Butternut Squash-Tangerine Soup

This is called a butternut squash soup, but it's really more citrus-y, gingery, cinnamon-y goodness. It's nice and bright, smells really great and the bits of ginger taste really great in here. The squash seems to be more of a base rather than the actual flavor. And once you realize this, you'll realize how great this soup is! Oh, and again, we got this recipe from "Cuisine At Home", the December 2008 issue.

Citrus-y, Gingery, Cinnamon-y Soup

1 lb. peeled, cubed butternut squash (4 cups)
2 T chopped fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of saffron threads, optional
2 T unsalted butter
5 C water
1 1/2 C fresh tangerine juice or orange juice
1/4 C dried apricots
2 T honey

-Saute squash, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, and saffron for the soup in butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook until squash browns, about 5 minutes, stirring often.
-Add water, tangerine or orange juice, apricots, and honey. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, until squash is tender, about 40 minutes. Let soup stand off heat for 10 minutes, then puree in a blender in batches until smooth. Return soup to pot and heat until warmed through.

The recipe also suggests making a gremolata, a garnish of sorts. We didn't opt for that, but I think it would make a nice contrast and add a little bite of flavor. The gremolata:

1/4 C chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 T chopped pistachios
1 T minced tangerine or orange zest
1/4 C plain yogurt

-Toss parsley, pistachios, and zest for gremolata together in a bowl. Spoon yogurt on each serving of soup, then garnish with parsley mixture.

The recipe says it makes 7 servings of 1 cup each. We decided it was probably closer to 4-5 servings, since, well, I don't really know anyone who actually sticks with the 1 cup serving suggestion. We definitely will make this soup again.

Black and White Chocolate Bark

This is going to be a quick one because I'm afraid we haven't tried much that was new in the past 2 weeks--busy with the holidays.

Black and White Chocolate Bark

2 C white chocolate, chopped
1 C dark chocolate, chopped
3/4-1 cup of any kind of nut or dried fruit you'd like to top it with, I used slivered almonds

--Lay out a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet (or silpat).
--In a medium-sized microwave safe bowl, melt the white chocolate (heating in 30-60 second intervals and stirring frequently until smooth. Do NOT heat until it has melted in the microwave--either it will be too hot or burned). In a small-sized microwave safe bowl, melt the dark chocolate (same method as white chocolate).
--Pour the white chocolate onto the prepared parchment paper and spread out slightly. Drizzle the dark chocolate over the top and gently smooth the chocolate into an even layer. Chocolate will probably be somewhere around 8x8 inches.
--Sprinkle nuts and/or dried fruits on top of chocolate and place baking sheet in the refrigerator until chocolate is set.
--Break up into pieces before serving.

---My note: This was super easy to make and looks really pretty. I kind of swirled the white chocolate up into the dark chocolate, which made for a prettier look, rather than just one layer of chocolate on top of another. The almonds tasted really good with this, but the person whose recipe I used liked dried cranberries and pistachios, so go with whatever you like. Also, make sure you use good quality chocolate, stuff that tastes good. If you're going for chocolate chips, which I admit, in the quest for something really easy, I did, I would recommend Guittard chips--they taste good, and their white chips are pretty tasty, too. Make sure the white chocolate contains cocoa butter in it. Wrapped up in some pretty paper and ribbon, this also makes a tasty treat to give away.

Easy Sugar Cookies

OK guys, here it is. And sorry, no picture. This recipe is inspired by one of my favorite food blogs called Baking Bites. It was originally the Vampire Cookie recipe, but we just used it as a sugar cookie recipe. It's super easy, and even the dough tastes good. I think it's probably too sweet for frosting, but sprinkling some colored sugar or sprinkles on top is fun.

Easy Sugar Cookies

3/4 C butter, softened

1/2 C sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 C flour

1/4 tsp salt

Colored sugar or sprinkles, optional

-In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and extracts. Add flour and salt to the bowl and mix them into the butter-sugar mixture at low speed until dough is just combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

-Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

-Divide dough in half and keep the portion you are not using in the refrigerator.

-Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out fun shapes. Dust with sugar or sprinkles, if using, and lightly press into cookies.

-Place cookies on baking sheet, bake for about 10 minutes, until cookies are set.

-Cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

-My note: Not really sure exactly how much this is supposed to make. Maybe about 15-20 cookies. But the scraps re-roll easily to make more, and the cookies come out a little firm, but not hard and crunchy, which to me is what a cookie should be. And like I said, really easy to make.

