Rainbow Soups - Green: Cream of Broccoli Soup

Origin

There isn't a lot to say about the origin of cream soups beyond the fact that they became mass produced by Campbell's in 1934 with broccoli soup being introduced to the lineup in 1990.

Ingredients
all ingredient links lead to the magic spotlight post

2 medium sized broccoli heads
2 garlic cloves
1 small onion
750 ml - 1L broth of your choice (I used chicken but veg stock or beef will do too)
1 cup cream
3 medium potato
salt and pepper to taste

Tools

Knife and cutting board
2 pots
Wet measures
Spoon
Peeler
Blender or stick blender

Directions

As with all of my soups up to this point were going to start with a variation on mirepoix (I’ll do a kitchen basics on this shortly) with your onions and garlic, diced and sauteed in oil preferably until they begin to gain some colour but transparent is fine.

Next will be the potatoes. Peel and cut these into 1 - 1 1/2 inch chunks. They don't have to be pretty as we’ll be blending them eventually. Toss these into your pot along with 750ml of the broth of your choice.

Bring to a boil and simmer until your potatoes are tender. While waiting, start preparing your broccoli. Start by cutting off the heads. Set them to the side for a moment. Take the stocks and peel or slice the thick skin off. Cut the tender inside into chunks and set this aside while you bring the florets back. Cut these into smaller bits (smaller then the picture) keeping the stems that you cut off and simply chop them the way you did the large stocks.

Add the chopped stocks and half of the florets to the pot, continue to boil for about 3-5 minutes, just until the broccoli becomes a bright green colour. While that is boiling take the other half of the florets and chop up finely.

Carefully and safely blend this mix either with a stick blender or in a blender. In both cases it is safest to let the mixture cool before blending. Return to the heat and add the finely chopped florets, salt and pepper tot taste and 1 cup of cream. Stir until combined and hot. Serve.

Serving

Not much to serving for this one, it's soup! I do enjoy garnishing with some shredded cheese and serving it alongside a sandwich. My favourite soup side sandwich is grilled cheese but to think the soup would rock beside a ham sandwich.

Short and Gritty

Ingredients

2 medium sized broccoli heads
2 garlic cloves
1 small onion
750 ml - 1L broth of your choice (I used chicken but veg stock or beef will do too)
1 cup cream
3 medium potato

Tools

Knife and cutting board
2 pots
Wet measures
Spoon
Peeler
Blender or stick blender

Directions

1. Saute onions and garlic until translucent or slightly browned
2. While those are cooking peel and chunk potatoes
3. Add potatoes and broth to the pot and bring to a boil to cook the potatoes
4. While that is cooking prepare the broccoli:
    4a. Cut off the stems and peel them. cut into chunks
    4b. Cut florets into smaller pieces continuing to keep and cut the stems
5. When the potatoes are tender add the broccoli stems only and boil for another 5 minutes
6. Add half of the florets and boil for another 2 to 3 minutes or until they are a bright green
7. Blend the cooked mixture in as safe a way as possible (let it cool down!)
8. Cut the other half of the florets into basically a mince
9. Everything into the pot now, the blended mixture, cream and the second half of the florets
10. Stir, bring back to a simmer and serve

Ingredient Spotlight: Broccoli

About

Scientific Name: Brassica oleracea italica
Cultivation: commercial cultivation dates back to the 1500s but was not popular in North America until the 1920’s. It was originally engineered by the Etruscans from a relative of the cabbage.

Broccoli is a large edible flower, like artichokes, that is native to the medditerranean. It is related to cauliflower and brussel sprouts and has a flavour akin to cabbage. We are accustomed to seeing calabrese broccoli but other varieties exist, namely romanesco which has thinner and more numerous stocks. In addition to this there are also hybrids available like broccolini (mixed with kale) and broccoflower (mixed with cauliflower.)

This semi-leafy green is a good source of calcium, vitamin C and folate as well as fiber!

Magical

I always seem to have the most issue finding information on veggies. Herbs are easy but the real “meat” of the recipes seems to be harder to find. The one source I did find has broccoli as being for protection and power.

This is a good time to talk about that intuitionLINK thing again! When you can't find the information you're looking for its time to turn to your own mind! You can use a combination of intuition and logic to figure some stuff out.

Basically you want to look at the mundane characteristics of the ingredient and see how that may translate to something metaphysical. So what are our mundane characteristics? Broccoli is green, a flower, and has a sturdy stem/stalk. So then we take that and extrapolate.

Green: money, wealth, wellness, nature, growth
Flower/florets specifically: growth, budding, new
Sturdy stem: strength, grounding, foundation

So putting this all together what can we use broccoli for? Creating foundation for budding projects pertaining to prosperity, health and growth.

