A Roux of Revenge (37 page)

A car was approaching. It slowed to turn into the driveway. She stood, suddenly illuminated by the wash of headlights that raked across the yard. She only hoped she wasn’t too late.

Recipes

BEET MUSHROOM BARLEY SOUP

(Serves 4)

½ medium onion, chopped

6 mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil

4 cups chicken broth

3 beets, peeled and cubed

1 apple, peeled and cubed

½ cup pearl barley, uncooked

½ cup feta cheese, crumbled

In a large pot, sauté chopped onion and sliced mushrooms together in olive oil.

Add chicken
broth. Add the beet and apple cubes to the pot with the barley. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let the soup sit for 30 minutes, making sure barley is thoroughly softened.

Garnish each bowl with crumbled feta cheese.

PUMPKIN RICE SOUP

(Serves 6 generously)

1 small pumpkin (approximately 20" in circumference)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or walnut oil

½ medium onion, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

1 apple, peeled and diced

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

A few dashes of white pepper

½ cup uncooked white rice (jasmine rice can also be used for a more interesting flavor)

1 cup water

½ cup walnuts, chopped

Cut a circle around the pumpkin stem and remove
it. Cut the pumpkin into large sections and remove the seeds and fibrous material. Brush oil on the pumpkin sections (reserving a small amount to sauté the onion) and place the pumpkin sections on a cookie sheet or pan, skin side down. Bake for 1 hour at 350°. Remove from oven, and when pumpkin has cooled, peel away the skin and scrape the meat of the pumpkin into a bowl. This should yield approximately
4 cups of pumpkin meat.

Sauté the onion in a large pot, add pumpkin meat, add the chicken broth, rice, apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and white pepper. Heat almost to boiling, lower heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover and let stand for 30 minutes until the rice is completely soft. The soup may be quite thick at this point. If so, add 1 cup of water, stir and then
purée with a food processor or wand. Reheat and serve garnished with chopped walnuts.

If you like to experiment, as Sage DuBois does, you can make your own spice mixture in place of the nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves listed above. Advieh, according to Wikipedia, is a spice mixture used in Persian and Mesopotamian cuisine often with rice, chicken or bean dishes. Common ingredients include turmeric,
cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, rose petals or rose buds, cumin and ginger. It may also include golpar (seeds of the Persian hogweed), saffron, nutmeg, black pepper, mace, coriander or sesame.

Some of these ingredients might be hard to obtain, but following is a much simpler recipe for advieh:

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground rose petals

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground cumin

Add one teaspoon of this mixture to the pumpkin rice soup in place of the other spices, and save the rest of the mixture for use with other dishes.

BEEF AND BERRY SOUP

(Serves 4)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 pound tender beef steak

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons butter

4 cups beef stock or beef bouillon

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup fresh blueberries, slightly mashed

½ cup fresh blackberries, slightly mashed

1 tablespoon honey

In a large pot, add the vegetable oil and quickly brown the steak on both sides over medium high heat. Remove the steak from the pan. Add onions and butter to the pan, and sauté on low heat until the onions are softened. Add beef stock or bouillon and salt, and bring
to a boil, continuing to stir. Add the berries and honey. Simmer for 20 minutes. While the soup is simmering, cut the steak into very thin slices. Add the steak pieces to the pot and cook for another minute or two. Add a bit more honey or salt to taste and serve hot.

ZUCCHINI BREAD

(Serves 10)

1½ cups flour

1 cup dark brown sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup shredded peeled zucchini

¼ cup cooking oil

1 egg

1 cup water

¼ teaspoon lemon peel, shredded

¼ cup walnuts, chopped

In mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well. Add shredded zucchini, cooking oil, lemon peel and egg. Mix well, and
add 1 cup of water to the mixture. Stir the batter until completely mixed, and add the chopped walnuts.

Pour the batter into a greased 8×4×2 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 60 minutes or till a knife inserted at center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, wrap and store the bread overnight in the refrigerator before slicing.

ROSEMARY BISCUITS

(Serves 12)

2 cups self-rising flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped (If using dried rosemary, soak the leaves in hot water for a few minutes to soften.)

¼ cup butter or margarine, melted

2⁄3 cup milk

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 450°. Grease a baking tray with a small amount of butter or cooking spray. Mix flour, salt and
baking powder together. Add the chopped rosemary, butter and milk, and mix thoroughly to form a soft dough. Knead the dough lightly on a floured surface. Roll it out to approximately ¾" thick, and cut out biscuits with a biscuit cutter. This should provide 12 biscuits. Brush the tops of the biscuits lightly with the beaten egg, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden. Cool the biscuits for a few
minutes on a wire rack.