Ok.  I’ve come to terms with the fact that I have housewife tendencies.  It’s true.  Don’t judge me… that would be rude.

I’ve tried to ignore these urges.  I’ve tried to pass it off as a phase… but really?  This can’t go on.  I’m going to have to own my housewife tendencies.  Now seems like as good a time as ever to fess up. 

See… yesterday afternoon I put on my frilly 1950’s apron, pulled my hair back, put on my giant fake pearl earrings and made homemade dinner rolls.  The apron and pearls are essential, so is a cigarette and a stiff cocktail if I’m to believe what I see on Mad Men.  

So there I am in my kitchen, proudly clad in my housewife gear, hand kneading some pretty sexy roll dough, thinking I’ve got it pretty kush when I realize that my housewife fantasy is missing two things… a… um… er… husband… and mud covered children that I have to chase around the house to get into the bath.  

So.  Ok.  Fine.  My housewife tendencies are really just an excuse for me to play dress up for an afternoon.  And rolls and butter?  Just the awesome perk of my extended dress up games.

Pretty pretty dinner rolls.  This luscious dough comes together with just ten minutes of hand kneading.  They’re buttery and sweet, and have some thickness and weight without being dry and boring.  They’re so lovely.  You’ll feel all sorts of impressed with your abilities.  

This recipe is a classic.  Parker House Rolls are said to have originated in the 1870’s (whaaaat!?) at the Parker House Hotel in Boston.  Old school. 

keepin’ it real.

Parker House Rolls

     recipe from The Gourmet Cookbook

     makes 20 rolls

     Print this Recipe!

3 tablespoons warm water (105 to 115 degrees F) 

3 tablespoons sugar

1 (1/4-ounce) package (2 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1 cup whole milk

2 cups bread flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 – 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Stir together warm water, 1 tablespoons sugar and yeast in a small bowl until yeast in dissolved.  Let stand until foamy, about five minutes.  If the mixture does not foam up, throw it out and start over with different yeast.  Foam means that the yeast is livin’.  

Melt 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) butter in a small saucepan.  Add the milk and heat until lukewarm.  Pour into a large bowl and add yeast mixture, remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, bread flour, and salt.  Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.  

Stir in 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, dump out onto a clean work surface and begin to bring the dough together into a ball.  If your dough is too sticky to handle, add up to 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour a tablespoon at a time until the dough is just slightly sticky.  

Knead dough until a smooth and elastic dough begins to form, adding more all-purpose flour as needed.  The dough will be smooth, satiny and just slightly sticky after 10 minutes.  Good job!  Form dough into a ball and place in a large, buttered bowl, turning the dough so that the entire ball is covered.  Cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let rest n a warm, draft free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.  

Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan.  Divide dough into 20 equal pieces.  Roll each one into a ball and arrange evenly in 4 rows of 5 in a baking pan.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft free place until almost doubled in size, about 45 minutes.  

Using a floured chopstick or the edge of a ruler, make a deep crease down the center of each row of rolls.  Let rolls rise, loosely covered for 15 minutes.  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and place a rack in the center of the oven.  

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and cool slightly.  Brush the tops of the rolls with butter and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.  Cool rolls in the pan for 5 minutes then remove and serve warm.  Reheat rolls wrapped in foil in a 375 degree oven if you’d like to eat them the next day with butter and jam.  Serious yum.

I…

Hate:  diet soda.  Like:  water.  Love:  bourbon.

Hate:  skinny jeans.  Like: Jeggings (jean leggings people… jean leggings).  Love:  my Levis.  

Hate:  bathing suit shopping.  Like:  vintage dress shopping.  Love:  shopping with someone else’s credit card… which never happens… ever.

Hate:  cold soup.  Like:  most soup.  Love:  um…. soup soup soup.  I really like soup.

‘Hate’ is such a strong word.  ’Hate’ was a bad word in the house I grew up in.  Mom, if you’re reading this… yes, you taught me better… but look!  I’m eating my broccoli!  That’s got to count for something. 

This soup is pure and simple.  Green vegetables with a touch of spice and a splash of citrus.  I dolloped my soup with a bit of sour cream because… seriously?  Yum.  

psssst… this soup is super filling too! 

Broccoli and Arugula Soup

     adapted from goop.com

     makes enough for two large servings

     Print this Recipe!

