Chef MJ Adams

Foodie Pioneer

MJ Adams

Yellow Lentil Soup

 

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Yellow Lentil Soup

flavorful winter soup with a hint of tomato, tumeric, and fresh ginger

Course: Appetizer
Ingredients
  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil extra virgin
  • 2 stalks stalks of celery, diced
  • 4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 large large yellow onion, peeled. Cut in half and cut into medium dice.
  • 3/4 cup leeks, washed and sliced white part plus 1/4" of the green
  • 2 cups yellow lentils
  • 1 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp white pepper
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • small knob of ginger grated about 1 Tbsp
  • clove of garlic, chopped
  • 2 medium tomatoes, blanched with skins removed and core
  • 9 cups water
  • salt and pepper for seasoning
Recipe Notes

Place the stock pot on the stove and turn to medium heat.  Add the olive oil and 2 Tablespoons of butter.  When the butter starts to sizzle, add the carrots, onion, celery and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp of salt and a few cracks of the pepper grinder.   Place a lid on this and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are wilted.  Turn down the heat if necessary and give a stir.    

Next add in the turmeric, white and red pepper, 3/4 cup of leeks, grated ginger and  garlic clove and the last Tablespoon of butter.  Give a stir.  While this is cooking take the lentils and place in a bowl.  Look over to make sure there are no small stones or other foreign objects.  Give a rinse and place these into the stock pot.  Add in the 9 cups of cold water and the two tomatoes.  Give the tomatoes a squish in a bowl before adding to the soup.

Bring the soup to a boil and allow to simmer for 60 - 75 minutes or until the lentils are soft.  Give the soup a stir every 15 minutes.  The soup should be thick but not porridge. You may need to add another half a cup to one cup of water during simmering if necessary. Taste for seasoning.  I find a little more salt is usually needed since you are making a whole pot of soup. 

Curried Goat Chili

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Curried Goat Chili
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
2 hrs 20 mins
Total Time
2 hrs 40 mins
 

A recipe inspired by Tom Barnes who raised goats in Custer, SD. We did a demo together for SD Specialty producers for Douglas High School Home Economics class. Photo by Cory Tomovick.

Course: Main Course
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
  • 1 pound ground goat meat
  • 1 medium Spanish onion finely chopped
  • 15 oz. can coconut milk
  • 15 oz. can diced tomatoes I used fire roasted from Muir but regular fine
  • 15 oz can chickpeas garbanzo, drained and rinsed or freshly cooked chickpeas
  • 3 Tablespoons curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons of Turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons salt more possibly after cooking.
  • 2 Tablespoons ghee butter that has the fat taken out, this allows to cook on high heat without burning the butter. Sold in most grocery stores now and is in specialty or health food stores
  • 4 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 4 Tablespoons chopped scallions sliced at a diagonal, thinly
Instructions
  1. Brown the goat meat in a heavy skillet. Remove the meat and set aside.

  2. Heat the ghee in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until soft, about 7-9 minutes. Add in the curry paste and chili powder. Add in another Tablespoon of Ghee if the mixture seems to dry. Cook for a few minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the cooked goat meat, diced tomatoes, coconut milk, chickpeas, turmeric and salt to the mixture. Stir well to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes uncovered, giving a stir every 15 minutes. At the end, check to see if you need to add a little more salt. Once the 45 minutes is up, remove the chili from the heat and stir in the cilantro and scallions. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.

  3. Cucumber Raita (best made the day of so cukes won't be soft)

  4. 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) of thick, Greek-style yogurt. Use full fat for flavor.

  5. 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
  6. 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  7. salt & pepper to taste

  8. Using a fork, mix together yogurt, cucumber and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Add a little salt and pepper. Let sit for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator while the chili cooks. Dollop on top of the Goat Chili, give a stir before. Serve the chili over Basmati rice.

