Pumpkin Red Lentil Soup

So much for spring. I wake up to the temperature below freezing and the windchill well below that.
I guess it's a hot soup day again.

One of my favorites is this pumpkin red lentil soup. My husband, when he was still my fiance, introduced me to a vegetarian version of this recipe that I've adjusted for my taste and whatever is on hand. That's what I love about this soup. It's so convenient and tweakable.

Make it with vegetable stock, chicken broth, coconut milk or a combination. Add grated carrot and ginger. Use roasted pumpkin, canned pumpkin, baked or poached butternut squash or frozen winter squash. Keep the seasoning simple with salt and pepper, add lemon zest, or spice it up with cumin or curry or hot pepper.  Top it with roasted pumpkin or acorn squash seeds, or freshly grated parmesan, or pan toasted bread crumbs or croutons. Serve it with a sandwich, or salad and bread, or build it up by adding some tubettini or orzo pasta to the pot. No matter what you do, it works and my three picky kids will eat it.

The fact that it's healthful is just gravy. There's lots of nutrition and fiber in the pumpkin puree and the lentils.

Roasted Pumpkin and Red Lentil Soup With Tubettini
Serves 8

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion or shallots
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, smashed with flat of chefs knife
1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
8 oz. red lentils (1/2 pound), sorted and rinsed
1 14-oz. can pumpkin puree (or equivalent quantity roasted pumpkin or other squash)
1/2 cup tubettini pasta (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese (optional)

PREPARATION
1. Chop celery and onion and add to pot together with smashed garlic. Cook on medium-low until translucent, adjusting heat if necessary to avoid browning.

2. Stir in wine and stock and add lentils. Simmer until lentils are soft and break apart, about 30 minutes.

3. Add tubettini pasta and cook according to directions. Just before pasta is cooked, add pumpkin puree and stir to incorporate. Season to taste.

When serving, garnish with freshly shaved parmesan. Allow diners to grind their own pepper on top.

Notes:
* The "red" lentils I've used always start out an intense orange color, and become a golden yellow during cooking. They also break down much more than the French lentils I also use. That's all normal.

* I have used roasted pumpkin, and roasted butternut and acorn squashes in this recipe. But canned pumpkin is easy to keep on hand and allows you to throw this soup together very quickly. You can also use the precooked pureed winter squash available in the freezer section of the supermarket.

* I go light on the seasoning for my kids, but you can add a teaspoon or more of cumin or a sprig of thyme or cilantro (good with the coconut milk version of the soup), or warm it up with some cayenne or Chinese white pepper (the same kind that puts the heat in hot and sour soup). You can also add a splash of fresh-squeezed lemon juice to brighten it up.

* This recipe is easy to convert to vegan or gluten free. For a vegan version, use vegetable stock and skip Parmesan. For gluten-free soup, use gluten free pasta in place of tubettini.

A little hungry

I've been missing dim sum (yam tsa, as my mother also calls it) ever since we left New York and moved to the Midwest.

I came across a story today in the Wall Street Journal that reports that the art of dim sum is losing experts. How sad. The good news is that the little eats are not in danger of disappearing entirely.

Although I don't imagine I can match the skill of a true dim sum master, I guess I'd better learn to make a few dumplings, buns and other goodies.

A Grain of Salt

PepsiCo announced that it plans to "encourage people to live healthier lives and to address growing consumer desire for healthier, great-tasting products."

I'm a skeptical type, so I'm not jumping for joy yet.

Among the improvements will be an increase in the whole grains and other healthful ingredients in its products and a reduction of the average sugar content by 25 percent and the average saturated fat by 15 percent per serving in the coming decade, PepsiCo said in a news release. The company, which offers salty snacks through its Frito-Lay business, said it also will reduce the average amount of sodium by 25 percent in each serving within the next five years. The announcement echos similar statements by other food companies including Kraft Foods Inc. and ConAgra Foods Inc. about making products more healthful.

