Savory Tomato Soup

Ingredients:


1/4 cup unsalted butter
10 sprigs thyme, tied together
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes
2 teaspoons sugar, divided

8 cups water

1/4 cup (or more, to taste) heavy cream

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add thyme, onion, and garlic.

2. Cook until onion is completely soft and translucent, 10–12 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; add tomato paste. Continue cooking, stirring often, until paste has begun to caramelize in spots, 5–6 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes with juices, 1 tsp. sugar, and 8 cups water to pot. Increase heat to high; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium.

4. Simmer until flavors meld and soup reduces to about 2 quarts (8 cups), 45–55 minutes. Remove soup from heat; let cool slightly. Discard thyme sprigs. Working in small batches, purée soup in a blender until smooth. Return to pot.

Note: Soup can be made up to 2 days ahead. Let cool slightly, cover, and chill. Rewarm before continuing.

5. Stir in 1/4 cup cream. Simmer soup until flavors meld, 10–15 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and remaining 1 tsp. sugar. Add more cream, if desired.

Courtesy of bonappetit.com

Creamy Alfredo Sauce with Wine and Garlic

Ingredients:


1 tablespoon butter
3 large shallots, sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups white wine, divided
Ground white pepper to taste
3/4 cup heavy cream at room temperature
1/2 lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons fresh parsley
Salt to taste

Parmesan cheese to taste
Flour as needed

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook and stir the shallots until they become translucent and tender; stir in garlic and cook until tender and aromatic.

2. Stir in 1 cup white wine, increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Once it boils, add the remaining 1/2 cup wine. Boil for 10 minutes then reduce heat to medium-low. Season with white pepper to taste.

3. When sauce is no longer boiling, slowly stir in cream, lemon juice, parsley, parmesan, and salt. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.  If it is too thin, add flour to thicken.

Courtesy of allrecipes.com

Note: This recipe is extremely malleable; don't hesitate to make changes.  Also, when cooked, alcohol loses its effects but leaves behind the taste.

How to Make Souffle

Here's a link to a prezi on how to make a souffle:

http://prezi.com/1b_mgwck5te7/how-to-make-a-souffle/?kw=view-1b_mgwck5te7&rc=ref-42500701

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Hi, I am a guest blogger and my name is Brooke.  I hope you enjoy this recipe I found!


INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

METHOD

1 Beat the butter until creamy, 2 minutes. Add the sugars, beat for 2 more minutes. Mix in the peanut butter and egg. Mix together the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the sugar butter mixture.

2 Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

 3 Preheat oven to 375°F. Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Place about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten in crisscross pattern with a fork. Bake until light brown, 9 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for a minute; transfer to rack to cool completely.

For chewier cookies, bake at 300°F for 15 minutes.

Yield: Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Boston Cream Pie

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour 
1 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milk
3/4 cup light cream
1/4 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
4 teaspoons cornstarch
3 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Instructions:

1. To Make The Cakes: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans. Sift the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt together and set aside.
2. In a deep bowl, cream 6 tablespoons of the butter with 3/4 cup sugar until it is light and fluffy. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time, then beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture alternately with 1/2 cup of the milk in 3 additions, beating the batter smooth after each addition. Divide the batter between the 2 prepared pans. 

3. Bake the batter at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes or until the cakes begin to shrink away from the sides of the pans and their centers spring back when lightly touched. Turn the cakes onto wire racks to cool. 

4. To Make The Filling: Combine 1/2 cup light cream with 1/4 cup of milk and cook over medium heat until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. Immediately add 1/4 cup of sugar and a pinch of salt, stirring until dissolved. Remove the pan from heat.

5. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of milk with the cornstarch and whisk to remove lumps. Whisk in the 2 eggs. Add the hot cream mixture in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan, bring it to a boil, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens noticeably and is smooth (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and allow to cool to room temperature.

6. To Make The Chocolate Frosting: In a heavy saucepan over low heat, stir the chocolate pieces and 2 tablespoons butter until they are completely melted. Remove from the heat and, stirring continuously, add 1/4 cup light cream in a thin steady stream. When mixture is smooth, stir in the confectioners' sugar and beat vigorously. Stir in the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. 

7. To Assemble The Cake: Spread the cooled filling over one the cooled cakes and place the second cake on top. Pour the chocolate frosting evenly over the top allowing it to spill down the sides. 

Courtesy of allrecipes.com

Top 5 Baking Ingredients

5. Cream

Cream helps thicken and sweeten any recipe.  While heavy cream is often more effective, light is the healthier alternative.  A small amount will do a lot for the quality of a recipe.

4. Eggs

These help to combine the ingredients and enrich the product.  Tasty and healthy, eggs are used everywhere in baking.  Be sure not to eat any uncooked egg, however; sickness will often result.

3. Sugar

Sugar is the ultimate sweetener.  It comes in many varieties, such as white, light brown, dark brown, powdered, etc.  In addition, sugar ensures that the product is moist.  While it is vital to many a recipe, one must be careful not to overuse sugar.

2. Milk/ Butter

Like sugar, milk  keeps a batter moist.  In fact, they are often combined with sugar, creating a sweet mixture that is common in pastries.  Butter is very similar, moistening a product and adding delicious flavor.  However, it also adds the fat needed to create a perfect end result.

1.Flour

One would be hard- pressed to find a baking recipe where flour is not used.  Flour makes sure a batter rises and thickens as necessary.  A recipe without flour is a poor recipe indeed.  Yeast can be substituted for flour in bread and other products, though.

Creamy Pink Sauce Pasta

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, once around the pan in a slow stream
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 cup vodka
1 cup vegetable stock
1 can crushed tomatoes (32 ounces)
Coarse salt and pepper
16 ounces pasta
1/2 cup heavy cream
20 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn
Flour as needed

Instructions:


1. Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Add oil, butter, garlic, and shallots. Gently saute shallots for 3 to 5 minutes to develop their sweetness. Add vodka to the pan, 3 turns around the pan in a steady stream will equal about 1 cup. Reduce vodka by half, this will take 2 or 3 minutes

2. Add vegetable stock, tomatoes. Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper

3. While sauce simmers, cook pasta in salted boiling water until cooked to al dente (with a bite to it)

4. Stir cream into sauce. If sauce appears to be too thin, add a tablespoon of flour to thicken repeating as many times as necessary. When sauce returns to a bubble, remove it from heat. Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with sauce and basil leaves

Courtesy of Rachael Ray, Food Network