This recipe for a Spicy Tomato Soup Cake is a bit unusual but try it and you won't be disappointed. I wasn't a child that liked a lot of sweets so my mom would bake this cake for my birthday instead, and thirty something years later, memories of this cake warmed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream still makes my mouth water.
Tomato Soup Cake
Original recipe yield: 10 inch square cake.
INGREDIENTS:
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup raisins
DIRECTIONS:
Combine the tomato soup and the soda in a bowl, and let it stand.
Cream sugar, egg, butter, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Mix in tomato soup and soda mixture, and then flour. Stir in the raisins, and pour the batter in a greased baking dish.
Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 1 hour, or until done. Cool the cake, and top with icing.
When the hounds of winter are howling a cold wind straight through you, a bowl of hot French Canadian Pea Soup is what you need. For vegitarians like me leave out the salt pork.
French Canadian Pea Soup
1 pound Dried yellow split peas
8 cups -Water
1/2 pound Salt pork-all in one piece
1 Onion, large -- chopped
1/2 cup Celery -- chopped
1/4 cup Carrots -- grated
1/4 cup Parsley; fresh -- chopped
1 Bay leaf -- small
1 teaspoon Savory -- dried
and Pepper
Wash and sort peas; soak in cold water overnight. Drain and place in a large pot; add water, parsley, salt pork, onion, celery, carrots, parsley, bay leaf, savory and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until peas are very tender, about 2 hours, adding more water if needed. Remove salt pork; chop and return to soup.
Discard bay leaf. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
MAKES 8 SERVING
During colonial times, Johnny Cakes were common at every meal, not just breakfast. Many believe the original name was "Journey Cakes", because they were so portable and taken on so many journeys. It was very common for colonial pioneers to keep Johnny Cakes in their pockets. Try them hot or cold, with butter and syrup.
Johnny Cakes
4 servings)
2 cups white cornmeal
2 teaspoons sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups boiling water
4 Tablespoons butter
Preheat oven to 250 F.
Mix cornmeal, sugar and salt in large bowl. Mix in 3 cups boiling water (batter will be thick).
Melt 1 Tbsp. butter on heavy griddle or in large skillet over medium heat. Drop batter onto griddle by tablespoonfuls, spreading with back of spoon to 2" diameter cakes. Cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to platter. Keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more butte as needed.
Serve johnnycakes warm with additional butter and syrup.
LAZY MAN'S CABBAGE ROLLS
1 lb. ground veal (turkey or chicken or beef)
4 oz. can mushrooms
1 sm. head cabbage
1 (6 oz.) tomato juice
3 tbsp. uncooked rice
Onion
Brown meat, onion, salt and pepper to taste. Add rice, juice or tomato sauce to meat. Spray casserole with Pam. Place cabbage in dish, layer meat, more cabbage, etc. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Check, bake 40 more minutes.
Tea Biscuits
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut shortening in until mixture has a fine crumb texture. Stir in milk with a fork to make a soft dough. Knead 8 to 10 times, and then roll out to a thickness of at least 1/2 inch. Cut into rounds with a cookie or biscuit cutter. Place on cookie sheet, and allow to rest for a few minutes.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.
Here are a few of my favourite vegitarian recipes.
Falafel Patties
about 30 patties
25 minutes preparation
6 cups cooked drained chickpeas
2 cups finally chopped parsley
1/2 cup fine grade bulger wheat
1/2 cup whole-wheat flower
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt (if not included in chickpeas)
1/2 tsp pepper
Spin cooked chick peas in a food processor briefly. Add remaining ingrediants.
Blend ingediants until uniform. If dry and crumbly, add some of the chickpea liquid or water, if sticky add a little more flour. Let rest for 1/2 hour. If you're unsure of the proper consistancy, form a patty with your hands and fry one-if it falls apart, add more flour to bind.
Form mixture into patties 1/2" thick. They can be frozen if you stack them individually on a piece of wax paper and wrap in a plastic bag. Mixture will keep in the regrigerator for up to a week.
Cook patties, fresh or frozen, in a little 375 degree F vegtable or olive oil in a hot frying pan. Cook until golden brown.
Serve in a Pita bread pocket topped with a liitle lettuce, tomato and salt and pepper to taste.
Finally, top with a Sesame-Yogurt Sauce, made by combining a cup of plain yogurt, with two cloves of garlic, minced and a half cup of tahini.
Tahini
Combine one cup of sesame seeds with enough olive oil to make a paste the cosistancy of peanut butter in a food processor. Keep in a squeeze bottle in the fridge for up to a month.
Falafels are a great alternative to burgers while watching your favourite sports team.
And lastly a great winter stew, that uses up any left over produce that you have in the fridge.
12 Vegtable Stew
8 servings
20 minutes of preparation
15 minutes of cooking
2 cups stock
10 cups bite sized chunks of assorted firm vegtables:carrots,yams,potato(new or red),turnip or rutabaga,celery,parsnip,cauliflower
1/2 cup vegtable or olive oil
5 cups bite-sized chunks of assorted tender vegtables,small onions,green beans,button mushrooms,sweet pepper,egg plant
1/2 cup dill
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
Put stock in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add pared firm vegtables, one at a time,in order given. This way they should all be tender at about the same time.
Heat oil in a frying pan. Add tender vegtables, one at a time, in order given. fry until brightly coloured and nearly tender.
Add fried ingrediants to boiled ones, then stir in remaining flavorings. Bring back to a simmer for 5 minutes to help marry the flavors.
Later,
Kenaz
