GFGF: Carrot Souffle

If you live somewhere in the gulf coast region you have heard of Piccadilly Cafeterias. It is a chain that started in Baton Rouge, La. Advertised as quality dining at an affordable price. Their food is usually pretty good. Nothing fancy. Solid comfort food.

One of favorite s is their Carrot Souffle. I love it. A sweet side dish packed with flavor. So when I found a copycat recipe I knew I had to try it. And it just became my new Christmas side dish. A new veggie dish.

The recipe is HERE! Super simple to make. I think I can make this KETO friendly simply by switching out the sure with erythritol. And the AP flour with almond flour. I’ll try that.

More new to us dishes for Good Friends Good Food:

Kayte

Peggy

Ulrike

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Good Food Good Friends

It’s that time of the month again. Veggie Friday with Good Friends Good Friday. This week it is CARROTS. What a great way to start the new year – cooking with friends.

I like carrots. Raw. Not to wild about them cooked. I like them cooked in stews IF they are well cooked. I know they are sweet if they are cooked right but I just don’t cook them often enough. So this week I went in the other direction.

CARROT CAKE

I’ve been making this carrot cake for about 12 years. First made it when baking with Dorie Greenspan and the BFMHTY cookbook . I met some wonderful ladies in that group. Several of whom are the creators of this group.

I am not going to print the LONG recipe here but I will leave the link. Dorie’s Carrot Cake.

Let me tell you this cake is WONDERFUL! I make it every year for The Man and a friend. This year I made it as a Christmas Gift for that friend. She loved it.

For more carrot dishes visit with

Kayte

Ulrike

Peggy

Donna

Ellen

Nancy

I wish all of you a Happy New Year in 2021. See you in two weeks with GREENS!

 

{EwE} Savvy Salad

This week’s theme, thanks to Kayte, is Salads.  Now, salad can mean just about anything – pasta, green, potato, fruit – so this was a wide open category.

We eat lots of green salads so I wanted something different.

Pasta tossed with celery, maters, carrots, and red cabbage (I left out the red onion) with a dressing made with Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, and red cider vinegar.  The dressing was a lot like the one I used to use for my broccoli pasta salad but not sweet.  This would also be good with some sunflower seeds thrown in.  Or some squash, zucchini, shrooms.

I liked the salad.  But I would like it more if the dressing was sweeter.

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix page 250.

For more salads visit Eating with Ellie – Savvy Salads.  If you want to join us just cook something from Ellie in the theme, blog, and comment.  Easy Peasy.  We’d love to have you.

 

{EwE} Let’s Make Cake

My Birthday was this past Sunday. I turned….. old enough!! It was a good day with lots of BarBQue and lots of cake. Perfect!!

And since it WAS my birthday week, Kaye chose CAKE for our theme this week. Thanks, Kayte!

But it also happened to be Father’s Day.  And the Man’s favorite cake is Carrot Cake.  Mine happens to be…cake!!  Any cake with lots of frosting!  So kill two celebrations with one dessert!

There are not many cake recipes in Ellie’s books but there happens to be a darn good Carrot Cake Cupcake recipe in The Food You Crave.  It is just as good as the one I make for his birthday every year only healthier.  Less sugar.  Less oil.  Same frosting.  Same great taste. Still moist. Still sweet.  This may be my new g0-to for carrot cuppys!!

The recipe or Carrot Cupcakes with Lemony Cream Cheese Frosting is on page 285.  But it is also on Food Network.

What other cake did we enjoy this week.  Check out Let’s Make Cake at Eating with Ellie.

 

{Lets Lunch} Beef and Venison STEW

The weather here in the Deep South has finally turned COLD! Well, cold for Louisiana anyway. Yesterday the highs were in the 30s and Thursday morning it was only 18. That’s pretty chilly for here and pretty early for our cold temps. Cold weather requires comfort food and one of our favorites is a good filling STEW. Lucky for me it is also this month’s Theme for Let’s Lunch.My go-to stew is made with Beef and Venison. My husband hunts so we always have plenty of game in the freezer.

