Curry Sauce

Here's an easy sauce to add punch to chicken or pork that you've browned.  It's my husband's favorite.  It goes well over potatoes or rice and vegetables, such as cooked carrots and celery.

2-3 shallots, chopped
bell pepper, sliced

1 15-oz can coconut milk or 1 pint cream or half and half
1 T sweet curry
1 T spicy curry

1. Caramelize shallots in saucepan for 10 min at a low sizzle in olive oil and/or butter.
2.  Add bell pepper and sizzle for 5 more min to complete carmelization of shallots and to cook pepper.
3. Add coconut milk or cream and curries. Simmer at least 3 min.

Fresh Sausage

Here's a way quick way to make delicious sausage, something I'd craved and didn't want to buy factory made.  It tastes best with ground pork or beef, but it can be made with turkey or chicken, too.  I've been frying it in the pan as a crumble, breaking it apart with a spatula.   Sausage patties would work well, too.  This recipe is by Sally Knitter on ehow.com, http://www.ehow.com/how_4574619_breakfast-sausage-seasoning-mix.html .

Batch of seasoning mix (for several batches):

¼ c each of sea salt, sage, thyme, and nutmeg
1 T cayenne pepper
Fresh ground pepper

1 batch of sausage:

1 lb ground pork, beef, chicken, or turkey
2 t of seasoning mix shown above
Butter and/or olive oil for chicken or turkey

1. Stir seasoning mix together in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix 2 t of seasoning mix with meat (and maple syrup).
3. Fry in a pan until browned. Add oil and/or butter as needed to keep from sticking to pan for turkey and chicken.

Freeze any you won't be using today or tomorrow.  Other spices to experiment with if you like: paprika, ginger, coriander, and celery seed

Finola’s Vegetable Soup

This is my wonderful mother-in-law's wonderful vegetable soup, without any migraine trigger foods.  It transports me back to her kitchen across the ocean.  The parsnip gives it a sweet and tart flavor.  Parsnips look like white carrots.  They seem common in Ireland, but I had never eaten them in the U.S. until after visiting Ireland.  Since the parsnip is the dominant flavor in this recipe, if you find you would prefer a milder taste, you can use 1/2 a parsnip and 1 1/2 or 2 carrots instead. 

Makes 4 bowls of soup

3 shallots, chopped
3 mushrooms the size of button mushrooms, washed (use water and paper towel), sliced (hard stems discarded)
butter and/or olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 carrot, chop all remaining veg same size
1 parsip (no larger than the carrot), chopped
a little cabbage, shredded
optional: 1 small zucchini, cubed
1 large potato with peal, cubed
1 quart chicken stock
1 t rosemary
1 T fresh parsley
Salt and fresh ground pepper
1 T cream per serving

1. Wash all vegetables and chop the shallots and mushrooms. Then proceed to the next step.
2. Caramelize mushrooms and shallots (15 min at low sizzle in olive oil and/or butter; can be translucent or browned on edges when done) on opposite sides of large fry pan.
3. Meanwhile, if chicken stock is frozen, put it in a pot where soup will be cooked over low heat to thaw. Chop the garlic, carrot, parsnip, zucchini, cabbage (shredded), potato, and parsley. Chop all vegetables the same size.
4. Transfer onions and mushrooms into the soup pot. Turn up the heat slightly and sauté the garlic and remaining vegetables for about 2 min.
5. Pour contents of fry pan into the soup, turn up heat to simmer, and add rosemary and parsley and a little salt and pepper. When vegetables are fork tender, remove from heat. Check after the first 5 min., if vegetables were chopped small, it may be done already.
6. If you have time, let soup cool a little before pureeing, so steam isn't putting pressure on the lid of the blender.  Pour soup into blender and puree until the consistency of a thick smoothie. Add salt and pepper to taste. To taste test: use 2 spoons: keep one clean and pour into a 2nd you can keep reusing to taste.
7. Add 1 T cream to each bowl when serving. Mix. The cream not only tastes good, it’s supposed to make more of the nutrients in the vegetables bioavailable since some nutrients require others to be absorbed.

Soy Sauce

Once you have beef broth, you can make "soy" sauce!   This one is a stroke of genious.  Thanks, Heidi Gunderson!

http://migrainefreecooking.blogspot.com/2010/08/soy-sauce.html

Chicken, Beef, and Vegetable Stock

Stock is called for in various recipes for cooking chicken or gravy, as a base for soups and Heidi Gunderson's "soy sauce" coming soon (check website, too:  migrainefreecooking.com), and can be substituted for water when cooking rice or quinoa.  We started buying whole cut-up chickens for grilling, and the backbone and neck come included for cooking stock.  When we roast a whole chicken, we save the carcass for stock.  For for making beef stock, cut-up bone can often be bought in the butcher section at the grocery store.  For vegetable stock, the base is chopped tomatoes.  I made some vegetable stock, but never use it.  Of course it would be great for vegetarians.  I use a couple of 8-cup glass measuring cups for cooling the meat stocks.  The method shown here is based on Delia Smith's Cookery Course (see references).

Chicken Stock
1 broken-up bird carcass
5 c cold water or enough to cover carcass
1 carrot, cut in chunks (more if not using parsnip)
1 bunch (~5) green onions or 3 shallots, cut in chunks
1 celery stalk, cut into large chunks
1 leek, cleaned & cut into chunks (or more onions instead)
1 parsnip, cut into chunks, optional
8 whole black peppercorns 
a few parsley stalks
a pinch of thyme
1/2 heaping t salt

1.  Put everything in a large pot (tall and skinny is better than short and wide); bring to a boil; skim scum off top.
2.  Reduce heat, simmer with lid slightly off for 2 hr.
3.  Strain through a sieve into glass bowl or measuring cup.  Discard everything in the sieve.  Cool in fridge over night, uncovered.
4.  Skim fat off top and discard.  Don't worry about whether the chicken stock came out gelatinous or not.  It's great if it does. 
5.  Freeze leftovers.   I like to use 1 and 2-c size containers.