Recipe Notes
  • You can use fresh garbanzo-chick peas. Just  soak overnight and cook the day of. You could even do this two days before. Fresh chickpeas do add that special touch.
  • I usually buy curry powder when abroad or in a big city. I have a Keralan Curry that I bought at London's Borough Market.  When I use it, it reminds me of that trip.  Health food stores usually carry organic curry powder as well as ghee.  I also find ghee in supermarkets now. 
  • Ghee is just clarified butter.  You could substitute olive or grape seed oil but I find it gives the recipe more depth.  Ghee is used in Indian Cuisine.  It comes in a jar and once opened, must be refrigerated.   Because the fat has been removed it doesn’t pop or spit. Butter Fat has water which most butters are full of water. Ghee won't start smoking till around 485 degrees which means it has a high cooking temp. 
  • Pita bread is great with this dish.

Roasted Garnet Yam, Green Lentil and Feta Cheese Salad

 

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Roasted Garnet Yam, green lentil and feta cheese salad
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
45 mins
10
15 mins
Total Time
1 hr 30 mins
 

Salad inspired from a Diana Henry recipe

Course: Salad
Ingredients
  • 1 cup green lentils Here I used Puy lentils but any green lentil will do. I always sort thru the lentils and give a rinse first.
  • 1 small carrot, peeled and cut into small dice
  • 1 small shallot, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 small lemon For juice and for zest
  • 2 slabs good Feta cheese about 1 cup when crumbled Do not buy feta already crumbled, I find it has no flavor. Use full fat, it has more flavor.
  • 1 large Garnet Yam, peeled and cut into 3/4" cubes
  • 2 T good olive oil Plus more for drizzling over salad.
  • 1 T Dijon Mustard
  • 2 T champagne vinegar White or a mild vinegar would also work
  • salt and pepper for seasoning
Instructions

  1. Place the pot on the stove and add the 2 T of olive oil into it. Turn to a medium heat. Add the carrot and let it cook but not brown in the oil. It should cook for about 4-5 minutes.

  2. Add in the lentils and 1 1/2 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the lentils are done. You should be able to taste one and make sure it is cooked. They should be cooked thru but not mush. Drain and immediately pour onto a sheet pan. Drizzle at least 3 T. of olive oil all over the lentils.

  3. While the lentils are cooking you want to take the garnet yams and place in a bowl. Season with a whisper of salt and pepper and drizzle about 2 T. of olive oil over them. Mix well and put on a sheet pan and place in a 375 oven till brown. This may take about 30-40 minutes. You want to give the yams a stir half way thru cooking to make sure they brown on all sides. When they are cooked, set aside to cool.

  4. Take the lemon and zest/grate it over the entire batch of lentils on the pan. You just want the yellow part and it should be a fine grate. Cut the lemon in half and juice it. In a small bowl add the lemon juice, mustard and vinegar. Mix well and pour over the lentils. Sprinkle the chopped shallots over the lentils and mix well. You want to do this when the lentils are still warm. I find the lentils absorb flavors more when they are still warm. Crack pepper over the lentils.

  5. Place the lentil mixture in a bowl. Give a gentle stir. Toss in 1/2 the cooked yams and crumble half of the feta cheese in. Give it a stir and taste. Do not over stir. You want the food to be clean so you can see the individual piece of roasted yam and the nice clump of feta. I find that the feta is salty enough so you may not need to add any salt to the dish. Every feta cheese is different and this is why I always encourage people to taste their food. If you feel the seasoning is good than pour the mixture out onto a platter. Also make sure the salad has enough olive oil. If when you taste it you feel it could be a little dry than by all means pour in another tablespoon or more into the mixture. Place the rest of the cooked yams over the salad and the rest of the feta cheese.

Recipe Notes

Notes: If you do not have access to garnet yams you could use a sweet potato.  I like to eat this salad at room temperature.  You could make the lentils the day before and than the next day leave out and cook the yams and than finish the rest of the salad.  My favorite feta is made from sheep's milk and comes from Israel.  I am not a big fan of crumbled cheese.  I find it has no flavor and is usually not that high a quality of product. If this is all you have access to than by all means go ahead and use it.  You might need to add more olive oil since I find the crumbled feta to be dry.

This is a great side dish to a roasted chicken or this could even eaten as a main lunch dish served along with toasted pita.   The addition of honeydew melon or cantaloupe slices for dessert are a nice touch.   

