Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Fresh Baked Bread

Welcome back! I've been a bit busy of late and have not had much blog worthy food to write about but Sundays generally mean I have some time on my hands...so I usually get into the kitchen. Today I was planning on making broccoli cheddar soup, which was a pretty straightforward recipe. But, I also decided it as time to bite the bullet and make some bread.

I have wanted to make bread for a long time but it just seemed like a very daunting task. A lot of the recipes I read said you had to make the dough and then let it sit overnight, and I am pretty impatient so when I want to make bread, I want it done the same day. I had a few recipes that sounded pretty easy,  because bread is becoming more of a "mainstream" thing I guess you could say. All of recipes I had were for no knead artisan bread, so it is very easy to make. Well, that's lovely but I still have to wait overnight for it.

So I finally found a recipe (where else, on Pinterest) that sounded really easy, and touted that you could have fresh baked bread in your tummy in around an hour. So I decided to give it a shot, and hope for the best but told my self not to get pissed if it didn't turn out. I will admit, I have a kitchenaid mixer with a dough hook so this really was so easy. If you don't have this wonderful machine, you should get one! I'm only kidding (sort of), I know it's not feasible for everyone to own this fabulous device and apparently this bread is just as easy to make with a good old wooden spoon.

So anyways, here is the recipe for both the bread and the broccoli cheddar soup. Enjoy!

                                 
Ingredients:

Bread
2 1/2 cups warm water

2 tbsp instant yeast

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

5 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Directions:

First preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Pour the warm water into a large bowl (keep in mind the dough will almost double, so seriously, use a big bowl). The water should be around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, if you have a meat thermometer just stick it under the running water until it is close. It should be like warm bath water. Mix the yeast into the water and then sprinkle the sugar over top the water. Wait approximately 5 minutes until the water is bubbly on top from the yeast.

Next stir in the salt, oil and flour. Mix everything together with a wooden spoon until everything is incorporated together. Then give it a few extra mixes to "knead" the dough together, making sure it is smooth and starts to pull away from the bowl. Once the dough it mixed place a wet, warm dish towel over the bowl. Run your microwave for 2 minutes with nothing in it, and then place the covered bowl in the microwave for 15 minutes while the dough rises. The warm environment will help the dough rise.

(I used this time when the dough was rising to prep ingredients for my soup)

Once the 15 minutes has elapsed remove the bowl from the microwave, the dough should be quite large now. Flour your counter top a bit and then pour the dough out of the bowl. Cut the dough into two halves, of roughly the same size. Pull the dough into a round loaf shape, and tuck the edges underneath itself. Place the round loaves onto a greased cookie sheet, and into the oven for 30 - 35 minutes. Along with the bread place a bowl of 5 - 6 ice cubes on the rack below your bread. As the bread cooks the ice will melt into steam and help your bread get crisp on the outside. When the timer goes, voila! Remove your golden, steamy, delicious bread from the oven, let it cool, and enjoy!

*Note, if you want a fluffier bread (because it is pretty dense) let it rise for 30 minutes, knead it again for a couple of minutes, then let it rise another 30 minutes. After that follow the same instructions.

Ingredients:

Broccoli Cheddar Soup
2 tbsp butter (or margarine)

1 small onion, minced (a very small dice)

1 stalk celery, minced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 heads of broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces

2 cups chicken stock

2 cups milk

1/2 cup flour

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

This recipe is really quite easy, once you've chopped everything up. Heat the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the onion and celery, season with salt and pepper and cook until soft. Next add the garlic and cook for a minute or two or until fragrant (until you really start to smell it). Add the broccoli pieces, mix everything together and cook for another minute or two. Add the chicken broth, allow it to come to a soft boil and then cover until the broccoli is soft (5 - 7 minutes).

While the broccoli is cooking, mix the flour into the milk making sure to whisk out any lumps. Once the broccoli is done, add the milk/flour mixture to the pot and stir everything together gently. Let it cook for another minute or two and the soup will thicken up. Once the soup has thicken, removed from heat, and add the cheese. Stir the soup until all of the cheese is melted through and finish with salt and pepper. Serve with a small helping of cheese on top (and with fresh bread)! Yummers!

Sources: Bread recipe modified from Keep Home Simple
               Soup recipe modified from The Little Girls Guide to Sugar and Spice

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Pork Tenderloin with Pan Sauce

Hello again, and thanks to all who have checked out my blog so far. I have gotten some really great feedback that let me know at least a few people are checking out (and enjoying) my posts! I have a pile of new recipes sitting on my kitchen table, so I decided to try one out today.

