Pesto Potato Soup

I usually have a weekly menu plan, but I've been feeling lazy lately. So when it came time to start supper, I started looking around for inspiration. I let the dog out in the backyard and noticed my basil, which looked like it needed pruning. Hmm. Maybe something with pesto?

Then I started rummaging around in the kitchen. A 10 lb bag of russet potatoes. Hmm. Maybe potato soup?

And then a really crazy idea hit me. Pesto. Potato. Soup.

Whoa. This could be epic.

I started crawling the web looking for a recipe to be my starting point, and found a few. Nothing looked quite right. So I started pulling together bits and pieces, and this is what I came up with.

3 strips of bacon, browned and crumbed
1 tbls butter
1 tbls olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 lb (about 5 medium) potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups milk
3 cups chicken broth
4 tbsp pesto (store bought or fresh)

1. Heat olive oil an butter in stock pot. Add onion and saute until tender.
2. Add milk, chicken broth, and potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender.
3. Stir in pesto. Salt and pepper to taste.

This soup came together in a snap and was just what the doctor ordered for a cold, rainy day. This one will be showing up in my soup rotation!

Pumpkin Scones

Fall is coming! All week, when we've sat out on the porch to have our morning coffee, we've needed fleece pants and sweatshirts. I love it! So when a dear friend came to town, I decided that pumpkin scones would be the perfect snack for our visit.


I modified the recipe a little bit so that they're super healthy! If you want to see the original version, head on over here. But be prepared. The original calls for a whopping 2 cups of sugar! That's more than most cookie recipes. Eek.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
• cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling the tops
  

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.
2. In a large bowl, stir together all-purpose and whole wheat flours, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix in ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
   
3. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or your hands. Mix in applesauce, then slowly stir in sugar until well blended. Mix in the eggs and pumpkin.
4. Separate dough into two balls. Form each ball into a circle, about 7 inches wide and about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut each round into 8 wedges and arrange on baking sheets with at least 1 inch between scones.
   
5. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake in a preheated oven until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove, and let cool on cookie sheets 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool.

These scones were excellent! They would be wonderful with raisins, I'm sure. Or even cranberries! I will be making them many times this season. They go great with hot chai!

Fondue Party

I love fondue. There's just something about a big pot of cheese with bread to dip it in that gets me all excited. It's been years since our last fondue party, so we decided it was time for another one.

Here are some links to last night's fondue recipes!

From Emeril, Garlicky Cheese Fondue (we used sharp cheddar instead of Muenster and 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and 3/4 cup apple juice for the white wine)

From allrecipes.com, Cheesy Pizza Fondue

For dipping, we had:
Deep fried ravioli (which was great dipped in both sauces!)
Smoked sausage
Lightly boiled potatoes
Toasted French bread chunks
Toasted everything bagel slices

And of course, chocolate fondue for dessert (with marshmallows, pretzeles, bananas, strawberries, and shortbread cookies). Yum!

Pineapple Muffins

Pineapple is such a summery fruit. And little Clara has a thing for fruit. We call her a fruit bat, which is only half true. She is also a pizza monster.

So we had a huge can of pineapple left over from Emily's wedding. Since I hate to waste anything, last night I started browsing for a recipe to use up the pineapple, and I found it: pineapple muffins!

The link above is the original recipe, below are the modifications I made. The muffins were awesome! I will definitely make them again!

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 cup white, 1 cup whole wheat for a healthier option)
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (16 ounce) can crushed pineapple
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pans, or line with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. Drain pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup juice. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the reserved juice, egg, milk, and 1/4 cup melted butter. Mix just until blended. Add half of the pineapple (about 1 cup) to the batter and fold in gently.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the cinnamon, brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/4 cup melted butter to make the topping.
4. Spoon batter into muffin cups, then spoon pineapple over the batter and sprinkle with the cinnamon topping.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the crown of the muffin comes out clean.

Wedding Recipes Part II: Peanut Butter Brownies

These peanut butter brownies were an undeniable hit. I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, which has a lot of yummy-looking recipes.

The picture is from Smitten Kitchen as well. As it happened, I was too busy baking to snap photos!



