It's Time to Give Something Up....

It is that time of year again when the Lent season is here and people give some things up. I usually don't do this (since I am Jewish) but my husband (who is Catholic) does give stuff up. His usually things to give up are sweets and soda but this year I decided to give up soda with him. We used to not really drink it at all but over the past few months we have had more then in the past.

This also creates the problem now what do I do for Valentine's Day...and I can't make the fish bisquits that Kath made to watch Lost. Oh well no big deal I will just make something extra special for Easter this year (I can't wait to see what the Daring Bakers Challenge will be that month).

The other part of Lent which I am taking as a challenge is the no meat on Fridays. Sometimes we will make pizza or pasta but I want to get creative with it this year. Do some Indian dishes and find some yummy vegetarian dishes to make. So if anyone has a good recipe out there please let me know!

Here are some recipes from our blog that might help you out for your no meat Friday meals:
Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup (make it with veggie broth instead of chicken)
Tilapia with Garlic Butter
Hoisin Lime Salmon
Hearty Bean and Barley Soup

Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup

So I recently joined America's Test Kitchen's Recipe Testing "club." The first recipe came this week and it happened to be a soup recipe, so thought this was perfect for another submission for January!

This "club" is great, because it gives you the opportunity to test recipes, but with no obligation - if you don't have time this week, you don't do it. If you have time, but can't give them a response within a week, then you do it a week later. It's perfect for me, cuz I don't know if I will have the time, but I love to cook, so it's fun for me.

Now I will say that Tomato Soup is definitely not my favorite soup and I'm not really sure that I've ever really had a cup or bowl before, but I remember my Gram having it way back in the day with some Saltines (I'll have to verify whether that is true or some made-up memory! haha), but I definitely know she likes it (she just had a cup of it this afternoon when she stopped over with Mom & Dad to see the 4 trees we took down =).

I don't know if the recipe will change from the testing recipe, but here it is:

Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup

Serves 6 to 8

The goal of this recipe was to create a velvety smooth and creamy tomato soup using only ingredients found in the pantry.

If half of the soup fills your blender by more than two-thirds then process the soup in three bathes. A hand blender can be used in place of a regular blender to blend soup directly in pot. Serve this soup with grilled cheese sandwiches or topped with croutons (recipe follows). Crushed tomatoes can be used in place of the whole tomatoes.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 small onion, chopped medium (about 3/4 cup)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (optional)
1 bay leaf
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes
2 teaspoons sugar
2 large slices good quality white sandwich bread, crusts removed, slices torn into 1-inch pieces
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Table salt and ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Directions:

1. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes, if using; cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add bay leaf and tomatoes. Using spoon, press tomatoes against side of pot to release their juices. Stir in sugar and bread. Cook, stirring constantly, until bread is completely saturated and is starting to break down, about 5 minutes.

2. Transfer half of soup to blender and blend until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to large bowl and repeat with remaining soup. Rinse out Dutch oven and return soup to pot. Stir in chicken broth; bring soup to boil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve soup in individual bowls, sprinkling each portion with black pepper and chopped chives, and drizzling with olive oil.

There is also a recipe for Croutons, but I didn't make them, so the recipe is not included here (let me know if you are interested).

Review: I may actually be more of a fan of Tomato Soup than I thought! I really liked this, because I felt it was more healthy than opening a can of Cream of Tomato from Campbells. It was a nice and tasty soup for a cold winter day and I think the longer it cooked, the better it tasted. Here are some tips if you make the above, as I had a few comments to the ingredients and cooking style:
- Put in the onion with the olive oil and cook on medium, once the onion is near translucent, add the garlic and red pepper flakes in for 30 seconds. (The above directions caused me to burn the garlic. Soup still came out ok, but burned garlic is not usually a good thing.) Oh, I added an extra 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder to make up for some of the burned garlic I removed.
- I didn't have white bread (we eat whole wheat in my house), but I did have a frozen hoagie roll, so I trimmed off the crust and cut it up. It worked fine!
- Not sure if this is any other kind, but use whole PEELED tomatoes. Also, be careful when squeezing the tomato against the side of the dutch oven, as they may squirt!
- The recipe doesn't tell you what to do with the bay leaf before the soup goes in the blender, I removed it.
- Another suggestion is after the blender portion of the recipe, stick the soup in the crockpot.
- The chives are not necessary, but add a nice touch.

GO G-MEN!!!!

I know its a little early, but with Kevin coming home tomorrow I didnt think I'd have time to make this tomorrow or Sunday morning. What better way to root for my NY Giants ( go g-men!! ), then with a cool cake with the Giants logo on it..LOL.

