Roasted Garlic Soup

This soup recipe showed up one of my favorite food blogs and looked too good to pass up. I imagine this soup would be best served in a bread bowl, as the author recommends, but Brit and I didn’t have easy access to any. Either way, the soup is delicious and I’d highly recommend making this. The smell and taste of the roast garlic and shallots are fantastic and I’d love to incorporate them into more dishes.

Roasted Garlic Soup

(originally posted on the Macheesmo food blog)

serves 4

2 heads of garlic

2 shallots

Olive oil

1.5 lbs potatoes, cubed

1 quart vegetable stock

2 cups water

½ cup parmesan cheese

1 tbsp lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Slice off the top of the heads of garlic and shallots. Place them all into some foil, drizzle a little bit of olive oil on top, sprinkle some kosher salt, and place the wrapped package into the oven. Roast for 40 min, remove from the oven, and set aside until they are cool.

Pop the garlic cloves and shallots out of their skin. Place them in a large pot with the cubed potatoes, stock, and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Use a blender (an immersion blender would be best) to puree the soup. Mix in the lemon juice and parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. A ¼ cup of cream can be optionally added at this point.

Alu Gobi ki Sabzi (Cauliflower with Potatoes)

I have a work colleague who is Indian-American and occasionally mentions the incredible food that her mom makes for her and sends back with her anytime she visits. Since Brit's favorite cuisine is Indian food and it definitely ranks in my top 3, I frequently harass my friend Trisha to let me try some of her cooking. Brit was a lot more successful by taking a different route and asked for some of Trisha's mother's recipes; it turns out that she used to teach a cooking class. Trisha obtained the recipes, sent them our direction, and this is the second one we've made thus far. Both are winners.

Alu Govhi ki Sabzi

(Recipe provided by Sadhna A)

Serves 4 side dishes

1 cauliflower, cut into large pieces

2 potatoes, sliced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 long green hot chili, coarsely chopped (we used a jalapeno)

1 inch piece of ginger, coarsely chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric power

1 tbsp coriander

1 tsp garam masala, divided

1.5 tsp red chili powder

Salt

Heat the olive oil in a skillet, add the cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add the turmeric powder and fry for a few seconds. Next add the cauliflower, potatoes, ginger, and green chiles. Mix in the remaining spices but only half of the garam masala.

Lower the heat to medium-low and cover for a few minutes. Every few minutes stir and return to simmer. Cook until the vegetables are tender (this could take a while).

Add the remaining garam masala and season to taste with salt. Increase the heat and fry for a few minutes until the vegetables are golden brown.

This side can be garnished with fresh coriander and served over rice or with pita or naan. We served ours over brown rice.

Roast Chicken with Tunisian Potato Turnovers and Curried Lentil Soup

We had some friends over for dinner last night. One of my go-to dinner party entrees (okay, who am I kidding, it's one of my most frequently prepared entrees) is roast chicken. Unless you're a vegetarian, it's bound to be satisfying in the most innocuous way, and it's a great complement to almost any type of cuisine - Italian, Mexican, Indian, or in this case, Tunisian(ish). I prepared some potato turnovers and Mike made one of our other favorites - curried lentil soup - as sides.

Tunisian Potato Turnovers
(from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites)

2 cups of potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups of sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 garlic cloves (or 5, or 6)
3 tbsp of plain nonfat yogurt
2 tsp ground caraway seed
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne
salt to taste
3 tbsp scallions, chopped
2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 package Fillo dough
3-5 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook the potatoes, sweet potatoes and garlic in water to cover until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes and thoroughly mash them by hand with the yogurt, scallions, caraway, coriander, cumin, cayenne, lemon juice and salt until very smooth. Add more salt to taste.

Prepare a baking sheet with a light coating of cooking spray. Set aside near your work area.

Place the filling, filo, oil, a pastry brush and a clean damp towel on the counter top within easy reach. Unfold the stack of filo and in one smooth motion, remove a sheet and place it flat on the counter top with one of the short sides nearest you. Brush it lightly with olive oil. Working quickly, add a second and then a third sheet, oiling each lightly. Cover the remaining stack of filo with the damp towel as you work to prevent it from drying out and becoming brittle.

Cut lengthwise through the three oiled sheets to make three strips. Place two rounded tablespoons of filling on each strip, one near the bottom and one about a third of the way up. With a table knife or the back of a spoon, spread the filling to thinly cover the bottom half of each strip. Fold the lower left corner up and over diagonally so that the bottom edge is aligned with the right side. Fold straight up and then to the left. Continue to fold as you would a flag to make a small triangular pastry. Place each triangle on the baking sheet.

Repeat three more times until all of the filo and filling has been used and you have 16 turnovers. Brush the tops with any remaining oil.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until puffed and golden. Serve immediately.

Jeremy and Kendra both seemed to enjoy the meal and did mildly rave about the lentil soup. After dinner we started watching Gone With the Wind, but only made it through the first act. We'll be heading over to their place later this week to let them cater us a meal and to finish the epic movie.