But now I want you to do the same thing, either with broccoli or with another ingredient you love, and tell me what you found down in the comments below.

Mundane

As with every mundane section the health claims are not advice from me to follow. If you find one of these claims interesting please talk to your doctor or do some research from reputable sources. You can begin your search in the studies linked on the healthline article below.

Without further adieu, broccoli may:
- reduce inflammation theorized to come from a synergism of compounds.
- protect against some cancers (like most foods seem to.)
- help with blood sugar levels because of antioxidants and fiber
- help with cholesterol levels and overall heart health
- fiber = good poops.
- support brain function and help stunt decline.
- Promote a healthy immune system because it is chock full of Vitamin C.
- support dental and oral hygiene and care in addition to bone and joint health. Calcium content is part of the reason for this
- promote a healthy pregnancy because of its folate content.
- protect the skin from sun damage.

The same sulphur compounds that cause gas when broccoli is overcooked also have an antibacterial and antiviral effect.

As far as cooking with broccoli it is best if cooked the least. Heat degrades vitamins and minerals, specifically vitamin C so cooking for the smallest amounts of time, or nit at all, will provide you with the most nutrients. However, it is a bit of a fallacy that cooked vegetables lack nutrition at all. Just keep this point in mind. If you do choose to cook your broccoli steaming has been shown to degrade the nutrients the least.

Links to follow up with:

Top 14 Health Benefits of Broccoli (healthline.com)
The History of Broccoli as a Food (thespruceeats.com)

Traditional Basil Pesto

Origin

Pesto, as it is known today (and specifically known as pesto alla genovese,) originated in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, Italy.

The word pesto comes from the past participle of, “to pound,” or, “to crush,” in Genoese, pesta. This shares the same latin origin of pestle from mortar and pestle which is the traditional way of making pesto (and the method I used.)

Pesto has 2 possible predecessors moretum from Ancient Rome and agliata from the Middle ages in Liguria. Both are paste-like sauces made by crushing and mixing their ingredients. The introduction of basil as the show stopper wasn't until 1863 when Giovanni Battista Ratto published his book “La Cuciniera Genovese.”

Ingredients
all link on ingredients are to the ingredient spotlight posts of this blog

2 cloves garlic
1 large pinch coarse salt
1 bunch Basil (28g or so)
2 tbsp pine nuts
¼ cup** freshly grated Parmesan (or other hard cheese)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

** measuring grated Parmesan cheese by volume is a little tricky, like flour it holds a lot of air. If you have a scale I recommend using it (I need to get myself a new one) and I would measure about an ounce of cheese for this recipe according to the recipes I worked off of for this.

Tools

Mortar and pestle (a food processor can be used as well)
Measuring cups/spoons

Directions

If you haven't already made sure your Parmesan is grated. Before you begin processing you wil also want to take the leaves from the stems of your basil and remove the skins from your garlic cloves.

To begin, crush the garlic in the mortar along with a generous pinch of coarse salt. The salt will add an abrasiveness that will help break down the garlic which is why I have specified a coarse salt. Do this until the garlic has totally become a paste (the same way we did with toum.)

Next add in your basil leaves a good handful at a time. For this amount I split the basil into about three handfuls. Use the pestle to crush the basil leaves into your garlic paste until they reach the desired texture then add the next handful and repeat until all of the basil has been incorporated.

**witchy tip** every time you add a new handful, or new ingredient for that matter, restate your intentions

Once your garlic and basil resemble a homogeneous paste it's time to move onto the pine nuts. You should be able to add them all at the same time. Keep crushing until they too become a part of the paste indistinguishable from the other ingredients.

The next ingredient to add in is the cheese. You guessed it, add in the cheese in handfuls and slowly work to incorporate each handful before the next one. We finally see the colour changing here and it looks like what we know pesto to look like. A vibrant light green paste. But it is very thick so we must add one more important ingredient…

… the oil. Again, follow the pattern. Add your oil in small amounts, i suggest a tablespoon at a time. Make sure the oil is totally incorporated before adding the next tablespoon. If you get to a point where you can't incorporate anymore don't feel the need to add the rest of the measure.

And there you have it! Your very own Pesto alla Genovese. Of course there are many substitutions that can be made and you can play around with the ratios of ingredients as well but this is the simple traditional style of pesto.

 

 

If you want to try something a little different, try a different nut or herb, you can even try an herbal blend like using basil and marjoram together! Let me know if you try this recipe and especially if you decide to experiment!

