Lots of Soup!

Tracy at Shutterbean posted a whole bunch of fantastic-looking soup recipes, some of which I think I’ve tried, and others of which I’m looking forward to coming back and trying out … we’ve got a whole winter of soup-eating ahead of us!  And with a baby on the way any day now, I’m sure I’ll love the ease of throwing together a quick soup for dinner.  Plus, JR will be working from home beginning January 1, so I anticipate many lunches of leftover soup (and maybe a grilled cheese or nice chunk of bread from the bakery down the street?).

Here’s the link; I was going to pick out some of the soups that particularly caught my eye, but that’s pretty much every one of them!

Due Date Brownies

Yesterday was my official due date.  I didn’t have a baby, but I did have some pretty fantastic brownies.

I needed an excuse, a “special occasion” to make these because a 9×9 pan has 3 sticks of butter in it.  Sometimes I like doing math, but I don’t even want to think about how that equates to calories/fat per serving.  That’s why these are the perfect accompaniment to soup — make a healthy soup for dinner and balance it out by a ridiculously decadent brownie for dessert!

These are from Thomas Keller’s cookbook Ad Hoc at Home.  I was googling reviews of a healthier Thomas Keller recipe (a Lentil/Sweet Potato Soup, if you must know; I’ll definitely be making it some day) and kept coming across rave reviews of these brownies.  None of which failed to mention the 3 sticks of butter.  Regardless, I determined to make these brownies as soon as I had a passable excuse.

They ARE good.  I actually liked them a little bit better this morning (ahem, yes, I had one this morning) after they’d cooled and firmed up a bit.  It just seemed like the flavors were more mature and had blended together better.  Keller suggests serving them with a (homemade) caramel ice cream or vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce, or with whipped cream; I thought they were so rich that I couldn’t imagine pairing them with anything but a little dusting of powdered sugar.  But you be the judge; once you’re going this over-the-top, you may as well go as far as you want.

Thomas Keller’s Brownies (from Ad Hoc at Home)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces [I used salted butter because that’s what I had, and I think the additional salt adds a nice balance to the chocolate and sugar]

3 large eggs

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or pure vanilla extract

6 ounces 61 to 64% chocolate, chopped into chip-sized pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)

Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. We use a 9-inch square silicone mold, because it keeps the edges from overcooking; if you use a metal or glass baking pan, butter and flour it. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt; set aside.

Melt half the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Put the remaining butter in a medium bowl. Pour the melted butter over the bowl of butter and stir to melt the butter. The butter should look creamy, with small bits of unmelted butter, and be at room temperature.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, mix together the eggs and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until thick and very pale. Mix in the vanilla. On low speed, add about one-third of the dry ingredients, then add one third of the butter, and continue alternating the remaining flour and butter. Add the chocolate and mix to combine. (The batter can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.)

Spread the batter evenly in the pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a cake tester or wooden skewer poked into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs sticking to it. If the pick comes out wet, test a second time, because you may have hit a piece of chocolate chip; then bake for a few minutes longer if necessary. Cool in the pan until the brownie is just a bit warmer than room temperature.

Run a knife around the edges if not using a silicone mold, and invert the brownie onto a cutting board. Cut into 12 rectangles (I cut it into about 16 squares). Dust the tops with powdered sugar just before serving. (The brownies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days).

[PS – I was going to try to post a picture of these, but after they were finally cool enough to eat at 9:15 last night, I didn’t have good light or the patience to take a good picture.  Use your imagination!]

#chocolate

Creamy (creamless) Zucchini and Potato Soup

I still have part of the biggest zucchini that came out of my yard this summer.  In the last two months, I’ve made two types of zucchini bread, stuffed zucchini, grilled zucchini pieces, added it to other soups and stir fries… and still it remains.  Good thing zucchini is so delicious and healthy … and versatile!

Here is a recipe from the Nourishing Gourmet blog for Creamy (creamless) Zucchini and Potato Soup.  It caught my eye when she posted it, and I finally had a chance to make it last night.  It was very tasty, but it’s not the most substantial soup and definitely needed something else to supplement it — in our case, we ate copious amounts of bread from my mother-in-law that I pulled out of the freezer; it would also be very good with a good grilled cheese sandwich, preferably using some sort of white cheese like jack or gouda.

I did cut the recipe in half because it’s just me and JR.  I also used homemade chicken stock since I figured it would add more depth of flavor to this simple combination of ingredients (not to mention all the health benefits of homemade stock).  The other changes I made to the recipe were using butter to saute onion rather than olive oil (because butter is delicious) and I have several heads of roasted garlic, so instead of sauteing fresh garlic, I added about 3 cloves of roasted garlic.  And I served it with some freshly grated parm cheese as garnish.

Here’s your recipe:

Creamy (creamless) Zucchini and Potato Soup

1/2 onion, diced

3 cloves roasted garlic (or two cloves fresh garlic, minced)

1 T. butter

4. c chicken stock

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used 4 small red potatoes)

3/4 tsp. dried thyme

2 c. cubed zucchini

Saute onion in butter with a little salt until onion is translucent.  Add garlic (if using fresh) and saute around a minute longer.  Add chicken stock, potatoes, thyme and roasted garlic (if you’re going that route).  Bring to a boil and simmer 10-15 minutes until potatoes are fork-tender.  Add zucchini and simmer another 7-10 minutes until zucchini is tender.  Puree — immersion blenders are awesome, but if you don’t have one, puree in a regular blender in batches (being careful because boiling-hot soup splatters all over you and your kitchen are no fun).

Serve garnished with your choice of a pat of butter, a drizzle of cream, sour cream or parmesan cheese.

#brothbased #lightandsummery #quickandeasy #vegetable