Soupe Au Pistou

Ooops! This post is quite late. I actually made this soup a week and a half ago. I've already eaten it. It was delicious. It's like the happiest possible version of Campbell's Minestrone. (I happen to love Campbell's Minestrone.) This is comforting, happy soup. The Tummy was not so thrilled with it because of the beans, so I got it all to myself. It made me feel all warm and healthy and happy.

I thought the pistou would be tricky, but it wasn't and it added soooooo much flavor and happiness to the soup. I mean, tomatoes and cheese! It's like pizza soup! Anyway... 2 enthusiastic thumbs up!

Potage Veloute Aux Champignons

So, let me first say that I have been a fan of mushrooms my entire life. I mean, they have ALWAYS been my favorite vegetable. So, when it was my turn to again pick a soup, I felt drawn to the Cream of Mushroom, even though I grew up with casseroles that made me a little afraid of it. (Sorry, Mom.) I knew that Julia would find a way to make it wonderful. And oh... did she ever...
This was such unbelievably good soup that I really wanted to drink the whole pot of it. I made it with shallots and cremini mushrooms, and it had such a wonderful, rich flavor that I literally could not stop eating it. Ordinarily, I give the Tummy dibs on leftovers, but I'm totally hoarding this soup. Wow. All I can say is MMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Soupe A L'Oignon

Onion soup makes me think of college. The Distillery used to make some yummy onion soup and it was all cheesy and warm and perfect for those rainy or snowy afternoons. So, when Tracy chose this recipe this week, I was excited because I knew I already liked it.

Last week, some of you may have noticed, I did not post. Julia and I were having a bit of a tiff. See, I made this garlic soup with poached eggs, and I just couldn't get myself together to buy the groceries on the day that I made it. So, while I'd practiced poached eggs the day that I bought them from the farmers' market, and they were good, I didn't get the soup made until two days later and by then, my eggs weren't fresh enough to poach well. Plus, I think that my dried sage and thyme were a little old and not so flavorful. My parsley was fresh and ended up dominating the flavor, so it tasted like parsley soup with some egg in it. I ate a bowl. The Tummy ate half of one. And we threw the rest out.

But THIS week, I knew I liked onion soup, so I put on my pearls and got to work. Wow! This is a fantastic recipe. It's a cold, rainy day, and the soup tasted better than I remember the Distillery's being. I think it was the wine and the cognac. In any case, Julia and I have made up, and I'm back on board. Now, pouting about a difference of opinion over some garlic soup seems childish, and I promise I won't miss any more weeks. In an effort to make amends, here is a photo of the garlic soup, which I didn't post last week.



Check out Tracy and Mary's soups as well!

Mastering the Art of Life

You'd think that, with the start of a new school year, I have more than enough to work on right now. But, if I'm going to be working harder than I was all summer, I've decided I need to play harder too! And what better place to play than in my kitchen?

I've wanted a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck since I saw the Chefography of Ina Garten a few years ago. Ina, "the Barefoot Contessa" taught herself to cook by working her way through it. Then, I read My Life in France by Julia Child and I learned about how she (like Ina) got into cooking later in life and just worked at it like a diligent scientist. And then Julie and Julia came out, and I went to see it, and I found the story charming. (I thought it was a great idea for a movie, but Meryl really steals the show.) Combine those things with my 30th birthday this summer and wanting to get more serious about doing the things I like well, and you have all of the ingredients for my latest challenge to myself.

We are starting our own little cooking group. When I say "we," I mean my sister, Mary, over at Shazam in the Kitchen, and my friend Tracy, over at Tasty Sans Gluten, and myself. We are VERY busy women who live in different cities... er..... areas, and we are going to try one new Julia Child recipe each week.

We started with Potage Parmentier (Leek and Potato Soup). It was simple, delicious and not very difficult at all. So... without further ado:

Potage Parmentier
Mastering the Art of French Cooking
1 lb peeled potatoes, sliced
1 lb thinly slice leeks
2 quarts of water
1 Tb salt
4 - 6 Tb whipping cream
2 - 3 Tb parsley

Simmer the vegetables and salt in the water, partially covered, for 40 - 50 minutes. Then puree with an immersion blender* and correct seasoning. Set aside uncovered until ready to serve. Just before serving, reheat to a simmer, remove from heat and stir in cream by spoonfuls. Pour into bowls and decorate with parsley.

