Ever Hot Soup

Erik coined the phrase "Ever hot soup" for this. It has to do with the potatoes really- they hold their heat so well, he's nearly burned his tongue after thinking he let it cool enough.
I've been making this soup for a few years now. The recipe came from Kathleen Daelmans from a Food Network show called Cooking Thin. It is a low fat, healthy soup that makes a very satisfying meal on a cold day. It also only uses one pot, which is great for weeknight meal cleanup. I _never_ would have thought about steaming/poaching fish on top of a soup before I saw her show about it. Before this dish, in my mind, white fish = fried with fries. This soup turned that around for me.
I am sure I've altered the recipe a bit through making it over and over again- sort of like playing telephone with myself- but here's how I do it. To begin, you saute some chopped onion until it's soft and then add some chopped garlic (in a pot you can make the rest of the soup in). Then you add a can of stewed tomatoes (which you can chop up into smaller chunks if they are big half-tomatoes), about 2lbs of either red bliss or other boiling potatoes, chopped into bite-sized chunks and enough chicken stock or broth to cover the potatoes. Add some salt, dried herbs of your choice (I usually go with some oregano and maybe basil), and if you want a little kick, some red pepper flakes. Let this come to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are _almost_ done. At that point, lay a whole cod fillet (you could probably use haddock too, the original recipe just called for cod so that's why I've always used) on top of the soup and cover until the fish has turned opaque and starts to flake apart.
I finished the meal off with some garlic bread this time and it was a wonderfully comforting Winter meal, without the guilt of some of my usual "comfort foods."

For you, I'll make an exception

I invented a new salad this week that has challenged my usual preferences in salad. Previously, I have been prejudice against salads with fruit involved. I liked my salads savory, and don't go near me with Raspberry Vinaigrette. Recently, though, we had a friend visit who brought a salad that had pomegranate seeds in it and where I normally would have shunned such an offering (on a restaurant menu, say), I tried it because I wanted to be appreciative of my guest. I was shocked at how much I actually enjoyed it! I am a fan of pomegranate, so that wasn't a breakthrough, but to have it on mesclun greens was all new to me. This inspired me to branch out of my comfort zone and make a green salad that utilized fruit for myself. I remembered a salad that was popular in restaurants in recent years that had Granny Smith apples, gorganzola and walnuts. I took that as a jumping off point. I don't like walnuts much, so I went with cashews instead. The Granny Smiths sounded good, and I love gorganzola, plus I wanted to go with the pomegranate seeds again. To dress the salad I made my own "apple vinaigrette." I used apple cider vinegar, a splash of apple juice, a pinch of sugar, salt, pepper, some oregano and then drizzled in the olive oil while whisking to create an emulsion. The dressing turned out really well, and thickened nicely after a lot of whisking. This is something I will definitely experiment with more in the future (although I still wouldn't say I'm a big fan of the raspberry version). I may never buy another bottle of vinaigrette again!

It Brings a Tier to my Eye

Papa gave me a set of 3-inch tall, round cake pans in sizes 8, 10, 12 and 14 inch for Christmas. I have been watching a lot of Cake Boss lately, and fancy myself a baker. I had to try out my new found affinity to see what I could accomplish. First, I needed some more hardware, so I purchased a large off set spatula, a set of spatulas/groomers that can do fun lines in the side of cakes if you want, or are just good for smoothing, and a turn table to put the cake on and spin it to make frosting easier. I figured, if this is going to be a new hobby, I might as well go all-out.
I knew I wanted to do a pound cake for stability and a butter cream frosting. I researched some recipes, and found the frosting recipe in another Christmas gift (Thank you, Becky)- The New Best Recipe book by Cooks Illustrated. I went to the grocery store and bought _A LOT_ of baking pantry items. I didn't actually need them all for this particular cake, but the pile of them looked impressive on the counter.
Thankfully, my pans came with a handy chart of how much batter and frosting you need for each size pan. I figured out I needed two batches of the pound cake recipe and frosting recipe to do the job. I think I ended up spending almost $10 on butter alone!

The cake recipe was pretty straight forward. I love the use of sour cream in pound cake, and did I mention the butter? I could tell from stealing a lick on the spatula it was going to be good- provided I didn't over cook it. I had never cooked in 3-inch pans before so I was a bit nervous. Once again, my handy chart proved very useful to give me a ballpark to work with. What surprised me though, was that the 10-inch only took a few minutes longer than the 8-inch. I had expected more of a difference there, but it's possible my 8-inch was just _slightly_ overdone.
The real fun (and new territory for me) began with the butter cream frosting. What a fun chemistry experiment in the kitchen! The first step involves whisking eggs and sugar together in a double boiler until it reaches 160 degrees to cook the eggs. You have to keep whisking constantly (although not terribly fast) to avoid having scrambled eggs. When you do it right, it turns into this gorgeous creamy substance that only gets better after a spin in the kitchen aid (which also cools it down to room temperature- important before adding the butter). I was enthralled by my beautiful creation.
Then you add the butter in, a table spoon at a time while the machine in running. Halfway through (one whole stick added), my lovely, smooth mixture became a disgusting looking, curdled mess.

But that's okay! In fact, thankfully, or I might have started crying at this point, the book warned me of this happening. Just keep adding the butter and magically, that smooth consistency returns, only thicker and stands up on the whisk instead of ribboning off. This is why I love cooking so much.
When the cakes were cooled, it was time for frosting. First, I cut the cakes in half so I could add a layer of chocolate frosting (just from a can, it was a last minute decision and I happened to have a can in my pantry) in the middle. Then, I leveled off the tops of the cakes (as best I could eye ball anyway). Next, it was time for the "crumb layer" of frosting. This is the first layer of frosting to keep all the cake crumbs in so that your next layer can be all pretty. This is important after shaving off the tops of the cakes to level them because that natural crusty outer protection is gone on top and it's crumbs gone wild underneath! I found the butter cream to be a bit soft and was worried I wouldn't get anywhere near a smooth finish in the next layer, but after the cake was in the fridge to "set up" a bit after the crumb layer, the second layer went on easier.
To build the cake, I cut out a piece of cardboard the size of the top layer and covered it with aluminum foil and sat the smaller layer on that. I cut straws the height of the bottom layer and put 5 in the middle. I was going to do wooden dowels, but 1) I forgot to buy them and 2) it was only a two-tier and the pound cake was dense enough to hold some weight on its own. Once both cakes were frosted, I plopped the top one on the bottom. Admittedly, I missed slightly, as it wasn't perfectly centered. Then I decided to practice with my star tip on my pastry bag. I figure the only way to be able to produce the perfect little star every time is do practice... a lot. So here is my "Stars Gone Wild" two-tiered cake.

Here's to you, 2009!

We spent a quiet evening at home for New Year's Eve (two small kids will do that to you). As I looked back on this year, I contemplated one cocktail that I would like to say goodbye to it with. I decided on a Cosmopolitan. Sadly, I didn't have Cointreau, so used Triple Sec instead. I also make it slightly heavy on the cranberry juice, as I'm a light weight drinker. It was very festive, though, and a great way to hold up a glass to 2009! Happy New Year!