Garlic Soup - using stale leftover bread

Anna told me today that her post-Thanksgiving challenge is to not let any leftovers go to waste. Here is a nice way to use leftover bread.

Andres made this soup for me for the first time one wintry day when Andrea was in town. I was starting to get a cold, but this soup boosted me up right away.

Garlic Soup

Stale bread (should add up to about 4 cups cubed; if less, scale recipe accordingly)
4-5 teaspoons olive oil
Beef broth
1 head garlic, peeled and cloves smashed, as though someone hit it with a hammer
1 bay leaf
Salt
Pepper

Place a few teaspoons of olive oil and 2 smashed garlic cloves in the bottom of your soup pot, and place over medium heat. While the oil is heating, cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. Fry the bread in the olive oil until it is evenly browned. Add enough chicken broth to create a soup of the desired consistency, adding more if needed as the bread soaks up broth. Add bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes or so.



This soup is slightly reminiscent of French onion soup, and I think it would be awesome to experiment adding onions -- if anyone tries it, let me know how you approached it!

My darling clementine

Crates of clementines are back in stores! I love them so much. Mostly I peel 'em and eat 'em, but I do have an amazing clementine baking tip. Observe:

Place 3-4 clementines in a pot of cold water. Bring to a simmer and let them go at a slow simmer for a while -- say 2 hours or so. Your house will smell wonderful. Drain and let cool.

When they are cool enough to handle, chop them up -- skins and all -- removing any seeds or bad spots. This will turn into a mash of pulp and juice and soft skin.

You can use this mash the same way you might use applesauce to replace oil in baking recipes. Here is one specific recipe that I adore:

In a small bowl or mug, mix 2-3 Tablespoons of No Pudge! Brownie Mix with enough clementine mash to just moisten the mix. Stir until glossy. Pour batter into an individual ramekin. Place a single Hershey's kiss, or another piece of good chocolate, into the center of the ramekin. Bake at 325 until set.

The result: a clementiney and chocolately molten brownie cake.

Another winner is this clementine torte from JoyofBaking.com. It uses ground almonds instead of flour. I use Almond Meal from Trader Joe's.

Easiest Yummiest Chicken

I just made this yesterday, and was SO happy to have it waiting for me when I walked in the door at 7:30!

Four chicken breasts
1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
1 lb of mushrooms
1/2 bottle of Ken's balsamic marinade

Cook soup with one can of water. Remove from heat and add marinade. Combine all in crock pot and cook on low. (Sorry I can't say exactly how long. I have a "probe" that automatically turns it to Warm when the chicken is cooked.)

There is a lot of sauce, so rice might be a good side dish.

This is so yummy - it tastes kind of like chicken marsala, minus the 100 grams of fat!

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Roasting Red Peppers

Red bell peppers always seem to be at their most abundant (and least expensive) right around mid-September in Boston. At the farmer's market near my office they are going for around $2/pound, compared to the usual $5/pound in the off-season at the grocery store. And the quality is much, much better.

I like to stock up and roast them, then chop and freeze to use throughout the winter.

One of my favorite food writers, Laurie Colwin, wrote that the long, skinny peppers are more flavorful than the monster fat-and-squat ones. I also read somewhere that all produce that looks like it has been roughed up a little is usually more rich in phytochemicals and antioxidants. So I go for peppers that look a little anorexic and battered.



To roast them, wash peppers, dry, and coat with a small amount of olive oil. Broil in the oven, turning the peppers every 10 minutes or so so they are done on all sides. They will turn completely black.

If you have a grill, you can throw them right over (or even in) the fire until black on all sides. I imagine this is the better method but I have never been able to try it.

Once evenly blackened, carefully remove from the oven or grill and place in a paper bag to steam for 10-15 minutes. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the blackened outer skins (it should come off easily and be paper-like). Remove the seeds, if desired, and chop to the size desired. Store them in the freezer in baggies in increments of 3 peppers or so per baggie. They should keep in the freezer until you have a new harvest of cheaper peppers to roast.

Here's a great recipe for a spicy roasted red pepper and tomato soup. I make it all winter long. It's a little labor-intensive, so if you make it, make lots so you have extra to freeze.


Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 roasted red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
4 large tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons paprika
1/8 teaspoon sugar
6 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
1 dash hot pepper sauce
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons sour cream (optional)


Preparation:

Heat olive oil over moderate heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft but not brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato, red peppers, thyme, paprika, and sugar. Cook over medium-low heat until all the tomato juices have evaporated, about 25 minutes.

Stir in chicken stock, salt and pepper, cayenne pepper, and hot sauce (if using). Bring to boiling, lower heat, and simmer, partially covered, for 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Strain soup, reserving broth. Place solids in food processor or blender, and process until fairly smooth. Add puree back into broth. An immersion blender is perfect for this job, if you have one.

Melt butter and stir in the flour, cook for 1 minute. Stirring slowly, add the broth/vegetable mixture. Bring to boiling. Lower heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and add 1 tablespoon of sour cream to each bowl, if desired.