Turkey Chili with White Beans

This week's recipe comes from my other favorite food magazine, Bon Appetit. And I promise, this one does have easy recipes, which is what this one is. If you're used to the kind that comes from a can, this one is a bit more soupy, but it tastes great, and is as easy as opening a few cans, really. You know it's good when Derk decides to take it to work the next day for lunch rather than eat out of the vending machine. ;)

1 T vegetable oil

2 medium onions, chopped

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey

1/4 C chili powder

2 bay leaves

1 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 28-oz can whole tomatoes in juice

3 C beef broth

1 8-oz. can tomato sauce

3 15-oz. cans of small white beans, rinsed, drained

Chopped red onion

Chopped fresh cilantro

Plain low-fat yogurt or light sour cream

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions; saute until light brown and tender, about 10 minutes. Add oregano and cumin; stir 1 minute. Increase heat to medium-high. Add turkey; stir until no longer pink, breaking up with back of spoon. Stir in chili powder, bay leaves, cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add tomatoes with juice, breaking up with back of spoon. Mix in broth and tomato sauce. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add beans to chili and simmer until flavors blend, about 10 minutes. Discard bay leaves. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Before continuing, bring to simmer over medium-low heat.)

Ladle chili into bowls. Pass red onion, cilantro, and yogurt separately.

My note: We really liked this chili. I was reading some online reviews of the recipe and to cut down on the soupiness some people suggested using 2 C of broth, and some even liked it with vegetable rather than beef broth. Others also used tomato paste instead of tomato sauce.

Butternut Squash Soup

I'm trying an experiment, to post something new every Wednesday (like the newspapers). I almost didn't make it this week, but here it is.

Butternut Squash Soup

2 T butter
1 onion, chopped fine
3 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
5 C low-sodium chicken broth
2 sprigs of thyme
Pinch nutmeg
1/2 C heavy cream (milk might also work)
Salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter in large Dutch oven pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the squash, broth, thyme, and nutmeg. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the squash is tender, 20-25 minutes.
2. Remove the thyme sprigs and puree the soup in batches in a blender (or food processor) until smooth.
3. Return the pureed soup to the pot. Stir in the cream. Bring to a brief simmer, then remove from the heat. If the soup seems too thick, thin it out with additional broth or water. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving. Sprinkle individual servings with more nutmeg if desired.

The soup can be prepared through step 2, cooled, covered, and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Reheat over low heat, adding additional water or broth to adjust the consistency, before proceeding with step 3.

My notes: This was a really pretty simple soup, easy to make and pretty tasty. Not quite what I'd call gourmet, but for a good butternut squash soup at home, this definitely hits the spot. It comes from one of my new favorite cookbooks for cooking just regular everyday, good food: The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. And peeling the squash with a vegetable peeler really does work.

Caramelized Onion and Cornbread Stuffing

This week's post, no surprise, is a Thanksgiving-themed recipe, and comes from Tyler Florence. This is our contribution to Thanksgiving dinner this year, and is a recipe we tried out last year. It's really tasty, easy to make, but doesn't make a whole lot, so consider at least doubling it.

Caramelized Onion and Cornbread Stuffing

2 T butter
2 onions, chopped
6 large cornmeal muffins, cubed
Handful fresh sage leaves, chopped
1 egg
1/4 C heavy cream
1/4 C chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for about 10 minutes, or until soft and caramelized. Add sage and scrape into a large mixing bowl. Add the cornbread pieces, season well with salt and pepper, and give it a good toss until it's well combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, cream, and stock, and pour that over the cornbread. Stir the stuffing together and stuff the cavity of the turkey. You could also spoon it into a buttered baking dish and put it in the oven along with the turkey. Bake until hot and crusty on top, about 30 minutes.

My note: When we last made this, it only took 20-25 minutes, so check on it. And you can add more chicken stock if it seems too dry.

Brown Sugar Brownies

This brownie recipe is one that has taunted me for about a year now. I kept wondering, what would the difference be between brown sugar and regular old sugar. Finally, I decided it was just time to try the recipe instead of letting it take up space, wondering if it would be good or not. That's the trouble, there are so many great recipes out there waiting to be tried, and for some reason or other I often find myself stuck in the mode of making the same old things over and over. So here's to a renewed commitment to try new things several times a month.

Brown Sugar Brownies

1 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 C flour
1 C coarsely chopped walnuts

-Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
-Grease an 8x8x2 pan.
-In large bowl beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at time. Beat in chocolate, then flour. Stir in nuts. Pour (scrape) into pan. Bake 25 minutes (I usually check to see if it's pulled away from the sides of the pan a bit and for the smell. Don't know why, but I can usually tell if something chocolate is done by the smell.) Cool in pan and cut into bars. Makes 24.

My note:

OK, so I followed the directions, but I think I've finally encountered my first recipe that needs to be adjusted for altitude. It came out of the oven with a nice size to it, but as it cooled it shrank and the brownies were about 1/2 inch tall. Maybe. So will I make these again? DEFINITELY! They taste amazing, more like a really good flourless chocolate cake than brownies. And the flavor is not too sweet, a nice dark chocolate flavor. I think they would taste great with chopped up hazelnuts, or maybe even almonds. But next time I'll try adjusting for altitude.

Oh, and my baking guru, Nick Malgieri, claims that if you want to double a recipe for an 8x8 pan, you can, just bake it in a 9x13 pan.