Potage Parmentier (Potato Leek Soup served warm)

 It is almost the end of winter! Thank goodness!

Meanwhile, it's still warm-soup season and this is a perfectly simple, delicious for this rainy/snowy/wet/miserable day.

Ingredients
4 cups diced potatoes (about 3 medium potatoes)
3 cups thinly sliced leeks (white and tender green parts only)
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 tsp salt, or to taste (if using unsalted chicken broth)
4-6TBS cream or melted butter, for finishing
2-3 TBS green onions, roasted red peppers, herbs or other garnish, as desired

This is a leek.
I'll admit this is my first-ever time cooking with leeks so I asked the internet how exactly I was supposed to approach said onion-y vegetable.

 In the case of this soup, you are first supposed to chop off the dark green, leafy parts, leaving the root intact. There is probably too much dark green part left on my leeks but my selection at the store was not too great (you can see there really isn't a lot of white on the stalk - according to the internet, ideally, there should be more white).

Slice the leek down the middle beginning just before the root. The root will hold the leek together as you cut it. Turn the stem a quarter-turn and make another cut of the same length down the middle.

Now begin to slice the leek thinly from end to end.

Add leeks and diced potatoes to a large pot.

Add liquids and salt if using.

Let simmer 40-50 minutes until vegetables are tender.

 When cooked to the right amount of doneness, mash with a fork or potato ricer lightly before processing with a food mill. I don't own an immersion blender but that would also work well. You can also blend in batches in a standard blender.

 At this point, if you're not going to eat it right away, you can let it cool to store and reheat to a simmer before eating.

You'll see below that this bowl of soup is a little thick. I used less water in my recipe than I would if I made it again. I think that the 3 cups water 3 cups broth would make a very good not too thin, not too thick soup. But please adjust depending on your preference!

 Finish with cream, melted butter and garnish.

 Serve with bread! Like http://joanofthekitchen.blogspot.com/2014/06/quick-herb-and-olive-oil-dinner-bread.html.

This is the same recipe except I halved it, used 1 c. bread flour, 1/2 c. all-purpose, and added chopped green onions and chunks of cheddar cheese. 

**A recipe for Potato Leek Soup served cold is called Vichyssoise. I think I'll do that when it warms up a bit though.

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins & The Practical Couponer

I have not been writing all that often.
I have not been writing all that often for a few reasons:

Reason 1: We don’t have internet at home! I know, I know, it’s like the stone age.
Reason 2: My brain function and creative abilities seem to directly correlate with degrees- above-zero.
Reason 3: I’ve been doing all sorts of other things that are somewhat kitchen-related i.e. couponing, canning/jamming, & wedding planning. Soon to be added: gardening! (Hopefully sooner rather than later!).

The Practical Couponer

Do you want to save some money but don’t want to become one of those people on the A&E special? Does it seem like too much of a hassle? I’ve been novice-couponing for about a year now. I’m here to tell you that there is room in the check-out line for the practical couponer.

Ethan told me once that he didn’t think I could be a couponer because it takes so much time. It’s possible that the first pro-couponers really had a large undertaking. But we’ve moved forward leaps and bounds in extreme couponing - it’s called the internet. The internet and sites like those I’ve listed below, have made couponing accessible to anyone with a spare 30 minutes or so a week.

The other major issue with couponing is possibly ending up with a lot of things that you may never use or need. Then there is the trouble with storing all of those things. You can see how it could get out of hand pretty easily, especially once you’ve experienced the “high” of receiving items for pennies or even for free. Here’s how I keep myself in check:

1. I limit myself to two or three stores per week. Chances are you’re visiting at least one grocery/drug store per week. My feeling is that if you’re already going to the store every week, buying mostly the same things, shouldn’t you be buying these things for the lowest possible price? Broadening your scope to two stores allows you to compare deals between the two. I usually do BigY, Price Chopper, and Rite Aid (sometimes).

