Small Kitchen Stories: Meyer Lemon Compote

  I love it when the Giant surprises me with a little something special as it makes up for all those sad times when my favorite items have been pulled...... for good.
  Did you hear me squeal when I picked up a net-bag of Meyer Lemons?  All the produce staff did!
  This was the very first time I ever bought this Lemon, now made famous by Martha Stewart.  As I drove home I contemplated what this would become.  Winter is when I crave a deeply complex fruity compote.  A compote it would be.
  The Meyer Lemon is a cross of a lemon and a clementine, and thus the flavor goes more tropical than Mediterranean.


Meyer Lemon and Banana Compote


Meyer Lemons, 4, peeled, seeded and cut into small chunks.
Peel from one lemon, cut into tiny-tiny pieces.
Raisins: soaked in white wine or Orange Juice
Bananas, 2, cut into chunks
White Wine and/or Orange Juice
Honey
Cardamom seeds from two or three pods.

    In a nice deep heavy pot combine all of the above, except for the honey and liquids.  Add enough liquid to cover the fruit.  Add honey to taste.  You might need more than you imagine.  Simmer until all fruits are soft and plump.  Remove from the heat and cool.
    Use to top rice pudding, yogurt, cottage cheese, pound cake!


Ta Da!

Small Kitchen Stories: Warm Cottage: Lentil Stewy-Soup with Chicken-Apple Sausage

Oh, Dewey Beach! Oh; Venus Restaurant where I had my "settled on my beach cottage celebration dinner". Venus who was born of the Sea, Daughter of Neptune, overflows her bay to meet the Ocean!

Shall I placate with this Soup Offering?
After the Friday The 13th, Storm Ida, I'd be begging to make this dinner or to have it delivered to my doorstep!

The One-Stop-Shop Rte One shopping continues with a quest and request for: Lentil Soup.

Lord only knows how long it has been since I made anything-lentil.  ~ 15 years?

Same parameter challenges to meet: hearty, totally delicious, cheap, easy!

BIG POT: mine was too small

Olive Oil, 1 ladle

Lentils, brown: rinsed

*1-16 oz package for Stew or 1/2 package-8 oz for Soup

 ** I suggest using only 1/2 bag or 8 oz.  This "soup" once made thickens like crazy!

Onion, 1 chopped

Garlic, 2 cloves minced

Chicken Apple Sausage, pre-cooked, 1 package: El Fiesta brand

Vegetable Broth, Organic, 1 quart: Pacific bran

Mushrooms: big handful chopped

Parsley, flat leaf, rinsed and minced

Big Can Tomatoes, 28 oz, Nature's Promise brand

Water, 3 cups

Red Wine, 1/2 cup

Apple, 1, peeled and chopped

Bay Leaf, small half

Marjoram and Thyme to taste

Honey, 1 big teaspoon

Yogurt, as a garnish

In a BIG pot, pour in the olive oil.  Add in the onion, garlic and let it get some color, add in the mushrooms and sausage and brown up.  Add in everything else.

Stir often!

Simmer for ~ 45 minutes.

Garnish with the Yogurt.

Ta Da!

Small Kitchen Stories: Warm Cottage: Split Pea & Pea Soup

This time of year if I was at the beach for a weekend...... and wanted to warm up myself and the cottage asap I'd make soup! 

Now that my beloved Fifer's Market is closed, the only choice left is to face Rte One shopping.  This recipe : One stop on Rte 1 @ the Giant does it all!

This is a serious list and not one of my thrown together meals. It took a lot of musing to figure this one out.  Goals: had to be: delicious, easy to throw together, budget-friendly, "hearty".

Olive oil to coat the pan  and then another small ladle-full

Onion, 1- minced

Garlic, 2 cloves- minced

Ground Turkey, Nature's Promise brand, 1 lb

Green Peas: Ok to use frozen..... but I use the fresh from the produce section.  Make certain the package looks very fresh!

Parsley, flat leaf, 1/2 bunch: minced

Red Sweet Pepper, 1-chopped

Carrots: small bunch: peeled and chopped.  I used the packaged peeled baby ones.

Organic Chicken Broth, 1 quart, Pacific brand

Split Pea Dry Soup Mix: Manischewitz brand: discard the seasoning packet: disregard the  directions for the water required.

Bay Leaf, small piece

White Wine, 1/2 cup

Water, 2-3 cups

Dillweed, Celery Seed, Black Pepper: to taste

Sour Cream: as a garnish

In a nice big comfy pot, add the olive oil to heat up.  Add in the onion and garlic.  Let it get some color.  Add in the red pepper.  Add in the ground turkey.  Brown up.  Add in everything else.  Cover and simmer 1 hour.

Maybe mash up a bit with a masher directly in the pot.

Garnish with the sour cream.

Major yummy-tummy.

Ta DA!