We'll see what they come up with. My significant other needs to keep a lid on  his sodium intake because of high blood pressure, and a 25 percent drop in sodium in the majority of packaged foods still leaves too much for him. Besides, does a decrease in sodium intake create a benefit for those of us with low blood pressure?

I think that any genuine efforts to make foods better for consumers -- maybe I should say less harmful -- is a step in the right direction. But will reducing sugar or salt by 25 percent or cutting 15 percent of the fat actually make these foods good for us? Will we get other unwanted ingredients? I remember when low-fat, light, "lite" and fat-free foods such as cookies hit store shelves many years ago, I looked at the label and often noticed an increase in sugar and other ingredients that you don't want to eat in excess.

Besides that, I prefer the flavor of potato chips without too much salt, although a PepsiCo representative has told the Wall Street Journal that a specially engineered salt will decrease the amount of sodium while keeping the same salty taste.

Is there any scientific evidence to show that such changes will benefit the health of consumers?
Karen Kaplan of the Los Angeles Times cites some studies that project the prevention of hundreds of thousands of strokes and heart attacks, and the savings of tens of billions of dollars in health care costs if Americans consumed less salt.
On the other hand is an interesting take on the salt debate from John Tierney in "When It Comes to Salt, No Rights or Wrongs. Yet" in the New York Times.

You may also like: Salon's food geek Francis Lam figures out how much sodium meat absorbs from brining.

New York State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz introduces a bill that would ban New York restaurants from adding salt to food and levy a fine of $1,000 for violators who "use use salt in any form in the preparation of any food." More at the Daily News.

Japan's Fish Industry Angling for Consumers That Got Away
Who would have guessed that fish consumption is falling in Japan, the land that brought us sushi and sashimi? According to a story March 22 on page A1 of The Wall Street Journal, a campaign is under way to win over consumers who are increasingly turning to land-based meat. Writing for the Journal, Yuka Hayashi reports that since 2000, the average household's monthly spending on seafood has decreased 23 percent. Part of the campaign includes rock singers singing about the benefits of fish.

Bitter Battle Between Sugar and Taro Interests
The Wall Street Journal this week reports: "Two important sides of local history are fighting over water rights in the central valley of Maui, pitting the last of the state's once-powerful sugar plantations against native farmers who want to grow [taro,] a vegetable tied to Hawaii's ancient culture. ... After a half-decade of hearings and legal maneuvering, the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management is set to issue a key ruling in the dispute in coming months. The decision ... will dictate how much water will be returned to four major streams in western Maui and how much will continue to flow to the sugar plantation. ...
The ruling could have significant consequences: The sugar plantation says it could close if it loses water, while native Hawaiians hope it sets a precedent for a case involving a bigger chunk of water the plantation diverts daily."

Related: On October 30, 2009, the Honolulu Star Bulletin reported that Gay & Robinson harvested its last sugar crop on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, leaving the struggling Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company the last producer of sugar in the state.

Tofu-ling around

When I was growing up, my mother had to make a special trek to a Chinese grocer to find soy sauce or tofu. Yogurt was just becoming the magic health food, and tofu was unheard of at the local supermarket. Forget about asking the store manager about it -- hardly any non-Asians had even heard of it.

Now it's so easy to get all sorts of soy products, including tofu -- soft, firm, refrigerated, vacuum-packed shelf-stable blocks, organic, plain or preseasoned -- at many suburban supermarkets.

Even so, I've had an obsession with making it. From scratch. From a cup of dried soybeans. Someone maybe has too much time on her hands? Hardly. But I do like to know a little about where my food comes from and how it's made. I've learned from my research online that making tofu is pretty simple if you have a little time. Just some water, soybeans and a coagulant (to form curds). That's it.

And talk about economical. I got close to four quarts of soy milk from a scoop of dried beans that cost me only 90 cents. I drank a couple cups of that and still got more than a pound (17.5 ounces) of tofu from the rest of the soy milk.

