Monthly Archives: January 2010

Chocolate for the pasta bowl

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More than 20 years ago, I used to take cooking classes from Andrea Halgrimson in Fargo. At that time, she was the librarian and food columnist at the daily newspaper in Fargo and had a reputation for her expert cooking skills. She’d have a small group of eager home cooks into her intimate condo kitchen. We’d give our full attention to Andrea as she prepared gourmet meals, teaching us her tips and techniques as she deftly created the most beautiful and delicious meals I’d ever eaten. I still have all the recipe handouts from those classes, with my notes written in the margins.

I remember one of the classes I attended in Andrea’s kitchen focused on chocolate. One of the desserts was based on chocolate crepes, cut into strips to resemble fettuccine. She served the chocolate pasta in large balloon glasses. A sauce of dark chocolate was drizzled over the dessert and served with whipped cream.

I’ve made the Chocolate Fettuccine several times since that class, but never with a glass of champagne as Andrea did those many years ago. I was a young mother at the time, and that class was probably one of the most extragavant things I had ever experienced.

The chocolate crepes along with dark chocolate sauce can be used in many ways. The sauce can be used as an ice cream topping, of course. It’s also good drizzled over cheesecake, pound cake, pecan pie or poached pears. The possibilities are endless.

The crepes don’t have to be cut into strips to become a decadent dessert. I’ve come up with an almond filling to stuff into the thin disks of chocolate and then use raspberry and chocolate sauces to serve with the dessert crepes. You can see a picture of them and find the recipe in my column this week.  Click here to go right to the recipe for Almond-filled chocolate crepes.

If you like crepes, you may be interested in the recipes I posted for Hungarian-style crepes with ricotta filling. Just click here and here.

The good news: Anyway you serve chocolate crepes, they’re chocolate. And that’s a good thing. The bad news: Andrea no longer teaches cooking classes in Fargo, but you can sample some of her recipes in a column that she writes for The Forum.

Amazing Brandied Apricot and Almond Shortbread Bars

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I’m amazed at myself. It’s not that I had purposely laid out a plan early in December to mix up more cookie dough than I could possibly have time to bake before Christmas just so that I would have extra dough to play with in January. No, I’m amazed that I remembered I had a wad of cookie dough in the freezer.

In November, when I was participating in a marathon Swedish Ginger Snaps baking day with three other women, I had the opportunity to taste a few kinds of holiday cookies that our hostess, Judy, had already baked up and was storing in her freezer. And this was the middle of November!

Judy shared recipes with me for Chocolate Caramel Thumbprint Cookies. I made those chocolatey two-bite morsels with the soft caramel filling and posted them on this blog. I’ve added that recipe to my line-up of cookies that I make every holiday season. You can click here if you’d like to go right to that recipe.

I was lucky to get Judy’s recipe for Holiday Shortbread Logs. Both ends of chubby little logs of shortbread are dipped in a brandy-flavored glaze and then in chopped pecans. They were melt-in-the-mouth buttery delicious. I mixed up a batch of the dough, but……….never got around to making the logs.

That’s the dough I just rememberd I had in the freezer. I decided to pat the thawed dough into a 9- x 13-inch baking dish and use it as a crust for some apricot topping. Simmering dried apricots in apricot brandy for a couple of minutes, softens the apricots and spikes them with a subtle punch of brandy flavor.

Maybe I’ve been living under a rock, but I did not know that Solo was selling almond paste in a can these days. Solo Almond Paste is available in just about every well-stocked supermarket. It’s soft and moist with distinct yet mellow almond fragrance and flavor. And since I have a real love for the combination of apricot and almond, I had to include it in these bars. Into a struesel topping it went, along with butter, brown sugar, sliced almonds….all good things. I didn’t use the whole 8-ounce can, but almond paste can be refrigerated for a week or so and also stores well in the freezer.

Once baked, the shortbread crust is rich and crunchy. The apricot filling is not too sweet so that you can still taste apricots. And the topping — I’m already making plans to use it on an apple pie.

When Brandied Apricot and Almond Shortbread Bars are cut into dainty little triangles, they are well-suited for tea parties. I think they would be a pretty and tasty addition to a tray of Christmas cookies, too.

For any day, they are just amazing. It’s handy having some of this shortbread dough in the freezer.

If you like this recipe, you might like to see my recipe for Buttery Shortbread.Click here to go to that post.

