More Soup!

     Today it finally feels like fall here--sort of.  The temperature is in the 60s, and it's overcast and a bit rainy. In my last post I made soup, but I've been craving more soup, especially something creamy. A thick, hearty soup just seems perfect for the weather today.

     I'm trying to keep up with my goal of (eventually) trying all of the recipes on my Cooking board on Pinterest.  I pinned this recipe for White Chicken Chili from the Cooking Classy blog a couple of weeks ago when I was looking at soup recipes after I made the Quick Chicken Meatball Soup.  It was an interesting recipe, using Neufchatel cheese and pureed beans to thicken the soup instead of a roux and cream or milk.  The cheese gives it a little creaminess and a slight tang that a dollop of sour cream gives a bowl of traditional chili.  A little lime juice adds a bit more tang and balances out the heat from the chili and paprika and the richness of the cheese and beans.

     I made the recipe pretty close to the original, but you know I had to tweak it a little, right?  Actually, the only changes I made were to increase the garlic and other spices.  I also used 1 can of cannellini beans and 1 can of small white beans because that's what I had in the house.  I added the extra spices after adding the beans because when I tasted the soup, it was a little light flavor-wise. I think it ended up being twice the garlic (because I love garlic) and one quarter to one half again as much of the other spices. The extra spices made it just right.  I served it as suggested with chopped cilantro and a little grated jack cheese.

Cauliflower Alfredo with Chicken and Leeks

Alfredo sauce, cauliflower, leeks, garlic, chicken, butter, olive oil, cheese, salt, and pepper.  That's what went into my dinner tonight.  I've had this head of cauliflower in my fridge for several weeks, and it was starting to look a little peaky.  I knew I'd need to cook it soon or risk losing it. Cauliflower is delicious and versatile.  It would be too sad to be forced to toss such a lovely vegetable.  I started thinking about cauliflower in cheese sauce, which is delicious, but I didn't feel like making a full-on cheese sauce. I'm not sure exactly how I decided, but I was looking up recipes and came across one for Alfredo sauce.  I've never made Alfredo sauce, and it looked surprisingly easy.  I guess I always thought Alfredo was something tricky or difficult, ironically because it seemed so elegantly simple.

     Well, it is simple.  Do a Google search, and you'll see thousands of recipes.  I looked at about a dozen and chose what seemed to be the classic version and made mine based on that.  Basically, you melt some butter in a saucepan, add about a cup of cream, and let simmer for 5 minutes.  It will reduce a bit.  Then stir in 1 to 3 cloves of minced garlic and 1 1/2 to 2 cups finely shredded Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces using a micro-plane grater). I used 3 cloves of garlic and 2 cups of mixed Parmesan and Romano cheese and added a dash or two of pepper.  This sauce is so delicious, wonderfully creamy without being thick or heavy.  It's just a luscious, light, and creamy sauce.

     For the whole dish, here's what I did.  I cleaned and cut the head of cauliflower into largish, bite-sized pieces.  I cleaned the leeks--they were a bit gritty--then halved then length-wise and sliced them.  I melted a little butter along with a little olive oil in a large skillet.  I sauteed the leeks until they were soft then tossed in a couple of cloves of roughly chopped garlic and sauteed for another minute or two.  I then added the cauliflower and stirred to coat it with the leek/garlic/butter mixture.  Once the cauliflower was coated, I poured it in a baking dish and finished cooking the cauliflower by roasting it in a 400 degree oven.  I think it took about 30 minutes in the oven to get the cauliflower to the tender but not mushy point--your mileage may vary.

     While the cauliflower was roasting, I sauteed some more chopped garlic in the same skillet for a few minutes then added some cut up chicken breast.  I decided I needed some protein.  You could make it without chicken easily, and it would be just as delicious.  Once the chicken was almost completely cooked, I pulled the cauliflower out of the oven and added the chicken to the baking pan.  I popped it back in the oven to finish cooking while I made the sauce.  I turned the oven off at this point.  There was enough heat left to finish cooking the chicken and vegetables.

     Once the sauce was ready, I took the cauliflower dish out of the oven and poured the contents into the sauce.  I used a large spoon to gently fold the chicken and vegetables into the sauce.  I then stirred in a little chopped parsley.

Oh yum!  The leeks had caramelized and added savory oniony, caramel goodness to the sauce.  The roasted cauliflower isn't watery the way cauliflower can get when you boil or steam it.  The garlic, cheese, cream mixture brought everything together, and the fresh parsley added a fresh, sharp note to the richness of the dish.  My whole house smells fantastic.

     I ate about a cup of the mixture for dinner, and it was plenty.  I'm guessing, but I think this made about 6 servings.  If you made it without the chicken, you could serve it as a side and it would stretch to even more servings.

Raw Eggs For Dinner

Last night's dinner was Linguine Carbonara. Carbonara is made with raw eggs, which makes some people nervous--I get that. Technically, the eggs do cook, they just don't cook like you normally think of preparing eggs. But it's also not like cracking an egg open and drinking it down. It's like when you order eggs over easy in a restaurant, and the menu has that safety warning to cover its butt liability-wise, but hundreds of people eat them that way every day and never have a problem.

