Creamy Red Pepper Soup

I have been meaning to try this recipe for quite some time. Considering it was in the Nov 2005 issue of Everyday Food, I'd say I've been meaning to make this soup for about 4 years! It didn't disappoint. I made it, used my immersion blender (bonus!) and invited Staci to lunch. Her words, "This is blog worthy." So there you have it folks, another soup to tantalize your taste-buds this fall. We enjoyed ours with a loaf of homemade wheat bread.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• 1/2 small onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 3 medium red bell peppers, ribs and seeds removed, and cut into 1-inch chunks (5 cups)
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 pinch sugar
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped chives, for garnish

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add celery, carrot, onion, and garlic; cook until onion is opaque and carrot is crisp/tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Add peppers, broth, 2 cups water, and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer until peppers are very tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Remove bay leaf; puree soup in batches in blender. Return to pot; add cream and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. If necessary, gently reheat before serving, and garnish with chives

Chili

Happy Halloween!!

My husband could eat this at least once a week for the rest of his life and be a very contented person. He practically weeps tears of joy when fall/football season comes around because that means its chilly enough outside to make some tasty chili inside. This recipe hails from my mother-in-law and what's great about all chili recipes is you dial in the spiciness to suit your family. Like it super hot? add the chili powder by the tablespoon. Not a spicy fan? add a scant 1/4 tsp of powder. See, so easy to make it the right flavor. This is such an easy, simple recipe if you've never tried chili before, this is the right "starter" recipe. Serve with cornbread, a dollop of sour cream and some cheddar cheese. I heart chili!

Ingredients:
2 (15oz) cans pinto beans, drained
1 (29 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (8oz) can tomato paste
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1/4 cup diced yellow onion
1/2 tsp fresh garlic
1 lb ground beef
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp hot chili powder
3 dried chilies


Directions:
In a large skillet, season beef generously with salt and pepper, add onions and brown the beef. Into the crock-pot, add beans, garlic and cans of tomato product. Drain the grease from the skillet and add beef and onions to the crock-pot. Sprinkle in chili powder to taste, drop 3 chilies in, careful not to crush them or your chili will be very spicy!! Add enough water to have 3 inches of liquid simmering all day. I usually add anywhere from 1/2 cup to 1 cup around mid afternoon because so much water has evaporated. Cook on low for 8 hours. When ready to serve, spoon out the 3 dried chilies and discard. Excellent re-heated the next day.

Apple Crisp

Fact: I have a food blog. Fact: I have a camera. Fact: I am a horrible photographer of food. Fact: there is entirely too much ice cream in the bowl for you to see the beautiful apple crisp hiding underneath. The delicate oats, the precious cinnamon-y clumps of goodness mixed with the tart apples. It makes my mouth water all over again! And not to mention this the PERFECT recipe if you want your house to smell like autumn. Thanks to Sallie over at My Sister's Kitchen for the post, I believe she originally got it from Leigh Ann.

ps- I used honey crisp apples because those are my absolute favorite.

Ingridents:

4-6 large Granny Smith apples
8 graham crackers
3/4 C brown sugar, packed
1/2 C rolled oats
1/2 C flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 C butter, melted

Peel, core, slice apples. Finely chop graham crackers (I use my food processor).

Combine crumbs, sugar, oats, flour and spices.

Add butter; mix well. Spoon mixture over apple slices.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes

Serve warm with ice cream.

ps- didn't peel my apples. My husband went on and on about how time consuming that is and how the nutrients are all in the peel, blah blah blah. Lucky for him, it still tasted great with the peel on, so save yourself some work. ;)

Edamame, almond and parmesan crostini

Hard to tell by the picture, but the pile of toasted bread and the small dish to the side/front of the bread is the edamame with almond and parmesan. It was so delicious! This is again, from my cooking class called Downtown Cooking. While we were eating the appetizers, I had to constantly remind myself to save room for the entree, I just wanted to gobble the crostini right up! The warm toasted almonds were irresistible, good luck saving room for anything else.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked edamame, shelled
1/2 cup whole almonds (roughly 3 oz)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 lemons, zested and juiced
2 tbsp fresh mint, julienned
kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Spread almonds on a sheet pan and toast in the oven until fragrant, about 8 minutes. Remove from sheet pan and allow to cool. Rough chop.

Prepare edamame beans as directed. Rinse with cold water. Combine lemon juice, zest, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp cracked pepper and olive oil in a medium bowl. Add almonds, beans, cheese and mint. Toss and season with salt and pepper. Serve with Crostini.

