Yellow Pea Smoked Turkey Soup

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25December2018

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Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas everyone. I know you’re all likely filling up on holiday food, roasted turkey or some other bird, honey ham and all the trimmings… as are we… but here’s a little something to help take some of the stretch out of your pants… something I’m trying to do.

I recently stopped working (end of November) this was by choice… call it early retirement. I’m very fortunate to be in a position to be able to do this and plan to make the best possible use of my time. First and foremost joining a gym, check…. starting a consistent work out schedule…. check… and just plain living healthier… not a check yet but working on it.

All the stress and sitting and incessant computer usage caused me some physical issues that I’m going to do my best to resolve through good food and regular work outs. I’m convinced that comfort eating all the delicious but bad for you foods contributed considerably to my physical issues…. sitting all day didn’t help either. So my plan is to make a concerted effort to change that… You’ll be seeing some ‘lighter’ recipes here for the next while at least….

I do love winter for its comfort food. I saw a smoked turkey at a butcher shop down the street a little while ago and it immediately took me back to a time when my dad was obsessing about smoked chickens. Yes, I bought a whole smoked turkey.   Years ago we we having smoked chickens all the time.  At one point my dad even had a smoker and was smoking chickens in the back yard.  These smoked birds weren’t overly salty… a problem I find with most commercial smoked foods.

When I saw smoked turkeys shrink-wrapped at the butcher’s I was taken back and couldn’t help myself.  Now I find myself with most of a smoked turkey left to eat … and with less inclination to just eat it on it’s own I was looking for something to do with it… enter soup!  What better way to have some delicious smoked turkey than in a creamy and hearty pea soup.  Mmmm a little marjoram…. some garlic at the end to give it a bite… Yum…  comfort food for all!

This is one of those kinds of meals that doesn’t really have a precise recipe but more just basic instructions.

Smoked Turkey Split Pea Soup

  • 1 bag or about 900 grams split peas (I used yellow but you can use green)
  • 2 – 3 cups water
  • 2-3 small potatoes (chopped into bite sized pieces)
  • 2 small carrots (chopped into bit sized pieces)
  • 500 – 600 grams of smoked turkey or smoked ham bone or other smoked meat
  • 3-4 garlic cloves
  • 2 teaspoons marjoram
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 -3 Tablespoons butter
  • 2-3 Tablespoons flour

First rinse the split peas then place in a pot and add water and smoked meat. If you’re using a smoked ham bone this should be added as well. The water should easily cover the peas (you may have to add more as it cooks off). Bring to a low simmer and cook until the peas are pretty much tender then add the chopped potatoes and carrots.

Simmer until the potatoes and carrots are tender, while the soup is cooking make the roux, place the butter into a frying pan and bring to low heat. Add the flour and cook gently for about 5 minutes mixing constantly. Set aside.

Once the vegetables are all cooked add the roux from the frying pan let it cook until it thickens then add the crushed garlic and marjoram. Stir to blend and salt and pepper to taste.

I always add the garlic to recipes like this at the end this way it maintains it’s punch. Garlic will lose its potency as it’s cooked. This soup freezes quite well, I made it before all the holiday food and recovered it from the freezer to lighted some of the eating… dare I say I can’t eat turkey with all the holiday trimmings for breakfast, lunch and dinner, this is nice to offset some of the heaviness.

Happy Holidays everyone and bon appetite!

Wolfgang’s Roasted Fish with Caper Herb Beurre Blanc

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9December2018


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I recently became very smitten with Wolfgang Puck and his love for cooking and eating. I’ve heard of him many years ago and after having eaten at his Las Vegas restaurant Spago this last year I discovered him on Facebook in a series called Master Class.  I didn’t immediately buy the class but after  a while, you know how Facebook just keeps taunting you …   I fell victim…. I just couldn’t help myself.  I have to say he is very entertaining and damn… I want to try all of his recipes.  I made this a while ago and decided it’s time to post it here.  I’m trying to eat cleaner and healthier.  I’m also back at the gym but that’s another discussion for another post. For now here is my most recent favourite way to eat fish and even my husband, who loves everything deep fried admitted this was delicious. 

It’s not gluten free or carb free or even fat free… it does contain butter …. but even on a healthy meal plan doesn’t butter make everything  better??? 😉

Puck’s recipe originally calls for Branzino, a type of fish not native to my part of Canada so I used a piece of cod, I’m thinking any good piece of white fish would be fine.  