 

Serving

My favourite way to serve pesto is on gnocchi. Most traditionally it is served on hot pasta for dinner but I also love it as the sauce choice for cold pasta salad. It also gives a great pick me up to a sandwich especially a ham and Swiss. If you are serving a group try it as part of your canapes or as part of a stuffed cherry tomato appetizer. (Recipes to follow perhaps? Let me know if you're interested!) It really is versatile. Get funky with it and let me know what kind of serving experiments you come up with, good and bad!

Short and Gritty

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic
1 large pinch coarse salt
1 bunch Basil (28g or so)
2 tbsp pine nuts
¼ cup** freshly grated Parmesan (or other hard cheese)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

** measuring grated Parmesan cheese by volume is a little tricky, like flour it holds a lot of air. If you have a scale I recommend using it (I need to get myself a new one) and I would measure about an ounce of cheese for this recipe according to the recipes I worked off of for this.

Tools

Mortar and pestle (a food processor can be used as well)
Measuring cups/spoons

Directions

1. crush garlic and salt in mortar
2. add and crush basil
3. add and crush pine nuts
4. add and crush cheese
5. add and mix oil
6. serve

Ingredient Spotlight: Basil

“Semer le basilic’‘ (to sow the basil) ~French idiom

(refers to ranting, origins due to belief in Europe that bail was of the devil and in order to make it grow you had to curse at the ground as you planted it)

About

Scientific Name: Ocimum Basilicum
Origin: origin and domestication in India however, basil took the firmest root in the regions of Liguria, Italy, and Provence, France.
Cultivation: Over 5000 years. Grows best in hot dry climates and has zero frost tolerance. Grows best outside but can be sown in pots indoors. Requires full sun (6 to 8 hours)

Basil’s scientific name is derived from the Greek “to be fragrant” and the Latin for basilisk denoting some of its properties. Basil is a very fragrant plant consisting of strong essential oils and its history says that it is tied to sanity; either making you go mad or saving you from it depending on your source. The word basil itself comes from the Greek for king and along with this is commonly thought to have been used as a royal perfume (going back that “to be fragrant aspect.”)

There are a multitude of different types of basil including, but not limited to, sweet, holy, Thai, lemon and cinnamon. The most commonly used in the kitchen is sweet basil but others are not particularly uncommon either.

There are cultural uses spread across much of the world; some contradict each other but many tow similar lines. For example, basil is tied to the afterlife in parts of Europe, Greece, and India. It is given to the dead (placed in hand or mouth) to provide safe passage or to open the gates of heaven.

Magical

Deities: Tulasi, Vishnu, Erzulie
Correspondences: Masculine/ Yang, Fire, Mars. Steady the mind, happiness, love, peace, money, protection, romance and attraction.
How to Use it: use it in tea, sachets, give as a gift to a suitor (usually in food,) place in your wallet or near your cash register to attract money, use as an offering to deities or spirit.

Mundane

First and foremost, basil is delicious. As far as the science goes it pretty much end there but here are some claims for you to check out:

Has some antibiotic and anti-fungal properties. In this vein it is good for dental health and chewing on fresh basil leaves may help with dental hygiene upkeep.

May aid in digestion and prevent gas or other stomach complaints, specifically those that require a calming effect (ie good for constipation not for diarrhea.)

Basil has a mild sedative effect and therefore is used to help with stress and anxiety reduction as well as headaches caused by these conditions.

Has been used to help treat skin irritations like eczema, psoriasis and acne. The compound ursolic acid may be the reason for this.

May help with mental clarity and memory, improve blood health, protect against some types of cancer and ulcers, and repel some insects (as with most, if not all, plants in the mint family.)

There isn't a huge amount of scientific proof for these claims but you can find some sources over at the Healthline link provided below. This link also provides some warnings of medication interactions especially those tied to circulatory health.

Main Sources used:

Magickal Aspects of Basil – Witchcraft & Pagan Lifestyle Blog, The Magick Kitchen
Basil - The Witchipedia
Basil: Nutrition, Health Benefits, Uses and More (healthline.com)

Sabbat Series: Ostara - The Recipe

"ab ova usque ad mala”—literally from eggs to apples, or from the beginning of a meal to the end.

Devilled Eggs

Origin: Recipes similar to this have been found as early as Ancient Rome. They go by many names including stuffed eggs, dressed eggs and, Russian eggs ad different versions hale from many countries. I really wish I would have done my origin research first as the devilled eggs I know and love a pretty boring compared to some of the extravagant stuffed eggs from around the world. I will definitely be doing some more testing and I hope you'll come along with me! Stuffed eggs made there way to the states by the mid 19th century

The devilled eggs you are used to are definitely not where stuffed eggs began. One of the earliest mentions of using mayonnaise was in the, "Boston Cooking-School Cookbook," by Frannie Farmer. However, mayonnaise wasn't  a common ingredient in the recipe until 1940's despite the fact that it was commercially available in 1907.

