De Ma Cuisine

Thursday

10

November 2011

2

COMMENTS

Minestrone Soup

Written by , Posted in Beans, Pasta, Soups, Vegetables

Minestrone Soup

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
A cozy comforting fall meal. Or, swap out the veggies depending on what’s in season and have it any time of year!
Ingredients
  • 1 lg. onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 to 1 C green beans, chopped
  • 1/2 to 1 C daikon radishes, chopped
  • 1/2 to 1 C squash, chopped
  • 2 C kale/spinach, chopped
  • 1/2 C crushed or diced tomatoes
  • 3-4 C chicken or vegetable stock
  • 5-6 C water
  • 4 T olive oil
  • 1/2 t cumin
  • 1/4 t all spice
  • pepper
  • 1 1/2 T dried basil
  • 2 sprigs thyme, leaves removed, stems discarded
  • 1 T fresh oregano, chopped (opt.)
  • 1 T fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary, removed from stem (opt.)
  • 1 t fresh sage, chopped (opt.)
  • 1 1/2 C garbonzo or canelini beans
  • 1/4 C balsamic vinegar
  • 1 t honey
  • 1/4 C red wine (or red wine vinegar)
  • 1-2 C rotini rice pasta, uncooked
Instructions
  1. Add oil to hot soup pot (I use a cast iron pot), add onions and cook 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add remaining veggies (except kale or spinach) and cook until softened, about 10 minutes over medium heat.
  2. Add wine and stir around to deglaze the pan. Add tomatoes, herbs and spices (except parsley).
  3. Add stock and water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Add balsamic vinegar, honey and beans. Cook 30 minutes.
  4. Add pasta, parsley and kale/spinach. Cook 10 – 15 minutes more, or until pasta is cooked to your liking.
  5. Serve topped with parmesan cheese, alongside your favorite crostini or crusty bread.
Notes

I’m going to serve this with homemade French Bread.

Wednesday

9

November 2011

3

COMMENTS

A Fall Makeover

Written by , Posted in Thoughts

I’ve been working diligently at this little business of mine. And I’m enjoying the process. Even though I’ve been at it for almost a year, I feel like I’m just starting out. I’m figuring out the direction I want to head, my concept, my goals… and many more things, but you don’t need all of my “to dos” listed out here. We’d be here for a long time (not a complaint – I LOVE my job!).

One thing that I’m happy to have checked off my list is my logo. Eeeek – I’m so excited to show you what Joanna from Waterfall Creative has designed for me. Â She asked a few questions about my taste and style, and took the little that I gave her and combined it with her creative genius and made it into five amazing logos. Five! And I had to choose just one. I figured it would have been confusing to have all of them for my one business. Right? Ya. Thought so. Anyways, while they were all wonderful, I chose the one that I think best represents who I am. I love it. Thanks, Joanna!!

I happily present to you, the New Look (I almost typed New Year, hee hee)!

Monday

7

November 2011

10

COMMENTS

A Little Like Julia

Written by , Posted in Inspired By, Thoughts

I’m so excited to share this post with you. I can hardly contain myself. Is this real?! No idea what I’m freaking out about? Read on, my friend. Read on.

If you’ve read the You Inspire Me page of this blog, you’ll likely have noticed that Julia Child is on my list. Husband has kindly compared me to her on occasion, and said maybe someday I’d be like her, and have my own little show. Very sweet and encouraging of him to say, but a little unrealistic.

Tomorrow I will take one step towards being a little bit like this wonderful, inspirational woman. A little cooking show will commence filming and soon after make its appearance on the internet.

I’m thrilled to be partnering with Abundant Harvest Organics on this culinary adventure. It really is a dream come true! What we’re cooking up (pun intended) is a little show called A Cooking Show with Rachel O – This Week’s Feast, that will highlight a recipe from Thursday on the weekly Abundant Harvest Organics menu. In a nutshell, I’ll show you what’s in the current week’s AHO box and then cook with some of it. The “pilot” will air this week (hopefully Thursday). Currently we’re slated for 4 shows, but we’ll see if it gets “picked up” after that. 😉 It will be posted on youtube, but I’ll post it on here too.

Can you tell that I’m excited?! Of course I’m also super nervous, but it’s like 25% nervous, 75% excited. That may change as soon as the camera starts recording…

Anyhoo, in the first episode, I’ll be cooking Minestrone Soup… Can’t wait!!!

Friday

4

November 2011

1

COMMENTS

A Family Thing

Written by , Posted in Guest Posts, Thoughts

My mom is a great cook. Even though I wasn’t super interested in cooking as a child, I’m sure a lot of my love for all things food is inherited from her. I’m so thankful for her. I think of her all the time and laugh to myself as I find myself doing or enjoying things she and Dad did (and probably still do) that I might have thought weird as a kid. I see it in so many ways, especially as I get older… I am my mother’s daughter.