I don't always have the foresight to plan my meal very far ahead (if I remember to take something out of the freezer in the morning for dinner that evening, I'm lucky). As of late I have been trying to plan my meals two weeks at a time and make my grocery list accordingly. Most of the time (on previous occasions) I go to the grocery store with a vague idea of what I want to make, buy a bunch of random stuff and then not have any real coherent plans for said "stuff". Then when it comes time to make something, even though I have tons of food in the house I can't think of/find anything to cook. So, my planning has become key in a) not wasting food b) having an idea of what to make each night.

So back to my recipe at hand, one from my "meal plan"; Pork tenderloin with pan sauce. I love pork tenderloin, as it is generally very easy to cook. I used to put a dry rub on it and bake it in the oven. I've found of late it's been a little dry, and while the outer crust is delicious, the inside is still rather plain. So when I saw this recipe was a marinade and a sauce, I though "Bingo"! Now, this does require a bit of pre planning, and a little work either the night before you plan to make this (or if your like me, and leave things to the last minute, the morning of). So you've been forewarned, pull out the pork tenderloin now!

Ingredients:

Marinade
1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 soy sauce

1/4 red wine vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

1 - 2 tbps Worcestershire sauce

1 - 2 tbsp fresh parsley (I didn't use this because I didn't have it on hand and I'm not a huge parsley person)

2 tsp dry mustard

Freshly cracked pepper to taste

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 lb pork tenderloin

Pan Sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock

2 - 3 tbps of pork marinade

1 - 2 tsp of butter

Directions:

Basically all you need to do is mix all of these ingredients together, pretty easy hey? But before you do that, just a note for a few of the ingredients; use real lemon juice. I know you can just buy one of those lemon shaped plastic things full of lemon juice, but real lemons are super cheap and have so much more flavor. I don't even own one of those fancy citrus juicer things, I just squish it with my hands. Takes 5 seconds (just watch out for seeds, don't want those in the food).

Also, buy a pepper mill. That powdery stuff you put in a pepper shaker is really not even the same as cracked pepper. Fresh cracked pepper is so much better, so much more flavor. Then you can just buy a big container of mixed peppercorns, and refill your pepper mill as needed. My hubby is a pepper nut, so trust me on this one.

Lastly, use real garlic. It doesn't say "garlic powder" for a reason. I used to never use real garlic, I'd use garlic powder, or you can even buy those jars of minced garlic, ready for use. Please don't. I go through usually a whole bulb of garlic a week (we like garlic). I still am not really very good at mincing garlic, I can manage it, but it does take me some time. I use a garlic press. I know some people frown at these because it is not as gentle as properly mincing but I saw, fresh garlic is better than no (or fake) garlic!

So now that you have your yummy (fresh) ingredients, mix everything together with a wisk, or better yet put everything in a blender. If you use a blender it will help emulsify everything together. Basically what this means is that things that don't normally mix together (oil, and most other liquids) will be blended together so they appear as one liquid. After time they will separate out again, but not before you've used it (if using same day). Put 2 - 3 tbps of the marinade in a separate dish and pour the rest of it into a plastic bag (or airtight container). Put the pork tenderloin in the marinade and pop it into the fridge until your ready to cook it (at least 3 - 4 hours).

When you get home from work (or whatever you choose to do while everything marinates) turn your oven on to 350 degrees. While you are waiting for that to preheat place a skillet (one that you can also put in the oven) on the stove over medium-high heat, and once it is hot (place a drop or two of water in the pan, if it sizzles, it's hot enough) place the tenderloin in the pan. Sear it on all sides (just browning it for a couple minutes on each side). Your going to want tongs for this, tongs are your friend. Once you have seared the meat pour the marinade into the skillet, and place everything in the now preheated oven.

Cook the meat for 20 - 30 minutes and check the internal temperature to make sure it is at 150 degrees (another very useful kitchen tool, meat thermometer). If it's not quite there give it another 5 - 10 minutes. Once it is done take it out of the pan and place it on a cutting board, or serving plate and let it rest for at least 5 minutes. Seriously. You can't skip this step just because you are impatient. If you do all of the delicious juiciness will run all over your counter and you will be very sad.

I have the perfect job for you while the meat is resting! Place the skillet you cooked the pork in on the stove over medium heat and add the 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Stir with a wooden spoon to get all of the  browned bits from the pan. Add the small amount of marinade, that was put aside earlier, to the skillet and let everything boil down for 2 - 3 minutes. Add the butter (or margarine), remove from heat and stir until melted and distributed evenly in the sauce.

