The Pains of Pureed Soup

My mother-in-law's birthday was Wednesday, and so we are having her over for lunch this Saturday. Needless to say, I have planned a menu that could be overly ambitious! This occurred to me yesterday when I went to the Farmer's Market to buy ingredients (what a great excuse to go blow money at the Farmer's Market!). And it occurred to me that I might want to plan ahead.

Now, when I created this menu, you must keep several things in mind:

1. my husband does not eat beef, pork, or shellfish (unless the beef is grass-fed organic)
2. my son is on a gluten-free diet and has dairy and soy allergies
3. my mother-in-law does not really eat meat except (wild caught) fish sometimes. Also she does not eat dairy or really any type of sugar or white rice and also tries to avoid gluten.
   

Have you got all that? So creativity and determinination a must! So here's my menu:

Appetizer: Curry Carrot Soup
Main Entree: Jerk and Lemon-Pepper Salmon
Quinoa in a Mushroom Stock with Mushrooms
Green Salad
Dessert: Assorted Fruits

This doesn't sound that difficult does it? Particularly when my husband is making the salmon. But with two kids, two dogs, and my husband and I being somewhat complacent about putting things where they belong, my house looks like a tornado ran through it (complete with a rag-tag collection of items we are saving for a yard-sale strewn across the hearth.) So I decided prepping ahead was a must.

So yesterday, I went ahead and made the mushroom stock. I always make meat-based broths and stocks and had never done a veggie version, so I perused the internet to get ideas, and then made my own recipe:


Mushroom Stock

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 c. white mushrooms, sliced thinly
• 1 c. baby portabella mushrooms, sliced thinly
• 2 shitake mushrooms, caps sliced thinly
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 tbsp. almond flour
• 1/2 c. merlot
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp. marjoram
• 1 tbsp. parsley
• 1 tbsp. thyme
• 9 cups water
• sea salt
• black pepper

In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil. Once it is nice and hot, add the mushrooms, onion, carrot, and garlic. Saute for 3-5 minutes or about as long as it takes you to empty the dishwasher. By this point, the veggies should be starting to get nice and soft. Add the almond flour, the merlot, and the tomato paste. Stir, mixing throughly, reduce the heat to medium, and cover and cook for 3 minutes. Add the vinegar and herbs, mixing it all in so all the veggies get flavor on them. Add 3 cups of the water, crunch up some sea salt and throw in, and add some black pepper to your taste. (I used about 1/2 tsp. sea salt and 1 tsp. of black pepper) Cook for 20 minutes, stirring when you think of it to be sure nothing is sticking to the bottom. At this point, lean over the pot and inhale deeply. The reason I want you to do this is I cannot describe how good it smells at this point... it is truly indescribable! Add 3 more cups of water, and let your stock reduce for about 1 hour or as long as it takes to go pick your kid up from karate. (I did have my hubby at home stirring occasionally. At least, I think he stirred it.) Add 3 more cups of water and cook for about 20 minutes. At this point, taste test it and be sure you are satisfied with the flavor. Give your kid a spoonful as well. Mine proclaimed, "I could eat garbage cans full of that it's SO GOOD!" And, um, I think that was a compliment.

Strain the stock, and then I let it cool and stuck it in the fridge for Saturday. I am a skimpy cook, so I saved the veggies and tossed them in with the potatoes I was roasting later on for dinner. Most people throw them out, but that seemed like a big waste to me.

I had already decided to roast a chicken for our dinner last night, and suddenly decided that since the curry carrot soup was an actual recipe that, oh , say I didn't make up, and I had never made it before I should try it out beforehand to make sure we all liked it.

I totally stole the recipe out of the book, "The Gluten-Free Girl." And let me just say, it has coconut milk in it (my husband hates coconut milk he thinks) and it has curry in it (my daughter hates curry she thinks) and we all loved it. I kept a mug at the dinner table and drank 3 or 4 cups. The Gluten-Free girl's website also has a lot of recipes. I also used her roast chicken recipe last night, and it was also a definite keeper!

Here's my thing. I love to cook. I love to create great food for friends and family. Here's the other thing: I'm lazy. This is why the crock pot is my best friend and I own 3. I recently spied this great set that has three linked together and went nuts.

So definitely, I would recommend you try the Gluten-Free girl's soup. But don't try another complicated recipe at the same time. And know that you will have to puree the soup in the blender ( a step I am mostly too lazy to take, but in this case it was worth it.)

And we'll be having the soup tomorrow. But I am chopping the veggies tonight.

Gluten-Free Dirty Rice and Polenta Spoonbread

So much with kids and with parenting is a guessing game. You can read all the books in the world, take parenting advice from your parents and in-laws, but the reality is, every child is different. I was a child of multiple, multiple food allergies, restricted to a diet from age 4 until I was on my own in college (when I quit the diet whether it was actually healthy for me or not.) One of my big reasons for breastfeeding both of my children was the research that shows that kids who are breastfed have less allergic tendencies, so I hoped if anything, I could help them avoid missing out on all of the foods I did. Little did I know, most of the foods I pined for as a child, like pizza, packaged meals, and candy bars, were junk anyway. With my daughter, she had some allergic reactions as an infant, but then they all seemed to fade away.

