Photos..braised vegetables, mac'n cheese, German apple-caramel cake with walnuts

The info. on these dishes is on the earlier Blog.."chowder & chocolate cookies"..enjoy the photos, today deliveries are being made in the, warm Southern California rain

Previous 2 wholewheat sour dough breads with caraway

The braised vegetables with sake

previous 3 updated Mac 'n Cheese

The completed braised vegetables

The Portobello's to be topped with walnut pesto and baked

These, The German Apple Cake

Chowder, Pasta e fagioli, Double chocolate cookies

We are enjoying our first rain storm of the season, although the  temperature is quite warm, mid 60f's.
Today I am making some great soups..a lighter version of a mushroom chowder made with coconut milk and a hearty pasta e fagioli with dried Lima beans, cooked from scratch.
I wanted to show that it is possible to cook beans at home cheaply and better than the canned versions.  By soaking overnight, rinsing then boiling until scum appears, draining and repeating the process adding salt and herbs. Cooked this way the beans will produce less gas.
The scum poured off in the first rinsing is the  gas producing enzyme that the beans release on first boil.
Most canned & commercial produced beans do not go though this process, and are either cooked in the cans or in vats, without being double boiled.
For a firmer bean add salt in the second boil and cook with the salt in; for softer beans add the salt at the end of cooking.
I need these beans to be firm as I am adding them to a hot tomato based soup that also has pieces of pasta and some potato in.
I added green beans and ( frozen, defrosted) green Lima's as well.

The mushroom soup is a butter based, potato soup with fresh white button mushrooms and own frozen white corn from this summer.
Cooked slowly  in vegetable stock, then finished with coconut milk.

I don't like to add any flours  to my soup, and just keep them light and clean tasting.



The new take on Mac 'n Cheese..this a  sauce made from cooked butternut squash, nutritional yeast, vegetable stock, starchy potatoes & green beans ( for texture and color)
Tomorrow I will add cooked pasta and then top with breadcrumbs and grated mature Cheddar cheese. These will be baked at the client's home.
A very nice and lighter version of an American classic.


I am also preparing  braised vegetables  to be served with walnut-pesto( no cheese) packed Portobello mushrooms.
The client will bake the mushrooms, and serve with  the warmed braised vegetables(own grown eggplant and peppers, onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, Japanese Sake) and this is also served with steamed brown rice.
This is a Vegan dish, and very tasty.


For dessert/breads:
some double chocolate oatmeal cookies and a German Apple Cake ( the apple cake I will make in the morning).
In about 30 minutes I will be baking my own made whole wheat, sour dough breads with caraway seed.
(The sour dough starter I began over 5 years ago from an own grown, organic apple and also added some fresh natural yeast, this year from a client's own grown organic grapes. This bread is  added fat and sugar free and has a dense crumb, great for soups and sandwiches)

The Dried Lima Beans covered in water and soaked overnight

First boil, this scum is the gas producing enzyme..drain and rinse the beans and re-boil  in fresh water adding herbs and seasonings

The beans ready for the second boil and cooking with dried thyme and bay laurel

The previous 2 the completed pasta e fagioli with the cooked Lima beans

The Mushroom Chowder with added green peas

The butternut squash and green bean mix for the Mac ' n cheese

own picked basil on a rainy day

The previous 2 double chocolate oatmeal cookies

Freshly baked wholewheat sourdough caraway loaf

RECIPES the real McCoy: Coconut Macaroons & Chocolate Rum Truffles for Great GIFTS OR HOARDING...LOL

OK I am trying to post recipes that can be easily made world wide, and candy without the need of a candy making thermometer.

 Coconut macaroons..very moist and "coconutty" cookies
This recipe is pre-1940 USA and makes 30 small ones
1 cup condensed milk (the sweetened kind)
4 cups shredded coconut
1 1/2 tsp coconut flavoring or a good vanilla extract

Combine all the above in a large bowl and mix with a spoon until all combined.

Drop by the teaspoon (your choice of size) about 1 inch apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet ( or parchment lined).
Bake in a moderate oven 350f for 10 minutes until delicately browned.
Remove from oven.
Remove from cookie sheet and cool on  wire racks immediately .

 

Real Chocolate Rum Truffles 

 (these are the REAL McCoy, with no fillers like biscuit or cake crumbs and were served at The Best British Holiday Celebrations  from 1890's through to modern times)

In the stores if you can find them, they are well  over $15 per pound

They are as wonderful as the quality of ingredients you use, so no skimping.

1 cup chopped top quality bitter-sweet chocolate or choc chips
2 large egg yolks ( the hot melted chocolate will kill off any bacteria)
1 1/2 oz unsalted butter (1 1/2 tbsp USA)
3 tbsp heavy cream not half & half (3 dtsp UK)
2 tbsp real rum liquor (or whisky or brandy)
1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar (10ozs icing sugar)

plain cocoa powder (not hot chocolate) for dusting

In a basin over simmering (not boiling) water or a double boiler, melt the chocolate (be careful not to let any steam or water hit the chocolate or it will seize up). When it is just melted, remove from heat &  add the butter and egg yolk, mix well, then add the cream and liquor, stir well to mix, until it just holds together.

Place in fridge for 20 minutes covered in plastic wrap.

Remove from fridge and when it has set up, using a teaspoon  & your clean hands, roll into small balls and roll in cocoa.
Keep in a tight lidded container in the fridge until needed.
If you have to stack the rows use parchment  or wax paper between the layers
You may like to lick the bowl clean (lol)
They can be placed in candy liners (like cupcake liners) or placed on a cocoa sprinkled plate.
Once served there will not be any leftovers so you might want to keep some back for yourself.
This makes just over 1 pound

They may also be rolled in powdered sugar or unsweetened grated coconut. Do not make in batches of more than double the recipe or there  will be problems with the egg yolks and chocolate.


DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE SOME OUT FOR SANTA These will keep refrigerated for 2 weeks