Not Your Average Split Pea Soup

I love comfort foods, especially soups, on a cold winter day. Since we have been getting snow for the past week, I thought I would revisit an old favorite. When I think of split pea soup, I always thing of using a ham bone and leftover ham. My version uses bacon as a twist, with no ham bones involved! Here is my recipe:

Split Pea Soup with Bacon

2 cups split peas
4 rashers bacon
2 Tablespoons bacon fat (reserved from cooking rashers)
1 cup chopped celery (about 2 large stalks)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 small shallot, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken, turkey, or veggie stock
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Sour Cream or Creme Fraiche to serve

Soak split peas for several hours to overnight. I put mine on to soak in the morning and they were ready by evening. Make sure you give them lots of water, because they plump up dramatically!
Cook rasher of bacon until crisp, reserving fat. Cool, crumble and set aside.
Heat bacon fat in a large saucepan. Add celery along with a pinch of salt and cook for a couple of minutes. Add, shallot and garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, then add white wine. Cook until wine reduces almost in half, just a couple of minutes. Add drained split peas along, along with thyme and Dijon mustard. Cook until peas break down and soup begins to get creamy. Taste for seasoning and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in parsley and reserved crumbled bacon. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche.

Split Pea Soup with Bacon, served with Sour Cream

I served mine with some cheddar cornbread muffins, which was the perfect compliment! I hope you enjoy this recipe for a classic dish - with a twist!

Turkey and Apple Cranberry Sauce

I love the holidays and the delicious food that comes with them! While my Thanksgiving was a little late, it was still wonderful! I took the time to brine my little 9lb turkey and what a difference it made!  Even though I misjudged time and overcooked the turkey, it was still moist and flavorful. I made the brine the day before I cooked the turkey and allowed it to marinate overnight, about 12 hours. Here is my recipe…

Turkey Brine 

¾ gallon water

1 cup apple cider

1 ¼ cup salt (canning and pickling salt is perfect)

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup white vinegar

1 tablespoon peppercorns

1 tablespoon allspice berries

2 tablespoons pickling spice

10 fresh sage leaves

2 quarts ice

Heat the salt and sugar with ½ gallon of water. Add cider, vinegar, spices, remaining water and ice to food safe bucket or other large vessel. Once sugar and salt are dissolved, add to bucket with remaining ingredients. Add turkey and weigh down with a plate to keep turkey submerged. You may need a gallon freezer bag or other container to set on the plate to help weigh it down. Brine about 12 hours for a small bird, or up to 24 for a large bird. Remove bird from brine at least a couple of hours before cooking and rinse thoroughly. Refrigerate uncovered until cooking time – this will help dry out the skin so it can crisp up during roasting. You may add herbs or other spices to give the skin flavor… I used thyme, sage, pepper, and butter. Be sure to pat the skin dry before rubbing with spices.


The turkey is never complete without the cranberry sauce on the side! While canned cranberries have their place, I much prefer fresh made cranberry sauce! Here is my recipe for my Apple Cranberry Sauce.

Apple Cranberry Sauce

1 12oz bag fresh cranberries

1 ½ cups peeled and diced apple (about the same size of cranberries)

1 ¼ – 1 ½ cup sugar – to taste

1 cinnamon stick

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, but start with only 1 cup of sugar. You can always add more later! Heat over medium low heat until apples are tender and cranberries have burst. Sauce will be fairly thick. Taste for sweetness, then add additional as necessary. I used about 1 1/3 cups sugar with mine batch. Stir to dissolve additional sugar, and then cool. Serve chilled or at room temperature. No thickening is necessary, as both the apples and the cranberries contain pectin that will naturally thicken the sauce!

Cranberries, apples, sugar, and aromatic spices

This cranberry sauce if so versatile! The apples absorb the colors from the cranberries and make this sauce so elegant. I love using leftovers in different ways and this cranberry sauce recipe is great in many things! Think cheesecakes, trifles, on sandwiches, pureed and used in cocktails… so many uses!

Finished Apple Cranberry Sauce

I hope you enjoy these recipes! And, thank you all for supporting me in this blogging endeavor!

Tomato Basil Quinoa

It was recently requested that I come up with some recipes using quinoa. What is quinoa? It is an ancient seed, full of fiber and protein. It is related to spinach and chard and is native to the Andes mountain region of South America. It comes in several colors: red, yellow, brown, black, and ivory. Quinoa is coated in a bitter powder and must be rinsed before cooking, otherwise your whole pot of quinoa will be bitter.

