I love cooking!  Autumn brings comfort to the kitchen, and this soup recipe is one of my favorites.

Total cooking time is 50 minutes. Serves 6.

You will need:

2 tablespoons butter (I use olive oil margarine)
1 pound mushrooms (your choice) sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil margarine or chee
1 onion diced
2 carrots
2 stalks celery diced
2 cloves garlic chopped
Pinch of thyme
6 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 cup wild rice
1 pound chicken, cut into cubes
1 cup milk or cream (I use oat milk)
1 cup parmigiana cheese grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt butter in pan over medium high. Add mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have released their liquids and the liquid has evaporated, about 10-15 minutes, before setting aside.

Melt chee butter in the pan adding onions, carrots and celery and cook until tender, 8-10 minutes.

Mix in the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, around a minute.

Add the broth, rice, chicken (you can use Quorn chicken as a vegetarian substitute) and mushrooms. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the rice is tender, about 25-30 minutes.

Mix in the oat milk or regular milk in with the parmigiana cheese. Cook until the cheese has melted, before seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

I love having this warm dish with a fresh loaf of sour dough bread and a nice glass of Pinot Grigio. It’s a wonderful  dinner for a crisp autumn or winter day!

Wishing you all good health and much love!

Vicki

These lovely, light and freshly baked treats are not only healthy, but really easy to prepare and can be used instead of bread for many of your own recipes. My husband, who loves to do Sunday Breakfast at our home, is known for his pancakes, shaped in many different forms such as tractors and Disney figures that thrill my little grand children. He introduced these to me 35 years ago and I have loved them ever since! Popovers are an old New England favorite and I adore them with some fresh butter and jam with my morning coffee. Try them and let me know what you think.

You will need:

2 cups milk

2 cups flour

3 eggs

½ teaspoon salt

My husband triples the recipe as our family grows. You can also.

Directions:

Beat the eggs and milk together. Add the flour and salt all at once and continue to beat until smooth.

Have greased muffin pans preheated so the batter sizzles as you fill the pans half full (if you have an old black iron muffin pan, all the better!). Bake 20 minutes at 450. Serve at once.

Hope this becomes a Sunday morning memory for all!

Enjoy!
Vicki
Medium Rare

With Spring well established here in the Northeast, it is always exciting for me as I go into the kitchen and see what is left from my Winter stores, and what needs to be added to them. Spring and Summer bring the great outdoors to our tables, and sometimes even us into the great outdoors with the land, and in this case the shore, to our table.

New England Clambake

This version can be made at home, or even in a pit substitute of your own making. No matter where you call home you can have this wonderfully unique experience for yourself. I hope you enjoy!

Something of a cross between a picnic and a banquet, the clambake is a New England Original. It’s the perfect way to combine a day of fun at the beach by preparing heaps of food for hungry people. The Native Americans of the Northeast invented it. When tribes moved from their Winter quarters inland to their Summer camps along the coast, the abundant shellfish, freshly caught, were cooked in a steam pit while games were played on the shore. A clambake starts very early in the morning.

First

A hole is dug whose size depends on the number of people to be fed. It can be as much as 8 feet in length. This is lined with stones. The “bake” is allowed to burn until the stones are red hot – an hour or 2 at least. Assistants take off the embers and throw baskets of seaweed over the stones. Rockweed, with its rubbery air pockets is best.

Next

Cheesecloth bags filled with clams and lobsters are laid in. More seaweed is added. Potatoes in their jackets (skins), corn in their husks, small peeled onions, sausages, whatever you like can be added in its own bag, then covered with more seaweed. This work must be done fast to capture the steam.

Last

The mound of food receives its top layer of seaweed followed by tarpaulin secured with stones. That’s all there is to it, except for the delicious aromas that will drift their way around your guests. Make sure you melt lots of butter for the lobster to be dipped and the hot rolls that will be brought along too. It may seem like forever but this cannot be rushed. Cautious testing of readiness is important in making sure all the food is well cooked. No salt required if the seaweed is there.

Remember cold drinks, fresh blueberry pie and my favorite – whoopie pies for dessert – and you will have a meal to make even the most salty New Englander envious!

Enjoy!

Vicki
Medium Rare

March winds are here and with them the still cold, chilled air here in New England. For many across the country and around the world, Spring is already at your door steps. This hearty New England Recipe is good all year long, but we New Englanders enjoy it most during the early months of Spring just before the leaves start to bloom. It’s also time to tap the Maple trees for the sweet nectar they bring as boiling syrup season begins. We tap here, and spend many cold days bringing in the sap. It’s a part of our history here, and we enjoy the work. At the end of a long day of working in the boiling shed, this boiled dinner is just what the doctor ordered. I hope you enjoy.

You Will Need:

1 ham, preferably with the bone. You can use the bone to make a wonderful broth for a Pea Soup after and use any remaining ham.

4 pounds white or red potatoes, preferably chopped in thick slices with the skins remaining

1 large head of cabbage cut in wedges

1 large onion chopped in any way you like

1 large squash peeled and chopped (this is optional), or peeled carrots, about 2 pounds

1 large boiling pot. I use my lobster pot. If you have a large slow cooker you can use that and leave it on all day.

Directions:

In large cooking pot place your ham adding water until ham is covered, using low heat, cook until the ham is falling off the bone, about 20 minutes per pound. Add your potatoes, carrots and squash, and onions. Cook until the potatoes can be pierced with a fork. Add your cabbage, covering the ham, cover and let simmer until cabbage is clear. Serve warm with homemade bread. Here, my family likes a hearty grain bread I make in my bread maker. I always keep white vinegar at the table as well – my Father-in-law loves to drizzle it on his cabbage.

This meal can be reheated in your crock pot or made into a nice stew.

Enjoy!

Vicki
Medium Rare

Farm Fresh Eggs

I love this recipe and have made it many times and with a bit of variety each time, using herbs from the garden to add wonderful flavor. My chickens supply my family with wonderful fresh eggs every day so it’s fun thinking of new ways to use them. If you cannot get fresh eggs yourself, make sure you buy locally harvested organic chicken eggs.

Herbal Egg Brunch Casserole

For a lighter texture, fold two additional stiffly beaten egg whites into the egg mixture.

You will need:

6 eggs

2 cups skim milk (plain almond milk or other nutty milk can be used)

¾ tsp salt

2 ½ tbsp Fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tbsp dried)

1 tbsp snipped fresh rosemary leaves (or ½ tbsp dried)

1 tsp mustard powder

2 or 3 thick slices organic or homemade oatmeal, Italian or French bread, preferably a day old bread is best, torn into pieces

½ pound crumbled ham sausage, or any type of sausage you like – I prefer turkey, it’s less fatty and less greasy. Cook, strain and rinse briefly under hot water to remove excess fat.

¾ cup loosely packed sharp or extra sharp grated cheese

Directions:

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and seasonings. Place the bread chunks in a 9-13 inch ungreased casserole pan. Top with the sausage and cheese. Pour the egg mixture over all.

You may prepare the casserole up to this point, then cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake it at 350 F, for 40 minutes, then cut in squares and serve.

This is not only a great brunch recipe but also a nice hearty warm supper with some fresh bread and a nice salad for a week night dinner.

Happy Eating!

In light,
Vicki
Medium Rare