Healthy Food Chart

Our resident chef, Silvia, has a important words of wisdom for your life and when dealing with recipes in the kitchen……

In order to change anything in your life, change the recipe you’re using. The recipe always involves what you think, believe and do. Examine the ingredients that go into these three areas and continue using the ones that produce the results you want. Replace the ones that no longer work with new ingredients that do. The results will speak for themselves. Keep tweaking the recipe until you’re happy with what you’ve got.

Recipes are a hard thing to write. After having written hundreds of them, it does get easier but not less challenging. That’s because people expect them to be exact and I know there’s no such thing. How can there be when the very nature of a recipe is to merely be a guide? True, baking recipes come closer to being an exact formula, but cooking has another story.

When I give a cooking class, I never hand out recipes until after the class. That’s because I want the student’s attention on what is taking place around them, not on a piece of paper. Though having to create something without step-by-step instructions is enough to make some people quite uncomfortable, I know it’s the only way to learn. They learn by doing, by noticing how something tastes, smells, feels and looks. They learn that a “mistake” often leads to new discoveries and if not, if it’s truly inedible and can’t be fixed…you simply start over.

The reason a recipe cannot be exact is that a recipe is affected not only by the quality and differences of the ingredients used, but by what is expressed from within the cook. I know that to teach someone how to cook is to give them the tools to create a life…along with something good to eat. Cooking is a sacred act. Stirring a sauce with happiness will bring more flavor to it than anything you can add from the spice rack.

The famous chef Thomas Keller said, “A recipe has no soul. You as the cook must bring soul to the recipe.”

So let a recipe guide you to new culinary adventures. Celebrate your mistakes. Share your triumphs. Play with the variety of fresh ingredients available this harvest season…and send me your recipes
.
Enjoy this season of harvest,

Chef Silvia

Every autumn, as the weather begins to get nippy and the air is crisp, I’m delighted because now I can begin to make soup. And if there’s any recipe that is open to variations, it’s soup. To inspire you, take a look at what I did as a variation of split pea soup.

Split Pea and Tomato Soup with Sausage
1 lb of split peas (rinsed and any small stones removed)
¼ cup of olive oil
1 lb. of your favorite sausage (cut into bite sized pieces)
Half a small onion (or shallot) medium diced
1 fresh garlic clove (fine diced)
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Half of a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
Tablespoon or two of chicken base (or bouillon)
8 cups water
Season to taste
Finish with chopped fresh parsley

In a medium/large saucepan, over medium/high heat add ¼ cup of olive oil or just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Add the sausage and brown on all sides. Add onion and cook until softened. Add the pepper flakes and the garlic. Cook for a few seconds, quickly followed by the tomatoes (this will prevent the garlic from burning). Add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes and then add the water. Bring to a boil and add the chicken base. Stir. Lower the heat to a gentle boil and cook for an hour or so or until the peas arrive at your desired level of doneness. Add more chicken base or water if needed and season to taste. Serve in individual bowls and finish with parsley.