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Vegan Chestnut Soup

January 4, 2019 / / 0 Comments

My daughter is vegan so, for my 2018 Christmas Eve dinner, I made both a regular chestnut soup and a vegan one. My daughter was rather pleased with this recipe.

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp vegan butter or olive oil
  • 1 carrot, finely chopped
  • 1 rib celery , finely chopped
  • 1 onion , finely chopped
  • 6 cups vegetable broth
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 12 ounces cooked chestnuts
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened soy, almond or cashew milk
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat butter or oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the carrot, celery and onion, reduce heat, and saute over medium-low heat until very soft, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the vegetable broth and stir. Add the parsley, ground clove, bay leaves and chestnuts. Stir, raise heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Remove and discard the bay leaves. Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth. Alternatively, transfer to an electric blender and puree – you may need to do this in batches. Return soup to the pot and add the soy milk. Stir well and warm over medium-low heat.

Taste, season and serve.

Adapted from Jolinda Hackett’s recipe at The Spruce Eats.

Chestnut Soup

January 4, 2019 / / 0 Comments

I wanted to make chestnut soup for my 2017 Christmas Eve dinner, but I wasn’t able to find chestnuts. This time, I spotted them at Safeway delivery and was then able to find them at my local Safeway. It’s a good thing because this soup was very good.

I followed the recipe closely, though I used Madeira instead of ruby port – I just didn’t want to have to buy it and I found many other recipes which used Madeira instead. I also added nutmeg, something I also saw on other recipes. I felt I added too much, but my guests disagreed.

This recipe served six as part of a multi-course menu.

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
  • 1 celery rib, finely chopped
  • 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cups cooked chestnuts (~15 oz)
  • 1 cup Madeira or ruby port
  • 1 sprig of thyme
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • a dash of nutmeg
  • salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Add butter to a medium sauce pan and melt over medium-low heat. Add the carrot, celery and onion and sauté until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the chestnuts and cook for 4 minutes. Add the Madeira and the thyme, turn heat to medium-high and cook until the based is reduced by half. Add the stock, turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and discard the sprig of thyme.

Stir in the cream. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup. Alternative, transfer it to a blender and puree it in batches. Add a dash of nutmeg, season with salt and pepper and serve.

Adapted from a recipe at Food and Wine magazine.

Marga’s 2018 Christmas Eve Dinner

Braised Short Ribs with Chocolate and Rosemary

January 4, 2019 / / 0 Comments

I made this Epicurious.com recipe for New Years’ Eve and despite messing it up by getting it burnt, I thought it was very good. Indeed, I tasted the sauce before I burn it – and before I’d added the chocolate & rosemary – and it was delicious even without those additions. I ended up burning it, however, as the ribs were not tender enough after 3 hours and I felt I needed to continue cooking them. Alas, I didn’t pay enough attention to the pot and the sauce eventually burnt.

I tried to do several things to “fix it”, but what worked the best was adding more wine and another can of diced tomatoes (including the liquid).

There is some controversy on the reviews as to whether the chocolate made this sauce too sweet. I didn’t feel that at all – I felt the chocolate helped balance it and deepened it. My guess is that whether the chocolate works or not depends very much of what chocolate you use. “Bittersweet chocolate” can mean many things. I used a Ghirardelli 72% chocolate bar. It’s probably a good idea not to go below 70% cacao and use a good quality chocolate. You don’t need much, so you can eat the rest of the bar.

Finally, I used beef broth instead of chicken broth because my sister couldn’t find any of the latter at the supermarket and I didn’t add the parsley because I didn’t want my sister to have to buy it and then use such a small amount. In the past, I’ve used celery leaves instead of parsley pretty successfully – but this time she had bought celery hearts.

As with any braised short rib recipe, these ribs are best if made at least one day in advance and reheated before serving.

Braised Short Ribs with Chocolate and Rosemary

Ingredients

  • 6 lbs bone-in short ribs
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup diced pancetta
  • 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped peeled carrots
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cups red wine
  • 3 cups low-salt chicken or beef broth
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes, drained
  • 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (optional)
  • 3 Tbsp finely chopped bittersweet chocolate (~70% cacao)
  • 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

Directions

Cut excess fat from short ribs (you still want to keep some). Sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste.

Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the pancetta and sauté until crisp, transfer onto paper towels.

