Mumblings and recipes

Monday, monday. It's grey outside today, with some wind and little bit of rain mixed in. Not my favorite kind of weather but I don't seem to mind too much today. We had a good weekend, not fun necessarily in what we did, but happy that certain things are done. The upstairs is cleaned and scrubbed from ceiling to floor and it felt so so good this morning to wake up to a really clean bedroom and bathroom. And our taxes are done...or rather...the information is gathered and will be off to the accountant this week. A bit late for some people but a couple weeks earlier than last year and that feels good.

Since a lot of the chores were finished yesterday I think we'll spend today just relaxing and reading, curled up on the couch until we absolutely have to move. My new friend, Brother Cadfael is currently inspecting the clothes from an unfortunate soul found dead just yesterday and is waiting for me to return to find out the results. Just one more load of laundry and I'm so there.

In the meantime...here's a couple of recipes that I have to share because I crave them often and really, they're just that good.

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Corn Chowder

(My favorite corn chowder recipe because it's so simple but has lots of flavor and very fresh tasting...it was great with the substituted rice milk too)

1 medium potato, peeled and diced small (about 2 cups diced)
2 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups minced onion
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
1 medium stalk celery, finely minced
1 small red bell pepper, finely minced
5 cups (approximately 4 to 5 cobs' worth) fresh sweet corn
White pepper to taste
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil (or more, to taste)
1 cup milk, at room temperature

1. Place the potatoes and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover, and cook until the potatoes are tender. Set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a kettle or Dutch oven. Add the onion, thyme, and salt, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring. After about 5 minutes, add celery. Five minutes later add the cooked potatoes with all their liquid, the red bell pepper, the corn, and a few shakes of white pepper. Stir well, cover, and reduce heat. Cook quietly for about 5 minutes longer.
3. Using a blender or food processor, purée about half the solids (about 2 to 3 cups--it doesn't have to be exact!) in some of the soup's own liquid. Return this to the kettle, and let it rest until serving time.
4. Stir in the basil and milk about 10 minutes before serving time. Don't actually cook the soup any further; simply heat it--gently!-- until it's hot enough to eat. Serve immediately.

recipe from Mollie Katzen

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Salad Pita Pizza

(This has become a favorite of ours! You can really do so many things with this recipe..this is my version.)

For the chopped salad:

1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 shallot or small red onion, very thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste
3 hearts romaine lettuce, coarsely chopped (about 8 cups)
1 cucumber
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 ripe avocado, diced
5 fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
8 to 10 fresh mint leaves , torn into pieces (optional)

For Pizza:
4 (7 inch) pita bread (pocketless if you can find them)
8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, grated
chopped fresh garlic

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

To prepare salad, vigorously rub the inside of a large bowl with the garlic. Add the vinegar and shallot (or red onion) and set aside for 5 minutes. Whisk in the oil and season with salt and pepper. Add lettuce cucumber, tomato, avocado, and basil and toss well. I add more balsamic vinegar and/or olive oil until I'm happy with the salad.

For pizza: Bake pitas, in batches as necessary, on a heated pizza stone or pan for 3 minutes. Then add cheese and some chopped garlic, return to oven, and bake until cheese is bubbly and melted (2 minutes).

Mound the salad on top of the pizzas, sprinkle with shaved Parmesan cheese, and serve.

Adapted from Fresh Food Fast by Peter Berley

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