The flavor was super fresh and tasty, although the texture of the tofu wasn't nearly as smooth as the Mori Nu tofu I get at the supermarket. I couldn't find a traditional coagulant such as calcium sulfate or nigari (which is mostly magnesium chloride), so I used lemon juice, which gave the tofu a tanginess better suited to a more heavily seasoned recipe such as hot and sour soup or ma po tofu.

If I were just making soy milk, I'd make only half a batch. If I were to do this regularly, I'd get a soy milk maker, which would save me labor and mess (and therefore time).

For me, the three most useful internet sources in learning to make tofu were:
http://www.justhungry.com/2006/03/milking_the_soy_1.html
http://www.chow.com/stories/11043
www.soyfoodsillinois.uiuc.edu/Tofu%20Web%20Binder1.pdf

Homemade soy milk
Yield: 3 1/2 to 4 quarts

INGREDIENTS
1 pound roughly (400-500 grams) dried white soy beans (amount does not have to be exact)
water for soaking dried beans
3 1/2 quarts water


1. Soak beans for 8 to 11 hours in water (change the water a few times).

2. Discard the soaking water and buzz the soaked beans in a food processor with 2 to 3 cups of fresh water (taken from the 3 1/2 quarts) for about 2 minutes until they are finely ground. The result should look about the consistency of cooked farina or loose mash potato. You probably would have to do this in more than one batch. For instance, in my food processor I ground half of the beans with about 1 cup of water. Then I processed the rest of the beans with another cup of water.


3. Combine the pulpy mixture in a very large stockpot with the rest of the water (no more than about halfway up the side because the liquid tends to foam up a lot). Or divide equally between two pots. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes.

3. Extract the milk by placing the mush into clean muslin or similar cotton material and draining/squeezing the liquid into another pot or large bowl. You could use rubber gloves to protect yourself from the hot liquid. I had no gloves and so had to let the liquid cool enough for me to handle.
You could try straining with cheesecloth too, but I imagine that you'd have to use many layers to prevent the small grinds from passing through the holes.

4. Dump the solids into another bowl. Called okara in Japanese (I don't know the Chinese word for it yet), the crumbly solid can be used in place of bread crumbs in meatloaf, and there are recipes on the internet for using it in baked goods too.

5. Enjoy the fresh soy milk or use it to make tofu as I did.

Homemade tofu
Yield: about 1 pound

INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 to 4 quarts homemade soy milk
coagulant (1/4 c. lemon juice mixed with 3/4 c. water, or nagiri mixed according to package directions)

1. Heat the soy milk in a large pot to 175 degrees F.

2. Add coagulant until you start to see curds.

3. Cover and maintain heat 10 to 15 minutes.

4. Check for formation of larger curds separating from the liquid leaving a clearer "whey."  If large and many curds are not forming, add a little more coagulant if needed (if so, cover and allow 10 more minutes to separate).

6. If curds have formed, ladle out excess whey (shielding curds with a strainer).

7. Ladle tofu curds into a makeshift tofu press (a drainer or strainer lined with muslin or layers cheesecloth), fold the cloth over the top of the curds, and put a light weight (eg. an empty bowl) on top. Let sit until the curds come together into a block, anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. More time means a firmer tofu.

8. Remove tofu from cloth. If it's bitter or sour, give it a very gentle running water wash for about 20 to 30 minutes. Otherwise store in airtight container for same-day use or pack in water for use within a few days.

