Late Recipes

Hello all, here i am for my quarterly blog entry. It just seems to take me that long, with no readership to speak of, to get psyched-up for another verbally creative moment.
One Hour Soup
This one happened in the space between a nap and a pot-luck dinner for which i had promised a soup.

Rinse and soak 1 lb brown lentils in warm water while preparing other ingredients
Saute in olive oil:
-3 med. onions
-One lg. carrot (or more)
-Two celery stalks
-3 Tbs cumin seed, ground or whole
-a few oz. last year's mild hot peppers cut and frozen
Dump in lentils with water and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated
Meanwhile grate and add to pot a palm-sized (or larger - this will seem like overkill but it isn't. and even if it is it will be good for you and encourage you not to gulp the stuff down like i tend to) piece of frozen fresh ginger
Add 2 tsp or more of oregano or some mix of herbs
Drown with a deluge of veggie or meat stock or water and bring to a rapid boil, then lower and simmer forty minutes until texture is 'al dente'.
Finally add
-tomato (canned in winter) sauce, paste, or stewed
-salt and pepper
-2 tsp FRESH ground coriander seed (double if it's stale)

Celery-Root Pot-Pie
Here's another one, closely modeled after something found on Williams-Sonoma's website. Follow their recipe except as noted.
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/celery-root-and-potato-potpie.html

In a small glass baking dish we made a streamlined version of this exquisite pot-pie. We skipped the potato entirely and increased the celeriac (so spelled to reduce superfluous hyphens), parsley, and truffle oil to intensify the flavours (apparently superfluous 'u's are appreciated). We included a bunch of leeks. Also we reserved the water from boiling the celeriac and used it as part of the veggie stock.

Fantastic! It was a hit. Next time i will double the dough, since to me a pot-pie is a two-crust affair. Also i will try it with parsnips, a vegetable i usually avoid in favour of rutabaga. Mushrooms too?

Poacher's Pie
Speaking of mushrooms, the following is a 'pie' that happened the very next evening. Oh wait, my chronology is confused. It came before the pot-pie.

Boil 1 lb potatoes in salted water
Saute using oil/butter mix in a huge frying pan or wok (in batches if needed)
-3 or 4 leeks
-1 lb or more cremini or other mushrooms
-2 med. onions
-1 lb venison ground, chopped or slivered. (I cut it partially frozen with a fillet knife and dice it very finely)
-3 inches ginger root frozen and grated/chopped
-1/2 tsp cayenne powder
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tsp sage
Add 1/2 to 1 c. red wine and stir until evaporated
Add a few tsp/Tbs flour or cornmeal to thicken, then spread into a large glass baking dish or casserole
TOPPING:
Mash the potatoes leaving more of the water than usual, and blend in 2 Tbs flour until a thin mash is formed that can be spread easily over the meat/mushroom mix
Liberally sprinkle snowy top with a warm paprika, or better yet, sumac.

There was also a White Bean and Cauliflower Soup and a Parsley Frittata, but i'll leave you with these for now.