Gingham Apron

Leek, Celery and Lentil Soup

I had some leeks from my Azure Standard order, and celery from a 4 pack at Costco (yes, both were organic, thank you).  I had it in my head to do a variation on potato and leek soup, but found that after a day full of cooking and a baking I didn't feel like cutting up potatoes.  So I did what I once feared and kept myself clear of .... yes, I improvised.  *gasp*  A few years ago if I deviated from a recipe I felt like I would either A)  screw it up or B)  go to cooking hell.  I've only really ever done A, which seems to be par for course when you're starting out with this whole cooking business.  ;) 

Anywho...

 

Ingredients

6 cups water

2 Rapunzel Bouillon Cubes

4 medium leeks, cut in half and sliced

1 bunch celery, sliced

1 cup dry lentils

1 Tbsp. Spike Seasoning

2-3 sprigs fresh thyme

1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup feta crumbles (optional if wanting Vegan) 

1/4 cup shredded parmesan (optional if wanting Vegan) 

1/4-1/2 cup cream, half & half or milk (optional optional if wanting Vegan) 

Pour 6 cups of water into a stock pot, add 2 cubes of Rapunzel and bring to a boil (or until the Rapunzel cubes have dissolved).  Add in leeks, celery, lentils, Spike Seasoning, and fresh thyme and rosemary.  Cook on medium heat until lentils are soft, but not mushy (about 35 minutes roughly, but times will vary).  Remove rosemary and thyme sprigs.  Use a potato masher and go around mashing things up a little bit, or not.  If you're not going for vegan you can add in a little milk/half & half/cream to make it more like a potato leek soup, or not.  Top with a bit of parmesan, feta, and pepper. 

French Onion Soup

I've made it before, and I always feel like I can improve on it.  This time I made some slight changes, although the broth is not exactly what I want a touch to sweet for me.  Maybe a bit more pepper.  The rest of it was fantastic though.

 

This is just a rough guess as to amounts..

7-8 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 cups beef broth

1/4 teaspoon basil

1/4 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

3-4 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 

2 1/2 cups Gruyère cheese, shredded

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded 

4 slices of bread, toasted  (I used my whole wheat sandwich bread)

Heat oven to 400 degrees and toast bread.

Sauté onions with olive oil in stockpot, after 15 minutes add in spices and sauté for 15 minutes more.  Onion should be caramelizing nicely.  Add 4 cups of beef broth to onion and spices and boil for 20-30 minutes.  If needed add 2 more cups of broth and boil a little longer.  Add Worcestershire sauce one Tablespoon at a time and add more to taste.  Add more salt and pepper to taste as well.

Put soup in oven safe bowls, top with chunks of toasted bread and shredded Gruyère.  Place in oven until cheese is melted.  Remove from oven and top with a little Parmesan cheese. 

Nom nom nom!

Coconut Macaroons

I tried a few days ago and wasted 2.5 cups of coconut, and 4 eggs.  Stacy was nice enough to point me towards a coconut macaroon recipe she had used that was more like what I had made back in Texas in 2008.  Coconut macaroon recipes that call for flour or for you to whip the egg whites into peaks is NOT a proper coconut macaroon recipe.  Just trust me on this.  I didn't even bake the whole batch, and what did get cooked didn't even get half eaten before it was trashed. 

This recipe is full of win though, and is perfectly delicious. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
• 3 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch salt

Directions

• 1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with a rubber spatula or your hands.
• 2. Use a non-stick baking sheet, or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. To make the pyramids, wet your hands and scoop out a rounded tablespoon of the mixture into the palm of one hand. Using your other hand, press in gently on both sides of the mixture, bringing the macaroon to a point. Continue pressing with your thumb and forefinger on both sides until you have an even shape. For cubes, start as you would for the pyramids, then gently press equally on all sides, turning the macaroon to square off each side. You can use a butter knife to gently smooth the sides of the pyramids and cubes if you like. For balls, roll the mixture between your palms gently until round.
• 3. Place each macaroon about an inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake until light brown, about 15 minutes. Remove the baking sheet and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before eating. These keep well in a covered container for up to 3 days.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

