Garden Chowder

Garden Chowder

1-1/2 teaspoons dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/3 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 cups chicken broth ***
2 Tablespoons grated onion
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
2 cups diced sweet potatoes
3/4 cup frozen sweet corn (from the can is also acceptable)
2 cups thinly sliced fresh spinach
salt and pepper to taste


Slice carrots thin (thinner than my photo here!) and dice sweet potatoes

In medium size pot add the sage (rub between your fingers to break up as needed), thyme, flour, milk, and chicken broth.  Whisk to disperse the flour. Dump in carrots, sweet potatoes, and onions.

Bring to boil, turn down to simmer stirring occasionally.  Simmer until veggies are soft.  My carrots took longer than the sweet potatoes so check them.  Slicing them thinner than I did will speed them along.  Look how the soup starts to turn a beautiful orange.   Takes about 30 minutes.  Be sure to stir here and there so it doesn't stick to the bottom.  Your chowder will lose a little liquid and thicken up nicely.

Add spinach (make sure to the cut the opposite way so they are not long strips) and corn and cook for 5 minutes more.  

Serve.

My husband likes meat in his soups so he added some grilled chicken to his.  

***Use vegetable broth for a vegetarian version.

Pin it:  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/273593746085560304/

Sauerkraut Gratin

So, what to do with all that homemade sauerkraut?  Ask Chef Gaby! After trying my homemade sauerkraut and declaring it was the best she had ever had she emailed me this recipe. A modified version of Paul Grimm's version.

Sauerkraut Gratin

1 leek, finely chopped (I used 1/4 cup finely chopped onion)
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon juniper berries, crushed (I used my spice grinder)
4 Tablespoons salted butter
2 pounds sauerkraut, drained and chopped (I used 2 quart jars full of mostly drained fresh kraut)
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
4 large eggs
salt and white Pepper
3/4 cup Panko crumbs

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet and cook the onion until translucent. Add the juniper and the bay leaf followed by the kraut. Cook down until the kraut is hot. While that cooks, combine the cream, milk, eggs and season with salt and pepper.

Remove bay leaf and transfer the kraut mix into a 9x13"baking dish. 

Pour over the custard mix. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. **

Meanwhile melt the remaining butter and toss with panko crumbs.

Sprinkle crumbs on top and baked an additional 15 minutes until the crumbs are golden brown and the gratin doesn't jiggle when wiggled.

**The recipe called for putting the buttered Panko crumbs on at the beginning of the cooking time but I was afraid it might burn so I added them later.  

V7 Vegetable Juice Blend

Make your own vegetable juice blend full of Vitamins A, C and E,  potassium, iron, and magnesium to name a few. Nothing added like the "natural flavoring" or citric acid that the store sold juice shows as ingredients.  You control the salt.  Notice mine is called V7 not V 8 as I did not use watercress which is listed as one of "their" ingredients.

 V7 Vegetable Juice Blend

2 quarts canned crushed tomatoes or approximately 2-28 ounce cans (use low sodium so you can control your own salt)*
4 celery stalks
2 carrots
1/2 beet (or 2 Tablespoons beet juice)
2 Small handfuls of spinach
4 small handfuls of iceberg lettuce
2 sprigs of fresh parsley
salt, as needed

Send all through juicer. (If you are using already juiced beets then just add that to the juice at the end.)  Mix, add salt to taste, and enjoy!

That is a 1/2 gallon canning jar in the top picture so that is how much what my juicing made. 

*You could use fresh tomatoes but I have not worked out the pound/quart ratio yet.  I hope to make some when our garden is ready to harvest and can some for later.

Vegetable Marinara Sauce

Vegetable Marinara Sauce

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup each onions, zucchini, yellow squash (shredded)
2 - 28 ounce cans crushed tomatoes (not seasoned)
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
salt and pepper to taste

"Refried" Beans

"Refried" Beans

1 can black beans, undrained
salt
pepper
garlic, optional


Add all to a pan set to low/med heat. As the beans cook use a potato masher to mash. Mash it as little or as much as you like. You will need more liquid as it cooks and thickens. I use the can to get water so I can get the rest of the goodies out that are left in the can when you dump it out the first time.


Simple yet so tasty! Great with fajitas too.