*Julia recommends using a food mill instead of a blender for textural reasons.

Dobos Torte

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonfulof Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular DobosTorte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: ExquisiteDesserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

This torte was SO yummy! And, I had the perfect occasion for it. We ate it for dessert at a picnic for my 30th birthday. We sat around all day, grilled bratwurst and burgers, played frisbee and euchre and ate cake! The only problem I had making this cake was that the buttercream was absurdly soft. But after chilling it for a while, it held up alright.

All the Daring Bakers are posting their tortes today. You should check out the rest of them.

New Year's Resolutions

I know it's not New Year's for most people, but for teachers, there's a similar vibe at the beginning of September. So, this time of year, I tend to make resolutions. I started the first one today because I've got exactly two weeks before I have to be back at work. I thought maybe implementing my resolutions one at a time would be easier than trying to do everything on the same day. So, today, I started running. I'm trying to start going to the gym 5 days a week. It's ambitious, I know, but I've got this gym membership and, darn it, I'm going to use it. So, today I ran 2.18 miles in 30 minutes.

And now, for part II. I'm going to get my apartment clean if it kills me. And, with the amount of dust I'm kicking up, it might. So... here goes nothing.

Germs!

As the youngest of a big family, I'm familiar with watching germs spread from one kid to another. And as a teacher, I know that I'm going to get a bad cold once or twice a year. And I know lots of people who stock up on hand sanitizer and Airborn as if they were magical talismans against illness. I don't put much faith in all that. Generally, during cold and flu season, I drink lots of water, get some extra sleep and eat lots of fruits and veggies. I trust my immune system, and it does ok.

But this is the off season! I don't come into contact with sneezing, coughing, drippy children in the summertime. I hang out with the Tummy and the Medium Dude. So, I let down my guard. Which explains why, when the Tummy came down with a head cold, I immediately caught it. Grumble, grumble, grumble...

Thirty!

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 30. And the best part of having a birthday, in my opinion, is the excuse to eat birthday cake! This year, I had a little barbecue in the park with some of my friends on Saturday. I wanted to make sure I had enough of everything to go around, so in addition to cake, I made birthday cupcakes.

Now, because the Tummy flies so frequently, he has a lot of miles to use up. One thing he uses them for is subscribing to magazines. So I have this subscription to Bon Appetit magazine that I almost never use. (I generally look through it and drool, but that's about it.) And that's where I found this AMAZING recipe. I could not believe they were so easy and so good. And, although the original recipe called for vanilla bean, I used vanilla extract, because it's cheaper. They were still wonderful. I'll definitely be making them again.

Vanilla Bean - Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting
Bon Appetit, April 2009

REDUCED COCONUT MILK
2 (13-14 oz) cans unsweetened coconut milk

CUPCAKES
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or seeds from a split vanilla bean)
1 cup reduced coconut milk ( see above) room temperature

FROSTING
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup reduced coconut milk (see above) room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or seeds from a split vanilla bean)
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, lightly toasted (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS:
REDUCED COCONUT MILK - In large, deep saucepan, boil coconut milk over medium-high heat for 25-30 minutes or until reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Remove from heat. Cool completely. Chill in small, covered container. This can be made up to 2 days ahead.

CUPCAKES - Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk together dry ingredients. In separate bowl, beat butter until smooth. Then, add sugar and blend (about 2 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating and scraping sides after each addition. Add vanilla. Add half the dry ingredients. Add coconut milk and beat just until blended. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Divide batter among muffin cups and bake about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Then, remove from pans and cool completely.

FROSTING - Beat butter until smooth. Add everything else except the flaked coconut. beat until light and fluffy. Frost cupcakes and then sprinkle with toasted coconut.

