asparagus soup

Easiest. Soup. Ever.

2 lbs. asparagus                 

1 small yellow onion

4 cloves garlic

1 can chicken broth

2 cans vegetable broth

1 1/2 cups water (or more if needed)

1 Tbs butter

2 Tbs olive oil 

salt

Finely chop onion. Add to medium pot with oil over medium heat.  Cook until onions are getting tender. Add garlic and broth. Simmer. Meanwhile, chop asparagus tips off (about 1-2 inches long) and set aside. Snap bottoms (tough ends) off of asparagus and discard. Chop remaining asparagus into pieces about the size of a pencil eraser. Add to broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer on medium high heat for about 40 minutes until everything is soft. 

Take the asparagus tips you've set aside (Emily calls them tender enders), and add them to a small skillet with sizzling butter. Satuee the ends, tossing them in the butter often, adding salt to taste, until they are tender enough, but still bright green.  Set aside.

Add water to the broth mixture after everything is tender. Let cool for a bit. Puree the soup in small batches, minding the hot soup. If you do this in an airtight container, please leave extra space in the container and open carefully! Contents under pressure, and all. 

After mixture is pureed, add back to pot and heat through over medium low - stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. 

Pour into bowls, garnish with tender enders, and serve immediately. 

Enjoy! 

Philly

So I've never been a real "fan" of Philly Cheeses Steak Sandwiches. Why? Well....I really don't know. Maybe it was me envisioning blobs of Velveeta cheese violating innocent ingredients of roast beef, onions, and peppers. THAT is what I call sad sauce. Literally.

All you need:

Olive Oil

Roast Beef (thin sliced from the deli)

Red Bell Pepper (sliced into strips)

Green Bell Pepper (sliced into strips)

Yellow Onion (sliced into strips)

Minced Garlic (optional)

Provolone Cheese

Pepper Jack Cheese

Salt

Pepper

Buns or bread of your choice

Add onion and olive oil to pan (for some reason cast iron is best) and sautee over medium low heat until tender and start to turn clear. Add pepper slices and sautee until soft but still bright in color. Put veggies aside. In the same pan with all of the yummy veggie remnants, heat pan up nice and warm and heat deli thin roast beef through. Let it soak up any juices from the peppers and onions. When it is heated through, turn heat up to high so the beef starts to sear a little. Sear to your desire, then turn heat down to medium again. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring peppers and onions back to the party.

Mound sandwich innards into the shape of your bread (I used a French Baguette). Take your sliced cheese you choose (I used provolone and pepper jack) and place slices over your mound. Find a lid to the pan (or one that will cover the food). Take about 3 tablespoons of water and pour into the bottom of the pan. Place lid over the food immediately. The steam will melt the cheese nicely.

As soon as the cheese is melted, take a large spatula and scoop the meat, etc. onto your bread of choice. Personally, I don't think you need anything to dress your bread, but if you want, I would go with something mild - mayo or butter. Toasted bread is good, too.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Cinnamon Popcorn

WHITE. CHOCOLATE. CINNAMON. POPCORN.

Good grief, Charlie Brown! This stuff is good. And SO easy.

Have you ever gotten those fancy Christmas catalogs with the dozens of recipes for flavored popcorn? And you plan to get some, and then you realize you will have to get a second mortgage to afford it? Well. This is your solution.


All you need:

Air popped popcorn - nope, do NOT use microwave popped, it won't hold up. Promise.
White chocolate chips - don't skimp. With this you want to go for quality AND quantity.
Cinnamon/sugar blend - Personally, I use an Indonesian cinnamon from The Spice House. Di-vine.

Pop your corn. Do it.
Melt the chocolate chips (this is the only step you CAN use the microwave for.) Do it slowly, and on a lower power level. If you do it too quickly and too hot, you can ruin the chocolate texture. I do mine in 30-45 second increments on 50% power.
Drizzle the chocolate on top of the popcorn after you lay it out on a cookie sheet (I use parchment paper underneath so there is no sticking). Drizzle enough so you can be sure to see it. Then quickly shake the cinnamon in top....mmmmm!
Refrigerate until the chocolate sets up again, and then you can "break" it apart and bag it.

*This makes a great gift - seems like you spent a lot of time on a gourmet recipe. But go ahead and let them think that. I won't tell.*


"Everything is overpriced nowadays. Three dollars for a small popcorn? Give me a break."
- Stuart Allard

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

First of all, I have to give props to Ina Gartner. This recipe is hers. But I just changed it a bit. Her recipe involves raisins and pecans. And when I made them with those, I was the only one eating them. Not good. So I substituted chocolate chips for the two. And they were MUCH more popular.