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1 head broccoli, cut into large florets, about 2/3 pound

2 1/2 cups water or vegetable stock

1/4 teaspoon of sea salt and black pepper, or season to taste

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup arugula leaves, packed

squeeze of 1/2 lemon

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Add the garlic cloves and cook for another minute.  Add the broccoli and cook for about 4 minutes, until the broccoli is bright green in color.  Add the cumin, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine. 

Add the water or chicken stock, lower the heat and cover.  Cook for about 8 minutes, until the broccoli has been softened. and is just tender.  

Here’s the tricky part.  We’re going to blend the soup.  Working in batches, transfer some of the soup liquid and broccoli to a blender.  Add half of the arugula leaves and blend until smooth.  Transfer to a bowl or another pot while you blend the second batch of soup with the rest of the arugula.  Return to a pot over a low flame, check to see if it needs more salt or pepper.  Throw in the juice of 1/2 a lemon and serve.  

This soup also freezes well!

Sometimes life feels like layers of complications.  Like taxes and traffic and cavities and getting laid off are all piled high into one smelly sandwich that you’re supposed to eat for lunch.  Really…?  Worst sandwich ever.  Do not want. 

Complicated.  Yea.  It happens to you.  It happens to me.  

Luckily there’s… bread.  And thank the holy heavens for butter.  

Bread and butter.  Yes.  A post about bread and butter.  Perhaps the most beautiful and uncomplicated thing you can put into your face.  Don’t fight me on this one.  That would only make things more complicated.  Go and eat.  Bread and butter. 

And yes… I burnt the bottom of my bread a bit.  These things happen. 

This is a pretty foolproof bread recipe.  Don’t worry.  If you’re intimidated by yeast and bread baking you might consider freeing yourself of that fear with this recipe.  Really… all you need is time… sometimes that’s the hardest ingredient to come by.  Take a lazy weekend afternoon and give this bread a try.  It’s worth the effort just to make your house smell like fresh baked bread.  Trust. 

Two Crusty Round Loaves

     I followed the recipe I found from Jaden of Steamy Kitchen

     Print this Recipe!

4 cups bread flour (the higher gluten content in important)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups warm water

Measure out 1/4 cup of bread flour and reserve a the clean counter top.  Place the remaining 3 3/4 cup bread flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment.  Measure the salt and place on one side of the flour and add the yeast to the opposite side of the flour.  Pour the warm water in the middle and mix on low speed (with the paddle attachment) until the dough just comes together.  

When the dough forms a mass, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Dough should clear the sides but may stick to the bottom a bit.  If you feel like the dough is too sticky or too dry, feel free to add a touch more water or flour by the tablespoonful.  After 2 minutes, let the dough rest for five minutes.

After the five minute rest, mix the dough again for 3 minutes.   Place the dough on the counter and, using the 1/4 cup of bread flour we reserved in the beginning, hand knead the dough.  You may not need to incorporate the entire 1/4 cup.  If the dough feels firm and solid enough, just knead for a few minutes and prepare it to rest.  You should have a satiny, smooth compact ball.  

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, and turn the dough over to coat the entire dough lightly in oil.  Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot to rest for 1 1/2 hours.  The dough should double in size.  Remove from the bowl, punch down and reform into a ball.  Return to the bowl, cover and allow to rest for another 30 minutes.

After the second short rest, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into 2 pieces.  Form each piece into a smooth, round ball, tucking any haggard edges on the underside of the dough.  Leave to rest, covered with a damp cloth, on the lightly floured surface for 45 minutes to a hour.  

During the last 20 minutes of the resting period, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Place a baking rack in the lower third of the oven and leave either a baking stone or an upside down baking sheet in the oven to heat as well.  

Just before the boules are set to go in the oven, slash the top of the loaves with 2 to 4 slashes, using a sharp knife.  This will allow the bread to expand in the oven.  Remove the super hot baking sheet from the oven.  Carefully transfer the dough onto the baking sheets and return to the oven.  

Here’s some fun!  Just after you put the bread in the oven, take 1/4 cup of water, open the oven door, quickly poor the water onto the hot oven floor and immediately close the oven door.  We’re creating steam here people… it’s exciting.  Wait 2 minutes and repeat the process.  

Bake loaves for 20-25 minutes.  They’ll be golden and gorgeous.  Remove from the oven and insert a thermometer.  The temperature should be between 190 to 210 degrees F.  

