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I found the original recipe for Black Bean and Salsa Soup on Annie's blog a couple months ago and have been wanting to try it. Unfortunately, it's just not something my husband would go for! Since I'm working from home today I decided to make it for lunch.
Really yummy and very quick to make! The only change I made from the original was to add some corn and to use regular white onion in place of the green onion.
2 servings
Ingredients:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup vegetarian vegetable broth
1/2 cup salsa (I prefer the refrigerated salsa to the jar salsa)
1/2 tsp. cumin
2/3 cup frozen corn, cooked and drained
sour cream, shredded sharp cheddar, onion as a garnish
Method:
1. Pour the beans, broth, salsa, and cumin into the bowl of a food processor (you can use a blender if you don't own a food processor). Pulse until smooth.
2. Transfer the mixture to a medium saucepan. Add the cooked corn. Cook the soup over medium heat until cooked through and thoroughly heated. Ladle into bowls and garnish with the toppings.
**As far as I can tell, this soup is vegan if you leave off the cheese and sour cream.**
I was a busy baking bee last week getting ready for that bridal shower! These were the other cookies I made - I used pink decorative sugar on them to go with the wedding colours.
Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. aluminium-free baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
16 tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup for rolling dough
1 tbsp. light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Colored sugar or edible glitter (optional) for decorating
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, cream the butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and the brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla; beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl.
4. Place the 1/2 cup sugar for rolling on a cutting board. Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball and roll the ball into the sugar then place it on the prepared baking pan. Repeat with the remaining dough. Butter the bottom of a drinking glass and then dip the bottom of the glass in the remaining sugar (or colored sugar). Flatten the dough balls with the bottom of the glass until they are about 3/4 inch thick, dipping the glass in sugar as necessary (every 2-3 cookies).
5. Bake until the cookies are golden brown around the edges and their centers are just set and very lightly colored, about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on wire racks and store between sheets of wax or parchment paper in an air-tight container.
Reference:
For these cookies, I used the "Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookie" recipe from Baking Illustrated.
Wow, these are cookie heaven! Seriously.. they are really good! These were yet another goodie I made for the bridal shower on Saturday. I actually made these and a batch of regular shortbread (just make this sans lavender).
You can find culinary lavender at natural food stores - check Whole Foods and Jimbo's (I found mine at Jimbo's). I found you can also order it from Penzey's (or just go pick it up if you're lucky enough to live close to one)! If you grow lavender, you can also use it from the garden. Just make sure it is grown organically so you're not adding nasty chemicals to your cookies!
The lavender adds a certain sweetness to the cookies - it works really well with the simple shortbread ingredients - and your kitchen will smell amazing while these bake!
In folklore, lavender has always been linked with love, as has food ;)
Ingredients:
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. dried culinary lavender or 2 tbsp. fresh lavender florets
**You may want to try using 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/3 cup light brown sugar for these (or regular shortbread) cookies.**
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 5-10 minutes, or until the mixture becomes light in colour and very soft and fluffy.
3. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the flour by hand. The dough will be soft.
4. Place a handful of the dough at a time on a lightly floured work surface. Use a floured rolling pin to press out the dough to about 3/8 inch thick. ***Do not use a lot of flour or your shortbreads will be tough which is absolutely not the effect you want! Shortbreads are known for being light.***
5. Cut out the shortbreads using any shape cookie cutter you like (since these were for a bridal tea party, I used a heart shape). With a spatula, transfer them to the prepared pans, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart (they will not spread, but they do puff a little).
6. Continue in this manner until all the dough has been used. Remember to use very little flour when rolling out the dough so your last shortbread will be as tender as the first.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes until they are just a very pale golden colour. Slide the papers from the pans onto wire racks. Store the cooled cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in an air-tight container.
Wonderful with a cup of hot tea!
*Photo of the regular (no lavender) shortbreads I also made*Reference:
This is based on the "Scottish Shortbread" recipe from Nick Malgieri's Cookies Unlimited book.
If you like orange and chocolate together, you have GOT to try these! They are so yummy (I would know, I'm eating one as I type this blog entry!)
I made these for the bridal shower I co-hosted on Saturday. I thought they were perfect since the wedding colours are pink, gold, and chocolate brown - these pretty little cakes incorporated the gold and brown quite nicely.
If you don't have Grand Marnier (or you don't drink/use alcohol), you can use orange juice. I got really lucky and found just enough left in a bottle of GM at my parents' house :) Another tip, if you have a good liquor store nearby or a BevMo, you can sometimes find the mini bottles of Grand Marnier. So much cheaper than buying a huge one! Unless, of course, you like to add it to your margaritas! ;)
These make me think of Christmas - we always get those Chocolate Oranges for Christmas (English thing...) and these have that yummy chocolate-orange combination. I might have to throw down the cash for my own bottle of GM (instead of mooching off mum and dad!) and make some for Christmas Eve!
Makes 12 Cupcakes
Cupcakes
Ingredients:
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp. finely grated orange peel
1 tsp. Grand Marnier
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream
Glaze:
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. fresh orange juice
2 tbsp. Grand Marnier
Topping:
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp. vegetable shortening
Method:
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a regular muffin pan with liners.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and 3/4 cup sugar at medium speed 5-6 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in one egg, 1 tbsp. orange peel, and 1 tsp. Grand Marnier.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. At low speed, beat sour cream into the butter mixture alternatively with the flour mixture. Spoon the batter into the muffin liners, filling two-thirds full (an ice-cream scoop is your best friend for this!)
4. Bake the cupcakes 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.
5. While the cupcakes cool, make the glaze. Heat 1/3 cup sugar and orange juice in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in 2 tbsp. Grand Marnier.
