Miscellaneous Things Worth Making from Last Week: a Smoothie, a Torte, and a Happy Kitchen

This is one of my favorite views of the new kitchen. Sunlight pours into the back windows in the afternoons. The flowers are yellow now, the cake stand filled with the remains of an Easter Root Beer Bundt Cake. The mood perseveres. I love to sit in a clean kitchen with a cup of tea while the baby takes his afternoon nap.

Last week, two recipes worth noting fell through the cracks. One is a simple, but nice breakfast smoothie. (I would make smoothies for breakfast far more often if it didn't bother so much to leave the blender out.) The other is an apple torte that is flourless and kosher (if you don't use regular port like I did)- my first attempt at either and quite good.

           
                      Banana Breakfast Smoothie


Recipe By: Vegetarian Times March 2009

-= Ingredients =-
2 Frozen bananas ; broken into 1 inch chunks
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup Frozen blueberries
1/4 cup Granola
1 tablespoon Honey

-= Instructions =-
Place all ingredients in blender and process until completely smooth. Thin to desired consistency with 1/2 to 1 cup water.

                     Flourless Apple-Pecan Torte

Recipe By: Martha Stewart Living March 2010

-= Ingredients =-
2 Sweet red apples (6 ounces each) ; peeled, cored, and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 tablespoon Fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Unsalted butter
3/4 cup Granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons Sweet kosher wine
Vegetable oil cooking spray ; for pan
6 large Eggs ; room temperature, separated
1 1/4 Toasted pecans ; finely ground
1/4 cup Matzo cake meal
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Confectioners Sugar ; for garnish

-= Instructions =-
1. Toss apples with lemon juice. Melt butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add apples, 1/4 cup granulated suger, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; toss. Cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine. Cook until almost absorbed and apples are syrupy, about 3 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray. Whisk together  yolks and 1/4  cup sugar with a mixer on medium high speed until pale and thick, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl; fold in apples, pecans, matzo cake meal, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
3. Whisk egg whites, salt, and remaining 1/4 cup granulated suger in a clean bowl of a mixer until stiff, glossy peaks form. Working in 3 batches, gently fold whites into batter. Pour into pan. Bake until top is brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool.
4. Run a knife or a spatula around edge  of torte. Remove from pan. Garnish with confectioner's sugar.

Hearty Minestrone Soup

Apparently, spring in north Florida as well as south means hot, not warm. The windows are closed; the air is on. It's just as well because that final week with the windows open left a yellow dusting of pollen on the new (and long needed) kitchen table and my desk. But the days are sunny, the light is long, birds are everywhere, and there are trees here- real, glorious trees!

It's a wonderful thing to sit down at our new table, the three of us, and eat a lovely soup in the evening while the light is still strong. This is a soup full of vegetables and life, of spring and heat, with a bacony underbite that stops it just short of too healthy.

Desmond has declared, in not so many words, that beans are his absolute favorite food. He couldn't get these down fast enough. I worried that the crushed red pepper would burn his little mouth, but he kept opening it up for more without complaint, proving yet again that he truly is my child.

While not difficult, this soup takes a long-ass time to make. Is it worth it? Yes, but if chopping is not your thing, look elsewhere. The beans take time too- overnight soaking and their own cook time separate from the soup. Once past the hurdles of beans and chopping, everything comes together fairly quickly and simmers quietly, creating delicious smells, waiting to be eaten.

                
                        Hearty Minestrone Soup

Recipe By: Food & Wine March 2009

-= Ingredients =-
1 1/4 cups Dried white beans ; soaked overnight and drained
3 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
2 ounces pancetta ; finely diced
2 medium Shallots ; finely diced
2 large Celery ribs ; finely diced
1 medium Carrot ; finely diced
1/2 Fennel bulb ; cored and diced
4 cloves Garlic ; minced
1/2 teaspoon Crushed red pepper
2 Bay leaves
2 tablespoon Tomato paste
1 14 ounce can plum tomatoes ; chopped
1 quart Chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup Baby arugula
1/2 cup Flat leaf parsley leaves
1 tablespoon Fresh lemon juice

-= Instructions =-
1. In a pot, cover the beans with 2 inches water and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat until tender, about 2 hours; add water to keep the beans covered. Drain the beans and reserve the cooking liquid.
2. Meanwhile, in another pot, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the pancetta and cook over moderate heat until crisp, 4 minutes. Add the shallots, celery, onion, carrot and fennel, and cook until softened. Add the garlic, bay leaves and crushed pepper and cook until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato and broth; bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat for 1 hour. Add the beans and enough cooking liquid to thin out the soup. Discard the bay leaves; season with salt and pepper.
3. In a bowl, toss the arugula and parsley with lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the soup in bowls; toss with the salad.