Portuguese Kale Soup

I don't normally share recipes, as I am definitely not a domestic guru. In fact, this is only the fourth time in the 15-year life of this blog. However, my dear friend Jean has been supplying me with Farmer's Sausage from an anonymous Saskatchewan source and shared this soup recipe with me. It tastes so much like my momma's hambone soup that I had to share. The secret is the depth of flavor drawn from the Peri Peri spices and the lemon juice, which adds a high back-note. The beauty of this soup is you can toss in any vegetables, but these are my go-to. Reduce quantities if you don't have freezer space for all the extra, but don't skimp on the spice!

Portuguese Kale Soup
(Makes 8 litres)
Ingredients

1 pkg Bacon (chop finely)
1 large Farmer’s sausage link (remove casing and crumble/chop to consistency of ground beef)
1 large onion (medium dice)
5 cloves garlic (minced)
6 large potatoes (peel, cut bite-size) or use a 1.5 lb (680g) bag of baby potatoes
5 carrots (cut into coins, peel optional)
1 28oz (796ml) can diced tomatoes (not drained)
2 cans 19 oz (540ml) can white kidney beans (drained)
2 bunches fresh kale (remove from stem, slice into thin ribbons or chop small)
4 32 oz (946ml) cartons chicken broth*
3 Tablespoons Peri-Peri Spice** (to taste)
2 tsp. Black Pepper (to taste)
2 bay leaves
Juice of one lemon
*I use Costco’s Kirkland brand organic chicken broth
**Peri-Peri is available at Superstore but I made my own from this link
Instructions:

1. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large soup pot on medium-high heat
2. Sauté onion and garlic for 1-2 minutes, if it gets too dry, add a bit of broth
3. Add bacon and sausage, sauté until browned, stirring often
4. Add potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, kidney beans and peri peri spice
5. Stir to combine and sauté for 30-60 seconds.
6. Add chicken broth and bay leaves, stir and bring to a boil.
7. Lower heat and simmer for 15 min.
8. Add kale. Stir to combine. Cook 5 minutes more.
9. Remove from heat, remove bay leaves and add lemon juice, stir.
10. Serve and enjoy. Great to freeze.

This doesn’t happen often, so I’d just like to go on record that I did all my Christmas baking and treat-making today. 

I started about 5:30 and finished at 10:30. Henry helped tremendously with cleanup. Now, I did have to pause mid-recipe to make a quick trip to grab a couple ingredients and replace my hand mixer (which I thought only overheated last time I baked, but no, I apparently burned out the motor). RIP. Thankfully, Superstore had an equivalent for less than $30.

Here’s the inventory:

Millionaire Shortbread Squares (using the recipe on Eagle Brand Dulce de Leche)
They turned out as expected but they aren’t gluten free so I’ll have to depend on the family to tell me how they taste. (Picture is from the eaglebrand.ca recipe)


Whipped Shortbread (no picture)
(Whip with the hand mixer for 10 minutes!) This was a fail. Tastes good but really fell apart. Last time I made it was 1981. I need a stand mixer and a better recipe. Send me yours!

Edible Holly
(Similar to Rice Krispie treats, but using cornflakes, add green food colouring and cinnamon hearts). This is definitely my annual go-to. So pretty and they taste divine. I’m a sucker for marshmallows but I can’t eat many of these because #gluten. (Come on, Kellogg’s. It’s corn flakes! Surely you can make them without wheat!) Here's a recipe, but I always chill mine, or they can be frozen. (Picture is my own batch from a previous year).

Chocolate Crunch Surprise

(Chocolate, Reese’s PB, Butterscotch, Skor pieces, and a mystery ingredient). This is like fudge on steroids. It's like Reese's PB Cups and Nestle Crunch had a baby. I’ve made this every year since 2002 when the School Council chairperson made it for the staff at the elementary school where I worked. She set a tin of it on the front counter and I had to (got to) smell that fabulous peanut butter and butterscotch deliciousness all day. I may have made several trips past the counter for no reason.

Comment or email if you want the recipe. The picture is this year's batch.

Baked Granola
(Patti Durston’s perfect recipe makes 13 cups) Ok, this isn’t Christmas related but it’s a gift. This is our new favourite breakfast since we stayed with them this summer on our road trip. It is 7 c. oats, and 4 c. of seeds and nuts. Then melt together 1/2 c. maple syrup (or honey) and 1/2 c. coconut oil, then pour over granola and stir to evenly coat. Bake in stone wear or a cookie sheet at 385 degrees for 15-25 minutes. I add raisins and dried cranberries after it cools. I love that there’s no added cane sugar and I know exactly what’s in it because I make it myself with organic, gluten-free ingredients.

I still have one treat I’d like to make but may not have time, those amazing Butterscotch Confetti Squares. What’s your favorite recipe? Do you have one that includes coconut or Rice Krispies? (Picture is from this recipe page).  I also want to do the Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie that I used as a cover photo for this post. Anyone have a gluten free recipe?

​Well, that's all folks. Wish I could invite you over for Christmas dinner, but my house can barely hold our family.

Have a Merry Christmas and don't eat too many treats! Your body will thank you.

