Spice Depot

There are lots of great things about having a blog, one of which is the occasional freebie - my first in fact. I was contacted about 6 weeks ago to see if I was interested in sampling and posting on some Canadian based spice blends from the Spice Depot. The stipulations from my end were that I can say whatever I want about the product and have as long as I want to get around to the post. Good thing too as it took me awhile to do a thorough test of it all.

I received two spice blends along with a nice carrying bag about a month ago; one designed to make JoJo potatoes and one intended for Seafood. I should preface all this by saying I am not a big user of spice blends. Partly because I prefer instead to try something new and different every time and partly because I never seem to remember I have them in the cupboard. In order to give it a fair shot I decided to do three experiments with the spices.

The JoJo seasoning is a combination of things designed to go well with potatoes - garlic, rosemary, paprika, salt and pepper etc. But I decided first to try it on a yam I had laying around and make yam wedges. I roasted the scrubbed yam slices that I had tossed with the JoJo seasoning and olive oil. I served them with a dipping sauce of mayo, lemon juice and more of the spice blend. They were a huge hit - and the quasi-aioli dip was a hit too.


Secondly I did the more straightforward thing - grilled some potatoes wedges that had been covered in the oil and the spice blend. They were good but not particularly remarkable compared to your average potato on the BBQ.



Lastly I fried some salmon with the seafood seasoning. The seafood seasoning include dill, fennel and lemon zest. I didn't have access to the BBQ so I simply patted the fish dry, covered it in salt, pepper and the spice blend and fried it in butter. Simple and delicious. I generally like my salmon very plain with garlic and lemon but this was both simple and flavorful so I was impressed.

All and all I think these things really vary on your cooking style. If you are someone who is likely to use a spice mix then this is a definitely a good product. I think after using these I will actually continue to use them. The ingredients are fresh and well chosen and do not include anything on the label which is unrecognizable (Does anyone else hate seeing the words maltodextrin or hydrogenated soybean oil etc? ). Plus I do like the spice blends with a grinder to get a more fresh spice. I will definitely use this to make yam fries again since it was such a hit and I may try the seafood one too. All and all a decent time saving product.

Shanghai Soup Buns - XiaoLongBao

My new discovery, my new craving, my new addiction. I am certainly not the first to fall in love with these beautifully constructed little dumplings and I won't be the last. These are a specific Shanghai specialty called XiaoLongBao or Xiao Long Bao. The secret, or specialty is a dumpling that not only contains meat but soup as well. With the first little bite you suck the soup from the dumpling. Then you dip the remainder in vinegar and chow down. I have had them at three different places - the first was Jia Jia Tang Bao near the Jig'an Temple metro station in Shanghai, a chowhound recommendation. The second was in the Ruijin Guesthouse grounds in Xiao Nan Guo and the third in this little breakfast place under the metro stop at Zhang Jiang technology Park. All were fabulous and unforgettable.

I think there is a lot of truth in the idea that food can be a gateway to memories - and therefore permanent souvenirs of traveling. Though I haven't even gotten back yet I have already googled a few recipes on how to make these. I was quite curious about how one gets the soup inside but once I read up on it it made perfect sense - aspic! I knew Julia Child would eventually start to haunt my life. Stay tuned for my trials and tribulations of making these at home.. as well as other interesting stories from my trip to Shanghai, after I actually get back that is.

These are the ones from Jia Jia Tang Bao - the plain old Pork kind. No one their spoke english but they had a little scrap of paper with the english translations so you could order - this cost about $2CAD.



Secondly these are the ones from Xiao Nan Guo - these were a little pricier as I was in a fancier place. I am not actually sure what is in them as I just let the waiter recommend something to me. They were quite different but both absolutely delicious. Alas, for the the third set I was with my boss and a wee bit to timid to whip out the camera, my loss.


Tags: Shanghai, Chinese Food, Travel, Dumplings, Shanghainese Food, China

Off to Shanghai!

Well, I am off early tomorrow for a week in Shanghai. I plan to spend the weekend touring and eating and then during the week I will be working, so it should be pretty quiet around here.

Red Lentil and Yam Curry

The season is changing and the time for comforting warm bowl of stews and soups is here. To start off the season I made a hearty vegetarian curry out of yams and red lentils. It was extremely easy and will get better each day. I think this is an easy base recipe that you could do lots of different things with. You could certainly add some meat or use water instead of stock.