To make crostini, slice a small baguette on the bias in thin slices. Lay on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 375 until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

Chocolate molten Souffles

Because there is no such thing as too much chocolate. Because this time of year, all attempts to eat healthy are thrown out the window. Because, by golly, souffles *sound* impressive. Because I've been meaning to post this since the beginning of August. There, those are my reasons for bringing you this sensational dessert today. This was served at the cooking class in LA, CA I took called Downtown Cooking. It was an awesome experience and my goal is to get all the recipes from the class onto this blog so I won't lose them. Serves 6, but recipe can easily be doubled. Hot Fudge sauce recipe is at the bottom. Enjoy something decadent today.

5 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (or use a half bag of semi sweet chocolate chips)
10 tbsp unsalted butter
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 450. Butter 6 3/4 cup souffle dishes, custard cups or ramekins. Anything that is that size and oven safe will do. Stir chocolate and butter in a heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted. Cool slightly. Whisk eggs and egg yolks in a large bowl to blend. Whisk in sugar, then chocolate mixture and flour. Pour batter into dishes, dividing equally. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill)

Bakes cakes until sides are set but center remains soft and runny, about 11 minutes or up to 14 minutes for batter that was refrigerated. Run small knife around cakes to loosen. Immediately turn cakes out onto plates. Serve with hot fudge and ice cream. Also excellent with strawberries.

Hot Fudge Sauce:

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (milk chocolate is okay)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup butter
dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla

Add all but vanilla in a microwave safe container. Microwave for 1-2 minutes. Take out, stir, and add vanilla. Microwave 1-2 more minutes. Serve over chocolate souffles. Great also for mud pie or banana splits.

Twice Baked Potatoes

Paula Deen has never led me astray. She is one superb cook. And I love how she never apologizes for putting a pound of butter in every recipe. When asked about how healthy (or unhealthy) her dishes are she responded with, "I'm a cook not your doctor!" Amen Paula, amen. These potatoes were all that I wanted them to be and more. I did omit the bacon because we served these alongside steak and quite frankly, what with the holidays coming up and all, I don't need a 2800 calorie meal. But really, very tasty, I savored every bite and my husband, kids and baby all enjoyed them too. Victory!

Ingredients:

8 medium baking potatoes, about 4 pounds
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 cups (1/2 pound) shredded sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 pint sour cream
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup chopped chives, for garnish (optional IMHO)
6 slices bacon, cooked crisp, drained and crumbled, for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Pierce the potatoes and place on a baking pan. Bake the potatoes for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until very soft. Allow to cool.

2. Peel and mash the potatoes in a large bowl with a potato masher or the back of a fork. Or use your kitchen aide with the cookie paddle, worked great for me! Add the cream cheese, butter, 1 cup of the Cheddar cheese and the sour cream. Stir well. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper and stir again.

3. Spray a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray. Place the potatoes into the dish. The casserole may now be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated until ready to bake.

4. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350. Remove the plastic wrap and bake the potatoes for 30 to 35 minutes, until hot. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup Cheddar cheese over the top of the casserole and return to the oven for about 5 minutes, until the cheese melts. Garnish with the chopped chives and crumbled bacon before serving. Serves 10-12

*a note. If you make it like this, its like a casserole. I preferred to save the potato skins and made these traditional twice baked potatoes. Just stuff the saved skins with the yummy potato mix and continue to follow the directions.

Eldena's Beef Stew

When I made this the other night, my husband said, "Finally, some different food!" And I didn't have any idea what that meant and was starting to maybe not be so happy. But then he quickly explained that he meant he was glad it was another season and we had "new" food to eat, things we haven't had in a very long time. He proceeded to have 2 ginormous helpings of stew which erased any and all bad feelings from earlier. :)
I think he's a wee bit tired of "summer" food, because living here in the desert, summer lasts a long time. Anyway, this family recipe comes from Aunt Eldena who is a terrific cook. I make mine in my crock pot but you could also bake it in your oven, I'll give those directions at the end. This is fall eating at its best. And the roll you see hanging over the edge of the plate, I'll be posting the recipe for those later. They were wheat/white rolls and the perfect companion to sop up stew. This leaves your whole house smelling like a yummy fall day!

2 lbs stew meat, cubed into 1-2 inch pieces
2 medium yellow onions, sliced
8 regular carrots, sliced, or approx 20 baby carrots
1 cup tomato juice
1/2 tsp basil
1 tsp white sugar
1 (14oz) can beef broth
1/3 cup tapioca (yes, the same tapioca used in making puddings and in fact it is located by the puddings. It is merely a thickening agent, don't be alarmed)
8 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients (minus potatoes) and cook in a crock pot on low for 4-5 hours. After the 2nd hour, add potatoes. If you want to cook it in your oven, same instructions, oven should be at 300 degrees.

* a note. This doesn't make a huge amount, just right for a family of 4. With my husbands 2 huge servings, my 1 regular size and my kids 2 small, we ate it all without any left-overs. You could easily double this and it can still fit in the crock pot, I think you would increase the cooking time by a few hours.