Pumpkin soup

For Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I re-post today this entry, which I originally wrote in October 2009, it's still as good as then, I tweaked the recipe to accommodate vegetarians as well. 

Everywhere in my blog neighborhoods appear dishes and recipes. See here and here... The season invites for home cooked meals, friends around the table and the splendors of autumn to be enjoyed. Last Saturday's market stroll yielded many fruits and vegetables, among them a sumptuous heirloom pumpkin, which begged to be made into a lovely soup for Sunday nights family dinner, book club guests snack later and follow up lunch on Monday.



My youngest stood by when I carved the top off and deep into the orange flesh to reveal a wonderful terrine for the soup later on.
It smelled delicious and we first roasted the pumpkin seeds as a snack.



Recipe for heirloom pumpkin soup:

1 medium size pumpkin
2 apples
1 medium size onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
5 carrots
1 quart of vegetable or chicken broth
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1/4 stick butter or 3 tbs olive oil, thyme, parsley, ginger, chopped raw spouted almonds, pepper and sea salt.
1/2 cup half and half

To sprout almonds: soak raw almonds for about three hours, rinse, drain and put in a glass jar to sprout for a few hours, small tips will appear on the small end of almonds, use as usual or dry in dehydrator until dry. If you want them raw, do not roast them.

Carve the pumpkin carefully, let there be enough flesh be around to keep the pumpkin as a serving bowl.
Set aside.
Cut flesh in to smaller pieces, take out some of the stringy pumpkin fibers, sort out seeds for roasting.
Spread seeds - washed and dried - on to a baking sheet, bake @ 350 degree for about 15 min, until crispy.
Cut apples, onion, garlic and carrots in smaller pieces and roast in butter or oil for a couple of minutes. Do not burn the garlic and onions. Empty chicken or vegetable broth in large stockpot, add pumpkin pieces and all the gently roasted vegetables and bring to a boil, add thyme, gently cook for about 30 minutes, until all is soft.
In Blender blend small batches of soup and return to pot. Add fresh ginger, pepper and salt and keep warm. Reduce to a comfortable thickness. Take off the heat.
Add half and half. (Or leave that out) Serve with chopped almonds and a good measure of parsley!
For added drama serve in your pumpkin!

Bon appetite!






It lasted until today, when the last soup was finally eaten for another lunch!
All what's left now is a pumpkin waiting to get a happy face!

xx
Victoria




All images by V.Zlotkowski

Weeknight dinner

I am getting one of these...image via

Weeknights see much action in our kitchen! Hungry mouths are to be fed and our growing teenagers have a renewed sense for cooking and a greater appreciation for lovingly prepared meals. We have had made plans to eat healthier and with more attention to variety. This night was a good example of what's on our table lately. Salads and different grains and seeds, less meat and more vegetables.

Organic oranges

I love fresh crunchy jicamas

Roasting hazelnuts

Delicious Chia

We started with the preparation of our salad: 

Cutting of English cucumbers, jicamas, fennel and oranges. Mixing them together with some chia seeds, roasted hazelnuts and a dressing of fresh squeezed lemon juice, Dijon mustard and olive oil. Pepper and salt to taste.

Almost done

Meanwhile we cooked a quinoa and brown rice mix, warmed up yesterday's leftover Moroccan style slow cooked chicken (Tagine style). I had gotten a ready made simmering sauce and it took about 35 minutes yesterday for the chicken to be delightfully aromatic. 

via

Had some green beens with it...Hmmm. Good.

There was nothing better.

Takes very little time

Do you cook on weeknights? What are your meals like? Share some if you like!

 Images by V.Zlotkowski and as indicated.

The culinary delights of Tuscany...

Oh, where to start? Beginning with the markets, filled right now to the brim with the harvests of the season, you will find peaches and grapes, berries and plumes, apples and different pears, and from squash and cucumbers to aubergines everything can be brought home. Onions and garlic range from pale white to brilliant purple and cooking with all these ingredience is such a delight.