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1 1/2 cups pecans
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 1/2 cups raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the pecans on a sheet pan and bake for 5 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to cool. Chop very coarsely.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together into a medium bowl. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the oats, raisins, and pecans and mix just until combined.

Using a small ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop 2-inch mounds of dough onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with a damp hand. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer the cookies to a baking rack and cool completely.

Where I DV8: Delete the pecans and raisins. Put in 1 12 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Hug Who?

This ain't your mama's pasta salad. Unless your mom has impeccable taste (like mine). This is a "cheater" recipe. A very good friend of mine (Lori) introduced me to this pasta salad a mere 12 years ago. This delectable pasta salad was being served at a small cafe called Hug Hess in Ogden, UT. I had not had it for at least 12 years, and it is so remarkable that when I was recently working in Ogden I had to hunt it down. I miraculously found the cafe, and the employees were so nice to let me sample the pasta salads they had because I didn't know the name of what I was looking for. Found it. Pasta Salad Supreme. And let me tell you; supreme, it is.

Now, this is another recipe that I do not really call a "recipe". It is a list of ingredients. Figure out the balance/ratio yourself. You can do it!

Cooked Chicken Breast - cubed. (They roast theirs, but I think I'll try grilled next time.)
Crumbled Blue Cheese (it's worth getting a good quality)
Cooked Bowtie Pasta
Cooked Spiral Pasta (they use the tri-color variety)
Raw Broccoli - mostly crowns, but some stalks are good, too.
Bacon - cooked so VERY crispy, otherwise it gets soggy and floppy. Ew.
Diced Tomatoes
Chopped White Onions
Carrots cut into discs
Kidney Beans - be sure to rinse them when using canned
Poppy Seed Dressing (recipe to follow)

Yep. Just mix it all in together, pretty much. It's really not rocket science. A good pointer: Add the dressing a little bit at a time. You don't want too much of a good thing. Also, if you have some left over (I would be amazed) store it in an airtight container - it should be good for a few days. It's also good to have some extra dressing as it gets absorbed over time.

Poppy Seed Dressing:

2 parts vegetable oil
1 part red wine vinegar
1 part granulated sugar
poppy seeds

Add ingredients into a food processor. Pulverize! Then enjoy.

...Now I'm hungry.

...run, run, as fast as you can...

Ok, you got me. There aren't any gingerbread men. But gingerbread snowflakes are just as sweet. I have to inform you that I will NOT be posting the recipe for this gingerbread. It was a PAIN to make. And, to tell you the truth, it really didn't taste that great. Maybe I'm just not a fan. Anyway, I DID want to post the finished product because the cookies, my dear, just look so good. I WILL post the recipe for the icing because it worked so well, and I am sure I will use it again. (And for the record, my dear friends and I were just as successful in using a sandwich bag with the corner snipped off as a professional pastry bag with the tip.)

Royal Icing:

• 1 box confectioners' sugar (1 pound)
• 5 tablespoons meringue powder, or 2 large egg whites

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar and meringue powder. Mixing on low speed, add a scant 1/2 cup water. For a thinner consistency, usually used for flooding, add more water. A thicker consistency is generally used for outlining and adding details. Mix until icing holds a ribbonlike trail on the surface of the mixture for 5 seconds when you raise the paddle.
(Makes 2 1/3 cups)

P.S. A big shout out to Rey and David for their help with these. Ok. They pretty much did the decorating.

Pancetta and Pasta

Okay, so here is a prime example where you just throw ingredients together and you suddenly have dinner. I usually don't use recipes for pasta dishes. A list of ingredients is all you need. The measurements are to taste, and also left to common sense.

Ingredients:

Pasta (I like penne or rigatoni)
Pancetta (slpurge and get the real thing at an import deli - I recommend Caputos)
Parmesan cheese
Heavy Cream
Butter
Dried Oregano
Garlic

Directions:

Cook the pasta until al dente. Nothing spoils a good pasta dish like overcooked pasta. While the pasta is boiling, cut your pancetta (ususally bought in a big inch-thick slice) into cubes. Fry pancetta until crisp. You may want to drain the grease half way through. While it crisps, mince your garlic. Melt butter into a small pot. When melted, add heavy cream and garlic, and let come to a strong simmer. Raise heat and bring to a rolling boil, but be sure to stir or you could burn the bottom. After it starts to boil, add the parmesan cheese and oregano and stir well. Turn heat down and let it come to a light simmer. This will help thicken the sauce.

After pasta is cooked, pancetta is crisp, and sauce has thickened (a little - it won't be THICK, but will thicken even more as it cools and when it mixes with the starch in the pasta.) Dish pasta into bowl, pour sauce over the top and sprinkle generously with pancetta.

Serve immediately and enjoy!