Sweet (and sour) memory

Born half Chinese and half German-American, and reared in a New York City suburb densely populated by Italian-Americans,  my younger sister and I were obligated to like pork. On our round woodish-laminate dinner table, we often found pork schnitzel (breaded cutlets), bacon, baked ham, Italian pork sausage, Black Forest ham sandwiches, Chinese pork sausage (la chang), ro sung (fried finely-shredded seasoned pork), prosciutto, Chinese ribs, bratwurst …

So on Saturdays when my parents took me and mei to a little Chinese restaurant crammed into a shopping strip in Emerson, NJ, it was only natural that I’d ask for sweet and sour pork. Sometimes I'd want egg foo young or a pu pu platter. Occasionally they'd indulge me, but my made-in-Taiwan mother didn’t herself care for those American favorites. (She also cruelly denied me fluffernutter sandwiches, Cap'N Crunch cereal and a host -- or should I say Hostess -- of other childhood necessities.)

Most times I'd be left scorning the hot tea poured into my water glass and the crunchy duck or ma po tofu on my plate. At the end of the meal, after my dad separated the check from the fortune cookies and orange wedges, I'd peel myself from the reddish-brown genuine Naugahyde-covered banquette and vow that when I grew up I would eat whatever I wanted. (Then when I grew up, what would I order but crunchy duck and ma po tofu...)

Still, in recent years, I’ve been craving and learning to cook some of my old Chinese-American restaurant favorites. But preparing regular sweet and sour pork takes more time than I usually have.

In this dish, using whole cutlets saves me from having to cut a gajillion bite size pieces, then dip ALL of them to get the special coating on every piece, then deep fry the multitude. And pan frying the chops in a skillet cuts down on the cooking oil (and helps reduce the amount of grease that pops and splatters all over the stove and floor).

The list of ingredients looks long, but throw together the sauce ahead of time. Then later, prep the other ingredients, or if you're really short on time, buy bagged pre-cut fresh or frozen vegetables.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 Tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons plum sauce
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon hot sauce or red pepper flakes (optional)

PREPARATION
1. Combine all ingredients in a cup. Set aside.


Easy Sweet and Sour Pork*
Serves 4

4 pork cutlets or thin loin chops, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper (or marinated with 2 teaspoons soy sauce and 1 teaspoon rice wine or cooking sherry)

1/4 cup flour mixed with
1/4 cup cornstarch

canola oil or peanut oil (enough to fry chops)


1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces**
1 green or orange bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1-inch piece ginger, grated
1 8-ounce can pineapple tidbits
5 scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces (reserving some of the green portion to garnish if desired)

1 recipe sweet and sour sauce
1 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in
1/4 cup cold water

PREPARATION

1. Dredge chops in flour-cornstarch mixture.

2. Pour enough oil to cover bottom of a hot skillet.

3. Fry both sides of cutlets in skillet until golden brown, and transfer to a plate in a 275 degree F oven.

4. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of oil from pan. Cook peppers and onions over medium flame to desired degree of tenderness and add scallions, smashed garlic and ginger. Cook another minute. Mix in pineapple chunks and sauce. Remove from heat.

5. When ready to serve, return pan to heat, add cornstarch dissolved in water and let thicken. Serve with chops and rice.

Notes:
* If you don't eat pork, use chicken.

** Once cooking starts, there is little time for mixing or slicing, so prepare sauce and vegetables ahead of time. I make the sauce and slice the vegetables early in the day or even a day before cooking this for dinner.

*** You could coat cutlets or chops in breadcrumbs or panko bits or a tempura batter if you prefer.

Made(leines) in the U.S.A.

Everyone who knows me at first thinks I picked up my love of madeleines in France. After all I spent a bit of time there and went to a bakery or two every day.
But it wasn't love at first sight. It wasn't even first sight. I didn't notice the little cakes shaped like elongated scallop shells when I was in Aix or Paris or Marseilles or Nice. No, it was the flashier tartes and chocolate endowed cakes such as opera cake and the laminated layers of the croissants that called to me from behind the glass at the patisseries.

It wasn't until I came across a package of mass-produced madeleines at Fairway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that I discovered these little cuties. They didn't blow me away, but I was charmed by the size and shape.