Turn heat under the pot to medium-high. Add the short ribs to the pot (you will have to do this in batches) and brown on all six sides (remember the ends!). Remove short ribs.

Turn heat down back to medium and add the chopped onions, shallots, celery, carrots and garlic. Cover and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Uncover and add wine. Boil uncovered until the wine is reduced by half, scrapping up the browned bits at the bottom of the pan.

Add the broth, diced tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, reserved pancetta and parsley, if using. Return ribs to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, partially covered, for 1 1/2 hours. Uncover and continuing cooking until tender, 1 1/2 to 3 hours.

Remove the short ribs. Raise heat to high and boil sauce until it starts to thicken, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium and add the chopped chocolate, cocoa powder and rosemary. Stir until the chocolate melts. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Return ribs to the pot and simmer until they are rewarmed, about 5 minutes.

New Year’s Eve 2018 Menu

January 3, 2019 / / 0 Comments

For years, since she was a young girl, my sister Kathy used to come to our house to celebrate Christmas. But then she got married and last year she had her first child (her second came this year!), so she has started celebrating Christmas at her home in Southern California. We didn’t want to do away with the tradition altogether, however, so we’ve decided that we (as in my husband, my children and I) would go down to her home on New Year’s Eve and I’d cook a meal for the whole family. We started this tradition last year – and we continued it this one.

Last year’s food was great (though I don’t remember exactly what I made) but this year the cooking gods were just not with me. I burnt the sauce for the short ribs, I unwittingly used sweetened soy milk in the pasta, and was really too tired to even enjoy eating the meal by the end of it. Still, it was a nice night for all. Here is what I made:

First Course: Salad

This was an afterthought – but we needed something green. Mixed greens with store bought salad dressing.

Second Course: Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onion Squares

These are absolutely delicious and very easy to make (though it takes some time to cook the onions). It was a special request from my sister who remembered these fondly. Everyone swooned.

Third Course: Braised Short Ribs with Chocolate and Rosemary with Mashed Potatoes or Vegan One Pot Creamy Mushroom Pasta

My sister chose this recipe out of a handful I selected – and it was a good call. We’d done short ribs the previous year, but given that the only animal protein my mother eats is beef, we didn’t have too many choices. This recipe was very good – or it would have been, had I not burned it. Still, I was able to recover it and I will make it again.

The mashed potatoes were simple: russet potatoes with butter and sour cream until they tasted right.

I made the mushroom pasta for my vegan daughter and vegetarian niece. I hadn’t realized that the soy milk my sister bought was sweetened, so the whole dish came out way too sweet. My daughter ate it, however. I may try it again the right way.

Fourth Course: Chocolate Peppermint Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream

Once again, at my youngest daughter’s request, I made my grandmother’s chocolate peppermint cake. Or actually, I had my daughter made a chocolate cake from a mix while I made the magnificent peppermint frosting. That meant the cake was lighter and fluffier. It was great with ice cream.

Marga’s Holiday Recipes

Christmas Eve Dinner – 2017

January 3, 2019 / / 0 Comments

As I prepared to plan my Christmas Eve dinner for 2018, I realized that I had never actually posted my menu from 2017. I often go back and look at past menus to see what I should repeat – and what I should omit. I did post some of the recipes, however.

I do still have the copy of the menu, though my recollection of how each course was may be somewhat faulty. This was a 12-course dinner because my youngest daughter was 12 at the time, and she requested that number of courses. My oldest daughter was vegetarian at the time (she’s now vegan), so I made sure that the menu had vegetarian options for her.

First Course: Pomegranate Mint Lassi and Spiced Chickpeas

I served this course in the living room while I got the rest of the dinner ready. It went over very well.

Second Course: Caprese Salad Spoons Amuse Bouche

I had gotten some amuse bouche spoons and, of course, I had to use them. I decided on a simple Caprese salad amuse bouche because my oldest daughter was heavily into Caprese at the time. I couldn’t find any fresh basil at the time (this year it’s all over the place), so I used pesto instead. I also used burrata instead of fresh mozarella, which was a mistake as burrata has too mild a flavor to stand up to the pesto and the super-expensive, thick Balsamic vinegar I also used. Still, this was a good amuse bouche and worked well in the spoons.