The now widely accepted ingredients for the filling are eggs yolks, mayonnaise, mustard and paprika. Of course there's nothing stopping you from sprucing them up with anything from green onion or garlic powder to the more "exotic" sriracha or pickled herring.

The term devilled started in the 18th century first found written in 1786. It simply refers to a recipe that is zesty or spicy. Other well known foods with this prefix are devilled ham and fra diavolo (an Italian sauce.)

In the states the spelling differs slightly with only a single "l" and specifically in the Southern and Midwestern States you will more commonly heard them referred to as seasoned or dressed eggs (or so Wikipedia tells me.)

Ingredients

6 eggs, hard-boiled and cooled
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp prepared mustard (Dijon is a nice choice but yellow works just fine)
1 green onion (more to garnish if you want*)
salt and pepper, to taste
paprika, for garnish

Tools

a bowl
a fork
a spoon (or two) or

optional: piping bag with or without tip

Directions

You're going to start by peeling your hard boiled eggs.

** Pro tip** add a little baking soda to the water while you boil and you'll have less trouble peeling and there for prettier eggs

Cut the eggs in half lengthwise

**Pro tip** run your knife under hot water between cuts and you'll get less yolk stuck and nicer cuts

Gently remove the yolks from the whites and place them on your bowl. You can do this with a spoon but i find just gently squeezing the white dislodges the yolks and then they're easy to take out with your fingers. I find the whites rip less with this method too.

Using your fork mash the yolks and then slowly add in your mayo, mustard, salt and pepper. Mix until the mixture is smooth you can add more or less mayo if you want to change the consistency of the egg filling but I like mine a little on the thicker side.

Cut your green onion very thinly on the bias (on the diagonal) and mix it in to your yolk mixture.

*If you want to also use as a garnish cut up two green onions and keep the greener ends as garnish and mix the rest into the egg mixture

Form here you can be fancy or not. I used a piping bag with a star tip to fill my eggs but you can just as easily use a spoon (plus your finger or another spoon.) Spread the filling evenly between your egg whites filling the hole where the yolk used to be.





Garnish as you like (with green onion, chives and or paprika) and serve.

 

Serving

For Ostara I will be serving them on a bed of spring greens probably for lunch. Traditionally though they are served as an hors d'ouvres. The idea of having them as an early course actually dates all the way back to Ancient Rome. They are also a fantastic addition to any pot luck or picnic. There really is no reason to serve them with anything but if you want to build a plate with them on it I would suggest picnic pair like cucumber sandwiches, green salad and three bean salad or with BBQ fare like burgers and hot dogs as a substitute for something like egg and potato salad.

The Short and Gritty

Ingredients

6 eggs, hard-boiled and cooled
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp prepared mustard (dijon is a nice choice but yellow works just fine)
1 green onion (more to garnish if you want*)
salt and pepper, to taste
paprika, for garnish

Tools

a bowl
a fork
a spoon (or two) or

optional: piping bag with or without tip

Directions

1. Peel eggs
2. slice lengthwise
3. Remove yolks and mash them in bowl
4. Combine with mayo, salt, pepper and green onion (sliced thinly and diagonally)
5. Replace yolk mixture into egg whites
6. Garnish and serve

Sabbat Series: Ostara - The Info

 

That’s right, another holiday of the Wheel of the Year is upon us! Ostara (remind you of anything?) is the second sabbat of the Julian calendar and marks the Spring Equinox. It’s the time of year when we begin working on our gardens (for some of us at least, it’s mid winter here…) by either planning or by starting our seeds depending on our personal climates and indoor growing abilities. In the same stride we can metaphorically begin planting seeds by planning upcoming projects for the light half of the year which begins today.

We’ve been talking for some time now about the dark half of the year and how it's all about reflection and introspection but now, as the weather warms up it's time to get out of our heads and start taking action again! At Imbloc we began clearing the cobwebs from our tools and from our brains but now it's time to start greasing the wheels.

Of course we will get to an appropriate recipe but with the change in format overall I thought I’d stick with it for the sabbats as well. So today’s post is gonna be all the witchy metaphysical stuff and then you can find the recipe posted on Sunday this week!