2. I know almost exactly what brands and items we eat or use and I limit myself to those things. For instance, I don’t buy Depends just because I can get them for $0.49! I also do approximately 90% of our grocery shopping. After a few years of this, I have a pretty good idea of the things we buy and which are worth “stockpiling”. Here’s a few examples of items that I think are worth couponing:
Paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, etc.)
Shampoo/Conditioner/Soap
Hair Products
Pasta/Pasta Sauce
Rice
Cereal/Granola Bars
Laundry/Dish Detergent

3. Understand your sale cycles. If you’ve been grocery shopping, even just for a few months, you probably see items going on sale in some kind of pattern. For instance, the lowest price for 1lb of butter at BigY is $1.99. This happens maybe 4x a year. This is the best time to buy butter since otherwise you’ll pay as much as $5.99. There’s some science to it, but the best way is just to take notice of how frequently a brand goes on sale in your store.

4. The best time to use a coupon is when the item is at it’s lowest price or when it is Buy One Get One (BOGO). Coupons aren’t just available in the Sunday paper anymore. Those same coupons and many more are available to print online (coupons.com, etc.). Some stores have e-coupons or “click2card” coupons that load directly to your store-loyalty card. No scissors required! Price Chopper and Rite Aid have the best e-coupon programs (In my humble opinion).

5. Store circulars. Each week I look through all my stores’ circulars and write down items that I want/need that are on sale. Then I match these up with the coupons I have or do a search for available coupons. For your sanity’s sake, I think it’s important to do it in this order.  Clipping coupons and then searching for the items will make you want to pull your hair out. Also store circulars sometimes have store-coupons that can be combined with manufacturer’s coupons for really amazing savings (Price Chopper and Stop N Shop have new store coupons almost every week). For example, last week BigY ran a 2/$8.00 Sparkle/Brawny/or Angel Soft sale. They also offered $1.00 double coupons and there was a manufacturer’s coupon for $1.00 off 2 Sparkle. If you bought two Sparkle, you got 2-6 packs of paper towels for $6. Score!

6. Let the professionals guide you. Two of my favorite sites are LivingRichwithCoupons.com and theKrazyCouponLady.com. Both have great getting-started info as well as ideas or examples of how to take advantage of the best sales each week. 

7. I would also like to give a lot of credit to the other super-couponing-ladies that I know who are a source of constant inspiration!

Couponing for me isn’t really about getting items for free (even though it’s really awesome when that happens). Couponing is about getting the best possible price for items you are buying anyway.  That just makes sense to me. I still buy all my regular groceries (produce, meat, etc.),  but using the tips above probably saves me at least $50 a month. It could probably be more if I put more time and energy into it, but I’m happy with it for now.

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

These muffins are a great way to diminish your supply of frozen blueberries (if you are a hoarder of frozen blueberries, for instance) and they use pretty simple, pantry-staple ingredients. The yogurt keeps them moist for days (if they last that long). This recipe is adapted from The Joy of Cooking. Makes 1 dozen standard muffins.

Ingredients
2 eggs
½ c. butter or oil
½ c. yogurt + ½ c. milk or cream
½ - ⅔ c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
½ c. wheat flour (or use all white flour if you prefer)
1 TBS baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground nutmeg

1 - 1 ½ c. blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Mix wet ingredients together in large bowl or stand mixer until blended
In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients
Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined (it should be lumpy)
Fold in blueberries
Scoop batter into muffin tin, filling almost to the top.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.

Onion Bagels

Ethan really loves bagels. So I wanted to see if I could make them.

I never held bagels to any certain standard, seeing as I’m from Massachusetts (western Massachusetts) and the only real bagels we have are Lenders and Dunkin Donuts. I’ve never had a true New York bagel (a great failing, I understand), but if they are anything like these homemade bagels, then I am starting to grasp the foundational argument.

Now if you haven’t made bagels before, what sets bagels apart from other delicious yeasty bread products is that they are boiled as well as baked. This specific recipe also requires about a day of prep time (almost entirely unattended). This method is called “cold-fermented", but there are other methods that are more timely. These are worth the extra planning, in my opinion.

