The forecast for this past week boasted 3 days in a row of cool and rainy weather. Time to make some soup! I started looking around for a potato soup recipe but most looked so heavy, full of sour cream and cheese. I wanted a soup that would leave us full and satisfied without being totally weighed down. I finally found a terrific recipe from The Pioneer Woman (are you at all surprised?). Instead of cups and cups of whole milk and sour cream, there are cups and cups of chicken broth, with a little dairy to round out the soup and add creaminess. It is heavenly.
I was immediately excited about the celery, onion and carrot in this soup. Made me feel like I was eating even healthier with those extra vegetables. And they add such wonderful flavor. I used shallot instead of onion because I didn’t have one. Next time, though, I will use a regular onion. Less peeling and chopping. Everything else in the recipe is unchanged. I might cook a few extra pieces of bacon because, if you are anything like me, having some of those crunchy bits on top is necessary. The 6 pieces aren’t enough for the entire pot of soup. Maybe this says something about our love of bacon. I’d say 10 pieces would be good, and if you have extra, well, there is not a thing wrong with extra bacon bits.
After cooking the soup you puree about half of it in the blender. This creates a nice balance of smooth and chunky so that every bite has something to chew on, which is what I like in a soup. I used a sharp cheddar on top of the soup, but a sharp white cheddar would also be delicious, or whatever cheese you like on a baked potato.
Top this soup with a little bacon, cheese and green onion and you have all the flavor of a hearty baked potato soup but without the bulk of it. This is definitely a recipe I’ll be making again.
Note: When reheating you might need to add some chicken broth or milk to thin it out since it does thicken as it sits in the fridge.
1 whole medium onion, diced (I used 4 large shallots)
3 carrots, diced (I used about 20 baby carrots)
3 celery stalks, diced
6 whole small russet potatoes (or 3 large) peeled and diced
8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
1/2 cup half and half (or heavy cream)
1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
Balck pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt (I used Lawry’s)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
1 cup grated cheese
4 green onions, sliced thin
Directions
Heat a large pot over medium high heat. Add in the chopped bacon and cook until crispy, being careful not to burn it. Remove from the pot and place on a paper towel-lined plate and wipe out some, but not all, of the bacon fat.
Over medium high heat cook onion, celery and carrots for a couple minutes, until they begin to soften. Add potatoes and cook, stirring things around a little, for about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and seasoning salt.
Add the broth to the pot and bring it to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender.
In a bowl whisk flour and milk and add to the pot. Stir together and cook for about 5 minutes.
Puree about half of the soup in a blender (I filled my blender almost full). Be sure to remove the center piece from the top of the blender and cover with a dish towel. If you don’t, you could make a big mess since you’re pureeing hot liquid.
Pour the puree back into the pot, taste and season as needed. Add in the cream or half and half, and the parsley.
This little cake is the cutest and most perfect Valentine’s treat for you and your special someone. It would also be the perfect birthday cake for a small party or as part of a dessert buffet.
Cupcakes are delicious and easy and not as much trouble as a layer cake. And you can probably get wonderful cupcakes at a number of bakeries near you since they are still pretty popular and trendy. I have some favorites here in Houston that I visit whenever I’m in the neighborhood, Celebrity being my cupcake bakery of choice. Try the s’mores on Wednesday or Sunday. It’ll change your life. Buying a cupcake for yourself is much more acceptable than buying an entire cake for yourself.
But when you’re wanting something a little extra special a layer cake fits the bill much better than even the most fancy cupcake. Making an 8 or 9-inch cake is probably not something you want to do when you’re making dessert for two because then you’re stuck eating what’s left for a week or, God forbid, throwing it away. Tragedy! This darling 4-inch cake is the perfect size for two, and could really feed 4 or even 6 light eaters.
The cake recipe is from Baked Explorations and is a simple one that comes together easily and bakes up nicely. I was able to get 2 4-inch cakes and a dozen cupcakes out of the batter. I did have an issue with the cupcakes baking and spreading out instead of up, and sticking a little to the pan. So be careful when filling, 2/3 is just fine, and if they do spread onto the pan just use some care when removing them, otherwise the tops will separate from the bottoms. The final cake is a nice balance of substantial yet moist, has a nice chocolate flavor and isn’t too sweet. The coffee in the batter isn’t detectable, it just enhances the chocolate flavor. I used 2 4-inch springform pans that I bought at Hobby Lobby when I made a smash cake for Betsy back in September. At the time I wasn’t sure how much use I’d get out of them or how they’d hold up, but now I’m sure they were a good purchase.
The frosting is from Tasty Kitchen, Pioneer Woman’s recipe sharing site. Can you tell I’m kind of obsessed with her? I can honestly say I haven’t made anything she’s endorsed that I haven’t loved and wanted to make again and tell everyone about. This frosting is a little weird, cooking together flour and milk as the base, but if Ree says it’s good I go for it. And it is very good. It takes some patience (and a stand mixer) but is really nice and smooth, velvety even. It’s lovely, buttery, and not so sugary sweet. The amount the recipe made iced the cake and a dozen cupcakes just about perfectly. I also love the contrast of deep dark chocolate cake to pure white frosting. Opt for a chocolate frosting if you just can’t imagine chocolate cake with anything but chocolate frosting.
