Soups & Stews | onedadskitchen

How About Some Turkey Soup?

I know, I know, we are all sick of turkey recipes at this point and everyone is busy thinking about Christmas cookies and your Christmas meal at this point. However, I still have a couple of recipes leftover of things I made with turkey so I thought I would put them out here. These recipes are for a very simple turkey stock that I made and then I used most of that stock to make a wonderful turkey soup from some of the leftovers we had of turkey. You could easily substitute some chicken for the turkey in the soup or the stock and get good results from both. First, the turkey stock.

Turkey Stock

1 leftover turkey carcass from a 10 to 15-pound turkey, including the neck, wing and leg bones

4 or 5 onions, quartered

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

4 large celery ribs, cut into chunks

2 cups white wine

2 large garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Kosher salt

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Using a sturdy knife or your hands, cut or tear the turkey carcass into large pieces. Arrange the pieces in a single layer in a roasting pan and roast until the pieces are brown and sizzling, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the pieces from the oven and transfer them to a stockpot. Add the onions, carrots and celery to the empty roasting pan and place it over medium heat. Saute them briefly, just to loosen the crusty turkey bits in the bottom of the pan. Return the pan to the oven and cook until the vegetables are browned around the edges, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it back over medium heat. Add the white wine and cook, stirring, until the wine is reduced to a syrup, about 3 minutes.

Add the wine-vegetable mixture to the stockpot with the turkey pieces. Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaves, black peppercorns and stir. Add 6 quarts of water and place the pot over medium-high heat just until the mixture comes to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to low, skim any foam floating on the top and simmer, skimming as needed, for about 3 hours. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and taste. If the stock tastes too watery, keep simmering until the stock is flavorful. Taste for salt again and add more if needed.

Strain the stock through a sieve into a large container or containers. Discard all the solids. Let the stock cool slightly and the refrigerate or freeze it.

It’s a simple method that takes some time but gets maximum turkey flavor out of the carcass and what is left over. You get a wonderful roasted flavor into the stock that gives it a great addition. I froze some and used some for this soup recipe from Michael Chiarello.

Turkey Soup

8 cups turkey stock

3 cups diced turkey meat, white and dark meat

1 carrot, peeled and minced

1 celery stalk, minced

1 onion, peeled and minced

2 cloves garlic, smashed

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups leftover cooked vegetables (Brussels sprout, sweet potatoes, green beans)

1 tablespoon chopped sage

In a large soup pot, heat the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat. Allow it to brown slightly, about 3 minutes. Add the minced carrots, celery and onions. Sweat the vegetables over medium-low heat until softened, about 7 to 8 minutes.

Dice the leftover vegetables. Add the sage to the soup pot along with the turkey stock and 1 bay leaf. Bring the stock to a simmer. When the pot is simmering, add the Brussels sprouts, green beans and diced turkey meat to the soup. Bring the mixture back up to a simmer. Add the sweet potatoes to the center of the soup and gently push them down. Turn the heat off and cover the pot. Allow the soup to sit and steam, about 5 to 7 minutes. let the soup simmer for 5 more minutes before serving.

It is a quick and easy way to make good use of turkey meal leftovers or any chicken meal leftovers. it’s a simple soup that you can put together for a weeknight meal that will taste great and it makes for even better lunches the next day or two. I also added some frozen peas to the mix just to round everything out.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on December 5, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, Leftovers, One Pot Meals, Soups & Stews, Turkey

Tags: Michael Chiarello, roasted turkey stock, turkey soup, turkey soup with leftovers, turkey stock, turkey stock recipe

The Easiest Chicken Noodle Soup You Will Ever Make

23 Oct

I had planned to make some pizza last night, but Sean and I both had dentist appointments so we got home late. As it turns out, Sean had a couple of fillings done, so he couldn’t really eat anything anyway and asked if he could have some soup for dinner. I didn’t have any pre-made in the freezer or anything, so I had to throw something together quickly using just what I had around the house. Luckily, they are fewer things that can make great use of leftovers and household items than chicken noodle soup. All you need is some homemade or store-bought broth, some leftover chicken and vegetables, a bag of noodles, are you are good to go in about 15 minutes.