Roasted Fish 

(*As per Wolfgang Puck’s Master Class)

  • 4 fish fillets
  • salt and pepper (to taste)
  • olive oil

Herb Crust

  • 1 Cup breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 Cup parsley leaves
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 2 sprigs tarragon
  • 2 tbs chives, chopped

Beurre Blanc Sauce

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp shallots
  • 1 sprig tarragon leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 Cup white wine
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice ( I used the juice of 1 lemon)
  • 1/4 Cup unsalted butter
  • 2 tsp capers
  • 3 tbsp small tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp parsley, chopped
  • 6 lemon segments, chopped (I used a whole lemon)

Preheat the oven to 550 degrees F.  Prepare the crust by mixing the breadcrumbs and all the seasonings in a food processor and mix until nicely blended.  On a well oiled baking sheet brush the fish with oil and salt and pepper the filets.  Press the fillets into the herb mixture, If you have a fish with skin then place skin side down on the baking sheet.  If your fish doesn’t have skin (like mine) then press breadcrumbs into both sides and place on baking sheet… bake in oven for 5 to 8 minutes… or just until the fish is opaque, time will differ depending on the thickness of the fish.

To make the beurre blanc sauce pour the olive oil in a sauce pan on medium heat and sauce shallots until translucent.  Deglaze with wine and add the tarragon.  Reduce the wine and add the lemon juice.  Whisk the sauce and gradually add in the butter.  Salt and pepper and finally add in the capers, tomatoes, parsley and lemon segments.  Whisk to combine everything … add salt or pepper to taste.  

Serve the fish hot with a generous serving of the beurre blanc sauce… Thank you Wolfgang!  

I’ve made this a couple of times and I actually slow roasted some cherry tomatoes for a couple of hours before adding them to the fish.  In the middle of winter it’s rather challenging to find tomatoes that have any taste in my part of the world and I’ve taken to roasted them to boost the taste.  If you’re interested in doing the same you can following my roasted tomatoes recipe.

Czech or Bohemian GULÁŠ (Goulash)

Posted by Pussycat in Main Dishes | 1 Comment
5December2018

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Someone recently said they were looking for a true bohemian goulash recipe… now that it’s getting cold outside it makes sense to make this hearty meal… and it makes sense to post it.

My mother’s instructions are a little vague and I’ll try to be more specific here, but the measurements are not exact.  Except for the fact that I’ve always been told in a good goulash the measurement of meat to onions is 1 to 1 so if we start there the recipe is sure to be pure gold.

The addition of Czech beer isn’t absolutely necessary but really…could it hurt???  I think not 😉 and it really does add a dept of flavour that rounds out the recipe.

Goulash

  • 2 kg of beef shanks chopped into bitesized pieces
  • 2 kg of onions chopped
  • Splash of oil, canola or other vegetable oil
  • 2 T Caraway seeds
  • 3 T Paprika
  • 1 bottle of Czech beer
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 2 T marjoram
  • 2 Tablespoons flour
  • 1/4 cup water
  • sat and pepper to taste

Place a large pot on medium heat and cook the onions in oil until translucent.  Add the meat and fry until the meat is seared on the outside about 5 minutes.  Then add caraway seeds, garlic and paprika (when adding the paprika take the pot off the heat, too much heat and the paprika will get bitter) stir to ensure all the seasoning is coated in oil.  Add the beer and simmer on the stove until the meat is soft and tender, about 45 minutes… keep simmering until much of the liquid has cooked off, if you check the meat and it’s not tender but you’re running out of liquid, add a bit of water.

Once the meat is tender mix the water and flour in a cup ensuring there aren’t any lumps (this can be strained) add to the meat mixture and bring to a slight bubble until it thickens. Finally season with marjoram and salt a pepper to taste.  If you like a bit more garlic you can add more at the end, the longer you cook garlic it becomes more sweet and the less ‘bite’ it has… level of garlic is really personal preference.

There really are a couple of keys to a good goulash, firstly the ratio of meat to onions… this really needs to be one to one.  Secondly, the marjoram at the end… this, at least to  me, is the signature flavour of goulash… if you do both of those two things you’ll have a delicious meal ready to be served with a nice bowl of rice.

Bon appetite!

 

 

Drunken Kugel 2.0

Posted by Pussycat in Main Dishes, Sides | Leave a comment
23September2018

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It’s not everyday you make a kugel with scratch made pasta and home made ricotta…and liquor soaked cranberries…  but when it is that day…. when it’s warranted and you want to go through a multi-level effort… the results are amazing.  I like kugel normally but I absolutely LOVE it when it’s made this way.  I love the bite of chewy thicker noodles and the creaminess of home made ricotta.  Put it all together and it’s a winner!

It’s not a dish I make regularly, it’s not generally in my wheelhouse and not something I grew up with, sometimes I will make it when my husband’s side of the family comes over for Yom Kippur or Chanukah and this Yom Kippur I hosted and my centrepiece was going to be the Kugel.  This however, comes with a warning, be careful to not shatter pyrex dishes.

