Cream of Broccoli Soup

This is another recipe from a faculty potluck.  Teachers are great cooks, too.

1 Tbsp butter                              ½ tsp nutmeg

1 medium onion, chopped           1 can cream of mushroom soup  

1 C broth                                    1 C sour cream

1 10 oz frozen chopped broccoli, slightly thawed 

           OR 2 C fresh broccoli, cooked and chopped

In saucepan, sauté the onion in the butter until softened.  Add the broth, broccoli, and nutmeg.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.  Pour hot mixture into a blender with some soup.  Hold lid down tightly and blend on high speed until smooth or to your desired amount of chunkiness. Add sour cream and blend again for 5 seconds.  (I leave some chunks, using an immersion blender.)

Serve hot or cold. (Nutmeg flavor shines better when heated.)  This soup mellows and tastes better if made at least 24 hours before serving.  May be stored in the refrigerator up to a week.                                              Serves 6           

Fukunaga French Toast

Many of the recipes that have become favorites come from Sunset.  This one is from their Breakfast and Brunch Cookbook. It’s a splurge of calories, but once in awhile, go for it!  Serve with sausage and syrup.

1 loaf sourdough bread, sliced 1” thick

½ C flour                                  6 eggs

2 Tbsp sugar                            1 ½ C milk

½ tsp cinnamon                         salad oil for cooking

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

            Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl or 9 x 13” pan.  In another bowl, beat eggs and mix in milk.  Whisk into dry ingredients.  Add bread slices and soak until completely saturated.

            In a wide frying pan over medium low heat, add about ¼ inch of oil. When oil is hot, add a few slices at a time.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until browned and slightly puffy; turn and brown other side. Drain on paper towels; keep warm.  Repeat until all slices have been cooked.  

Cocoa Apple Cake

One night I wanted to make this cake, but I didn’t have apples, so I adapted it by using applesauce.  It is so much easier.  I've made it with grated apples, and I prefer the one with applesauce.

Even though there isn't a lot of cocoa and chocolate chips in it, it s a chocolate cake.  Everyone wants the recipe.

1 C butter                                 1 tsp allspice

1½ C sugar                                2 C applesauce

3 eggs                                      ½ C water or coffee

2½ C flour                                ½ C chocolate chips

1 tsp baking soda                      1 C chopped walnuts

2 Tbsp cocoa                            2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

             Grease and flour a Bundt pan well.  Preheat oven to 325^o.

Cream butter and sugar.  Mix in eggs.  Sift dry ingredients.  Add to creamed mixture.  It may look a little unappetizing, but it'll be fine.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour.  Let cool slightly before turning out of pan.  Great on it's own, but even better with ice cream.

Cape Cod Cranberry Pie

This tastes so good right out of the oven on a wintry night.

1 pkg cranberries, sorted and rinsed 

¼ C brown sugar*

¼ C chopped nuts

1 egg

½ C sugar 

½ C flour

1/3 C melted butter

whipped cream or ice cream

Preheat oven to 325^o.  Butter a 9-10” pie plate and spread cranberries in it. Sprinkle with brown sugar and nuts.

In a bowl, beat egg until thick; gradually add sugar, then add melted butter and flour.  Pour over cranberries.  

Bake for 45 minutes or until golden on top.  Cut into wedges and serve warm.  It's great topped with whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream.

*King Arthur Baking has a similar recipe, but half the cranberries, and twice as much everything else.

Nantucket Cranberry Cake

Yogurt Panna Cotta

This is one of the simplest desserts to make, and takes only a few minutes of preparation time, plus the time it takes to set up in the refrigerator, 2+ hours.  It is light and refreshing, too.

4 tablespoons (60 ml) water
2 1/2 teaspoons (1 packet or 1/4 ounce or 7 grams) unflavored gelatin
2 cups (460 grams) plain whole-milk Greek or regular yogurt*
1 ½-2 cups (475 ml) milk, heavy cream or a combination thereof, divided**
1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons (30 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)

To serve

Fresh berries, or a berry sauce***
1/3 to 1/2 cup (110 to 170 grams) honey
1/2 to 3/4 cup (55 to 85 grams) walnuts, toasted, cooled and coarsely chopped

       Have enough small dessert cups. (You will have about 4 cups of liquid.)