Brandied Apricot and Almond Shortbread Bars

Brandied Apricot Filling:

  • 8 ounces dried apricots
  • 1 cup apricot brandy, divided

Almond Struesel:

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 6 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/3 cup crumbled almond paste (about 2 3/4 ounces)
  • 1/4 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds

Shortbread Crust:

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

First, make Brandied Apricot Filling: Place dried apricots in a small heavy saucepan. Pour 1/2 cup apricot brandy over the apricots. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Boil, covered, for 2 minutes, until apricots are soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Puree cooked apricots with any brandy left in the pot in a blender or food processor. Slowly pour in remaining 1/2 cup apricot brandy and continue to puree until mixture is quite smooth. Set aside.

Make the Almond Struesel: Whisk flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to blend in medium bowl. Add almond paste and butter. Rub in with fingertips until mixture begins to clump together. (It can also be mixed with a food processor.) Add almonds and work in with fingertips until well incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to use. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)

Combine all ingredients for Shortbread Crust in a large mixing bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until ingredients are well mixed, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Line a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with parchment paper, allowing enough paper to come up over the sides of the dish. These will serve as handles to pull the cooled bars from the dish.

Bake the Shortbread Crust in preheated 350-degree oven for 20 minutes, or until the top is just starting to brown.

Remove dish from oven. Spread Brandied Apricot Filling evenly over the hot Shortbread Crust. Sprinkle Almond Struesel over the filling. Press the Filling slightly.

Return to oven and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool bars completely in dish on wire rack.

Use the parchment paper to pull the cooled bars from the dish. It’s much easier to cut them when they are on a cutting board rather than in the dish.

Cut 4 rows from short end to short end and 8 rows from side to side. Cut each square diagonally to make triangles.

 

 

 

 

“Little Toasts ” Make Big Splash in Black Bean Chili

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My mom would have called it garlic toast. She would often slice up a loaf of Italian bread, brush it with butter and sprinkle each slice with garlic salt and a little paprika before she baked them to crispness. Most times we’d gobble that toast down between mouthfuls of spaghetti with marinara (I’m pretty sure we called it spaghetti sauce).

But me? I make "crostini." Sliced rounds of French baguette. Butter? No, no, no. It’s olive oil for those who want a healthy heart. Garlic salt? Never. Only fresh, chubby cloves of garlic, minced so fine. I do sneak in a little paprika, too. Yes, that’s my crostini.

Crostini is an Italian word that means "little toasts." They can be eaten with anything you’d eat with crackers. Crumbled over a salad of fresh greens, Garlic Crostini become croutons. Try dippping them into cheese fondue — divine. Float them in a bowl of homemade tomato soup — they really make a splash.

I pulled some Black Bean Chili out of the freezer the other day to heat up for a quick meal. I happened to have some Garlic Crostini in a container on the counter. I’d made it to serve with Artichoke-Green Chile Slather and had just a few slices remaining. With a can of green chiles and few other ingredients, I mixed up a topping for the Garlic Crostini. The little Italian toasts would have looked like a fish out of water sitting on top of a bowl of chili, but with a shot of New Mexico green chiles, they seemed quite comfortable.

I’m sharing my recipe for Black Bean Chili along with the recipes for Garlic Crostini and Green Chile Topping.

The pick-me-up in the chili is the espresso powder that’s added to the pot. You’ll think it’s lots of onions and garlic. It is. And that’s what adds the kind of flavor I appreciate in chili. It’s a thick, meatless, tummy-warming concoction. Topped with Garlic Crostini with Green Chile Topping –  well, it’s just as pretty as a picture. Pretty adaptable, those "little toasts."

Pick-Me-Up Black Bean Chili

  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 5 medium-sized yellow onions, chopped
  • 6 large garlic cloves, minced
  • ¼ cup instant espresso powder
  • ¼ cup chili powder
  • ¼ cup ground cumin
  • ¼ cup dried oregano leaves
  • 2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes with added puree
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 4 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder or chili powder

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until tender, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and saute for another minute or two. Remove from heat and mix in espresso powder, ¼ cup chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Return to heat and cook 1 minute. Mix in tomatoes and honey. Bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low heat, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Add beans, 2 cups water, salt and chipotle chili powder. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until mixture thickens slightly, stirring often, about 30 minutes. Season with salt. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm before serving.) Serves 8.