Beef Stock
3 lb beef marrowbones, in pieces
Same vegetables, herbs, and seasoning as chicken stock above, plus
2 additional stalks of celery (3 total)
1 bay leaf
5 c cold water

1.  Optional, for dark stock:  Roast bones with vegetables in a roasting pan on top shelf of oven for 45 min at 450 deg; baste occasionally.  Bone and vegetables will be brown on edges when done.
2.  Place everything from roasting pan into stock pot.  Add water, herbs, and seasoning.
3.  Simmer with lid slightly off for 2 hr.
4.  Follow chicken directions 3-5 for cooling, skimming fat, and storing.  Beef fat will not be gelatinous.  Beef stock is the base for Heidi's Gunderson's "soy sauce".
 
Vegetable Stock
5 c cold water
Same vegetables, herbs, and seasoning as chicken or beef stock above
 
1. Put everything in a large pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat, simmer with lid slightly off for 2 hr.
3. Strain into glass bowl or measuring cup. Cool to room temperature.
5. Freeze leftovers.

Apple, Blueberry, and Rhubarb Pies

Last year we visited Mackinaw, Michigan, and they had homemade pies everywhere.  The fresh sweetness of the fruit and the comforting, buttery crust were the prefect finale to dinner. Those pies inspired me to start making pies. 

After I made this apple pie a couple of times, I went ahead and bought one of those apple corers/slicers/peelers.  Crank the handle a few times and your apple is ready.  It's a great time saver.  The crust recipe is from "Dinner in Minutes" and the rhubarb pie is adapted from allrecipes.com (see references). 

Pie Crust:
2 c flour
1 t salt
1 T sugar, optional
12 T (1 1/2 sticks) butter
4 oz (1/2 package) cream cheese
¼ c + 2T ice water
optional:  milk, sugar for top of crust

I use a stand-alone mixer.  If you use a food processor, follow directions written for a processor.
1. Put flour, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut butter and cream cheese in small slices into the flour mix.
2. Mix at low speed until dough resembles bread crumbs.
3. Add a little water, mix at low speed; repeat until dough forms one big ball.
4. Knead slightly with hands. Don’t overknead.
5. Split in half, cover (wrap in plastic wrap), and chill in refrigerator for at least 20 min.

Apple Filling:
6 c or 3 lb apples, peeled and sliced
2T flour (or tapioca flakes)
3/4 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
¼ t each of mace, cloves, and allspice
1 T butter

Blueberry Filling:
¼ c four (or tapioca flakes)
1 c brown sugar
1 T butter
For Apple or Blueberry Pie:

Bake at 400 deg F, 40-50 min
1. Preheat oven and mix all ingredients except butter together. Let sit 15 min.
2. Lay rolled pie crust on bottom of pie pan. Pour in apple or blueberry mix.
3. Dot with butter.
4. Optional: Lay top crust over fruit. Sprinkle with sugar and cut small holes for venting.
5.  Bake

Rhubarb Filling:
4 c rhubarb, chopped
1/4 c flour
1 c brown sugar

For Rhubarb Pie:

Bake at 450 deg F, 15 min;  reduce to 350 deg F, bake 40-45 min
1.  Preheat oven and  mix flour and sugar in a small bowl. Keep rhubarb separate.
2.  Lay rolled pie crust on bottom of pie pan.  Spread 1/4 of sugar and flour onto bottom of pie crust, then the rhubard, then sprinkle the remaining sugar and flour on top.
3.  Roll out pie crust top and lay over the fruit filling.
4.  Optional:  Brush top of crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar.  Raw sugar or demarera sugar work well.
5.  Bake.

Cheesecake

This is my husband's and my birthday cake. This cheesecake is delicious, though rich enough that a small slice will do, and doesn't call for any sour cream. It's based on Delia Smith's from her "Complete Cookery Course" (see References). She's a well known chef in the UK. Since my mother-in-law's cooking is so wonderful and she uses it, I picked up a copy for myself.

I made this recipe with brown sugar this time. It has more of a caramel taste. When it's made with white sugar, it has the familiar, classic cheesecake taste.

Crust:
6 oz shortbread cookies, ginger snaps, or tea biscuits (check ingredients)
6 T butter

Filling:
1 1/2 lb cream cheese (3 packages), softened (knead if straight out of fridge)
3 eggs
1/2 c + 2T white or brown sugar
1 t vanilla
Optional: fruit (strawberries, blueberries, or kiwi peeled and sliced)

Bake at 300 degrees for 30 min. Chill at least 2 hr.
1. Preheat oven. Melt butter and crush cookies. Stir cookie crumbs into butter. Spread and press into bottom and sides of pie pan or cheese cake pan to form the crust.
2. In electric mixer, mix cream cheese, eggs, sugar, and vanilla until creamy smooth.
3. Pour filling into the crust. Bake (see "bake" above). Next, turn oven off and let pie cool inside the oven. Then chill at least 2 hr in fridge to make firm. Optional: top with fruit.

If you use a cheese cake tin, Delia says you soak a clean dish towel in hot water, wrap it around the sides of the tin and hold for a few seconds, then lift the base out.