Red Lentil and Yam Curry (serves 4)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 medium yams (or sweet potatoes, peeeled and chopped in large cubes (about 1/2-1")
1 bay leaf
4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
2 cups red lentils, rinsed and picked over
4 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a heavy bottom pot or Dutch Oven heat oil and onions over medium low heat, add a pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt. Cook them until they start to caramelize then add the ginger, curry powder, garlic, sweet potato or yam and bay leaf. Stir for a minute until it becomes fragrant and then add the water or stock and then stir in the lentils. Cover and simmer over medium low for 18-20 minutes until yams and lentils are tender. Adjust for seasoning - you will likely need salt. Stir in cilantro and serve.


Tags: Curry, Indian Food, Vegetarian, Lentils, Comfort Food, Yam

Weekend Herb Blogging #100

I couldn't be more excited to be hosting the 100th edition of Weekend Herb Blogging. I have never hosted an event before so this is truly an honour. I had a lot of fun reading all the posts and compiling them all into this list. The vast array of ingredients as well as the creativity of the group in cooking and photography skills is truly humbling. Without any further ado lets start the roundup.

UPDATE: Oops! I forgot a great post, I am not even sure how I did, but here is the update to include delicious looking Virginie's Crusty Scottish Biscuits with Oatmeal and Pumpkin Seeds. Pumpkin Seeds really do need to get used more!





Everyone needs to beware of their spam filters! I lost two posts to my gmail filter, so more apologies need to go out to the following two posts.


The recently Ghanian Skinny Gourmet has done something quite interesting - a Canteloupe Melon Fruit Soup with AppleMint. Is anyone else asking thinking, hmm I have never had a cold fruit soup before? Check it out to learn more about this interesting combination.


There is also Desie's Wild Rice and Broad Bean Salad from Maybahay. I am seriously sad that I missed this on the first go because Fava Beans are something I have wanted to cook with for awhile and this looks wonderful and simple - plus it was her first time too.



Now for my own Lavender Chocolate Cake post, my first foray into cooking with lavender successfully.







The first entry I received was from a first timer! Andrea from Andrea's Recipes created a beautiful looking Thai Grilled Chicken with Cilantro Dipping Sauce. Just look at those perfect grill marks.



Our next entry also features cilantro but in a completely different way. I would never have thought of adding it to a cocktail but Gwen from the Intoxicated Zodiac Blog has convinced me it is worth trying with her Celestial Cilantro. Plus after enough Vodka who wouldn't like it?






Next up we have Maninas from Food Matters who brings us an Inspired Grilled Halloumi with Red Chili, Basil, Lime Juice and Olive Oil Dressing. It truly does look inspired. I haven't ever made this before and I don't even know where I would buy Halloumi but I am officially now on the lookout.


Pamela, the Cooking Ninja brings us a Wild Mushroom Pie. Sadly there is no picture of the pie she made because evil Windows Vista stole her pictures, I really haven't heard one good thing about it since it came out. Luckily this mushroom picture is more then enough to drool over. Plus I think we all secretly aspire to picking our own mushrooms and although I don't feel confident enough to do it, it certainly sounds like Pamela knows her stuff!


Kevin is continuing his experiments with tomatillos over at Closet Cooking by whipping up a Chili Verde. Check out the post and comments for an interesting discussion on hot peppers. I know that up here in Canada we don't have the selection that others are lucky to have and I think Kevin did a great job with creative substitution.


Mike from Mike's Table brings us a beautiful looking Thai Red Curry. His creative juices are also flowing check out his substitution for Thai basil!




Our leader Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen has brought us another fabulous Summer Squash recipe - Roasted Summer Squash with Lemon and Mint. I am always impressed jby ust how many ideas she has for zucchini and squash, and although she apologizes for the amount of recipes with them I really enjoy it. I could eat zucchini and summer squash endlessly.




Next up is Terry from the Blue Kitchen bringing us a comforting looking Soup of Beans, Chard, Sausage and Thyme. This is the first time for me reading his blog and I was really impressed by some of the pictures, not to mention his post's information about the variety of greens you could substitute the chard for in this soup.



Anh from Anh's Food Blog made a creamy Jerusalem Artichoke Soup. Jerusalem Artichokes are another thing on my last of to-try culinary items and she makes it sound so easy it may just happen.







Louise from Blue Cat Gato makes a delicious looking Spicy Red pepper and Eggplant Confit that helps me practice my French. I agree with her that it would make un délicieux sandwich. Also check out her lovely looking Roasted Eggplant Soup - it is the perfect time of year for these dishes.





