Diet, Dessert and Dogs

[This year, I decided to offer a "Festive Freebies" series in which I give away some of my favorite food products. . . hand-picked by me!  These are things I already love and actually eat (or use) regularly, and which I'd love to share with you.  Here's my fourth Festive Freebie--click here to enter!]  

I. A Cookbook Winner!

Before I get to this week’s Festive Freebie, let’s find out who won last week’s Reader’s Choice Cookbook giveaway!

All the way from Australia–our winner is SUSAN from Kittens Gone Lentil! Here’s Susan’s comment:

The book I am most keen to get my hands on at the moment (though there are several) is Party Vegan by Robin Robertson. I love her books and recipes, and I love menu plans and putting together themed dinners, so this book just sounds like heaven!

CONGRATULATIONS, Susan!  I can’t guarantee you’ll get it by the holidays (Australia is pretty far away from here. . . ) but I’ll be ordering your book as soon as I hear from you with your full name and address and you can Party Vegan through the new year!  Please email me at dietdessertdogsATgmailDOTcom before Friday to receive your book!

II. This Week’s Festive Freebie:

Holiday cookies have arrived!  There are cookie bake-offs, cookie swaps, Twelve Days of Gluten Free Cookies, cookie contests. . . . With all the cookie madness upon us, how about some cookies you don’t have to bake yourself? 

These treats would make a great holiday gift for anyone who’s new to the kitchen, whose busy schedule prohibits too much baking, or who is interested in healthier, yet still deliciously homemade-tasting, cookies.  And they are one of my all-time favorites.

Click here to read my review and enter the giveaway. [Note: I am required by the rules of BlogHer to place my giveaway on a separate page. Sorry for the extra clicks, everyone!]

III. A Quick Smoothie Recipe

I’ll be back later with last month’s SOS Roundup and those winners, too, but in the meantime, I’ve got another breakfast recipe for y’all.  Breakfast (as you might recall) is my favorite meal of the day, and I never tire of new breakfast options.  Here’s a really quick and refreshing smoothie recipe I enjoyed earlier this morning.

I was feeling like oatmeal when I first got up today [groaner alert]–funny, I don’t look like oatmeal. . . well, actually, maybe that’s not entirely true these days–but knew I just didn’t have the time to cook it up.  So I concocted a festive smoothie that includes a touch of oats along with a protein kick and some seasonal cranberries.  Yes–raw cranberries.  The result was creamy, filling, and tart yet not lip-puckering.  It offered just enough sweetness for my taste with only a few drops of stevia, but sweeten as you like.  The recipe will be included in my upcoming ebook on ACD-friendly breakfasts.

For the giveaway, click here!

Last Year at this Time: A Matcha Made in Heaven: Chocolate Green Tea Truffles for Everyone

Two Years Ago: Gastronomic Gifts I: Fudge Two Ways (not ACD friendly)

Three Years Ago: Holidailies

© 2010 Diet, Dessert and Dogs

[I thought it would be fun to run a little series over here at DDD: I'll profile one one of my favorite foods, or a food that I've recently discovered and enjoyed, over several days.  The series is presented on an occasional (and entirely arbitrary) basis, before I move on to the next lucky comestible. This is the third entry on apples.]

Did you win the Trail Mix Giveaway?  Don’t forget to check here!

And now, our Lucky Comestible Apple series moves on to the soup course of the meal. . . 

This soup is an all-time favorite of mine.  One taste, and I promise you’ll be a devotee, too.  Hey–this soup should have its own fan club!  No, this soup should be featured on YouTube! This soup is a souper-star.  You will love this soup!

Seriously, if you don’t love this soup, I will eat my hat  my words  my way through the northeastern states your portion as well as my own!  I would marry this soup if I could.  I LOVE THIS SOUP THAT MUCH. (sorry, HH–nothing personal).

In fact, I’ve been dreaming about this soup, on and off, for the past 20 years or so.  I first encountered its enticing, tart and textured charms almost two decades ago, when I was invited to my former office mate’s home for dinner.  Besides being strikingly beautiful (she had worked as a model for a while before teaching) and incredibly hip, Ms. Mate was also the very first vegan I knew personally (as if beauty and cool were not intimidating enough). I couldn’t believe I’d scored an invitation–I mean, Ms. Mate wore Yves St. Laurent jackets–to teach in!  And she donned funky wigs, just for fun!  She had a voice like Kathleen Turner and looked like Brigitte Nielsen (well, when the latter was still pretty); and I was in awe of her.

I don’t remember the rest of the meal, but that night I was served a standout apple and red wine soup (after the salad, I might add), and was immediately smitten. The slightly tannic base, thick with puréed apple and red as a lover’s blush, was oddly mesmerizing. I begged her to share the recipe.