Garlic Crostini with Green Chile Topping


Crostini:

  • 1 baguette
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

Cut the baguette into ¼-inch round slices. Whisk the olive oil, garlic, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Brush each side of the bread rounds with the olive oil mixture. Arrange bread rounds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 13 to 15 minutes, turning bread rounds over after 10 minutes through the baking time. When crostini is crisp and golden brown, remove from oven. Cool on a wire rack. These can be made up to 3 days in advance. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

I make extra of the olive oil mixture. I love dipping chunks of whole wheat French bread into the garlicky oil for a mid-afternoon snack. Have breath mints close by.

Green Chile Topping:

  • 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
  • 1 chubby clove garlic, minced
  • Pinch of salt or to taste
  • Diced tomato, for garnish (This time of year I use Glen Muir Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes)
  • Cilantro leaves, for garnish

Mash half of avocado in a bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours before eating. Just before serving, chop the remaining half of avocado and gently stir into the topping. Place a heaping teaspoon of Green Chile Topping on each of 8 slices of Garlic Crostini. Garnish with tomato and cilantro. Nestle one slice on each serving of Black Bean Chile. Offer extra Garlic Crostini and Green Chile Topping at the table.

 

 

 

Breakfast Puffins — a labor of love

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I know. It looks like a muffin, doesn’t it? That’s exactly what my husband thought, too, when he came into the kitchen yesterday morning, ready to head out to the office.

It’s a little breakfast pie. It’s my labor of love.

After being so focused on pasties for the last couple of weeks, I was still thinking about the breakfast pasties that I brought home from Turtle River Pasties. I purchased them in their frozen state and baked them for breakfast for overnight guests. It was the first time I had tasted the flakey pastry filled with eggs, Mark’s homemade sausage, potatoes, cheese oozing out with each warm bite. They made a very filling and satisfying breakfast.

With a wad of buttery pastry dough wrapped up and taking up space on a shelf in my refrigerator and leftover porketta (also served to overnight guests), I decided to make a breakfast something. Why not a breakfast Puffin? A miniature pie-look-alike, baked like a muffin. I was pretty sure my husband would love it.

By the way, Beth Dooley has a delicious-sounding porketta recipe at Simple, Good and Tasty. I should have tried that one. Next time. (There’s a reason I had leftover porketta in my refrigerator.)

On Monday evening I cubed and cooked a potato with visions of loaded breakfast hot-pockets and big mugs of dark coffee for a morning wake-up meal with my husband.

I hopped out of bed at 6:00 yesterday morning, feeling confident I’d have a hot Breakfast Puffin ready for my husband to eat before heading out the door for the day.

I prepared the filling ingredients, chopping porketta, peppers, onion, grating cheese. Finally, rolling out pastry dough, cutting it and forming it into muffin cups.

It all took much longer than I had anticipated. Prep time would have been much shorter if I had laid the groundwork the night before. That would have meant just rolling and cutting the dough in the morning.

The little Puffins went into the oven a little after 7:00. They were golden, puffed up, hot and ready to devour about 25 minutes later. That happened to be the exact same time my husband entered the kitchen, coat on, briefcase in hand, ready to leave.

He: Muffins?

Me: No. They’re little breakfast pies. You don’t have time for one?

He: No. But I’ll take one with me.

Me: They’re so hot. It might be hard to eat one in the car.

He: That’s okay. I’ll eat it when I get to work.

I wrapped a piping hot puffin loosely in a paper towel. He clamped onto it as if it were a baseball, gave me a quick kiss and off he went.

Fifteen minutes later I answered my phone.

He: That little breakfast pie was delicious.

Me: You already ate it?

He: Yup. I’m just pulling into the parking lot and I’ve already eaten the whole thing.

Me: Wow. What made it delicous?

He: The crust was so flakey and flavorful. The filling had just the right mix of ingredients. Everything about it was perfect.

Me: Smile :) I’m glad you liked it.

Mission accomplished. Chopping, rolling, cutting, cooking, baking at 6:00 a.m. all worth while. Labor of love enjoyed and appreciated.

As I sat down to enjoy a Breakfast Puffin with a big mug of hot, dark coffee, I thought about my next challenge: ways to use the remaining filling ingredients I didn’t need for the Breakfast Puffins.

Refrigerate any remaining filling ingredients. Here’s how I will use them:

  • Layer them onto a whole wheat tortilla, roll up and heat for breakfast or lunch. I’ll be sure to add some of those cooked potato chunks in my refrigerator.
  • Toast some bread. Layer filling ingredients on the toast. Slide under the broiler until bubbly. Top with sliced avocado. Great for lunch.

Do you have any other ideas for me? Please leave a comment if you do.