"Lost" Fish Biscuits =)

There is a very funny story to these cookies. Anyone who knows me, knows my brother Eric. Anyone who knows my brother Eric knows he's totally obsessed with the show Lost on ABC. As a joke he asked me to make these Fish biscuits ( fish biscuits are the treats Sawyer got when he was locked in the cage by the 'others ). I jokingly told Eric, if he found me a recipe for 'fish biscuits' I'd try to make them for him to eat while watching the Lost premier last night. It shouldnt have suprised me that he found a website that had a recipe for these wonderful treats. I pretended like I didnt get his email with the recipe, but I had printed it out and Weds night after seeing you girls at Jenns grandfathers wake, I got home at about 9pm and started making my 'fish biscuit' dough ( the recipe said to keep it refridgerated for at least 4 hours ). Thursday I rushed home after work and quickly began prepairing these cute treats. I was in a bit of a hurry, so they didnt come out as good as I'd hope. Not that they didnt taste good, they did, but if I'd had more time I could have made them look a little nicer. The pictures above are of the finished product. My wonderful Fish Biscuits!!! LOL. My brother was hysterical when I walked into his house with these, as I think you can tell from the picture of him above :).

I would highly recommend trying these cookies, they were pretty easy and quite tasty. The recipe I used is as follows:

Citrus sugar cookie dough

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature ( I used margaine )

1 1/4 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1 1/4 grated tangerine peel or orange peel

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 large egg

Once the dough is made, keep it refridgerated at least 4 hours. It has to be chilled to roll out the right way. The cookies should be about 1/2 an inch thick before baking. Look at this womens site below...she tell you alot if you really want to make these.

Here is the website I got all this from:

http://www.kungfoodie.com/lost-fish-biscuit/

She's got an awsome site, you can print out templates of the fish and she has the recipe there too. Check it out, its pretty cool.

Enjoy your fish biscuits everyone!!!

Fact or Fiction?!

So, we have all received email forwards in our life (assuming we have email, unlike my Uncle Bob (61), who still to this day does not have an email address - even though both of my grandmothers (86 and 82 do! =)). One of the most recent ones I got was from Kath. It was filled with all kinds of tips and entitled "DID YOU KNOW?"

Well, I thought these were pretty neat, Martha Stewart-type tips, and want to try them out as I can. The first one that I attempted was the first two on the list...

1. "Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little "stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it."
--> I will say Fact. For the most part, 95% of the "stringy things" I didn't have to bother with! The very small thin ones were less successful. Whether or not the primates do it this way, well, I guess I'll have to tune into the Discovery channel and take a look, because I never noticed it with any of the monkeys in the movies - I thought they all peeled their bananas from the top?! And even if they did, do they really care about the "stringy things"?!

2. "Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster."
--> May be Fiction - so, I attempted this with a bunch of bananas that I got from Costco (btw, one of the cheapest places to get bananas - usually 8 LARGE bananas for $1.30!). I took 4 bananas and broke them apart separately and left 4 bananas connected. Honestly, it seems like they are all ripening at the same speed. Would love to know if anyone has noticed otherwise?!

A few of my own tips not included (passed on by friends, cooking shows, or magazines):

A. When peeling or smashing garlic and you have that wonderful odor (I actually really do like it) on your fingers and soap doesn't remove the smell, rub your fingers up and down a steel blade (on the knife) and it takes away the smell! (I was actually excited, as I was able to tell this to 2 older ladies in a kitchen store! =)

B. Wrap unused celery in aluminum foil, this will keep it longer then just in the crisper drawer alone (I think this came from Heidi and Michelle via their mom?!).

C. Hang ironed/pressed table cloths with a pants hanger (ie. in the coat/hall closet) to avoid them getting wrinkled in a drawer or extra crease lines from being folded.

Enjoy!

Celebrations of life and death

I'd first and foremost like to wish Heidi and Mike a very Happy 1st Anniversary! If the first year flew by, Heidi, just wait for the next few to come!

Secondly, a special Happy Birthday to Jacob on his 2nd birthday! Wow, time does fly! (This is also the same birthday as Poppy (my dad's dad).)

Lastly I'd like to wish my Papa (mom's dad) peace for he passed away this past Sunday and was laid to rest today. He was a great man and will be greatly missed. I love you, Papa. (Thanks to my Baking Buddies for all their support and offer of help should anything have been needed.)

Oh, and just so I don't end on a sad note, today was Biz's birthday, so Happy Birthday, Bizzie! =)

January Recipe: Classic French Onion Soup

One of my all time favorite soups is French Onion. I can't tell you when or where I had my first bowl, but I can tell you where to get my favorite soup. There's a little cafe in Cobleskill, NY, called Monks. The door is complete with a painted picture of a monk, but after that, the similarity ends. This little cafe is next to my favorite store, Wal-mart! Makes the trip even better. =) Monks makes a heavenly cup of French Onion soup and I am told one of the reasons it is sooooo good, is because they put Sherry in the soup! Needless-to-say, when Michelle came up with Soup for January's recipe, I knew what I wanted to try to make for myself.

