Spring Minestrone #FoodieExtravaganza

Spring Minestrone is the perfect light meal, with tender young vegetables in a clear broth, topped with crème fraîche. You can, of course, substitute whatever fresh from the garden veggies you have available.

I called this recipe Spring Minestrone because I used those itty bitty baby vegetables that often appear in shops in late spring. Many are harvested early while still young and some are actually varieties that will never get much bigger. I went poking about the internet and found a couple of different articles that were very enlightening. This one in particular from Business Insider will give you the low down on some of our favorite tiny vegetables.

And this article on Slate goes into the culinary history of what they call micro-vegetables.

What I know for sure is that most "baby" carrots aren't really, but the rest of the little guys are adorable and, most importantly, make a beautiful tasty soup.

Spring Minestrone

This ingredient list is not set in stone! You can use vegetables in amounts and combinations that please you, so don’t get too hung up on the weights or measures. The amounts below are what I used. The whole recipe is also easily doubled or trebled to feed a crowd.

Ingredients to serve 4-5 as a first course, 2-3 as a main course
1/2 cup or 80g dried tiny pasta, like ditalini rigate
Big handful fine green beans
2 spring carrots
2 small zucchini
1 small bulb fennel (Choose one with fronds for garnish)
1/2 cup or 75g fresh-hulled peas (sub frozen petit pois if fresh aren't available)
2 baby corn on cobs
2 baby leeks
2/3 cup or 117g canned borlotti beans, rinsed and drained
4 1/4 cups or 1L good quality chicken stock

To serve:
Crème fraîche or lightly soured cream
Fennel fronds or chopped spring onions

Tip: Make this vegetarian by substituting a good quality vegetable stock instead.

Method
Scrub your carrots and zucchini and cut them into small pieces. These tender vegetables don’t need to be peeled, just cleaned.

Cut the stalks off the fennel and keep any fronds for garnish. Thinly slice the bulb. Top and tail the green beans and cut them into thirds.

Trim the ends of the corn and the dark green off of the baby leeks and then cut them both into short pieces.

Boil your pasta according to package instructions. Drain, rinse and set aside.

Place the vegetables in a soup pot then pour in the chicken stock.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are cooked through, but still firm, about 5-7 minutes tops.

Add in the cooked pasta and beans. Warm through, then ladle into bowls and top each with a dollop of crème fraîche and a sprinkle of chopped fennel fronds and/or spring onions.

Enjoy!

June is National Fruit andVegetable Month! Many thanks to Ellen of Family Around the Table for this month's Foodie Extravaganza theme and for her behind the scenes work. Check out all of the other fabulous recipes we are sharing today.

• Farmers' Market Walk + Chilled Cantaloupe Soup with Preserved Lemon-Herb Salsa by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Fresh Fruit Tart with Orange Curd by My Pinterventures
• Fresh Strawberry Salsa by Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Fried Onion Strings by Family Around the Table
• Fruity Rice Paper Rolls by Sneha's Recipe
• Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum) by Palatable Pastime
• Grilled Ratatouille by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Shaved Asparagus Pizza with Brie by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spring Minestrone by Food Lust People Love
• Strawberry Avocado Salad by Cookaholic Wife
• Watermelon Lemonade by Caroline's Cooking

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays, and we all post recipes using the same ingredient. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

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Passionfruit Banana Muffins #MuffinMonday

With well-ripened bananas for sweetness and fresh passionfruit pulp for a little added zip, these passionfruit banana muffins make a great breakfast, mid-morning or after school snack.

Often when I make banana muffins, I add some lemon juice and/or zest. That hint of tartness brightens them up. Ditto for passionfruit! The bonus with passionfruit is the little crunchy seeds that make a satisfying pop as you chew them. Some people strain these out, but why?

If you are a fan of banana muffins, you might also want to check out my Peanut Butter Stuffed Banana Muffins, Banana Honey Muffins or my fancier Bananas Foster Muffins.

Passionfruit Banana Muffins

If you only have canned passionfruit pulp, you can use it as a substitute, with perhaps a little added lemon juice to add a bit more tang.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups or 218g flour
1/2 cup or 100g packed soft dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 very ripe bananas (about 10 oz or 285g by weight when peeled)
2 tablespoons fresh passionfruit pulp (about 30g)
1/3 cup or 80ml light vegetable oil
2 eggs

Optional for topping: 2 tablespoons amber sugar crystals

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your muffin pan or line it with paper cups.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together. Make sure to mash out any lumps of brown sugar.

Mash the bananas with a fork then add in the passionfruit pulp, eggs and oil. Whisk until thoroughly combined.

Fold your wet ingredients into your dry ones until they are just mixed.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with the sugar crystals, if using.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool slightly in the muffin pan before removing to a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Check out the other lovely muffins my Muffin Monday bakers have for you today!

• Coffee Cake Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Red White and Blue Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Passionfruit Banana Muffins from Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

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Simple Salmon Sliders with Sesame Ginger Slaw #FishFridayFoodies

These simple salmon sliders are easy to make and take mere minutes to cook. Topped with sesame ginger slaw, they are fresh and flavorful, a fun appetizer or main course your friends and family will love.