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

4 cups chicken broth

8 ounces noodles

1-2 pieces leftover chicken (breasts, thighs or drumsticks), shredded

6 ounces frozen vegetables (or any leftover vegetables you may have)

In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring the chicken broth to a boil, Add the noodles and return the broth to a boil, then turn the heat down to low to simmer until the noodles are almost tender, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add in the shredded chicken and the vegetables and heat until the chicken and the vegetables are warmed through, about 3 or 4 minutes. Serve.

That’s all there is to it. We actually made use of some leftover chicken gravy I had on hand and added that into the soup as well to act as a thickener and really make it nice. Sean loved it and ate all of it so fast I never even had a chance to take a picture of it. The nice thing is that you can do this same thing with just about any kind of leftovers you may have. You can use rice instead of noodles, use beef broth or vegetable broth instead of chicken, simply add some frozen tortellini and spinach to the broth for a spinach tortellini soup, use beef instead of chicken or just use all vegetables and some herbs along with the vegetable broth and you can make yourself a nice vegetarian soup. The options seem nearly limitless when it comes to making a quick soup if you just want something fast and satisfying. You can serve this with a side salad, just some crunchy bread or even have soup with a sandwich for a fast dinner or a great lunch (I had a tuna sandwich with mine).

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I hope to get to the pizza tomorrow, I have some ribs planned for Friday, and I also have a cinnamon bun recipe I want to try, so there’s always more to check out. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 23, 2013 in Cooking, One Pot Meals, Soups & Stews

Tags: chicken noodle soup, chicken soup, easy chicken noodle soup, leftover chicken, soup variations

Great Fall Soups #2 – Classic Corn Chowder

13 Oct

We had made a couple of different soups this week that were great for dinner and lunches. Yesterday. I posted the recipe for the bean and barley soup we made. Today, it is the classic corn chowder we made for dinner one night. This recipe comes from the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook, but I did modify it slightly to fit a little better with ingredients we had on hand and make things a little easier. While you can still get fresh corn on the cob this time of year, it is not as good as the nice local corn we see in the summertime months here in New York. We used a combination of fresh and frozen instead, even though the recipe calls for all fresh. We also used bacon instead of salt pork mainly because that is what we had on hand. I think the taste worked out just as well anyway.

Classic Corn Chowder

10 ears corn, husks and silks removed ( or three 1-pound bags frozen corn kernels)

3 ounces salt pork, rind removed, cut into two 1-inch cubes (or 3 slices bacon, diced)

1 tablespoon butter

1 large onion, chopped fine

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups chicken broth

12 ounces red potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

Using a paring knife, cut the kernels from 4 ears of corn. You should have about 3 cups of kernels. Grate the kernels from the remaining 6 ears of corn on the large holes of a box grater into a bowl, then firmly scrape the pulp remaining on the cobs with the back of a butter knife or vegetable peeler. You should have about 2 cups of grated kernels and corn pulp.

Saute the salt pork in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, turning with tongs and pressing down on the pieces to render the fat, until the cubes are crisp and golden brown, about 10 minutes. If you are using bacon, saute the bacon until it is crisp and then remove it from the pot and reserve. Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the butter and onion, cover, and cook until the onion is softened, about 12 minutes. Remove the salt pork and reserve. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add the chicken broth. Add the grated corn and the corn pulp, potatoes, milk, thyme, bay leaf and reserved salt pork or bacon and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the potatoes are almost tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the reserved corn kernels and heavy cream and return it to a simmer. Simmer until the corn kernels are tender and yet still slightly crunchy, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and salt pork. Stir in the parsley, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

