A Few Awards

November 30, 2008 | Filed Under Awards | 22 Comments

Some really super nice food bloggers have passed a few awards to me. Two gave me the awards a few months ago (Okay, okay last year - I never got a chance to acknowledge them publically.) and others recently passed along the awards to me this week. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m honored by your kindness.

NICE MATTERS

Thank you, Tanna (My Kitchen in Half Cups)!

ROCKIN’ GIRL BLOGGER

Thank you, Sra (When My Soup Came Alive)!

A PERFECT BLEND OF FRIENDSHIP

Thank you, Mikky (My Finds…)!

SUPERIOR SCRIBBLER

Thank you, Olga (Mango & Tomato)!

Now, it’s my turn to pass these awards along. The Superior Scribbler has specific rules on how to pass the award out. I’m sure the other awards also have rules to follow to pass the awards out. However, I’m going to do things a little differently.

I’d like to pass the award to the following:

1- My guest bloggers who generously helped me out while I was recuperating from surgery during the summer — Mischief Mari of Cha no ma-ri, Layla of Laylita’s Recipes, Simona of Bricole, Ilva of Lucullian Delights, Elizabeth of The House in Marrakesh and About New York, Sra of When My Soup Came Alive, Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen, Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, Lydia of The Perfect Pantry, Rebecca of From Argentina with Love, Christine of Christine Cooks, Amy of The Heart of a Seed, and Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict.

2- Everyone listed in my Links section.

3- Everyone who has stopped here (So if you’re reading this right now, that means YOU!).

Of course, you are under no obligation to accept this award or pass it on. I’m simply doing this in the spirit of frienship and fun. I appreciate you and your blogs.

Oh, and if anyone is interested, here are the original rules to pass along the Superior Scribbler Award:
1. Post the award on your blog
2. Link to me for giving it to you
3. Link the originating post here
4. Pass it on to five deserving people
5. Post these rules for your recipients

Best to all,

Paz

Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup: Happy Thanksgiving!

November 27, 2008 | Filed Under Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, Corn, Eggs, Fellow Bloggers, Green Onions, Scallions, Spring Onions, Holidays, Poultry, Soups/Chowders/Gumbos, Thanksgiving, Vegetables | 16 Comments

Yes, more soup. :-) It’s still cold here and I’m still tired and stressed. So, I decided to make more soup, using a recipe I found on Hallo’s blog.

Today, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the States. I never had Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup before as part of a Thanksgiving meal, but this is what I wanted to eat. It was definitely a good soup for a weary body and soul like mine. I felt much better after eating it.

What am I thankful for this holiday season? Many things. I’m especially thankful for all of you who stop by my blog with your very kind and encouraging comments. Without you, it would be no fun here.

Paz

Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup

Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once

1 litre chicken stock

4 slices ginger

6 spring onions/scallions

1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger

4 chicken thigh fillets, skinless, sliced finely

420 grams canned creamed corn

2 cups corn kernels

salt and freshly ground pepper

sesame oil

2 tablespoons corn flour mixed with a little water, optional, to thicken soup

1 egg white, lightly whisked with 1 tablespoon water

Place the chicken stock and sliced ginger into a pot and bring to a simmer so to allow the ginger to infuse into the stock.

Separate the white from the green parts of the spring onions. Slice both finely.

Heat a little neutral oil in a large pot and when it’s come to temperature, add the sliced white part of the spring onion and the ginger. Let this gently sauté for a couple of minutes before adding the chicken pieces - just add a quarter of the chicken at a time. When the chicken has changed colour, add the creamed corn and corn kernels.

Turn the heat up a little and stir this well before adding the stock (strain off the ginger slices). Add half the sliced green parts of the spring onion and let the soup simmer until the corn has cooked through.

Taste and season with salt and freshly ground pepper and a few drops of sesame oil.

If you prefer a thicker soup, then at this stage, stir in the mix of corn flour and water.

Just before serving add in the remaining sliced spring onion greens and while stirring the soup, drizzle in the lightly whisked egg white - this sets as soon as you add it to the soup so it’s important to keep stirring to break it up and get a speckled finish.

