beet soup

6 roasted beets

1 onion, diced

butter/olive oil, about a tablespoon

2 star anise

1 bay leaf

3 c broth (any kind)

2 t cider vinegar (I use Braggs)

1/2t cardamom

So I had roasted beets in the refrigerator which I cut into quarters. In a soup pot I heat olive oil and butter (about 1T total) and cooked a chopped onion. I tossed in the anise and cardamom and cooked the onion until it was soft. Then I added broth, vinegar,  and a bay leaf and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Added the beets and cooked another 10 minutes. Removed the bay leaf and anise. Blended the soup until it was smooth

Triple C Bisque

bring these items to a simmer in a pot until the carrots are tender:
4c broth
6c chopped carrots
3 cloves garlic
1 thumbs worth of ginger

add:
1/4c cashew butter
1 can coconut milk

blend everything together, season with salt, and garnish with thai basil and chopped cashews

YUMMY!

oohey, gooey brownies

An oh so awesome team effort in the kitchen (adapted from this recipe)

1 stick (1/2c) butter, melted

1 c sugar (you could easily get away with 3/4 c)

1 t vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 c flour

1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1/3 c chocolate chips
8 caramel candies (We used Celtic sea salt caramels... Oh MY!)

1/4 t coarse sea salt for garnish

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 

  2. Grease a square baking pan.(I think ours was 8"x8")

  3. Cut caramel candies into chocolate chip sized pieces.

  4. Whisk together the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk in eggs. 

  5. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, chocolate chips and salt in a separate bowl.

  6. Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until well blended.

  7. Spread half the batter into the pan. 

  8. Sprinkle the caramels evenly across the pan and cover with the remaining batter, spreading it evenly.

  9. Sprinkle the brownie mix with coarse sea salt.

10. Bake for 25ish minutes. (The brownies will begin to pull away from the edge of pan.) 

11. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes and then in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before cutting into squares.

These will be gooey like fudge, not at all cakey, but oh so delicious! (served with ice cream, of course!) If you have any leftovers, store them in the refrigerator.

Mrs. Noell's Cookies

My favorite cookies growing up were these fantastic refrigerator cookies my grandmother made. They were her mom's recipe. (In case your wondering, my name happens to be my grandmother's maiden name.) Typically she would only make them for big events, like my dad's 60th birthday, or someone's anniversary, or a church reception following a funeral. I loved them and would usually be allowed to eat the ends of the rolls. The dough had to sit in the fridge or freezer for at least 24 hours as a wax paper wrapped log. The rounded ends weren't nearly as attractive as slices from the middle, so I felt it my duty to dispose of the ugly ones.

I remember begging my grandmother for the recipe, but she always said it was a secret. When I was in my early twenties my grandmother started to suffer from the effects of alzheimer's and no longer remembered she wasn't sharing the recipe. She turned it into the church cookbook committee and now I have a copy of it along with a multitude of East Texas who sadly may never make it because chocolate isn't involved. I should also admit to you that I don't make the cookies very often myself. I understand now why they were for special occasions--they're a little more involved than you basic drop cookie. They require early preparation, rolling, cutting, wax paper for storage, and the recipe makes a lot of cookies. When I'm feeling nostalgic and I miss my Nanny, I often opt for the spice blend used in her cookies, but mix it into a drop cookie recipe instead. That's what I did today, so you can call these Ms. Noell's cookies!

blend together:
2 sticks butter
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar

I usually let the mixer run for about 5 minutes until this mixture is really light and fluffy, then add 2 eggs, one at a time, mixing thouroughly

add:
1 t lemon juice
1 t vanilla extract

scrape the sides of the bowl and then mix in:
1 T freshly ground nutmeg
1 T cinnamon
2 c flour (if you scoop straight from the bin, 2 1/2 c flour if you scoop and pour into your measuring cup)
1 c unsweetened coconut shreds
1 c dried cranberries, chopped
1 c chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, or pistachios--if you are baking for someone with allergies, leave the nuts out)