Here’s the hard part:  let the bread cool completely before slicing.  

You did it!  Now where’s the butter!?

It’s Friday.  I know you weren’t expecting this, but it’s time for a Pop Quiz.  

Don’t worry.  If you’ve done the reading this should be easy… (I hated when teachers would say that to me). 

Pop Quiz

1) True or False:  The joining of chocolate and coffee is like a cosmic combination of all that is good, just, and rock and roll in the universe. 

2) Fill in the Blank:  Breakfast is the most _________________ . 

3)  Multiple Choice:  The best choice for this weekend’s breakfast treat is:

a) stale Cheerios.  

b) Gerard Butler and hot fudge sauce. 

c) breakfast sandwiches made on Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits.  

Now… here are the answers: 

1)  True….. duh!  2) Breakfast is the most important meal that ever was.  3) c… if and only if b is unavailable.  

Perfect score?  We’re best friends.  Take note. 

Breakfast.  Be still my heart.  I love you breakfast.  

The combination of cheddar with buttery biscuits is divine.  Add a little kick of black pepper and holy yum!  These biscuits are made with both all-purpose and whole wheat flour.  I like the nuttiness of whole wheat flour.  Now you know.  The combination results in a dense but buttery and delicious biscuit.  They’re the perfect holder of turkey bacon and a fried egg.  Make a sandwich.  Dooooo it!

Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits

     makes 10 to 12 biscuits

     Print this Recipe!

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour (use all-purpose if you don’t have whole wheat)

2 Tablespoons sugar

4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening, cold and cut into cubes

1/4 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup buttermilk, cold

3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

a touch of heavy cream and black pepper for topping the biscuits before baking

In a mixing bowl, sift together flours, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt.  Cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add the cheddar and black pepper and toss to combine.  In another bowl, combine egg and milk and beat lightly with a fork.  Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring enough to make a soft dough.

Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 15 times.  Roll or pat out into a 1-inch thickness.  Cut into 2-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter or cut into 2×2-inch squares.  Reshape and roll dough to create more biscuits with excess scraps.  Brush tops with a bit of heavy cream and a sprinkle of fresh ground black pepper.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.  Serve immediately with softened butter or top with bacon and a fried egg as breakfast sandwiches.

The kitchen.  It’s where I do a majority of my… standing.  

Standing and staring.

Standing and staring and spreading cream cheese onto Wheat Thins.  

Standing and staring and eating cream cheese and Wheat Thins until I come up with a recipe and post idea.  

If you were a fly on my kitchen wall… well, I wouldn’t like that very much… but you would probably think that a) I have very few brain cells firing with all of the standing and staring I do and b) I have an unhealthy relationship with cream cheese.

You might be right about the brain cells…  I won’t argue that the standing and staring is a strange process.  But the cream cheese?  Yea… I’ll admit I have a bit of a problem with cream cheese and crackers.  I’m trying to break the habit with chick peas and olive oil and mint and parsley.  I think it’s working.  I really think it’s working. 

Delicious.  Delicious.  Crazy delicious.   This spread is hummus meets pesto meets lemon meets delicious.  

Ooh… and it’s totally healthy too. Dang! 

This spread  is creamy without the cream, a little tart, a little herby and all sorts of satisfying.  On warm spelt tortillas… it’s my new favorite thing.  For serious. 

Chickpea, Mint, and Parsley Spread

     Martha Stewart Living, May 2007

     Print this Recipe!

1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

4 small garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

2 cups chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/3 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

fresh ground black pepper

warm pitas, bread or crackers

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook until very soft, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the rinsed and drained chickpeas and cook for another 3 minutes.  Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool for 15 minutes.  

Put the chopped mint and parsley into the bowl of a food processor.  Add salt, pepper and lemon.  Add the chickpea mixture.  I have a smaller food processor and did this in two batches, dividing all of the ingredients in half and blending it twice. 

With the machine running, blend all of the ingredients and add the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil in a slow and steady steam, allowing it to emulsify.  Spread can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or transferred to a serving dish, drizzled with olive oil and served with warm pita or warm spelt tortillas (pictured).

Here are a list of questions I think might be running through your head right now. Well… I like to flatter myself by thinking that these questions might be running through your head. It’s a self-involved delusion . I know you have better things to worry about. Also included here are the answer to before mentioned self-involved questions.

