Mushroom Soup

With the weather changing, oh and having a plethora of mushrooms in the house, I decided to come up with a mushroom soup recipe to warm me up! (and something I can eat!!) I looked at a bunch of recipes, but after doing that I decided to combine a bunch of them and make my own. Here is what I did cause sometimes when I cook I don't measure too well :)

I started with approximately 2 T butter and melted it in a stock pot. Once bubbling I added 1 chopped shallot, 3 chopped garlic cloves, and the white part of a leek chopped. I sauteed them til golden brown. Then I added 10 oz chopped crimini (baby bella) mushrooms sliced, and 5 oz shitake sliced. I cooked them for maybe 5 minutes and then I added a box (32 fl oz) of vegetable stock along with 2 tsp dried thyme. I then let it simmer for almost 20 minutes and then added about 1/2 (approx- maybe more. Depends on how creamy you want it) cup skim milk/cream/half and half (i used what I had in the house!) Then I made a slurry (a mixture of water and a thickening agent) using 1 tsp tapioca starch (can use corn starch or flour) and 1 T water. The reason you mix this first is so it doesn't clump in the soup. Then slowly add it to the soup while stirring. The soup then simmers a bit more and you will see it thicken. You may need more of this slurry depending on how thick you want your soup. Once fragrant or tastes enough like mushrooms (and this is up to you as well) then turn off the heat and mix it with an immersion blender, or you can use a blender just be careful because it's HOT!!!! Add salt, pepper, and spices to your taste and Voila! To present it, I whipped some heavy cream, made a quenelle (food item in the shape of an oval or egg) and topped it with thyme. I wish I could explain how to make a quenelle but it's difficult. Find it on an online video or something :) Oh and enjoy the soup- I did!

Chocolate Stout Cake

Sounds interesting huh? That's what I thought. I LOVE dark beer and I thought what a brilliant idea to put beer, chocolate, and a bit of coffee together! I found this recipe in the October 2009 Bon Appetit and thought it was very fitting that 1) it was guinness' 250th bday and 2) it's oktoberfest!!! I didn't use guinness though. I found an Ohio brewed stout called Edmund Fitzgerald from Great Lakes Brewing Co. The description on the bottle was "porter combines a complex, roasty aroma with a bittersweet, chocolate-coffee taste". It was perfect for this recipe, which also uses dark chocolate and coffee. The recipe can be found at epicurious.com, one of my favorite websites! However, I have a problem with not stocking enough ingredients in my house so I had to alter the recipe. Instead of 14 T of butter (198 g) I used about 166 g and the rest vegetable oil. Also, for the frosting I didn't have 1 lb of bittersweet chocolate, so I used about 13 oz of bittersweet, 1 oz unsweetened, and 2 oz milk chocolate. I also didn't have instant espresso so I used 1tsp of coffee extract! The cake seemed to turn out just great, so I don't think my changes made a huge difference. Try it for yourself and I don't think you'll be dissapointed!

Happy Birthday Dad!

In honor of my dad's bday I decided to make his favorite- milk chocolate chip cookies with walnuts! No one makes MILK chocolate chip cookies anymore AND with walnuts, so I treated him :) He was very happy. And to top it off, I was too! I used to nestle recipe and it's super easy! Thank you Nestle for providing this delicious recipe for us!!!

scone update

Now that they have cooled, they are more like a cookie. They are denser than a traditional scone. Not to say they are bad, but don't over cook so they don't get too hard! Like I said before, butter is a good choice for this to offset the sweetness! Otherwise eating them plain is fine. I would opt to eat these warm! However, they made my place smell amazing!!!

Rosemary cornmeal scone

I decided to go a little on the savory side today, but not completely. This recipe has ingredients that compliment both the sweet and savory side! I bet this would be great just simple with some melted butter and eaten warm. They are making my apt smell delicious :)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cold unsalted butter

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cake flour 1 3/4 cups cornmeal (I used medium grind- i'd suggest to use fine grind!)

2 tablespoons stemmed and finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves, plus additional small sprigs for garnish

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 1/2 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons half and half

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw)

Directions:

Chop the cold butter into small squares and put it in the freezer while you gather and measure out the rest of the ingredients

Preheat the oven to 400°F

Combine the flours, cornmeal, chopped rosemary, and brown sugar in the bowl and mix. (i used my kitchen aid) Add the chopped, frozen butter and process it into the dry ingredients in short pulses until the butter is just incorporated into the flour, so it looks crumbly like sand.

Mix egg and yolk, honey, and cream in a bowl. Then incorporate into the dough just until combined. At this point your dough is ready to be put on the baking sheet. I like mine to look rustic so I just made it with my hand into circles. You can also roll out and cut with a cookie cutter.

Brush the tops of the scones with the melted butter, sprinkle them with turbinado sugar, and gently press a rosemary sprig into each one.

Bake until golden brown and the bottoms are slightly colored. All depends on size!

Ahh Sweet Madeleine.

The madeleine is a traditional "small cake" from France. It is basically a sponge cake into a special shell like mold- pictured below.

Madeleines come in various sizes and flavors. The choice I made today was honey rose!

Batter:

1 stick (112 g) butter, softened or melted

1/3 cup honey

2-4 (depending on ur taste) tsp rose water (can replace with any kind of flavoring agent)

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour (200 grams)

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 yolk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375*. melt some butter and brush the inside of madeleine pan. Sprinkle with flour to coat. Shake off excess flour. It should be a very thin layer. (my apologies I didn't take a picture!)

Using a mixer, (paddle) mix the eggs, yolk and sugar until pale and fluffly- about 5 min. (see below)

Mix together flour and salt. Melt butter (or use softened butter) and mix in honey and rose water. Set aside til cool. This is why I prefer to use softened instead of melted.

Fold in flour to egg mixture. Fold means to use a spatula and gently mix in to the eggs. You will notice the mixture looks like it's breaking down. Do not over-mix or you will have a very dense product. Then proceed to fold in butter mixture. Then you can pipe in, using a piping bag or a ziploc bag, or you can spoon in the batter into the prepared pan. Then tap the pan lightly on the counter to prevent bubbles.

The pan goes into the oven until golden brown. I'd give you a time...but as they say in baking "it's ready when it's ready!" (approx 8-10 min)

When it comes out of the oven, the madeleines should just pop right out. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve! Best when eaten with ice cream :)

Pardon me!

So I already have questions from my readers :) I guess I need to take more time to spell out a few things since not everyone who reads this will understand it. So I will try and be more simple on my next posts.

So- to cook squash. Cut it into small pieces like a potato. The smaller you cut it, the quicker it cooks. Boil it in water til tender or it crushes between your fingers. You can then mash it, by itself, with a spoon, fork, your hands (but don't burn them!) or what I used was an immersion blender. I'm sure you could even put it in a kitchen aid or cuisinart as well.

The reason you wrap it in a towel is not to "wrap it in a towel" but just to guide you as you roll. I rolled it by myself, but that is because I wasn't scared of it :) However, the powdered sugar prevents it from sticking to the surface ie; the towel. Also, you pre-roll it before it's cool in order for the cake to take its shape. If it cools in the flat position it will be harder to roll and will probably break. That may be the reason mine cracked, was because I waited too long to roll it. Once cool, you can unroll it, fill it and when you re-roll it it will be easier.

Please feel free to ask questions! Hope this helps.