Homestyle Butternut Squash Soup

HOMESTYLE BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

(courtesy of cooks.com)

5 tablespoons chopped white onions 1/2 clove garlic, ground 2 1/4 cup cubed butternut squash 3 tablespoons butter 1/4 cup vegetable stock 3/4 cup chicken broth 3 cups water 1/8 teaspoon ground thyme or basil 1 bay leaf 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper a pinch of ginger 1/3 cup light cream 2 potatoes, cubed Sauté onions and garlic with butter. Add squash, potatoes, vegetable stock, chicken broth, and water, and bay leaf. Stir in peppers and thyme or basil. Add a pinch of ginger, and bring to a boil for about 18-20 minutes. In blender, puree the soup with light cream and any additional ingredients you would like to add.

Sonoma Chicken Salad

Sonoma Chicken Salad

(courtesy of Whole Foods)

Ingredients

Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
5 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Salad
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup pecan pieces, toasted
2 cups red seedless grapes
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced

(I like to add a couple apples, chopped, as well)

Method

In a bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, honey, poppy seeds, salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to dress the salad. This can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cook, cool and dice chicken. Mix with salad ingredients. Toss and coat with dressing. Serve plain or with lettuce on bread (kaiser roll, croissant, raisin bread, etc) as a sandwich.

Pizza Margherita

Actually, there's no alcohol content in this pizza! But the flavor will intoxicate you. And the crust, WOW! It tastes and feels like restaurant quality. The key is that you try to use the best ingredients you can find (and afford) since this recipe calls for only a few things to really bring out the flavor. Recipe by Williams Sonoma.

(Taken from my friend, Jennie's awesome recipe blog here)

Crust

5 tsp active dry yeast

2 1/4 cups warm water (1-5-115F)

2 tsp sugar

1/4 cup oil

5 cups bread flour

1 tbsp sea salt

Topping

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup loosely packed fresh basil, finely shredded
6 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

1 lb fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced 1/4" inch thick (the wetmozzarella that's sold as a chunk)

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Making the dough.

Dissolve yeast and warm water in large mixing bowl and let stand for 5 minutes, until slightly foamy. Add sugar, oil, salt and 4 cups of flour. Knead on low speed until soft smooth and elastic, adding the remaining cup of flour slowly as needed for the dough to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Prepare a large bowl, lightly greased with oil. Transfer dough into greased bowl and forming into a ball and rotating in the oil so the dough ball is round and smooth. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm area until double in size, about 1 hour.

For a more flavorful dough (and it's worth it), let rise as stated above, then punch down dough with palm of hand, recover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator in the morning so it's ready to work on a 4PM for dinner prep.

OR you can skip the refrigeration and just punch down dough(after the first rise, of course) with palm of hand and cut/divide dough in half. Lightly oil your counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Gently shape into loose balls and cover with plastic wrap for a short second rise of 10 min.

In your oven, move the rack to the lower third in your oven (in mine, it's the second to the bottom slot) place your baking stone on rack. Preheat oven with stone in, to 475 F degrees for 30 minutes.

Back to the dough. Lightly dust the dough with flour. Roll it out using a rolling pin and starting from the center, working out to the edges, until you have made a 12-14 inch round. If you have a baker's peel (a large spatula designed for lifting and transferring pizza dough) then you can skip the following step.

Lightly flour the top of an inverted half-sheet pan (turn your cookie sheet upside down basically). Transfer your spread out dough round to the floured sheet.

Add the toppings equally for each of the two pizzas in the following order: parmesan cheese, basil, tomatoes (make sure they're seeded & not too wet!). Add mozzarella slices, nestled around the tomatoes. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Remove hot pizza stone from oven and transfer the dough with a baker's peel or the cookie sheet method onto the stone. You may need a second set of hands for that part.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until crust is crisp and golden brown. Slice and Serve. Repeat process with second pizza. Enjoy!

Blueberry Breakfast Casserole

This is a favorite that my mother often makes for Easter, Christmas, or other special occasions. Now that I'm surrounded by Maine blueberries I am taking the opportunity to make it myself!