Now you can slice the pork, pour the sauce over top and serve!

Source: Modified from Chef Mommy Pin It

Asparagus Risotto

Hello again my food loving friends! Now I won't normally be posting everyday but since I am just getting started I thought I would try to get a couple more posts out there. Plus this evening I had the most wonderful risotto for dinner, so I couldn't not share it!

Now risotto for me has a bit of a back story...the first time I ever had risotto was in Banff the day I got engaged. We had a lovely dinner at the Maple Leaf restaurant on Main Street Banff after having just gotten engaged overlooking the Rockies at the Rimrock Hotel. I had the most delicious barley risotto, which, although it is not a traditional risotto, was amazing. It could have been the fact that I was newly engaged and glowing...but I like to think I am not totally misremembering.

The second time I almost had risotto was when my wonderful hubby decided to make us a gourmet meal of rack of lamb, risotto and chocolate lava cakes for dessert. Sounded sooo yummy! And then, as he was making dinner, the smells started wafting into the living room, and I began to feel extremely nauseous. So needless to stay I was hugging porcelain before dinner was even ready (sorry for the gross graphic).

So since that night Jordan has refused to make me risotto (I think I offended him by barfing before he even served me a thing). So after much begging and pleading and promising not to get sick, he gave in and we had risotto in our house once again. So technically I did not make this dish...but I watched and learned and tasted and enjoyed. Risotto seems really complicated because it is so good, and anything that is that tasty usually takes a lot of work. Risotto is really easy, it just takes time and constant vigilance. Also it is so versatile, you can add almost anything. We had asparagus in ours, mainly because it was what we had in the fridge and it needed to be used up. So try a risotto with any type of additions someday soon!

*We had roast chicken with the risotto but I am still tinkering with that recipe, so it may be still to come.




Ingredients:

2 Tbsp unsalted butter (or margarine), divided

1 or 2 large chopped shallots

1 cup arborio rice (must be arborio rice, it won't work with other types)

1/4 cup dry white wine (or 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 3 Tbsp water)

About 4 cups chicken stock (again, I prefer low or no sodium, but your choice)

1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed, tips cut off, and the spears cut into thin disks

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper
Directions:
Now before you start doing anything, you need to do a bit of prep work because if you try and do everything all at once it might seem overwhelming. I like to get anything that needs to be cut, pre cooked or chopped prepped first and set aside so I have it ready right when I need it.

First, the asparagus, you need to snap the woody bottom end off. If you just bend it near the bottom it will snap naturally where the woodiness ends. Now you need to blanch them which involves cooking them in boiling water for about 4 minutes, or until they are bright green in color. Once they're cooked take them out and place them in a bowl of cold water and ice. This will shock them and they will stop cooking, because nothing is more gross than over cooked asparagus. After you've cooked the asparagus cut it into pieces, while leaving the "flowery" head intact. Set that aside, because you'll need it later.

Next fill a stock pot with the chicken stock and set it to medium high heat so that it eventually comes to a simmer. While that is heating up put 1 tbsp of butter (or margarine, I am too cheap to buy butter all the time, so I usually use margarine in any recipe that calls for butter. Generally it works out the same) in a 3 or 4 quart saucepan on medium heat. Once that has melted add your shallots and cook until translucent (for a minute or two). Now add the rice and cook it for a couple minutes, stirring it until all of the rice is coated.

Add the wine, or the lemon juice and water, I don't drink wine so we never have it in the house and I can't be bothered to buy it just to cook with once or twice a year. Stir the rice slowly but constantly until all of the liquid is absorbed. Now little by little in 1/2 cup (or a ladle full) increments add the now simmering chicken stock and stir the rice until it is absorbed. Just keep at this, cooking and stirring until all of the chicken stock is added. Stir often as the rice will tend to stick to the pot. With the last ladle of chicken stock add the asparagus. This whole process of absorbing the liquid should take 20 - 25 minutes (see, time consuming just to stand there and babysit the rice).

Take the pot off the heat once the last of the liquid is absorbed, add the parmesan cheese and the butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Source: modified from Simply Recipes

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Pho Soup

Welcome to my very first blog post! To be honest, if you tried to tell my younger self that I would be starting a food blog, I would have laughed. I used to be the kid that ate plain hot dogs and spaghetti with butter and parmesan cheese (the shaker kind). I was super picky, and as I got older my tastes didn't change much and my lack of cooking ability didn't help. I have always loved sweets, cookies and desserts, and that hasn't changed but I have ventured out into more interesting fare, cooking delicious and interesting meals (and still lots of cookies).