Zorra from Kochtopf brings us one of the best way use fresh tomatoes in my poinion - a Pizza Marguerita. She also tells the story of how the pizza came to be named Marguerita.










Our host from last week was Katie from Thyme For Cooking. She did a great job hosting and now it is her time to share. This weeks she brings us a Chickpea, Egg and Herb Salad with Parmesan Crisps. Along with some history on chickpeas she serves up a good rant on how to be a good guest - a rant which I heartily agree with although I don't usually have any troubles.



Margot from Coffee and Vanilla brings us Brudas - Her Mother's Poppy Seed Cake. It's back to that Seinfeld episode with Elaine and all those poppy seed muffins - take a look at her post to see whether all those poppy seeds can actually affect drug tests.






Haalo from Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once brings us a delightful and simple dish of Sauteed Snow Cap Mushrooms with Poached Egg. I love this picture with the runny egg oozing onto the bread and mushrooms. I absolutely love soft poached eggs like this.





Pam from Sidewalk Shoes brings us a Deconstructed Pesto Pasta. Also check out another recipe she served with the pasta, a simple cannellini bean salad with sage that also looks very simple and comforting.





Sarah from What Smells So Good has submitted a Persian Sugar-Pickled Garlic. I still haven't gotten around to doing any pickling or jarring, partly because I am low on storage space, but I really like her choice of spices - namely cloves as the feature flavour.





Pam from the Backyard Pizzeria has cooked up one of my favorite desserts a cheesecake - but this is no ordinary cheesecake, it isn't even a dessert but rather a Baked Savoury Cheesecake! This is an interesting and unique recipe which I have filed away to try.




Y from LemonPi is featuring bananas this week in a Sticky Banana, Pecan and Date Loaf. I absolutely love banana bread and have made it with pecans once myself but I will definitely have to try this variation.









Sher from What Did You Eat has cooked us up a delicious looking Swordfish With Amandine Sauce featuring Lemongrass. I am always looking for new ideas for fish recipes and this one looks great, plus check out the perfectly brown crust she has on her piece of swordfish.



Ulrike from Kuchenlatein has made a Sakzli Muhallebi (Mastic Pudding). I hadn't even heard of Mastic Gum before reading this post so I learned quite a bit! We have some pretty good Greek markets in Vancouver so I will have to do a bit of searching.



Anna from Anna's Cool Finds has baked us up these super South Beach friendly Egg Muffins. I am so glad she did such a thorough job of documenting it with great photos because I haven't ever seen this sort of recipe before.





The Kitchen Mage has written a fabulous post about Harvesting and Drying Marjoram. A very good reminder for me since I my marjoram plant is flowering away.




Jennifer from Like To Cook made a fabulous looking Arugula Hazelnut Pesto. I love both Arugula and Hazelnuts so I can't think of any reason not to make this. Plus as she says pesto is so good for those nights when you don't have a lot of time.






Arfi from Home Mades has made us a Moroccan Honey and Mint Syrup Cake. It is his first time every participating but what a way to start! I have so much mint to use I will have to bookmark this recipe too.



Helen from News from the Kitchen brings us a Strawberry Frozen Jogourt. I have made similar frozen yogourts and I think they are the best kind - fruit and yogourt and thats it - it looks delicious! Sadly my German isn't as good as my French so we can all be thankful that she posts in German and English.





Jerry from Jerry's Thoughts, Musings is focusing on Cilantro and making a Thai Coconut Curry Chicken. We all know how much Kalyn loves cilantro and I feel the same way, heck I have gone through two bunches just this week!




Well that is it for this week, and it was quite successful I would say, I certainly have an awful lot of recipes to make now. We have now had 100 Weekend Herb Blogging Events, I think we all need to raise our glass to 100 more! Plus stay tuned since we have almost hit the 2 year anniversary. I will have to try and think of something really special or challenging to make. Again, many thanks to Kalyn for letting me host, it was a blast!

Tags: Herbs, Weekend Herb Blogging, Blog Events

Linguine wih Green Cabbage and Pancetta

This isn't my best picture, in fact this dish looks a lot less appetizing then it deserves to. Since we all know we eat with our eyes, I am going to have to think about how to improve this. Perhaps more colour would help? Parsley? I know that when J had his first taste he said "wow this is good" in a rather surprised way and I think that was because the presentation was lacking and the colours don't really pop. If you can get past that - it is really fabulous comfort food. Especially those crisp little cubes of pancetta. I was so stressed out from work this week, I decided to make this even though it was late and we didn't eat around 10:30. Cooking itself can be so good for relaxing. This recipe is inspired by this risotto recipe of Marcella's.


