Max Klinger's Lebanese Love Stew

First, a few words about the name of this soup... The "Lebanese" part is because the soup this was originally supposed to be is a traditional Lebanese recipe. The "Max Klinger" part is because this soup is a complete screw-up. (If you don't know who Max Klinger is, shame on you.) I started cooking before I checked the cabinets for the recipe ingredients, and almost immediately I had to punt. I won't bore you with the numerous substitutions I made, or the things I added simply on a whim, but the end result is a soup so far removed from the recipe it was supposed to be that it's something entirely new. I have no idea if anything about this soup is still Lebanese, but it turned out pretty darn good!

Yield: 6-8 servings
Start to finish: 30 minutes

Max Klinger's Lebanese Love Stew
1 large leek, white and light green parts only, halved and thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
1 T salt
1 C lentils (dry)
8 C water or vegetable broth (important: if you use broth, make sure it's low sodium or reduce/eliminate the salt above)
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 Yukon gold potatoes, diced
4 C baby spinach
1 T coriander
1 t cinnamon
salt to taste (be sure to taste!)
1/4 C lemon juice, or 1 lemon, sliced

1. In a stock pot, saute the leeks and garlic in the olive oil until the leeks are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the salt and stir well.
2. Add the lentils and saute for 1 minute.
3. Add water/broth, carrots, and potatoes. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 15 minutes until lentils are softened.
4. Stir in spinach, coriander, and cinnamon, and simmer for another 10 minutes.
5. Add a splash of lemon juice to each bowl before serving (squeeze 1 slice of lemon into each bowl, or stir in about 1/2 t bottled juice).

Spring creations

It is my sincere hope that I'll get recipes, pictures, etc., posted soon for these two new creations. It has been a while, after all. But...I'm not making any promises. In the meantime, how about some narrative descriptions?

Hawaiian Crepes
I freely admit it: I still love Jacques Pepin, and I eat crepes as often as I can manage it. Last weekend I created toasted macadamia nut crepes, topped with honey-grilled pineapple and coconut syrup. For the crepes, I ground up macadamia nuts to a coarse flour, toasted the flour lightly, and then substituted the macadamia nut "flour" for half the real flour in my crepe recipe (which you can find in the previous post). With the trusty George Foreman grill, I grilled pineapple slices brushed with a 3:1 honey and pineapple juice glaze and got charming grill marks on the fruit. I topped all of that with a coconut syrup made by sweetening a can of coconut milk with a simple syrup (1/3 cup sugar dissolved in 1/3 cup water), thickened slightly with a little cornstarch. For garnish, a little toasted coconut. It was...well, it was spectacular, if I do say so myself. It's a fairly sweet concoction, though, so to make it passable for dinner I served it with a green papaya salad (shredded green papaya, carrots, and green beans, tossed with a soy-lime-chili-garlic dressing, substituting soy sauce for the traditional fish sauce because I don't like fish sauce). Seriously, it was awesome; leftovers were nonexistent.

Spring Mac and Cheese
Tonight I was seduced by the asparagus at the store. It's so fresh and tender in the early spring. When I got home I tossed together a macaroni and cheese using whole wheat macaroni, blanched asparagus, and a garlic-parmesan cheese sauce. I made it with soy milk because that's what I had, but any kind of milk would work (with the possible exception of rice milk, which may not have enough fat). The sauce is just a basic white sauce, with garlic and parmesan stirred in at the end, then seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Pour it over the drained pasta and asparagus, sprinkle with some breadcrumbs if desired and a little more parmesan, broil for a couple of minutes until the top is a nice golden brown, and voila! Again...mmmmm.

Summer Sunday breakfast crepes

I've been watching a lot of Jacques Pepin lately and am in love with all things French. These crepes are perfect for a lazy Sunday breakfast - the sweetness of summer blackberries, the sunny tang of lemon... Couldn't be nicer. The only trick to these is timing. Everything cooks pretty quickly, and the custard sauce needs undivided attention to avoid lumps. Do it in the order below, and you should be golden.

Start to finish: About 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings







Summer Sunday Breakfast Crepes
2 pints blackberries
Sugar to taste (about 1-2 teaspoons)
-----
Lemon custard sauce:
1 cup heavy cream
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
4 egg yolks
1/4 - 1/3 cup sugar (depending on your sweet tooth)
-----
Crepes:
1 1/4 cups skim milk (or milk thinned with water)
1 cup flour
2 eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter
Additional butter or cooking spray for cooking

1. Rinse the blackberries. Place in a saucepan with just the water that clings to the berries. Sprinkle with sugar to taste. Cover and place over low heat. These will simmer while you make everything else.
2. Begin the custard sauce. Put cream and lemon zest in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat it just until you see bubbles - you should still be able to test the temperature with your finger without getting burned.
3. While the cream mixture is heating, beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow. Slowly pour about half of the heated cream mixture into the eggs, whisking continuously. (This is where you will get lumps in the custard if you pour in the cream too fast. Lumps aren't attractive, but they don't affect the taste.) Pour the egg mixture back into the rest of the cream, whisking continuously. Cook the custard mixture until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon without dripping (about 2-3 minutes). Remove the custard sauce from the heat and set aside to cool - it should be about room temperature when it's served.
4. Check your blackberries to make sure they're not dry or cooking down too much. If they are, remove them from the heat, but keep them covered so they stay warm.
5. Start the crepes. This takes the longest, because they can only be done one at a time. Keep crepes warm while you finish the batch by putting them on a plate over simmering water, and cover with another plate. Put all the crepe ingredients in a blender and mix for a few seconds. The batter will be about the consistency of cream.
6. Put a 6-inch skillet over medium heat. When the skillet is hot enough to make water sizzle when dripped on it, coat the pan lightly with butter. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of batter quickly into the skillet, and then tilt the pan to cover the bottom with the batter. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until lightly browned, then flip the crepe to brown the other side. Crepes are pretty sturdy and should stay together as you do this. Complete the batch, keeping finished crepes warm. You should have 8 crepes when you're finished.
7. Fold crepes into quarters and plate. Spoon on warm blackberries, and cover with lemon custard sauce. A mint sprig makes a nice finishing touch.

Veganazi Soup

It's cold and clammy and cloudy here today -- perfect soup weather. I dug into my refrigerator and pantry to see what I had, and this is what I came up with. Although there was very little plan involved, and I was basically just using things up, it turned out really well. Fair warning: The measurements are gross approximations, because I just tossed things into the pot. This would probably go really well with Treehugger Bread. For a non-vegan version, throw in some sliced sausage.

Start to finish: 30 minutes
Servings: 6-8

Veganazi Soup
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic
8 cups water
1 can tomato paste with basil, oregano, and garlic
1 can tomato sauce (no salt added)
2 bay leaves
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 bunch kale, leaves removed from ribs and torn into bite-sized pieces
1 can Great Northern, navy, or cannellini beans, with liquid
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a stock pot, saute the onion and garlic in cooking spray until softened.
2. Add water, tomato paste, and tomato sauce.
3. Add everything else.
4. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the kale has softened. (It's a tough green and takes longer than most.)
5. Remove the bay leaves, ladle up, and enjoy.

*Note: I also added about half a can of garbanzo beans and some meatless meatballs that I had on hand, just because I needed to use them. The beans were fine, but the "meatballs" didn't add much. This would be tasty with sliced sausage (pork, chicken, turkey, whatever).