       Place water in a small bowl. Stir in gelatin and set aside until the gelatin softens, about 15 minutes. 

        In a large bowl, whisk all of yogurt and 1 cup** of milk, cream or a mixture thereof. In a small saucepan, bring remaining milk or cream and sugar to a simmer. Stir in water-gelatin mixture (it will dissolve immediately) and remove from heat. Whisk this mixture into the yogurt mixture, then stir in lemon juice at the end. Pour mixture into small cups and chill in fridge for at least 2 hours.  It’s best to do this the night before you need it, to be safe.

         Right before you serve the panna cotta, sprinkle it with walnuts and drizzle it with honey, berries or berry sauce. This needs to be done right before you serve it because the honey will (unfortunately) become liquidy and roll off if it sits on the panna cotta for too long. 

Do ahead: Panna cottas can be made two days ahead. Keep refrigerated. 

*  Greek yogurt will result in a little firmer set.

**For a firmer panna cotta, reduce the milk or cream by up to 1/2 cup.

https://smittenkitchen.com/2013/04/yogurt-panna-cotta-with-walnuts-and-honey/

***Berry Sauce

2/3 cup frozen blueberries

2/3 cup frozen blackberries

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preparation

Combine the 5 ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; gently simmer 10-20 minutes or longer until sauce thickens slightly.  It will continue to thicken as it cools.

Twice-Cooked Pork Tenderloin

1 boneless pork tenderloin, about 1 pound

 Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons butter, extra virgin olive oil, or a combination

¼ cup marsala or white wine

¼ cup cream

1 tablespoon lemon juice OR Dijon mustard

 Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish, optional

Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. Put a large skillet over medium-high heat; when heated, add 2 tablespoons butter and/or oil. When butter foam subsides or oil dimples, add meat (cut in half to fit pan, if necessary). Brown it well on all sides, for a total of 4 to 6 minutes. Turn off heat, remove meat from pan, and let it sit on a board. When skillet has cooled a bit, proceed.

Cut meat into 1-inch-thick slices. Once again turn heat to medium-high, add remaining butter and/or oil and, when it's hot, add pork slices to pan. Brown on each side, about 2 or 3 minutes each. Turn heat to low and remove meat to a warm platter.

Add marsala or wine to pan, turn heat to high, and cook, stirring and scraping, for a minute. Lower heat slightly, add cream and cook until slightly thickened. Stir in lemon juice or mustard, then taste and adjust seasoning. Serve meat with sauce spooned on top, garnished, if you like, with parsley.

Original recipe from here.  

Upside-down Apple Pie

Don't let the caramelizing scare you.  If you're uncertain, look online for more tips or videos.   (Here is a link: Caramelize-Sugar.  Use the second method, Dry caramelization.) Otherwise it's an easy and impressive dessert or teatime treat. 

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed

4 apples, peeled, cored, and quartered*

½ C sugar 

3 Tbsp butter
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg

Trim puff pastry to a little larger than the top of 10” pie plate.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375.

Over moderate heat, caramelize sugar in a light-colored skillet (9-10”) so you can monitor the color more accurately. 

As the sugar begins to brown, use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to move the liquefied sugar from the edges of the pan to the center.

Turn the heat lower for more control, if necessary.  Watch carefully as it can turn from golden brown to burnt quickly, if not watched carefully!

With heat turned down, when golden amber color is reached, add butter and stir until it melts and mixes together.

Add apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the caramel.  Caramel may clump up, but it will remelt as it continues to heat up.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until the caramel is smooth and liquid again.

Place apples in the pie plate with rounded side down, starting around the rim and fill in the middle using all the apples.  Pour caramel over the apples.

Place trimmed pastry on top, pushing the edges down over the apples.  Bake for 35-45 minutes, until pastry is golden.

Carefully flip over onto a platter with slightly sloped sides to catch any juices.

Serve warm with ice cream.

*You could use a variety of other fruit such as peaches or pears.  Berries would be delicious, but not as impressive looking.