You might be thinking:

Seriously, Joy? Here we are in prime baking mode and you bring us crackers!? Crackers!?
Answer: Yes. Crackers. Big, thick and crispy, salty and satisfying crackers. They have sea salt, people… they must be fancy.

Joy, what are you wearing to your holiday party tonight?
Answer: I. Don’t. Know. Please send help. Please send a new outfit. Please get these crackers out of my face so I stop stress eating them.  Please.

Joy, calm down. Why not just wear your nice pair of jeans?
Answer: What? I can do that? I can seriously do that? I’ll can wear my nice pair of jeans even though they’re still jeans?  I suspect you’re just trying to make me feel better. I have to find a skirt and top combination that doesn’t make me look like too much of a lunatic hippie.  Drats.

These crackers aren’t helping. Someone take these crackers away from me.
And send help… send a pretty black top with sparkles. Quickly.  Thank you.

Let’s talk about these crackers, shall we?  With poppy seeds and sea salt, these crackers are more like crunchy biscuits… like dog treats for people… like you’ll find yourself reaching for cracker after cracker, and that’s no joke.  

The most lovely part about these crackers is that they come together in just about 10 minutes and bake up in 30 minutes.  Try them.  You might find your happy place.

Sea Salt and Poppy Seed Crackers

      from The Complete Book of Cookies

     makes 20 crackers

     Print this Recipe!

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4  teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 Tablespoon butter, cold and cut into 6 small chunks

1 Tablespoon poppy seeds

6 Tablespoons half and half

For topping the crackers:

sea salt

half and half

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.  Sift together the flour, salt and sugar.  Add the butter and, using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it is in tiny bits and dispersed throughout the flour mixture.  

Stir in the poppy seeds.  

Add the half and half and mix to make a stiff dough.  Place on a lightly floured surface and roll out to about 8×10-inches.  Cut into 20 squares.  

Place the dough squares on an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment or foil.  Brush sparingly with half and half and sprinkle with sea salt.  

Bake for 30 minutes or until crisp but still pale.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool and store in an airtight container.

Remember a few months back when I made fresh pasta?  Were we friends then?  

I made fresh pasta at the tail end of summer this year.  I wore a snazzy red apron.  I got my hands dirty.  I walked around the house showing off my ball of dough to anyone who would pay attention.  No one really payed attention.  That’s ok.

I have been feeling nostalgic for my summer times of a few months back.  Times when I would spend weekends talking about wine and food with these lovely ladies.  (My friends are gorgeous.  It’s almost weird.)  Times when we would drink way too much Rose and just be downright silly.    Those times will come again… in many months.  For now, I’ll satiate myself with a giant bowl of fresh pasta with this INCREDIBLE Bolognese Recipe.  You should do this too.  No joke.  Pasta is calming and generally makes the world a better place.    

For all things pasta, you’ll want to pop on over here and read this.  For all things Bolognese, you’ll want to jump on over and sauce it up. 

This Bolognese recipe is one I adapted from Mario Batali.  The man knows a hell of a lot about Italian food and Crocs.  I generally only take his advice on Italian food and not on shoes.  

This sauce is so amazing because of its many layers of flavors.  There’s wine, there’s thyme, there’s a touch of sweetness from carrots, there’s onions and garlic and two different kinds of meat.  Yes. Yes. Yes.  If, for some reason, you aren’t so keen on several different types of meat, I would gently suggest you reconsider.  Combining ground pork and veal (or beef) adds a dimension to your sauce that you can’t get with one meat alone.  It’s well worth the effort.  True.

Cream too.  Please don’t skip the cream.  That’s downright criminal. 

Big Fat Bolognese Sauce

     adapted from Mario Batali

     makes about 8 cups

     Print this Recipe!

2 medium onions, finely chipped

4 celery ribs, finely chipped

2 medium carrots, finely chopped

5 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 pound pancetta or slab bacon, ground by butcher or thinly sliced and pulsed in a food processor until finely ground

1 pound ground veal (or ground beef will do too)

1 pound ground pork (not lean… sorry)

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup water

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper ( or to taste)

1 cup heavy cream

Heat oil in a large saucepan.  Add onions, celery, carrots and garlic and sautee over moderate heat until softened.  This should take about 5 minutes.  

