The I Survived Arctic Weather Soup Dish – Along with a few million other people

My last two posts were about the weather, climate change and the Polar Vortex. Well,  I am here to tell you that I survived arctic conditions without even leaving the house. Yup. No lie. I feel groggy and wonky after being swathed in layers of clothing and blankets for 24 hours. While looking like a cast member of a less than glamorous mummy movie. (you get the picture.)

Today Thursday, I roused myself and made soup. This recipe is based in find-anything-in the-freezer-soup from the fall vegetables that I prepped like beets, string beans, cauliflower, broccoli, with fresh red onion, celery, carrot and garlic plus dried peas, some millet and left over chicken. I’m calling this soup The I survived Arctic Weather Soup Recipe. Smells good for lunch time. Hmmm. It looks pea green. Tastes fine. Eat Soup and celebrate survival.

I Survived Arctic Weather Soup January 31, 2019

National Weather Service  report for today Thursday January 31, 2019

 

“TWIN CITIES, MN — The historic and potentially life-threatening cold will remain in Minnesota through Thursday. The wind chill warning will last until Thursday morning.

Thursday will also bring light snow into the metro. ”

[The snow could arrive during the evening commute. Yes, people are going to work today.]

“The National Weather Service says wind chills of -60F to -50F Wednesday morning will improve “slightly” today with lighter winds, but are expected to remain at or below -40 into Thursday morning.”

And that’s the way it is…in the Upper Midwest. I know my car won’t start. That’s for another day.

Keep your spirits up wherever you may be.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen

 

Chicken Breast and Pasta with Truffle Oil- From Portly Cooks = How COLD is it?

This recipe is from Portly Cooks a food blog that I follow. Portly learned this when he was cooking recently at a restaurant. He is located in Britain. I like his recipes for their simplicity, elegance and ease of making.

Ingredients

1 small Chicken Breast
80g Spaghetti (3 ounces)
1 tbsp Truffle Oil
Cavolo Nero: Dragon Kale*
100g Wild Mushrooms sliced (1-1/3 Cup) Agaricus family

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F degrees and cook the chicken for about 10 minutes.
• Boil water in a pan and cook spaghetti for 7 minutes, while the chicken bakes
• In a large pan with a tablespoon of oil saute the mushrooms on low heat
• When the spaghetti is done add the dragon kale to the mushrooms to wilt
• Then add the truffle oil to the pan.

Plate topped with the chicken!

My notes: I wrote to Portly to ask what are wild mushrooms. He responded that they are a flat mushroom, but portobello, cup, or button mushrooms would work. I cooked the chicken longer than 10 minutes. I never know with my oven…it’s an old Creaky thing. I used Capellini pasta – cooks in three minutes. Spinach replaced the Dragon Kale, which I can buy in Summer at the Minneapolis Farmers’ Market. Topped the dish with some grated Romano cheese. Yum.

When I read about the mushrooms, I wondered where I could buy wild mushrooms near me. As it turned out there’s an Indoor Market in St Paul, Minnesota with a vendor that grows and sells mushrooms. St. Paul’s Keg & Case adds MN’s first wild foods grocery store, with mushrooms grown in-house at The Gentleman Forager Market. (I haven’t visited there yet.) I found a small bottle of Truffle oil from the Isle of Britain which has begun to produce truffle oil.

*”Cavolo nero is known as black cabbage, dinosaur kale or Tuscan kale. … Cavolo nero has stippled, plume-shaped leaves with thick stalks. … Store cavolo nero for a couple of days in your fridge’s vegetable crisper with the stems wrapped in a moist paper towel.” Retrieved 1/29/19 from a New Zealand site called:

 

I won’t be going anywhere soon. Not until Saturday. We are in the midst of a severe weather system as is much of the Midwest.

“…HISTORIC COLD EXPECTED TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING…

*Brrrrr* All Squirrels Stay Inside!!!!!

“Wind chills are expected to fall to 25 below to 35 below zero Fahrenheit
today. Dangerous wind chills of 45 below to 65 below zero are
expected for most of the period from Tuesday night through
Thursday morning. This is a life-threatening situation for those
spending any prolonged period outdoors without proper clothing. A
Wind Chill Warning is in effect from Tuesday through Thursday
morning area wide.”

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen.

May you have a happy day. Stay warm.

 

 

 

Cee’s Flower of the Day Photo Challenge – Happy Birthday Joyce!

It’s January 25th, My cousin Joyce’s Birthday! It’s below zero degrees Fahrenheit without the wind chill. oboy. The sun came out. Yay!!!!! Let’s celebrate my cousin’s birthday with a dahlia.

I went to my photos to find a Flower of the Day Photo Challenge. Here’s a Dahlia from Dave’s Garden.

From Dave’s Dahlia Garden Minneapolis Minnesota 2018 August

Truthfully, this flower would be a vague memory were it not for the photos I took in summer. Here’s what you will see in the weird weather January while the polar vortex, otherwise referred to as PV, is embracing the Upper Midwest.

YAHOO!

A photo of a squirrel tearing around the park, from when I ventured out for some fresh air this week. My “walk” lasted less than 20 minutes and my face was chapped by the wind.

Yes, the photo shows the grey weather we have had for months. Seriously.

This was Last night’s winter weather warning

This is today’s winter weather warning courtesy of the National Weather Service

So now the temperature will warm up to above OºF/-17.7ºC to make the snow.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen.

Just you me, kid! Hold Still while I take yer’ picture!