Christmas Traditions: New Year's Cookies (Portzelky)

This was my mother's tradition. Here's a link to a similar recipe from Mennonite Girls Can Cook. I like this version, and the four pictures on the page show you the stages and the various ways the Portzelky can look. The name is from Low German origins, but Mom only ever called them "New Year's Cookies." It's basically a homemade donut taste or a deep fried raisin fritter. To. Die. For.

Every New Year's eve, if we were not on the road singing, my momma would make these, then once they'd cooled a bit, she'd gently shake them in a bag to coat them with one part each of granulated sugar and icing sugar. Once in a while, she would make a glaze for them, like a donut glaze, but usually she'd shake to coat them so the family could partake of them one batch at a time - we weren't that good at waiting for the entire pan to be full. She would make so many that she'd use her big blue and white speckled enamelware turkey roaster to store them in, usually lined with wax paper or paper towel to absorb some of the oil.

Mom preferred to use Crisco Shortening, as less was absorbed by the dough as it cooked and she could filter it afterwards and re-use it. She would melt and heat the Crisco over the gas burner in her large stock pan and fry about a dozen at a time, turning them halfway through. Getting the heat setting just right was critical. Too high and the outside would be too dark while the inside remained gooey. Not hot enough, and you'd end up with the fritters absorbing too much grease. Mom usually had the right touch for the temperature!

I don't make these. I've never attempted. Now that I limit my consumption of wheat, I wouldn't likely even eat them, should I attempt to make them. However, since they were such a sweet, delicious memory from my childhood, I still think of them every single New Year's Eve without fail, and of my mother with great fondness.

Photo 1 Credit: allrecipes.com

Photo 2 Credit: foter.com

Christmas Traditions: Edible Holly

Sometime in the early '90s, at a Christmas fundraiser for charity put on by our department in Nova Corporation, one of my colleagues introduced me to this amazingly delectable treat. It's been part of my annual tradition ever since. I'm not all that fond of baking, so this one is a no-bake, high reward choice to satisfy one's sweet tooth and give a bright, visual appeal.

I've taken these to parties and they disappear fast. Although at one party, some thought they were just decoration and didn't eat them until I explained they were edible. A personal favorite of mine! Similar candy coating as what is used in marshmallow Rice Krispie treats, but a more buttery flavor.

Edible Christmas Holly 

1/2 cup butter
31 marshmallows (regular size, not jumbo. I recommend Kraft Brand for consistency)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons green food colouring
4 cups corn flakes
Red hots or cinnamon hearts (available at Bulk Barn or saved from Valentine's Day)

Instructions: 

1. Melt butter and marshmallows slowly over low heat, stirring often.
2. When fully melted, remove from heat.
3. Stir in vanilla and green food colouring until well mixed and green color is evenly distributed. 
4. Add cornflakes, turning and stirring until cornflakes are well coated and evenly colored by the marshmallow mixture. 
5. Working quickly, drop by large spoonfuls onto wax or parchment paper. 
6. Before the candy sets, add a "clump" of three red hots to each cluster (simulating holly berries) 
7. Chill. 

Note: These are best if kept in the fridge and served cold as the clusters get too soft and sticky when left at room temperature.

Alternate Serving: After step 4, instead of making clusters, let mixture cool slightly, turn it out onto parchment paper and shape into a round wreath, using your hands (slightly buttered). Add clumps of three red hots around the circle. Add a decorative bow of ribbon or frosting. Chill, then slice to serve.

Norwegian Pancakes

Recipe posted by request.

It seems these "pancakes" have a version in every European country, but here's the one I got from my father-in-law. It's a sweet one, can be a dessert. There's some flexibility, they turn out different every time. Milk and flour proportions are sort of a "by guess and by golly" method. Don't stress over this - once you get the hang of it, it only takes about 5 minutes to make batter.
4 eggs
1 cup whipping cream
1 Tbsp. sugar
Dash of salt
1/2 t. vanilla (optional)
1 1/2 to 2 cups flour
Milk

Beat eggs with electric mixer til foamy, Add cream, sugar, salt, vanilla and beat 20-30 seconds. Add 1 cup flour, mix in at low speed, then continue adding flour until batter is quite thick but doesn't climb beaters. Increase mixer to high speed and beat until it pulls together, a bit of elasticity. Takes about a minute or so. Add 1/2 c. milk to thin batter and beat. Continue beating, adding milk until batter is consistency of heavy cream again.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, and coat with cooking spray or butter. Scoop about 1/2 cup of batter into the skillet, and tilt the pan to coat the bottom, making as round a pancake as possible. Cook until the top looks dry, about 30 seconds, depending on your skillet. Carefully slide a spatula under the pancake and flip. Cook for a few seconds on the other side, just until slightly browned. Remove to a plate, recoat your skillet and repeat with remaining batter.

My father in law likes them almost crispy, I like them just barely cooked.

Apply favorite syrup or topping, add whipped cream and roll it up like a crepe. In our house, everyone does their own as we all have different favorites.

Toppings/Fillings:
- spread butter while hot so it melts, then sprinkle on sugar
- pured peaches
- fresh berries with fruit syrup
- maple syrup
- spread custard, add a 1/2 banana sliced lengthwise, drizzle chocolate sauce on top
- pudding

You can either cook all the pancakes at once or make only as many as you want to eat now and save the extra batter, covered tightly in fridge. Use within 2 days. If you pre-cook, store them with wax/parchment paper between each one, roll entire stack loosely, seal in large ziploc bag, and store in fridge or freeze.