For my own practice I've been trying to put together what I’m calling, “Simplified Sabbats,” it’s still a work in progress but basically I want to focus on just a few correspondences rather than the whole slough that comes with each. This is what I want to share with you along with some traditional and historical stuff.

Ostara’s History

Ostara is named after a Germanic goddess of the same name who was later adapted into a Saxon deity Eostre. Both are associated with fertility and in that same vein hares and eggs. Sounding familiar? As with many Christian holidays we can find their roots in Pagan celebrations. But before we get into that I want to finish up on the Pagan bits. Basically Ostara is the more modern holiday (being found on the Wiccan Wheel of the year) for any vernal equinox celebration. It goes by many names in different cultures (such as: Alban Eiler, Rites of Spring, Eostra’s Day, Vernal Equinox, March Equinox, Spring Equinox, Lady Day, Bacchanalia) but they all share the celebration of being able to begin a new agricultural cycle.

Slowly Christians took Ostara to Eostre and moved further away to what we now know as Easter. Interestingly enough there is another fertility goddess, Ishtar. Ostara + Eostre + Ishtar = Easter? Anyway, this is where the symbols of the more secular side of Easter comes from, the bunnies and the eggs. There is a story of Ostara that relates the two but if you wanna hear about that you’re gonna have to tune into my Twitch Stream on March 15th at 9:30am EST.

Magical and Metaphysical

This is where my Simplified Sabbats comes in:

Colour: Pastels
Recipe: Devilled Eggs
Food/ingredients: Eggs, spring greens, chocolate
Crystal: Rose Quartz
Plant: Lavender
Animal: Rabbit
Focus: Fertility and Beginnings/ Planning
Deity: Eostre/Ostara

My food focus this year for Ostara will be eggs, which I will do a spotlight on at some point but for now here’s some quick correspondences for you:

Eggs: One source says all elements because it contains life. So then planetary association of Earth or Venus? Eostre (along with other fertility deities) fertility, abundance and protection.


Celebrating
Including your Muggle Friends and Family

• Start preparing for Easter by decorating eggs! (Magic it up with specific colours and/or sigils and symbols)
• Spring cleaning! (Magic it up with some energetic cleaning)
• Talk about the goals you have over the coming months and plan projects to do together! (Magic it up by doing a seed blessing to grow your goals)
• If you're in a place where the snow is melting do some community clean up! (Magic it up by providing this as an act of service to a deity or your ancestors)

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Perfect as a breakfast bread, you’re gonna love this. This is also one of those recipes that you can really play around with but we’re gonna start with cinnamon for now ;)

We’re going to start with my so very versatile bread recipe which you can find in length here. But here’s the Short and Gritty:

The Dough
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
2 1/2 tsp Yeast
1 1/2 tsp Sugar
2 tbsp Oil
1 cup Warm water
Directions:
1. Mix the first two ingredients.
2a. If you're using active dry yeast include the next two ingredients.
2b. If you're using traditional yeast, mix the last four ingredients together and let sit for 10 minutes.
3. Add wet to dry, mix in the bowl until it comes together into a ball.
4. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes adding small amounts of flour when it becomes too sticky.

Ingredients
all link on ingredients are to the ingredient spotlight posts of this blog

1 batch of dough
2 tbsp sugar (white, brown or a mixture)
1-2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp butter, separated

Tools

Dry measures
Wet measures
A spoon
A large bowl
Something with a flat edge for levelling flour

Optional: bench scraper

Directions

When we get to the point where you're ready to let the dough rise let it rise in a lightly oiled bowl for about 30 minutes.

While it is rising, make your mixture of cinnamon and sugar (white or brown or both.)


Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and grab your rolling pin. You want to make this a rectangle about an inch thick and the short edge should be about the length of your loaf pan.

Melt about a tbsp of butter (you can always melt more if you need it) and brush it onto your rolled out dough.

Sprinkle your cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the butter.



Roll up your loaf. Pinch the edge to seal it to the rest of the loaf and place the loaf open edge down to avoid it popping open while rising and baking. If you want you can pinch the ends closed as well but this isn't necessary.

Allow to rise again for about 40 minutes or until doubled in size. As with the regular bread recipe you can brush butter (or oil or egg wash) on the top for a nice brown crust. Pop in the oven at 360 for 22 minutes.

Cool on a cooling rack. Slice and serve.





Serving

When I made this recently we made french toast with it but you could use it for pb&j sandwiches, toast with butter (and cinnamon sugar if you really want) or glaze it and treat it like a sliceable cinnamon roll!

If you want to really step out pf your comfort zone I think this bread would even work well with something more savoury like a  chicken salad sandwich because cinnamon is such a versatile spice and this bread really isn't that sweet.