Cauliflower and Swiss Soup

This is amazingly good.  This is based on my new method of making soup.  Take some beef or chicken stock, boil vegetables in the stock, then puree with an immersion blender.  Since I froze my Basic Chicken Stock in one cup portions, this makes soup creation really easy and super fast.   It has been so much fun making different combinations of vegetables and flavors.  This one is a big winner.

Ingredients
serves 1-2 (depending upon how hungry you are)

1c Basic Chicken Stock
2-3c cauliflower (fresh or frozen)
~1T of diced onion (I threw in a couple of frozen pearl onions)
pinch Celtic sea salt
grind of fresh pepper
1/2c raw milk Swiss cheese

1. If using fresh cauliflower discard leaves, remove core and cut up florets.
2. Using a 1qt pan put in the chicken stock and fill with as much cauliflower as will fit.
3. Add onion, salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until cauliflower is soft when pricked with a knife.
5. Remove from heat.
6. While soup is simmering, coarsely grate cheese so that you have about a half cup of loosely packed shavings.  Adjust amount to your own taste.
7. Using an immersion blender blend until smooth being very careful not to splash hot liquid on yourself.
8. Stir in cheese and let melt.
9. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Pork Medallions with Sherry Pan Sauce

This one I stole from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything and made it WAPS legal.  I just got sprouted kamut and sprouted spelt flours in the mail today so I decided to try the kamut in this recipe.  It worked wonderfully!!

Beware though, kamut is a type of wheat so if you need truly GF recipe use nonGMO cornstarch or arrowroot powder.  However I can't vouch for the texture/flavor of the substitute since I haven't tried it myself.  Nut flours are another option but I've found they make things extra crunchy and they won't thicken the sauce as well as cornstarch or arrowroot.

The pan sauce makes this dish so don't skip it.  It is wicked good!

Ingredients
serves 2-3

~1lb pork tenderloin
3T sprouted kamut flour (or wheat or spelt or for GF use non-GMO cornstarch)
~1t fresh or dried thyme
large pinch salt & pepper
olive oil
2T butter divided
2 lemon wedges
1/4c cooking sherry

1. Rinse and dry off the pork.
2. Trim any fat or sliver bits off the tenderloin and slice into 1/8" thick rounds.
3. In a plastic baggie (my fav) or bowl combine flour, salt, pepper and thyme.  Mix well.
4. Add pork and coat evenly.  If using a baggie just seal and shake.
5. Heat oil and 1T butter in large saute pan.  When a pinch of flour sizzles in the oil start adding the pork one slice at a time and don't let the slices touch.  You might have to do a couple of batches like I did.  In that case keep the finished batch on a plate covered with pan lid to keep them warm.
6. Cook until brown and then flip and brown the second side.  Remove to plate and cover to keep warm while making the pan sauce.
7. Drain fat out of pan and add sherry.  Let boil while scrapping the pan to loosen up the yummy bits stuck to the bottom.  Keep it simmering until almost gone (this evaporates the alcohol off while leaving behind yummy flavor) then add the juice from the lemon wedges. When simmering again add the remaining 1T of butter and stir in until melted.  This should result in a several tablespoons of thickish pan sauce.
8. Pour over waiting pork medallions and serve immediately.

Butternut Squash Soup

This is a wicked easy meal.  Other vegetables can easily substituted.  In fact, I'm going to do this one with sweet potato next.  And BTW, this is an excellent way to get the broth into your system that WAP recommends.

Ingredients
serves one

1/2c Basic Chicken Stock
1-2c diced squash
1T butter
salt and pepper

1. Peel and dice squash
2. Simmer in chicken broth until fork tender
3. Puree until smooth
4. Add salt and pepper and stir in butter

This has a nice mild flavor.  You can really taste the squash and I like the simplicity of it.  If you want to add a bit more depth of flavor you can add onion, garlic or ginger in to cook with the squash.  All of which would complement this nicely.  You could also go traditional and add some nutmeg or cinnamon.  If you like spicy a little chili powder would be good also.  Another option is to roast the squash first and then proceed with the recipe.  Have fun!