Highly untraditional avoglemono soup

When I am sick, there's nothing better than something hot and lemony to soothe my sore throat and ease general achiness. I've never been a big fan of chicken soup, but I've always loved greek egg and lemon soup. It has a little bit of everything: savory broth, soft rice, the tartness of lemon, and the creaminess (and protein) of whipped egg. It's easy to make even when you're really under the weather. Hence: the perfect soup when you're not well.

This week I've been losing the battle against some sort of unfriendly virus, and I shuffled into the kitchen yesterday to make up a big batch of traditional avoglemono. Unfortunately, I was out of two crucial ingredients: lemons, and regular long-grain rice. No problem, I thought, I'll ask a friend to bring over some lemons, and I'll sub in some lovely arborio rice instead.

Two things happened. First, the message about the lemons got a bit lost in translation, and the very kind friend brought a bag of limes instead. And the arborio rice did what it does best: absorb unbelievable amounts of liquid. So, instead of a brothy lemon-scented soup, I got a very fluffy creamy lime-scented one. And even though it was highly untraditional, it was fabulous.

Lime Egg Feel Better Soup

6 cups veggie stock
1 cup rice
4 eggs
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
couple handfuls freshly chopped spinach

1. Bring rice and veggie stock to a boil. Let simmer about 15 minutes, until rice is tender.

2. Whisk eggs with lime juice until a totally uniform color.

3. Temper the egg mixture by adding a little bit of the hot broth to the egg and whisking throughly.

4. While slowly pouring the egg mixture into the rice, whisk quickly. This will create a lovely creamy texture.

5. Put a handful of the fresh spinach in a bowl, then ladle the hot soup over top.

6. Enjoy! And feel better!

Cranberry-ginger scones

There's absolutely nothing as wonderful on a rainy fall afternoon as a big cup of tea and some fresh scones. Curled up on the couch under a colorful wool blanket, a novel in hand, and a proper tea within reach on the coffee table is pretty much my idea of late Saturday afternoon bliss. My wonderful British friend Sam taught me how to make proper tea (I still pour milk into mine- she'd be proud!), as well as real scones. These scones are not too sweet or too large, and are definitely not triangular. They take all of half an hour, idea to eating, and they're delicious.

Be forewarned: they're dangerously easy to make, and highly addictive.

If you have a food processor, it speeds up the process of chopping the butter into the flour, but two knives work nearly as well if you don't.

Some excellent variations (sub in for the cranberries and ginger): dried blueberries and fresh lemon zest, dried currants, dried cherries, or diced dried figs and ginger.

Cranberry-Ginger Scones

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp butter (softened)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 cup milk

* Preheat the oven to 425F.

* Mix together flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter. If you're using a food processor, chop the butter in until the mixture resembles cornmeal. If you're doing it by hand, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles cornmeal.

* Mix in the cranberries and ginger. Then, add the milk.

* Knead the mixture until it comes together. Roll out the dough until it is about 3/4" thick. Cut out 2" diameter circles. (You can use a floured glass or cookie cutter for this.)

* Bake on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes, or until the top is golden.

* These are absolutely delicious with a dollop of clotted cream and some fresh jam, or a thick smear of lemon curd. And a nice cup of Earl Gray makes the whole meal.

Peach crisp (aka Upside Down Pie)

A friend of ours from Colombia had never tried crisp or cobbler before, and when Jessica tried to explain what it was, she described it as "upside down pie." He loved the end result, but could not remember the proper name for the dish, and so has forever referred to it as "upside down pie."

With only a couple of weeks left in peach season, we thought we'd share our recipe for peach crisp! We started with the excellent recipe for apple crisp written on One Frugal Foodie, and modified it for peaches. We are also big fans of real butter, but imagine that you can easily make this recipe vegan again if you prefer a margarine butter substitute.

This recipe is easy to tweak to suit your individual taste- add a bunch of blueberries, or some shredded coconut on top for great texture and flavor. If you have some, scrape the seeds from about half of a vanilla bean onto the peaches before you add the topping. Or, top each warm serving with some good vanilla bean ice cream when you serve it.

Finally, be sure to use real maple syrup on top. It gives an incredible crunchy texture that is impossible to create otherwise and is well worth it!

Enjoy!

Peach Crisp

4 medium-large freestone peaches

1/2 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp ground cardamom

2 tbsp maple syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Slice the peaches into thin wedges, leaving the skin on. (The skins will confer a lot of extra flavor to the dish, and they will soften while baking.) Add them to an 8" x 8" baking dish. Toss with vanilla seeds, if using, or add a dash of vanilla extract.

3. Combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, and cardamom in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture looks crumbly, and the pieces of butter are about the size of peppercorns. Add the topping in an even layer on top of the peaches.

4. Drizzle the topping with the maple syrup.

5. Bake the crisp for about 30 minutes, until the fruit is soft and sizzling, and the topping is a golden brown.

6. Enjoy!