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Tangy Sorrel & Potato Soup with Bacon, topped with MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds

October 16, 2016 by Mary 16 Comments

When I first heard about MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds, somehow I didn’t think they could possibly be popped seeds from the lotus flower, but that’s exactly what they are!

The seeds are underneath the lotus flower and one has to remove a brown casing, then pop them like popcorn while seasoning them at the same time. These MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds are flavored with butter and sea salt and they are DELICIOUS!!! Better yet, they’re low in calories and high in protein. It’s a snack that’s actually ok for you! I’m taking these to the movies – way better than that chemical laden popcorn they sell.

Lotus seeds are commonly used in Chinese medications for their healing benefits. They also contain an enzyme with powerful anti-aging properties so I’m going to eat them by the handful!

The company making MOM’S Popped Lotus Seeds is a small family owned business based in Boulder, Colorado. Their founder was first introduced to the deliciousness of popped lotus seeds as a child when his mother gave them to him as an afternoon snack. In his late 20’s, he found himself fed up with foods that were either chock full of calories or healthy but barely edible. He was determined to find a balance between good-for-you snacks and addicting junk food. That journey led him right back to his childhood.

Lotus seeds are known to be effective in alleviating restlessness, due to the natural sedative and calming effects of the seeds. Having raised two boys myself, I think the founder’s mother was one smart cookie, serving these as snack to a young energetic boy, right?

Besides being a delicious snack, I found them great to replace croutons – and better for you with all of these benefits!! My garden was loaded with sorrel last weekend so I made this quick and easy Tangy Sorrel & Potato Soup with Bacon, topped with MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds and it was soooo good!! And, the popped lotus seeds are gluten free as an added bonus.

Try this, if you haven’t already eaten them all.
TANGY SORREL & POTATO SOUP WITH BACON, TOPPED WITH MOM’s POPPED LOTUS SEEDS – serves 4 – 5

1Tbs. unsalted butter
2 oz. nitrate-free smoky bacon, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
1/2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 Tbs. heavy cream
1/2 lb. sorrel, stems discarded, leaves coarsely chopped.
1 cup of MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds, Sea Salt flavor

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the bacon and cook over moderately low heat until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until almost evaporated, about 4 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the potatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sorrel. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve topped with Mom’s Popped Lotus Seeds Sea Salt flavor.
Pass a bowl of more MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds at the table.

The soup can be made without the sorrel and refrigerated overnight. Bring to a simmer and add the coarsely chopped sorrel just before serving.
MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds can also be ground in a mini grinder, combined with a little freshly grated Parmigiano cheese and used to coat zucchini slices for a great gluten free “breading”. Saute in olive oil, drain on paper toweling. Serve with LOVE and some Roquefort cheese during your next cocktail hour.

There are just a few fall boxes left where you can
get your own bag of gluten free MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds!

And your purchase helps us support Feed The Children.

Figs wrapped in prosciutto

July 6, 2013 by Mary Frances 25 Comments

Figs are here!! I LOVE fresh figs. I get so excited when I see those compartmentalized boxes filled with the beautiful purple variety or the green, all lined up in neat little rows. If they are semi-soft – ripe, unblemished with a beautiful shape and stem, I’m pretty much in heaven.

That was the case a few days ago and I made the little first course you see below. This is not so much a recipe, but a suggestion of the combination of great ingredients to make a fantastic dish. Once again, this is all about the ingredients. If the figs are great, the prosciutto from Italy (de Parma) and very thinly sliced; the English Stilton, divine; the walnuts, super fresh and toasted; great quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar; then you are set to make something truly amazing! It’s easy and you always should have the good quality ingredients on hand as much as you can – you will use less of them, because they pack more flavor and they’re most likely better for you.