Peanut Butter Brownies

Adapted from Butterwood Desserts, West Falls, New York via Gourmet, October 2007 (recipe via Smitten Kitchen)

Makes 32 brownies, more or less, depending on how you cut them

For brownies

2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional, taste the batter first and see if you think it needs salt)

For ganache
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

Make brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in middle. Butter a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking pan, then line bottom of pan with parchment paper and butter parchment.

Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until mixture is light and fluffy, then add peanut butter and beat until incorporated. Beat in whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla. Reduce mixer sped to low, then mix in flour until just combined.

Mix in chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) then spread batter in baking pan, smoothing top. (It will be thick, almost like cookie batter.)

Bake until brownies are deep golden, puffed on top and a wooden pick inserted in center come out with some crumbs adhering, 40 to 45 minutes.

Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

Make ganache: Put chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) in a heatproof bowl.

Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate chips and let mixture stand for one minute.

Gently whisk in butter until it is incorporated, chocolate is melted, and a smooth mixture forms.

Spread ganache on cooled brownies and let stand until set, about 15 minutes.

Brownies keep in one layer in an airtight container three days, and we hope much longer if hidden waaay in the back of the freezer.

Wedding Recipes Part I: Mint Brownies

I promised everyone that I would post the recipes from Emily and Robert's wedding reception, and I'm just now getting around to it. Rather than post everything at once, I thought I'd break it up a bit. Today's recipe: Mint Brownies. Watch out. There's a lot of butter in here!

Chocolate Mint Brownies – (Recipe for 1 1/2 times is in parenthesis)

Whisk together:
1 c. melted butter (1 ½ c.)
½ c. cocoa powder (3/4 c.)

And then add:
2 c. sugar (3 c.)
4 eggs beaten (6)
1 tsp. vanilla (1 ½ tsp.)
½ tsp. salt (3/4 tsp.)

Mix well and then add:

1 ½ c. sifted flour (2 ¼ c.)

Stir in by hand. Do not over mix.

Pour into 9×13 pan sprayed with cooking spray. If making 1 1/2 recipe pour into Baker’s Half Sheet (large cookie sheet.) Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes. Cool for a few minutes and then place in freezer for 20 minutes.

While brownies are in the freezer make first layer of topping.

Mint frosting:
½ c. butter softened (3/4 c.)
2 Tbsp. milk (3 Tbsp.)
2 c. powdered sugar (3 c.)
1 tsp. peppermint extract ( 1 ½ tsp.)
green food coloring

Mix thoroughly. Evenly frost brownies and put back in freezer for 20 minutes. Make chocolate ganache top layer.

Chocolate Ganache Topping:
½ c. butter (3/4 c.)
1 ½ c. good semi sweet chocolate chips (2 ¼ c.)

Melt and whisk together. (I melt them together in a Pyrex measuring bowl in the microwave for one minute. Be careful not to overheat. It won’t look melted but once whisked it is.) Drizzle warm chocolate over brownies and spread smooth with a spatula. Put back in freezer for another 20 minutes.

Homemade Tortillas

Several months ago, I started making homemade tortillas. Maybe that was a big mistake. These tortillas are soft, delicious, and have pretty much spoiled me. Taco night is no longer a mess-free affair at the Shull house, since it now involves getting out the rolling pin and flouring up the counter.

Homemade Tortillas
2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 cup white, 1 cup whole wheat)
1-½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vegetable oil
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
Method:

1. Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
2. Add vegetable oil to the lukewarm milk and mix together.
3. Gradually add the milk to the flour mixture, and using clean hands, work it into a gooey dough.
4. Turn dough out onto a surface dusted with flour and knead until the dough is no longer sticky.
5. Return the dough to the bowl and let sit for about 20 minutes.
6. Divide dough into 8 balls of equal size, cover them. Let sit for another twenty minutes.
7. Roll the balls out one at a time to about a 7 inch circle. (I have a pastry mat with a nice little circle that shows me a 7-inch circle. $2 at Wal-Mart!)
8. Cook in a preheated skillet (I use a cast iron). Flip after 30 seconds (the dough should be bubbly, kind of like a pancake) and cook the other side for about 20-30 seconds. Do this with all of the dough.

It's just that easy! I've gotten in the groove of this. I roll out a tortilla, place it in the pan, and while that one's cooking, I roll out another one. The timing works out great, and it gives me something to do other than stare at the cooking tortilla.