Carrot Soup

Mark's Very Messy Carrot Soup - based on Cook's Illustrated Great Carrot-Ginger Soup - serves 6

(and a bonus recipe at the end for croutons)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 onions - chopped fine

1/4 cup crystallized ginger

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves - peeled and smashed

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

2 pounds carrots - peeled and sliced - 1/4 inch thick

4 cups water

1 1/2 cups carrot juice

(a. this will be added  in two 3/4 cup batches  b. I used Bolthouse Farms Carrot Juice)

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Chopped chives

Sour cream

Croutons

See Mark's Notes - there quite a few of these ingredients that I consider 'optional'. 

Instructions:

1.  Peel and chop carrots - place in separate bowl

2.  chop onions - place in bowl

3.  smash garlic cloves - place in bowl

4.  Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat

5.  Add onions, crystallized ginger, fresh ginger, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, and sugar.

6.  Cook and stir frequently for 5-7 minutes until onions are softened

7.  Increase heat to high

8.  Add carrots, water, and only 3/4 cup carrot juice, thyme sprigs, and baking soda.

9.  Bring to a simmer.

10.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until carrots are tender, 20-25 minutes.

11.  Discard thyme sprigs

12.  In batches, process soup in blender for 1-2 minutes.  (Warning - this can be very messy)

13.  Return soup to clean pot.

14.  Stir in vinegar and remaining 3/4 cup carrot juice

15.  Return to simmer over medium heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.

16.  Serve with sprinkle of chives, dollop of sour cream, and/or croutons.

17.  Enjoy.

18.  Can be refrigerated up to 4 days.

Mark's Notes -

I saw this recipe in my newest Cook's Illustrated magazine.  It looked really good.  I thought I'd try it.  I bought the carrots and the onion.  I skipped the garlic.  I don't know how to mince or smash garlic.  That's on my still-to-learn list for cooking.  Anyway, Abby (10) helped me peel and chop the carrots.  I chopped the onion.  I once read that the best way to not make your eyes water while chopping onions is to wear safety goggles.  Haven't tried that yet.  Just suffered through my eyes watering.  For the crystallized ginger and the chopped fresh ginger, again, I have never worked with either.  I just used a little bit of ground ginger.  So, I made more of a Carrot-Onion-With-A-Little-Bit-Of-Ginger-Soup.

I also didn't have any fresh thyme sprigs around so I didn't use that.  I also didn't have any chopped chives.  So, my ingredient list turned out to be:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 onions - chopped fine

 1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

2 pounds carrots - peeled and sliced - 1/4 inch thick

4 cups water

1 1/2 cups carrot juice (this will be added  in two 3/4 cup batches)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Sour cream

A little bit simpler.  Perhaps not as ginger flavored as the original recipe turns out. 

For the carrot juice, I used Bolthouse Farms Carrot juice.

Getting the soup from the pot into the blender was incredibly messy.  At first I tried pouring it directly from the pot into the blender.  That was a mistake.  Then I tried using a spoon.  Way too slow.  Tried pouring it from the pot into a large measuring cup.  Still very messy.  Then I found a ladle and used that.  That worked.  But then I put too much in the blender and was overflowing for some of the batches.  So, use a ladle and don't put too much in the blender during step 12.

Trish thought this was really good.  I liked it.  Abby and Miriam both tried it and they of course did not like it.  This soup would go really great with a grilled cheese sandwich and would be a great Saturday afternoon lunch in the Fall/Winter.

Now that you've read this far, I'll add a quick recipe from Cook's Illustrated for croutons:

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 large slices hearty white sandwich bread cut into 1/2 inch cubes

salt

Instructions:

1.  Heat butter and oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat

2.  When foaming subsides, add bread cubes

3.  Stir frequently

4.  Cook until bread is golden brown - about 10 minutes.

5.  Transfer croutons to paper-towel lined plate and season with salt.

6.  Add to soup.

7.  Enjoy!!!

This is based on Cook's Illustrated Great Carrot Ginger Soup by Sarah Mullins.

Here is a link to a video that will be available for the next few months (it is June 27, 2014).

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/7865-carrot-ginger-soup

Cook's Illustrated Strawberry Mousse

Cook's Illustrated Strawberry Mousse

Ingredients:

2 pounds strawberries, hulled (6  1/2 cups)

1/2 cup sugar

pinch salt

4 ounces cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces, softened

1/2 cup heavy cream

Part I - The Garnish

1.  Cut enough strawberries into 1/4 inch slices to measure 1 cup.  Refrigerate until ready to garnish.

Part II - Preparing the Strawberries

2.  Pulse remaining strawberries in two batches in food processor.  6-10 pulses.

3.  Do not clean food processor - yet.

4.  Transfer strawberries into bowl and toss with 1/4 cup sugar and salt and cover bowl. 

5.  Let bowl of strawberries stand for 45 minutes stirring occasionally.

Part III - Juice-Gelatin Mixture

6.  Strain processed strawberries through fine-mesh strainer into bowl.  You should have about 2/3 cup juice.

7.  Measure out 3 tablespoons juice into small bowl and sprinkle with gelatin.  Let sit for five minutes.

8.  Place remaining juice in saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until reduced to 3 tablespoons - about 10 minutes.