FIGS WRAPPED IN PROSCUITTO – serves 2

4 fresh purple or green figs, washed, dried, stemmed and cut in half
2 slices of prosciutto
2 thin slices of English Stilton cheese, crumbled
6 toasted walnut halves, chopped (Oven “toast” at 375 degrees in a cake pan for six to eight minutes – you will probably smell them, then take them out. Toast extra to have on hand for the next time or for green beans.)
Good quality, extra virgin olive oil
Good quality balsamic vinegar, preferable aged, but not necessary

For two plates, place 4 fig halves on each. Take the slice of prosciutto and tear into 4 pieces and wrap around each fig half. Sprinkle on the Stilton and chopped walnut pieces. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil (like a tsp. on each plate) and then drizzle with a tiny bit of vinegar too (a few drops). Serve immediately and listen to your guest tell you how much he/she LOVES you!Now, we have been upstate all week, taking a little R and R. Look at this beautiful martini my husband made me!! (my kind of R and R!)

A wonderful combination and tangerines are in season!

March 14, 2012 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

I first made this salad for my visiting brother, David, and his wife, Pat. What I didn’t realize until much later, was that this became one of Patti’s all time favorite dishes. She went home and made it and made it and made it so many times that finally David said, “Again? Patti it’s really good but enough already!”

We all love beets in our family – after all we’re Polish and the Poles practically only have root vegetables, as my son tells me after living there for two different six month stints. Beets are served at almost every meal, along with horseradish. Soon, I’ll post our all-time family favorite recipe of beets and horseradish, as we get closer to Easter, as it is an imperative Easter breakfast dish in our household.

But I digress. My brother, Mark would say, “Midge (my nickname), is this plane ever going to land?” So yes it is! This is a fantastic, surprising, most refreshing and light combination! Beets are always good with goat cheese and toasted walnuts, but this is a real treat to your palate.

Now you may think it’s a lot of work and time consuming. It does take time but you can divide it up. Roast your beets the night before while you’re making your dinner, peel them and store in the fridge. Also you can toast your pine nuts the night before too. Toast more pine nuts than you need and store in an airtight plastic container so you have them on hand to throw in a pasta dish, on other salads or on some haricot verts, Remember, the more you cook, the easier it is, because you’ll start to have things on hand – salad dressings, croutons, toasted nuts. All good things!

An iPhone photo of a photo on a BlackBerry!

BEETS AND TANGERINES ON A BED OF ARUGULA
-serves 4

4 golden beets
1.5 tbs. pine nuts
3 tbs. olive oil
3-4 oz. of washed, dried and chilled arugula
4 tangerines
2 small shallots, thinly sliced
1.5 tbs. raspberry vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the washed, scrubbed and dried beets in large piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with 1 tbs. olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Draw up the aluminum foil to make a packet. Place the packet in a baking dish (they might leak) and roast for 60 – 70 minutes, until they are tender and easily pierced with a skewer. When they are cool enough to handle, peel the beets and cut into sixths or eighths, or store whole in the refrigerator.

In a small non-stick skillet, over medium high heat, toast the pine nuts, stirring constantly until they are golden brown. Place in a small dish to cool.

Using a sharp knife, cut each end off of the tangerine so you have a flat bottom and top, then slice around the curve and cut off the remaining peel. Once the tangerine is peeled, over a medium bowl, slice in between the membranes to release the tangerine sections. Squeeze the juice from the membranes into a small bowl; you should have 1/4 cup.

In another small bowl, toss the sliced shallots and raspberry vinegar with a pinch of salt and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in the 1/4 cup of tangerine juice and whisk in the remaining 2 tbs. of olive oil. Season the dressing with salt.

Place a handful of arugula on each plate. Arrange the beets and tangerine sections on plates and drizzle with the dressing. Top with the toasted pine nuts and serve.

If you have refrigerated the roasted beets overnight, bring to room temperature before using. Also, the tangerines are better at room temperature as well.

Traveling

October 30, 2011 by Mary Frances 3 Comments

Last night we were supposed to go out to dinner but with the major snowstorm upstate, we chose not to travel, built a fire and stayed put. Instead we traveled to Greece with a French side trip!

We started with store bought hummus – Sabra brand with roasted garlic. Now what I always do, and I think this makes it just a little more special, is drizzle high quality, extra virgin (of course) olive oil on top and then sprinkle on some ground cumin. I served it with whole grain pita chips and some fresh red pepper strips. Fast, easy and delicious!