Breakfast Puffins

For the pastry:

  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon seasoned salt or garlic salt
  • 2/3 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
  • 5 to 6 tablespoons ice water
  • A little bit of milk or cream for brushing over the top of each puffin
  • A pinch of coarse salt for sprinkling over the top of each puffin

Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into flour until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Add 1 tablespoon of ice water at a time, gently tossing with a fork between additions, until the dough begins to come together. Shape dough into a ball, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. (My chunk of pastry had been in the refrigerator for 4 days. The dough can also be stored in the freezer for about a month.)

For the Filling:

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 cup chopped red or green bell pepper (I used a combination of both)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped onion
  • 6 eggs
  • Seasoning of your choice
  • 1 cup chopped cooked porketta, ham, sausage or bacon
  • 1 heaping cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Briefly saute peppers and onion in the hot butter. Whisk eggs together and pour into skillet. Add seasonings. Cook stir the eggs until almost done. Transfer egg mixture to plate to cool.

Toss cheeses together and set aside.

Roll out chilled pastry dough on lightly floured work surface. Cut rounds to fit into muffin tins, allowing some of the pastry to come up over the top. Cut smaller rounds to fit as tops for the puffins. (I used muffin tins with 1/2-cup wells, a little larger than the traditional size. I used an upside-down saucer as my guide for the larger rounds and a round cookie cutter for the tops.)

Line 4 to 6 muffin cups with pastry, leaving an empty cup between each one. The number of puffins you make will depend on the size of your muffin cups. I made 4 with one batch of pastry.

Layer cheese, meat, scrambled egg mixture and more cheese in each pastry-lined cup, filling generously.

Top with pastry round and seal edges. Use the tip of a sharp knife to poke a couple of slits in the top of each puffin. Brush each puffin with some milk and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for about 25 minutes. The puffins should be golden brown and you will hear the filling sizzle.

Remove from oven. Gently pull the puffins from the tin. Eat while hot — out-of-hand or with a fork.

  • Sure, you can use refrigerated pie dough from the grocery store.
  • To save time in the morning, make the pies the night before and refrigerate in a sealed container. Allow a little extra baking time in the morning. Or, make, bake and freeze on the weekend. Reheat the frozen pies for about 20 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven.

 

 

 

 

It’s a PASS-tee.

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Be careful when you do a Google search for pasties. I was searching for the edible kind, the Cornish kind– pastry stuffed with meat and vegetables. But, ummmm, you know, the other kind came up. Google misunderstood. It did try, though. Google asked: Did you mean to search for: all about pastry?

I had just returned to my office after a visit with Mark and Peggy Schultz, owners of a pasty (PASS-tee) shop in Turtle River, Minnesota, not far from where I live. After spending time in the Turtle River Pasties kitchen, watching Mark create very chubby pasties, all-butter pastry turnovers stuffed with beef and root vegetables, I was anxious to use the tips he shared with me to make my own batch.

I first learned of pasties over 20 years ago when I was in Ely for a state Legion baseball tournament. They were part of the line-up at the concession stand. A pasty is a little bit like a filled dumpling, but it’s baked, not boiled. It’s a little bit like a pie with a flaky crust, but it’s eaten out of hand, not with a fork. It’s a little bit like a sandwich filled with meat and vegetables, but there’s no bread involved.

It seems pasties first appeared in Cornwall, England. Housewives formed piecrust around a filling of beef and root vegetables and then baked them, creating a convenient meal for the men to take down into the damp tin mines. The pasty, a hardy meal nestled into a crust, could be eaten by hand and was tasty hot, warm or cold.

Eventually, immigrants brought the pasty to America. It’s likely you will find pasties wherever there are mines. In Minnesota, they’ve become a traditional part of the food scene on the Iron Range.

Mark and Peggy Schultz and their children had eaten pasties on trips through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. They decided to try making their own version. They started with a traditional style pasty, highlighting Mark’s own smoked brisket. After much trial and error and lots of pasty-eating, they came up with the perfect pasty. Now, they offer a total of eight varieties.

Mark showed me how he makes the traditional beef pasty. Two things set it apart from all other pasties: the rich, flaky crust and the smoked brisket.

Mark cuts cubes of freshly smoked brisket to mix with potatoes, rutabaga, onions and carrots for his traditional-style pasties. A large smoker is in the kitchen right next to the ovens.

Once the pastry dough has been mixed, it goes through a sausage-stuffer. Mark cuts the dough as it comes out of the stuffer, getting just the right amount of dough to form each pasty.

