Cauliflower Soup with Roasted Red Peppers Relish and Bacon Lardoons

Inspired by Fine Cooking

Makes about 5 cups of soup

• Cauliflower florets from a medium head
• 4 Tbs unsalted butter
• Freshly ground pepper
• Kosher salt
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted and diced
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 4 slices bacon, cut into lardoons

For the soup:  Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a 4 quart pot over high heat.  Add 1 tsp salt and the florets and boil until very tender, about 12 - 14 minutes.  Drain into a colander positioned over a bowl as to catch the cooking liquid.  Set the cauliflower aside to cool slightly.

Working in batches, puree the cauliflower with some reserved cooking liquid and the butter in a blender until very smooth.  Season to taste with salt.

For the roasted red pepper garnish:  Turn on the broiler.  Wash and dry the red peppers and place them on a foil lined sheet pan.  Broil until charred, turning to char all sides.  Remove from broiler and place in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap or foil.  Set aside to steam for 10 - 15 minutes. 

In the meantime, fry the bacon lardoons until crispy and drain on toweling. 

Once the peppers have steamed, remove the outer skins from the pepper (do not rinse).  Stem and seed as necessary.  Dice the peppers and place them in a small bowl.  Combine peppers with olive oil, minced garlic, herbs and red pepper flakes and bacon (keep bacon seperate until ready to serve).

Ladle soup into individual bowls and spoon pepper relish over top.

I have been contemplating our Christmas Menu this year and traditionally my family prepares a carbon copy of our Thanksgiving Menu.  This year I bravely decided to break with tradition and go my own way.  I say bravely as it has probably been about 100 years or so since someone has deviated from this tradition, but when Jason and I had our first child (sweet Chandler) we took over the holiday entertaining and well this year we have a very small gathering.  So I decided to deviate from tradition and I feel fairly confident that I will not be tarred and feathered (gossiped and shunned, maybe).  So I am sure at some point before the New Year a turkey will be gracing our table, but it will be more as an excuse for this pregnant mama to have a large supply of leftovers to transform into yummy, versitle and inexpensive meals for her family, than a holiday centerpiece (with 50 sides).

So this year for Christmas I am thinking of the following menu…  None of which I have prepared before *rut ro* so I thought I would do a little last minute (very last minute)  tasting session and post the recipes and results here in the days leading up to Christmas.

 The menu I am working on goes something like this (click on highlighted item for a link to the recipes)…

Cocktail:  Sparkling Cosmos

Soup:  Cauliflower Soup garnished with Roasted Red Peppers and Bacon Lardoons 

Starter:  Crab and Scallion Stuffed Shrimp

Main:  Crown Roast of Pork  Maple-Mustard Crusted Pork Loin 

Side:  Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Side:  French Green Beans with Garlic

Dessert:  Creme Brulee

The menu is based on items that can be prepared ahead (soup, shrimp stuffing, creme brulee, brining the pork) and things that can share the oven (it may be the smallest oven ever made.  Seriously, I think the no bake oven that I had as a child was bigger than this one).  I was going to prepare a crown roast of pork (they are soooo sexy) but after much research I have decided not to go that route.  Mostly because I kept reading that to make the perfectly shaped crown, you really need 14-20 bones, on a generous roast, each bone would feed one guest.  Well, we are only entertaining two additional adult guests this year.  So I thought 14-20 servings for 4 adults and 2 kids was overkill.  Plus I didn’t order it ahead of time and I have never frenched before (haha, okay I have “frenched” before, but that’s not what I meant).  This will have to be a self imposed daring challenge for another time.  Perhaps Easter?  The Bebe will be here and we celebrate 4 out of 5 of our birthdays in the spring (Bebe, Mommy, Daddy and Taylor).

So the plan is …  Christmas Eve

1. Brine the pork 
2. Prepare the custard for the creme brulee
3. Prepare  the crab and scallion stuffing for the shrimp
4. Prepare  the breadcrumbs for the shrimp
5. Make the cauliflower soup
6. Roast and dice  the red peppers

Then on Christmas Night, roughly 1 hour before dinner …

1. Roast the pork and the potatoes for roughly an hour
2. Warm the soup (while pork is roasting) 
3. Blanch the green beans (while pork is roasting)
4. Stuff the shrimp but reserve the bread topping until time to bake
5. Prepare the cocktails (this should be #1 right??)

15 Minutes before Dinner (ha ha)

1. Remove the pork and fingerlings to rest
2. Start a pot of coffee (for dessert)
3. Top the shrimp with the breading and bake for 12-14 minutes
4. Serve the soup while the shrimp bakes
5. Saute the green beans  in slivered garlic and almonds

For the Starter…

1. Clear the soup course
2. Serve the starter course

And Finally…

1. Carved the pork
2. Plate the potatoes
3. Plate the green beans

After Dinner…

1. Brulee the tops of the custard
2. Serve with coffee

I think that will work out.  Lucky for me I have little elves that are very capable in the kitchen.

So I have a question… Do you have your big holiday dinner on Christmas Night or Christmas Eve?  And what are you serving?

Happy Ho Ho’s

~Blondie

This past weekend a friend asked me about a recipe for bacon wrapped chicken breasts.  Of which I did not have.  Prosciutto, yes.  Bacon, no.  So you can see how that would lead to obsessive Internet searches, hours pouring over my personal library of cookbooks and cooking magazines, even a trip to the bookstore.