Overnight Blueberry Breakfast Casserole (courtesy of Desktop Cookbook) Ingredients - 1 loaf french bread, cut into 1 inch cubes - 10 oz cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes - 1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries - 12 eggs, beaten - 2 cups milk - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract - 1/3 cup syrup - 1 cup white sugar - 2 tablespoons cornstarch - 1 cup water - 1 cup frozen blueberries - 1 tablespoon butter Instructions Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with remaining bread cubes. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover with plastic cling wrap, and press down so all bread is coating/soaking in egg mixture. Refrigerate overnight. Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle 1/2 cup blueberries over top. Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned. In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked French toast.

Cucumber Dill Salad

Cucumber-Dill Salad (courtesy of Pat Gold)

Serves 4

• 1 seedless European cucumber, or 2 American cucumbers
• 3 tablespoons cider or white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small red onion, sliced and broken into rings
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill

Wash the cucumber(s) and partially remove the peel in lengthwise strips using a vegetable peeler or fork and leaving a little skin between each strip. Thinly slice the cucumber widthwise. Place the vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper in a bowl and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cucumber, onion, and dill, and toss well. The salad can be served at once, but it will improve in flavor if you let the ingredients marinate for 5 minutes.

The World's Most Dangerous Cake***

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

(Courtesy of http://newdressaday.wordpress.com/)

(**most dangerous because I am just 5 minutes away from this delicious cake at any one time! SO not conducive to self-control! Yikes!)

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (Microwave Safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly before pouring in the milk and oil in. Keep mixing. Add the optional chocolate chips next (who makes that an option!) and vanilla extract, and mix again…

Mmm, cake batter!

Put your mug in the micro wave and cook for three minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed! Allow it to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

This is too easy!!

EAT ! (this can serve two if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

OSM!! (Optional Sharing Method!)

Fabulous French Bread

Fabulous French Bread (courtesy of Jamie)

Yield: 3 loaves

• 1 TBSP shortening
• 1 TBSP coarse salt {or 1/2 TBSP regular salt}
• 2 TBSP sugar
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup cold water
• 1/3 cup lukewarm water
• 1 TBSP yeast
• 5 - 6 cups white all purpose flour {I used bread flour}
• 2 rounded TBSP dough enhancer {my addition}
• 1 egg

Step 1: Place the 1 cup hot water in the microwave for 3 minutes to get it boiling.

Step 2: Dissolve the yeast into the warm water. Stir it around until it is all mixed.

Step 3: Combine the salt, shortening, and sugar in the bottom of your mixer with a fork. The dough hook doesn't work very well. You need to smash up the mixture until it resembles the picture above. {I used my whisk attachment on high. It took about a minute and was perfect.}

Step 4: Pour the boiling water over the shortening mixture. Mix slightly to combine.

Step 5: Pour the cold water in next.

Step 6: Then pour the warm water and yeast into the mixer.

Step 7: Begin to add the flour, one cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the side of your mixer. Add the dough enhancer at this time, along with the flour. The dough should be balmy but not sticky.

Step 8: Let the dough mix on high for 8 minutes.

Step 9: Let the dough rise in the mixer for about 20 minutes. {This step can actually be skipped if you are in a hurry, but I recommend it as it allows the dough the chance to rest and improves the flavor and texture.}

Step 10: Separate the dough into three parts and place on a large jelly roll pan sprayed with cooking spray. Let the dough sit for about 5 minutes. Letting it sit will make it MUCH easier to shape.

Step 11: Spread the dough out with your hands. Stretch it slightly until you have an oval about 1" in thickness. Roll the dough up into a log shape. Take the ends of the log and fold them into the middle, with the ends touching. Turn the loaf seam-side down onto a greased pan. I used my french bread pans, but you could also use a jelly roll pan. Repeat with remaining dough.

Step 12: Using a sharp knife, quickly cut 3 diagonal slits into the top of each loaf.

Step 13: Whisk egg until frothy. Cover loaves with egg wash, making sure to get in each slit.

Step 14: Place the loaves in a warm 170 degree oven and let rise for about 15 minutes.

Step 15: Turn the oven up to 400 degrees and re-set your timer for 15 minutes. {Leave the loaves in while the oven increases in temperature.}

Step 16: Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and turn the pan around in the oven. Bake for another 10-12 minutes, until the loaves are a nice golden brown.

Enjoy!

Also- Don't be intimidated by all the steps! I simply wanted to break the recipe down and make it easier to follow. Like I said, read it over a couple times, print it out and have it right by you in the kitchen. It really is easy!