Add the pancetta, veal and pork and cook until no longer pink, breaking up the meat as it cooks.  This should take about 6 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, heating it and mixing it in the cooked meat.  Add the white wine and deglaze the pan.  Add the water, canned tomato and thyme and gently simmer the sauce, covered, until it thickens and reduces, about an hour to an hour and a half.  Once thickened add salt and pepper and heavy cream.  Stir.

Sauce can be made up to two days ahead and stored in the fridge.  This sauce keeps in the freezer for 1 month.

I’m going to need you to do a little something for me this weekend.  

Yes.  It’s Wednesday.  We’re planning ahead.  This is important.  

I think you and I should make it a point to seriously relax this coming weekend.  See… it might be our last chance to really take it easy before the new year.  Before we know it we’ll be swept away by Thanksgiving, festive flavored lattes, contemporary holiday music, visiting relatives, cranberry cocktails and company parties.  

This weekend though… this weekend we can take it easy.  

To help us with our plan, I’ve come up with the perfect weekend breakfast:  yeast risen waffles with maple and black pepper bacon.  

We’re taking it slow this weekend.  Are you in?

**But wait!  You don’t have a  waffle iron?  It’s ok.  These Milk Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Pancakes with a side of Maple Black Pepper Bacon should put  you in an equally great food coma.  Not to worry.

Yeast risen, overnight waffles are pretty stellar.  

Make the batter Saturday afternoon, let it rise on the counter for an hours or so.  Cover and refrigerate until you’re ready for breakfast on Sunday morning.  

On Sunday I stirred my batter a bit and let it to rest on the counter for an hour to come to room temperature and rise a bit.

The batter will be goopy, but don’t let that deter you.  These beauties bake up crisp and full of yeasty, maple sugar, nutty flavor.  Adding white whole wheat flour adds a touch of nuttiness to compliment the brown butter.  Yes… these waffles are full of character.  

Don’t even get me started on the bacon.  It sweet and spicy and… bacon.  It’s inherently perfect.  

Weekend Waffles

     adapted from King Arthur

     makes 2 big square (four sectioned) waffles, enough for 2 and a half people.

     Print this Recipe!

1 1/2 cups whole milk

7 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted until browned bits appear

3 Tablespoons maple syrup (the real stuff or simply use brown sugar)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

Heat the milk until it is hot but not boiling.  Place it in a large bowl (you’ll need the room for expansion) and mix in the browned butter, maple syrup (or brown sugar) salt and vanilla extract.  Stir until the mixture has cooled to lukewarm.  Add the eggs, flour, salt and yeast and stir all together.  If there are a few lumps, that’s fine!

Cover mixture with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel and leave to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  The mixture will begin to bubble.  

You can cook the waffles at this point, or place the batter in the refrigerator to rest and develop flavor overnight.  

Remove the batter from the fridge about an hour before you’d like to eat breakfast.  Stir the batter and let it come to room temperature.  When ready to cook, preheat the waffle iron and spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Add 1 1/2 cups of batter (depending on the size of your waffle iron) and cook until golden brown.  

Top with butter and syrup and anything good. 

Maple Black Pepper Bacon

     this couldn’t be easier!  thanks for the recipe Rachel!

as much bacon as you’d like

maple syrup (the real stuff)

black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.  Place bacon strips on sheet, close but not overlapping.  Drizzle with maple syrup, about 2 or 3 Tablespoons per 10 bacon strips.  Sprinkle with as much black pepper as you like. Bake for 10 minutes then remove pan from the oven and carefully flip bacon strips over.  Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the bacon reaches your happy point of doneness.

This big old bowl of tomatoes and cream is the best thing to ever come out of my kitchen.

So good.  So right. I’m thinking of retiring.  I’m thinking of hanging up the apron strings and ending on a high note.  You know, like Seinfeld did in the 90’s.

But it’s just tomato soup?  What could be so special about it?  Let me explain. 

Tomatoes.  Top quality canned Italian tomatoes make all the difference in this soup.  I got my hands on two giant cans of whole San Marzano tomatoes and they made this soup absolutely irresistable.  

But they’re just tomatoes.  Yes they’re just tomatoes… just the best canned tomatoes EVER!

San Marzano Tomatoes are a type of plum tomato with a thin skin, fewer seeds and an oh so sweet and less acidic tomato flavor.  They’re like tomato bombs from heaven, except they don’t really explode and they’re  from Naples, Italy where they’re grown at the base of Mount Vesuvius.  For real… this actually happens.  Tomatoes at the base of a volcano.  Amazing.  It’s the volcanic soil that filters out any water impurieties before they reach the plant.  Rad.  Want to make some kickass soup?  Get your paws on these tomatoes, and I mean now!

