Barley Vegetable Soup

This soup is really easy and a great one to make on a cool, rainy Saturday in. It also makes the house smell delicious. This was the first time using my new slow cooker, and I liked that it cut down on the prep time and preserved a lot of the flavor in the soup. The amounts are very flexible, depending on how large your slow cooker and how many veggies and seasoning you want in it. I got the barley tea bags from a Korean grocery store in New York, but you could probably use regular barley and get the same result.

Barley Vegetable Soup

Carrots, chopped (about 6)

Diced tomatoes (1 can)

Red potatoes, chopped (about four small potatoes)

Lentils (about 3/4 cup dry)

Frozen petite peas (about 1/2 a bag, or 1 cup)

Small boiling onions, sliced in half or quartered (about 7 or 8)

Two or three large barley tea bags

Add to taste:

Black pepper

Olive oil 

Parsley 

Salt 

Bay leaf

Steep barley tea in boiling water until strongly flavored. Add all soup ingredients and flavorings to slow cooker and pour barley broth over ingredients until dish is full. Set slow cooker on high for about 5 hours.


Recipe by H. Farrell

Blackberries, Peaches and a Surprise

Last weekend, I went to Crooked Run Orchard in Purcellville, Va., to pick apples on a warm, sunny, perfect-for-apple-picking day. Besides having a variety of different kinds of apples, the orchard had ripe blackberries that were delicious. Wanting to take home that taste, I bought some jam they had for sale. It was Blackberry Peach Basil jam. That's right -- basil. It is probably the best jam I've ever tasted. You can taste the distinct blackberry and peach flavors, but there's something else (that would be hard to identify without knowing it was basil) in it that makes the flavors pop. Just shows you that it's good to experiment with different flavors -- you never know what crazy combination will turn into something so good!

(Photo by H. Farrell)

Seaside Byblos

In April 2009, I traveled to Lebanon. I spent most of my time there in Beirut, but I took a day trip to the ancient port city of Byblos, a little more than 30 miles north of the capital. They day was perfect for exploring layers of ruins from different cultures, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The sun shone between clouds riding through on a strong sea breeze that kept the air from getting too warm. Below are two photos from the edge of the city's main archaeological site, which was nearly overgrown in spots with colorful spring wildflowers.

(Byblos, Lebanon -- Photo by H. Farrell)

(Mediterranean Sea, Byblos, Lebanon -- Photo by H. Farrell)

Fruit and Wine Bread Pudding

This was definitely an experiment. I had never made any type of bread pudding before, but after reading a few different recipes, I wrote one that I hoped would turn out. Well, it could use a little work -- it tasted great, but it didn't look as good as I think it could. I used a red wine, which turned the entire dish a not-as-appetizing shade of purple, so I recommend using a lighter-colored wine. Also, it was a little soggy (I guess bread pudding is supposed to be soggy, but in the recipe below I cut the amount of wine in half, down from a whole cup). The recipe below also has increased amounts of spices -- I wanted mine to have a bit more of the cinnamon/nutmeg flavor that complements wine so well.


One more note on the ingredients -- I found the baby grapes at Trader Joe's, and they were the perfect size for a dessert. I also found the crème fraîche there. I was originally going to get ricotta cheese, but I saw this and thought I'd try it. From the information I found online, it's basically a French version of sour cream, though a little less sour. Because of the high fat (cream) content, it holds up better at high temperatures. I have leftovers, so I'm going to experiment with it again (I found that it also works as a substitute for mayo, mixed into tuna with a little spicy mustard).

Fruit and Wine Bread Pudding

(serves 8-10)

2 C apples, thinly sliced (about 2 small apples)

3/4 C small grapes (such as Thompson sweet golden baby grapes)

1/2 C wine (white or blush)

4 C wheat bread, cubed (6-7 slices)

3 eggs

2 T honey

1/4 C brown sugar

1 C milk

2/3 C yogurt, mixed with 1/3 C crème fraîche

dash salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp vanilla

1. Soak apples and grapes in wine, with extra cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

2. Beat eggs, add sugars, spices and vanilla. mix in milk and fold in yogurt/cheese mix.

3. Pour over bread and let the egg mixture absorb into the bread.

4. Fold in the apple/grape/wine mixture.

Halfway through baking, add topping mixture of flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter.

Bake at 350 for about 50 min, let cool for half an hour. Good served with vanilla ice cream.

Recipe by H. Farrell

Tart Cherry Orange Cake

This is a good breakfast cake, with coffee or tea. I originally wrote this recipe to have only half a cup of yogurt, but the cake was a little dry, so I increased the amount in the recipe below. Also, mine had a really strong orange flavor, so you may want to reduce the amount of orange rind. Enjoy!


Tart Cherry Orange Cake


1 egg

1/4 C oil

3/4 to 1 C plain yogurt

1/2 C orange juice (use the juice from half an orange)

1 T lemon juice

rind from half an orange (or a bit less, depending how much flavor you want)

1/2 C brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

cinnamon and ginger to flavor

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 C whole wheat flour

1/2 to 1 C tart dried cherries (soak beforehand in water, honey and ginger)

about 1 C frozen blueberries


Beat egg, mix in other ingredients in order listed. If the batter is too thick to pour (slowly) into a 9x9 baking dish, add some water.


Bake for 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. When you have about 15 mins left on the timer, take the cake out and spread on top a mixture of cinnamon, honey, brown sugar, melted butter and oats (a little sweet to contrast with the tart!)


Recipe by H. Farrell