Lately the fishmonger in my closest supermarket has taken to making salmon patties and packaging them up for sale in twos on the fish counter. While I appreciate his efforts, I cannot bring myself to buy chopped up fish that is possibly almost or just past its best. If I'm going to buy salmon, I like a fillet or even a cross-section – bones don’t bother me, they add flavor – where I can see if the fish seems firm and moist and fresh.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t like salmon patties, big or small. I just like to make them myself. If you have a food processor, they are also very simple to make and no fillers like bread or egg are needed. Who knows what the supermarket guy is putting in!

Simple Salmon Sliders with Sesame Ginger Slaw

Feel free to substitute your favorite fresh greens or slaw to top these little guys. Or skip the salad altogether and serve them with a small dollop of mayo mixed with sriracha sauce.

Ingredients - 24 sliders
For the sliders:
2 lbs or 900g fresh salmon, skinned and cut in chunks
8 oz or 225g smoked salmon
Small bundle green onions, both white and green tops, chopped finely
Black pepper
Salt - may not be necessary

To serve:
24 small buns
broccoli slaw
Optional: sriracha for serving

For the broccoli slaw:
1/2 purple onion, sliced thinly
1/2 cup or 120ml sesame ginger dressing or dressing of your choice
12 oz or 340g package broccoli slaw

Method
In a medium sized bowl (or a plastic container), pour a few tablespoons of the dressing over the sliced onion and leave to marinate for a few minutes. This takes a little of the sharpness and burn out of the onion.

Add the rest of the broccoli slaw to the bowl and toss with balance of the dressing. Cover the bowl with cling film (or the container with its lid) and put it in the refrigerator until you are ready almost ready to serve.

To make the salmon patties, chop the smoked salmon with a sharp knife and pop it in a food processor with the green onions and a few good grinds of black pepper. Give it a few quick pulses to combine the ingredients.

Add some of the fresh salmon – about ½ lb or 225g - to the food processor.

Process until you have a thick, chunky paste. This is what is going to hold the rest of the salmon together in patties. Scrape this mixture out of the food processor and into a large mixing bowl.

Chop the rest of the salmon into small pieces with a sharp knife. Add these to the bowl with the salmon paste and mix well with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until thoroughly combined.

Heat your griddle or nonstick pan and cook a teaspoonful of the mixture. Add salt to taste. You might find, as I do, that the smoked salmon adds enough salt and no more is necessary.

Divide the salmon mixture into 24 small piles. Form these into patties, wetting your hands occasionally as you go along, to stop the mixture from sticking to them.

Put your oven on warm and fold a sheet of foil on a baking pan and put it in the oven.

Heat your griddle or nonstick pan again over a medium high heat and panfry the salmon patties a few at a time until browned on both sides and cooked through.

This just takes mere minutes.

Transfer cooked patties to the oven, tucking them between the fold of the foil, to keep them warm.

Slice the buns in half and top each with a salmon patty, broccoli slaw and, if desired, a squirt of sriracha.

Enjoy!

This month my Fish Friday Foodie group is sharing sandwiches made with seafood so you’ve got plenty of tasty choices to check out below. Many thanks to this month’s host, Sue of Palatable Pastime.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Lemon Drizzle Pound Cake #BundtBakers

The bright as sunshine taste of lemon with the additional tang of yogurt makes this traditional lemon drizzle pound cake a constant favorite.

This month my Bundt Bakers group is sharing recipes for southern cakes (from the south of the United States, that is) at the instigation of our host, Sue from Palatable Pastime. Being a southerner myself, I’ve made many Bundts already based on flavors of the south, including a Sticky Pecan Pie Bundt, Sock It to Me Cake, Banana Pecan Bundt with Bananas Foster Frosting, and Sweet Potato Pecan Spice Cake just to name a few.

But sometimes a classic is called for, like this Lemon Drizzle Pound Cake. Pound cake is the first dessert I ever remember eating as a child. Home-baked by my mother, it was accompanied by a warm lemon sauce. I loved that cake and that sauce! Whenever I get nostalgic for the south, for home, that's the cake I bake. With all the lemon in this particular recipe, plus the lemon drizzle, you don't need the lemon sauce at all. It's perfect all on its own.

Lemon Drizzle Pound Cake

Pound cake is one of the most dependable cakes you can make for any party or occasion. It’s simple but elegant and everybody likes it, especially if it’s as moist and lemony as this one is.

Ingredients
For the cake batter:
2 1/2 cups or 312g all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup or 245g plain yogurt
1/4 cup or 60ml fresh lemon juice
Zest from 1 large lemon
2 1/2 cups or 500g granulated sugar
1 cup or 227g unsalted butter, softened, plus more for buttering the pan
6 large eggs

For the lemon drizzle:
3/4 cup or 95g powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Optional to decorate: extra lemon zest

Tip: If you finely great the extra lemon zest onto a paper towel and set it aside while you bake the cake, make the glaze, etc. it will dry out just enough to sprinkle quite successfully when the cake is cooled and glazed.