9.  Remove pan from heat.

10.  Add softened gelatin mixture and stir until gelatin has dissolved.

11.  Add cream cheese and whisk until smooth.

12.  Transfer mixture to large bowl.

Part IV - Strawberry Puree

13.  While juice is reducing, return strawberries to now empty processor and process until smooth - 15 to 20 seconds.

14.  Strain puree through fine mesh strainer into medium bowl, pressing on solids to remove seeds and pulp.  There should be about 1 2/3 cups strawberry puree.

15.  Discard solids in strainer.

16.  Add strawberry puree to juice-gelatin.  Whisk until incorporated.

Part V - Making the whipped cream

17.  Using mixer, whip cream on medium-low speed until foamy about 1 minute.

18.  Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form  - 1 to 3 minutes.

19.  Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and whip until stiff peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes.

Part VI

20.  Whisk whipped cream into strawberry mixture until no white streaks remain.

21.  Portion into dessert dishes and chill for at least 4 hours or up to 48 hours.

22.  If chilled longer than 6 hours, let mousse sit for 15 minutes before serving.

23.  Garnish with strawberries with reserved diced strawberries.

Part VII

24.  Enjoy.

Mark's Story:

I saw this recipe in the most recent Cook's Illustrated magazine.  It looked good.  I thought I would try it.  First mistake that I made was that I confused the 2 pounds of strawberries and the 6 1/2 cups of strawberries and I bought 7 pounds of strawberries at the store.  I didn't use them all.  I realized my mistake when I started going through the first few steps.

Then in step 4, I added 1/2 cup sugar rather than just 1/4 cup sugar.  I don't think it altered the recipe that much.

End result -

Trish loved it.  I thought it was okay.  I thought it was a very 'heavy' dessert with all the cream cheese and whipped cream.   Although I don't eat a lot of cream cheese to begin with.  Trish does like cream cheese.  I would seriously think about cutting the cream cheese to 1/3 cup or 1/4 cup.  It was also a lot of work and I went through a lot of bowls making this.  I almost don't think it was worth the effort; but since Trish loved it, I'll probably make it again at some point and I will remember to take a picture of it.  If I am going to go through that many bowls and make that much of a mess though in the kitchen, I'll make the Cook's Illustrated Berry Fool dessert. 

This recipe is based on Cook's Illustrated Strawberry Mousse by Sara Mullins.

Blueberry Buckle

Blueberry Buckle -  from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

Ingredients:  
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Ingredients for topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, cut up

See Mark's Notes for modified ingredients list to bake in a 13x9 casserole dish.

Instructions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.  Grease 9x9x2 or 8x8x2 inch baking pan (see Mark's Notes)
3.  In medium bowl, combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt.
4.  Set flour mixture aside.
5.  In medium or large bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.
6.  Add 3/4 cup sugar.
7.  Beat on medium to high speed until light and fluffy.
8.  Add egg; beat well.
9.  Alternately add flour mixture and milk to beaten egg mixture; beat until smooth with each addition.
10.  Spread batter in prepared pan.
11.  Sprinkle with blueberries.
12.  In another small bowl, prepare the topping by combining the 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and cinnamon. 
13.  Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
14.  Sprinkle over blueberries.
15.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden.

Mark's Story:
I saw this recipe in the breakfast section of my Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks.  It was shortly after the recipe for buttermilk pancakes that I sometimes use.  I had no idea what a "Blueberry Buckle".  It looked good, and so I made it.  Trish thought it was good and compared it to something between a blueberry cobbler and cornbread.  I thought it was really good and I would compare it more to a blueberry coffee cake.  I'll definitely make it again.

Mark's Notes.
I used the 8x8x2 baking pan.  I had to cook this nearly 70 minutes to get it 'golden'.  I would almost recommend using the 9x9x2 baking pan.  The 8x8x2 pan was almost overflowing and took longer to cook through the center.  I would also seriously consider trying this with a slightly larger casserole dish and see how well that turns out.  The casserole dish only has slightly more area than a 9x9x2 baking pan.  

Next time I make this, I will use a casserole dish and let anyone reading this know how it turned out.