Since we used mostly frozen corn, here is what we did with the first step. We 2 cups of the frozen corn and about 1/4 cup of water and ran it through the food processor for about 30 seconds to create the corn pulp and juice that is used in the recipe. We then used the rest of the frozen corn kernels in place of the corn taken off the cobs. We also used the immersion blender towards the end of the cooking to blend up some of the soup itself to make it a bit smoother while still retaining much of the corn itself. I think it turned out very well and we got a bit of a thicker chowder, which I really liked. It was even better the next day for lunches.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for more recipes. I have some beer braised chicken, a London broil with horseradish sauce and some homemade Parker House rolls still to come, among many other recipes. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 13, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Soups & Stews

Tags: classic corn chowder, Cook's Illustrated classic corn chowder, Cook's Illustrated Cookbook, corn chowder

A Great Fall Soup in the Slow Cooker – Slow Cooker Bean and Barley Soup

12 Oct

With the cooler weather coming upon us now, that means more of an opportunity to make soups and make some good use of the slow cooker. We made a couple of different soups this week, and the first one allowed me to use some of the dried beans I had picked up that were on sale this past week. I had picked up bags of black beans, Great Northern beans, navy beans and lentils, so I had plenty to work with as I looked for a recipe where I could use different types in one soup. I came upon this recipe from the Food Network for a bean and barley soup in the slow cooker and it sounded perfect.

Slow-Cooker Bean and Barley Soup

1 cup dried multi-bean mix or Great Northern Beans, picked over and rinsed

1/2 cup pearl barley

3 cloves garlic, smashed

2 medium carrots, roughly chopped

2 ribs celery, roughly chopped

1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

Kosher salt

2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning herb blend

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, crumbled if large (optional)

One 14-ounce can whole tomatoes, with juice

3 cups cleaned baby spinach leaves

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Put 6 cups of water, all of the beans, the barley, garlic, carrots, celery, onions, bay leaf, 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, Italian seasoning, pepper and porcini mushrooms, if using, in a slow cooker. Squeeze the tomatoes through your hands over the slow cooker to break them down, and add them with their juices. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high until the beans are tender and the soup is thick, about 8 hours.

Add the spinach and Parmesan cheese, and stir until the spinach wilts, about 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and drizzle each serving with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

I love a hearty bean soup and this one, with the different beans in, has awesome flavor. It was nice and thick with very flavorful broth from all the vegetables. Adding the spinach and cheese towards the end is a great way to add flavor and make it even more flavorful, but if you wanted to leave them out and just have the bean and barley soup I think it would be just as good. Serve it with some nice crunchy bread and you have a great vegetarian or meatless meal. The soup itself tasted even better the next day after it has had a chance to set and the flavors have melded together even more than the first day, so it has made for some great lunches as well.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another soup recipe as I will go over the nice corn chowder that we made this week. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 12, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Slow Cooker Meals, Soups & Stews, Vegetarian

Tags: barley soup, bean and barley soup, food network, slow cooker soup recipe, slow-cooker bean and barley soup, vegetarian soup

Soup Day Number Two – Moroccan Lentil Soup in the Slow Cooker

27 Sep

I probably don’t make good enough use of our slow cooker. I always say I am going to use it more but somehow it just seems to slip my mind. The problem I have is that our kitchen is small so it is not a piece of equipment I can keep on the counter and remember to use often. It is usually when I see a recipe I like that makes use of the slow cooker that it jogs my memory. That is exactly what happened with this soup recipe that I found from A Year of Slow Cooking. This recipes uses 3 different kinds of beans, which I love, and some interesting spices to create this one pot meal.

Moroccan Lentil Soup

1 cup dried lentils

1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas), drained and rinsed

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped carrots

28 ounce can diced tomatoes and juice

4 cups vegetable broth, chicken broth or water

1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 inch ginger, peeled and grated

Add the chopped onion, celery and carrot to the slow cooker and sprinkle over the bottom. Drain and rinse off the lentils, garbanzo beans and pinto beans and add them on top of the vegetables. Grate the ginger on top of the beans and then add in the garam masala, cayenne pepper, cumin, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir in the broth or water and the diced tomatoes plus the juice. Stir the mixture to blend everything together.

