Cook pasta, reserving 1/4 C to 1/2 C of the pasta water.
Make sauce: Heat pan, add oil, add onions, salt and pepper, and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add garlic, cook 1-2 minutes.
Move veggies over to one side, and whisk flour in with oil on the other (adding more oil if needed). Cook 30-60 seconds. Add milk, slowly, whisking and letting it thicken a bit as you do. Add mustard, beans, cauliflower and pasta water (as much or as little water as you need). Slowly heat, bringing almost to a boil (stop when you start to see steam rising).
This is a recipe you will be reaching for your spatula to scrape every last sticky gooey bit from the jar – or someone else in your family will if they are so lucky!!
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 cups sugar
1 can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Combine butter, cocoa, sugar, evaporated milk in a sauce pan, over medium heat. Stir often. Bring to a boil and boil stirring constantly for 7 minutes. Put your timer on.
Remove from heat. This next step if VERY IMPORTANT you may think you can omit but it truly will change the sauce. Pour the hot sauce into a blender (remove middle plug, cover with a towel and hold down your lid) and blend for 2 to 4 minutes.
I pour it in a 1 quart canning jar and store it in the fridge.
1/2 C apple cider vinegar, divided (or 1/4 wine, 1/4 C vinegar)
salt
pepper
1 C cheese (cheddar and parmesan)
4 T olive oil
Instructions
Heat soup pot, and add oil. Add veggies (all but garlic), salt and pepper. Stir. Cover (so veggies steam a bit) and cook over med heat about 10 minutes (or until veggies are mostly soft), stirring occasionally.
Add garlic and seasonings. Cook 2-3 minutes.
Add wine or vinegar, scraping off any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. 2 minutes.
Add potatoes, milk and stock. Bring to a boil. Add spinach and herbs, cook 3 minutes.
Remove from heat. Carefully puree using an immersion blender (or regular blender, working in batches, with the center part of the lid removed – hold a towel over the opening).
Stir in cheese and remaining vinegar. Taste and add more seasoning if needed.
Serve with crostini or a crusty bread.
Notes
If you don’t have any leftover mashed potatoes, chop up 3-4 potatoes and add with the rest of the veggies!
Of course this would be great with bacon on top too! 🙂
Butternut Squash meets Browned Butter in a cozy winter soup.
Ingredients
3 C butternut squash, cubed
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 turnip, chopped
1 watermelon radish, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
4-6 T butter
2-4 T olive oil
1/4 C white wine or apple cider vinegar
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 C milk
1 1/2 C chicken or vegetable stock, or water (I used water)
pinch nutmeg
pinch cayenne
pinch smoked paprika
pinch chili powder
salt
1 T maple syrup
bacon
croutons
Instructions
Heat a soup pot, add butter and cook until it’s really brown and bubbly (it will smell really good). Add olive oil, veggies and seasonings. Cook 10 minutes, or until veggies are getting tender.
Add wine/vinegar and cook until veggies are tender and mushy.
Add water/stock and milk. Bring to a boil, cook 2 minutes or so.
Remove from heat. Using immersion blender, blend soup (careful, it splatters a lot!). (Or use a blender, working in batches, making sure to remove the center plug thingie and cover the hole with a towel – this lets the steam out, and makes it so the plug doesn’t fall in and get blended up with the soup… yes, I’ve learned this from experience.)
Return to stove. Add apple cider vinegar and cook 2 minutes.
Top with bacon and croutons.
Notes
I might top it with bacon (I did, it was great!)… because I love bacon. You could also top with crunchy pan-fried onions, oven baked croutons (slice a baguette, homemade bread, or even use sandwich bread; cube, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, chili powder, broil or bake for 5 – 10 minutes – I do this in the toaster oven, a conventional oven might take less time – keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn!)
(If you have any persimmons leftover from weeks ago, they could be added to this too: peeled and cubed, just like the squash.)
Leftovers could be turned into a pasta sauce for tomorrow’s dinner.
I hope you had a wonderful weekend! We had a fairly quiet one, filled with a few fun things. We got our Christmas tree (from Oliver Holt & Sons & Daughters a local family business, located at 4201 Magnolia in Toluca Lake – great people, great experience, always great to support a family business), finished our decorations, watched many Christmas movies, ate Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup, and had lunch at Fudruckers with friends… just to name a few things.
We also had our traditional Pizza Friday! The tradition started when I was searching for the best pizza crust recipe. I found one that I loved right away, but continued the tradition, since it was fun to have a different kind of pizza every week. It’s forced me to be creative, and has been so fun (and yummy!!). I had to be especially creative when our oven was broken for 3 weeks. Thankfully we have a toaster oven. I came up with a Layered Pizza (in baking dish that fit in the toaster), Strombolis, and Stovetop Pizza. They all turned out surprisingly well!
Over time I have been tweaking and changing the recipe to my own specifications. So, today, I’m going to share it with you; my version of Pizza Crust. It still might need a bit of tweaking, but, since it’s being featured on this week’s upcoming A Cooking Show with Rachel O – This Week’s Feast, I’ll share it now, and post updates if necessary.
Happy Pizza Eating!!
Rachel’s Pizza Crust
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine (Adapted from My Recipes.com*)
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4-6
My version of pizza crust!
Ingredients
1 to 1 1/2 t salt
1 t plus 1 1/2 T honey
1 1/2 T olive oil
3/4 C whole wheat flour
2 1/4 to 3 C all purpose flour
1 C water (between 100-110 degrees F)
1 T yeast
rosemary, oregano, thyme, basil or other fresh herbs (optional)
Instructions
Mix yeast, 1 t honey and hot water (between 100-110 degrees F) together with a whisk. Set aside and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.*
Mix all the whole wheat and 2 1/4 C all purpose flour and salt together. Add honey and oil. Add yeast mixture and mix with a spoon. (You can also mix all wet ingredients together first, then add to flours and salt. I’ve tried it both ways, and both work.)
As the dough starts to come together, it will be sticky. Add more flour as needed. When you can no longer mix with a spoon, flour the counter (or other favorite kneading spot) and begin to knead dough, adding more flour as needed. Knead for about 5 minutes.
Oil a bowl (doesn’t have to be a new bowl). Place dough in bowl, turning to coat. Place in a warm spot, and cover with a clean, damp tea towel and let rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour). If you’re not going to use the dough that day, leave in the fridge for a day or so, or freeze** it.
When you’re ready to bake, divide the dough in half, flour a pizza stone (or pan). Roll out, or stretch out dough (or you can toss it if you know how). Either roll out over the edge of the pan and fold back up to make crust, or just make an indent all the way around the edge with your finger, to make crust.
Bake 5 minutes at 475F.
Remove from oven. Top with desired toppings. Bake 6-8 minutes at 475F.
Notes
*Yeast should be foamy on top when you use it. If nothing has happened, after 10-15 minutes, you should start over. The water could have been too hot or too cold (I use a meat thermometer to check), or the yeast could be old.[br] ** To defrost pizza dough: remove from freezer and leave in the fridge the day before you want to use it. Or, if you forget to take it out of the freezer, place sealed bag in a bowl of hot water. Let it sit until it’s soft (maybe 30 minutes or so). To speed it up, you could add more hot water once or twice.[br] You could try this without kneading or letting it rise – I’ve made other recipes this way and they’ve worked… let me know if you try it and how it turns out![br] Recipe makes 2 crusts.
