Tortilla Soup

Probably you should get a pen and paper right now. 
You need to make a grocery list.

Lately I have been craving all things hot and steamy: tea, cocoa, soup, stew, anything that can be used to warm up after a cold snowy afternoon. Not that I’ve seen any of those recently. The coldest it’s gotten here is mid 30s. But having those things makes me feel like winter is happening. The way it used to with snow turtles and skiing and ice skating and snow angels.

I was wishing for another option since I’ve been drinking a steady stream of tea and cocoa, so when I saw a recipe for Tortilla Soup on Pioneer Woman I jumped on it. I like Tortilla Soup and have been wanting a recipe since my friend Catherine made it for us when I used to watch her kiddies.

I was scared because I think this soup can be finicky. I have encountered several versions at restaurants that I have disliked. But I went for it and it was amazing. It still is.

There's some sour cream and guacamole hiding in there as well.
I didn't have the foresight to wait and put them on top to make it pretty.

At the moment I am disgusted with myself because I can’t even finish one bowl even though I’ve been looking forward to it all day, and I was starving, and it is delicious. Please try it. Here is my modified version.

Tortilla Soup

Chicken:
2 T Olive Oil
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Chicken Breasts
1 T Chili Powder
1 t Cumin
Salt to taste

Directions:
Sprinkle chili powder, cumin and salt over chicken breast (save the remainder for the broth). Heat oil to medium-low heat in a frying pan or wok, I used a pot large enough for the whole recipe. Add the minced garlic and sauté until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and cover the pan tightly. Allow the chicken to cook through, about 15 minutes or so (I start checking it at about 10, because it gets dried out and tough very quickly). Remove the chicken from heat. Shred the chicken using two forks.

Soup:
½ c Chopped Green Onion
1 ea. Green Bell Pepper and Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 can Rotel Tomatoes with Green Chilies
16 oz. Chicken Broth
1 ½ oz. Tomato Paste
1 can Black Beans, partially drained
5 c Water

Directions:
Add the garlic and drippings from the chicken to the pot or slow cooker the soup is to be cooked in, add another tablespoon of oil if necessary. Heat to medium high and add the onions, cook until translucent (2-3 minutes). Add the peppers and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken, Rotel tomatoes, chicken broth, beans and tomato paste. Stir together and add the water. Add remaining chili powder, cumin and salt to taste. Bring the soup to a boil, then turn down to low heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

Garnish:
6 whole 6” Corn Tortillas, I chose the red ones
Sour Cream
Guacamole or Avocados
Shredded cheese
Diced onion
Cilantro

Directions:
Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut the tortillas into uniform strips about 1 cm wide by 4-5 cm long. Spread over baking sheet. Place the oven rack about 6 inches from the top of the oven. Turn on the broiler and put the tortilla strips in the oven. After 2-3 minutes remove the tortilla strips, turn them with a spatula and spread them back out. Repeat this process until they are the desired crispy-ness.

Serve the soup and top with any of the desired garnishes.

Savor.

Sooo full.

Mmmm.

Experimenting with Blogger

Here are some random memories in my attempt to learn how to post photos as thumbnails.  It didn't work.

Cupcake's Flat in Brighton

Cupcake at her flat in Brighton

My buddes, they still ask for me when their parents have Date Night

Pot Pie.  I don't know what kind.

My first attempt at Truffles, and photography.

Cupcake's Duck Face

Ancient recipes.  Ok, they're only 40 years old.

Toad in the Hole, from my Brittish cookbook.

Italian Wedding Soup at the cabin.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins. 

Mini Bundt Pan

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies.  BEST. EVER!

Almost Cupcake Pops.  I don't have enough patience.

12 layer cake, hundred layer cake, thousand layer cake...
it gets longer every time I talk to Lindsay and Eric.  They liked it

Cookie time was almost every afternoon. 
Eli liked to crack the eggs, Cavan liked to use the electic mixer.

Rolled Cake

The other day I experimented with cake layers. And some fondant. I made a little cake, Red Velvet, but I didn’t stack layers – I rolled them. It made a very interesting pattern when cut through the center. I got the idea from a lady in Austria. She makes amazing cakes, and all of them are rolled up instead of stacked up.

I decided at the last minute that a packet of cocoa would be my inspiration. Here’s what I came up with.

The center wasn’t quite the spiral it was supposed to be, but I thought it was ok for my first attempt.  Next time I’ll let the cake cool all the way before I start to mess with it.

Black Forest Cupcakes

I used to think I didn’t like cherries. I wouldn’t eat anything that was cherry flavored, or had cherries in it. Especially cherry pie, the texture scares me (but I love the filling part of cherry pie filling). Except fresh cherries.

But lately I have discovered that I’m a bit obsessed with chocolate cherry shakes from Brahms. Not a huge fan of the chunks in the bottom, but I live with them because the rest of the shake is marvelous.

To celebrate the fact that I got to dance at a party, I decided to make chocolate cherry cupcakes, and I knew the perfect place to find them: Annie’s Eats and her Black Forest Cupcakes. She has never failed me in having an intriguing recipe when I’m at a loss.

Here is my modified version.