Cover the slow cooker and cook the soup on low for 8 to 10 hours. Before serving the soup, use an immersible blender to pulse and blend some of the vegetables and beans together. This will help to give the soup a better texture and meld some of the flavors together.

This recipe makes a good bit of soup, so you will have leftovers for lunches or another dinner, or you could even freeze some to use as an emergency dinner for another weeknight when you don’t feel much like cooking. Garam masala is a spice blend commonly used in Northern Indian cooking that mixes together pepper, cumin, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. It really adds some nice flavor and fragrance to this dish. All of the spices work well together and give great taste to this soup and using the immersible blender really helps to give it a velvety smooth texture to finish off with. If you use vegetable stock or water in this dish, you can make it vegetarian. You get plenty of protein from all of the beans in the dish and I have had some for lunch after the dinner we had of this soup and the flavor does seem to get even better. If you want to save yourself even more time with the slow cooker, chop your vegetables the night before, get everything prepped on your counter, and then you can just throw it together in the morning before you run out the door to start your day.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I still have lots I have been working on, including a new roasted chicken dish I tried last night. I also have some other great recipes from the Cooking Channel, Food Network, Food Republic, Cook’s Country and Williams-Sonoma that I will be trying over the next few days and weeks, so check back for those. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

3 Comments

Posted by MikeG on September 27, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Slow Cooker Meals, Soups & Stews

Tags: A year of slow cooking, bean soup, lentil soup recipe, Moroccan lentil soup, soup recipe, vegetarian, vegetarian soup

Soup Season in Full Bloom – Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

26 Sep

The weather has started to get a little more Fall-like around here the last few days so I had planned to make a couple of soups this week to fit the occasion. Soups make a great dinner because they are filling, delicious and nutritious all in one. I had bought a butternut squash at our friend’s farmstand this past weekend and then I found this great recipe from Michael Chiarello for a different butternut squash soup recipe than I had made before. It makes use of some different spices to give a different flavor and roasting the squash with some of these ingredients really added something to the meal.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

For the Toasted Spice Rub:

1/4 cup fennel seeds

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 tablespoon peppercorns

1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1/4 cup chili powder

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

For the Roasted Squash:

3 pounds butternut squash (about 1 large squash)

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup dark molasses

2 teaspoons Toasted Spice Rub

For the Soup:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup diced onion

1/4 cup diced celery

1/4 cup diced carrot

1 cinnamon stick

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 1/2 cups Roasted Winter Squash

1/2 cup half-and-half

For the spice rub: Toast the fennel seeds, coriander seeds and peppercorns in a small, heavy pan over medium heat. When the fennel turns light brown, turn on the exhaust fan above your stove, add the red pepper flakes and toss the mixture vigorously. Immediately turn the mixture out into a bowl to cool.

When the mixture has cooled, place it in a blender or spice mill with the chili powder, salt and cinnamon and blend until all the spices are evenly ground. Keep the spice mix in a glass jar in a cool, dry place.

For the squash: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler, halve lengthwise and discard any of the seeds. Cut the squash into 1-inch diced pieces. Place the squash in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter stops foaming and has turned a light brown, pull the pan off the heat and add the sage, sugar, vinegar (keep your face back when you add the vinegar), molasses and the toasted spice rub. Mix well and allow it to simmer over medium-low heat for 1 to 2 minutes to meld the flavors.

Pour the vinegar mixture over the squash and toss well. Transfer the squash to a heavy, rimmed baking sheet or baking dish large enough to hold the squash in a single layer. Place the squash in the oven and roast, tossing at least once, until it is very tender and caramelized, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Set the squash aside until it is cool enough to handle but still warm, so the liquids are still runny.

Working in batches, if necessary, transfer the warm squash and all the cooking liquids to a food processor and process until the mixture is smooth. You can use the squash immediately or refrigerate it for up to 5 days or freeze it for up to 2 months.