Rather than roll the dough by hand, Mark gives each piece of dough two passes through the rollers.

Now, it’s ready to fill.

 Mark stuffs each pasty, one at a time, and crimps it closed with a very special kitchen tool. It’s a professional-style crimper. And it sure does the job.

 

Loaded with beef and vegetables and perfecty crimped, the pasties are ready to go into the oven.

Turtle River Pasties are sold hot and ready to eat or pre-baked and frozen, ready to heat up in your home oven.

I’m lucky. I can drive 10 miles or so to Turtle River Pasties to buy several varieties of delicious meals in a pastry crust and have a visit with Mark and Peggy Schultz at the same time.

Mark Schultz is not only a great pasty-maker, he’s a super teacher. I did make my own pasties using all of the tips I learned from Mark. I used small chunks of tri-tip roast that I had leftover from another meal. And I made the pastry dough with lots of butter. I rolled the dough by hand, stuffed and crimped it.

And then, I ate one. Almost as good as a Turtle River Pasty.

If you don’t live near Turtle River Pasties, you can make your own meal in a pastry pocket. I discovered it’s not difficult. I share the recipe for my Not-So-Traditional Pasties, pictured above, in my column this week. Click here to go right to the recipe. It will save you a Google search!

Turtle River Pasties

12486 Hwy 71 Connection in Turtle River, 10 miles north of Bemidji on Highway 71, next to the 71 Mart Convenience Store

218-586-4004

 

 

 

 

 

Warm Up with Enlightened Winter Soup

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When you live in the Midwest, northern Minnesota to be more exact, where below-zero temperatures are no big deal, but just part of winter life, a hot bowl of hearty homemade soup is highly appreciated.

A few weeks ago I received a copy of "Enlightened Soups," by Camilla V. Saulsbury. As I was in the midst of holiday preparations, I didn’t have much time to look through the cookbook. But as the New Year rang in, I was ready to get back to a more healthful eating routine. And, during the first week of the new year, a few of Camilla’s Enlightened Soups have been a part of my lower fat, lower calorie eating plan.

As I paged through the cookbook filled with more than 135 light and healthful soup recipes, I soon noticed the recipes used ingredients that can be found in most supermarkets and that the soups did not take long to make. All can be prepared in an hour or less, some in just 20 minutes. Each recipe has a small illustration that shows how long it takes to prepare the soup. As I soon discovered, enlightened soups don’t need to cook for hours to deliver wonderful flavor.

Another feature of "Enlightened Soups" is the nutritional information included with each recipe.

I first tried Red Lentil Mulligatawny. It was rich with flavor and took 45 minutes to prepare from start to finish.You can read about that recipe in my column this week.

As a guest writer on my blog, Camilla Saulsbury agreed to share her top ten tips for enlightened soup-making. Her helpful tips can be applied to the recipes from her "Enlightened Soups" cookbook or they can help you turn your own favorite homemade soups into enlightened soups.

Camilla also shares her recipe for Dijon Vegetable Chowder, pictured above.

Learn more about Camilla as well as other enlightened cookbooks she has written by visiting her Enlightened Cooking blog.

******************************************************************************************************************

Hi everyone. I am so happy to be guest-posting here on Sue Doeden’s blog, and share a recipe from my cookbook, Enlightened Soups: More Than 135 Light, Healthy, Delicious and Beautiful Soups in 60 Minutes or Less. Although I’ve written 10 cookbooks to date, Enlightened Soups is my very favorite; developing the recipes was a labor of love.

And soup is what I’ve been making—almost every day—since Christmas. It’s so warming on these chilly January days (yes, it’s even cold here in Texas; not as cold as Minnesota and the Dakotas, but in the 20s), and it is the best fast food around.

My objection to most “fast food” is the adjective “fast.” Loading myself (and my 3-year -old son) into the car in freezing temperatures, only to drive to a line of 15+ cars, is anything but desirable; or fast. I’d much rather stay in my warm kitchen, listening to NPR, and making a batch of Dijon Vegetable Chowder, a favorite recipe from my book It’s ready in minutes, a cinch to prepare, and made from pantry ingredients. An added fillip? It’s light in fat and calories despite its rich, velvety taste.

I hope you’ll give it a try. I’ve also included my top ten tips for streamlining all of your soup-making. Soup’s on!

Dijon Vegetable Chowder

Total Time (Prep + Cooking): 60 minutes

Creamy and rich—despite containing neither cream nor butter—this soup wards off winter with every spoonful. Don’t skip the addition of the Dijon mustard—it adds tremendous flavor and depth in one easy step.