Pisa market

The ripeness and taste are exquisite and I have not had so many juicy plumes in years...
The cousine is very particular Eastern Tuscan, appetizers range from cold meats - prosciutto and different types of salami - to classic brushetta and small delicious toasts with chopped liver.


Pasta is often handmade ravioli filled with spinach or squash, covered in a fine dressing of mushrooms and meatsauce. There is tagliatelle alla pomodoro and spaghetti with duck...
Dear PVE, these plates below are especially for you...




Game can be found and pork, beef steaks of enormous proportions. Rabbit is a staple. Pasta bianca with loads of freshly grated parmesan and basil leaves is of course a favorite for our children...
The one thing you can hardly find is fish, apart from some sea food appetizers, usually deep fried. I guess it's to far inland and local traditions are strong.

Often you can find at lunchtime people with a glass of local wine, sitting over a plate of bread with three, four types of meats, sausages and cheeses.
The food is hardy and simple, yet refined in taste. A wonderful site to get introduced to the delicious foods of Tuscany is WelcomeTuscany! Receipies are in English...

Grapes of Montepulciano

The wine: Locals buy their wine from vintners directly, filling up 2 gallon glass balloons with either red or white wine. We did this just like them at the beginning of our stay here. At home you fill the wine in bottles and with a satisfying popping sound you cork them in a hand operated corking machine....



The wine of Montepulciano and the neighboring regions is a great fit to the dry cheeses and olive oil. Antipasto is delicious to pair with it as well. Bread can be found typially Italian white or Panne integrale - the whole wheat version....rock hard on the outside and fairly soft inside. One has to eat it right away, storage is not an option...

Goin to small cafes at any time of the day can satisfy any appetite for Dolci, sweet cakes and delicious brioches, filled with chocolate or jams. There are so many different types of coffee we have not manage to try them all by now. Hot chocolate is a pudding like affair, eaten with a spoon, very sweet.
I love Latte Macchiato - a shot of espresso with crema and steamed milk. HMMM!
Actually asking for espresso is somewhat wrong...Italians call it Cafe normale, at least this is how we understud this. Basically everything is prepared with espresso...

A chapter by itself is of course GELATO! Every street has one or two small shops, some with incredible creations of homemade ice creams, often flavors of the week. I had to expirience this when, after a couple of days, I came back to ask for my favorite scoop of Nutella (?) infused ice cream and it had been gone from the menu...


Another place to check out Tourism in Tuscany can be found here!

We love to cook here in this enormous country kitchen, but we also explore the restaurants, often recommended by locals, our lovely host or people we happen to meet, like the two lovely Polish sisters, who happen to own a gelateria in Anghiari, where we stopped by last night and started chatting over coffee...My husband being Polish had a blast on top finding out that the ladies came from his father's small village in Masury.


A few days ago we had dropped our daughter off at a local horse farm and on our way back stopped by at an old former post station on the old mountain road between Assisi and La Verna. Now a rustic small restaurant with an excellent kitchen, we feasted on their version of local foods, pasta, meats and tomato mozarella salad.
Always a glass of vino and aqua naturale rounds up the dishes.

And strangely enough, we have not put on one more pound, simply due to our walking tours through landscapes and cities...



I am not a food critic nor am I a particular chef, but I love to eat and to detect all kinds of ingredience in a dish is a wonderful way to describe my expiriences.
I taste funghi - Chanterelle - balsamic vinegar from Modena and fruity olive oil from our farmer, lemon and rosemary, basil and fresh oregano, fennel and mint, lavender and sage...The food of Tuscany is a delight!
I am happy to be introduced to so many new local flavors and to share it a bit with you all.



Ciao!
Victoria



Pictures via google image, as indicated and my own.(dishes, wine, corking machine, kitchen, gelato, me happy)

Days and nights in Tuscany

Much life happens outdoors and we so enjoy exploring the places around us.
It is not just the small towns, but simply walking up the hill behind our house or the meadows, which have been cut and the fields have all been harvested and large rolls of aromatic hay are rolled up in huge bundles.


