Quick and Spicy Tomato Soup

It's definitely winter here in Pittsburgh. There's perpetually snow on the ground, we haven't seen the sun in days, and all the CMU children are huddling in for the winter to keep warm around the glow of their computer monitors.

This soup is great because it's ridiculously easy and unlike other tomato soups, is actually filling. It's got beans, carrots and pasta in it to add heartiness, and it has a nice kick from the red pepper flakes. I've been living off of this stuff this winter. Also, making it is a good excuse to use my awesome new enameled cast iron pot I got for christmas!

Quick and Spicy Tomato Soup

from Giada DeLaurentis

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (26-ounce) jar marinara sauce (recommended: San Marzano brand)

2 (14-ounce) cans chicken broth

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Warm the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, onion, and garlic and saute until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the jar of marinara sauce, chicken broth, cannellini beans, red pepper flakes, pasta, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls and serve.

holiday recap

Hey, wow, it's been a while. I started class this week and I've been spending this morning trying to organize my life and catch up with things. I did a lot of baking over the break but didn't get the chance to write any posts about it! So I'm just going to post some eye-candy style photos of delicious things my mom and I made over break and hopefully I'll get back to some real recipe posts soon.

Egg Nog- The real stuff with heavy cream, eggs, and rum.

Apple-Gingerbread upside-down cake with sugared cranberries

These are the "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever" from Cook's Illustrated. Pretty fancy.

snowed in

I had plans to travel back to my parents house for the holidays today, but several inches of snow foiled those plans.

Instead, I was forced to stay inside, drink hot chocolate, listen to soma.fm's "x-mas in frisko" station, and bake gingerbread cookies all day.

They're not the prettiest cookies since I didn't have a piping bag to put on the frosting. However, they are very delicious, if I do say so myself. I've been on a fresh ginger kick lately and happened to have some in the refrigerator left over from some other cooking project-it really amped up the flavor in these cookies.

Gingerbread Cookies

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. grated fresh ginger (I used a microplane)

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp. maple syrup

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 egg

about 1 tsp. vanilla

Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, soda, spices, salt.) Cream the butter and sugar in a separate bowl. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and combine.

Add wet ingredients to dry and mix to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, working with half the dough at a time, roll 1/8 inch thick. With floured cookie cutters, cut dough into shapes. Using a metal spatula, place cookies 1/2 inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until very lightly browned.

Royal Icing

Recipe from Alton Brown

Note: I used only about 2 cups of sugar and 2 egg whites and still had a lot more than I needed to frost the cookies.

3 ounces pasteurized egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups confectioners' sugar

In large bowl of stand mixer combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy. Add confectioners' sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny. Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add food coloring, if desired. For immediate use, transfer icing to pastry bag or heavy duty storage bag and pipe as desired. If using storage bag, clip corner. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

thanksgiving: shoo fly pie.

I'm posting this pie I made at thanksgiving because I just finished all of my work for the semester and had zero time to do anything since thanksgiving except for frantically design stuff, eat ramen, and get very little sleep. It was nice to take a break on Thanksgiving day, even though I didn't have enough time to go home and visit my family. I made this pie to bring to a Pittsburgh thanksgiving gathering with some friends, and it was a good night with good people.

I chose to represent my home area of Pennsylvania by bringing a traditional wet bottom shoo fly pie. These can be a little tricky to make and I ended up having to bake two pies from different recipes to get one that worked. It ended up being delicious even if it's not as beautiful as the ones I've seen back home. This pie has an intense, sweet molasses flavor with a nice crunchy crumb topping.

Shoo Fly Pie

1.2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. molasses

3/4 c. boiling water

9" unbaked pie shell

Dissolve baking soda in boiling water and combine with molasses and pour into pie shell.

Crumbs:

3/4 c. flour

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. shortening (or butter)

1/2 tsp. salt

Combine dry ingredients with shortening. Use hands to make into crumbs. Put over top of liquid. Bake pie at 400 degrees until crust starts to brown, reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake until firm, make sure to watch the pie and test it with a toothpick to see when it's firm.

sake marinated tofu in shitake broth

This semester has kept me incredibly busy at CMU, and (lucky me!) all that stress reacted badly on my immune system a week or two ago. I wanted a flavorful, gingery soup to take care of my sore throat and help me feel better, and this did the trick. Since I haven't seen my kitchen much this fall to do any real cooking, it was very nice to take the time to make a fiery soup on a cold fall afternoon.
I used instant bonito shavings for the dashi stock (I'm no expert in this field, but I read that this is what many Asian households use since it is very easy to prepare.) And it was easy to make with the individual packet of Bonito, all you need to do is boil it for a minute or two in water and then strain though a cheesecloth.

As for the shitake mushrooms, I'm normally not a fan of eating members of the Fungi kingdom, but I have to say these were pretty delicious. I got these at Whole Foods, they have a pretty nice selection of mushrooms.

I could see this soup being good with the addition of some soba-type noodles.

Sake-Marinated Tofu in Shitake Broth
Recipe from Gourmet Traveller.

250g medium-firm tofu
8 shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 small carrot, julienned
50g baby spinach

sake marinade:
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sake
1/4 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1/2 garlic clove, minced

broth:
500ml dashi, vegetable stock or water
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp mirin
1/2 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
shichimi togarashi (japanese 7 spice powder), to serve (I didn't have this, I used a little hot sauce instead)

Pat the tofu with a kitchen towel to remove excess moisture, then cut into 1-cm thick slices. Combine the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and marinade the tofu pieces for at least 2 hours (or overnight).

Lift the tofu pieces from the marinade and place on a heatproof dish. Steam on a medium heat for 6-8 minutes, until heated through. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Place all the broth ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the shitake and carrots then lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 4 minutes. Add spinach and cook for a further minute, until the leaves have wilted. Taste and season.

Arrange the warm tofu in large flat bowls, then pour over the broth. Serve with a dash of togarashi for a little heat.

Cure for a bad day

Caramel-apple cupcake from Dozen and coffee.

molasses cookies

It's getting chilly out. I've had to pull out my sweaters and scarves and started thinking about apple cider and butternut squash soup. I also start thinking about spiced baked goods around this time of year. I made these cookies for our october student AIGA meeting.

They're a great, basic cookie, and remind me a lot of my nana's "molasses tongues" cookies (although not quite that good, I don't know how she does it.) These also come together really quickly and easily. Take a few minutes' break from classes/projects and bake some cookies! It will make you happier.





Note: I doubled this batch and used about a half-cup less butter than the recipe called for, and the cookies turned out fine. Also, I used half white sugar and half brown sugar.

Molasses Cookies
reprinted from Framed

• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon each of ground cloves, ginger and salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Extra sugar for rolling

1. Combine butter, sugar, molasses and egg in large mixing bowl
2. Combine flour, baking soda and spices in medium bowl
3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir until well combined
4. Put in refrigerator until dough has hardened.
5. Scoop out dough (I find an ice cream scoop works well for this) and roll into 1 inch balls
6. Roll balls in sugar and place on cookie sheet, well-spaced apart
7. Press down slightly on cookie dough with the bottom of a glass or jar
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Cool on rack.