Black Forest Cupcakes

Cake:
1 2/3 c Flour
2/3 c Cocoa Powder, sifted
1 1/2 t Baking Soda
1 t Salt
1 t Instant Coffee
8 T Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 c Sugar
2 Eggs
1 t Vanilla
1 1/2 c Cream, soured (or Buttermilk)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line the sections of two cupcake pans. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and coffee powder together. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Mix in the vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients in three additions alternately with the cream, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about ¾ of the way full. Bake 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (check these early, they were slightly dry at 18 minutes for me). Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Filling:
1 package Dried Cherries
1 1/2 c Water, to cover cherries
2 T Sugar
Maraschino cherry juice or cherry liqueur

Directions:
To make the filling, add dried cherries to a sauce pan and add enough water to cover them. Mix in the sugar. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat. When most of the water has been soaked up, mash with a wooden spoon or potato masher until the cherries are no longer completely intact. When only a thick syrup is left of the liquid add the liqueur or cherry juice. (I used both)

To fill the cupcakes, remove a portion from the center of each cupcake. (I used a strawberry huller, but a paring knife will work just as well) Spoon in about 2-3 teaspoons of the cherry compote. Brush cherry juice or liqueur over the cupcakes, be generous.

Frosting:

1 1/4 c Whipping Cream

6-7 T Powdered Sugar

1 t Vanilla

Directions:

Pour the cream into a large bowl. Add in the powdered sugar and the vanilla. Using a hand mixer, start beating on medium speed, slowly increasing as the cream begins to thicken up to high speed. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form.

Frost the filled cupcakes with the whipped cream. Garnish as desired with a cherry and chocolate shavings. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pizza Dough

While visiting my family, in my mountains, I made a pizza. It was a beautiful pizza. Until I tried to move it from the cutting board to the pizza stone. Then it got a little mushed, but it turned out looking alright and it tasted amazing.


I used a new recipe for the dough. I found it on Annie’s Eats. Pretty much anything that she posts will be amazing, so I wasn’t too worried. And following my normal pattern of reading the recipe and discarding half the instructions, I made some changes. But it turned out quite well. And it worked for breadsticks. Mmmm… pizza.

Pizza Dough

½ c Warm Water (about 110° from the tap should be fine)
1 envelope (2 ¼ tsp.) Instant Yeast
1 ¼ c Water (room temperature)
2 T Olive Oil
4 c Flour, plus more for dusting
1 ½ t Salt
1-2 T Basil
1-2 cloves Garlic, minced
olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let it set while combining room temperature water, oil, salt, basil and garlic in the bowl of a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment. After about 5 minutes add the yeast mixture.

Add the flour 1-2 cups at a time until the dough gets thick and sticky. Switch to the hook attachment and start adding flour more slowly. When the dough is barely sticky place it in a greased bowl and cover with plastic or a damp cloth. Allow to rise in a warm place until it doubles.

Roll out into the desired crust shape, cover with your favorite pizza toppings and bake until golden.

Enjoy!

Pesto Pasta with Poached Chicken

To go with the Mushroom Bundles I made some pasta with pesto sauce and vegetables and poached chicken. I finally found some wagonwheel pasta. I have been looking for it for ages. It has been pretty elusive.


I found the inspiration for my pasta on Food.com. It used to be Recipezaar.com.

True to my usual lack of discipline I only used the recipe as a basis of what I actually did. Here’s my version of this pasta.

Pesto Pasta with Poached Chicken

2 c Wagonwheel Pasta, uncooked
1 lb Chicken Breast. I use boneless, skinless
1/2 c White Wine
1 c Fresh Basil Leaves
1/2 c Pine Nuts, toasted
1/4 c Olive Oil
1 c Bell Pepper, chopped. I used a package of baby bell peppers with red, orange, and yellow and sliced them into rings
1 c Broccoli Florettes
1 Tomato, chopped

Cook pasta as directed.

When the pasta is cooking poach the chicken in about a tablespoon of olive oil and white wine. I put it in the pan, put the lid on and leave it for 10-15 minutes.

While the chicken cooks puree the basil and pine nuts in a food processor. Slowly drizzle the olive oil over the mixture until it forms the desired pesto consistency.

When the chicken is cooked through cut it into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces and return to the pan. Add the pesto, peppers, broccoli and tomato. Mix well. Add the pasta, mix and garnish with the remaining pine nuts.

Mushroom Phyllo Bundles

I made some dinners for my parents while on vacay. One of them included some mushrooms bundled into some phyllo sheets. They were pretty tasty. I found them on The Pioneer Woman. She has lots of good recipes on her blog.

The mushroom bundles were relatively easy to make, the most difficult part was working with the thinner-than-paper phyllo sheets. They are so fragile, and rip at the slightest provocation.

To make it easier I pulled five sheets at a time, and didn’t butter between each. I also used olive oil for most of them, on just the last layer. I did put it on pretty generously.

Also, I forgot the parmesan and used about a tablespoon of minced garlic.

Mushroom Phyllo Bundles

1 pkg Phyllo Dough, thawed
4 T (1/2 stick) Unsalted Butter
4 c Mushrooms, chopped
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 c Dry White Wine
Salt
1/3 c Parmesan, grated

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until it begins to brown. Add the mushrooms and cook for about a minute, until they begin to soften. Add the wine and cook until the liquid is reduced, 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat.

Prepare the phyllo sheets. Brush olive oil or melted butter over 5 sheets, individually or all together. (Be sure to cover unused sheets with a damp cloth so they don’t dry out.) Cut into 4 or 6 rectangles. I did 6 because I had large sheets. Place about a tablespoon of the mushroom mixture in the center of each piece. Sprinkle parmesan over the mushrooms, and then bunch the sheets together to make a little packet around the mushrooms. Place on a greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 375*F for 15 minutes, or until the tops of the wrappers are lightly golden. Serve hot.