Once I’d copied it meticulously from her cookbook (the name of which has dissipated forever into the ether of my age-addled memory), I took it home and filed it in my “soups” recipe folder.  There it lay, neglected and withering, for months at a time.  Whenever a special occasion would arise–a dinner party, say, or the holidays–I’d determine to revive the apple-red wine romance, slide the page from the folder, place it on the counter, and leave it there it lay for a few days, before I sheepishly returned it to its resting place.  For one reason or another, I never made it again.  

As soon as I decided to run this Lucky Comestible series on apples, however, I knew which soup recipe I’d use. Last week, I strode  over to my cookbook shelves and withdrew the “Soups” folder once again.  I began to leaf through the recipes. . . then checked again. . . then went through them all, one page at a time.  Horrors!–the soup recipe was gone!!

I can’t adequately express the devastation I felt at realizing I’d somehow either lost or misplaced that recipe. I simply couldn’t imagine leaving it out.  It’s the perfect “Let’s-try-something-different-this-holiday-season” soup,  the perfect “let’s-wow-the-guests” soup, the perfect “I-love-you-be-my-Valentine” soup. Besides, I hadn’t eaten it in 20 years, and the memory of that unique flavor and texture was still compelling.  I decided to try to reproduce the soup from the taste memory. 

I’m happy to report that the results were stellar.  Not only did I fall in love all over again, the HH was besotted, too. 

“Hey, this tastes like real food!” he enthused.  (I stared blankly.)  “You know, like it has butter and cream and maybe even meat in it.”  (For the HH, that is a compliment. But no, there’s no taste of meat in it.) 

My soup isn’t quite as red as I remember the original being, but the flavor was just as I’d dreamed it.  Thick, rich, and full bodied, with a slightly creamy texture that’s nevertheless robust, both warming and filling.  The flavor is definitely that of apple, yet savory and slightly piquant at the same time.

I still love this soup, and am thrilled to have had this reunion, two decades later.  And now you can fall in love, too.  This would be perfect to serve if you’re looking for something a little different this Thanksgiving. 

Just don’t forget where you filed the recipe. 

Apple and Red Wine Soup

This is a great first course for a festive holiday meal.  As such, serve in small bowls or soup mugs–the soup is filling, and you want to leave room for the rest of the meal!  This also makes a perfect winter’s lunch with a salad and big hunk of crusty bread.

1 large onion, chopped

4 large crisp apples, peeled, cored and diced (I used MacIntosh and HoneyCrisp)

2 cups (480 ml) vegetable broth or stock

2 Tbsp-1/4 cup (30 ml-60 ml) maple syrup, to taste, or 10 drops stevia

2 tsp (10 ml) cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

1/4 tsp (1 ml) cloves

2 tsp (10 ml) freshly grated lemon zest

1 Tbsp (15 ml) fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup (120 ml) drinkable dry red wine (or use unsweetened cranberry juice for ACD-friendly version)

1 Tbsp (15 ml) arrowroot powder

1/2 cup (120 ml) full fat coconut milk, plus more for garnish

Heat the oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onion and apple and sauté until the onion is translucent and the apples begin to give off a bit of liquid, about 10 minutes.

Add the broth, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, lemon zest and lemon juice; lower heat.  Cover and simmer until the apples are tender, 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the arrowroot with the coconut milk in a small bowl.  Once the apples are tender, add the coconut milk mixture and stir to blend well.  Allow to cook for an additional minute, until thickened.  Turn off heat.

Pour the mixture in batches into a blender, or use an immersion blender, and blend until smooth.  Return the soup to the pot, stir in the wine, and return to heat until the soup is heated through, about 5 minutes.  Garnish with a drizzle of coconut milk, if desired.  Makes 4-6 servings.  May be frozen.

ACD adjustments:  use stevia instead of maple syrup, and unsweetened cranberry juice instead of the red wine.

Last Year at this Time:  Eggplant “Caviar”

Other Posts in this Series:

• Lucky Comestible 6(1): Roasted Red Pepper and Apple Dip
• Lucky Comestible 6(2): Classic Waldorf Salad
• Lucky Comestible 6(4) Potato Terrine with Apples and “Goat Cheese”
• Lucky Comestibel 6(5) Giant Baked Upside Down Apple Pancake

Other Apple-Based Recipes You Might Enjoy:

• Tofu Omelet with Sautéed Apples and Sweet Curry Sauce
• Apple-Quinoa Cake (gluten free)
• Earth Bowl Breakfast (yikes! Getta loada that photo!)
• Apple Noodle Pudding (Kugel)
• Grown-Up Baked Apples with Walnuts and Figs
• Mock Green Papaya Salad

Other Lucky Comestibles:

• Lucky Comestible 1: Sweet Potato
• Lucky Comestible 2: Quinoa
• Lucky Comestible 3: Avocado
• Lucky Comestible 4: Coconut
• Lucky Comestible 5: Cilantro

© 2009 Diet, Dessert and Dogs