I click around on websites, and when I was given the link to a recipe on Smitten Kitchen I of course poked around.  I stumbled upon a homemade Oreo Cookie recipe.  I've not had Oreo's in a LONG time.  Mostly because I don't let many processed foods into the house.  I've been on a baking binge as of late and I figured I'd give them a try.  While they're not exactly like Oreo's, they're still not too shabby (and organic to boot). :D

Homemade Oreo Cookies

Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used home milled soft white wheat)
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar (more for a sweeter cookie if you want to make just the cookie with no filling)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.  **A side note from me.. I do not have a pastry bag so I just spooned some on and did what I could.  ;) **

Roasted Garlic

The other day I was told how delicious roasted garlic is.  I can't remember if I'd actually had straight up roasted garlic.  A while back I got a terra cotta garlic roaster.  I, once again, shamefully admit that it has gone unused.  For like 2 years.  *hangs head in shame*  So tonight after baking bread and cookies (yes, I was a busy woman) I tossed in a few garlic bulbs. 

 

It's really super hard to do.  Ready.. ??

1. Remove outer paper to expose individual clove.
2. Cut the tops off just enough to expose the flesh of each clove.
3. Drizzle olive oil over them (doing this in a separate bowl is easier)
4. Add salt and pepper if desired.
5. Place on terra cotta roaster, cover.
6. Place roaster in 400 degree oven for 45-60 minutes (every oven is different)
7. Eat shamelessly on homemade bread with a smidge of butter (homemade butter is also a fantastic choice).
8. Hope you don't stink to high heaven tomorrow when your boyfriend gets home from Seattle.

The finished product ... prior to my consuming nearly a whole bulb by myself. 

You can also use a muffin tin and tin foil if you don't have a terra cotta garlic roaster.  I think that the pound of garlic I got is not going to last as long as I thought it would.  ;)

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies

I tried to make coconut macaroons last night, and the recipe had way too much egg white and was more like coconut in an egg white shell.  It didn't even get golden.  I wish I could find the recipe for the one I made Christmas of 2008, it was perfection.  Since this recipe needs fridge time I got the dough together last night and just finished it this evening.  They're a little crisp, and I was hoping for a little chewy, but they're sugar coated goodness regardless.  :D

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies 

Makes about 36 cookies

You will need to chill the dough at least 4 hours. Also, if you bake these cookies a couple of days ahead, the vanilla flavor will become more pronounced.

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 vanilla beans
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter, shortening, and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. With a knife halve vanilla beans lengthwise. Scrape seeds into butter mixture and beat in egg and vanilla extract until combined well. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into mixture and beat until just combined.

On a large sheet of wax paper form dough into a 10- by 2-inch log and roll up in wax paper. Chill dough until firm, at least 4 hours. Dough keeps up to 3 days wrapped in wax paper and foil.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Put remaining 1/4 cup sugar on a platter. Remove wax paper and roll log in sugar (not all sugar will adhere to log). Cut log crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices and dip cut sides of slices in sugar on platter. Arrange cookies 1/2 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets and bake in batches in middle of oven 10 to 12 minutes, or until edges are pale golden. With a metal spatula transfer cookies to a rack to cool. Cookies may be made 2 days ahead (see note, above) and kept between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I love Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks food blog.  I've gotten many recipes there I love, and this one was one of them.  I of course made a few adjustments.  ;)

 

croutons
5-6 ounce chunk of artisan whole wheat bread, torn into little pieces (less than 1-inch), roughly 3 cups total

1/4 cup butter or olive oil (I like 1/2 and 1/2)
1 1/2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

soup:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes (1 1/2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 1/2 cups light, good-tasting vegetable broth
1 large head of broccoli (12 ounces or 3/4 lb.), cut into small florets

2/3 cup freshly grated aged Cheddar, plus more for topping
1 - 3 teaspoons whole grain mustard, to taste
smoked paprika, more olive oil, creme fraiche (optional)

I made broccoli cheddar soup once before and didn't do the croutons due to a lack of bread in the house.  I strongly suggest you do not make the same mistake.  It's a must have in the soup.  No way around it.  I put way more cheese in, like double, because we're shameless about cheese consumption.  I also added a bit of fresh ground pepper and salt.  Oh and garnished with more cheese.  We just tell the girls "there's cheese in the soup!".  We fail to mention the broccoli.  ;)

Food Rules

I read the newest Michael Pollan book "Food Rules" the other night.  It's not a long book, but it holds some valid points.  One of which is if your Grandmother would not recognize it as food you shouldn't eat it.  Of course that stuck a cord with me (see the last post about the cookies).

