Saturday, November 16, 2019

My new favorite Sausage, Sweet Potato, White Cabbage Soup

This has become one of my favorite soups. It's a great one for cool Fall or Winter evenings, hearty and flavorful but not heavy. Most of the ingredients are simple things you can keep on hand for when you need to whip up a pot of soup.




If I did not live in a travel trailer, with very limited storage space, I could build a collection of pretty bowls and plates to make food pictures more tempting. ;-) I wrote in my first post about deciding to ignore my perfectionist tendencies, which were telling me I should not publish a single thing until I knew how to do every part exactly right. I just went ahead and started the blog, willing to let it be imperfectly good. Silly, I think, to not share the yummy recipes I've developed and tips I've learned, just because it won't be perfect. :-)

Back to the recipe...

It began as a German Sausage Chowder recipe that our son brought home from Culinary Arts class when he was in high school. It quickly became a family favorite. As our food world grew increasingly complicated, we had to make changes to our favorite recipes. This one was no exception. Out went the cheese, cream, potatoes, and wheat flour thickener. The original called for bratwurst, which started to give me trouble for some reason, so I looked for another sausage that would work. I smiled when I saw that I was still calling this "German Sausage Chowder" on meal plans and recipe notes. Precious little of the original recipe remains. I made my adapted version recently, and it was so good that I wanted to share it with everyone. I hope you like it, too.

Favorite Sausage Soup
Total time ~ about one hour
Serves 4-6

1 pound mild Italian Sausage (gluten-free; I also use garlic-free when I can find it)

2 cups white sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
*4 cups finely sliced and chopped white cabbage
     (time saving tip- use a bag of cabbage pre-shredded for coleslaw)
1/4 tsp. dried onion
     (I can't tolerate onions, but a small amount of dried onion seems okay for me)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
 2 cups water

1 can (14.5 oz.) reduced sodium chicken stock
1 can (13.5 oz.) thick coconut milk (I use Native Forest)

1/4 cup gluten-free flour mix (I use 2T millet flour with 2T tapioca starch*)
1/2 cup water

(*I use tapioca for this, rather than arrowroot. Arrowroot starch loses its thickening powers when heated for long. I have had soups and sauces get nice and thick, then suddenly go watery, when I used arrowroot starch.)

 In a medium-sized soup pot, cook sausage completely. Remove most of the grease from the pot. (Either by draining sausage in a strainer, or soaking up grease from pot with paper towels)

Add potatoes and cabbage to the sausage in the pot, along with all of the seasonings, the can of stock and two cups of water. Stir, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan (flavor nuggets!). Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until sweet potatoes are nearly tender. Add coconut milk and heat to a low simmer. Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference.

In a small bowl, mix half-cup of water with the flour. Stir into soup, reduce heat and cook just until thickened slightly. Stir often to avoid scorching.

*If you like your cabbage less soft, add after sweet potatoes have cooked for fifteen minutes.
** Arrowroot starch loses its thickening properties if overheated. If you use arrowroot starch, it's important to add it at the end and turn off the heat as soon as it's thickened.
***White sweet potatoes are my favorite substitute for potatoes. As we've roamed the country this year, I've learned that these are not available everywhere. The recipe will work with orange sweet potatoes/yams. The white ones with their milder flavor are my preference, but I make it with yams when they're all I can get. :-)

Monday, November 4, 2019

Almond Chia (not poppy!) -seed Muffins

I have been in a sort of internet wasteland, without the bandwidth to make blog posts. For this brief moment, it's flowing, so I'm going to get a recipe posted before the window closes. :)

In the work world where mandatory, random drug tests are common, poppy seeds are a cause for concern. They are trying to refine the standard tests so they'll be able to differentiate between opium use and having a bagel. In the meantime, it's good to be careful.

In thinking of this, I started to ponder what could substitute for the poppy seeds in some of our favorite muffins. This recipe is the result of my quest. I am happy with it and have thoroughly enjoyed the results of my research. :) These are moist, tender and tasty, and the chia seeds give that good crunch we love from poppy seeds. :)



Just a note- I've been working to cut our sugar intake, so the sweetness is less than when they're made with regular sugar. I've tried using more agave nectar, but it made the batter too wet to cook normally and gave them that funky too-much-agave aftertaste. At some point, I'll experiment with adding just a bit of honey to this recipe. If I do, and the results are good, I'll add a note here.

In addition to being a substitute for poppy seeds, chia seeds bring a number of nutritional benefits to the table. They are a "super food."

"Everything-free" Almond Chia-seed Muffins
no gluten, dairy, egg, soy, etc. etc. etc.
Makes 12 muffins

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit
Line baking tin with paper liners

Hydrate chia seeds~combine
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 cup water

While those soak, in a large bowl, combine and whisk together thoroughly:
1cup Millet flour
1cup Arrowroot or tapioca starch
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a separate bowl, combine:
1/2 cup light agave nectar
1/2 cup oil
2 teaspoons melted buttery-flavored coconut oil
2 teaspoons almond extract
~ and the hydrated chia seeds

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir well. Scoop into prepared muffin tins. I use a two-tablespoon dough scoop, with one heaping scoop per muffin.

Bake at 425 for 4 to 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes more. I learned this trick from another recipe. When I find my note on who had this great suggestion, I will add that information here, to give proper credit to the blogger who shared it. She said that those few minutes at the higher temperature help give more rise to the muffins and I've found that to be true.***

When muffins are done (tops don't squish down when gently pressed) remove and let cool in the pan for just a minute or two. Remove from the pan to a cooling rack.

***I found it! The site where I learned this tidbit was called Sally's Baking Addiction. :)