Not Popeye's Spinach: Spinach with Currents and Pinenuts

Spinach is a great vegetable. But it's easy to run out of interesting ways to prepare it. This is a recipe I adapted from one found in a Spanish cookbook. Like a lot of my green cooked veggie sides, this one is seasoned with nutmeg. Of course, you can leave the spice out and just stick to regular old ground black pepper, but nutmeg really enhances the earthiness of the spinach. The sweetness of the currents and the buttery taste of the pine nuts balance the bitterness of the spinach. The amount of currents and pinenuts can be increased/decreased to your taste.

Served on top of grilled polenta or a potato pancake, this dish makes a great appetizer or tapas. I'll be posting my favorite polenta recipe in the near future, so keep an eye out.

Not Popeye's Spinach: Sauteed Spinach with Currents and Pinenuts

2 bunches spinach, rinsed twice with stems removed (baby spinach can be used to cut down on prep time -- you probably want to use two boxes or one large box)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup currents (raisins are an acceptable substitute)
1/3 cup pinenuts
nutmeg, salt, pepper -- to taste
1 tbsp salted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
flour

Soak the currents for several hours (1-4) in warm water. Drain and dry slightly. Toss the currents in a few tablespoons of flour, coating well and shaking off excess.

In a hot sautee pan, add butter, oil and pinenuts. Allow to cook for about a minute before adding garlic. Cook for another minute, being careful not to burn garlic. Add currents and spinach, tossing to coat with oil and garlic. Cook until the water from the spinach has evaporated.

Winter-in-France Yellow Split-Pea Soup

Split-pea soup is the ultimate fall/winter comfort food. On cold, snowy nights growing up, my mum would always open a can of split-pea and toast up a nice ham and cheese sandwich. Yum. The Winter-in-France Yellow Split-Pea Soup recipe is a tribute to her -- she always told me yellow peas were very Canadian, and I'm fairly convinced pea-soup is a very French thing. The nutmeg and white wine really add a nice flavour (Nutmeg is my go-to vegetable spice... stay tuned for an awesome brusselsprout recipe featuring it).

For a vegetarian version, sub vegetable stock for the chicken stock and leave out the ham.

Cheers & enjoy
AlleyKat

Winter-in-France Yellow Split-Pea Soup

1 lb Yellow Split-Peas – rinsed and sorted to remove any pebbles
1 onion chopped
5-6 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped (small)
1/2lb thick-cut ham, cubed
Olive oil
4 cups chicken broth/stock
2 cups water
¼ - 1/3 cup white wine (a Sancerre works well)
Grated nutmeg (to taste, but around 1/4 tsp)
Salt & pepper, to taste

Sauté onions, carrots, and celery in tablespoon of olive oil until onions are translucent. Add peas, stock and water, Bring to boil. Add white wine, nutmeg and pepper and reduce to simmer. Allow to cook until peas begin to disintegrate and soup starts to thicken (about 45 minutes). Add ham and cook for 15-20 minutes. Add salt/pepper to taste. Serve with dollop of crème freche and crusty French-style bread.

Famous Autumnal Apple Crisp

This is the baked dish that made me "Mini-Martha." I haven't actually followed a recipe for a fruit crisp in years, but this is a pretty accurate plan for making my renowned Apple Crisp. A lot of people recommend Granny Smith apples. I prefer the sweetness and texture of Fuji or Braeburn. Once you have the crisp topping down, you can substitute the apples with any fruit (I really love blueberries & peaches come summer time). Rhubarb with the apple is also lovely -- but make sure to add more sugar as rhubarb tends to be tart.

AlleyKat's Famous Autumnal Apple Crisp

6 Apples, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tbsp sugar (more or less depending on the sweetness of the apples you use)
½ Tsp Ground Cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
½ Cup Dried Cranberries (or diced dried apricots)
1 tbsp flour

Crisp Topping:
½ Cup Brown Sugar
½ Cup Flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 Cup Rolled Oats
¼ tsp cinnamon
½ Cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter


Toss the apples together with the cinnamon, ginger, sugar, tbs flour and cranberries. Fill two loaf pans or Pyrex dishes with the mixture.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, butter, oats, cinnamon, baking soda and flour together with fingertips or pastry blender until crumbly. Sprinkle over the apples. Bake at 350° until apples are tender and top is browned, about 35 to 45 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream.

Serves 8.

AlleyKat's Vanishing Orange Cranberry Loaf

One of my favorite fall foods is undeniably the cranberry. This flavourful and seasonal quickbread is wonderful as a tea-time snack, as dessert, or as a breakfast treat served next to savory eggs. But the finished product is so delicious, it's rare a loaf survives into a second meal...

1 Orange
Boiling Water
2 Tbs. butter (unsalted)
1 Egg
1/3 C. Dark Brown Sugar
2/3 C. Granulated Sugar
1 ½ C. Cranberries, chopped
1/4 C. Dried Cranberries
1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 C. White All-Purpose Flour
1 ½ tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp ginger

Glaze: (optional)
orange zest
1/4 tsp orange extract
powdered sugar
1 tbs milk


Preheat oven to 325. Butter a loaf pan. Grate the rind of the orange, and squeeze the juice into a measuring cup, adding enough boiling water to make ¾ cup of liquid. Add the orange rind and the butter, stir to melt. Beat the egg in another bowl and gradually add the sugar, beating well. Add remaining ingredients and orange mixture, blend well. Spoon into pan and bake for one hour. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

While bread is cooling, mix the ingredients for the glaze together, adding confectioner's sugar until you have a thick but liquidy glaze. Drizzle over top of loaf and allow to set before serving.

Rustic Spanish Broad (Fava) Beans

By fortunate accident, I ordered these beans in a small family-run restaurant in Madrid, Spain. I spent the next three days scouring bookstores and tourist shops in the city until I found the recipe for these "Catalan Broad Beans." I adapted the recipe slightly to suit products and cookware available to me and I think the slight variation on the traditional recipe remains true to the flavours and is equally delicious -- it's become a staple in my house.

Shelling and de-skinning the fava beans is a bit of a chore, but the end result of the labor is worth it. The inner bean is tender and tasty and they cook up quickly (cook time for the whole dish is around 15 minutes).

Makes an excellent side dish or can be served over rice as a main.

Rustic Spanish Broad (Fava) Beans

2 cups shelled broad (fava beans) – outer skin also removed
2 cloves garlic minced
Serrano or Iberico ham cut into strips
1 small onion chopped
1 small glass (3-4oz) of sweet sherry
Olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
2 white sausages cut into rounds
Fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro, chopped

Sauté onion and garlic in ample amount of olive oil, add the ham and cook until all items are transparent. Add the broad beans and parsley. Cover the mixture with water and add the glass of sherry. Cook until the beans are tender. Add the sausage.