Ringing in the New Year

Here's wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year. Whether you are out whooping it up or holed up in a blanket fort battling a cold like Hubby may you ring in the new year in style! Tonight our style involves warm pjs, fluffy socks, piles of comforters, and boxes of Kleenex. Yup! The Boy started out with this cold last week and he has graciously shared it with us. We whooped it up by making a fabulous pot of broccoli cheddar soup. I found the recipe on Pioneer Woman's site. It turned out so well and helped warm us up. Did I take photos of the soup? No. Why? Because I suck and as tasty as this soup is, it isn't really a pretty soup.  Besides, right about now I kind of wish we were in the spot we were last year at this time.... On the beach in Hawaii...

We curled up with our bowls of soup and watched season 2 of Flashpoint, a fantastic Canadian show about a police strategic response unit. The show just recently had its series finale and we are getting caught up on missed episodes.

Of course with it being New Year's Eve, we indulged in dessert. Sticky toffee pudding cakes! Yum! This is a recipe I found online from Chatelaine magazine and really reminds me on a Christmas time steamed pudding my Mom used to make, This one is complete with a brown sugar sauce to top it off. (Of course adding some Bailey's Irish Cream to some whipped cream doesn't hurt!)

Once again, here's wishing you a happy, healthy new year!  Here it is only 9pm and I will probably be asleep soon....there's always next year!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

CSA Update: Our Farm Share

How's the heat treating you? I'm never going to complain about the heat because we get sooo much cold, this is glorious!! We've been busy here in the Little Kitchen.  The Boy had 4 wisdom teeth removed and is on the mend. A few giant pots of home made mac 'n cheese helped, so did the T3s....

Yesterday We got our 3rd week of goodies from the CSA program and we are knee deep in leafy greens! One of the things people said to us we we started talking about joining a CSA was "I hope you like kale".  We actually got a little bit of kale for the first time in this box but have been enjoying the gorgeous salads we've been able to make with the greens we've been getting.

This time we got some pea shoots!

Beets and salad turnips.

Lots of greens!

A couple of cucumbers, a few baby squash, garlic scapes, and peas.

The first peas of the season!!

 Today for lunch, I had a tasty salad with roasted beets, goat cheese, and hard boiled egg along with a bowl of Perogy soup from Frozen Comfort.

 Again, I used no dressing. The goat cheese and some salt and pepper was all that it needed! (Oh, I think some walnuts would go perfectly here too....I will add walnuts to the list!)

It was a perfect lunch, especially since I am planning on going to the ball park later to annoy the Boy at work!!! (Mmmmmm, ballpark goodies!!!)





Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Only On The Prairie: Perogi Soup

We have been hitting record highs with the weather here lately and it has been absolutely fabulous! Even with the side serving of spring allergies popping up!

Have you ever tried Perogi soup? Have your ever heard of Perogi soup? That's okay if you haven't because there are many prairie dwellars that haven't tried it or heard of it either.  The fine folks (James, Sharmelle, and Alain) over at Fozen Comfort in North Winnipeg have made this soup a standard in my kitchen.  I have also tried their turkey soup and it is also fabulous!  I do need to get back there and try out some of their other tasty looking items!

Perogi soup is basically a creamy potato soup with chunks of perogi, bacon, and green onions in it.  Quality does indeed make a difference here...not only is the soup tasty, the perogi pieces are great tasting and no one is going to argue with bacon being added! If you love potatoe soup, you will love perogi soup!

Frozen Comfort is a new store in West Kildonon that makes and sells frozen foods.  They proudly cook up their foods fresh and without extra preservative and flash freeze it in store.  Soups come frozen in generous bowl sized (and shaped) portions wich make for easy heating!

The soups can be heated in either the microwave or on the stove and taste fantastic!

Frozen foods isn't their only market.  They make lunches to go, they cater, make their own ice cream, sell gluten free and diabetic friendly items....the list goes on!

If you happen to be in the West Kildonan area, make sure you pop by as they are open until 7pm on weeknights which is perfect for picking up something on your home for dinner!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

November Rain, Chicken Noodle Soup & Biscuits

Here we are on November 6 and it is raining on the prairies. Normally I enjoy a rainy day but in November we run the risk of rain turning into ice and snow. Ice and snow tend to leave layers of slippery ice on the streets and sidewalks. Good thing I have a pair of these to wear on my shoes for my walk to work.