I’m not going to give you specific amounts of the ingredients. They are always changing when I make it. But basically, they include:

Beef – any cut will do – in bite sized chunks
Venison – ditto but you could sub out some pork or just use all beef
Peeled and chopped potatoes – I usually use russet but sometimes I add in some red
Peeled and chopped carrots
Chopped onions
Chopped celery
Chopped garlic
Beef and/or vegetable stock
Canola oil
Red wine
Bay leaves
Flour
Salt and Pepper

Heat a large pot and add the oil when hot. Season the meat and shake with seasoned flour. Add to the oil and brown well. Add in the onions, garlic, celery and brown until soft.
Add stock – amount depends on how much stew you are making – throw in the bay leaves/leaf, red wine, and cook meat until almost tender. You may need to add more stock as the meat is cooking because it will thicken as it cooks.
Right before the meat is done add in the carrots and potatoes. Cook until veggies are tender.
Remove the bay and, if necessary, thicken with either a roux or a flour slurry.
Serve over rice.

Warm and filling. Comfort food.

Don’t forget to check out other Let’s Lunchers’ stews below! And if you’d like to join Let’s Lunch, go to Twitter and post a message with the hashtag #Letslunch — or, post a comment below.

Betty-Ann‘s Salmon Sinigang (Tamarind Stew with Vegetables) at Asian in America

Demetra‘s Coconut-Shrimp Soup at Sweet Savant

Linda‘s Chinese Soy-Braised Pork & Peanut Stew at Spicebox Travels

Lisa‘s Chicken & Fennel Casserole at Monday Morning Cooking Club

Mel‘s Lamb & Harissa Stew at The Cook’s Notebook

Rashda‘s Morocco-inspired Meatball Stew at Hot Curries & Cold Beer

Cheryl’s Sayur Lodeh (Malay Vegetable Stew)

Sonja’s Lamb Ragu with Lemon

Demetra’s Coconut Shrimp Soup

 

{IHCC} Bittman’s Veggie Fried Noodles

It’s potluck week again with I Heart Cooking Clubs. I went with Bittman again. His recipes have so much flavor and they are healthy to boot. It’s a win/win!

There is just something about the flavors used in Asian food that always draws me in. Ginger. Sesame. When I saw this recipe in Bittman’s The Food Matters Cookbook I knew it would be perfect.

8 ounces any rice, buckwheat(soba){which is what I used}, or wheat noodles, preferably whole grain.
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons vegetable canola oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 cup chopped green onions
2 large carrots chopped, sliced, or julienned
3 celery stalks, chopped, sliced, or julienned
2 cups snow peas
1/4 cup chicken stock or water (more if you need it, I didn’t.)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 egg, beaten {I left this out cause of the cholesterol. Next time I would add it in.}
black pepper
1/4 cups chopped peanuts for garnish

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package, but make sure they don’t get mushy. Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water. Toss them with sesame oil to prevent sticking.
Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger, and scallions. Cook for about 15 seconds.
Add the carrots, celery, snow peas, and stock or water and turn the heat to high. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender, about 5-10 minutes. If the mixture gets too dry, add more liquid a tablespoon at a time.
Stir in soy sauce and beaten egg(s) and let the egg lightly scramble in the pan. Add the noodles, sprinkle with pepper, and toss well. Taste and adjust the seasoning. I have found that I needed more soy sauce. Garnish and serve.

I added chicken to mine – a 6 oz breast. Slice up the chicken and brown in the oil before you cook the veggies. When the chicken is done set it aside and then start with the veggies, etc. Add the chicken back when you add the noodles.

This fits pretty well with the DASH way of eating. I used less oil than called for and the buckwheat noodles are better for you. Like I said – win/win.

I liked it better without the chopped peanuts.

<The recipe is on page 208 of his cookbook.