6. Poke holes in the top of each cupcake using a toothpick. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of each cake liberally with the Grand Marnier glaze.
7. Now you will make the chocolate topping. Place the chocolate in a small heavy Zip-Lock bag; add shortening and seal. Place the bag in a pan of simmering water and turn off the heat. Allow the bag to sit for several minutes; remove from the water. Smooth melted chocolate by working the bag with your hands. Cool 5 minutes. Cut off a tiny corner of the bag; drizzle chocolate over the cupcakes.
I co-hosted a bridal shower for a good friend over the weekend. The friend who I helped out (the other host) requested these cupcakes which I'd made for an all-girls' brunch a couple years ago. They are really cute! The last time I made them, I used green frosting and yellow spice drops to look more like actual daisies. This time, I decided to use pink frosting and pink and purple spice drops since the wedding colours are pink, chocolate brown, and gold.
Makes 12 Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Quick Vanilla Frosting recipe (see below)
12 spice drops
Large marshmallows
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer. Add the butter, sour cream, egg, yolks, and vanilla and beat the wet ingredients into the dry at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and stir by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.
3. Divide the batter evenly among the cups of the prepared pan (an ice-cream scoop works wonders for this!) Bake until the cupcake tops are pale gold and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Use a knife to lift the cakes from the tin and transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Cool to room temperature before decorating.
Quick Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
2/3 tbsp. milk
2/3 tsp. vanilla extract
dash salt
Method:
1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until fluffy, about 30 seconds. With the mixer on low speed, add the sugar and mix to combine. Increase speed to high and beat until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add milk, vanilla, and salt. Increase speed to high and beat until fluffy, 30 more seconds.
2. Add food coloring, if desired, and mix until all is incorporated.
To Decorate:
1. Frost the cupcakes with the butter frosting.
2. Using a clean knife, cut each marshmallow into 4-5 pieces (it helps to dip the knife in warm water to clean it). Place the marshmallow pieces onto the frosted cakes.
3. Place a spice drop in the center of the marshmallow "petals" to form the center of the flower.
Reference:
I used the "Yellow Cupcakes with Simple Chocolate Frosting" recipe from Baking Illustrated for the cupcakes (but I did not use the chocolate frosting, obviously!) For the frosting, I used a butter cream frosting recipe I've had for years. The idea for the daisy decorations came from a Cupcake-Decorating Contest article in an issue of Cook's Country magazine (I think that just came in the mail one day, totally random! Glad I kept it, though!)
I was one of those strange children who actually liked Brussels sprouts when I was growing up! :) They were actually one of the things I looked forward to at Christmas because I knew they would be served with the large turkey dinner! I never claimed to be 100% normal...
My parents started making this jazzed up version of my favourite mini cabbages a few years ago and I decided to treat them, and my in-laws, to it at Thanksgiving this year.
Ingredients:
Brussels sprouts
1 tbsp. slivered almonds
1/2 tbsp. margarine or butter (I like to use Earth Balance so they're vegan)
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
Method:
1. Cook Brussels sprouts until crisp-tender. Allow to cool a little and then slice.
2. Melt the margarine in a skillet and add the almonds. Cook and stir until golden. Add the Brussels sprouts and lemon juice. Cook until sprouts are warmed through.
I made this apple pie as an alternative to the double-crust apple pie since my husband prefers Dutch apple. This wasn't a true Dutch apple pie, I just used the crumbly topping from the fruit cobblers I make as the topping of this pie and a regular pastry crust as the base. Here's the recipe. This was almost as yummy as the two-crust pie ;)
Bottom pastry crust
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled, cut up
1/8 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/6 cup to 1/4 cup ice water
Method:
1. Place all ingredients (except water) in a large bowl. Crumble together with your fingers until you have some pea-sized pieces of dough along with coarse crumbs. Add 1/3 cup water; knead just until dough begins to form, adding additional water 1 tsp. at a time if necessary.
2. Divide dough in half; shape each half into a flat round. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 20-30 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly flour a work surface and roll one piece of dough into a 13-inch round (I can never made perfect circles..!) Gently line a 9-inch pie pan with the dough. Trim dough along the edge of the pan. Press a doubled 12-inch piece of aluminium foil inside the unbaked pie shell and cover the foil with pie weights. Bake, leaving the foil and weights in place until the dough looks dry and is light in color, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weights and transfer the pie crust to a wire rack to cool.
Filling:
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 large Granny Smith apples
3 large McIntosh apples
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. granulated sugar (I wonder if light brown sugar would taste good as a substitute...?)
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. salt
Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1. Peel, core, and quarter the apples. Cut the quarters into bite-sized pieces and toss apple pieces with the lemon juice and zest. In a medium bowl, mix 3/4 cup of the sugar, the flour, spices, and salt. Toss the dry ingredients with the apples. Turn the fruit mixture, including juices, into the pie shell and mound the fruit slightly in the center.
2. Top with crumbly cobbler topping - see recipe below.
Crumbly Topping
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
6 tbsp. melted butter
Method:
1. Sift the flour, sugar, and salt together; add the egg. Toss until crumbly then sprinkle over the apple pie filling. Drizzle with melted butter.
2. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly and browned. ***It's a good idea to place your pie plate on a baking sheet so the filling does not make a mess in your oven!***
Reference:
The filling recipe is the Classic Apple Pie recipe from Baking Illustrated. The bottom pastry crust is "Perfect Pie Pastry" from Cooking Pleasures Magazine (October/November 2007). Unfortunately, I have forgotten where I got the cobbler topping recipe from - I've had it for years!
