Mediterranean Supper

How do you decide what to make for dinner?

I am often inspired by the odds and ends in my refrigerator that need to get used up.  I made some chicken chili recently and had some left over white beans.  I wanted to make a white bean soup, but not the kind with ham in it.  

The Joy of Cooking came to my aid with its suggestion of "Mediterranean White Bean Soup." No ham here! It was an easy, simple recipe.  Simmer the beans, a lot of garlic, some rosemary and some water.  Close to serving time, add chopped tomatoes, parsley, olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper.  The soup wasn't interesting enough to photograph, sorry.

With my Mediterranean theme established I immediately knew I wanted to make focaccia.  If you are unfamiliar with focaccia, I beg you to remedy that problem.  Focaccia is a delicious Italian bread with delicious toppings, usually garlic and herbs. You can see in the photo below that focaccia is wide instead of tall.

Gently pressing my fingertips into the risen dough - the best part of the process!

Then it was topped with chopped garlic, parsley, rosemary and salt.  Aromatic and so delicious!  The focaccia got hearty praise from my husband, who ate roughly half a loaf on his own.

At the eleventh hour I decided to also add in a lettuce salad.  I figured if I was in the Mediterranean, dinner would start with a salad, right?  The salad was topped with tomatoes, red pepper, sliced Kalamata olives, Cojita cheese (a Mexican cheese very similar to Feta) and two hard-boiled eggs.  Fresh, fairly healthy, homemade and of course, delicious!

Looking towards Fall

This week I was very honored to get to bring a meal to a new friend.  She has a new baby girl at home, as well as three dear little boys and I'm sure, a hungry husband!

I started by making beef, barley and vegetable soup.  I had a rump roast in the freezer which I cooked with some beef broth and an onion in the slow cooker.  When the meat was falling off the bone, I let it all cool.  I took the fat and gristle off, and cut the meat into bite size pieces.  In the mean time, I cooked the barley - I used plain barley so it took about an hour to cook.  When the barley was done I combined the broth, meat chunks, half a can of tomato paste, and a 16 ounce package of mixed frozen vegetables.  Once it had simmered a bit I adjusted the seasoning.

I also made a loaf of oatmeal-whole wheat-honey bread.  It was a new,  no-knead recipe.  I wasn't thrilled with the results - it was more dense and dry than I expected.  But I did tweak the recipe, so perhaps that's to be expected. 

For dessert, I made pumpkin-spice bars with caramel frosting.  I seriously debated making maple frosting but let me tell you - caramel was a really good choice.  Those bars were absolutely delicious.  It was a good thing they all got given away or put away - I could have eaten all 48 without blinking.

 

Before I went, I happened to be rummaging through some boxes in my sewing room and found this little wool soaker.  It's made from a wool sweater I found at a thrift store.  I made it for my son but it didn't fit him.  I compared to a small cover I had handy and it was just the right size.  

As I was getting everything together, I was reflecting on the food choices and realized that my whole menu seemed very fall-themed.  We've had a few "cooler" (aka, in the upper 80s) days and it's made me think wistfully of crisp fall days.  I know they'll be here soon!

Bread, Two Ways

The other day I was making honey whole wheat bread with a recipe that yielded two loaves.  I was inspired to turn one loaf into cinnamon raisin swirl bread. 

After the first rise, I rolled out the dough and generously brushed it with butter.  Next I added a layer of cinnamon mixed with brown sugar. Finally I added raisins, rolled it up, and pinched all the seams shut. 

 Here are both loaves ready for the second rise.  Cinnamon raisin is on the left and plain on the right.

Here's the loaf of plain bread, which we ate with a delicious corn chowder made by my husband, and a fresh tomato salad made by me.

And here's that beautifully swirled cinnamon raisin bread.  We actually turned some of it into French toast - absolutely delicious.  This morning I toasted some and ate it with butter.  Yum.  I think it's time for a late night snack....