Linguine with Green Cabbage and Pancetta (serves 4)

2 tablespoons olive oil
100 grams pancetta, thickly cut and diced
1 dried thai chile pepper, crushed, or 1/2t red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic
1 head cabbage, stalk removed and then thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons Parmaggiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated

In a large dutch oven add olive oil over medium low heat. Add the pancetta, chile and garlic and saute until it is golden brown. The garlic will brown first - when it is browned remove it.

When the pancetta is browned add the cabbage, pepper and half the salt. Turn over a few times and cover. Stir every 5- 10 minutes until cabbage is browned.

Cook and drain the pasta. Taste the cabbage for seasoning and melt in the butter and Parmesan. Toss with the pasta and serve.

Tags: Pasta, Italian, Cabbage, Pancetta, Comfort Food

Grilled Lamb Chops with Rosemary and Garlic

I fully haven't had time to cook this week but I made these over the weekend and am finally finding the time to post about them. It was my first time ever doing lamb chops and I was impressed by how easy they were. I still think I like stewy lamb dishes better, like shanks and stew meat but these were lovely too.

It's funny I have been doing this for awhile and I have just started to notice (and people are pointing out) my posts appearing on other sites word for word without giving any sort of credit to the site. I expect they are bots trolling but I must say it is quite sad to see. I notice that other bloggers are starting to change their posts to add "More" links in order to read the full post in the rss feeds. I am hesitant to do this simply because I am big fan of full rss feeds but at the same time I don't like being directly copied. Anyone have any thoughts?

Grilled Lamb Chops with Rosemary and Garlic (serves 4)

4 lamb chops, trimmed
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic
2T olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

Remove the leaves from the rosemary and roughly chop. Mince the garlic and combine with the rosemary and olive oil. Generously salt and pepper the chops and toss in the oil mix. Cover and refrigerate for 1-4 hours.

Preheat a grill to medium and grill over direct heat for approximately 2-4 minutes per side or until it reaches 145F internally for medium rare. (Don't forget to turn the meat to get those nice grill marks.) Let the meat rest for 3 minutes before serving.


Tags: Lamb, Grill, Rosemary, Meat, Herbs

Chocolate Lavender Cake

After a few years of doing this I am excited to finally be hosting a blogging event! I didn't start my own but rather have the opportunity to host Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging this weekend. I am even luckier because this is the 100th event of WHB. Myriam from Once Upon a Tart was supposed to host and she was willing to switch me because of some last minute travel plans of mine, so a huge thanks to both Kalyn and Myriam for being so accommodating! So don't forget to check back here this Sunday to see all the fabulous dishes I have already started to receive.

Since I get to host I knew I had to make something special. So three weeks ago I was at the Mayne Island farmer's market and I saw a chocolate lavender cake for sale. I almost bought it but resisted because I had a whole cheesecake at home and even I am not that indulgent. However it has been haunting me for almost two weeks now. Does that happen to everyone else? Obsession over some food thing until you can get it out?

So the weekend before last I was over at my parents and picked myself some fresh lavender so I could make a cake. Since I only have a loaf pan at the cabin my options for a cake recipe were limited but I found a Nigella recipe online and modified it a bunch to suit my needs (thanks goodness I have internet there now). The original post is here.

This is the first time I have really cooked with lavender and it was a good learning experience. I only used one flower and that was plenty - my reading suggested you go easy on it to avoid ending up with a 'perfume-y' flavour. Of course making a chocolate cake you miss out on the wonderful purple colour but the flavour came through great. It almost had a gingery spicy flavour.

I am crazy busy this week and I have already started receiving posts which is very exciting, keep them coming!



Chocolate Lavender Cake
(makes 1 9x5" loaf)

1 cup soft unsalted butter
1-¼ cups dark brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lavender flower, crushed and chopped
4 ounces best semi-sweet chocolate, melted and minorly cooled
1-⅓ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
Preheat the oven to 375F. Line the 9x5" loaf pan with parchment and grease it.

Cream the sugar and butter then beat in the lavender, eggs and vanilla. Fold in the melted chocolate but don't over mix. Stir together the flour and baking soda. Alternately add a tablespoon of the flour mixture and hot water stirring.

Pour into the pan and bake for 30 minutes on top of a cookie sheet to avoid spills. Reduce oven temperature down to 325F and bake for another 15 minutes. Let it get completely cool before removing it from the pan as it will not be very firm.

