Christmas Eve Salad

This is the time of year when Folks throw office, church, garage, AA, bowling team, study group, etc. POTLUCK parties. That can be a problem if you cannot cook, or if you are too lazy to cook much, and some other fortunate Soul snags the Chips & Dip or Beer & Soda contributions.

This Salad can be your saving grace. You do not have to cook but only prepare the fruit with care and combine carefully. Everyone will think you are a whizbang gourmand. And if you are Vegan, you will have something you can eat. There is more than one way to skin a Potluck.

Happy Holidays! This was the salad served at Christmas Eve Dinner to Stanford-in-Mexico students in 1972. Recipe from Steve and Pilar Stein of Latin Studies.

Ensalada de Noche Buena

4 small Apples, cored and sliced
4 medium Oranges, peeled and separated in sections
3 cups of canned Pineapple, drained
4 small Bananans, sliced
3 tablespoons Sugar
2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
Romaine Lettuce leaves
2 cups canned Betts, drained
1/4 cup Peanuts

Combine the first six ingredients in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate until they are cold. At the moment of serving cover a salad bowl with the Lettuce leaves, mix carefully the Fruits and the Beets, and place the mixture over the Letttuce. Sprinkle Peanuts on top and serve immediately. Serves 12.
Note: Some folks are allergic to peanuts. Serve them salted and roasted as a garnish on the side.

Green Sauce (Sauce Verte)

I made Salsa Criolla yesterday to accompany a roast.  It started me thinking about Fresh or Uncooked Sauces and how good and easy they are. I did the Green Sauce below in a food processor.

I served this Green Sauce from Silvana Franco's cookbook Salsas and Ketchups with Grilled Shrimp and Filet Mignon at a dinner party I catered. I always make it fresh before service. I discovered I had no lemon and substituted a small Tangerine. Such an inspired-by-emergency solution. So good. I believe this cookbook, published in 1995, is out of print. It is worth searching for, if only for the Banana Ketchup recipe.

Green Sauce (Salsa Verde)

6 Scallions, finely chopped
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Green Chilies, finely chopped
6 tablespoons chopped fresh Cilantro
6 tablespoons chopped fresh Parsley
1 tablespoon capers, well drained and finely chopped
4 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Lemon, freshly squeezed juice and grated peel (or one Tangerine)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large serving bowl and toss together. Season to taste and serve immediately.

"Asparagus inspires gentle thoughts." - Charles Lamb

Homegrown Asparagus becomes available in Pennsylvania April through June. It is at its best in May. A list of pick-your-own farms in Eastern Pennsylvania can be found HERE. 

Every Asparagus lover has favorite ways to eat Asparagus. This recipe for Chinese Asparagus Salad is one of my favorites.

The photograph comes from Petr Kratochvil. 

Chinese Asparagus Salad

2 pounds fresh Asparagus
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Vinegar (Cider or White Wine are good)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Sesame Oil

Some folks peel Asparagus and you can if you want to. I never do. I just snap it. Wash the Asparagus well. Cut the spears diagonally across in 1 1/2 inch lengths. Cook the pieces of Asparagus for one minute in boiling water. Then drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Mix all the other ingredients (soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, salt and oil) together in a large bowl. Add Asparagus and toss.

Happy Belated Birthday Lord Ganesh

I am so happy to have found a fine blog Simple Indian Recipes.

I was looking for Pumpkin recipes. Fall And Winter are the seasons to eat Squash and Pumpkin. I share my find with you, cher Reader.

I found an entire page of Pumpkin recipes that truly go from Soup to Nuts. You want to go there if you cook for Vegans and Vegetarians at Holiday time. I plan to make a Curry. See a recipe for Pumpkin Burfi below.

I am so happy to share Lord Ganesh made in Pumpkins for your enjoyment. This year Diwali falls on October 24.

Sweets are part of the annual Diwali Festival of Lights. Pumpkin burfi made out of vari tandul and boiled pumpkin, sugar, ghee. I will be back when I know what the English equivalent of the Indian ingredients is to translate.

Ingedients:
1 cup Red pumpkin boiled and smashed
1/2 cup Vari tandul
1/2 cup Grated coconut
1/2 cup Sugar ( +/- as required by you)
1 cup Water
1 pinch Kesari colour
2 drops Vanilla essence
3 tbsp Ghee + little for geasing the plate
1/4 tsp Cardamom (elaichi) powder
2-3 pinch Nutmeg (jaifal) powder
1 tsp each Charoli and Charmagaz
1/2 Cashew (kaju) pieces for garnishing.

Method:
1. Heat ghee in a kadai, add the vari tandul and roast the same as you roast for the sheera.
2. When it changes the colour to brown slightly, add 1 cup of water. Cover and cook till the water is dried up in slow flame.
3. Add the sugar, boiled and smashed pumpkin, grated coconut, and kesari colour. Keep stirring and cooking till it leaves the kadai.
4. Add elaichi powder, vanilla essence, charoli, charmagaz and mix well for another two minutes.
5. Transfer it into a greased plate. Allow it to cool. Cut into desired shape. Garnish with cashewnuts and serve.

Variation: with mango pulp, apple pulp, papaya pulp.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 45-60 minutes
Serves: 5-6

Beautiful Soup So Rich and Green

BEAUTIFUL Soup, so rich and green,
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
- by Lewis Carroll

January is National Soup Month. I love soup both hot and cold. The soup recipe below had its start with a recipe by Poppy Cannon in Eating European at Home and Abroad published by Doubleday in 1961. I altered it to suit our family. Poppy Cannon (August 2, 1905 - April 1975) was at various times the food editor of the Ladies Home Journal and House Beautiful.

Perhaps best known for her books on food, Miss Cannon was also the author of 2,000 magazine articles on a variety of topics, and wrote newspaper columns ranging from fashion and travel to race relations as well as poetry and fiction. Read more...

Emeril LaGasse makes this Portugese soup with linguica sausage added. I have tried that and my children like this Vegan version better.

Ingredients for Caldo Verde Soup:

6 Potatoes
4 tablespoons Olive Oil
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
1 tablespoon Salt
1 Dried Hot Pepper (optional)
4 cups shredded Greens (Kale or Turnip are especially good)
2-6 cloves fresh Garlic
2 quarts Water

Wakame finely shredded with scissors (optional and to taste)

Peel and slice the potatoes. Cover with water and add olive oil and peeled garlic cloves, and cook until tender. Remove the Hot Pepper. Mash the potatoes and garlic in the broth. Add salt and pepper. Then add 4 cups shredded fresh greens or one large package of frozen greens and the wakame if using it. I almost always use frozen because it’s faster than shredding fresh greens and the results are good. Cook for an hour or until the greens are tender.

Note: If you are cooking for dedicated hot food haters, make Caldo Verde without the hot pepper and serve Louisiana hot sauce or Tabasco as a condiment. Ms. Cannon writes that this soup may be made with a combination of cabbage and spinach. I found that combination insipid. She also does not include garlic. I don’t think she would recognize my version but I must thank her for the fabulous start.

And to those who know and love Lewis Carroll as much as I, please forgive the poetic license and quotation wantonness. I know the soup spoken of was Turtle, Mock Turtle.