Week 91: Sourdough and Tomato Soup

Today's assignment: make a delicious tomato soup, only make it BETTER by adding delicious carbs.  Dream come true?  Pretty much.

My only complaint with this soup was that the tomato part tasted a little like pasta sauce.  I'm not sure what was needed to make it taste less saucy, and more soupy.  I just imagined that I was using yummy bread to sop up the extra sauce from my pasta, and all was good.

Year of Yum Rating: 4 STARS

INGREDIENTS
3 pounds plum tomatoes

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups sourdough bread, without crusts, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup grated ricotta salata
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves

DIRECTIONS
1. Core and quarter plum tomatoes. Place tomatoes in food processor and pulse to chop, but not too fine.


2. Heat oil in 4-quart saucepan. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft, but not browned. Add tomatoes and their juices. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a slow simmer and cook 45 minutes, covered, stirring from time to time.

3. When the soup has simmered for 45 minutes, stir the bread cubes into the soup and simmer for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Check the seasoning.

4. Serve hot or at room temperature, with grated ricotta salata and minced basil strewn on each serving.

Recipe courtesy of The Wednesday Chef

Week 81: Spinach-Feta Hummus and Naan Bread

Both of these are recipes that I found at separate times on different cooking blogs. I just thought that hot, carb-y naan bread would be delicious dipped in cool, salty hummus.

Were those adjectives enticing enough? How about I tell you that you just need to make both of these things. Trust me. You won't be sorry.

The hummus was hands-down the best that I've ever made. I don't doubt that the feta had everything to do with it, but I convinced myself that it was healthy because of the spinach. I could eat this stuff with a spoon.

The naan bread was one of those recipes that I will definitely make again, but will be exploring how to make it better. I really liked the minced garlic in the bread, but in the future might incorporate some in to the dough rather than just putting it on top before I cook it. Also, the recipe tells you to cook the other side of the bread over an open flame (like a gas stove), which I didn't have, so I cooked both sides in the pan. Abby and I talked about how this might be yummy cooked on the grill. This easy dough would also be good for making individual pizzas.

Year of Yum Rating: 5 STARS (for the hummus) and 3 1/2 STARS (for the naan bread)

HUMMUS INGREDIENTS
•30 ounces, weight garbanzo beans drained
•1-½ cup fresh spinach
•8 ounces, weight feta cheese
•⅓ cups olive oil
•5 tablespoons lemon juice
•4 tablespoons tahini
•2 tablespoons red pepper flakes (We thought that SURELY this must be a mistake because it seemed like so much. We ended up only adding about ONE tablespoon. In retrospect, two tablespoons might not have been too much because our finished product wasn't spicy at all.)
•2 cloves garlic, peeled
•2 teaspoons salt

HUMMUS DIRECTIONS
Combine the garbanzo beans, spinach, olive oil, lemon juice and tahini in a large food processor. Pulse until combined. Add the feta, red pepper flakes, garlic and salt. Pulse until combined. Taste and add salt or more red pepper flakes if desired.

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NAAN INGREDIENTS
•2 cups all-purpose flour or wheat flour
•¾ teaspoons baking powder
•½ teaspoons baking soda
•½ teaspoons sugar
•¼ teaspoons salt
•½ cups warm milk
•½ cups Yogurt
•½ tablespoons oil, as needed
•Additional optional herbs and seasonings to flavor the naan (see note below)

NAAN DIRECTIONS
Note: The ingredient list includes the ingredients for the dough. You can flavor your naan with all kinds of herbs. I made cumin naan, garlic naan, butter naan, and some topped with cilantro.

Mix all the dry ingredients together and make a well of flour.

Mix milk and yogurt together and pour half of it into the well and slowly combine it together.

I don’t think there’s an exact amount of liquid that should be added to the exact amount of flour to make a perfect dough. So what I do is continue adding liquid slowly and combining it all together slowly until a soft dough is made. The dough should be soft enough for you to be able to dig your finger into it without applying any pressure. If dough sticks to your hand too much, then use little bit of oil on your hands and then punch into the dough.

Cover with a damp cloth and let it sit in a warm place for at least 2 hours.

After a few hours, dust your working board, take out the dough and knead it for about 2-3 minutes. Divide the dough into smaller balls (in this case you should get about 8 balls to make naans).

Dust the board again and flatten the balls to make bread that is a little thick and elongated.

Now sprinkle one side of the bread with your desired flavor. I made cumin, minced garlic, chopped cilantro and some simple butter naans.