My Grandma and Grandpa had their own garden, and lived largely on only that for as long as I can remember.  Okay they had 2 gardens and it was likely 2-3 acres worth.  They even had grapevines.  They made everything, and canning was a way of life. The canning I've done has been pretty much based on what I can glean from the internet and on remembering how my Grandma did it (I use my memories to try and make blankets like she did too).  I don't think there's a memory from my Grandparents house that doesn't include working in the garden, sheets spread out on the family room floor, and lots of shucking/snapping/cutting/peeling.

It's simple, but it's not.  

May Grandparents may have likely used some chemical fertilizer, and I know there was some spot weed treatment, but in general it was just tilling and utilizing compost material.  I want that, well, minus any chemicals.  I know that a large garden is not doable in our little "suburban" backyard, but I want to plant what I can.  Hopefully between a garden and the farmers markets (and maybe even a CSA) I'll be able to can for winter time next year.  My mom has my Grandma's pressure cooker and has already said I could take it to use.  :D

My slight obsession of wanting to garden and can my own food is because of all the crap that is put into or on our food these days.  The chemicals are not what I want to eat, and certainly not what I want to feed my children.  I don't like knowing that my food is contaminating the earth either.  Which is why we have a mostly organic diet in our house.  Then there's the ethics of the companies who make and sell the chemicals and genetically modified seeds that almost all farmers use (for things like corn and soy, which are a rather disgusting staple in pretty much all processed food). 

Below is a good video (almost 2 hours long), but if you question what is in and on your food you need to watch this. There's also Food Inc., King Corn, Killer at Larger, and Super Size me (all 4 of those are instant plays on Netflix)

The World According to Monsanto ..

Grandama's Recipes..

I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies the other day so I used my All Recipes search-foo and found a highly rated recipe.  Horrible.  Honestly I'm not sure how you can screw up cookies, but it happened.  They spread out like crazy, and then stuck to my pan.  David had to get a little crazy with the spatula to get them off.  They were somewhat edible, certainly not the best cookies I've made, but not nearly as bad as the atrocity that was shortbread cookies.  Luckily I only used one bag of my organic chocolate chips for the cookies.  The rest of the dough is shamefully still in my kitchen-aid mixer bowl awaiting disposal.

This brings me to the idea that the best recipes are those that I obtain from my grandmothers cookbooks.  Which means I'm going to have to steal the from my mom and/or my sister (I'm not sure who has possession of them currently), and then spend hours either typing them in or doing it proper and making my own hard copy by hand.  My grandma never messed up her cookies.  Ever.

Although my better senses tell me that some of the recipes will need to be modified.  There's no way in hell I'm putting Accent on anything.  I wouldn't even buy the stuff, not even if someone paid me to buy it for them.  I tend to feel strongly about that, and that's a whole different topic in which I might go into in the near future.  ;)

So tomorrow evening I shall call my mother and ask to steal above mentioned recipe books, and I will carry on the family recipes (mostly).  :)

Marmite Gravy and Onions..

I like onions.  I used to not really care for them.  Okay, I pretty much hated them.  The only thing I don't really care for about them now is how my eyes water when I'm slicing them.  I've gotten my oldest to eat them grilled, we're slowly working on raw.  

Today I was cutting some up for some Marmite gravy and enjoyed they way they looked all sliced.  Yes, I look at food through the lens of a camera all too often.  

Thin slices look the best.  Not to mention they saute up rather nicely.  Mmmm I wish I had some more sauteed onions left.  Oh and for grins I'll give the Marmite gravy recipe.

Marmite Gravy

1 Tbsp butter or oil (oil will make it vegan)
1 medium to large onion, thinly sliced 
2 Tbsp flour 
2 tsp Marmite 
1 to 1.5 cups boiling water 
Pepper, other spices if desired (I used Spike) 

Melt butter in a large pan and add the onion. Saute until the onion starts to brown, then add in spices and pepper.  Stir in the flour allowing it to coat the onion slices.  Pour in 1 cup of boiling water while stirring, within a few moments it should start to thicken, add in Marmite and mix well.  Gravy will begin to thicken, add more water if needed until desired consistency is reached and remove from heat.