It was a clumsy mistake, I can’t believe I didn’t notice the one burner was on super low… goes to show how low it can actually go.  It took some time before I realized it was the corner of that resting, cooling dish on the stove that was burning and not something else in the oven.  Quickly I turned it off, and it may have been okay had I not wanted to get it off the hot element and pushed it off to the cooler back part of the stove…. that’s when it happened… it shattered to pieces.

The bottom still held together, it was still piping hot and far from manageable.  All I could do was send my husband a picture of it and tell him I just wanted to cry.  His response was, “Can’t you save it”? And I have to admit that I was thinking the same thing.  Once things cooled down enough that I could touch them I pulled out another, smaller container and tried to scoop up as much of the kugel that I thought was clear of any glass.  I know… some of you are shuttering right now…. and trust me I was doing the same thing.  Vacillating between desperately wanting to save the kugel and being scared that there might be some shard of glass hiding in the mess, I grappled with these thoughts as I cleaned up the rest of the disaster from the stove.

I thought the dish had only shattered into chunks the same way a car window is meant to, but as I was cleaning up the pieces I could see that there were numerous slivers strewn about the stove that were barely perceptible and those were my nemesis.  In the end, I put my glasses on and looked super close and could see that there was at least one on the top of the kugel.  That was it.  Off to the garbage it went.

Of course now that was what I was craving more than anything else.  I could care less about any of the other dishes we were having for dinner.  All I wanted was the kugel.

So here we are, I was making this dish again and decided to memorialize it in a post…. it is deliciously good…. even if you’re not the biggest kugel fan, it’s creamy and just a little sweet and crispy on the outside… it is just a winner.  Thanks to Smittenkitchen for the homemade ricotta recipe that I’ll reprint here.  And to This Old Gal’s inspiration which was the basis of kugel —  though it was altered some.  Years ago I found a blog that had a kugel with booze soaked raisins but the link I had doesn’t work anymore and I can’t seem to find it.  Suffice it to say, I’m a true believer that all ideas stem from others and please don’t think any of this is my original idea or something no one else ever thought of…

Here goes….

Scratch Ricotta

The day before, or at least several hours before make the ricotta

  • 3 cups of whole homogenized milk
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix the milk and salt in a sauce pan.  Heat to 190 °F while stirring pretty regularly so that it doesn’t burn at the bottom.  Once you reach 190°  take the pot off the stove, stir in the lemon juice and let sit for about 10 minutes.  In that time get a sieve lined with cheese cloth ready.  Once the 10 minutes are up then pour into the sieve and let it sit for a couple of hours.  the longer you leave it the drier the cheese is so you can test it every so often so see how you like it.  I generally do this the day before and let it sit for several hours.  Take out of the cheesecloth and set aside in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.

Booze soaked cranberries

Soak 1/2 cup dried cranberries in tequila or gin…. I had some really nice pink gin that I soaked them in the day before, when I made the ricotta.  Set those aside until you’re ready to assemble the kugel.

Noodles

  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • pinch of salt
  • splash of water (1-2 tablespoons)

Mix all the ingredients together on a floured counter to make a nice dough.  Knead into a nice ball and let it rest for a bit. It will be stiff and a bit of work to roll out, let it rest intermittently and keep at it… it will be worth it.  Roll out the dough about 1/8 of an inch thick…. I generally don’t worry about measuring… it will puff up when you boil it and I quite love it a little thicker and chewier.  There are probably a million recipes and instructions out there in the Internet… this one is just here to serve as my own recipe and reminder.  Any recipe is fine.

For the kugel, when I boil the pasta I only boil it for about a minute.  I’ve boiled it longer but when I’ve done it that way there isn’t much bite left to the noodles after they’ve been baked.  When made for this I literally drop the pasta into boiling water and then take it out AS SOON as it starts to float.

Rinse with cold water then set aside.

Kugel Filling

  • 8 large eggs
  • 1 Cup full fat sour cream
  • 3/4 Cup sugar
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Ricotta (what you’ve made from the recipe above)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Place all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix with a whisk.  It doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth and I actually like it with a few small chunks of the cheese.

Kugel Assembly

Preheat oven to 350° F.

  • 1 large apple – sliced thin using a mandolin
  • 1 batch of ricotta (as above)
  • 1 batch of noodles (as above)
  • 1 batch of booze soaked cranberries (as above)
  • Kugel filling

Place the noodles in a greased 9 x 13 dish, mix in the sliced apple and the cranberries then pour the filling over the entire dish.  It might be a little thick so I generally move the noodles around a bit to ensure the filling gets into every corner.  Place the kugel into the oven and bake for about 50 minutes or until golden brown on the top.

Let it cool for a bit…. DO NOT place on cold surface 🙂 and serve either warm or at room temperature.  I eat mine on its own but people will often have it with a scoop of sour cream… whatever your pleasure….

 

Bon Appétit!