Spring Sorrel Soup

I grew up waiting for Spring to eat my favourite soup - the Sorrel Soup. Sorrel is one of my key indicators of Spring and upcoming warmer weather. I remember being excited seeing sorrel in the store when I was a kid and asking my mom to make sorrel soup. I love everything about sorrel - its color, its tanginess, how well I feel after eating it (It is a high oxylate - remember to rotate your greens!).

Since I left Poland it was one of the foods I was missing the most; food I could not get enough of during each of my visits to the country. Once I started my little garden patch it was obvious that sorrel is going to be one of the plants in it.

Today I am sharing my sorrel soup recipe.

Ingredients:
6 cups of vegetable stock
2 carrots
4 potatoes
1.5 medium size onions
3 garlic cloves
4 cups of fresh sorrel
2 egg yolks
1-2 tbsp of cream (optional)
2 bay leaves
4 whole allspice
3 tbsp of ghee
sea salt
pepper

Instructions:
1. Cook the vegetable stock with bay leaves, chopped carrots, and chopped potatoes.
2. Heat the ghee and gently fry chopped onions and crushed garlic cloves. Once done, add them to the stock. Cook for approx 20-25 minutes.
3. Boil a pot of water, add chopped sorrel. Cook on a high heat for 2 minutes. Remove sorrel into the blender.
4. Add few spoons of the soup with some chunks of vegetables. Quickly blend it, it does not have to be smooth. Add back to the soup. Cook for another 5 minutes.
5. Take 2 yolks and whisk them with a fork. You can add cream if you want. If you added cream you need to add some soup to warm it up before adding it to the pot. If you only have egg yolks you can whisk them into the soup.
6. You can serve it with cooked egg sliced, or cut into quarters.
7. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup

I had been struggling a bit with allergies over the last couple of weeks. This has been eating up my time as I had to focus on reducing my symptoms rather than enjoying life.

This soup is low in histamine and will help everyone suffering at this time of the year. The recipe is based on Yasmina, the Low Histamine Chef.

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash

1 large onion

3 garlic cloves

0.5 can of coconut milk

2-3 tbsp of black sesame seeds

pinch of saffron

5 large basil leaves

3-4 cups of water

sea salt

pepper

ghee

Instructions:

1. Roast the whole butternut squash 

2. Use ghee to fry chopped inion with crushed garlic cloves.

3. Fill the pot  with 3-4 cups of water and coconut water, add the roasted squash chunks, fried onion with garlic. All all remaining ingredients. 

4. Cook on a gas mark 2.6 for about 25 minutes.

5. Blend all the ingredients.

6. You can serve the soup with with fresh herbs.

7. Enjoy!

Banana Oatbran muffins with Cacao Nibs

This week we let the bananas overripe, not on purpose of course. I hate throwing out food and usually I try to create the recipe to use the food before it goes bad.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of red fife flour (or eincorn flour)
1 cup of oatbran
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of coconut water
3 overripe bananas, mashed (I mashed them with a fork)
2 tbsp of cacao nibs
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt

Process:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. I did not take the blender out, just used a regular spoon.
Place the dough in the muffin forms.
Bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes. Let them cool off in the over for 5-10 minutes.
Enjoy!

Thanksgiving: Cranberry, orange and rosemary sauce

This Canadian Thanksgiving we are celebrating with a duck breast served with shallots in a red wine reduction, topped with a cranberry, orange and rosemary sauce.
I am going to share with you my special cranberry sauce recipe.

Ingredients:
150g of fresh cranberries
2 branches of fresh rosemary
juice from 0.5 orange
0.5 c of water
1 tbsp of butter
0.5 c of red wine
4 tbsp of honey
Salt, pepper
2 tbsp arrowroot

1. On a medium heat cook cranberries and rosemary for about 10 minutes.
2. Add remaining ingredients (except arrowroot), reduce heat to low. Cook for another 15 minutes.
3. Blend all ingredients. Then cook for another 15-30 minutes on a very low heat.
4. Mix arrowroot with some water, then stir it into the sauce.
5. Serve hot with duck, turkey, or pork. You can mix in juices from cooking meat.
6. Enjoy.

Rosemary mustard sauce

This sauce goes great with white fish, or white meats.

Ingredients:
2 cups Vegetable stock
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosmary
0.5 cup of white wine
1 tbsp mustard
0.3 tap turmeric
1 tsp flour

1. Cool the stock with rosemary on a low heat for 10-15 minutes.
2. Stir in wine, mustard, and turmeric, cook for further 5-10 minutes.
3. Stir in flour to thicken the sauce.
4. Serve hot.

Turkey meatballs in a dill sauce

Today I made turkey meatballs in a dill sauce. Dill sauce and dill soups are very popular in Poland and are some of the favourite meals of Polish kids.

This recipe was inspired by the school menu I received from one of the Polish schools.

You can use this sauce with meats and with a small modification with fish. For fish I would add 1-2 tbsp of lemon juice.

Ingredient:
1. Meatballs
500 g ground turkey
1 large carrot, finely grated
1 cup of fresh parsley
1 medium onion
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
Optional bread crumbs

2. Dill sauce
1 cup of vegetable stock
3/4 cup of cream
1 pack of fresh dill (about 1 cup)
1 tsp turmeric
2-3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
Sea salt, pepper to taste




Making meatballs
1. Blend fresh parsley with olive oil
2. On a small heat saute finely chopped onion and crushed and finely chopped garlic.
3. Mix all ingredients for meatballs together.
4. Form balls of similar size for even cooking.
5. Heat the pan with ghee or some oil using moderate heat. Place the meatballs and let them acquire some color, while gently stirring them.
6. When ready, set them aside.


Making dill sauce
1. Heat the stock on a low heat.
2. Add butter, dill, cream, and spices. Mix well. Allow to cook for  about 7 minutes.
3. Mix in flour to thicken the sauce.
4. Transfer the sauce to the pan with meatballs and gently cook on a low gas mark for 10-15 minutes.

Bison Meatballs

Bison Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 lbs ground bison
1 medium onion
1 egg
5 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crashed
1 tbsp mustard
1 tsp dried oregano
0.5 tsp dried sage
0.5 tsp ground cumin
0.5 tsp paprika
If the bison is very lean add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil

Salt and pepper

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Form balls with your hand. I used the size of about 0.75 tbsp per ball.
3. Bake at 375F for 25 minutes.