Japanese Salad Dressing

I made this salad dressing the other night with good success. This recipe produces about 3 plus cups of a beautifully orange-colored salad Japanese-styled salad dressing.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup peanut oil
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 plum tomato
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
ground black pepper to taste

Toss all of the above into a food processor for 10-15 seconds. I like it with some texture so don't overdo it. Serve on a mixed green salad with sliced almonds and perhaps some dried cherries. Wonderful flavor!

Butternut Squash and Leek Soup

Hi Family!

Sachin and I are learning to cook with all of the new spring vegetables. We get so many each week that we are forced to find new ways to use vegetables we've never cooked before... like the interesting rutabaga and orange salad from last week...hmmm. anyways, this one was delicious, healthy and easy so would recommend.

Butternut Squash and Leek Soup

1 medium butternut squash (2-3lbs)

2 leeks

4 Tbsp butter

salt

water 1-2 cups (plus the reserved water from roasting the squash)

2-3 Tbsp low fat sour cream

1 Tbsp milk

brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 375. Split the squash in the middle and place cut side down into a 9x13" pyrex with 1/4 - 1/2" of water to roast for about 40 minutes.

Cut and clean leeks, then rough dice the white and light green parts. Heat butter in sauce pan over medium low. Add leeks. Cook for 3-4 minutes till fragrant and starting to turn translucent.

Add the squash roasting water to the leeks and butter. Salt to taste. Scoop the seeds out of the squash and discard. Scoop the flesh out of the skin and into the water, leeks, and butter. Puree in small batches in a blender or with a handheld electric blender. (Be careful if you blend the soup not to cover it tightly...it will explode all over the kitchen, been there, done that, not fun)

Add water to desired consistency and heat. When gently bubbling, add 2-3 Tbsp sour cream, 1 tsp of brown sugar, and 1 Tbsp milk. Whisk to mix. Serve right away! yum.

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Almond Polenta Cake

I made this cake for a dinner party with my girlfriends, and it was a crowd hit! I got the recipe from Yoga Journal.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 C softened unsalted butter 1 C granulated sugar
2 large eggs 1 t almond extract
1 t grated lemon zest 1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C stone-ground polenta 1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt 3/4 C buttermilk
Powdered sugar and almonds for garnish and glaze


PREPARATION
1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a bundt pan. I used a regular cake pan but would recommend the bundt pan.

2. Beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs individually, betain well after each. Stir in almond extract and zest.

3. In a small bowl, add the flour, polenta, baking powder, and salt. Stir half the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Add the buttermilk, then the remaining flour blend. Mix. Scape the batter into the prepared pan and bake 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

4. Cook cake in pan for 10 minutes, and then invert it onto a cooling rack. Remove pan and cool cake completely.

5. Mix together powdered sugar with a little water for glaze and drizzle over cake's top. Garnish with almonds. (I opted to forgo the glaze + almonds and serve with fresh strawberries.)

This cake has a unique and tasty flavor!

Lemon Souffle with Raspberry Sauce

Katie and I pulled this desert together from a few recipes. It was very tasty, but the sauce was too sugary for the two of us. Total prep and cook time: about 1.5-2 hours (because some of the steps require allowing the mixtures to cool).

Lemon Souffle
some raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup half and half
1.5 tsp lemon zest
3 eggs, separated
2 Tblsp flour
1/4 cup lemon juice
dash of salt
dash of cream of tartar
powdered sugar (optional)

You can find the directions that we followed here: http://find.myrecipes.com. We added whole raspberries to the bottom of the ramkins before we filled them with the lemon mixture. This souffle turned out quite lovely. As they come out of the oven, immediately grate some dark chocolate on the top of them (stay away from that milk chocolate stuff). We would suggest letting the souffles sit for 5-10 minutes after taking them out of the oven, as they will continue to set. They'll be more like pudding if you eat them right out of the oven. You could wrap them in foil to keep them warm after you take them out of the oven.

We also made a raspberry sauce to go with the souffles; here's a modified version of a recipe we found at allrecipes.com

Raspberry Sauce

1 package (a pint) of raspberries
1/8 cup sugar (see note below)
2 Tbl orange juice (we just squeezed an orange)
2 Tbl cornstarch or potato starch
1 cup cold water

Combine 90% of your raspberries, sugar, and orange juice in a saucepan. In a dish whisk cornstarch into the cold water until dissolved and then add to the saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and transfer to another bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes while it cools and thickens. While the sauce cools, chop up the remaining raspberries you have and place them atop your souffles, to add a little texture to them. Put a spoonful of raspberry sauce atop the souffles as well (and powdered sugar if you want: we didn't) and you're ready to eat.

Enjoy with a few glasses of fruity white wine and some Chet Baker and you're set!

Note on the sugar. We found that 1/4 cup of sugar was just too much for our preferences so we'd suggest to use between 1/8 and 3/16 cups.

Chocolate Amaretto Truffle Torte for Valentine's Day!

Sachin has perfected a decadent chocolate dessert. It is surprisingly easy and incredibly rich. We served a dinner party of 12 one recipe of this dessert and it worked out perfectly. You can make it the night before too (just wait to dust with cocoa powder). We give it a solid 5 stars for taste and fancy appearance to easy preparation ratio!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Ingredients

Crust:

1 C flour

1/3 C butter

½ C sugar

2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (like scharffenberger)

Filling:

2 ½ C whipping cream

2 Tbsp milk

3 Tbsp amaretto liqueur

8 oz semisweet chocolate (I like 60-70% cacao)

3 oz bittersweet chocolate (about 82%)

Topping:

Unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

To make the Crust:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter. Stir in sugar and cocoa powder.

Mix in flour until well mixed and mixture resembles fine crumbs. (I like to cut this with a pastry blade)

Press mixture into bottom of 10 inch springform pan. (do not use all of mixture if using a smaller springform)

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove and cool. (don’t overcook this or it will turn out like a Frisbee. I used 15 minutes the last time and it was perfect.)

To make the filling:

Melt chocolate (after rough chop) in double boiler and remove from heat.

Mix whipping cream, amaretto, and milk in a bowl and whip just until the mixture begins to firm up and hold shape. (?soft peaks?)

Fold chocolate into the whipped cream mixture until just mixed.

Pour filling over the cooled crust and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Sprinkle with cocoa powder and serve.

Serves 12 small pieces.

Valentine's Day Deserts

Your challenge this month is to CREATE a Valentine's Day desert. You can interpret the word 'create' however you wish. Good luck and may your cooking contain lots of love.

Winter Delights!

Venezuelan Christmas Bread
The bread that you see on the left is a traditional Venezuelan Christmas food called "pan de jamon" or "bread of ham." Gustavo's mother, Glenis, prepares this dish every year, and it is eaten at all times of the day. The bread includes raisins, olives, and prosciutto. It is delicioso!


Mussels in a Lemongrass-Ginger Tea Broth
When Jason and Katie were in Beantown visiting us, they cooked New England mussels for dinner. They prepared the mussels in a broth of lemongrass-ginger tea and served them with a baguette and a carrot, broccoli, fennel salad with a soy dressing. Super tasty!