

For a twist on the use of pumpkin/squash/sweetpotatoes you could do a soup! If you don't want the Thai influence simply leave out the curry powder and the coconut milk and add some allspice and nutmeg and you've got a nice standard butternut squash soup starter to your meal.

Instead of the usual greenbean casserole you could try a greenbean saute! And it's one less item for the oven!

If you have the time, fresh applesauce is a real treat!

And to finish the day Thanksgiving Cookies can't be beat....of course they are good ANY time!
Please share your traditions or breaks from tradition with me!

Whatever your traditions and whatever you make, I hope your Thanksgiving is delicious and good for your soul!

Easy Refridgerator Pickles - 2 styles

Garlic Dills

1Qt Water

1/2 C Salt

1 C white vinegar

8-12 Pickling Cucumbers

Garlic & Dill to taste

1-2 Quart Size Mason Jars / Jars from Tomato Sauce or any Large container

(I used a plastic container initially and moved them to jars after I found some that would work)

Wash pickles, quarter and put in jars with garlic and dill.

Mix salt, water and vinegar and pour over pickles filling jars. (Any large jars will do.)

Leave pickles at room temperature for 3 days.

Refrigerate after that.

Sweet & Salty Slices (with mixed veggies)

sliced onions

green peppers, cut in strips

Green or Yellow Beans

Daikon Radish slices

AND

Enough sliced cucumber to fill a gallon jar (do not peel cucumbers)

4 c. sugar

3 c. vinegar

1/3 c. pickling salt (not iodized)

1 tsp. turmeric

1 1/2 tsp. celery seed

1 tsp. mustard seed

If you don't have a gallon jar you can also use Quart or Pint sized Mason jars...of course any jars will do as these will not be sealed.

Wash and slice veggies and put them in your jars.

(I made 1 jar with just yellow beans and onion slices, and put a mix of veggies in the other jars)

Mix sugar, vinegar and spices together in a pitcher or bowl with a spout until sugar is dissolved.

Pour liquid over vegetables in jar.

Mixture may not completely cover pickles, that's ok.

Refridgerate.

Ready to eat the next day.

Will keep all winter in refrigerator.

In the picture these don't look as yellow as they became later from the tumeric. They are both very yummy!

My Asian-style Green Beans with a New Twist

Last summer I posted my Asian-inspired green bean recipe...YUMM.
Well the bean crop is coming in bushels this year in NJ and I've started experimenting with some of the more abundant ingredients around the fridge.

We've been making a number of stir-fry dishes lately and the early garlic is at a premium, so for this version I used primarily onion and ginger. I also scaled the recipe up a bit because we were left looking for more the last time I made Asian beans...

Renee's Chinese Style Green Beans II
Over a medium flame:
Heat 2-3 Tbsp of good olive oil in a saute pan
Add 1 Tbsp of good quality Shoyu/Tamari/soy sauce
Slice a large onion and toss that in (not a dice, but long thin slices)
Add a little green garlic/garlic curl/ or early garlic (about 1 tbsp worth)
Peel and mince about a thumbs-worth of ginger root (don't skimp, use the real thing)
When the onion is starting to caramelize and has some golden tinges
Add 3 cups trimmed green beans
Toss them into the oil/onion/ginger mixture and stir to coat evenly with the oil
Cover and let cook for 10-12 minutes (basically almost to desired doneness...)
Add a dash of 5 spice powder and black pepper
Stir to coat
Cover again and let cook for 2 more minutes
Turn off the heat and add 1tsp of dark sesame oil
Stir and serve.

My little guy balked at the beans this time - but that's more his personality than anything else. He's currently going through a "if it's not raw I don't want it" phase with veggies...which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
My husband ate a decent sized first serving and went back for seconds making the comment that he thought these were the best version yet, and my older son had 3 portions.
I love it when my family eats green!

Renee's Chinese Style Green Beans

Ok, I know my name doesn't SOUND Asian, but I'd eat Asian cuisine every day of the week given an opportunity.
My boys love Chinese food but they haven't been exposed to the variety of Aisian cuisine that I love yet - because we don't go out often - and especially not with rambunctious 4&5 yr olds.
I also have not had the time to develop an extensive repetoir of home made versions of entrees I love yet...however I do make one or two dishes at home and this is one that ALL members of the household LOVE.

Renee's Chinese Style Green Beans
Over a medium flame, heat 1-2 good glugs of olive oil in a saute pan
Slice 2-3 large cloves of garlic and toss that in
When the garlic is starting to sizzle and has some golden tinges
Add 2 cups trimmed green beans
Toss them into the oil/garlic mixture and stir to coat evenly with the oil
Cover and let cook for 5-7 minutes
Stir in 1TBSP good quality Soy Sauce/Tamari/Shoyu
And a dash of 5 spice powder
Stir to coat
Cover again and let cook for 2 more minutes
Turn off the heat and add 1tsp of dark sesame oil
Stir and serve.

We had this with grilled chicken and pesto pasta last night.
BOTH boys asked for seconds of the beans! YAY!!!!