Dough Ingredients:
1 TBS instant yeast
4 c. bread flour**
2 tsp salt
1 TBS brown sugar
1 1/2 c. water

1 egg + 1 TBS water
1/4 c. dehydrated onions, rehydrated

You can use any number of things to top the bagels:
Garlic
Cheese
Sesame Seeds
Cinnamon Raisin (these get added directly into the dough, however)
I would also like to try: sun dried tomatoes, olives, or whole wheat

Water Bath ingredients:
2 quarts water
2 TBS honey
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda


**In this case it’s important to use bread flour, which has additional wheat gluten. Your bagels will still turn out if you use standard all-purpose flour, but you may find a chewier texture. (If you can find it) you can add extra gluten, which is sold seperately by both Hodgsen Mill and King Arthur Flour among others. However short of ordering it online, I can never find it in any stores in the area.

1. Whisk all dry ingredients in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand-mixer. Add water and mix to combine. Let rest 5 minutes.

2. Knead with hands or dough hook for 10 minutes. When the dough is done it will feel tougher than other standard yeast doughs but will be pliable, smooth, and not sticky.

3. Let the dough rest approximately 1 1/2 hours.
4. Divide the dough into 7-8 equal pieces. You’ll notice that I only made 6 in my original batch. I was afraid that it would make 8 small bagels when I wanted them to be medium-sized. Instead some are larger than others so if I did it again I would aim for 7 or 8 bagels.

5. Roll each dough ball into a rope.

6. Wrap each rope around your four fingers, starting by pinching one end between your thumb and forefinger. Overlap both ends and pinch to secure. (There are probably 1000 videos on this process, but there is also the “poke a hole in the middle” version, which a little easier but apparently “unprofessional”).

7. Place all bagels on a baking sheet and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate over night.
8. An hour or so before you plan to process your bagels, rehydrate onions in enough water to just cover the onions.
9. Remove from the refrigerator and let rest 30 minutes. Meanwhile, create your water bath in a large pot (wider is more important than tall) and bring to a boil. Preheat your oven to 450˚F.

10. Drop bagels in batches into boiling water, 1 minute per side. They will puff up considerably.
Place them on a lined baking sheet.

11. Brush with egg wash and smother in onions.

 

12. Bake for 20 minutes until golden.

Beef Bourguignon

Normally, for the last several years, I’ve spent a lot of  time by myself. Not alone necessarily, if that’s how you describe sitting at a desk or standing behind a counter, but decidedly by myself. It is comforting if not unnerving at times, once I’ve spent hours or days inside my own head. I’ve cycled through hobbies, as many do, with so much time to themselves, to avoid curling in a blanket cocoon for days on end mindlessly watching NCIS reruns (I’ve seen them all anyway). It seems dull in a way, to those with better plans, but I rather enjoy the time. This is the life we’ve chosen for ourselves, at any rate.

I figure in the best ways, the aloneness has taught me  a deep and passionate love of food where none had existed before. Cooking is an artform - creating something from bits and pieces of other things, imagining something and bringing it to life, picking just the right flavors - it’s personal. Yoga for days doesn’t even come close to the catharsis of creating something “just right”.  And yet, in my new house, in my new kitchen, something is off. My motivation is waning. Things don’t taste the same - although that’s probably only in my head. Previously, I would draw on the chaos and disorder that was my kitchen - the claustrophobic mess was a source of inspiration. Now, my perfectly white, incredibly functional space is vapid in comparison.  

I have a beautiful, pristine copy of The Art of French Cooking by Julia Childs that my mom gave to me this summer (Thanks Mom!). It’s something I’ve always wanted and intend to use and learn from - but I’ve barely opened it but to peruse the heavy pages and glance over the foreign-sounding, French titles. It is currently getting a lot of use as a shelf decoration.