Fast forward six years. My son was allergic to dairy and soy even when I breastfed him, and I have been possibly overly cautious in the way we went about starting him on solids. It seemed for a period of time, however, that dairy and soy were my only concerns, and the floodgates of solids opened. He is, after all, a toddler now, and wants to feed himself. He demands foods with great greed, shoving bits of food into his mouth indiscriminately, doing the "happy food dance" when he eats something he particularly likes. But he has had multiple stomach and digestive issues, and after a comment from my mother-in-law a few weeks ago, I finally decided to research his issues. He could have multiple things wrong with him, but the most likely culprit seems to be gluten. Of course, I could run him out to the doctor for testing for many disorders, but it does seem that eliminating gluten for a couple of weeks is easier and much less traumatic.

Except he loves toast. And he's a bread man's grandson. Easy? Um, maybe not so much.

But I am determined, and the more I read, the more I am convinced that possibly I have an intolerance to gluten I never realized.... OH THE AGONY. I JUST LEARNED TO BAKE BREAD IN THE LAST YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So, we are trying this gluten-free thing. R and I are doing really good, M and S are not. They are really stubborn and think morning cereal is a food of the gods.

And it seems that GF is helping R. So, I came up with my Gluten-Free version of Dirty Rice and a Polenta Spoonbread. It starts off oddly, but came out really tasty!



Gluten-Free Dirty Rice

1 lb chicken livers
1 stalk celery
1 carrot
1/2 red bell pepper
1/4 onion
3 tsp. thyme
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp cayenne pepper
butter
olive oil
2 tsp almond flour
2 cups chicken stock (homemade, preferably)
4 cups of pre-cooked rice

If you do not have rice you have already cooked, you will want to start it cooking first. I find this recipe a handy use for the leftover containers of rice taking up space in the fridge. Chop the onions, carrot, red bell peppers, garlic, and celery into small bits, and them keep them handy. Melt about 2 tbsp of butter and add the almond flour, stirring constantly to make a nice roux. Add in the veggies and about 1 tsp. of the thyme. Stir together so it all mixes well, and cook until the onions are starting to turn translucent. Watch the garlic carefully to be sure it doesn't burn. Meanwhile, put the chicken livers into a food processor or blender, and shred them completely. When you have the right consistency, the contents of your processor will look like blood soup (quite nasty, really.) If the pan with the veggies needs some olive oil at this point (most likely it will) add a couple of tablespoons. Add the chicken livers to the veggies, along with about 1/2 tsp. of the cayenne pepper and another 1 tsp. of the thyme. Cook on low heat, stirring pretty constantly to be sure all of the liver is getting cooked evenly. You are looking for it to turn a ghastly gray color. Once you have that, stir in the rice, mixing it in well with the liver & veggie mixture. Add the stock, and the remaining spices. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally to be sure nothing is sticking to the bottom. You want the stock to cook mostly out, so it all gets the lovely flavors and moisture from it.



Polenta Spoonbread

2 cups polenta (in a box, not the rolled kind)
2 cups of chicken stock (preferably homemade)
4 eggs
thyme
sage
parsley

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook the polenta according to package directions (generally bring it to a boil in the stock and let it cook for about 5 minutes.) In a mixing bowl, whip 4 egg whites into soft peaks. Mix the cooked polenta in with 2 egg yolks and 2 of the egg whites. Fold in the other egg whites, and then add seasoning (I used 1 1/2 tsp. of each.) Spread the mixture in an oiled baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is starting to look a bit crusty and slightly browned.The bread comes out tasting a lot like a cornbread based dressing, but fluffier.



To serve, spoon large spoonfuls into a bowl and top with the dirty rice.


This was a hit with the entire family. And the 7 year old was particularly impressed. The conversation went like this:
"What is that?"
"Polenta spoonbread."
"What is spoonbread?"
"Bread you have to serve with a spoon."
"What is polenta?"
"Fancy Italian grits."
"You made bread out of grits? WOW. THAT IS AWESOME!!!!!"

It is worth noting if you are trying to go gluten-free that polenta is a gluten-free substance. All manufacturers do not think alike. It's better to read your product's packaging to be sure!

Spinach Pasta Sauce

For Easter, I wanted to bring a green side dish to go along with what I knew would be a heavily brownish meal (mac & cheese, dressing, rolls, etc.) but still wanted it to be a bit indulgent and carb-happy. I also wanted to cook ahead of time so I could go to church.

So I invented a spinach based pasta sauce, to be served chilled on pasta salad. It was very easy to make, and both kids slurped it up.




Ingredients:

1 pkg. frozen spinach
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 small onion
1 pinch sea salt
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 pkg whole wheat penne pasta
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes
1/4 cup lemon juice




Directions:
Thaw spinach. You will use 1/3 of the package for this recipe. Put the other 2/3 in a tupperware container in your fridge, you can throw it into dinner or breakfast later. Before you start the sauce, cook pasta according to manufacturer's directions. While the pasta is cooking, mince your onion and garlic. Combine in the blender the onion, garlic, and spinach. Blend until the food starts to puree, then, while still blending, drizzle olive oil and lemon juice into blender until all is mixed in. Shut off the blender. It should look like this:

Add in your parsley, lemon, zest, salt, and pepper. Stir in well so that all of the sauce is well seasoned. Pour (this will require use of a spoon) into a bowl and toss with the pasta. Chop your sundried tomatoes into small bits and mix into the pasta. Chill until ready to serve.(Pasta prior to the addition of sun-dried tomatoes)



Enjoy!