Dope Lemon Cake

I made this brilliant recipe yesterday. Evidently, due to the high proportion of milk, this separates as it bakes. So you're left with lemon cake on top, and lemon pudding on the bottom. It was awesome warm from the oven, and later we'll try it cold from the fridge. I think it will be quite refreshing.

Recipe from one of my favorite sites, Joy of Baking. They call it "Lemon Sponge Pudding," but I think that sounds too gelatinous/repellent. So I am re-naming it Dope Lemon Cake.

1 cup granulated white sugar, divided

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3 large eggs, separated

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup whole milk

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter six - 1 cup (240 ml) ramekins or other heatproof bowls.

Set aside 2 tablespoons (28 grams) of the sugar to use when whipping the egg whites. Then, in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the remaining sugar and butter. Add the three egg yolks, one at a time, and beat until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. Add the flour and salt and beat until combined. With the mixer on low speed, gradually pour in the lemon juice and milk. Set aside while you beat the egg whites.

In a clean bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 2 tablespoons (28 grams) of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter, in three additions, mixing only until incorporated.

Carefully pour (or use a ladle) the batter into the prepared ramekins. (The batter does not rise much during baking so you can fill the ramekins almost to the rim.) Place the ramekins in a larger baking pan (or any size pan that will fit the ramekins and leave about 1 inch (2.54 cm) around the edges).

Prepare a water bath. (A water bath is used to provide temperature protection for the eggs.) Carefully pour in enough hot water so that the water is halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes or until the sponge cakes are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake portion comes out clean. Be careful not to insert the toothpick into the lemon sauce at the bottom of the ramekins. Remove the ramekins from the water bath and cool slightly before serving.

Power Balls

Here is the recipe for the high calorie, protein and fiber balls I've been serving up to Jack and myself.

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup instant cocoa (=2 packets) or carob powder
1 cup peanuts or soy nuts, chopped
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup toasted wheat germ
dry coconut flakes

Combine first six ingredients. Roll into balls and roll in coconut. Refrigerate if using refigerated brand of peanut butter, which is preferable (this is from cookbook, not me)

Marinated sugar

Anna's mango-oatmeal cookie post reminds me. This spring I "marinated" sugar: some with lavender, some with vanilla (a vanilla bean pod that I had already taken the seeds out of for another recipe), and some with dried orange zest. I found sugar shakers at the Container Store and I packaged them up as gifts for Veronica when Andres went to Chile. Such an inexpensive gift!

I have to admit I used some of it first. I made shortbread cookies with the lavender sugar, and they were amazing.

Mangomazing

The craziest thing just happened. I had some homemade oatmeal cookies in a baggie in the same bowl where I had a very ripe mango. I just ate a cookie and it had a distinctive mango taste!!! Quite good! We ate the mango yesterday, so I know it wasn't just the smell of it! Maybe we are on to something! Think tank?

Perfect Timing

I have been super into cooking and baking all summer. About to make some banana bread and coconut macaroons. Mom once told me you could freeze browning bananas for bread, so that's a little guilt put to rest. Here's the banana bread recipe - I am going to add walnuts, a little fiber powder, and use omega enriched canola. Macaroon recipe to come - they are SO yummy!

Pretty low point banana bread
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup(s) unpacked brown sugar
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 tsp canola oil
1 large egg(s), beaten
2 medium egg white(s), beaten
3 large banana(s), ripe
1 cup(s) uncooked old fashioned oats
Instructions
• Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Add oil and eggs; mix thoroughly.
• In a smaller bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher or fork. Add bananas and oatmeal to batter.
• Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and bake until top of loaf is firm to touch, 45 to 55 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Flip out and cool on a wire rack for another 10 minutes.

A Little Sugar Goes a Long Way

I had an abundance of unsweetened Baker's chocolate from a grocery list misunderstanding (we bought 4 boxes), so I made brownies this afternoon to try to use it up. I used the one-bowl brownie recipe. It calls for 2 cups of sugar, and I realized I only had about 1-1/4 cup. Too lazy to walk downstairs to 7-Eleven, I decided to just see how it turned out with just a little more than half the amount.

The result: BRILLIANT.

It tastes much more like pure chocolate, and somehow less processed. I added pecans and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Dear Family,

Mom changed my entire world the other day when she told me about these microwave steamer bags that will perfectly cook an ear of corn in 4 minutes. As she told me, I was sweaty and flustered from boiling a massive pot of water that I could not drain myself, all in order to cook 4 ears of corn.

We realized we needed a better way of exchanging those kinds of tips. Also recipes and stories and anything else that comes up.

I named this "Haney Kitchen" because the idea that started it happened to be kitchen-themed, but I also thought it worked well for stories, jokes, etc., since we all have spent so much time laughing and "carrying on" as dad would say, in the kitchen over delicious food and drink.

I'm open to other suggestions though! No pressure to post here, just if you want to and you have something to say. Also, I will assign everyone admin rights so if you want to make some other change here you can. This is a public as of now, but we can make it private if you guys prefer.

This is a little different than the idea of Bottled Tiger which is why I'm starting a new interface. BT is more edgy hilariousness, and I am hereby rededicating myself to that as well.

Hope you guys are interested!
Love,
Jo