Vegetable Soup with Orzo

November 24, 2008 | Filed Under Carrots, Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, Fellow Bloggers, Green peas, Orzo, Pasta, Soups/Chowders/Gumbos, Sweet Peas, Vegetables | 19 Comments

Oh! The past couple of days have been extremely cold. This past Saturday was the coldest day so far. Freezing.

I wanted something hot. Something to warm me up. Then I remember a simple soup recipe from Haalo (Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once). I’d saved it a long time ago. It was time to pull it out. I liked that the recipe was simple. I like simple recipes. I like no fuss recipes. This was my kind of recipe.

It called for fresh peas. I bought frozen peas, which worked fine. The recipe also called for capsicum. Capsicum? What was that? I had no idea. After looking it up, I found that that it’s a common name in Australia and Britain for pepper. In North America and Canada, it is commonly known as Bell Pepper ( In other countries it’s also known as Cayene Pepper, African Chillies, Tabsco Peppers, Pimiento and more.). Ahhh! Now I understood. One Red Bell Pepper coming up. I love to learn something new from my fellow bloggers.

I prepared my soup. It tasted delicious! I offered some to my mom. At first she was hesitant and then she said, "yes."

She finished one bowl and then asked, "Is there any more soup?"

LOL! Yup! My soup tasted Mmm, Mmm good. We were both warmed up by this simple, delicious Vegatable Soup with Orzo.

Even one of my dogs got in on the action when I left a few drops in the bowl. I turned around for just a second and she reached up on her hind legs and pulled the bowl down to the ground from the table. She quickly cleaned it out with her long tongue. Yup! I’ll say that even the dog enjoyed the soup, too.

Thanks Haalo for this recipe!

Paz

Little bit of soup left in the bowl, before the dog got to it. *sigh*

Vegetable Soup with Orzo
Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once

For two

1 large red onion, finely diced
1 large carrot, finely diced
1 small red capsicum, finely diced
1 large stalk of celery, finely diced
1 zucchini, finely diced
1 large tomato, diced finely
fresh peas
salt and freshly ground white pepper
handful of orzo, per person

I’ve made a very simple vegetable soup and the ingredients should only be used as a guide - feel free to substitute whatever you have on hand.

Place a little olive oil and butter into a saucepan over a medium heat - when butter has melted add the onion, carrot, celery and red capsicum and cook slowly until the vegetables start to soften (you may need to turn the heat down to ensure they don’t colour).

Now add the zucchini and cook until it has started to soften and then tip in the tomato. Wait until the tomato starts to break down before adding the orzo followed by enough boiling water (or stock if so desired) to cover the vegetables by about 2cm/1inch.

Turn the heat up to maintain a boiling temperature and cook for about 5 minutes. Remember to keep stirring so the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Add the fresh peas and then taste and season with salt and freshly ground white pepper.

Turn off the heat and cover and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes - during this time the pasta will finish cooking by absorbing the cooking stock but won’t become mushy.

Before serving add a little more stock if it looks a little dry and bring it back to temperature.

Upside Down Pizza

November 18, 2008 | Filed Under Baking | 16 Comments

Yes, another upside down recipe. LOL!

I also got this recipe from Sandra of Aimer. It tasted very good. The ingredients are very basic (beef, onion, sphagetti sauce and cheese) and it did not take long to make. The crust part is made of crescent rolls. I didn’t buy enough rolls but fortunately, I was just barely able to stretch out the rolls to make the crust. Now, this was a fun upside down meal to make. ;-)

Sandra is right. This meal also went great with a side of salad. Mmmm, Mmmm, good! Thanks for the recipe, Sandra!

Paz

Upside Down Pizza
Aimer

1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (16 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 (8 ounce) can refrigerated crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Brown beef, onion and garlic in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Once browned, drain fat and stir in spaghetti sauce.In a 9×13 inch baking dish, spread a layer of sauce. Top with 1/2 of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, another layer of sauce and the rest of the cheese. Top with crescent rolls, pinching seams together.Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until rolls are golden brown.

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Ready In: 30 Minutes
Yields: 6 servings

New York Monday #149: Nature’s Striptease

November 16, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 14 Comments

Folks, this will be the last New York Monday post on this blog. Life is a lot hectic for me and I’ve decided to do things a little differently here.