Third Course: Linguiça and Local Beer/Root Beer

This was my “ode to San Leandro” course. I live in San Leandro, a relatively small city right south of Oakland. For years, San Leandro was the unofficial sausage capital of California – we had several sausage manufacturers in town. Chief among those sausages was linguiça, a Portuguese smoked-cured pork sausage. Indeed, San Leandro was settled by Portuguese immigrants, and they took their linguiça very seriously (read about San Leandro’s sausage king, if you’re interested in true crime stories).

In recent years, San Leandro has been moving away from sausages and closer to beer – we now have several small breweries in town. So I figured a dish of local linguiça and beer would be a nice way of highlighting my adopted town. Plus, this was an easy dish to make (just cook the
linguiça on the stove or oven) and serve.

Fourth Course: Pear & Goat Cheese Salad with Caramelized Walnuts

It’s funny, I’d completely forgotten I had made this last year – and yet when it came time to make a salad for my 2018 Xmas Eve dinner, this is what I came up with once again!

Fifth Course: Mushroom Soup

I’ve been making Anthony Burdain’s recipe for mushroom soup for many years now and I often serve it for Christmas’ Eve. It’s just absolutely delicious. For the last few years, I’ve been making it with vegetable broth rather than chicken broth to cater to my non-chicken eating family members. It’s just as good.

Sixth Course: Moroccan Chicken Bastilla and Vegan Bastilla

Bastilla is another of my old “tried and true” dishes and a family favorite. My kids really wanted me to make it last year, but as my oldest daughter was then a vegetarian, she requested a vegetarian version. She absolutely loved the recipe I found for her.

Seventh Course: Lemon Sorbet Palate Cleanser

I don’t remember if I made it or I bought it. Still, I always like to serve a sorbet as a palate cleanser before the main course.

Eight Course: Mushroom Marsala Gnocchi

This was my favorite dish of the night.

Ninth Course: Beef Roast with Madeira Sauce, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans

I didn’t leave any record of what recipe I used for the beef, but I’d used this one with great success before, so I probably used it again. Alas, I don’t know what Madeira Sauce recipe I used.

Tenth Course: Cheese Plate

I seem to remember that whatever cheeses I served were good.

Eleventh Course: Sticky Toffee Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream.

Great dessert!

Twelfth Course: Hot Chocolate or Tea with Shortbread Cookies

Store bought and served in the living room.

Marga’s Holiday Recipes

Christmas Eve 2018 Menu

December 29, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Christmas Eve dinner is the ONE big dinner I cook every year – and which I swear, after cooking it, that I’ll never do again. It’s usually a multi-course affair that takes me days to cook – and then goes so quickly (even though it may take hours to consume it). This year I sort of paired it down to 8 courses – one of which we ended up not eating -, but I made vegan versions of several courses because my oldest daughter is now a vegan. She, of course, would have preferred that I only made vegan food, but she’s out of luck on that one.

Dinner was too hectic for me to photograph any of the dishes, so you (or I, when I re-read this) will have to use your imagination. Still, I’m recording this for future reference – together with my notes.

1st Course: Hors d’oeuvres

  • Crostini with deviled egg salad*
  • Crostini with tomato spread and basil (vegan)
  • Slices of salami, soppressata and coppa.
  • olives
  • baguette slices
  • olive oil and flavored balsamic vinegars (lemon, coconut and peach) to dip in.

I had also prepared mejool dates stuffed with bacon and goat cheese, but I stupidly left them on the table and the dog ate them! They were good but not great enough to prepare another batch.

I served this first course at the coffee table and the rest of the courses at the main table, but I had a second plate of crostini with egg salad on the dining table for people to nibble while they waited for other courses.

2nd course: Mixed Green Salad with Gorgonzola Vinaigrette

This is my standard salad. I’ve been making it for 14 years and I just love it. Still, I had originally meant to make a pear salad, but I changed my mind when I realized that the apples I’d bought for the cheese course were horrible and decided to substitute them with the pears. I had all the ingredients for this salad saved for the green onions (which I just omitted), so I went with it. As usual, it was delicious.

I served my daughter a vegan version which just omitted the gorgonzola cheese, but she didn’t like it. Apparently the cheese is key for this salad.

3rd course: Chestnut soup + Vegan Chestnut soup

I’ve been wanting to make chestnut soup for a while, but finding chestnuts hadn’t been easy. This year I found them at Safeway, of all places. I thought the soup had a bit too much nutmeg, but my guests disagreed. In any case, both soups were very good.