The white cows of Tuscany walking slowly in the evenings and we can hear their bells every night.
Just below the property is a large field, with a grove of trees. Every night a group of large deers appears. I captured these majestic animals, gracefully walking and grasing, not being really afraid, but watchful.




There is a trail going into the mountains and we have been trekking along for an hour and we perhaps could reach another hamlet, but the children are not used to such long walks and eventually we returned.


Around every bend we find something new, animals, vistas, stones and broken pottery!
I have picked greens and flowers along the path and the meadows. Its a paradise!
By now the house truly has our touch and we love sitting at night and watch the sunset. The house is perfectly suited for a larger family and cooking in this wonderful farmhouse kitchen is such a pleasure. At night we realize again and again how quiet it is up here, only the occasonal animal sound or the zicadas interrupt the silence. At night the sky gleams with millions of stars and we watch many shooting stars! And we share our wishes with the universe...
There is lots of room for everybody and everthing, a double stove provides ample space for preparing multi-course meals, we bake and we talk, eat and play games until late at night!



My little Ragazzo Italiano!


My oldest and his girl...


Well, we have made plans already to return here; we simply fell in love!


Soon more, there is much I want to show you! Today we are off to Arezzo, a wonderful town from ancient times with a church filled with the frescos of Piero della Francesca!



XX
Victoria



All pictures by V.Zlotkowski

Sansepolcro

Our foothold in Italy is a wonderful farmhouse in Sansepolcro, a little up in the mountains, overlooking the Tiber valley and only one hour by car east of Florence.






Internet search made it possible and we are so excited about the location. It's sumptuous wine country, hiking country and the cultural cradle of all things beautiful Italian.
We had entertained the idea of going to Italy for a couple of years now, but this time we feel our younger children will be able to truly absorb some new impressions and do not only rely on playgrounds and swimming pools! Touring will be possible and some memories will hopefully be brought back to last a lifetime.

We have a wonderful itinerary, my list to visit places is long, beginning with Florence, its museums and surroundings, Pisa, a visit to Rome and many local explorations. Sansepolcro is the birth place of Piero della Francesca, who's murals and painting are still to be seen in Sansepolcro. I am so inspired by the Italian renaissance and architectural greatness!

Italy has always in my mind been the place for La dolce Vita, a place to receive beauty and to find peace in wonderful landscapes. I will try to do this too, to leave the needs behind and just let the simple life be my guide. Local foods, walks in the mountains, cooking with my darling mother in law and just being with all my children will give me more then I could ask for!
Perhaps some painting will be done and sketches of the landscapes...Photography is my passion, so many pictures will come back with me.

Just let us all be safe, sound, healthy and return home full of energy for a new school and work year ahead!

Wishing you all the most delightful summer!


XX
Victoria


Pictures from the vacation website.

Service announcement

image

Dearest readers!

As of mid next week we will be travelling throughout Europe and I planning on keeping a blog travel journal. Hopefully I will be able to post once per week to keep you somewhat updated and show you lovely things I come across while visiting Germany and Italy! Yesterday I introduced you a little to our first itinerary in Germany, since these smaller towns are perhaps not so well known.
I will comment less or not at all during these weeks, but I will read my favorites with my morning cafe latte!!!


This is an exiting trip, since it combines family reunions, sightseeing tours and places we want to show our children for the first time. We will relax and hang out with all 4 children, grandparents too and I will learn to cook some authentic Italian dishes! In bella Italia... in that kitchen!!!!


Just imagine....


And don't forget, live every moment and create memories! A happy weekend to you all!


XX
Victoria



Images as indicated and google images.

Memorial Day

All I want for all of us this weekend!

XX
Victoria


PS: All images from the lovely blog Beach Cottage Love Thank you, Julia!