Tomato Basil Quinoa
1 1/2 cups rinsed quinoa
3/4 cup tomato sauce
2 1/2 cups water or chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon basil
Pinch of salt
Black pepper
Fresh ribbons of basil, for topping

Combine quinoa, tomato sauce, water, dry basil, salt and pepper. Cook over medium-low heat for approximately 25 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed and the "tail" of the quinoa has broken free of the seed. You will see little while "commas" in the pan. Fluff with a fork, transfer to serving bowl and top with fresh basil. This pairs well with almost any meal! If desired, grate a little parmesan, pecorino, or ricotta salata over the top for a salty kick.

Tomato Basil Quinoa

Bacon Blue Green Beans

Canning season is in full swing! I have been very busy, but wanted to post a recipe to share. As with every crop that you preserve, there always seems to be that last little bit left over that doesn’t quite fill a jar. Tonight, it was green beans! I decided to combine two of my favorite flavors that work so well together: Bacon and blue cheese.

For this recipe, you can use either small, tender green beans, or larger ones cut “French-style”, which basically means cutting them length-wise. You can use a bean Frencher, or just cut them by hand. Here is the recipe for Bacon Blue Green Beans.

First, chop up one thick slice of bacon into small pieces. You can do two it you want, but I didn’t want to obliterate all the healthiness of green beans… Add bacon to a hot pan, ad a few cracks of freshly ground black pepper, and sauté until mostly cooked. Depending how much fat is rendered, you may need to use a couple teaspoons of olive oil; I used 1 scant tablespoon of olive oil. Add 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced, and cook for about 20 seconds. Add 4 cups of green beans. Cook and stir until green beans are bright green and tender. Remove from heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of crumbled blue cheese. I used gorgonzola. Serve warm. Makes 4-6 servings.

Sauteing the bacon, pepper, and olive oil

The combination of blue cheese and bacon is very common, probably because they are both so salty and dominant. I hope you try this colorful side dish the next time you are wondering what to do with those green beans!

Bacon Blue Green Beans

Dinner from the Garden

Tonights dinner was inspired completely by my garden! I picked large basket of green beans, several zucchini, a couple of radishes, and a bunch of new potatoes. I love a dinner harvested nearly completely from the garden! The menu consisted of New Potatoes with Fresh Dill, Sauteed Green Beans, and Oven Roasted Zucchini with Crispy Prosciutto.
To make the zucchini, I simply sliced it about 1/2 inch thick. Lightly brush a sheet pan and each zucchini slice with some olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic salt (I used roasted garlic salt). Roast in a 400 degree oven about 15 minutes, until zucchini is tender and lightly golden or longer for more pronounced color. In the meantime, sauté prosciutto in a small amount of butter until crispy. Drain on a paper towel. Top Roasted Zucchini with Crispy Prosciutto.
If you are wondering what Prosciutto is, it is a spiced, dry-cured, aged ham from Italy. Prosciutto means "ham" in Italian. This is usually sliced thin and served raw, but is also great crisped up as in this recipe!


Oven Roasted Zucchini with Crispy Prosciutto

To make the potatoes, place 4 cups of scrubbed small potatoes. Cover with cold water, and inch above the potato level. It's very important to use cold water instead of warm or hot water so that the potatoes cook evenly. Cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender. Toss with 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill. Season with salt (I used Murray River Salt) and pepper to taste.



Butter and Fresh Dill



Red, Yellow, and Purple New Potatoes with Butter and Fresh Dill

Lemon Thyme Compound Butter

One of my favorite go-to gourmet fixes is a great compound butter. Basically, its butter with some flavors added to it. The varieties are endless and can range from savory to sweet. I love to make a big batch and keep it in the fridge to liven up a meal. Tonight's dinner is lingcod, topped with a Lemon-Thyme Compound Butter. Cooking of the fish can vary with this technique, so you can poach, steam, pan fry, broil, or cook on the barbeque. Tonight, I decided to pan fry. The fish variety can also be changed; any white fish would be great, even salmon. Here is how I made the butter...
Lemon Thyme Compound Butter
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, softened
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, I used lemon thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
Salt/pepper to taste (I used smoked salt)

Stir all the ingredients together. On a piece of parchment or plastic wrap, shape the butter into a rough log shape. Roll up and refrigerate until firm. Slice into thin discs, then top hot fish.