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cups chopped onion
  • 2 medium red bell peppers, seeded, diced
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups 1% lowfat milk
  • 3 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 4 medium baking potatoes (about 2 and 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
  • 1 16-ounce bag frozen white or yellow corn
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 16-ounce bag frozen cut green beans

Heat the oil in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Add the onion, bell peppers, and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Add the garlic, milk, broth, water, and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in corn and simmer 2 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer 3 cups of the solids and 1 cup liquid to a blender. Add the mustard and puree until smooth. Return to pot and add green beans. Bring to a simmer, cooking 8 minutes or until beans are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition per Serving:
Calories 142; Fat 4.9g (sat 2.9g, mono 1.0g, poly 0.3g); Protein 6.6g; Cholesterol 15mg; Sodium 509mg; Carbohydrate 24.8g.

Camilla Saulsbury’s Top 10 Tips for Enlightened Soups
Whether you’re making Classic Tomato Soup, Garden Gazpacho, or Rice Congee Soup, it helps to remember that soup is a forgiving dish, making it one of the best ways to learn about the magic of cooking. Soup offers the opportunity to learn about the fundamentals of cooking, from sautéing to caramelizing to the blending of techniques, textures, and flavors, all with easy-to-follow steps. Further, soup is flexible, meaning you can tweak it to your palate’s content.

Nevertheless, it’s always important to begin by reading through the recipe before cooking begins, checking that you have all the necessary ingredients, and then gathering together all of the needed equipment for the task.

And for even greater assurance of success, follow my top ten tips for enlightened soup-making:


1. Know Your Salt & Pepper.
Proper seasoning with salt and pepper is the key difference between a great soup and a blah soup.

Salt is about as close to a magic ingredient as there is. Proper seasoning with salt doesn’t make a soup salty; rather, the myriad complex flavors of the brew come to the fore. But add too much, and all your hard work can be ruined.

Fresh peppercorns are likewise key to creating great soup. They have tremendous flavor, especially in comparison to the pre-ground stuff. You can use your own pepper grinder, or look for the new peppercorn bottles in the supermarket with the grinder built in.

2. Cut the Fat in the Sauté Step.
Many soup recipes begin by cooking and stirring aromatic vegetables—e.g., onions, garlic, peppers, ginger—in butter or oil.

You can slash the fat in most traditional recipe by cutting down to a few teaspoons or tablespoons of oil or butter. The results are still delicious (the vegetables are softened and slightly caramelized), and the technique can be applied to other soups in your repertoire. Note that if the vegetables stick a bit, simply add a small amount of broth or water to the pan.

3. Don’t Go Stir-Crazy
In the first phase of cooking the soup (i.e., cooking and stirring the onions, aromatics, and other vegetables), don’t stir the vegetables too often; once every two minutes or so is plenty. This helps them brown, caramelizing their sugars. That, in turn, will further enhance the flavor of the soup without adding excess fat.

4. Puree Soup in Blenders, in Small Batches
When making pureed soups, use a blender for the creamiest texture. A food processor will give a slightly grainy texture. Handheld immersion blenders are excellent when you only want to blend soups a little bit, but they are not effective for making creamy purees.

Be sure to purée in small batches and crack the blender lid slightly (or remove the center cap from the lid). Steam can build up once you start blending, and if the lid is on tight or the blender is overfilled, it will spray hot soup all over you and your kitchen. For protection, cover the top with a dishtowel while puréeing.

5. Steer Clear of HIGH Heat.
As one who has scorched her fair share of soups in days gone by, I urge you to consider the following: keep the burner dial away from HIGH, even when bringing soup to a boil. It can take mere seconds for a soup to scorch if left unattended boiling at high heat.

6. Handle Dairy Additions with Care.
Follow the directions carefully for adding dairy products to soup. Keep the heat relatively low to prevent the dairy product from separating; boiling will create an unpleasant texture. If you’re making a soup ahead of time, prepare it up to the point of adding the dairy, then cool and store. Reheat the soup when ready to eat, adding the dairy for a quick heating just before eating.

7. Give Yourself Permission to Use Ready-Prepped Ingredients
Sure, fresh is best. But when you’re exhausted and hungry, my position is that a homemade soup made with a few shortcuts is still so much better—both in terms of taste and good health— than fast food. So go head and plan for those emergency moments and stock the pantry and freezer with plenty of ready-made broths, vegetables, rice, beans, and pasta.

