Chai Spiced Espresso

I'm not a big chai tea person but I am a coffee lover! In this recipe I have combined the signature spices you find in chai tea with espresso and created a nice little "chai-scented" brew.

 Ingredients

1/4 cup espresso

2 tsp Chai Spices (cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, anise, all spice, black pepper)

2 TBS Honey

1/2 cup Rice Milk, Almond Milk, or Non-fat Cow's Milk

Set Up

I ground my chai spices freshly in a coffee/spice grinder. I spooned the freshly ground spices onto the packed espresso in my moka.

You can read more about a moka here & here. I got mine in Italy but they are available at Bed, Bath, Beyond  and Amazon.

Brew the espresso on your stove top just like you normally would in a moka.

If you don't have a moka you can use a traditional coffee maker. Add you grounds to the basket or filter and sprinkle the chai spices on top and brew.

Once the espresso is brewed, add honey or your favorite sweetener to the bottom of the cup.

Next pour the hot espresso or coffee over the honey. Then top with foam and spices.

I foamed my milk in a Nespresso foamer but you can froth yours on the stove with whisk or a traditional espresso frother.

Non-fat cow's milk creates the best foam but you can get a pretty good "froth" with rice or almond milk.

 I topped mine with a few additional chai spices. You can make this as sweet or as "milky" as you want. You could even add a scoop of canned pumpkin to make it a "Pumpkin Spice Latte."

You can find more chai recipes on Mary's blog & Christina's blog this week!

Photos take by Alisa Lewis. Edited by Mary Banducci.

Community Garden

This weekend we became part of a community garden in our small town. Our friends, Rachael & Nate, are hosting it on their couple acres in Dalton Gardens. There are 5 families involved and we are all planning on sharing the work and the produce.

Yesterday Kyle & Nate rototilled the soil and hauled in horse manure for fertilizer. We are going to let the manure soak into the soil over the winter. Then in the spring we will till the soil again to mix in the manure. Manure is the BEST FERTILIZER EVER!

Here is the garden space with ample deer fencing.

Kyle rototilling the hard ground.

Nate shoveling manure into the freshly tilled garden space.

We planted our garlic crop yesterday, too! Now is the time to plant garlic.

See my post last year about fall planting.

I picked up three different varieties from Kyle's grandpa and the farmer's market.

While the guys made trips with manure, the ladies made thai food and shared delicious wine inside. See our thai recipes here!

Red Lentil Soup

This is a great lunch soup and cooks up in just a few minutes!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups red lentils

1/2 large sweet onion, chopped

1 large clove of garlic, minced

5 cups water or vegetable stock

2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp chili powder

2tsp salt

dash of cinnamon

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

a few slices of lime

Directions:

Saute onions, garlic, and spices. Add red lentils and broth and bring to a boil. Let the soup simmer for about 30-40 mins until the lentils are soft and have absorbed all of the broth. At this point you can remove the bay leaf. You can puree with a hand blender or leave the soup chunky. 

Garnish with cilantro and lime. Enjoy!

Warm Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese

We have been growing a few different varieties of beets the last few years. We usually make them boiled but for an event in September we roasted them in the oven for about an hour and served them warm with bits of melting goat cheese.

Ingredients

4-6 Beets

1 block Fresh Goat Cheese

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Clean the beets well and cut the tops and roots off.

Boil the beets whole in a large stock pot of water for 20-30 minutes.

This helps to remove the skins.

Remove from the hot water. Cool.

Gently rub or peel off the skins.

Dice the peeled beets into 1-2 inch cubes.

Toss with Olive Oil, Salt, and Pepper in a large roasting pan.

Roast in a 400 degree oven for 40-55 minutes or until beets are fork tender.

Transfer the hot roasted beets to your serving dish and sprinkle the top with bits of fresh goat cheese.

Enjoy!

Roasted Butternut Squash

This is one of our favorite side dishes! We can eat almost a whole squash! It is very easy and simple and compliments any fall or winter meal!

Ingredients

1 large Butternut Squash

2 Cloves Garlic

1 TBS Sea Salt

2 tsp Pepper

4 TBS Olive Oil

Directions

Peel the entire squash whole with a vegetable peeler. Cut in half. Scoop out the seeds and pulp.

Cut squash long ways into strips then into 1 inch cubes.

Finely chop garlic. Toss the pieces of squash with garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until squash is fork tender.

Serve hot!

Colcannon | A Hearty Fall Meal

This is a hearty potato dish from Ireland. I was watching Food Network and saw this being made in Ireland. We have an abundance of fresh potatoes form the garden and we had one last head of cabbage waiting to be used up. In Ireland, this is pure comfort food! I knew my husband would like it and it is so fitting for fall.