I posted this on May 4, 2014.  May 6, 2014 is Teacher and Staff Appreciation day at the kids' school.  So, I made the Blueberry Buckle in the 13x9 casserole dish.  Here is what I modified the ingredients to:

Casserole Dish Ingredients:
2 3/4 cup flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
3 cups blueberries

Ingredients for topping:
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
Follow all the other directions for preparing the dish. 
Bake time is 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until golden.

Happy Baking!!!

Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet Potato Pie 

(based on Better Homes and Garden recipe)

Ingredients:

1 pie shell

2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes or 1 can 17.2 ounce can sweet potatoes drained and mashed

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup buttermilk or daily sour cream

Instructions:

1.  Prepare pie shell

2.  In large bowl, stir together sweet potatoes, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt.

3.  Add eggs, beat lightly with fork.

4.  Gradually stir in buttermilk.

5.  Pour filling into prepared pie shell.

6.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 375 degrees or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

7.  Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes..  

8.  Cover and refrigerate within two hours.

9.  Enjoy

Mark's Notes:

I always use store bought pie shells.  Much easier.  I've only made 1 pie shell from scratch.

I decided to use fresh sweet potatoes rather than canned sweet potatoes.  I've never peeled, baked, or mashed sweet potatoes before.  I used the following website for some instructions on how to mash the sweet potatoes - 

http://www.wikihow.com/Cook-Sweet-Potatoes - I just followed the instructions on how to clean, peel, boil, and mash the potatoes - I did not prepare them for serving as sweet mashed potatoes for a side.

Peeling apples for an apple pie is actually more work than peeling a sweet potato.

I cleaned, peeled, cooked, and mashed 3 sweet potatoes.  That was close to 2 1/2 to maybe 3 cups rather than the specified 2 cups.  

I forgot to add the salt.  Still turned out fine.

Mark's Story:

Last week, I made a pumpkin pie.  Abby asked for a pumpkin pie, and so I made a pumpkin pie.  Then Trish asked me to make a sweet potato pie, and so I found a recipe for a sweet potato pie. When someone in my family asks me to bake something, I'm usually quite willing to make it happen.

Ratatouille

Ratatouille - serves 4 (from the Better Homes and Gardens 15th edition Cookbook)

Ingredients:

1/2 chopped onion (medium)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil

3 cups cubed, peeled eggplant

1 medium zucchini or yellow squash, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch slices (1 1/2 cups)

1 cup chopped, peeled tomatoes (2 medium) or one 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

3/4 cup chopped green sweet pepper (1 medium)

3 tablespoons chicken broth, vegetable broth, or dry white wine0

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon snipped fresh basil or oregano

Instructions:

1.  In large skillet, cook onion and garlic in hot oil over medium heat until onion is tender.

2.  Stir in eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, sweet pepper, chicken broth, salt and black pepper.

3.  Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered for 10 minutes (or until vegetables are tender).

4.  Uncover and cook about 5 more minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Stir occasionally.

5.  Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

6.  Stir in basil or oregano just before serving.

7.  Enjoy.

Mark's Notes:

The kids and I were watching Ratatouille the other night.  After the movie, Abby asked if I could make Ratatouille for dinner.  So, I found a recipe.  This recipe is the Better Homes and Gardens recipe.  Trish and I went shopping for all the ingredients.  This is my first time making this recipe, so we kept it simple.  For the ingredients, we used the following:

Frozen chopped onions from the freezer section

Frozen chopped green peppers from the freezer section

Pre-cut yellow squash and zucchini from the refrigerated section (I used both)

I used the chicken broth

For the tomatoes, garlic, basil, and oregano, we found a 14.5 canned diced tomatoes seasoned with garlic, basil, and oregano, and so I did not add the garlic at the beginning or the basil at the end. These ingredients got added with the can of diced tomatoes.

We bought fresh eggplant

This is my first time working with fresh eggplant.  I washed it.  Cut the skin off.  Kept cutting it lengthwise until I had 1 inch strips. Then I cut those into little 1 inch cubes.  

Mark's Mistakes:

I put the onions in the skillet with no vegetable oil.  I quickly realized my mistake, took the onions out, put in the oil, heated the oil for awhile, then added the onions and proceeded.

I did not drain the 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes.  I just dumped the whole can in.  I didn't read the instructions carefully enough.

Then my worst mistake was instead of adding in 3 tablespoons of chicken broth, I added the entire can of chicken broth.  

As a result, it took longer than 15 minutes for all the juices to boil off.  It actually took closer to 25 minutes.  I didn't think much of the extra time to boil off the liquid until I started typing up the recipe for this blog, and then I realized my mistake.  It was still delicious.