Brush the other side with water.

Heat a thick-bottomed skillet or a wok or any heavy-bottomed pan with a lid. Once it is nicely hot, place the naan wet side down (it will stick) and cover it with a lid.

Let it cook for about 30 seconds or until you see bubbles on it. Now cook the other side of the naan over a direct flame on the burner with the help of tongs. When you see some charred brown spots then you know that the naan is done.

Week 79: Red Lentil Soup and Oat Soda Bread

I made this soup because:

-The blog I found it on made it sound like it was one of the greatest soups to ever be slurped.
-It's stinkin' cold outside. Can you say Blizzard 2011?
-Red lentils intrigue me. (Even though they were hard to find. Thanks, Whole Foods.)
-It was an excuse to use my immersion blender. What a fun tool that is.

I made the bread because:

-I love carbs.
-Sorry if you thought I had more reasons than that.

The soup was delicious. I ended up pureeing more than the recipe said to simply because I wasn't in the mood for a very chunky soup. I loved how pureeing the beans and veggies gave the soup a creamy, thick texture, but was still so healthy. It inspired me to try playing around my immersion blender with other combinations of beans and veggies. I'll let you know if I find anything great.

The bread was good for what it was. I loved that it was easy since it was a soda bread, and didn't require any yeast. Yeast intimidates me. The seeds on top of the bread were a good addition, and my favorite was the flavor of the caraway seeds. The bread was pretty dense, but was yummy warm with melted butter, or with honey. I may also be a little bitter because of the fact that I sawed into my finger when trying to slice the bread, so I may or may not be holding on to that grudge as I write this review...

SOUP Year of Yum Rating: 4 1/2 STARS

SOUP INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground chili powder, more to taste
1 quart chicken stock
1 cup red lentils
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
Juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste

SOUP DIRECTIONS

In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until hot and shimmering. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder or cayenne, and sauté for another 2 minutes.

Add broth, lentils and carrots. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and season with salt if necessary.

Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, purée half the soup then add it back to pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky.

Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice.

BREAD Year of Yum Rating: 3 STARS

BREAD INGREDIENTS

2 cups (minus about 2 tablespoons) oat flour
~2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and kneading
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt
1 3/4 cups buttermilk, plus more if needed, and 2T. for brushing
mixed seeds - sesame, caraway, poppy

BREAD DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

Sift the flours, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the flour and pour in the buttermilk. Stir just until everything comes together into a dough.

Turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead for 30 seconds or so, just long enough for the dough to come together into a cohesive, slightly flattened ball without many cracks or fissures. If your dough is on the dry side, add more buttermilk a small splash at a time. Now ease the dough evenly into the prepared baking pan.

Brush all over the top and sides with buttermilk and sprinkle generously with mixed seeds or flour, 2 tablespoons or so. Slice a few deep slashes across the top of the dough. Bake for about 30 minutes, then quickly (without letting all the hot air out of the oven), move the rack and the bread up a level, so the top of the bread gets nice and toasted. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until a hard crust forms and the bread is baked through. It will feel very solid and sound hollow when you knock on it.

Carefully lift it out of the pan, in a timely fashion, and allow to cool on a wire rack. Enjoy with a good slathering of salted butter.

Week 45: Macaroni Grill Copycats

This week we made two recipes that are "copycats" of those found at Romano's Macaroni Grill. My mom had made the Rosemary Bread before, and I love it, but I was nervous about it because of the pickiness of yeast. I was afraid I would end up with Rosemary Hockey Pucks. It was also the first time using my mixer with the dough hooks.

Romano's Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread

Year of Yum Rating: 4 STARS

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons rosemary
2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly.

2. Mix in 1 T butter, salt, and 2 cups of flour.

3. Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary.

4. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

5. Add more flour if necessary.

6. Oil a bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel.

7. Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled.

8. Punch down dough and divide in half.

9. Let dough rest about 5 minutes.

10. Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray.

11. Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves.

12. Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface.

13. Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.

14. Preheat oven to 375°F.

15. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned.

16. Carefully remove from oven, brush with remaining butter (and salt if desired.)


Romano's Macaroni Grill Roasted Garlic Lemon Vinaigrette

Year of Yum Rating: 3 STARS

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 ounce roasted garlic
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, juice of

DIRECTIONS

Place vinegar, honey, salt and roasted garlic in a food processor. Puree until the garlic is chopped very fine. With the food processor still running, add olive oil and lemon juice. Refrigerate until ready to use.