I cut my two 4-inch cakes in half to create a four layer cake. I filled the first and third layer with a little raspberry preserves, but you can leave it out completely, or use cherry or strawberry. In order to fill the layer without it oozing out the sides, create a dam of icing around the perimeter of the cake layer and fill the inside with the preserves. The best tool for this is a pastry bag with a large round tip, but a plastic bag with a small corner cut off would work as well.
For the toppers I found some sticky felt hearts at a craft store and simply stuck two together with a toothpick between them. You could also cut hearts from craft paper and decorate them, or make glittered hearts for a fancy sparkling topper. You could leave the cake plain, white, simple and clean. Or top with a few raspberries, cherries or strawberries.
I added a little bowl of Valentine’s colored M&Ms to the table to photograph this cake to add some color. That is what initially drew this little taste tester to the table. But he ended up really enjoying the cake. I couldn’t help but put this picture in since his stripes just so happen to coordinate with the cake. I have a blog for the kids, so I told myself I’d make this just a food blog, but so far they’ve managed to sneak their way into 3 posts. So I’ve changed my tune and you’ll likely see more of the tiny taste testers in the future. Enjoy!
Mini Devil’s Food Layer Cake with White Frosting and Raspberry Filling
Makes 2 8-inch cakes or 2 4-inch cakes and 1 dozen cupcakes
Ingredients
Devil’s Food Cake
1 ounce of good chocolate (60 to 72% cacoa)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup hot coffee
1/3 cup whole milk
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
White Frosting
5 tablespoons flour
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
Raspberry Filling
2-3 tablespoons raspberry preserves
Directions
For the Cake
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Grease 2 4-inch cake pans (or 2 8-inch cake pans and line them with parchment) and then dust with cocoa powder. Line one muffin tin with cupcake liners, if using. Set aside.
Break up chocolate and place it and the cocoa powder in a heat proof bowl. Pour hot coffee over and whisk to melt chocolate until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the milk and set aside.
In a small bowl whisk flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine butter and sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs, one at a time and beat until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add in vanilla and beat for another 30 seconds.
With the mixer on low, add the flour and chocolate mixture, alternating between the two, starting and ending with flour in a total of 5 additions (flour, chocolate, flour, chocolate, flour). Beating just to combine between additions. Fold together with a spatula to make sure it’s evenly mixed.
Divide the batter between the pans, filling 4-inch pans about 2/3 full, cupcakes 2/3 full and simply divide the batter equally for 8-inch pans.
Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, 4-inch cakes for 25-30 minutes, and 8-inch cakes for 35-40 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean when they’re done.
Let cakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then carefully remove and let cool completely on wire racks.
For the Frosting
Combine flour and milk in a small saucepan and turn the heat to medium. Heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture becomes thick, like brownie batter. This happens quickly once it starts to thicken and if you don’t whisk it, then it will be lumpy with bits of cooked flour and you’ll have to start over.
Remove from the heat, continuing to stir/whisk for a minute. Stir in the vanilla, then let it cool completely to room temperature. If it is still warm when you continue with the recipe it won’t come out right. (At least that’s what the original directions say, I haven’t tested it and probably won’t with such a warning!)
In a stand mixer combine the butter and sugar and cream until light and fluffy and the graininess of the sugar has decreased or is completely gone. Mine never got totally non-grainy, but beat for about 5 minutes.
Add the completely cooled flour mixture to the butter and sugar and beat on medium-high until it is light and fluffy. If it looks separated, continue to beat it until it resembles whipped cream. This took around 8 minutes.
Assemble the cake
Slice both cake layers in half, getting them as even and as straight as possible. A serrated knife is good for this.
Plop a little frosting in the center of the cake plate and lay the first layer down. This keeps it from moving around while frosting. Tear a few strips of wax or parchment paper and slide them just barely underneath the cake. This keeps the cake plate clean while you frost. Just slide them out after you finish.
Prepare a piping bag with a large round tip and fill with about 1/2 cup of frosting. Spread a little layer of frosting on the cake layer, then pipe a circle around the edge of the layer. Spread a thin layer, about 1 tablespoon, of raspberry preserves inside of the circle, then top with the next layer and press down slightly.
Spread a nice layer of frosting on the layer, then top with the next layer.
Repeat the raspberry filling layer, then finish with the last layer.
Frost the cake with a thin coat of frosting, being careful not to contaminate the bog bowl of frosting with any chocolate bits. Set in the fridge for an hour. This is a crumb coat. Frost with another coat, thicker this time, this is the final coat. Decorate as desired.
This recipe came from a restaurant in San Antonio called Liberty Bar. I’ve never actually been, but my sister lived in San Antonio for a while and has been there. When she saw this recipe in a magazine, something like 10 years ago, she decided we should make it. And we did. And it was incredible. I usually refer to it as “the piloncillo dip” to my family, and they immediately know what I’m talking about. And then we all start drooling.