Summer Carrot Soup

 

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Summer Carrot Soup
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Total Time
1 hr 5 mins
 
Servings: 5 People
Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 13 small carrots, peeled & cut in 1/4" pieces. Enough to equal 4 cups
  • 1 celery stalk, peeled & cut into 1/4" pieces
  • 1 large yellow onion, peeled. Cut in half and cut into medium dice.
  • 1/4 cup chocolate mint, chopped
  • 13 small potatoes, peeled & cut in halves. Enough to equal 3 cups
  • 7 cups cold water
  • Greek Yogurt or Labneh for garnish
  • salt & pepper for garnish
Instructions

  1. Place the stockpot on medium heat. Add into the pot the olive oil and butter.

  2. When the butter begins to sizzle, add in all the carrots, celery and onion pieces.

  3. Add in 1 tbsp of salt and a few grinds of the peper mill. Give a stir and put the lid on the pot to help sweat the vegetables. Stir after 5 minutes. You want to allow the vegetables to cook down and get a little color.

  4. Add in the chopped chocolate mint and give a stir. Let the vegetables cook for another 5 minutes. If the heat is to high, turn it down.

  5. Add the cut potatoes and the 7 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Let cook for 40 minutes or until the vegetables are easily smashed with a fork.

  6. Let the soup cool for 10 minutes and puree either with a wand or in a food processor. If while pureeing you feel the soup is too thick you can add 1/2 a cup of water at a time. You want a nice consistency so the yogurt will rest on top of the soup. You do not want a porridge but more like a light custard that is pourable. Taste the soup for seasoning.

Recipe Notes

NOTES:

I like to serve this soup at room temperature with a few dollops of either a Greek yogurt or Labneh as a garnish.  Toasted Nan or pita bread make a nice accompaniment along with some black olive tapenade on the side.  

If you cannot get chocolate mint, you could substitute any type of mint.  Most garden shops have a variety of mint that is easily grown in a large pot.  I have pineapple and chocolate in my garden this summer.  Most grocery stores have the regular mint but the chocolate gives it an additional depth which is a great taste in the summer. 

I like to peel the celery because I find it is a little stringy and by just lightly peeling the outer layer of the celery you do not get the stringy bits. 

Curried Roasted Hubbard Squash and Potato

 

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Roasted Hubbard Squash Soup
Prep Time
55 mins
Cook Time
55 mins
Total Time
1 hr 50 mins
 
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6
Ingredients
  • 96 grams cleaned carrots, cut into medium dice about 3
  • 65 grams cleaned celery, cut into medium dice about 2 stalks
  • 170 grams medium size red onion
  • 17 grams butter unsalted
  • 21 ml olive oil extra virgin
  • 750 grams red potatoes about 4-5 medium size
  • 10 grams curry powder
  • 580 grams roasted Hubbard squash meat 1 squash weighing 1.36 kg or 3 lbs.
  • salt and pepper for seasoning
  • 1600 ml cold water
  • 28 grams heavy cream optional
Recipe Notes

Start with roasting the Hubbard squash.  Cut it vertically in half.  Scoop out the seeds and place cut side down on a sheet pan.  I put a piece of parchment paper down first for easy clean up.  Put the squash in a 350º F/177º C preheated oven.  Roast for at least 55 minutes or until the squash skin is tender to touch.  Take out and let cool for at least 15 minutes.  Scoop out the meat.  This part could be done several days ahead of time.  Squash meat freezes well.  I like to weight it out and than put in a freezer bag with the weight marked on it.  If you have leftover squash meat, I also like to use as a filling with spices mixed in for ravioli or tortellini.  

Take the red onion, peel it, cut in half and cut into thin half moon slices. In a large pot, add the olive oil and butter.  When the butter begins to sizzle add in the celery, carrot and red onion.  Turn the heat down to medium.  I add in a few pinches of salt and a crack of pepper from the grinder.  I like to put a lid on the vegetables to help them sweat and caramelize.  After 10 minutes add in the curry powder, turn the heat down to low. Put the lid back on and let the curry powder cook with the sweated vegetables for about 5-7 minutes.