I asked my Mom if she would do a guest post with an Apple Bavarian Torte she made when we were in town for Oma’s birthday. She kindly obliged.

So, without further ado, here’s my Mom:

Let me introduce myself: I’m Rachel’s mom, up in the cold, soon-to-be-white, north – Canada.  I think I always enjoyed helping in the kitchen (the cooking part – definitely not the clean-up) while growing up in California.  Education-wise, I took a class in cake decorating at the local community college.  This was the only course outside of my major of music that I had room for in my 2 years at Reedley College.  Our children sometimes think it ridiculous that I got college credits for a class like that.  But, they did think it was neat that they had specially decorated cakes for their birthdays.  I’m sure that this was one of the steps to my becoming a creative cook.  I don’t decorate many cakes anymore, all that icing is just too sweet for me and most of my guests, but sometimes I use silk flowers to top off a special cake.

I’ve been cooking more officially since my first real job here in Canada almost 35 years ago, where I worked part-time as a house-parent at a group home for delinquent teenage boys.  There were many things I was supposed to do while working there, but by far my favourite (that’s the correct Canadian spelling) was cooking for the group of about 10 big eaters.

Now, husband, John and I own RiverSong Banquet Hall just outside St. Jacobs Ontario, where I do most of the cooking for the guests at our banquet hall.

We have apples readily available in our area, so I always have lots on hand.  My favourite fall dessert this year is APPLE BAVARIAN TORTE.  The original recipe came from allrecipes.com, and I have adapted it to suit my tastes. Â  You can omit the apples and top with thickened fruit, such as raspberries or cherries. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.

Susan Pries at RiverSong Banquet Hall

Apple Bavarian Torte

Last modified on 2012-05-17 23:41:19 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Mom’s APPLE  BAVARIAN  TORTE

pie or torte pan 9’ round 2  9” rounds 6  9” rounds
64 sq “ 128 sq “ 384 sq “
servings 10 – 12servings 20 – 24servings 60 – 72servings
Cream:
Butter ½ cup 1 cup 3 cups
Sugar 1/3 cup 2/3 cup 2 cups
Vanilla ¼ tsp ½ tsp 1 ½Â tsp
Flour 1 cup 2 cups 6 cups
Press mixture into pan
Combine in blender:
Eggs 2 large 4 lg 12 lg
Cottage or Cream Cheese 8 oz 16 oz 48 oz
White Sugar or Honey 1/3 cup 2/3 cup 2 cups
Dry Milk Solids ¼ cup ½ cup 1 ½Â cups
Lemon Juice 1 – 2  Tbl 2 – 4 Tbl 6 – 12 Tbl
Vanilla 2 tsp 4 tsp 4 Tbl
Pour over crust
Peel, core, slice & arrange in a circle over filling:
Apples 5 med 10 med 30 med
Mix and sprinkle over apples:
White sugar 1/3 cup 2/3 cup 2 cups
Cinnamon ½ tsp 1 tsp 1 Tbl
Bake at 375‘ 25-35 minutes
Serve warm or at room temperature

Friday

4

November 2011

0

COMMENTS

Apple Bavarian Torte

Written by , Posted in Baking, Dessert, Fruit, Legacy

Mom’s APPLE  BAVARIAN  TORTE

pie or torte pan 9’ round 2  9” rounds 6  9” rounds
64 sq “ 128 sq “ 384 sq “
servings 10 – 12servings 20 – 24servings 60 – 72servings
Cream:
Butter ½ cup 1 cup 3 cups
Sugar 1/3 cup 2/3 cup 2 cups
Vanilla ¼ tsp ½ tsp 1 ½Â tsp
Flour 1 cup 2 cups 6 cups
Press mixture into pan
Combine in blender:
Eggs 2 large 4 lg 12 lg
Cottage or Cream Cheese 8 oz 16 oz 48 oz
White Sugar or Honey 1/3 cup 2/3 cup 2 cups
Dry Milk Solids ¼ cup ½ cup 1 ½Â cups
Lemon Juice 1 – 2  Tbl 2 – 4 Tbl 6 – 12 Tbl
Vanilla 2 tsp 4 tsp 4 Tbl
Pour over crust
Peel, core, slice & arrange in a circle over filling:
Apples 5 med 10 med 30 med
Mix and sprinkle over apples:
White sugar 1/3 cup 2/3 cup 2 cups
Cinnamon ½ tsp 1 tsp 1 Tbl
Bake at 375‘ 25-35 minutes
Serve warm or at room temperature