I haven't tried these grippers before but I do hope they help.  I do have a tendency to fall and seeing as my ankle is still technically healing from my fall back in June, I am trying to be extra careful! It is a good thing I have these because it just turned to snow out there!!

To help chase this cool rain away I felt the need to make soup and biscuits today. This was one of those days were I started rooting through the kitchen and chopping knowing only that I was making soup and biscuits, just not what kind.  As the I was chopping up the veggies for the soup, a good old fashioned chicken noode soup was taking shape.  As I searched through the kitchen I found everything I needed for chicken noodle soup.  I started out thinking I would make a broccoli cheddar soup, but didn't have enough milk to make both that and the biscuits.

I found cheese, and a jalapeno so I went with my jalapeno and cheese biscuits from this earlier post. I used havarti and cheddar cheeses this time. 

Chicken Noodle Soup

4 cup chicken stock (mine was still frozen so I had to thaw it in the microwave)
2 carrots, cut into coins
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
pasta of your choice. (I had a box of spaghetti with just a little bit left in it, so I used that)
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I found 2 breasts left over from the BBQ the other night!)

While chopping your veggies, heat up your soup pot over medium then add the olive oil.  Saute the onion for a coulple of minutes with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper.
Add in the rest of the veggies and conitnue to cook for about 5 minutes.
Add in the bay leaves and the stock.  Put a lid on it and let it simmer for about 10 minutes before adding the raw spaghetti noodles.
After another 10 minutes, when the noodles are cooked, add in the shredded chicken and simmer until it is heated it through.

While the soup is simmering and getting all happy is the time to get the biscuits shaking and baking. I won't bore you with that recipe here but you can click on the link and find it here.

This afternoon we made a batch of hummus for lunches for the week. It was so tasty, we had some with our soup and biscuits. I found the recipe for a Buffalo Wings hummus in the October issue of Food Network Magazine.

Buffalo Wing Hummus
Adapted from Food Network Magazing, October 2011

3 cups chickpeas, rinsed and drained (save 1/2 cup of the liquid)
2 or 3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice (I only had limes, so we used lime juice)
1/4 cup tahini (had no tahini, so we left it out)
1 1/2 tsp paprika (we used smoked paprika and loved the taste)
2 tbsp bbq sauce
2 to 3 tbsp cayenne hot sauce (We used Frank's Red Hot)
1 tbsp white vinegar

Put everything in the blender and bend until smooth.  I added about 1/2 cup of water to the mix as it was a bit thick without the tahini.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Cinco De Mayo Fiesta

I have been looking up recipes, reading through recipes, and coming up with my own ideas about what to make for Cinco de Mayo this week.  Excitement has been rising yet the other day while planning and shopping for my Cinco de Mayo dinner I became so frustrated.  First I was happy to find tomatillos in the produce section but then I was ticked that they were all soft and as I peeled back some of the paper husks I found mould and bruises (ewwwwww).  Needless to say, I did not get any fresh tomatillos for dinner.  It is kind of hit or miss at my grocery store when it comes to tomatillos.  If they have them, there's never too many and you have to get there early to get the good ones.  I also couldn't find poblano peppers to save my life!!  Lucky there is a small section of Mexican products in the 'international' aisle, if you can call it that.  I did manage to find a bottle of green enchilada sauce and a bottle of red sauce there.  I will have to wait and see how they both taste but I really did want to make my own.

Wednesday evening I spent some time prepping for Cinco de Mayo.
I put together my tortilla soup so it was a quick re heat and serve item for dinner.

Tortilla soup (adapted from Food Network)
Printable versions of both recipes

1 large white onion
2 jalapenos
1 28 oz jar whole tomatoes (roast the tomatoes but save the liquid for the soup)
3 or 4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin
4 cups chicken stock (or more, depends on how thick you like your soup)
1/2 cup ancho chile pepper puree (3 or 4 dried anchos softened with hot water to cover and purred: freeze   the leftover)
2 bay leaves
First I pre heated the oven to 400F and chopped some onions, 2 jalapenos, 3 cloves garlic, and some whole canned tomatoes and put them on a baking sheet.  These tasty tidbits were then coated with olive oil, kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper.

Then whole works then went into the pre heated oven for 10 minutes.

Pull the whole works out and sprinkle with 1 tbsp coriander seeds and 1 tsp cumin.

Pop it back into the oven for another 10 minutes or until everything is nice and toasty!