Note: This cake gets better with age and freezes well.


Tags: Cake, Chocolate, Dessert, Lavender, Herbs, Baking

Chorizo and Leek Pasta with Butternut Squash Sauce

I love pasta with any kind of sauce so it is always interesting to find a different base then the old tomato or cream. I am a big fan of the roasted red pepper base so when I saw Jenn's post using butternut squash I was excited to try out the idea of using squash as the base.

The best part is that I had a bunch of work calls that evening, so I started dinner and got on the phone and then by the time I was off it was pretty much done. Definitely an easy dinner, plus roasting the sausages on the top of the squash gives the whole sauce a nice juicy flavor. The only downside was that J liked it so much he went back for seconds and then whined because he had eaten too much. Next time I might even roast the leeks and garlic with the rest of it to make it even easier. Don't be deterred by the picture, it really isn't one of my better ones. For more great pasta recipes check out this week's Presto Pasta at Once Upon a Feast.

Chorizo and Leek Pasta with Butternut Squash Sauce (serves 4)

1 small butternut squash
4 uncooked chorizo wine sausages
4T olive oil
1-2C chicken stock
2 garlic cloves
1 small leek
salt and pepper
the pasta of your choice

Preheat oven to 350F. Peel the squash using a vegetable peeler. Cut it in half lengthwise and scoop and discard the seeds. Cut into cubes no bigger then an inch. In a baking dish toss the squash with 2T of the olive oil and fresh salt and pepper. (Squash doesn't have to be in one single layer.) Place the sausages on top and bake for 40-50 minutes or until sausages cooked through and squash is tender.

When the sausages and squash are done get out a skillet. To it add the remaining olive oil, slice the garlic cloves in half and turn on to medium low heat. Cook until garlic starts to lightly brown and discard. Clean the leek and chop into half moons no thicker then about 1/2cm. Add to the skillet and sweat, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.

Add the squash into a food processor and process until smooth adding the stock as needed to get it nice and saucy. Turn into skillet and heat through. Slice the chorizo and add to the sauce. Toss with the pasta.


Tags: Chorizo, Squash, Pasta, Italian Food

Grilled Eggplant With Oregano, Parsley and Garlic

I am currently having a minor love affair with eggplant. I have always loved it but since I recently started having success cooking it I have been doing it rather a lot. This is the first time I have done it on the BBQ and it was just as easy as under the broiler. This time I was feeling lazy so I didn't bother salting the eggplant to remove the bitterness first. This worked out just fine but eggplant is in season right now so use your judgment on that one. I not done challenging myself on this - I need to learn how to cook it in curries and stews, so stay tuned.

Also, in case you are wondering I couldn't tell the difference in flavour between these two eggplants. They were from the same farm but I just had to buy one of each to see what they were like. The stripy one was much whiter inside but otherwise there was no difference. But seriously aren't they beautiful? Eggplant is such an attractive vegetable.

Grilled Eggplant with Oregano, Parsley and Garlic
(serves 4)

2 small or 1 large eggplant, sliced into 1/4" rounds
4T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1T fresh oregano, minced
1T fresh parsley, minced
salt and pepper
2T Parmesan, grated (optional)

Combine oregano, parsley, garlic and salt and pepper. Arrange eggplant in a single layer on a grill pan or a large plate. Brush slices with olive oil on both sides and then rub them with the herb mixture. This can be done ahead by several hours just store them at room temperature.
Preheat a grill to medium. If you are using a grill pan put it directly on the grill. Otherwise oil the grill and then put eggplant slices directly on it. Grill for 5-7 minutes then flip and grill for another 5 minutes. Serve garnished with Parmesan hot or at room temperature.

Tags: Eggplant, Vegetables, Aubergine, Grill, BBQ

Hot Artichoke and Spinach, Pasta?

So this was a creation inspired by that wonderful Hot Artichoke and Spinach Dip you see at restaurants sometimes. It is sinfully fattening and loaded with cream and mayo and cheese. I was quite happy with the results of the pasta version, next time I would add some red pepper flakes I think. Also I think it was even better the next day after being re-heated in the microwave at lunch - or maybe it just tasted more like the original. Check out other great presto pasta recipes at this week's round up at Once Upon a Feast.