Visit with the other IHCC members for their Potluck picks. So many chefs to choose from!!

 

{IHCC} Have you had your Veggies today?

If not you should try this easy way from Nigel Slater.

Carrot Fritters

325g carrots
A medium onion
A clove of garlic, crushed
150ml cream, Half and Half, or milk
1/4 cup Eggbeaters
3 heaping tbsp of grated cheese, like a strong Cheddar
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
heaping tbsp plain flour
Olive oil for shallow-frying
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Clean and grate the carrots into large shreds.
Finely slice or grate it and mix with the carrots, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in the Half and Half, egg, grated cheese, coriander and flour.
Warm the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan.
Drop small balls of the mixture into the pan, a couple at a time, and fry till lightly cooked on the underside.
Flip and brown the other side. Takes about 3 or 4 minutes per side. The fritters are ready as soon as they are dark gold.
Lift out on to a warm plate with kitchen towels. Eat immediately. {Original Recipe}

Be careful cooking these they burn eh, over brown very easily. They are sweet and crisp. Pefect side for any meal.
Did the other IHCC members eat their veggies? Hop on over and SEE!

 

{FFwD} quiche maraîchère

Which translates into darn good fresh veggie quiche!! Lots of leeks {first time fresh from MY garden}, sweet peppers, celery, carrots, and very, very little custard.

One of my favorite things to make is quiche. But I don’t make them as often as I would like because they usually call for TONS of eggs. Not this one – one whole egg and one yolk. {I used two whole eggs instead.} That’s it!! And some cream. I am wondering if I can use this little bit of custard in some other quiches!

While the veggies and custard were VERY tasty, the star of the show was the Gruyère sprinkled on top. The smoky flavor just took the quiche to a much higher level!! I will be very sad when this one is gone….oh, wait, I can make another. Maybe with some squash this summer from the garden, or eggplant, or Romas, or…shoot, the possibilities are endless.

More quiche can be found on French Fridays with Dorie and the recipe is on page 158 in Dorie’s around my French table.

 

{FFwD} Beef Cheek Daube

My kitchen smelled heavenly while this was in the oven. I don’t think I have ever had such a wonderful aroma wafting through my kitchen, into the living room, down the hall.

I don’t know what it was about this that was different from my other stews. Maybe it was because it was in the oven rather than on the stove. Maybe it ws the addition of the bacon. Maybe…..I should cook all of my future stews this way.

The original recipe called for elbow macaroni but because I didn’t have enough of it I used orecchiette instead. The little pasta bowls held the sauce just right. I also could not locate Beef Cheeks so I used the chuck roast instead. Everything else was just as the recipe called for.

SOOO good!!!!

Please visit and see what the other cooks thought of this. And if any of them could find beef cheeks!!

 

{FFwD} Spur of the Moment “Stone” Soup

And for me it is definitely spur of the moment. I had decided I wasn’t going to make the soup this week for FFwD. The weather has been in the mid 80s and, to me, that is NOT soup weather. But when Hubs left town and my dinner date fell through I needed something quick and filling. This soup seemed to fit the bill.

sour-of-the moment Vegetable “Stone” Soup”

…is what Dorie calls this quick and light veggie soup. A mix of sauteed onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, and herbs simmered gently in chicken broth that you can eat ‘chunky’ light style or puree into a smooth silky comfort soup.
I liked the simple broth with veggie chunks, B preferred it slightly pureed.

Either way it is delicious.

Dorie reminds us that it is ‘…it’s more an idea for a recipe than a real recipe…” which means it is highly adaptable to your pantry or veggie bin. tomorrow night I will add a few more vegetables, some pieces of cooked chicken, and some left over pasta which will add more body to the soup. I’ll think of it as neighbors bringing more tidbits to add to the simple stone simmering in water!

Look on page 74 of Around My French Table for the soup ‘concept’ and check out the other soup makers at for their versions of Stone Soup!!