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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Egg Drop Soup #FoodieExtravaganza

This simple nutrition-packed soup is full of the goodness of chicken stock and fragrant ginger with the added flavor and protein of eggs. It’s great as both a starter and a main meal and will cure what ails you.

This month my Foodie Extravaganza group is celebrating the humble egg, a great source of protein in a little self-contained package. Eggs may well be one of the most versatile of all ingredients, working well in savory as well as sweet dishes, adding rise to baked goods, richness to sauces and cohesiveness to mixtures like meatloaves, quiches and nut pies. Many thanks to our host this month, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm, where hens roam free and the eggs are always fresh!

Eggs, unwashed, can be stored at room temperature because nature protects them with a natural film that keeps out bacteria. Washed eggs, like most of the ones we buy in a grocery store, should be kept in a refrigerator.

Ingredients - Serves four as an appetizer or two for a light dinner
For the soup base
4 cups or 945ml chicken stock (Substitute vegetable stock for a vegetarian soup.)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
3-4 spring onions, white bulb ends only

For the egg drop:
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Optional add-ons:
Cooked rice
Corn niblets

To serve:
Soy sauce to taste
Drizzle sesame oil
3-4 spring onions, green tops only
Sprinkle fresh ground black pepper

Method
Slice your ginger into five or six thick pieces. Cut your green onions and separate the mostly green bits from the mostly white bits.

Heat your chicken broth with the ginger over medium heat so it comes to a boil slowly, allowing the ginger time to steep. Once it comes to a boil, turn it down a little, add in the white onion tops and let it gently cook for about 10 minutes.

Fish out the ginger pieces. Make a slurry out of a little cold water and the cornstarch and add it in slowly, while whisking quickly. Cook for a few minutes until the soup starts to thicken.

Meanwhile, whisk your eggs with the teaspoon of cornstarch. Add in the sesame oil and whisk again.

Stir the hot soup to get it moving in a circle and then slowly, slowly add the egg in the smallest stream you can manage, so it starts cooking as soon as it hits the hot broth, making ribbons of egg.

Stop and start the pouring, stirring gently in a circular fashion between pourings and allowing the soup to heat up again, until all the egg is in the pot.

Serve the soup in bowls with soy sauce, sesame oil, a sprinkle of the green onion tops and some freshly ground black pepper.

Additional note:
It’s not traditional at all, but I added in a small can of steamed (not creamed!) corn at the end and served the soup over a little hot cooked rice for an even more filling meal. The photos do not reflect this last minute decision but I can tell you that it was a good one.

Enjoy!

Are you a fan of the incredible edible egg? Check out the great egg-centric dishes we have for you today!

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays or cook and bake together with the same ingredient or theme each month. This month we celebrate National Egg Day on June 3rd by serving up egg dishes of all kinds.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to participate in the next Foodie Extravaganza, just go to our Facebook page to join. We would love to have you!

Follow our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest board for past events and more deliciousness!

Friday, May 29, 2015

Almond Plum Tarte Tatin #FridayPieDay

This plum tart, baked upside down with caramelized sugar and slivered almonds then flipped, is perfect summer fare, for when stoned fruit is in season. Any fruit can be used in a tarte Tatin, although apples are traditional. Try it with apricots or peaches as well as plums.

A couple of months ago my friend Heather from girlichef decided she was going to designate the last Friday of the month as Friday Pie Day and I vowed to join her. Then the last Friday in March came and went and I completely forgot. And I did have something to share in April (You are looking at it!) but other real life commitments got in the way. Despite being on the road, on my way to our younger daughter’s graduation from Rhode Island School of Design today, I just had to participate this month. Because, as Heather says, life needs more pie!

Ingredients
1 cup or 200g sugar
2 tablespoons water
8 ripe plums (about 1 lb 6.5 oz or 640g)
Good pinch salt
1/4 cup or 55g unsalted butter
8.5 oz or 240g block puff pastry
1/4 cup or 20g slivered almonds plus a little extra for sprinkling after, if desired.

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Halve the plums and remove the stones.

Put the plums in a bowl and sprinkle them with the remaining sugar and salt, mix, and leave to sit while you get on with caramelizing the sugar.

A note about the pan: I use one that goes from stovetop to oven so I can caramelize the sugar, add the butter and then add the fruit and pastry all in one. If you do not have such a pan, simply pour the caramelized sugar into a baking pan and continue as per the instructions.

