Minestrone

Sorry about the glare in this picture... it's the best out of all the ones I took.

Anyway, I really wanted to have minestrone so... I made some. Haha. I found this recipe in Food Network Magazine. I forget what issue. I think, October 2010?

Ingredients:
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, diced
4 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 Stalks Celery, diced
1-2 Carrots, diced into cubes
1/3 lb Green Beans, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 28-oz can Tomatoes, diced (or you can use fresh)
1 14-oz can Tomatoes, crushed
6 cups low sodium Chicken Broth
1 15-oz can Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper

Pasta (whatever kind your heart desires, orecchiette, farfalle, elbow, fusilli, whatever)

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Cook the onions until translucent. Next, add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds. Then add the celery and carrots and cook until they begin to soften. Add the green beans, oregano, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the tomatoes and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the green beans. If you're going to consume all of it immediately, also add about 1/2-1 cup pasta. If you're not, cook the pasta separately and then add it to the soup when you serve. Otherwise, your pasta gets really mushy and disgusting.

Top with freshly grated parmesan and enjoy!

Stop and snap

the pansies.

Not Your Everyday Kind...

cookies going in...

cookies coming out...

yum

i will follow

you anywhere.

Don't Wake the Monster!

Deep in the tangled grape vines of Napa lives a ferocious monster.

Shh! He's sleeping... don't make a noise and don't move a muscle. *snap* Oops! I stepped on a lego.

Uh oh! He's waking up!

Augh! It's a one-eyed beast!

He's getting mad!

Look at those sharp teeth! Run!

He's hungry! For what? Who knows? Meat? Blood? Puppies? Smoothies?!

Smoothies? He likes smoothies? Okay! Whew, he's not so ferocious after all...

Or is he???

Birthday (Cheese)cake

This past weekend was my brother's birthday. Hold the phone. Have I ever told you that I cannot, for the life of me, figure out when to use "past" and when to use "passed"? I mean I get it like, "I passed the test." But when you say like, we walked past/passed something... or this past/passed weekend... I dunno. It confuses me. This is not to say that I haven't tried, because, believe me, I have and have had it explained to me maybe like 49.3547 times.

Anyway, I decided to bake him a cheesecake. Before I give you the recipe, let's talk cheesecake. It's one of those finicky things that are actually kind of difficult to bake. Why? Because one thing wrong and you've got yourself a 1)cracked 2)sunken 3)overcooked or 4)undercooked cheesecake. So let me give you a few pointers:

1) Grease your pan well. This helps to prevent cracking because as the cheesecake cools, it pulls away from the pan and if it isn't greased, it'll crack.

2) Don't over beat the cream cheese. Over beating introduces air into the cheese and these bubbles cause the cheesecake to crack when baking.

3) Don't over cook the cheesecake. Overcooking it can dry out the cheesecake causing it to, yes, crack.

4) DO cook the cheesecake in a water bath. The water allows the cheesecake to cook uniformly. This means that the insides and outsides cook at the same time preventing the 3" diameter uncooked circle in the middle of the cheesecake causing it to sink. Also, it creates a nice humid environment preventing the cake from drying out and, yes, cracking.

5) Allow your cheesecake to cool for at least 6 hours in the fridge, in addition to cooling in the oven, before serving. Do not cover it! Moisture will collect on the lid/plastic/foil/whatever you covered it with.

6) If you follow all the directions above and it STILL cracks, then don't worry. Here's what you do. Mix 1 cup sour cream, 2 tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Spread it uniformly across the cheesecake and rebake at 325 for 10 minutes. Voila! Problem solved.

Okay, that being said, here's the recipe I used.

For the Heart:
Just prior to serving, cut out a heart in a napkin, place it across the cheesecake and used a sifter to sift unsweetened cocoa powder onto the cheesecake forming the heart. CAREFULLY, lift the napkin. Did you spill some cocoa powder? No worries, just cover the entire cake with cocoa powder and redo the heart with powdered sugar! Also, you can dampen the napkin slightly to catch the extra cocoa powder so it doesn't spill off the napkin when you lift it.

French Bread and an Idea for a Sandwich

Have I told you how much I love my new stand mixer? It's awesome.

I really wanted to try the dough hook attachment so was looking around for baguette recipes. I came across this one. Can I just say that this is NOT a baguette? This is a full on loaf of bread. No, TWO loaves of bread. I foolishly followed the steps thinking I'd make two foot-long baguettes that I can use to make sandwiches. I have so far made 8 sandwiches and STILL have bread left.


Here's an idea for a sandwich:

Honey roasted turkey breast, dijon mustard, brie, and granny smith apples. I love apples in my sandwiches. They go well with anything--turkey, tuna, etc. and give the sandwich an extra crunch plus juiciness. I substituted the turkey for bacon the next day and nearly died not just from the grease and cholesterol but from the yumminess. Enjoy!

By the way, do you cut the rind off your brie?