Stay warm wherever you may be.

 

 

Richard’s Granola Recipe = Smells good in My Kitchen – Pond Hockey Story

My dear friend Richard typed up his granola recipe for me. I have been wanting to make granola. Making my own granola means I can control the ingredients and flavors. Here’s the Recipe.

Equipment:

Big Mixing bowl

A couple of good sized measuring cups – one for wet and one for dry

Baking sheets. – jellyroll pan

Measuring spoons, rubber spatula, big metal spatula

Homemade Granola CKatt 2019

Dry Ingredients

• 5-6 Cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup shredded coconut
• 2 tsp whole grain flours such as buckwheat flour, wild rice flour, rye or corn flour or as an alternative wheat germ and whole bran.
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Start with the oats add coconut, cornmeal, buckwheat flour, pumpkin seeds and cinnamon mix in the large bowl.

Wet Ingredients

• In a measuring cup mix:
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup vegetable oil (half that amount if your diet requires less fat)
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• scant 1/4 cup of honey
• scant 1/4 cup of dark or blackstrap molasses
• scant 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• scant 1/4 cup of brown sugar

Richard notes that you can use whatever combinations of sweetners you choose. Agave, Birch tree syrup (Alaska), sorghum syrup, pomegranate molasses, dates syrup…

Mix together the wet ingredients. Then add to dry ingredients using a utensil to mix it all together.

I used only one jellyroll pan and lined it with parchment paper. 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees to bake the granola for 30 to 45 minutes

Mix the granola every 15 minutes during the bake. I used a spatula to shift it gently around the pan.  Making sure that the bottom layers made it to the top is primary to no burned bottom layer.

Halfway through you can add 1 cup of pecans, walnuts or other nuts. 

Remove from oven and let it cool. Store in a glass container and enjoy.

BEE🐝 careful when using honey – as an ingredient it browns beautifully, but also can burn easily.

WCCO Pond Hockey picture 2019

Charles 2016 © Ckatt

Pond Hockey Story about my friend Charles

Friday and it’s get ‘er done day in the food department. Just put a batch of granola together while talking to a long time friend from California. Catching up on the news and talking about the Minnesota pond hockey tournament that is going on here on Lake Minnetonka.

It started Friday and went on all weekend. It is a National Event that included a game between NHL Veterans during the weekend! (I like Ice Hockey)

My friend and I grew up in New England. During this call he was telling me stories of how he used to play ice hockey everyday in winter after school on the pond near his house. He speaks with so much excitement and enthusiasm while remembering those carefree days. The story continued about one young kid that he and his friends used to tease and rough up.

Five years later, my friend was in the hospital paralyzed from a terrible encounter during a break in his apartment. The “kid’ now grown up, came to visit him in the hospital, The kid had become a champion college hockey player and went on to play in the NHL.

My friend had played college football and would never walk again. His enthusiasm for sports is alive and well. He remains as ever engaged in life and his community as an activist never letting his disability stand in his way.

Sports are good for kids in so many ways. In New England, girls grew up playing sports. There was no sitting on the sidelines. From field hockey, gymnastics, basketball, softball, volleyball, archery, you name it, I played it. As it happened we lived right on a pond too. I learned to skate at five years old. I remember my first day on the ice with my brand new skates. I took to skating. As a kid I dreamed of becoming an ice skater while devotedly watching the Olympic ice skaters. It was inspiring. My dream was not in the stars, as they say.  But I fondly remember my days skating on the pond.

Keep skating.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

 

 

Linguine with Clam Sauce Recipe = What’s a landlocked Seafood Lover To Do?

Linguine with Clam Sauce recipe from All Recipes

Recipe By Dorothy Rinaldi who wrote:

“This is an easy, inexpensive, white clam sauce. Try it over any kind of pasta; lemon pepper linguine is especially tasty. Extend the sauce for larger portions by adding in one half cup of chicken broth.”

Adapted here by me.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans minced clams, with juice
  1 (16 ounce) package linguini pasta
• 
1/4 cup butter 
1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
  1 tablespoon dried parsley
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 tablespoon dried basil

I experimented this time. The above recipe is quite fine with its traditional Italian taste, which I have made and enjoyed.

My Notes: Substitutions were sliced shallot
Trader Joe’s Italian Capellini pasta – cooks quickly
Additions: mushrooms, green onions and grated Romano cheese

Slice up 6 or more mushrooms to taste and 1-2 shallots to the quantity listed in the recipe.
Slice the green onion to sprinkle on top at plating time.

METHOD
In a cast iron pan on low heat add tablespoon of olive oil and a generous tablespoon of butter; then drop in the shiitake mushrooms and follow with shallots – cook for a few minutes until softened.
Then add parsley, ground black pepper and basil to taste. I was generous with the ground black pepper.
Meanwhile bring a pot of salted water to a boil. I did not salt the water. Clam juice is very salty!
Lastly, to the vegetable pan add clams and clam juice. Bring to a boil. Then cover to simmer for a couple of minutes and cook down – that happens quickly.

When water is boiling cook the pasta to specifications. The Capellini pasta cooks in three minutes
Drain the pasta and toss gently into the pan of mushrooms and clams mix together and plate.
Add a sprinkle of green onions for color and grated Romano cheese.

Serve and smile. It takes minutes to make.
For a land locked seafood lover, this is a fun way to indulge in clams and pasta. The mushrooms are good because they add some color and flavor to the sauce.

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen.

Have a peaceful day, wherever you are.