Method
Preheat your oven to 325°F or 163°C. Lightly butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. I like my Nordic Ware anniversary Bundt pan* for this traditional cake.

Whisk together your yogurt, lemon juice and zest in a measuring jug and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. This incorporates air in the mix and saves you from needing to sift the dry ingredients.

With electric beaters or in your stand mixer, beat the sugar and butter until they become pale yellow and fluffy.

Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula, then add in the eggs, one at time, beating briefly, until each is incorporated.

Add half of the flour mixture along with half of the yogurt mixture. Beat at low speed until just incorporated.

Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula, then repeat the process with the other half of each mixture, beating again on low until just mixed.

Pour or spoon the batter into your prepared Bundt pan and smooth out the top.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 55-60 minutes, checking it about three-quarters of the way through. If the top is browning too quickly, cover it with foil for the remaining baking time.

Remove from the oven when a wooden toothpick comes out clean and the sides are pulling away from the pan slightly.

Leave to cool for about 10 minutes then invert the Bundt pan on a wire rack. Cool completely before drizzling with glaze.

To make the lemon drizzle, mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice until all the sugar has dissolved. Spoon on to the cooled cake. Sprinkle with the extra lemon zest, if using, to decorate.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime for this great theme and her behind the scenes work. Check out all the other wonderful southern cakes we have for you today!

• Bourbon Praline Bundt Cake from The Sweet Sensations
• Bundt Cake Hummingbird from Merce`s Cake
• Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Caramel Icing from Sneha's Recipe
• Coconut Bundt Cake from Palatable Pastime
• Cream of Coconut Bundt Cake with Chocolate-Coconut Glaze from katin špajz
• Hot Milk Cake from Cookaholic Wife
• Kentucky Butter Bundt Cake from All That's Left are The Crumbs
• Key Lime Bundt Cake from I Love Bundt Cakes
• Lemon Drizzle Pound Cake from Food Lust People Love
• Peach Bundt with Cardamom Whipped Cream from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Peanut Butter Bundt Cake from Tartacadabra
• Sweet Potato Bourbon Bundt Cake from Patty's Cake

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

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Six-Seed Soda Bread #BreadBakers

The crunch of seeds and chewiness of cranberries make this six-seed soda bread a joy to slice and munch. Slightly sweetened with honey, it’s delicious on its own or spread with butter or cream cheese.

If you’ve never made soda bread because you think it’s boring and plain, this is the recipe for you. Inspired by the six-seed soda bread from River Cottage Everyday* and a rye and honey loaf also from River Cottage author Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (published in the Guardian newspaper) this small loaf is anything but. The crumb is light but the seeds and cranberries make each slice delectable.

Best of all, soda bread is super easy, and with all those seeds and sweetened only slightly with the honey, it’s got to be healthy too!

Six-Seed Soda Bread

Serve toasted slices of this lovely bread on your favorite cheeseboard with cocktails or with the cheese course for your dinner party. But for snack time, just a smear of butter is perfection.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon each sunflower seeds, white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds (or 6 tablespoons seedy mix of your choice)
1/2 cup or 40g dried cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup or 120ml plain yoghurt
1/3 cup or 80ml whole milk, plus 1 tablespoon extra for brushing
2 1/2 tablespoons runny honey
1 tablespoon canola or other light oil, plus extra for greasing, if necessary
1 3/4 cups or 220g flour, plus a little extra for dusting
1/2 cup or 63.5g strong bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method
Mix all the seeds and chopped cranberries together and then set aside 1/4 cup or 35g for topping.

In your measuring jug, whisk together the yogurt, milk, honey and oil, until the honey is fully dissolved and incorporated.

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C. Line a baking pan with baking parchment or a silicone mat, or grease it lightly with oil.

In a large bowl, mix the flours, baking soda, salt and the larger pile of seeds.

Pour the wet ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix well, until a dough start to form. It will still be a little crumbly.

Tip the dough out onto a clean surface and give it a few gentle kneads, till it comes together as a soft dough. Form it into a ball and transfer it to your prepared baking pan.

Make a deep cross with a sharp knife or bread scraper.

Brush the loaf with the milk, then sprinkle it with the remaining seed mix, patting it on the sides so the seed mix sticks. Make sure to get lots of the mix in the cuts.

Bake in your preheated oven for 30–35 minutes, or until the bread is golden-crusted on top and bottom. If the loaf starts to brown too quickly, you can cover it with some foil.

Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month’s Bread Bakers host, Mayuri from Mayuri’s Jikoni. As you have probably guessed, her chosen theme is seeded breads. Make sure you check out all the lovely recipes we have for you today.

• Almond Poppyseed Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Crunchy Seed Braid from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Fennel and Poppy Seed Rolls from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Onion & Poppy Seed Bialys from Baking Sense
• Savory Seeded Focaccia from Palatable Pastime
• Seeded Ficelle Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Siddu from The Mad Scientist's Kitchen
• Six-Seed Soda Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Sugarless Multiseed Rye Bread from CookwithRenu
• Tangzhong Method French Loaf With Seeds from Sneha's Recipes
• Vegan Seeded Challah Bread from Cook's Hideout

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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