I’ll continue to post on my photo blog, so if you’d still like to see NYC scenes, feel free to visit there.

Thanks dear Sylvia for your huge compliment and thanks everyone, always, for your interest and kind comments here.

Best to all,

Paz

A view of the Upper West Side of Manhattan (Washington Heights neighborhood).

Not long ago, the leaves started changing colors.

George Washington Bridge in the background.

Today, most of the leaves have completely changed colors.

Many have turned brown now and soon the leaves will fall off its branches.

I like the way one reader described the process — Nature’s striptease.

Upside Down Peach Cake

November 10, 2008 | Filed Under Baking | 24 Comments

I’ve never made any upside down recipes before. Oh, I’ve always wanted to make an upside down pineapple cake; I think I may have a recipe for that lying around somewhere but I’ve never had the chance to make it. When I saw Sandra’s (of Aimer) Upside Down Peach Cake, I was motivated to make it. It looked so enticing.

Sandra’s recipe calls for fresh peaches but I like to use the canned ones instead. They’re ripe, sweet and perfectly cut and I don’t have to worry about trying to peel the peaches, cut them nicely, or whether the peaches are ripe and taste good. Everytime I buy peaches or other fresh fruits, it is hit or miss. Sometimes the fruit tastes terrific. Other times the fruit can taste like cardboard. That’s stressful for me and stress is NOT my friend. So, canned peaches I used.

My cake turned out really well. It also didn’t last long because everyone goobled it up right away. Thanks for the recipe, Sandra!

Paz

Upside Down Peach Cake
Aimer

For the topping:
¾ cup butter or margarine
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups sliced peaches, drained (reserving 5 tablespoons of juice)

For the cake:
3 eggs, separated
5 tablespoons peach juice
(Elberta peaches should render a lot of juice, if not, add water)
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream the butter or margarine and sugar together. Spread on the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan and cover with peaches slices. This will be the top of the cake.

Beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Add the peach juice, the sugar gradually, beat until light and fluffy. In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold into the egg yolk mixture.

Sift the flour and salt together and gently blend into the batter, then add the vanilla. Pour the batter over the topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes, or until brown and the cake springs back when touched.

Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Run a metal spatula around the side and put a serving plate over the cake pan. Invert and let the cake fall onto the serving plate.

New York Monday #148: Autumn Colors

November 9, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 13 Comments

When I posted this photo of some apartment buildings and an old water tower in the northern part of Manhattan (here), a few weeks ago, everything was green. Now the leaves have finally started to change. I love Autumn colors.

Have a great week, everyone!

Paz

Pear, Gorgonzola, and Pecan Salad

November 3, 2008 | Filed Under Cheese, Fruits, Gorgonzola, Nuts, Pears, Pecans, Salad | 21 Comments

This summer, while convalescing in bed, using my laptop was one of the few things I could do without feeling pain. As I caught up with my blog reading, I came across this salad on Bleeding Espresso.

Later, when I felt better and could go into the kitchen, I made the salad. I loved it and made it over and over again. Never got tired of it. It’s supposed to be a summer salad but if I find the main ingredients like the pears, I plan on making it any time of the year. I think I’ll try canned pears. Thanks, Michelle!

Pear, Gorgonzola, Pecan Salad

Bleeding Espresso

For salad:

Salad greens of your choice
Pears, washed, sliced in half and cored
Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Raisins
Pecans

For dressing*:

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt to taste

* This makes enough dressing for about 2-3 salads depending on personal taste and the size of the salads.

1. In a small bowl, mix together lemon and honey until honey is dissolved.

2. Stir in vinegar, then oil, and adjust for salt and other ingredients.

3. If making individual salad plates (recommended), assemble as shown in the photos with pear sliced in half lengthwise and cored placed in the middle of the plate–or any way you like really. It’s your salad!

4. Be sure to brush the pear slices/halves with lemon juice so they don’t brown before serving.

5. I would also recommend serving the dressing on the side at the table but that’s personal preference. If you’re adding it to the plates, serve immediately so things don’t get soggy.