I originally made this dish using a recipe from the cookbook Trattoria Cooking by Biba Caggiano. I'm sure how I make it has changed somewhat since I first made it from the recipe, but it's essentially the same. You need eggs, garlic, red pepper flakes, pancetta, and Parmesan. For 2 people, I cook 2 ounces of pancetta with 2 or more minced garlic cloves. Once the pancetta is cooked, you set it aside until the rest of the dish is finished. While the pasta is cooking, (about 2 ounces, dry, per person) I beat two eggs (medium or 1 x-large) with some red pepper flakes and a little salt & pepper. You don't need too much salt because the Parmesan and pancetta add some saltiness to the dish.

When the pasta is cooked, I drain it then put it back in the pot. I take some of the hot noodles and put them in the dish with the eggs, stirring to warm the eggs up a bit. If you don't warm up the eggs before adding them to the hot noodles, you end up with noodles with scrambled eggs in them--not good. After warming the eggs with some of the noodles, quickly stir the egg/noodle mixture into the rest of the hot noodles, stirring vigorously, so the hot noodles heat up the eggs. Next stir in the pancetta and garlic then some Parmesan. Serve topped with a little more Parmesan. This dish is delicious and really easy to make.

Now for the safety warning: You do need to be careful though, because the eggs are not fully cooked. If you are pregnant, have a compromised immune system, or aren't confident in the safety and freshness of your eggs, you probably shouldn't make this.

Cheese Sauce & Scones (don't worry, not together)

Cheese Sauce
I guess it was Sunday afternoon when my mom sent me a text asking me what I was making for dinner. At that point, I hadn't even thought much about dinner. I'd been feeling a little funky during the day (guess I was gearing up for that migraine on Monday), so I had nothing planned. Luckily, we had some leftover Italian sausage, so that went on the menu. Then I saw the squash we're still working our way through. Steamed squash always works. That seemed a little boring, so I decided to make some pasta with cheese sauce.

Cheese sauce is actually pretty quick and easy to make, and when you pour it over noodles, you get a quick mac and cheese that tastes way better than boxed stuff. (I like the boxed stuff too sometimes, but this is just better.)

The cheese sauce I make is basically a white sauce with added cheese and a little dijon mustard, nutmeg, cayenne, salt, and pepper.

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup non-fat milk (you can use any milk--I just use what I have which is generally non-fat)
3/4 - 1 cup shredded cheddar (or jack or whatever you have on hand that is similar to either of these--I think my favorite is a combo of mild cheddar and smoked Gruyere.)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
ground nutmeg
cayenne pepper
salt
black pepper

Heat the milk in a small saucepan or in the microwave until it is hot but not boiling. Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for about 3 to 4 minutes. Keep the heat low so the flour mixture doesn't brown. Whisking constantly, pour the milk into the flour mixture and mix vigorously until the sauce is smooth with no lumps. I have found that having the milk heated makes it easier to mix it into the flour mixture.

Keeping the temperature low, stir in 3/4 cup shredded cheese (more or less), Dijon mustard, a dash or 2 each of nutmeg and cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well to fully mix in all the ingredients. Let simmer, covered, on low while you finish cooking the rest of your meal. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more milk or water until it is the desired consistency.

Cook up some pasta and mix in the sauce with whatever else you like (I like to add peas to mine.), and you've got mac and cheese.

Scones
I made scones today. I've made them from a mix and once before I've made them from scratch, but I couldn't remember what recipe I used. I did a search for scone recipes, and I think I found the one I used before. These scones turned out perfect. Scones aren't really like a biscuit--they're more NOT like a biscuit...meaning it's helpful to use biscuits in comparison to describe scones, but they aren't really that alike. Scones are denser than biscuits. They are also a bit sweeter, and the outside is slightly crispy but also flaky like shortbread In fact, that's probably the best way to describe these scones--kind of a cross between a biscuit and shortbread. Very yummy.

Cream Scone Recipe:
from Joy Of Baking.com
with some changes and commentary by me

2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup (75 grams) cold butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream (contains 35-40% butterfat)

Glaze:
Cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place the rack in the middle of the oven. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. (I was out of parchment paper, so I just put the scones directly on the cookie sheet. I recommend parchment paper though as my scones ended up a little dark on the bottom.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives (I used my hands, working quickly so as not to let the butter get too warm). The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. In a small measuring cup combine the whipping cream, beaten egg and vanilla. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

Knead dough gently on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round. Then, using a 2 1/2 inch (6.5 cm) round cookie cutter, cut the dough into rounds. (Alternately, you can just cut the dough disc into wedges.) Place the rounds on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream. This helps to brown the tops of the scones during baking. (I didn't find this to be true, but the cream does make them nice and glossy-looking.)

Bake for about 12 - 18 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve with Devon cream or softly whipped cream and your favorite jam.

Makes about 8 round scones.

These are excellent with clotted cream and jam, but they are also great with just jam or lemon curd. Frankly, I even like them plain.

I really need to get my camera out and take some photos of the stuff I make. I think it could get boring just hearing about things without ever seeing pictures. I also need to try to find a way to format the recipes so they are easier to read. I'll work on that.