I made these soups three days in advance, as was recommended by several reviewers of chestnut soups.

4th course: Fish Lolo + Tofu Lolo + Rice

I wanted to serve a fish course this year and after deciding that I couldn’t time my first preference, catfish a la Meuniere, well enough to make it work in this dinner, I went with this recipe for fish in coconut milk that I had cooked and loved when I explored Fijian cuisine. I made a tofu version for my vegan daughter.

This time it didn’t work as well as the first time. Perhaps the problem was the fish, I used sole instead of swai, which had a far more intense fish flavor. In any case, it was OK but not great.

5th course: Apple & Calvados sorbet

I like to serve a palate cleanser before the main dish – particularly important when serving fish as the appetizer -, and sorbets are my usual choice. This time I decided to make an apple and calvados sorbet as something different. I thought it was pretty good, though it was a bit too alcoholic for my children.

6th course: Beef Wellington + Mushroom Wellington + Smashed Red Potatoes + Vegan Smashed Red Potatoes + Braised Leeks

I’ve made the beef wellington before and this time it came out great as well, though I put a bit too much pate. My daughter said the mushroom wellington was very good as well. I used much less spinach that the recipe called for, as she doesn’t like spinach.

To make the smashed red potatoes I simply used vegan butter and almond milk instead of butter and sour cream. I also added chives to the mashed potatoes to make it more christmasy (the red was provided by the peels).

I made the braised leeks in advanced and reheated them. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a good call. The leeks had been melt-in-your-mouth soft and delicious when I first made them, but they toughened up and didn’t taste as good later. Live and learn.

7th course: Cheese course (omitted)

This is the course I didn’t serve. All of us were pretty full after the main dish and nobody seemed to have space for the cheese course. I had gotten a few cheeses, crackers and sliced baguette, as well as jams, honey and honey mustard and the pear slices I spoke of earlier (preserved by dipping them in 2 cups of water with 1/4 cup of honey for a few minutes before drying and putting in a ziploc bag). I had also made caramelized walnuts (which I ate all by myself later). Well, all of this stuff keeps for a while.

8th course: Chocolate Tart + Vegan Chocolate Tart

This is a very rich tart and not everyone partook of it. Still, those who did enjoyed it. I’ve been slowly making my way through it since. I found a great Belgian chocolate (54%) that worked great – the key to this tart is to use high quality chocolate. My daughter enjoyed her vegan tart as well.

9th course: Peppermint Ice Cream in Candy bowls

I had thought I’d serve the ice cream with the tarts, but we ended up serving it later to the people who still had room in their stomachs (not me). The peppermint ice cream was store bought, but I made the very cool peppermint candy bowls. When making them, I found that using the back of a water glass worked better than a regular rameskin, as those were too large.

In all, it was a good meal but not as exciting or memorable as previous ones. I don’t know, I just wasn’t feeling it this year.

*I had originally meant to make deviled eggs, but I couldn’t manage to peel the eggs. So I chopped the surviving egg whites and added them to a basic deviled eggs recipe to which I’d added a teaspoon of honey pecan mustard and smoked paprika. This was still not doing it for my husband, he felt something was missing, and I realized it was probably an acid, so I added the juice of a lemon, some more mustard and more paprika. I spread the mixture on crostini. That seemed to do the trick and everyone seemed to like it.

Marga’s Holiday Recipes

Meal Kit Reviews: Home Chef’s Parisian Bistro Bone-In Chicken with dauphinoise potatoes and Vichy carrots

December 22, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Rating: 9/10

The key to  making this dish of chicken with dauphinoise potatoes and Vichy carrots  is to not overcook the chicken.  Seriously.  The plate I served first was great.  The chicken skin was incredibly crispy (it’s nice to finally learn the secret of making crispy chicken!), the chicken itself was moist (I tend to prefer dark meat exactly because breasts are often too dry) and the sauce was just delicious.  I only really got to eat my daughter’s leftovers, but I couldn’t help moaning while eating them.

I reserved the second serving for my husband, who was walking the dog while my very hungry daughter ate.  I left the chicken breast in the oven (turned off and with the door open), where it dried up and I was reminded of why I hate white meat.  My husband, who likes chicken breast, wasn’t impressed either.  Once I ate his leftovers, I understood why.  So, if you make this kit, make sure to not overcook the chicken and not leave it in the oven to remain warm.