Creamy Tomato Soup

     adapted from Martha Stewart

     serves 6

     Print this Recipe!

4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter 

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, finely diced

course sea salt and fresh black pepper

splash of red wine vinegar (just over 1 Tablespoon)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons tomato paste

1 dried bay leaf

2 cans (14 1/2-ounces each) low sodium chicken broth

2 cans (28-ounces each) whole peeled tomatoes in juice  (with basil if available)  

1/2- 3/4 cup whole milk or cream

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven melt butter over medium heat.  Add oil, carrot and onion and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until the onion is translucent and the carrots are well on their way to softening, about 7 to 8 minutes.   Add the splash of vinegar at stir until cooked off.  

Turn flame to low and add flour.  Incorporate into the onion and carrots.  Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute to distribute the paste and cook off the flour taste.  

Add chicken broth and bay leaf.  

With clean hands add the tomatoes to the pot, breaking the whole tomatoes up with your hands as you add the tomatoes and the juice.   Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Remove from heat.  Using an emulsion blender, puree soup in pot until you’ve reached the desired consistency.  Maybe you like more chunks than some folks!  If you don’t have an emulsion blender, let the soup cool for about 30 minutes and, working in two or three batches, puree some of the soup in a conventional blender until smooth.  Place pureed soup in a bowl and puree the remainder in the pot.  

Return pureed soup to the pot and stir in milk or cream.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  

Let cool to room temperature before dividing among airtight containers or jars (leaving 1 inch of space at the top) and freeze.

Autumn To-Do List

Buy boots.  Wear new boots at every waking moment.  

Bust out the scarves and go for it.  Two at a time?  Fine by me! 

Make Dad’s Sweet Potato Pie.  I know… I’ve been talking about this for ages.  I need to shut my trap and get bakin’ already.

Don’t get Swine Flu, that would be seriously lame. 

Is it time for flannel sheets?  Well.. is the Pope Catholic?  Heck yes!

Eat Roasted Pumpkin Soup by the truckload.  Do it.  Done.  

I make a lot of soup.  I don’t tell you about half of the soup I make because if you knew, you might make me change the name of this blog to Joy the Soup Maker.  

That being said… when I make soups, I usually don’t follow a recipe.  Here’s a secret:  you can throw just about anything into soup and it’ll be delicious.  

Here’s my recipe for pumpkin soup.  It’s easy, creamy, and super healthy.  Store it in jars in the freezer and put a frozen jar in the fridge in the morning for the evening’s dinner.  This recipe is divine with or without the heavy cream.  You could also use water instead of vegetable stock, but I love the flavor that a good vegetable stock adds to vegetable soups.  

Roasted Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Soup

     serves 6 to 8

     Print this Recipe!

1 medium pumpkin (perhaps a sugar pumpkin) and 1 medium butternut squash

1 cup leeks

2 small cloves garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper 

5-6 cups vegetable broth

1/4-1/2 cup cream

2 teaspoons brown sugar

a few pinches of freshly grated nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Cut pumpkin and butternut squash into 2-inch chunks, removing the inner seeds and fibrous bits.  I roasted my pumpkin and squash with the peel on and removed the cooked flesh from the peel once baked.  If you think it’s easier to peel the pumpkin and squash before baking, then go right ahead.  

Slice the white flesh up until the green stalks of several leeks.  Toss the pumpkin, squash, whole garlic cloves and leeks on a baking tray with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a fork inserted in the flesh of the pumpkin and squash meets no resistance.  

Remove from the oven and allow them to rest until cool enough to handle.  

When cooled, use a spoon to scoop the cooked flesh away from the squash peel and place in a large saucepan.  Add the roasted garlic and leeks to the pan too.  Add 3 cups of warm vegetable broth and using a hand blender, blend and breakdown the squash flesh with the broth.  If you don’t have a hand blender, blending the chunky soup in a regular blender in batches should work too.  Add 2 to 3 more cups of broth and blend until you’ve reached the desired consistency.  Add sugar and nutmeg.

Cook soup over medium heat for 30 minutes.  Add cream and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir.  Serve warm.