There was an added bonus as I was able to cook the soup in my slow cooker, which meant not having to watch the stove and having a nice warm bowl on a Saturday afternoon. My recipe did not include Sherry, so I added it myself and while it doesn't quite match Monks, it was still a good cup o' soup!


Classic French Onion Soup
From: Easy Home Cooking - All New Slow Cooker cookbook

Ingredients:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
3 large yellow onions, sliced
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup sherry
3 cans (14 oz. each) beef (suggested: low sodium) broth
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 loaf French bread, sliced and toasted
4 oz. shredded Swiss cheese (or other preferred cheese)

Directions:
Melt butter in large skillet (I used my LeCrueset dutch oven) over high heat. Add onions; cook and stir 15 minutes or until onions are soft and slightly browned (do not burn!). Stir in wine and sherry.

Combine onion mixture, beef broth, thyme, salt, and Worcestershire in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 4-4.5 hours (my Rival crockpot only has LOW for 8 or 10 hours, this works fine as well!). Ladle soup into 4 individual bowls (I got some great french onion mini crocks or soup bowls at Christmas Tree Shops for $1 or $2 each!); top with toasted bread slice and cheese (suggestion: stick in the oven, if bowls are oven proof, or the microwave to ensure cheese melts - sliced cheese works as well). Serve and enjoy!

Review: I really enjoyed this recipe and would definitely make it again. I think I'll also experiment with the other recipes that are out there just trying to find one that is similar to Monks. Hope you enjoy this on a cold Winter day like me! =)

January's Recipes - Soup

I thought it would be nice to have a post with a link to everyone's January recipe for their soups. I am going to try to do this at the end of each month for a review of what we did that month.

Michelle's - Hearty Bean & Barley Soup
Heidi's - Pasta e Fagioli
Jenn's - Classic French Onion Soup
Kathleen's - Beef Stew

Happy Anniversary!!

So we made it!! Yesterday was Mike and I's first wedding anniversary. I can't believe how fast the year went. Of course this morning I was little bummed when I woke up because I was playing the where was I a year ago today game....Oh Yeah.... I was on the plane on my way to Hawaii.


Mike was wondering why we were keeping the top layer of our wedding cake. I told him about the tradition about eating it a year later. He's response was, "Why would we want to do that?" I told him, it tradition, just go with it. So I went down to the freezer to get it out to defrost and dumbfounded. It was gone!! I think I might have started talking to myself...I was like who would take our wedding cake....So when I told Mike it was gone, he remember we had to defrost the freezer this past fall and had given it to his mom to hold at her house. We were going over there for dinner so we told her to take it out. We had it for dessert and it wasn't as bad as I thought. But I had a back up plan just in case it wasn't edible. I had recreated the top layer. Our cake wedding cake was filled with cannoli filling and decorated with black dots. So I tried to recreate it. What I did was took a pound cake, cut it in half, filled it with cannoli filling , frosted it and decorated it. I think it came out cute. Of course the real cake was square and the this one was rectangle. Oh well. Happy Anniversary Mike!!

Daring Bakers January Challange - Lemon Meringue Pie

I was SUPER excited this month when I found out what the DB challenge was going to be Lemon Meringue Pie. It was perfect and at the right time of year for me because my Father-in-law's birthday was coming up and this is his all time favorite kind of pie. We always celebrate someone birthday by going out for dinner and having "cake" afterwards back at the house. Well this year I was able to supply the cake and complete this month's challenge at the same time.

I have made a LMP before and wasn't worried about the pie itself. I was worried about making the pie crust because that was something I never did before. From watching a lot of cooking shows I knew that everything must be cold...even the bowl! I was a little worried at first when my dough didn't seem to come together fast but a little time in the fridge and it came together nicely. I know why people buy already pie crust but now I understand why so many people make their own. It was really easy using the food processor and really doesn't take that much time. I would do it again and might even make a double batch to freeze half for the next time.

The only thing that I had problems with is rolling out the crust and baking it...but I would say that is mostly user error. I only had 9" pie pans and didn't have time to go look/buy a 10" pie pan. Not sure if this was the problem or if I rolled out the dough to thin or didn't leave enough over hanging (which I know I didn't). I ended up with a lot of extra dough and extra filling and meringue. So I just made a mini LMP to give away to my neighbor. I actually probably could have made 2 mini pies but didn't have time. I made the mistake of trying to make the pie during Jacob's nap time. Which was cutting it close to the time when my in-laws were coming over for dinner.

Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:
¾ cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
⅓ cup (80 mL) ice water

For the Filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
½ cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
¼ cup (60 mL) butter
¾ cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
½ tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
¾ cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.

Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

Review: I got comment from my father-in-law that this LMP is the way the LMP should be...tart and not super sweet like you get at the store. I liked this pie and would make it again for another birthday or any time. I need to get more practise at making my own crust but I like the taste of it and thought it was yummy!

Also I wanted to wish my son a very Happy 2nd Birthday today!