End Results:

I liked it.  Trish loved it.  Miriam said she liked it even though she only took 4 bites and then claimed to be full from an earlier Nutella snack.  Abby took a few bites and said it was okay and proceeded to eat some chicken nuggets.

This is the first time I have ever made Ratatouille.  It is also the first time I have ever had Ratatouille.  I thought it was delicious.  Very much like a vegetable stew.  It did fill me up but I think this would be a better lunch rather than a dinner.  Trish thought it would make an excellent side for a larger meal.

This dish made the house smell so wonderful.  

I have lots of leftover vegetables.  I'll make this again fairly soon and pack this for my lunches.  I'll also remember to take a picture of it so that I can add a picture to this blog.

Miriam is watching the movie Ratatouille as I type this.  I need to get the soundtrack to this movie as there are some songs from Disney Pixar Ratatouille that would make wonderful additions to my cooking playlist.

Also, Abby and I are both working are way through Rosetta Stone's French language course.  

Banana Bread - Honey and Apple Sauce

Banana Bread - Honey and Apple Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar free applesauce

3/4 cup honey (or 1/2 cup honey - see Mark's Notes)

2 eggs, beaten

3 mashed overripe bananas

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.  In large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt

3.  In medium bowl, mix honey with applesauce

4.  Stir in eggs and bananas with honey and applesauce until well blended

5.  Stir banana-honey mixture into the flour mixture - just to moisten

6.  Lightly grease 9x5 inch loaf pan

7.  Bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minutes - or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean (see Mark's Notes)

8.  Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes

9.  Enjoy

Here is the original website and recipe:

http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/bread/sweet-bread/banana-bread-with-honey-and-applesauce.html

Mark's Story:

This is a recipe that Trish sent me that she wanted me to try as it is almost sugar free as in there is no extra added sugar.  Most banana bread recipes call for anywhere from 1/2 cup to 1 1/4 cup sugar.  This recipe replaces the sugar with honey and applesauce.

Mark's Notes:

After baking this for 65 minutes, I had to leave my loaf in the oven for another 20 minutes for it to cook all the way through.

Also, the honey flavor was almost overpowering.  I would suggest trying just 1/2 cup of honey.

The only other suggestion that I have is to make two smaller loaves rather than 1 large loaf and adjust cooking times accordingly.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Cook's Illustrated Whole Wheat Pancakes

This recipe will make about eight 3 inch pancakes and serve 3-4.
(Perfect for two adults and two kids)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg, separated
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (optional) or
1/2 cup blueberries (optional)

Instructions:
1.  Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl
2.  Pour buttermilk and milk into a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup
3.  Whisk in egg white into the milk mix
4.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter
5.  Mix egg yolk with melted butter
6.  Stir egg yolk/butter into the milk mixture
7.  Dump wet ingredients (all in the 2 cup Pyrex cup) into the dry ingredients.
8.  Whisk until just mixed
9.  Add dark chocolate chips or blueberries (optional)
10.  Heat griddle or large skillet over medium heat.  Brush griddle or skillet with oil.
11.  When a few drops of water sizzle on pan, it is ready to pour the batter on.
12.  Pour batter, about 1/4 cup, at a time onto griddle.
13.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes or when top surface begins to bubble and bottom of pancakes are brown.  
14.  Flip pancakes and cook until other side is brown - about 1 to 2 minutes.

Mark's Notes
This has become a popular item on our Saturday morning family breakfast that I always make.  The kids prefer the chocolate chip pancakes to the blueberries.  The original Cook's Illustrated recipe did not say anything about adding blueberries or chocolate chips.  I have just added that as an optional ingredient.

One mistake that I commonly make that does not appear to have much consequence is that I confuse the baking powder for the baking soda and use 1/4 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.  I have the entire recipe memorized except I can never remember which of the two gets 1/2 teaspoon and which gets 1/4 teaspoon.  

According to Cook's Illustrated the baking soda gives the pancakes a 'coarser crumb' and makes the pancakes 'light and tender', and the baking powder helps with the rise.

This recipe is perfect for our family of 4.  If you want more pancakes just double the recipe.  I've done that before when we've had guests over, wanted leftovers, or if everyone was hungry.

Remember if you do not have buttermilk readily available do one of the following:
1.  Use yogurt.  In this case 3/4 cup buttermilk is replaced with 3/4 cup yogurt.
2.  Mix milk with lemon juice.  In this case, mix 3/4 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and let sit for five minutes.  Pancakes won't turn out as thick, but it does work.

I prefer the yogurt substitute and have used that many many times.

I almost lost my printout for this recipe, and so when I found, it I decided to add it to my blog.

I have also slightly changed my blog.  I added a search option to my blog.  This will help me (and whoever else comes to my blog) to look for a recipe within my blog.  I am still learning about blogs too.