8. Cut Vegetables Small for Faster Cooking.
A 1/2-inch size chop or dice needs no more than 10 minutes of simmering before it’s soft, speeding soup to the table in no time.

9. Head to the Deli Counter for Cooked Meat & Poultry.
You don’t need to simmer meat and poultry for hours on end to pack a healthy and flavorful addition to almost any soup. Instead, head to the deli counter of your supermarket for a wide selection of fully cooked meats. Shred the meat from deli rotisserie chicken (discard the skin, and freeze any leftover meat for future meals), or request thick cuts of roast beef, smoked turkey, and ham, then easily dice into small pieces at home.

10. Add Instant Dazzle with a Drizzle, Splash, or Sprinkle.
Elevate any Enlightened Soup, whether for everyday or entertaining, with a sprinkle or drizzle of one of the following: a few shavings of Parmesan cheese, made with a vegetable peeler, flavorful oil (fruit extra-virgin olive oil, hazelnut oil, toasted sesame oil), finely grated citrus zest, or ready-made condiments such as black olive tapenade, sun-dried tomato tapenade, or basil pesto. A very small splash of citrus juice (lemon or lime), red wine vinegar, cider vinegar, or good-quality balsamic vinegar, can brighten and enhance the flavors of many soups, too.
 

Do the Bunny Hop right over to the Bunny Hole Cookies!

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A fluffy and chubby-looking bunny was right outside my window the other day, happily nibbling away on sprigs of Russian Sage that were poking out of the snow. He was so cute as he started at the tip of each sprig and made fast work of downing it, looking as though he was slurping long spaghetti. He’s not so cute in the summer, though, when I find him filling his tummy on my flowers.

When that little bunny finally had his fill, he turned and quickly hopped away, his little white tail bouncing. And that’s when I was reminded of Bunny Hole Cookies.

I was invited to a holiday cookie bake-off a few weeks before Christmas. Dan "Klecko" McGleno and Kim Ode invited some fellow cookie-loving friends to gather in Klecko’s laboratory at St. Agnes Baking Co. where he develops great bread. Yes, he’s the same guy who bakes dog biscuits. We were instructed to bring cookie dough ready to be turned into holiday cookies to share.

The St. Agnes ovens were leaking sweet smells as all those cookies baked to perfection.

Klecko created the Bunny Hole cookies, a perfect sweet treat for wintery days in the Midwest. He simply cut rounds of sugar cookie dough and cut each round in half. Using an apple corer, he cut a small hole in one half of each unbaked cookie.

All of the solid halves got a big squirt of filling, either Bavarian chocolate or coconut.

 

He put the cookies together, each topped with a bunny hole. Once baked, the cookies had a dark bunny hole or a bunny hole with a cottontail peeking through. The baked cookies were showered with powdered sugar snow.

Children will not only love eating these cookies, but they will have a grand time making them with you. You can use your favorite dough for cut-out sugar cookies.

I use a recipe that I got years ago when I was in college working part-time at a private preschool in Mahtomedi, Minnesota. The owner of the preschool always used this recipe when she made cookies with the children. It makes a crunchy cookie. The dough is easy to roll out.

On one of these snowy winter days when it’s too cold to be outside, gather the family in the kitchen to make some Bunny-Hole Cookies. It’s especially fun once you’ve watched a cute little cottontail run back to its bunny hole with a tummy full of nibbles from your snow-covered flower garden. And, why not do the Bunny Hop right over to a plate of Bunny Hole Cookies? Nibble, nibble, crunch!

Kitty’s Sugar Cookies

  • 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Use an electric mixer to blend sugar and butter together. Add egg and flavorings and mix well. Sift flour, baking soda and cream of tartar together and stir in until totally incorporated. Refrigerate the dough for 2 to 3 hours.

Divide dough in half. Roll out one half at a time to desired thickness. The thinner the dough, the crispier the cookies will be. Cut as many cookies from each rolling as possible. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 7 to 8 minutes.

To turn this dough into Bunny Hole Cookies:

Cut rounds. Cut each round in half. Use a small round cutter or apple corer to make a bunny hole in half of the halves. If you want to use chocolate frosting and white frosting to fill the bunny holes, bake the cookies first. When the cookies are cool, sandwich together with fluffy frosting. Sprinkle some coconut on the white frosting so it looks like a bunny tail. Shower all the Bunny Hole Cookies with powdered sugar snow.