Around that time there must have been a fad for madeleines because I suddenly came across madeleine recipes from Bon Appetit and The New York Times. I can't resist a do-it-yourself project (ask me sometime about my homemade tofu) and decided to give it a go. Fresh from the oven, my own madeleines were in a completely different category from the ones wrapped in cellophane at the supermarket. The home-baked ones were buttery, a little nutty, with a slight crispness at the edges that dared to be dipped into a cup of coffee or tea.

Out of a batch of two dozen, there were about five left after an hour. After five hours, only the lingering fragrance of toasted butter hinted at their existence.

If I had shared, they might not have lasted so long.

Since then, madeleines are something I just throw together, the way the mother of one of my first grader's friends might throw together a batch of Tollhouse cookies.

Sometimes I mix in ground almonds or hazelnuts. Other times I fold in lemon zest or chopped candied orange peel that I've made. The most popular variation that I've given away (I KNOW! Sometimes I actually have some left) is the one with the hidden lump of Valrhona chocolate that I tuck into the batter. To me they're all good.

The only caveat is that the little cakes (technically a variation on a genoise) tend to get dry after a day. That's what madeleines do. Normally I'd shrug -- as if they'd ever sit uneaten that long. But I sometimes do mail them a thousand miles to my mother-in-law or my sister, so occasionally I need them to stay a bit moister for a just a few days.

One of my favorite additions to baked goods is sour cream, and this is no exception. In my version of madeleines, sour cream prevents them from totally drying out before reaching their destination. (Besides, the surprise of dark chocolate in the center distracts people from noticing any flaws.) Then, when they are ready to be eaten, all they need is about a minute in an oven to restore a bit of crispness to the edges.

Recipe

Chocolate Surprise Madeleines

yield: 24

INGREDIENTS
pinch salt
3 large eggs
1 egg yolk
2/3 c. sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 c. plus 1 Tbsp cake flour
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
2 Tbsp. sour cream
24 Valrhona chocolate feves* (I like one of the  61% chocolates), optional
(other options: 1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest or chopped candied orange peel, or 2 tsp orange flower water)

Note: Butter and flour madeleine molds (I do it even if they are nonstick)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F


1. Beat eggs and yolk with salt until doubled or tripled in volume.

2. Still beating, add sugar and vanilla until incorporated.

3. Gently fold in cake flour.

4. In bowl, combine butter and 1/4 c. to 1/2 c. of the batter. Incorporate sour cream into butter-batter mixture.

5. Fold butter-batter mixture into remaining batter.

6. Fill madeleine molds 3/4 full.

7. Lightly press a piece of chocolate into each madeleine. You can bake with the chocolate showing, but I like to use the back of a spoon or small spatula to pull some batter over the chocolate to hide it. I think it looks better with the chocolate hidden.

8. Bake at 425 degrees F for 4 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F. and continue baking until edges turn golden brown, anywhere from 4 to 8 minutes more depending on the oven.

9. Allow madeleines to cool in mold about a minute, then remove to cooling rack.


Note:
*Jacques Torres baking disks would be a good substitute for Valrhona feves. If you don't like dark chocolate but love milk chocolate, then bien sur, use milk chocolate.

Speculoos for you

I first came across these spice cookies one November during a visit in Lille, France, near the border with Belgium. During the day my host would go to work, leaving me to explore (ie. sip un cafe, watch passersby and then troll every food establishment or market in town, practically drooling over all the goodies I couldn't get back home).

I would make at least a daily trip (often twice daily) to one of the boulangerie/patisseries — after all, I had to keep up my strength so as not to wither in the chill weather of this small northern city.

Normally I favor treats typically associated with France — croissant au beurre, tarte Tatin, etc. But even though speculoos are just humble spice cookies, somehow the bakeries over there elevated them into something delicately buttery and wonderful. I don’t think I’ll buy a supermarket gingersnap again.

It's been years since I've seen or made these. I had all but forgotton these cookies, which I think are traditionally made for the holiday season, until I took a look this week at a potential job translating a few recipes from French to English. One of the recipes called a crumble topping made of crushed speculoos.