I let the roasted veggies cool while I made dinner for Wednesday (scrambled egg night). After the Boy washed the dinner dishes, I plunked everything into my blender and whirred it up until smooth.

(I have made this recipe before but without the roasting and I made a huge mess blending the hot soup so I thought I would try it this way.)

The last time I made a tortilla soup, I had tons of left over ancho chili puree so I froze it.  Wednesday evening I thawed it and tossed 1/2 cup of it into the blender with the cooled roasted veggies. The whole works then goes into a pot and heats up with 2 bay leaves, 1 28 0z can of crushed tomatoes and 4 cups of chicken stock....mmmmm.....

Serve topped with things such as:

• dollop of sour cream
• cilantro
• chicken
• avocado
• cheese
• green onions, onions, tomato

The other item I prepped ahead was the shredded chicken for the enchiladas!!

Chicken Enchiladas

6 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
1 large white onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
red or green enchilada sauce of your choice ( I REALLY wanted to make my own green tomatillo sauce and red poblano sauce but I couldn't find either item....sigh)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add some olive oil to coat the pan.  Toss in the onions, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper.  saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Salt and pepper the chicken breasts and lay them on the top of the onions in the pan.  Clamp the lid on and cook for 18 - 20 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool until the chicken is cool enough to shred.

I just used my clean hands to pull the chicken apart.  Add the onion mixture and the juices and plunk it all in the fridge until you are ready to fill your enchiladas.

Yet another item difficult to find was corn tortillas...I did find some multi grain and some flaxseed tortillas that had a similar texture to corn tortillas and they worked wonderfully!

Mix the shredded chicken with some shredded monterey jack cheese, fresh chopped cilantro, and some chopped green chiles (optional).

Spray a 9 x 13 pan (or similar size) with cooking spray and pour a layer of your choice of either green tomatillo sauce or red poblano sauce over the bottom of the pan, just enough to cover.

Spoon about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of filling onto the centre of a tortilla, roll the tortilla up and place seam side down in the pan.

Lay each enchilada seam side down in the saucy pan.

Spoon some more sauce over the enchiladas and top with the rest of the cheese.

Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until hot, bubbly and the cheese is all melty/gooey.

Serve with re fried beans, rice, chips, guacamole, tortilla soup.....enjoy!!!

 Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

Rendez-Vous des Chefs - A Pea Soup Challenge

This afternoon Hubby and I went back to the Festival du Voyageur for the Reunion des Chefs.  This is a pea soup contest which is currently in its third year.  Restaurants set up shop and offer a small taste of their own recipe of pea soup.  There was only 4 restaurants hawking their soup today, which made me kind of sad as I was looking forward to testing out more (and leaving with a full stomach!).

As you walk in the door, you pick up your spoon and a ballot.

Then you work your way around the room (in which ever order you can work out through the crowds!) and taste each soup.

The first soup we tried was made by Le Garage Cafe.  It was so very tasty.  Had a great consistency with bits of ham throughout.  These guys were also very helpful when my paper cup blew a hole in it and soup got all over my camera.  One of these fine fellows even got me a damp cloth from the back room so I could clean up!!

The second soup we tried was mad by Provence Bistro.  This soup was light in colour and thick.  Too thick to enjoy.  It wasn't really a soup consistency.  They proclaimed to have spent three days cooking this soup.  I did however enjoy the bacon brittle they served on the top of the soup.

The third soup was made by La Petite France.  This one was another thick soup with a smoky flavour to it. It was nice, but too thick for my liking.

The last soup we tried was made by Resto Gare.  This particular soup also had a nice consistency with some veggies still visible in it.  It was served with some pork on the top. 

Now for my verdict....drum roll please.......My favourite soup of the day was the soup made by the fine fellows from Le Garage Cafe!!

The boys at Le Garage Cafe knew what they were doing!

One of the other neat things we got to see today was a battle re enactment between the French and the English.  The French won today's battle but apparently the English won a battle last week.

First the French gathered for inspection and fired off a round.

Then the British got themselves ready....they look a bit out numbered...

Down to the river bank to fight! We watched from the top of the Fort so I had to shoot through the trees.
  Here we see the British laying the smack down.

The French retaliate and advance...

My picture of the British running away down the river bank looks just like a photo of a bunch of tree branches so I left it out.

For the very brave, there is an ice tower...Brave people can wander over and give ice climbing a try...I didn't do it.

  Well, that is all for the Festival du Voyageur this year.  Until next time, stay warm and eat well!