For some reason I had kind of forgotten about it until recently. I’ve now made it twice in the last month for parties and am so glad to have rediscovered it.
The dip is a great combination of flavors; spicy, sweet and tangy. I love goat cheese, so I’m a big fan of this dip, but the goat cheese isn’t so strong that someone who isn’t crazy about it won’t like it. The sauce is rich and creamy and sweet and amazing. It is a little spicy because of the chipotle. If you’re worried about it you can cut back on the chipotle, or just use the adobo sauce and not so much of the peppers themselves.
Piloncillo, also called panela, is a Mexican unrefined whole cane sugar that is available at most large grocery stores. I always find it with the other Mexican foods and have seen it in a cone form and also in a round disc. It is similar in flavor to dark brown sugar, but has a different texture. You might be able to substitute brown sugar in this recipe, but I’ve never tried it. Let me know if you do and if it’s successful. Chipotles in adobo are in the same spot as the piloncillo at my grocery store. But my sister in New York has said it’s hard to find. You don’t end up using the whole can in this recipe, but I’ve frozen the extra in a small tupperware or freezer bag, thawed it out and used it in other recipes with great success. Don’t let it go to waste, especially if it’s a rarity where you live!
Serve this with pita chips or slices of grilled bread. I serve the sauce on top of the dip, but you can also serve the cheese dip and sauce in separate bowls, allowing people to get just the amount of sauce and cheese they want. To serve altogether I usually lay a piece of plastic wrap in the botttom of a pie plate, spread the cheese in an even layer, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Then I uncover the cheese spread and flip it out onto a large platter, peel off the plastic wrap, and then cover with some of the sauce. There is almost always extra sauce and I hate throwing it away since it’s so stinking good. Any ideas on how to use the extra?
Goat Cheese Dip with Piloncillo Chipotle Sauce
Serves at 10-12 as an appetizer
From Liberty Bar
Ingredients
For the cheese spread
6 ounces soft mild goat cheese, at room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese (full fat or 1/3 fat), at room temperature
1 small garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/4 teaspoon salt (use the side of a large chef’s knife to do this)
1 teaspoon minced canned chiles chipoltes in adobo sauce
For the sauce
1 tablespoon minced canned chiles chipoltes in adobo sauce
Pita chips, crackers, toasted baguette slices or grilled bread slices
Directions
Make the cheese spread: Beat together cheeses, garlic paste, and chipolte chiles. Transfer mixture to a small serving bowl (or pie plate lined with plastic wrap) and chill, covered, at least 4 hours or overnight.
Make the sauce: In a small saucepan combine chipoltes, piloncillo, and cream and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally and breaking up sugar, until piloncillo is melted and sauce is smooth, about 10 minutes.
Transfer sauce to a small serving bowl and chill, covered, for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
Serve cheese and sauce in separate bowls, or pour some of the sauce over the cheese spread to serve.
Happy February! Earlier in the week I shared this flourless chocolate cookie recipe and declared that I would be sharing more chocolate recipes as we get closer and closer to Valentine’s Day, a day that should be full of chocolate. The name of this blog is Hottie Biscotti, but I’m fairly confident that I’ve only shared one biscotti recipe. So I thought it only appropriate to make some chocolate biscotti.
Biscotti means “twice-baked”. The dough is baked once in a log, allowed to cool slightly, then sliced into pieces and baked again creating a crunchy cookie that begs to be dipped into your hot beverage of choice. Coffee is mine, but tea or hot chocolate would do just fine. And they’re delicious eaten just as a cookie without any dipping.
This biscotti is full of almonds and chocolate chips, but isn’t too sweet, making it the perfect morning or afternoon snack. They would be wonderful crumbled up over a bowl of vanilla ice cream. They’d also make great little gifts.
This recipe is from Dave Lebovitz, a pastry chef whose blog I started reading a few months ago. It’s a great mix of recipes, stories about life in Paris, cooking tips and restaurant reviews. It’s been a fun change of pace in blog reading for me, since very few of the blogs I read are written by chefs, most are home cooks like myself. Check it out and drool over some French food and wine, learn some things you didn’t know and grab some great recipes.
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine eggs, sugar and extracts and mix until well combined.
Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, then add in almonds and chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed. The dough will be very stiff.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough in half and form each half into a log, about 8 or 9 inches long and 3/4 inch high.
Transfer each log to the parchment lined baking sheet.
Whisk egg and brush tops of each log, then sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Move logs to a cutting board and slice on the diagonal into 1/2 inch pieces. A serrated knife works well for this.
Place slices back on the parchment lined cookie sheet and return to the oven for 15-20 minutes, then flip cookies over and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, transfer to a cooking rack and let cool completely.
You can coat one side in chocolate if you’d like to or leave them plain. To coat in chocolate: melt chocolate and vegetable oil over low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate has just melted. Remove from the heat and spread chocolate onto one side of the biscotti in a thin layer. Move to a clean piece of parchment and allow the chocolate to set.
