Split Pea Soup

We occasionally buy a spiral cut ham and always make soup from the bone.  This recipe is incredible easy and makes an elegant, creamy soup.  Serve with a crust bread (preferably home made) and plenty of butter.

All soups usually benefit, aesthetically, from some sort of garnish. I usually chop up some of the ham, for this soup, and carefully drop it into the soup.  Because it's thick, some of the ham tends to float. Other ideas for a garnish:  chopped green onions, baby peas, really coarsely ground black pepper, chopped parsley, a nasturtium, several celery leaves, croutons . . . whatever is on hand.

1-1/2 – 2 lbs.    ham bone (or pork neck bones)
16 cups  chicken stock  -OR-  water
1 lb.  split yellow peas
1 onion, diced
4 cloves - garlic, minced
2 stalks - celery, diced
2 Knorr’s vegetable bullion
1 teaspoon salt
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾” pieces
8 oz. cranberry sauce
1 teaspoon salt

Boil the bone(s) in the water for one hour (gentle boil).  Remove bone(s) and discard.  Strain liquid with a cheese cloth (if necessary).  Add the peas and allow to sit in the broth for 1 hour.  Add all the remaining ingredients, except the cranberry sauce, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for one hour.  Add cranberry sauce and stir.  Puree, in stages, in a blender or food processor.  Serve with a crusty white bread . . . and butter.  (February 13, 1995)

Potato Pancakes (Placki Kartoflane)

Placki Kartoflane was one of my favorite dishes as a child. My mother would make piles of them and we would have them as leftovers throughout the week.

4 large potatoes, grated
2 eggs
8 tablespoons flour
1 small onion, finely diced or grated
salt

Place the grated potatoes and onion into a large bowl. Add two eggs and mix well. Sprinkle with two tablespoons of flour and some salt, mix well and repeat until all the flour has been incorporated.

Melt two tablespoons of butter and oil into a 12” skillet. Heat until hot and spoon four heaps of potato mixture into the skillet. Flatten each pancake gently. The pancakes should be about ½” thick. Fry to a crisp golden-brown and serve immediately with salt and pepper. Optionally, serve with a dollop of sour cream or apple sauce on the side.

Below, potato pancakes with lamb top sirloin and green beans.

Simple Coffee Cake With Seasonal Fruit

This cake is particularly good with apricots and blueberries.  I haven’t tried it, but I imagine it would be perfectly good without any fruit.

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1-1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1-1/4 cup self rising flour
Seasonal fruit (such as 2 peaches, sliced  & handful of blueberries)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Generously butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Using an electric mixer, beat ½ cup of butter in a large bowl until fluffy.  Add ¾ cup sugar and beat until blended.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, then the lemon juice and the lemon peel.  Beat in flour until smooth.  Spread batter evenly in buttered pan.

Arrange peaches in circles and lightly press in blueberries between the peaches.  Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of sugar over the cake and bake until cake is golden, about 40 minutes.

Optional:  Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Mint Layer Cake

Although this is a relatively simple cake, it can be made to be an elegant cake with the addition of some fresh flowers or mint leaves. It's perfect for a birthday or other celebration. It's a relatively fool-proof cake, but you must have three 9-inch cake pans. If you like mint, this is the cake for you!

1 3/4 cups cake flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Mint Whipped Cream
3-1/2 cups chilled whipping cream
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Makes about 6 cups.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper.

Sift first 5 ingredients into a medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions each, beating until well blended. Divide batter equally among prepared pans (~ two heaping cups for each); smooth top of batter.

Bake all three cakes at once until tester inserted into center comes out with some moist crumbs still attached, about 25 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on a rack (out of oven) 15 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks; peel off parchment paper. Cool completely. The cakes can be made a day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.

Prepare whipped cream: Beat cream, sugar and peppermint extract in large bowl until stiff peaks form.

Assemble cake: Place one cake layer on a round platter and spread with 1-1/4 cups Mint Whipped Cream over. Top with second cake layer. Spread 1-1/4 cups Mint Whipped Cream over. Top with third cake layer. Spread remaining Mint Whipped Cream over top and sides of cake. Using a pastry knife, smooth the whipped cream so the top is flat and sides are smooth. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Garnish with fresh flowers, such as nasturtiums, or mint leaves. Alternatively, use a peeler to make chocolate curls and sprinkle over the cake.

Ann Z's Trick to perfect Brassica oleracea botrytis

Broccoli is one of those vegetables that suffers terribly from over-cooking. And it's also one of those vegetables that's easy to overcook. Then it's just a mushy green mess that nobody enjoys. Even if it is in the "super food" category.

Our friend Ann taught us a trick that always works:

Put about 1" of water into the bottom of a pot, add your brassica oleracea and turn on the heat. The moment the water begins to boil, remove from the heat and cover. Allow to stand exactly five minutes, drain and serve.

Panetonne Bread Pudding

6 servings

Panettone -- A 15th century legend credits the invention to a Milanese nobleman, falconer Ughetto Atellani, who fell in love with Adalgisa, the daughter of a poor baker. To win her heart, Atellani disguised himself as a baker and cooked up a extravagant bread that included butter, eggs, and bits of raisins, candied lemon and orange peel. Nice story, but just one of numerous legends that surround this wonderful bread.

Bread Pudding – Bread dates back to the Neolithic era (~ 9,500 BC). Nobody knows when bread pudding was invented. Unfortunately, no romantic legends.

If it’s not the holiday season you can substitute ordinary white bread for the panettone to produce a standard bread pudding, which is worthwhile. We occasion a café in Chicago that makes theirs from day old croissants. I’ve also heard of bread pudding made from day old glazed donuts, which sounds interesting. Experiment! Add some dried cranberries, lemon peel or orange peel for fun. Some alternatives follow the recipe.

Note about rum sauce: Many people serve bread pudding with a rum sauce, but I haven’t tried it yet. Personally, I like drinking the rum while I prepare the bread pudding.

The recipe . . .

2-1/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus some for greasing baking dish
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus some for sprinkling
6 tablespoons sugar, plus some for sprinkling
Pinch of salt
2 large or extra-large eggs
½ of a large Panettone (equal to six slices of white bread)

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.

Combine milk, butter cinnamon, six tablespoons of sugar and salt in a saucepan and cook over low heat. Grease a baking dish with butter. Cut bread into large pieces (~1-1/2” x 1-1/2”) and place into the baking dish. Pour the milk over the bread and let soak for 10 minutes. Beat eggs and pour over the bread; mix lightly. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Place baking dish into a larger dish or pan and add water to the large pan to one inch of the top. Bake 1 hour. Test with a toothpick for doneness. The center can be fairly moist. Place under broiler to brown. Serve either warm or room temperature.

Egg Nog Bread Pudding

During the Christmas holiday substitute egg nog for the milk. Cut sugar back 1/3 to ½ or it will be quite sweet.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Combine 2 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate with the milk.

Apple Bread Pudding

Combine 1 cup of peeled and grated apples (drained) with the milk.