Tag Archives: Cooking

It’s not the best photo but the soup sure was delicious!

Laura Calder’s chicken tagine is a favorite that I return to often. I leave the skin on and brown the chicken legs on both sides before adding the rest of the ingredients to the pot. After the chicken is tender, I remove it to a cutting board and shred the meat back into the pot discarding the skin, bones, and tendons. I like to serve it over brown rice or couscous.

I’ve been making roasted chickpeas for snacking for several months now and the recipe has gradually morphed until I am finally getting nice crispy results. I start with a pound of dried chickpeas that I cover with at least 3 inches of water, bring to a boil, and let stand for an hour. I cook them about 30 minutes while preheating the oven to 400F. Once the chickpeas are tender, I drain them and toss with olive oil to coat and a couple tablespoons of curry powder. I bake them for about an hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until they are crisp. I let them cool and then store in an airtight container in the fridge. They will keep for at least a week.

I have really been craving tofu dishes this winter and I’ve done many variations on the crispy tofu dish. I thought I should change things up a bit lest Jason get tired of weekly tofu. This baked tofu dish was really delicious and I think he appreciated the change. I left my tofu in a block rather than chopping it up and I added some miso to my marinade.

I was intrigued by this recipe for potato soup which incorporates roasted cauliflower. It was quite tasty but the roasted cauliflower gave it a less than pleasant brown tinge so next time I’ll steam that cauliflower for a “light and creamy soup” that looks creamy. I did not stir in yogurt or creme fraiche because it tends to separate out in the leftover soup. Instead we put a little dollop on top as we served our soup.

What happens when you goof and buy a second bar of cheddar cheese? Make crackers! I rolled them out to about 3/8-inch thick and cut them with a round cutter since that is what I have on hand. They didn’t really crisp up for me, even with 5 minutes extra baking time. Next time I’m going to try baking at 400F. I added a bit of cayenne for kick. These are all gone this morning so I am guessing they were a big hit.