And yet here we are at one of the most deliciously deep and wonderful meals I’ve ever created: Beef Bourguignon. It’s not quite the traditional Julia Child’s recipe but it is immensely satisfying:

Beef Bourguignon

(i.e. fancy beef stew) 

Ingredients

2 tsp olive oil

2-3 strips bacon (optional)

2 lbs beef stew meat, cubed 1-½ inches

Salt and Pepper

1 whole white/yellow onion diced

1 lb carrots, cut into 1/2” pieces

2 ½ c. dry red wine (I used Burgundy)

1 can beef broth, low sodium (you can always add more salt) (16 oz)

2 TBS butter, softened

⅓ c. flour

¾ tsp dried thyme

1 bag frozen pearl onions

10 oz button or small portabella mushroom, halved or quartered

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees
2. Heat 2 tsp olive oil over medium heat on the stovetop in a dutch oven *. Add 2-3 bacon strips, sliced into small bits. Brown bacon until crispy and remove to a plate. ( I did not use bacon because supposedly we are on a “diet”).

*If you don’t have a dutch oven - do not fret! You can use a pot in combination with casserole dish. Alternatively, you can do it entirely on the stovetop (not recommended by me - but what do I know?).

2. Brown stew meat in single-layer batches in the bacon grease. Salt and pepper to season. Turn to brown on all sides. Remove to the plate with the bacon. 
   
   
   
   
    (Introducing - Action shots! I was so excited I made Ethan do different poses)
3. In remaining grease, add onions and carrots. Saute 5 minutes or until onions look transluscent. Do not be concerned about the carrots, they will get plenty of time to soften in the oven.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Add wine, broth, and meat back into dutch oven. You should just about cover the meat with liquid. Add thyme. **At this point if you are prone to over-season, use some restraint, at least until it comes out of the oven. Place covered, in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes - until carrots and meat are tender.
   
   
   
5. Approximately 10 minutes before removing dutch oven from the oven, saute mushrooms over medium heat until browned. Set aside. Remove Dutch oven from the oven (carefully!)
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Remove from oven to stovetop. Add butter mixed with flour to hot stew and stir until combined. Add mushrooms and pearl onions.
   
   
   
7. Bring to a boil. Simmer 15 minutes.
   
   
   
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Serve with bread or over potatoes, rice, or pasta. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chocolate Sea Salt Shortbread Cookies

The inspiration for these came from Klara's Gourmet Cookies which we sell at the store where I work on the weekends. They're basically to die for.

Last Saturday we were OUT of her chocolate sea salt shortbread cookies. It was a tragedy. So I decided to make up some of my own! And here you go:

Ingredients
1 1/4 c. flour
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
11 tablespoons butter (1 stick + 3 TBS), softened
2/3 c. light brown sugar (not packed)
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt + more for sprinkling
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c. chocolate chipped (mini or chopped up small)

1. Sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda, set aside

2. Beat softened butter until creamy. Add  both sugars, sea salt and vanilla. Beat just until combined, turn mixer off (if you are using one)

3. Sift entire flour mixture into butter

4. "Pulse" mixture several times to combine all ingredients. This is a good place to add the chocolate chips. Mix for 30 seconds until all flour is incorporated. It will be crumbly

5. Turn out on clean, floured counter. Divide dough in two and each section into logs (1 1/2" - 2" in diameter. Wrap in wax paper and let rest in the refrigerator at least two hours but up to 3 days. (I made one batch after 2 hours and the second the next day, it keeps you from eating them all at once!)

6. When you're ready, preheat the oven to 325˚F. Remove dough from refrigerator and slice with a sharp knife into circles about 1/2" thick. (My rolls were lumpy and had a flat edge so they are a little misshapen but still just as delicious).

7. Spread on lined cookie sheet about 1" apart and sprinkle with sea salt.

8. Bake 12 minutes. They might not look done, but they are. Remove from sheet by sliding the liner on to the counter and let sit at least 5 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen cookies more or less.