For the soup: Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add the onion, celery, carrot and cinnamon stick and saute until the vegetables are soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the chicken or vegetable stock and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer for several minutes. Stir in the squash until it is smooth, then simmer gently, allowing the flavors to meld, about 10 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick.

Puree the soup in a blender, in batches if necessary, until it is smooth. Return the soup to the pan and re-heat it gently. Add the half-and-half and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm until you are ready to serve.

A couple of things about this recipe. The toasted spice rub makes quite a bit of spice mix. If you think you will use it again later on, it’s great to have on hand. I cut the recipe in half and still had plenty leftover so you can do that if you don’t want a lot of spice mix. You can use the squash puree for other things as well if you didn’t want to make soup with it. I think it would be a great side dish for chicken or turkey just as it is. You could also use other winter squash if you prefer, like acorn squash, and I think it would do just as well. The soup itself has a very roasted, toasty flavor to it. You can certainly taste the spices coming through in the soup but they do not over power the dish at all. I loved the creaminess of the squash and found it to be a very hearty meal. If you use vegetable stock or water instead of the chicken stock, you can make this a vegetarian meal.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another soup recipe I just tried. This one was made in the slow cooker and can also be a vegetarian dish, so check back for that one tomorrow. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on September 26, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Soups & Stews, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Tags: butternut squash soup, Michael Chiarello, roasted butternut squash, roasted butternut squash soup, squash soup recipe, toasted spice rub, vegetarian, vegetarian soup

Irish Onion Soup and a Couple of Desserts

17 Mar

Yesterday we decided to make our St. Patrick’s Day dinner instead of doing it today. With that in mind I have posted recipes before for corned beef, colcannon, Irish coffee, Shamrock shakes and other recipes that I picked up while we were in Dublin last year. I did make corned beef and cabbage and boiled potatoes yesterday for them to dinner but I also added a few other items to the meal. One that stands out the most was an Irish onion soup that we made. It was pretty simple to make, didn’t take much longer than an hour to assemble and cook and it tasted great. The recipe itself is pretty simple and you could really make this any time of year not just for St. Patrick’s Day.

Irish Onion Soup

2 tablespoons butter
2 medium yellow onions, have lengthwise and sliced into pieces
3 tablespoons Irish whiskey
1 tablespoon granulated it sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus a pinch
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup dark Irish beer, such as Guinness
6 1/2 cups beef stock or broth
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Day-old baguette, sliced into 3/4- inch slices
Irish cheddar cheese, sliced into 1/4- inch thick slices

in a large skillet set over medium heat melt the butter. Once the butter is melted and the white foam subsides add the sliced onions. Cook using a wooden spoon to stir occasionally, until the onions are soft and gold in about 20 minutes. Add the Irish whiskey. If you have a gas burner, carefully till the pan toward the flame to flambé the onion of whiskey mixture. If you have that electric cooktop, use a long match to flambé the whiskey or you can skip the flambé altogether. Stir in the granulated sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions turn darker shade of brown, approximately 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in the pinch of kosher salt, the all-purpose flour, and the finely chopped garlic. Cook until the garlic is fragrant, about two minutes. While stirring pour in the Irish beer. Simmer, stirring occasionally until the beer is reduced by 1/3, about five minutes. Add the beef stock, 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Bring the soup to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 20 minutes.

Adjust an oven rack to the upper middle position and heat the broiler to high. Divide the soup among oven-safe bowls and set them on a rimmed baking sheet. To each bowl add two bread slices. Cover each slice of bread with two pieces of the Irish cheddar. Set the rimmed baking sheet on the upper middle oven rack and broil until the cheese is melted, golden and bubbling, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

You could certainly use a different type of cheese if you prefer not to go with the Irish cheddar. Personally, I didn’t put any cheese on mine and just had the onion soup itself. The recipe itself makes enough for four servings, but I had a little bit more so we can make it for six people. There were no leftovers it off from what I made.