July Cookies

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I did this month's challenge with my sister, the fabulous Mary at Shazam in the Kitchen. She and I worked very hard on both sets of cookies. We decided that they weren't exactly difficult, but they were time-consuming.

These are the Milan cookies, which were good, but not actually as good as a bag of storebought ones and a whole lot more work.


And these are the chocolate-covered marshmallow cookies, which were a TON of work and which I might have liked more if I liked marshmallows more.

I'm glad I did the challenge. I'd never done anything like this before, and, like all the Daring Bakers' challenges, they made me unafraid of cookie recipes and ready to try some new techniques. Plus, I got to spend some time cooking with my big sister, which was awesome.

Check out the other Daring Bakers.

At LAST!

I've been meaning to post. I did the Daring Bakers' challenges for the last two months but I keep forgetting to post. So, this month, I just barely remembered. The pictures are not very good, and certainly don't do this strudel justice.





The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

This was not a terribly difficult recipe, but rolling it up was a little tricky for me. I will definitely be doing it again, though, because HOLY COW was it good! I not only couldn't stop eating it, but I gave some away to a friend and he couldn't stop eating it either. It's almost like pie, only it wasn't too sweet. And the walnuts were fantastic in it. I'm a strudel fan now. YUMMY!!! I'm so glad I tried this one.

Daring Bakers

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.



These cakes are really yummy. They're light and delicious and chocolatey. The ice cream I made wasn't so good. I couldn't get my freezer cold enough to freeze my ice cream maker's cooling thingie, so it wouldn't set up. I ended up freezing it, but it had little shards of ice in it. The flavor was good, though. I made it cinnamony.

I like the little heart-shaped pan I used, and I thought it was kinda cute doing the two hearts in chocolate and vanilla just like the Tummy and me. It made a nice Valentine's dessert.

Daring to Bake in the New Year!

I was a little worried about how the Daring Baker challenge for January would fit in with my New Year's resolutions. But just as I began to really sweat over the possible ways to dispose of some enormous cake or dozens of doughnuts, I read the challenge and was delightfully suprised!

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

Now, Tuiles are light and the perfect dessert for someone who is watching her waistline. They are 1 point on Weight Watchers, and the challenge was to pair them with some kind of fruit! Fruit is HEALTHY! Now I was excited.

The recipe is quite simple and is at the end of this post. But, basically, you have to make the batter, chill it, and then spread it thinly into a stencil. You bake it and then shape the still warm cookies. And they're thin and delicate and lovely.

So first, I had to make a stencil.

I chose to make it flower-shaped, and I used a heavy-ish plastic folder, because I wanted it to have a little bit of weight.

I used food coloring so that some of my flowers were white/uncolored, some were pink and some were orange. Then, I spread the batter thinly into the stencil (trickier than it sounds, but you get the hang of it). After they baked, I took them off of the cookie sheet immediately and used some juice glasses I have to shape them.

Some of my tuiles did not survive this process:

But I was very happy with the ones that did:

Then, I had to pair them with something fruity! Now, I'm in Brooklyn and it's wintertime. I don't eat a lot of fruit in winter. And I didn't want anything super-sweet. I wanted to stay light and low-calorie. Hmmm.... winter... not too sweet.... high in fiber.... CRANBERRIES!!!!

So I bought some frozen cranberries and 3 small cans of mandarin oranges and improvised a very simple relish by chopping the cranberries, mixing in the oranges and 3/8 of a cup of sugar.

My completed tuiles:

I LOVED this recipe. It was not too difficult, and a very interesting challenge. It felt more like a craft project than cooking, but there was a tasty product at the end. And best of all, I didn't feel guilty after eating more of these than I should've. I will make these again! In fact, I can't wait until someone I know has a bridal or baby shower. These are the perfect cookies for some very girly luncheon. They are light and pretty and girly. I wanted to eat them with my mom.

Now go! Check out the other daring bakers! See what fabulousness they came up with. And the recipe, as promised, is below.

This recipe is taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)

Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar

1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)

2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)

65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour

1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice (I used food coloring.)

Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown.

Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….