While the curry powder works its magic with the vegetables, take the potatoes and peel them.  Cut each potato into small dice and place them in enough water so they are covered.   Take the lid off the pot, give a stir and add in the roasted squash meat.  Give a stir and let cook with the vegetables for about 5 minutes with the lid back on the pot on low heat.  Drain the water off the potatoes and than add these into the  pot along with the 1600 ml of cold water.  Add in a few more pinches of salt.  Bring to a boil and turn down to a low simmer.  Let this cook for at least 45-50 minutes or until the vegetables are easily mashed with a fork. 

You can either use a wand to completely blend the soup or a blender.   I like to wait until the soup is pretty cool before I use my blender.  Check the soup for thickness.  You may need to add a little more water if the soup is too thick.  You do not want porridge.  Check the soup for seasoning.  If it needs a little more salt or pepper, add it.  Don't be afraid of salt.  When you think of the large pot of soup it is very different seasoning it than seasoning  a salad for yourself or two scrambled eggs.  Salt brings out the flavor of things. Add in the heavy cream.  Serve the soup as an appetizer or you can enjoy as a main meal with a baguette and a green salad for dinner. 

Gazpacho Soup

 

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Gazpacho
Servings: 6 people
Ingredients
  • 1 lb. various colored ripe tomatoes cherry, Roma or heirloom-cut into chunks about the size of a quarter
  • 1/2 small red onion cut into the same size as the tomatoes
  • 1 medium cucumber peeled, deseeded and cut into same size as tomatoes
  • 1 jalapeno deseeded, cut into small dice
  • 1 small yellow, purple, orange pepper deseeded, cut into size of tomatoes
  • 5 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil good quality
  • 4 cups Tomato Juice try and use low salt and a good quality tomato juice
The second group of vegetables are to be cut freehand for the soup
  • 1 medium cucumber deseeded
  • 3 Roma tomatoes cut in half, deseeded
  • 2 small garlic cloves smashed and made into a paste
  • 1 small yellow, purple or orange pepper deseeded
  • 1/4 small red onion cut into small dice
  • 4 T red wine vinegar
  • 2 pinches salt
  • 3 tsp Cumin ground
  • extra virgin olive oil for drizzling as a garnish
  • pepper mill filled with ground pepper
Instructions

  1. Place the first group of vegetables in a robot-coupe.  Hitting pulse, gently chop the vegetables.  You can hold the pulse button down for 5 seconds a few times.  You want to chop all the vegetables till they are all the same size.  You want to create a slurry but you want to be able to distinguish the vegetables even thou they may be small.  It really is a preference but I like them to be not so chunky. (I leave that to a good salsa.)  After a few pulses, remove the lid and give the mixture a stir with a spatula.  Once the vegetables are pureed, place the entire contents of the robot-coupe in a container that will hold at least 2 1/2 quarts of liquid or 9 cups. It  also should have a lid.  To this container with the vegetables add the 5 T of olive oil and the tomato juice. Give a good stir, put the lid on and put in the refrigerator.  

    Get a large bowl. Take the second round of vegetables and by group julienne them into thin slices. Take these slices and cut into small dice (brunoise).  You should do this with the cucumber, Roma tomatoes, and pepper. As you cut each vegetable, place it into the bowl. Add in the smashed garlic that is a paste into this mixture along with the the red onion. Remove the container from the refrigerator. Stir all of these ingredients into this.  Add several cracks of ground pepper along with the Cumin and salt.  Stir again and let chill for at least 6 hours.  Right before service I taste for seasoning and this is when I add more salt if necessary.  You could even put the serving bowls or cups into the refrigerator to give the soup an extra chill. 

Recipe Notes

This recipe makes 8 cups of Gazpacho.  I do not use red peppers because they tend to make the Gazpacho a little too sweet for me but feel free to use them. 

This recipe is traditionally made with bread.  I use 1 1/2 cups of crumbled french or Italian bread trimmed of crust.  I add this after the 4 cups of tomato juice.  This can be optional since so many people are gluten free these days. 

As a garnish I like to use radishes cut into thin match sticks, croutons (if I am using bread in the recipe), a few hardboiled egg slices or chopped eggs on top.  To one of these garnishes, I finish with a pinch of Paprika and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. 

If you like cilantro, feel free to add.  If you like spicier add some Tabasco.  Make this recipe your own if you like.  I would enjoy this with a great Gewürztraminer.