Make sure everything is well blended. If you have time, let the dough sit in the fridge for an hour or overnight. preheat oven to 375° Scoop by heaping teaspoons onto a cookie sheet, leaving room between the cookies for them to flatten. Bake for about 11 minutes, or until the edges are brown. Remove from oven and cool on the pan for two minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. Store in a cookie tin. Cookies will keep in the freezer for several months.

a savory crostata

I was looking for something to make for dinner and I stumbled upon some fruit crostatas (a yummy looking dessert!)... and decided I'd make a savory one for dinner... we have a boatload of cherry tomatoes, half a bag of frozen spinach, a ton of yellow onions, some garlic, and some vegan "sausage" I've been meaning to use for a while. So I'm attempting to whip up some goodness.

There isn't any cheese in the house (if there were, we'd be enjoying goat cheese covered with a fabulous jalepeno strawberry jam a parishoner gave me during VBS week). Also, there's a storm rolling in so I don't feel like trekking to the store for one ingredient!So this is a cheeseless tart. It's readying itself, so I'll tell you what the ingredients are...

crust: 155g flour, 2 pinches of salt, chopped rosemary (about 2T worth), 2t sugar, and 6T butter, some ice water to make the dough come together. That was rolled out into an ovular shape, placed on a cookie sheet with the ends rolled up to make an edge.I cooked the crust for 10 minutes at 375.

the topping...

in one pan I caramelized onions, added the sausage, added a sweet cayenne pepper from the garden, and the half bag of spinach, plus a pinch of salt. spread this on the crust, then make two indentations with the back of a soup spoon in the middle of the tart (you're reserving this space for the eggs)

in a second pan I cooked chopped garlic and cherry tomatoes in balsamic vinegar and olive oil for about 15 minutes. I took the tomatoes and garlic out of the liquid and I spread this around on top of the green sausage mix. I cooked down the liquid to use as a garnish at the end.


I cooked the tart for 15 more minutes, then I pulled it out of the oven an dropped a raw egg into each indentation. Put everything back in the oven until the eggs whites set. I cooked it 17 minutes and got mostly cooked yolks,  Drizzle the eggs with the thickened balsamic vinegar mix leftover from the tomat's.

This was yummy. Next time I would remove sugar from the crust entirely and up the salt slightly. I will probably also try cooking 12-15 minutes after adding eggs to achieve the runny yolks I prefer.

For dessert we had blueberry cobbler cooked in my favorite cast iron skillet. In the pan: 2c bluberries tossed with 1T sugar, 1/2t cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, 2T flour, and 3 T  lemon juice. For the topping: 80g white wheat flour, 1/3csugar, 1/4t salt, 1/4t baking powder, 1t vanilla, dash of cinnamon and nutmeg, 1 stick melted butter, and 1 egg. Mix it all together and spread it over the blueberries. Cook 40-50 minutes at 375. Let it cool for 10 minutes. I drizzled the servings with fresh raw cream and honey. DELISH!

easy bread?

ok, I'm trying this no-knead bread craze out (i'll leave the hard work to Jess!)... I read a whole bunch of websites and blogs posting a variety of recipes and this is what I'm trying:

3 c King Arthur White Wheat flour
1T vital wheat gluten
1t salt
.5t yeast (not instant)
1t braggs cider vinegar
1.75c warm water

I mixed it up and covered it with the shower cap. Will check on it sometime tomorrow morning or afternoon.

I'll let you know tomorrow if it worked.

yummy pasta

sorry there aren't photos, I didn't know I'd like it enough to write it down!

I cooked 8 cloves of garlic in 1/4c olive oil along with 1/2 c walnuts--tossed all that in the food processor with salt and a cup of frozen spinach and set it aside.

brought 3.5 c water to a boil with 2 bouillon cubes. added 4 handfuls of orrechiette and cooked 15 minutes. Then stirred in my processed mix with the pasta and remaining liquid.

put the pasta in bowls and added a poached egg to each. salt and pepper. DEEEEEEElicious!