I suppose my love of travel has helped develop my palette, because I now have a rule for myself to try anything once. So having been to almost 30 different countries, I have had ample opportunity to try lots of...interesting things. Also, my husband has a bit to do with my interest in food, as he worked in a kitchen for 10 years so he brought more culinary skill to our relationship than I did. After trying new foods, experiencing my husband's wonderful cooking and just opening my mind (and palette) I began to think maybe I could do this.

To be honest it has been a tricky process and I've learnt lots of things; how to cut things, new culinary terms, and what types of flavors go together. I still live by the book (the cookbook that is). I am not creative enough (yet) to dream things up on my own but I can usually figure out where I can take liberties, and tweak things more to my liking.

Recently I've been posting photos of my kitchen adventures on my facebook account, but I felt there may be a better place for my exploits. For one, I'm sure not everyone on my facebook cares what I am eating for dinner (or dessert). Secondly, I would like to elaborate more on what I've made, and how I've made it so perhaps some of my friends might be able to benefit from my trial and error. I'll try and provide insight on the recipe, and certain ingredients because there was a point in my life that I was not familiar with anything remotely exotic or ethnic, and unsure what to do with anything foreign.

So here is my first official post, for my dinner tonight; Pho (pronounced Fa). I discovered this recipe on Pinterest (where nearly all of my inspiration comes from now-a-days) and decided to try it tonight since it is a bit chilly out and Pho is a nice warm soup with lots of lovely Asian flavors. I hope you enjoy, Buono Appetito!

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

1 tbsp sesame oil

1/4th tsp salt (or to taste)

6 cups chicken broth (no/low salt)

1 jalapeno, thinly sliced and deseeded

3 green onions, sliced

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

5 -6 baby bok choy, chopped (or pulled apart)

5 oz chinese noodles (about half a package)

sriracha sauce for serving (optional)

chopped cilantro for serving (optional)

Directions:

Heat the sesame oil over medium high heat in a large heavy-bottomed stock pot. Add the minced garlic and ginger and briefly saute for about 30 seconds. A tip for the ginger, it needs to be peeled (fyi) and the best way to peel it without cutting away too much of the actual "meat" of it is to use a spoon and just gently scrape it (thanks for the tip, my brilliant hubby!). You can cut off any of the knobbly bits with a knife though.

Add the chicken and bok choy, sprinkle with salt, and saute for another three minutes until chicken has turned white but not completely cooked all the way through. Another little hint, bok choy is generally really dirty when you get it from the store, I would suggest either soaking it in cold water to get the dirt out of all the nooks and crannies or instead of chopping it, just cut the bottom, hard, white bit off and pull the leaves apart. That way it is in smaller pieces (so no need to chop) and also easier to clean. Because nobody wants dirt in their soup!

Add the chicken broth, jalapeno and green onions to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes until chicken is done. I like to use no salt, or low sodium chicken broth because you're going to be adding soy sauce and other salty elements anyways. Don't want to over do it with the salt. Plus if you want it to be more salty you can always season it afterwards. There are so many other flavor elements though, that really it shouldn't matter if you skimp on the salt.

Meanwhile, cook the noodles in boiling salted water, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside. I used rice vermicelli noodles because I like a very thin and delicate noodle but really you could use any type of Asian noodle. I love Superstore, because they have a really good ethnic section, where you can find all varieties of noodles as well as some of the other ingredients on this list.

Add the rice vinegar and soy sauce and stir. Give it a taste and see if the flavor is where you want it to be. Add the noodles to the pot and serve with chopped cilantro and sriracha sauce on the side. Now I loooove cilantro, it is such a bright and fresh flavor but I know it is a love it or hate it kind of herb so if you absolutely hate it then obviously leave it out. I am not a spicy person so I veto the sriracha sauce, but some people put that stuff on everything, if that's you, have at it!

I know there are a lot of ingredients in this, and some of them you may not have lying around your house, but I assure you they are all necessary. Each one builds different flavor so it may taste ok without one thing or another, but you won't be getting the full extent of what it should be. I've upped the amount of bok choy in this recipe because I love bok choy and I like having the crunchy texture to balance the noodles.

I hope you enjoy my first blog post, and my first recipe (hopefully of many to come)!

Source: Modified from eat, live, run

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