Michelle made two different cakes for dessert. We actually got the recipes from two different sources. We had seen the recipe for the Fallen Chocolate Cake in the recent Bon Appétit magazine. It sounded really good and it’s basically a flourless cake, so we thought we would give it a try.

Fallen Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup (one stick) butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, plus more, room temperature, for the pan
3/4 cup +2 tablespoons sugar, divided, plus more for the pan
10 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup chilled heavy cream
1/2 cup marscarpone
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly butter a springform pan and dust with sugar, tapping out any excess. Combine the chocolate, oil, and half cup of butter in a large heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan of slow simmering water and heat, stirring often, until melted. Remove the bowl from the sauce pan.

Separate 4 eggs, placing the whites and the yolks in separate medium bowls. Add the cocoa powder, the vanilla, salt, 1/4 cup of sugar, and the remaining two eggs to the bowl with the yolks and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Gradually whisk the yolk mixture into the chocolate mixture, blending well. Using an electric mixer on high-speed, beat the egg whites until frothy. With the mixer running, gradually beat in 1/2 cup of sugar; beat until firm peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in 2 additions, folding just until they are incorporated between additions. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the top and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Bake until the top is puffed and starting to crack and the cake is pulling away from the edge of the pan, about 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let the cake cool completely in the pan. The cake will collapse in the center and crack further as it cools.

For the topping, use an electric mixer on medium high-speed to beat the heavy cream, marscarpone, and powdered sugar in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Remove the sides of the springform pan from the cake and mound the whipped cream mixture into the center of the cake.

We found that the cake itself seems to taste awful lot like a really good, thick brownie. The cream used on the top was really great it combined with the cake itself. We were little worried as to how this one would turn out, which is why we decided to make a second cake along with it. For the second cake, we opted to make a Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting. I saw a bunch of recipes on the Internet, but opted to go with this one that I saw at The Procrastobaker. This one is a more traditional cake, besides the addition of the alcohol.

Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting

1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup Guinness Extra Stout
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs

3 sticks butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 to 4 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur

Preheat the oven to 350°. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan and remove from the heat and whisk in the Guinness, the vanilla and cocoa powder. While the mixture cools slightly, grease and line 2 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Whisk together the sugar, flour and baking soda in a large bowl. Pour the Guinness mixture into the flour mixture and then whisk in the two eggs. When the batter is completely smooth, divide the batter between the two cake pans. Place the cake pans in the oven and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Leave the cakes in the pans to cool.

To make the buttercream frosting, whip together the butter and sugar until very pale, adding in enough Bailey’s for it to be loose and fluffy. To assemble the cake, level off the cake layers if needed using a serrated knife. Spread roughly 1/3 of the buttercream frosting on the bottom layer of the cake. Top with the second cake layer and wiggle it until the line up correctly. If you wish, you can do a crumb coat by using another 1/3 of the buttercream and spreading a thin layer all over the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate to set the frosting, for a few hours or overnight if you wish. Once the crumb coat is firm to the touch, spoon the final one 1/3 of the frosting on top of the cake and spread evenly all over.

Everyone loves the taste of this cake, although we seem split on which cake everyone seemed to enjoy better. For me personally, I preferred the Guinness cake. I like the taste of the buttercream frosting and the cake itself had an awesome flavor to it. Just my personal preference, as I’m not always a big fan of the brownie and the fallen cake seemed to taste more like that to me. However, if you are looking for a gluten-free alternative, the fallen cake is a pretty good choice.

That’s all I have for today. I hope everyone enjoys their St. Patrick’s Day if you are celebrating and have a good time while staying safe. I’ll be posting some of the recipes this week, including one of fish sticks and sweet potato fries that I made. Check back that this week for other recipes. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on March 17, 2013 in Cakes, Cooking, Cooking Websites, Dessert, Holidays, Soups & Stews

Tags: corned beef and cabbage, dark chocolate Guinness cake with Bailey's buttercream frosting, dessert, fallen chocolate cake, irish coffee, Irish onion soup, shamrock shakes, St. Patrick's Day menu

Classic Christmas Recipes from Bon Appetit Editors: BA Daily: bonappetit.com

06 Dec

Classic Christmas Recipes from Bon Appetit Editors: BA Daily: bonappetit.com.