 

 

Happy Dough Year

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Happy New Year to you. If your refrigerator looks anything like mine right now, it’s probably full of covered bowls and dishes, all holding bits of food leftover from holiday meals with family and social gatherings with friends. Actually, I think we have just one more single-serving size bowl of Hungarian sausage and roasted potatoes holding space on one of the refrigerator shelves. Since I don’t get very excited about leftovers, my husband will be in charge of eliminating that last food sign of the final holiday gathering with friends we had at our house last Wednesday.

There is something else taking up space in my refrigerator, though. It’s dough. In a big bowl.

It was just a silly coincidence that during the holidays we had lots of yeast dough going on around here. A day or two before Christmas, I mixed up a batch of the Brioche dough from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. Some of it created a pan of Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls for Christmas morning. Some of that same dough was turned into melt-in-the-mouth crescent rolls to go with a Swedish Meatball dinner. There’s still some of that dough in a plastic container in the refrigerator.

While she was here for Christmas, my daughter-in-law, Katie, wanted to try making kolaches using a recipe she found in "The Pastry Queen" cookbook by Rebecca Rather. Wouldn’t you know — that dough also required an overnight in the refrigerator. We did find time to make the dough, but never had a chance to form the kolaches before Katie had to leave for home. I finally made those kolaches last week, stuffing them with lots of poppyseed filling and plum butter.They were not only beautiful, they were soft, fluffy and quite addictive.

You can get right to the Pastry Queen’s kolache recipe by clicking here.

But, that wasn’t the end of all the yeast dough. I decided to banish a lone baked sweet potato and some roasted cubes of butternut squash from my refrigerator by mashing them up and beating them into some yeast dough. I adapted a recipe I had for some rich biscuits made with yeast and baking powder. And, you guessed it. the dough required refrigeration. The good news, though, is that the dough can be rolled out, cut and then frozen if you don’t want to bake all the biscuits at once. The biscuits are light, slightly sweet and soft. It’s hard to eat just one. And that’s good, because the recipe makes lots.

What I haven’t told you yet, is that there is an old belief in my family, passed down through generations, (from my Hungarian side) that whatever you do on New Year’s Day has a direct effect on your life for the rest of the year. It’s more than that, though. If your house is a mess on the first day of the year — a mess all year. Refrigerator full of leftovers, yep, all year. The good news — you’ll have food to eat all year. If you travel on New Year’s Day — really — all year:) You get the idea.

So, with plenty of dough in my refrigerator, I guess it means I’ll have dough all year. I’m just hoping the Hungarian gods of superstition think it’s the green kind of dough. You know, cash.

That would make it a happy dough year!

Happy Dough Year and Happy New Year. May you have bread in your house all year long!

Sweet Potato-Butternut Squash Biscuits

  • 3 envelopes (1/4-ounce) or 2 tablespoons plus 3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 3/4 cup warm water (105 to 110 degrees F)
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks), softened
  • 1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato
  • 1 1/2 cups mashed cooked butternut squash
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a 2-cup glass measure, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar in warm water. Set aside while yeast bubbles and grows.

In a large mixing bowl, combine remaining sugar and butter. Add water and yeast mixture and mix well. Use a wooden spoon to mix in sweet potato and butternut squash. When mixture is well combined, add 2 cups of the flour along with baking powder and salt. Mix well. Continue adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough comes together and pulls away from sides of bowl. There’s a good chance you won’t need all of the flour. If you have some of the flour remaining, sprinkle some of it on your work surface. Transfer the dough to floured work surface and knead for about 8 minutes. If dough is sticky, shower the work surface with more flour as you continue to knead. The dough should be smooth and elastic.

Place dough in a well-greased bowl, turning the dough to grease the top. At this point, dough can be covered and chilled overnight or even up to a couple of days.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut with a 2-inch round cutter. At this point, the cut biscuits can be stored in the freezer for up to a month.

Allow the biscuits to rise on a parchment-lined baking sheet, covered lightly with a tea towel, in a warm place until doubled in size.

Bake the biscuits in a preheated 400-degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

Yields 6 to 7 dozen biscuits.

Tip from the cook

  • I placed the cut rounds of dough I wanted to freeze close together on two parchment-lined baking sheets, covered them tightly with Press’n Seal and slid them into the freezer. Once they were totally frozen, I packed them into freezer bags.
  • These biscuits are delicious with butter and honey for breakfast. They go well with soup or salad, too. And they’re not bad with a thick slice of ham sandwiched in their middle. I like them best with a thick pat of butter sandwiched in their warm middle.