Vision vs. Execution

Babies! A friend had her first baby last week. I got the honor of participating in the early part of the process. I needled acupuncture points to begin labor. I get so excited being part of the team that welcomes a new soul into the world.

My baby shower gift is providing food for mom, dad and baby for at least the first month. I could say it's an excuse just to see the baby! This week, I made my first delivery. Here's the menu:

Sundried Tomato Winter Squash Risotto

Creamy Potato Leek Rustic Vegetable Soup

Pecorino Plum Parsley Scones

After making all the food, I realized it was carb-heavy. Better to start with easy to digest foods the first week, since mom is breastfeeding. Bitter flavor is the only taste we acquire, so I thought it best to wait on recipes including kale, collards and rutabagas until week four and beyond!

Sundried Tomato Winter Squash Risotto

I realized halfway through the "pour, absorb, stir" risotto process that risotto is best eaten immediately. It doesn't keep well. That's ok, the winter squash I wanted the store didn't have, so the stringy variety was falling apart as the risotto cooked. It wasn't going to be a picture perfect entrée anyway.

1o sundried tomatoes softened and diced

½ cup butter/shortening

2 cups firm non-stringy winter squash, roasted and cubed

½ cup onion, diced

1 clove garlic

2 ½ cups Arborio rice

½ cup dry white wine

4 cups vegetable stock

2 cups lightly packed arugula

1/3 cup julienned basil

2/3 cup pecorino cheese grated

Pepper

Saute onion, garlic and sundried tomatoes for 10 minute over medium flame. Add the rice, stir and toast it for about 3 minutes. Add the wine, let it evaporate. Add the stock in portions, about 2/3 cup at a time until absorbed. Stir once after adding each portion of stock. Slowly adding stock brings out the creaminess, not the sticky starchiness. When the rice is just about done, add in the arugula and basil, stir until the greens wilt. Add the grated cheese and squash cubes and stir and serve.

Creamy Potato Leek Rustic Vegetable Soup

I ended up pureeing the potato and leek since I was a little lazy in the uniformly chopping the leeks. Long stringy chunks of leek would have been a little too rustic for anyone.

2 lbs or about 4 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped

4 cups water

2 cups leeks

1 cup onion diced

1 cup red or orange pepper

2 cups spinach

4 cups mushrooms, quartered

1 large tomato

Fresh basil and Italian parsley

1 tsp salt

1 ½ cups milk (almond milk)

½ cup vegetable stock

Boil potatoes in 4 cups of water until soft. Sauté leeks and onion in olive oil, transfer to potato and water. Either transfer in sections to a food processor to puree or just use the handblender in the pot like I did. Sauté diced pepper, add in the mushrooms until reduced. Transfer those to the soup pot, add the chopped tomato, herbs, milk, salt, and stock. Stir and serve.

Pecorino Plum Parsley Scones

I was out of my usual flours, but was hellbent on making scones. I love the flavor combination of the deep purply sweet September plums with the bitter Italian parsley and the salty sharpness of pecorino cheese; it makes a great salad with Italian fare. I combined those three into scones; the ones I made turned into crispy crumbly drop scones thanks to the combo of rice flour, hazelnut meal and oat flour. Here's what I would do instead.

2 cups ripe plums, chopped

1/3 to ½ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

½ cup grated pecorino cheese

1 ½ cup sorghum flour

1 ½ cup quinoa flour

½ cup butter

½ - 1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 T maple syrup

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in the butter to the dry ingredients. Beat ½ cup of buttermilk with the egg and maple syrup. Slowly add the dry to the wet. If too dry to handle, add small amounts of the additional ½ cup of milk. If it's too wet you can add more flour or just make drop scones. Fold in the plums, parsley and cheese. Pat or roll out onto a surface and cut into 12 triangles and bake at 350 for 25 ish minutes.

Next week is Veggie Burgers, Baked Beans, and Apple Pie!