Food - Curried Sweet Potato Stew

My friend Janet gave me this recipe and it's terrific. It's tasty and healthy and definitely worth making - with or without the chicken or turkey.

Kate







CURRIED SWEET POTATO STEW


2 med. sized onions, chopped
2-3 tsp curry powder - I used 1 pkg Asian Home Gourmet Red Curry
2 med sized carrots, diced
1/2 - 3/4 cup white wine (I used red)
1 bulb garlic, chopped
4 cups chicken/veg broth
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 tomatoes diced (or 1 cup canned, diced tomatoes)
3-4 bay leaves
1/4 cup brown lentils
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 cinnamon stick
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
juice of 1/2 or 1 whole lemon
2 med sized jewel yams, peeled and cubed
chopped cilantro and sour
cream to garnish

*** I added the ground chicken/turkey - it wasn't in the original

In olive oil, saute (the ground chicken if you're using - until no longer pink) then onion, carrot, ginger, chili flakes and curry powder/sauce - over medium heat, until soft (8-10 minutes). Add sweet potatoes - saute for 1 minute, mixing well. Add wine and simmer until almost evaporated, then stir in broth, tomatoes and lentils, bay leaves and cinnamon stick.

Simmer until lentils and sweet potatoes are tender - 30 minutes approx. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. (add salt if you think it needs - I didn't)

Serve and Garnish with cilantro and dollop of sour cream.

Poires en chemise

Pears are probably my very favourite fruit and I eat them for breakfast as many mornings of the year as I can. But, living in the northern hemisphere, great pears are in short supply in the winter, so I'm passing along this recipe from one of my favourite cookbooks - a go-to cookbook for me. I bought it because I loved the title - The Six Minute Souffle and Other Culinary Delights - but have kept it for almost thirty years because it's the perfect cookbook. Okay, it doesn't have photographs, which is one of the delights of cookbook buying for me but in every other way, it is a perfect book.

So thanks to Carol Cutler - you're a genius - and if any of you see this book in a bookstore, make sure you buy it. It's worth every penny of the price. Many of these recipes remain on my go-to list all these years later. Oh, and thanks to Matisse for these lovely pears.

Poires en chemise by Carol Cutler

INGREDIENTS
aluminum foil
6 pears
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons Grand Marnier
2 tbsp butter

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 375.

1. Prepare six 10 inch squares of aluminum foil. Peel the pears, leaving the stems intact and cutting a slice off the bottom so the pears will stand upright. Place a pear in the centre of each foil square.

2. In a small bowl mix together the sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and liqueur. Stir these ingredients well to dissolve the sugar a little. Pour this sweet dressing over the pears and dot each one with 1 tsp of butter.

3. Draw up the sides of the foil and close them around the pears to make a tight seal. Place the pears on a baking dish and bake for about 1 hour or until soft, depending on ripeness.

TO SERVE
Place the pears, still in the foil packages, on a platter. At the table unwrap each package and transfer each pear to an individual dish, spooning some of the sauce over it.

I hope you enjoy Ms. Cutler's recipe as much as I have over the years. It makes the long, pearless winter more than bearable.

Kate

Kate's Rhubarb Cake

It's rhubarb season and this is my absolute favourite rhubarb recipe. I promise, you're gonna love it.

This is the only cake I make. I'm not a baker (I'm a good cook but a terrible baker) so if I can do it, so can you. I only make in rhubarb season and I usually only make it once because I love it so much I can eat the whole thing all by myself.





Preparation time:
1/2 hour after rhubarb is prepared.
Servings:
1 or many

Batter:
1/2 c. margarine
2 c. flour
1 egg
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. chopped rhubarb
1 tbsp. flour

Topping:
1/2 c. margarine
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. brown sugar (packed)

Rub margarine into sugar and cinnamon and set aside to sprinkle on cake top.
Cream margarine and sugar until smooth and creamy.Beat in egg and vanilla.Sift together floor, soda and salt.Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk.Toss rhubarb with flour and mix gently into cake batter.Spoon into greased 13” by 9” pan.Smooth the surface.Sprinkle topping evenly over batter.
Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until the cake has risen and browned and comes away from pan sides. Top will be rich, dark brown and gooey with a wonderful cinnamon aroma.



Enjoy!
Kate