The problem is they're not so accessible to us here in the states. I guess you could substitute store-bought gingersnaps (meh) or some Swedish pepparkakor from Ikea (I've heard they weren't bad).

But why not make a batch of speculoos and have the extra on hand for that certain time in the afternoon when the stomach starts to feel hollow but dinner is still so far away ...

This recipe is a combination of one from www.labonnecuisine.be and another from a friend’s mother in Maubeuge, also northern France. I've included the French version as well as my English translation.

Speculoos
(biscuits des Flandres)

INGREDIENTS

150 g de beurre
300 g de cassonade brune
1 oeuf
1 cuillerée  à café de mélange d'épices (cannelle et girofle moulu).
1 cuilleree (ou au pif) a cafe de zeste de citron*
sel (environs demi cuilleree a cafe)
500 g de farine**

 PREPARATION

   1. Mélangez le beurre, la cassonade brune, l'oeuf, les épices, le sel et le zeste de citron, si on le veut, dans un saladier.  Incorporez progressivement la farine. Laissez reposer la pâte au moins une heure au refrigirateur.

2. Faites plusieurs morceaux de la pâte.

3. Prechauffer le four a 175° C, et saupoudrez un moule*** de farine.

4. Remplissez-le de pâte et éliminez ce qui dépasse (avec un couteau).

5. D'un geste sec, retournez le moule sur une plaque de cuisson couvert de papier sulfurisé.  Recommencez l'opération  avec les autres morceaux de pâte.

6. Enfournez la plaque au four.

7. Laissez cuire environ 10-13 minutes.

Pour 24 a 48 biscuits, environ


ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Speculoos
(Flemish spice cookies, similar to Swedish pepparkakor)
copyright Cynthia Ohms ©   

INGREDIENTS

300 g (1 ½ c) brown sugar
150 g (10.5 Tbs -- or 1 stick plus 2.5 Tbs) butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon of holiday spices, (usually ground cinnamon and a pinch of ground clove, often also ginger)
1 teaspoon lemon zest*
½ tsp salt
500 g (about 4 cups) flour**
   
PREPARATION

1. In a large bowl, mix the sugar, butter, egg, spices and salt until combined. Gradually mix in the flour (eg. In three to four batches) until combined. The mixture will form a thick dough. Place dough in refrigerator to rest at least one hour.

2. Divide dough into several pieces, according to the size of the mold(s)*** to be used.

3. Preheat oven to 175 C / 350 F, and dust speculoos mold(s) with flour.
Press dough into the mold, and cut off excess with a small knife.
With a sharp snap, flip the mold onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and carefully lift from cookie. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.

4. Place sheet of cookies into preheated oven and bake about 10-13 minutes, adjusting time based on the oven.
Remove when edges begin to darken.

Makes about 24 to 48 cookies depending on size of mold or cookie cutters

Baker’s notes:

*Besides adjusting the spices to personal taste (I don't like too much clove), I sometimes like to add lemon zest, even if it isn't traditional.

**Even in residential / home kitchens, a scale is invaluable for accurate and consistent baking results, especially when quantities of dry ingredients exceed 2 cups. When measuring flour, for instance, depending on the texture of the batch of flour, the amount of air in the product and the ambient humidity, the true amount measured at different times can vary considerably, even for a single cook using the same cup measures. I like to use an Oxo scale, and there also are many other affordable options available through retailers carrying home goods.

***Speculoos are a regional specialty (Belgium and northern France), so the molds are not easily found in the U.S.
No mold? Just divide the dough into two halves, rolling out each portion to just over eighth of an inch thick on a sheet of parchment paper and using cookie cutters to make desired shapes, such as stars and gingerbread people. If planning to use the cookies as a crumble topping or a substitute for graham crackers in a crust, then decorative shapes are unnecessary. Just cut rectangular or diamond shapes with a knife and lift cookies onto a parchment-lined sheet for baking.