Ingredients

15-20 small red or yellow potatoes

1 small head of green cabbage

1/2 of a Ham or Pork Roast (Roasted or Cooked in the Crock Pot)

1/2 stick Butter

1/2 cup milk, half & half, or cream

2 tsp Salt

Directions

Wash your potatoes thoroughly. Leave the skins on. Steam them in a steamer pot or place them in a large stock pot with only enough water to barely cover them. Let them steam until cooked through or all the water is almost gone. This helps maintain some of the nutrients from the skin by steaming them first. Remove them from the pot. Let them cool. Then using a small knife or your hands, gently peel them. The steamed skins should fall right off.

Shred the head of cabbage and lightly steam it in a water bath or steamer pot until bright green.

Shred your cooked pork roast or ham.

Return your peeled potatoes to the pot. Add 1/4 stick of butter and salt. Mash the potatoes. Add milk, half & half, or cream.

Mix in the steamed cabbage.

Mix in the shredded pork or ham.

Serve with a pat of butter and a dash of salt.

Fall Lettuce Crops | Cold Crops

This year we planted a fall crop of lettuce and spinach. We're hoping it makes it through these frosty October nights. You can start cold crops (peas, spinach, kale, lettuce, radishes, cabbages) in August and you will be able to harvest in September & October. You can also plant these same crops in early spring. Sometimes as early as March in the Northwest. This gives you a head start on gardening and you'll be enjoying some veggies by the end of April.

Butternut Squash Soup | A Delightful Fall Meal

Butternut Squash Soup

This is one of our favorite soups! It is light but still filling! It is very easy to make and it tastes so buttery and melt-in-your-mouth!

Ingredients

1 large Butternut Squash
2 cloves Garlic
3 TBS Olive Oil

2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Pepper

1 tsp Paprika
4-5 cups Water

1 tsp Siracha Chili Paste (optional for added spiciness)

3/4 cup Cream or Half & Half (optional)

Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler. Cut it in half. Remove the seeds. Dice into small cubes. Toss with Olive Oil, Garlic (crushed), salt, and pepper.

Place on a roasting pan or cookie sheet at bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Test the squash with a fork to see if it is tender.

 Place the cooked squash into a stock pot. Add the water and/or cream or half & half and blend with a hand immersion blender until velvety and smooth. Add the siracha chili paste at this time for added heat.

If you don't have an immersion blender you could place the squash and water and/or half & half into a food processor or blender to blend.

 Serve with a sprinkle of Paprika and extra salt & pepper if desired.



Ginger Pumpkin Muffins

These are delicious on a fall day! They are moist and dense and very pumpkin-ey!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pumpkin purée

1/3 cup melted butter

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2-3 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans OR 1 cup Chocolate Chips

2 Tbsp well chopped candied ginger


Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda.


Mix the pumpkin, melted butter, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, until just incorporated. Do not over-mix. Fold in the candied ginger and chopped nuts or chocolate chips.

Spoon mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack.

(Recipe adapted form Simply Recipes.)

French Onion Soup with Gruyere Croutons

We had lunch with some friends, Buck & Amy Pennington, the other day and they sent us home with a beautiful slice of Gruyere cheese! I thought it would be perfect melted to perfection atop a crusty crouton of homemade peasant bread dipped into a steaming pot of French Onion Soup. I had only made French Onion soup once before and it was a "quick" recipe. The end result was too tangy and sour for my taste.  As it bubbled away, we made plans for our upcoming La Lune events.

Here is the recipe straight from Cook's Illustrated. We followed it to a "T" and it turned out with a wonderfully deep, rich flavor! Totally worth the time it took to dig up onions from the garden, clean them, chop them to pieces as we wiped away our onion tears! It's even better after it sits for a day or two. The flavor deepens even more!

Note: You must have a dutch oven to make this recipe or an oven safe pot.

Ingredients

Soup

3 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 3 pieces

6 large yellow onions (about 4 pounds), halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices

(see illustration below)

Table salt

2 cups water , plus extra for deglazing

1/2 cup dry sherry

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (see note)

2 cups beef broth (see note)

6 sprigs fresh thyme , tied with kitchen twine

1 bay leaf

Ground black pepper

Cheese Croutons

1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices
8 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)

Instructions

1. 1. For the soup: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Generously spray inside of heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray. Place butter in pot and add onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, 1 hour (onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove pot from oven and stir onions, scraping bottom and sides of pot. Return pot to oven with lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.

2. 2. Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until liquid evaporates and onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing heat to medium if onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until pot bottom is coated with dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.) Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.

3. 3. Stir in broths, 2 cups water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.

4. For the croutons: While soup simmers, arrange baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in 400-degree oven until bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

5.To serve: Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

This recipe is from Cook's Illustrated.

Published January 1, 2008.   From Cook's Illustrated.