Hot Artichoke and Spinach Pasta Sauce (serves 4)

225g frozen spinach
1 can artichokes, drained and chopped
2T butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1C whipping cream
3T Parmesan, freshly grated
2T Romano, freshly grated
salt and pepper

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes until fragrant. Stir in artichokes and a healthy grinding of pepper. Sauté for 3-5 minutes stirring regularly.

Meanwhile put the spinach in a loosely covered container in the microwave. Nuke for 3-4 minutes until no longer frozen through. Drain excess water and roughly chop spinach.

Add cream to artichokes and turn heat to medium. Stir in spinach and a teaspoon of salt. Simmer for 3 minutes and then add cheese reserving a minor amount for garnish.

Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Serve immediately tossed with pasta and garnished with remaining cheese.

Tags: Pasta, Vegetarian, Artichokes, Spinach, Italian Food

Caprese Salad

Okay, this isn't the most original thing at this time of the year. But if you can find some good fresh buffalo mozzarella and some nice local (or ideally homegrown) tomatoes then there couldn't be anything better. Grab some basil from your window sill and you are good to go. Plus there is something sort of therapeutic about arranging the beautiful fresh ingredients on the plate mimicking the colors of the italian flag.

This week's Weekend Herb Blogging is being hosted by Katiee from Thyme For Cooking, the Blog. However, next week I am hosting so don't forget to check back!

Caprese Salad
(serves 2-4)

4 Roma tomatoes, sliced
1 large fresh mozzarella/boccocini, buffalo mozzarella
1 handful fresh basil, roughly torn
fresh salt and pepper
1T nice virgin olive oil
1T balsamic vinegar

Arrange tomatoes, cheese and basil on the plate alternating. Sprinkle salt and freshly ground pepper over top and drizzle with oil and vinegar. Serve immediately.


Tags: Tomato, Vegetable, Side Dish, Salad, Italian Food

Lemon Sesame Eggplant

When I made the Miso Eggplant last week I actually roasted two whole eggplants at once so that I would have enough for the next night when I knew I would be working late. That said I couldn't serve it with the same Miso sauce - that would've been dull. So I opened up my Moosewood again and was inspired to adapt this Lemon Sesame Sauce. J preferred the Miso preparation but I really liked this one too - the Miso is extremely rich whereas this is light and fresh.

Lemon Sesame Dressing
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 1/2T tamari
2T olive oil
1 t roasted sesame seeds
freshly ground salt and pepper

Whisk together tamari, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Whisk in olive oil. Add sesame seeds right before serving and taste for seasoning. Drizzle over broiled eggplant when hot or at room temp.

Broiled Eggplant (serves 2-4)

1 eggplant, cut into 1/2" rounds
olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Soak the eggplant in salted water for 30 minutes. Drain and pat each slice dry.
2. Brush a cookie sheet with olive oil. Place the eggplant in one layer on the sheet and brush each slice with olive oil.
3.Broil for 7-10 minutes until cooked through and browned. No need to flip them. Sprinkle on fresh salt and pepper.

Check out some other great eggplant recipes from my archive: Ratatouille, Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Soup, and Eggplant and Spinach Risotto. As well as some other great dishes from other blogs: Spicy Grilled Eggplant with Red Pepper, Parsley and Mint, Eggplant Parmesan, and Eggplant with Korean BBQ Sauce.

Tags: Eggplant, Vegetarian, Vegetable, Side Dish, Aubergine

Carrot and Cashew Soup

There was a post on Slashfood a few weeks ago which kick started my Moosewood Cookbook. It was extolling the virtues of the Carrot Soup recipe from the first printing of the cookbook. When my organic box showed up this week with a 2lb bag of cooking carrots and several potatoes it was like it was meant to be. Plus it seems as though our summer has been curbed a wee bit early so a bowl of soup seemed like the perfect thing.

This recipe does improve the next day. I have transcribed the recipe as I made it but there were lots of variations available and suggested on the Slashfood post.


Carrot and Cashew Soup
(serves 4)

2 lbs. carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cups stock or water
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 medium potato, scrubbed and roughly chopped
3-4 tablespoons butter
1 cup onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
⅓ cup cashews, chopped
¾ cup sour cream


Place carrots, liquid, salt and potato into a soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer it for 12 to 15 minutes. Let it cool to room temperature.

Saute the onion, garlic and nuts with a pinch of salt in the butter until the onions are clear. Stir in the ginger and cook for another minute.

Puree everything together in a blender until smooth and reheat until warm. Adjust seasoning.

Garnish with a tablespoon of the sour cream and some of the cashews.

Tags: Carrot, Vegetarian, Vegetable, Soup, Cashews