Other uses for this butter - add to some angel hair pasta for a quick side dish. Top baby potatoes with a couple discs. Spread on toast - the possibilities are endless!
Dinner is pictured above! Lingcod (caught on the latest fishing trip) with the Lemon Thyme Compound Butter, Green beans (from the garden), and bowtie pasta salad, made with homemade pesto, some sour cream, and some buttermilk. Perfect end to a good day!

Tips and Techniques for Perfect Pizza on the Barbeque

I am a huge pizza fan, but only for homemade. Frozen pizza and delivery pizza just don’t hold up! My house gets so warm in the summer, so I am always cooking outdoors on the barbeque. Pizza is a favorite! I not only make pizza with this crust recipe, but breadsticks and flatbreads.

In light of this, I thought I would share my pizza crust recipe and how I grill them on the barbeque!

Pizza Crust Recipe

3 ½ to 4 cups of all purpose flour

1 ¼ cups warm water

1 tablespoon yeast

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

First, start off by “blooming” 1 tablespoon of yeast in 1 ¼ cups warm water. Make sure the water is not too warm, or you’ll kill the yeast. The water should feel just barely warm. Add the yeast and stir together. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes. You should see some little bubbles on the top.

In a large food processor (or, you can use a mixter, or stir together by hand) fitted with a dough blade, add 3 cups flour and ½ teaspoon each ground black pepper and sea salt. Add ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil. With food processor running, add yeast mixture. This should form a sticky dough. Add ½ -1 cup more flour, until mixture holds together is just barely sticky. Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil. Form dough into a large ball, place in bowl, turn to coat in oil, and allow dough to raise until doubled in size.

To prep your crust for the barbeque, brush a cutting board with oil. Place a piece of dough on the cutting board, brush the top, then form into a rough circular shape. Flatten into ¼ inch to ½ inch.

Place onto a med grill, directly onto the grate.

Cook for about 1 minute – you will see some large bubbles begin to form, as in picture above.

 .

Flip the crust, then begin topping it with your choice of toppings, beginning with sauce.

Spread the sauce of choice first, then top with assorted toppings, followed by cheese. Close the lid to melt the cheese. Keep an eye on the bottom crust, you don’t want it to burn. If the crust looks like it’s done, pizza can be moved to the top rack in the barbeque to melt the cheese. Remove to a cutting board, slice, and serve! In the picture above, this pizza is topped with a creamy garlic sauce, spinach, grilled zucchini, artichoke hearts, and fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, monterey jack, and mozzarella cheeses.

 This one is topped with marinara, Canadian bacon, grilled chicken, sliced red pepper, crimini mushrooms, and monterey jack and mozzarella cheeses.

Here are some pizza topping suggestions:

Pepperoni, Canadian bacon, bacon, grilled chicken, sausage,

Grilled zucchini, grilled eggplant, artichoke hearts, olives, pineapple, sliced fresh or roasted peppers, jalepenos, mushrooms, onions, spinach, fresh basil, sliced fresh tomatoes (I love heirlooms!)

Assorted cheeses, such as fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, Monterey jack, Parmesan, ricotta, and cheddar.

Here is the finished white pizza, topped with some fresh basil once it's removed from the grill. If you add the basil while the pizza is still on the heat, it will turn brown.

And, served it up with a fresh peach daquiri to make a satisfying dinner!

Tonight's Dinner, with an Asian Flair!

As many of you know, I love to cook as much as I love to get a good deal! My inspiration for dinner came from getting a 9oz package of fresh japanese style noodles for 50 cents! Score!

After a trip to China 6 years ago, I've had a fond spot for Asian cuisine. Most Asian style recipes are relatively low in fat, ,which is a great healthy option! Tonight's dinner consisted of zucchini, snow peas, carrots, mushroom and japanese style noodles in a sauce made with fish sauce, maple syrup, rice vinegar, tamarind paste, water, and cracked pepper. It was pretty tasty, in my opinion!

Asian Style Noodle Stir Fry

Dinner tonight!

I am very blessed in that every year, I am able to go on a family fishing trip with my husband and his dad. So, I usually have a freezer stocked with some great fish! Tonights dinner was a Pan-Seared Salmon with a Creamy Mushroom Sherry sauce, served over Parmesan Polenta with steamed broccoli. Can I just say YUM! This sauce is very versatile, as I have made something similar to it to be served with steak. When you pan sear salmon, always sear the presentation side first and you will get a great crust!

Here, the salmon is nearly finished and it has a beautiful, golden sear on the presentation side...

Here is the finished dinner! Both the polenta and the sauce have dijon mustard in them, so they are subtly tied together. The colors are amazing! Not only is it beautiful, but the salmon is so good for you. Definitely a new favorite for me!