I also really enjoyed the dauphinoise potatoes – and there were enough for the three of us plus leftovers -, but they didn’t keep well.  The next day they lacked in flavor.  But hey, you are not going to eat them the next day.

Finally, everyone enjoyed the carrots (I didn’t try them as I don’t like carrots).

All in all, this was a much better meal than you would expect.  However, it was also more laborious than the other two I got that week, and it took far longer to prepare.

Now, for the secret of having super-crispy oven-baked chicken: first preheat oven to 400F.  Then saute the chicken breasts on olive oil over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes per side. Then place on a baking sheet and put in an oven for 24-28 minutes.

I got my first week of Home Chef at a discount, so I paid only about $8 for this meal.  Regular price would be $20 – which is a better deal than other home meal kits.

Chicken Demi-Glace Sauce

  • 2 tsp chicken-demi glace
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/2 large shallot, minced

On a saute pan, simmer ingredients together until the sauce thickens, 2-3 minutes.  Serve.

 

 

Meal Kit Reviews: Home Chef’s Jerk Steak Tacos with caramelized pineapple slaw

December 21, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Rating: 5/10

Of all the Home Chef’s meals I got on my first week, this kit for jerk steak tacos with caramelized pineapple slaw was my least favorite.  The biggest issue was that it wasn’t very filling.  With no starches to speak of (3 small flour tortillas don’t count for much), 5 ounces of beef won’t take you very far.

I also wasn’t thrilled with the flavor of the jerk sauce.  Don’t get wrong, it wasn’t bad – but it wasn’t anything spectacular either.

On the plus side, I did enjoy the pineapple slaw as part of the tacos.  By itself, it wasn’t very good, but in the tacos it added crunch and sweetness to the meat and worked very well.  The quality of the meat was good and the meal was very quickly put together.  It just needed something more.

I paid $8 for this meal as part of a first week deal.  Regular price is $20.

 

Meal Kit Review: Gobble’s Blackened Chicken with Marble Potatoes & Broccolini

December 21, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Rating 5/10

This meal kit was completely forgetable. I cooked it. I ate it – and despite the fact that it’s only been a couple of weeks, I can’t remember it at all. I do remember given the leftover broccolini to the dog (I don’t like broccoli or its derivatives) and she gladly ate it (she eats anything that is not dog food). But the chicken? The potatoes? No idea. The sauce looks good, though, and I feel I had a positive impression of it.

Meal Kit Review: Gobble’s Curried Beef Bowl with Basmati Rice & Mini Samosas

December 20, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Rating: 8/10

With the rush of the holidays, I’m running very behind on my meal kit reviews – but I haven’t stopped getting them.  My second week of Gobble, however, was a mistake.  I somehow had neglected to skip it for the first week of December so I got stuck with 3 kits that I didn’t choose.  Given that Gobble costs $79 for a 3-kit box, that was a costly mistake.  Fortunately, I had a $15 credit because of the mistake they made in my previous box, so it made getting this box more “palatable”.

I was also lucky that the three meals Gobble chose for me werethings that I would have ordered myself – and they were all quite good.

My favorite thing about Gobble is how quick and easy it is to prepare its meals.  They send as many pre-sliced and pre-cooked elements as they can without compromising quality, and this kit for Curried Beef Bowl with Basmati Rice & Mini Samosas was no exception.  The tiny samosas came pre-cooked, so all I had to do was heat them up.  They were very good and not too spicy.  We often get fresh samosas from one of our local Indian food stores, so I don’t say this lightly.

The main meal was simple to put together.  The rice came pre-cooked, and all I had to do was heat it in the microwave.  Gobble sends a very tasty precooked rice, which tastes even better than the one I make.  The meat was quickly sauteed on a pan, to which I added the curry powder, the pre-roasted carrots and peas, a pre-mixed garlic/ginger/scallion confit and chicken broth.

The results were great!  It was a very tasty meal and both my husband and I enjoyed it.  At $21, it was equivalent in price to the cost, before tax and tip, of take out – though, of course, we didn’t get leftovers as we do when we order out.  Alas, the whole meal was ready much quicker than it would take to get a restaurant meal delivered.

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