I then made Melissa Clark’s recipe for Moussaka that was in the NY Times Dining section this past week. It was called “Greece on a Speedboat” – which was supposed to mean that this was the speedy, sort of short-cut version of moussaka. Well, it still took 2 1/2 hours! And it was good but it wasn’t great. To me, when you spend that much time on something, it should be great. And I guess to make the authentic version takes even longer! We have been to Greece several times. I love Greece, even Athens, and Santorini used to be our special place but now it’s too crowded. The Greeks are lovely laid back people yet all their traditional dishes are very labor intensive. Ever make Baklava or watch someone make it? All those separate sheets of thin pastry, each one buttered, layer upon layer. Yikes!

But let me tell you about the salad I made. It was a Jacques Pepin recipe also from the Times the week before this last. He wants you to make it with frisee but my little local market doesn’t even sell that. I guess it’s too expensive and they don’t have a calling for it. So I substituted a bunch of watercress and a sliced endive. I figured these two combined could substitute the slightly bitter frisee bite he was looking for. It was delicious – I’m thinking it may have even been better! You tell me.

Here’s the recipe. I love his way of making the croutons rather than roasting in the oven. You must constantly toss them but you have more control and can achieve beautifully colored croutons with just the perfect crunch and this uses much less oil than oven roasting which equals less calories. Yay! The dressing is more mustardy – very French and very delicious.

FRISEE WITH CROUTONS AND SPICY OLIVES
Adapted from “Essential Pépin” by Jacques Pépin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011)

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups 1-inch bread cubes
1 tablespoon olive, canola or peanut oil (I used olive oil)
1 tablespoon spicy mustard
1 teaspoon crushed and finely chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large or 2 small heads frisée, cut into 2-inch pieces (5 to 6 cups) or one bunch of watercress, large stems removed and one endive sliced in rounds
1/4 cup pitted spicy green olives, cut in half
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, each cut in half or thirds

Drop bread cubes into a skillet and sprinkle oil over them. Toss gently and cook over high heat, tossing constantly, until cubes are browned on all sides. Remove from skillet.

Mix mustard, garlic, salt, pepper and vinegar in a large serving bowl. Whisk in oil.

Add the frisée or watercress and endive, olives and sun-dried tomatoes to the bowl and toss thoroughly. Divide among 4 salad plates and sprinkle the croutons on top.

A fantastic first course!

October 28, 2011 by Mary Frances 5 Comments

This is just so good! Easy and healthy too. Now you could ask your fish monger to do the cleaning but the last time I did that at Stew Leonard’s, he just made a mangled mess out of the cute little fish. My regular fish monger, the wonderful guys at Sea Breeze on 9th Ave and 40th St., won’t clean or filet them because they are just too small. But it’s so easy to do it yourself! So toughen your stomach and get going!

GRILLED SARDINES
– serves 2 as a first course

4 whole sardines
4 thin slices of lemon, each cut in half
4 – 8 fresh thyme sprigs
olive oil
salt
pepper

Light a grill or preheat your broiler on high.

Start with freshest whole sardines with clear eyes. Wash each fish and with a sharp knife (always have your knives sharp), carefully slit the underside of the fish to remove the guts. You will be cutting 2/3’s of the way down the fish from under the head and not all the way to the tail and you’ll be cutting a tiny bit more that halfway into the fish’s body. Do this under running water and grab the innards out with your fingers and get the inside thoroughly clean. Pat thoroughly dry with a paper towel, inside and out. Rub olive oil on the outside of each fish, sprinkle with salt and pepper on one side, then sprinkle salt and pepper on the plate you’re going to use and place the unseasoned side of the oiled fish on the plate and rub around to salt and pepper the bottom side. (Isn’t that a neat trick? I learned this at a cooking class/birthday party for my friend Deb at a fancy restaurant.) Cut each lemon slice in half and place in the cavity of the fish along with a spring or two of fresh thyme.

Grill or broil for approximately 2 minutes on each side. They’re ready when the tip of a knife flakes the thickest part easily, and the outside is nicely browned and crispy.

Filet the fish as you eat and enjoy!! Fish are actually more flavorful when cooked with the bones in. These are yummy! You can serve with more fresh lemon but we think using the juices from the grilled lemon is enough.