It’s not too early to start planning your Christmas meal out. I like to have a good idea of what I am going to make well in advance when I am hosting Christmas. This blog post from Bon Appetit features 6 great recipes of some dishes you would love to have on your holiday table. Check it out and see if there is anything you like.

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Posted by MikeG on December 6, 2012 in Beef, Beverages, Cooking, Cooking Websites, Dessert, Holidays, Side Dishes, Soups & Stews

Tags: 6 classic Christmas recipes from Bon Appetit editors, bon appetit, classic Christmas recipes, fried oysters, lobster stew, old fashioned, roasted chestnuts

A Thanksgiving Day Soup

19 Nov

Since I posted what I plan to do with the turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving in yesterday’s post, I thought I would put down today the soup I plan to make as well. I had planned to make a butternut squash soup all along, and I have several recipes that I like, so I was trying to decide which one would be the best to go with. I finally settled on this one from America’s Test Kitchen and am combining it with some others I have seen to sort of make my own. This recipe also uses some Cinnamon-Sugar Croutons, which are a nice little touch at the end.

Butternut Squash Soup

4 tablespoons butter

2 medium shallots, minced

3 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

5 cups chicken broth

2 sprigs thyme

Pinch of nutmeg

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the squash, broth, thyme and nutmeg. Bring to simmer, cover and cook until the squash is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the thyme sprigs and puree the soup in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return the pureed soup to the pot. Stir in the cream. Bring to a brief simmer, then remove it from the heat. if the soup seems too thick, thin it out with additional broth or water. Season it with salt and pepper to taste before serving. Sprinkle individual servings with nutmeg, if desired.

You can make this soup ahead of time, which I plan to do, right through the puree step, and cool, cover and refrigerate it for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Just re-heat the soup over low heat, adding additional water or broth to adjust the consistency before proceeding with adding the cream.

There are a number of things you can top this soup with to suit your tastes. You could use the nutmeg, or paprika, a little balsamic vinegar, some crumbled bacon, slices of crispy prosciutto or even slices of apple or pear. I saw this quick little recipe for CInnamon Sugar Croutons from America’s Test Kitchen, so I am going to try that one.

Cinnamon-Sugar Croutons

4 slices white sandwich bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes with the crusts removed

2 tablespoons melted butter

4 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss the bread cubes with the melted butter in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar; sprinkle over the bread cubes and toss to combine.

Spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. The croutons can be stored in an airtight container for several days. Sprinkle over the soup just before serving.

I think they will add a nice flavor and crunch to the soup. Overall, I think it is the perfect opening course to Thanksgiving dinner.

Okay, so we have the turkey, stuffing and soup taken care of, so tomorrow I will talk about some of the side dishes I am planning, which are a slow cooker version of the classic green bean casserole and a sweet potato casserole. Check back and see if you like them. I plan to post pictures of everything after I cook it all on Thursday, so check back for that as well. Until then, enjoy your day and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on November 19, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Holidays, Soups & Stews

Tags: americas test kitchen, butternut squash soup, cinnamon-sugar croutons, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner

Five Autumn Soups for the (Coming) Cold Weather « Chef Marcus Samuelsson

29 Oct

Five Autumn Soups for the (Coming) Cold Weather « Chef Marcus Samuelsson.

As Hurricane Sandy heads our way here in New York, it certainly makes you feel like you might need a nice bowl of soup to keep you warm. Here’s a selection of 5 soups designed for fall weather from chef Marcus Samuelsson. I am a little skeptical of spicy coconut lentil, but hey, if you like it give it a try. The others all sound like they would be great to sit down next to a a roaring fire and enjoy. Check it out!