In a pan, simmer half the sugar with a couple of tablespoons of water until a golden caramel has formed.

Stir in the butter.

(Here’s where you pour the sauce into a tart pan, preferably non-stick, if your stovetop pan won’t go safely into a hot oven.)

Sprinkle the almonds on the caramelized sugar.

Put the plums on top, round side down, and spread them out to cover the base of the pan.

Roll out the pastry until it is just slightly larger than your pan.

Cover the plums with the pastry, pushing it right into the sides of the pan. Cut two or three slits in the top to let the steam out. I was just messing around so I stuck a few scraps on top of the pastry but since we are turning this over to serve, they won’t even show.

Place the tart in the oven for around 25 to 35 minutes until pastry is puffed and golden brown and the syrup is bubbling up.

When the tart is baked, allow it too cool for about 10 minutes.

Put a large serving plate with sides on top of the pan and turn the tart upside down onto it. The deliciously sticky plummy syrup will come out over the pastry so a plate with sides is essential. Sprinkle on some more slivered almonds, if desired.

Serve nice slices with ice cream, thick pouring cream or a dollop of crème fraîche.

Enjoy!

FridayPieDay is the brilliant invention of Heather from girlichef.

I am pleased to start joining her on the last Friday of each month for pie and crust recipes, techniques, tools of the trade, and other inspiration.

For more information and recipes, please check out her #FRIDAYPIEDAY page!

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Red, White and Blue Sangria

Crisp dry white wine, mixed with a little lemon vodka and Grand Marnier, then topped up with lemon-lime soda and lots of pretty fruit, makes a refreshing libation for summertime.

This week Sunday Supper is remembering all those who made the ultimate sacrifice in our armed forces, just ahead of Memorial Day tomorrow, by showing off our red, white and/or blue recipes. Even as you feast and enjoy the extra day’s holiday – if you are living in the US, that is – we hope you will be inspired to honor military personnel from every country who died to preserve our freedoms, including those who put themselves in harm’s way to bring aid to the needy and try to ensure safety and peace in troubled regions worldwide. (Did you know that there are more than 30 countries whose flags are red, white and blue?) Unlike Veteran's Day, which honors the service of all soldiers, Memorial Day is especially to recognize those who gave their lives.

Many thanks to this week’s host, the great DB from Crazy Foodie Stunts. Make sure you scroll on down to the bottom of my post to see all the colorful recipes we are sharing today.

Let me introduce this sangria ingredient list with a disclaimer. When I told my husband that I was making sangria and, did he want some, he said, “Nah, thanks. I’ll just have a cold beer.” Well, I’m all for taking one for the team, particularly my Sunday Supper group, but drinking an entire one-wine-bottle batch of sangria seemed ill-advised, so the amounts you see here photographed are for half of the recipe I share below. And, yes, I did drink the whole darn half pitcher over the course of a hot afternoon! It was refreshing and delicious.

Ingredients
1 bottle dry white wine (My favorite white is Sauvignon Blanc, both for sangria and drinking in general.)
1/3 cup or 80ml Grand Marnier
1/4 cup or 60ml lemon vodka
3 cups or 710ml lemon-lime soda (Two of the 12 oz or 355ml cans.)
6 oz or 170g raspberries
4.4oz or 125g blueberries
1 dragon fruit

Method
Starting at least a day ahead, wash some of the blueberries and raspberries and put three blueberries and one raspberry in several of the holes of a muffin pan. For a more decorative look, I used the Nordic Ware one known online as the Bundt Brownie pan. <affiliate link Add a little water, until you see the blueberries just barely start to float.

Put the pan in the freezer and leave until the water freezes enough to hold the fruit in place.

Top up with more water and freeze until solid.

When the fruity ice is frozen, release by running some water over the back of the pan and store in a airtight container in the freezer. If you want to skip all these steps and get straight to the sangria, just use normal ice cubes.

When you are ready to serve, peel and slice your dragon fruit and cut it into pieces about the size of your raspberries and blueberries. Wash the berries and drain well.

In a pitcher, combine your wine, vodka and Grand Marnier.

Add your fruity ice (or just some normal ice) and then top up with the lemon-lime soda.

Add in more raspberries, blueberries and some of the cut dragon fruit. Put some berries and dragon fruit and ice in each glass and fill up with sangria.