What came of it was several worthy recipes and a healthy appetite.  One of the recipes called for Boursin, which I had just recently purchased for my Salmon en Croute, so I thought I would give it a go. 

I must say that this stuffed chicken breast has more than Boursin in common with the Salmon en Croute.  They both use very few ingredients, are a breeze to put together and are complete stunners on the plate.  To say this did not disappoint would be an understatement.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Boursin

• 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• Boursin cheese
• 4 strips of bacon

Place chicken in plastic wrap and pound to about 1/2″ thickness.  Schmear with Boursin cheese.  Roll chicken up, tucking and neatening as necessary.  Wrap each breast with two strips of bacon.  Sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper.  Place in a buttered/oiled oven proof dish and bake, uncovered,  at 375F for 45-55 minutes.

Juicy, crispy, creamy, yummy.  Easy.

 ~Blondie

This month’s Daring Challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking.  She chose Salmon en Croute or Wellington (recipe here),  a dish I am familiar with and actually make from time to time.  It’s actually a fantastic dish that can be made super glam or super homey and all in under 30 minutes.

The first couple times I made this dish I made it in individual serving sizes using puff pastry.  Super easy and super impressive.

 Then I made it in a buttered casserole dish, layering the spinach and cheese on the bottom, topping with salmon and then puff pastry.  Equally delish.  But more homestyle.

This time I took creative license and played with the scale alittle.  Perhaps I was inspired by the holiday season and upcoming cocktail parties.  Perhaps it was the desire to do something a little different.  Most likely though, it was my aversion to fish of late that fueled the creation of these smaller scaled en Croute nibbles.

So thinking along the lines of busy Wives’ and Mothers’ and easy holiday appetizers, I thought my approach would be to stroll into Costco or Sam’s and pick up the items I needed and just get on with it.  So I grabbed a bag of frozen salmon fillets, a huge bag of fresh spinach, a package of boursin and a package of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.

I sauteed the spinach in butter and olive oil and added some slivered garlic.  Then I portioned the salmon into bite size pieces - about 1″ by 2″.  I unrolled the pastry, schmeared it with Boursin, topped with about 1 tablespoon of sauteed spinach and garlic, added the salmon, seasoned lightly with kosher salt and pepper and rolled the pastry up into it’s recognizable crescent roll shape (tucking the pastry corners around the salmon before rolling in order to seal the package together).  I baked the salmon at 350F for 17 minutes, until golden on top and the salmon was cooked through.  It was that easy.

I was very pleased with how well these came out.  A little clunky and not as refined as I was hoping for, but delicious.  They were buttery and flaky from the pastry and creamy from the cheese.  The spinach and the salmon were well balanced and not over powered.  While many of the other DCers talked about how the Salmon en Croute could benefit from a boost in flavor, I think the Boursin brings enough to the table.   

I must stress that my food philosophy is generally based around making everything from scratch. I generally scoff at the Semi-Homemade or 30-minute Meals way of cooking.   But given the expectations that come with the encroaching holidays, family and friends coming around and for me a growing desire to sit with my feet up, I embraced the opportunity to take these simple shortcuts.  And was pleased with the results.  So give this appetizer version a try, with easy ingredients that are readily available.  And put your feet up a little this season.

~Blondie

 No, that’s not too much cannoli you see there!   Ha ha!  That’s right, we are expecting a new little chef!

I must confess, I am a full on cheese whore.  Shocking?  Not really, not if you know me. 

What may shock you is to know that I love cheese more than any other food out there.  I regularly have 10 to 12 kinds of cheese on hand.  From stinky cheeses, to creamy cheeses, ghetto cheeses (for the little chefs who do not know better), shredded cheeses (don’t hate, it’s super convenient for that quick ‘dilla), aged crumbly cheeses (that I hide from the little chefs) and many more.  I have Mexican cheeses, French cheeses, American cheeses, English cheeses… it goes on and on. 

I have often dreamed of making cheese for a living… ahhh, the idyllic life of a cheese maker.  Yet I have never tried making it at home.  Truth be told making cheese and cured meats are two things that I had hoped to accomplish this year, with this blog.  And well, better late than never!  Now I can cross one of these items off my list.

Fresh Cheese Draining

Ricotta Cheese

adapted from Williams Sonoma

• 1 gallon whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 ounces distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

In addition to these ingredients you will need the following equipment:

• large, heavy-bottomed nonreactive pot
• silicone spatula
• instant-read thermometer
• colander
• cheesecloth or muslin
• large bowl
• slotted spoon
• storage container

1.  Pour the milk and cream into the pot, place over medium-high heat, and heat to just below boiling.  Stir with a spatula to keep the liquid from scorching.  Just before the milk boils, the surface will start to foam and release steam.  Check the temperature and pill the pot off the heat just shy of 185F.

Almost ready

2. Add the vinegar and stir for 30 seconds.  The curds will form almost immediately.  Add the salt and stir for another 30 seconds.  Cover the pot with a dish towel and let the curds stand at room temperature for 2 hours.

3. Line the colander with a large square of cheesecloth, and place the colander over the bowl to catch the draining liquid.  Using the slotted spoon, gently transfer the curds from the pot to the colander.  Let the ricotta drain for about 30 minutes.

4. Gather the cheesecloth by its corners and twist together to force out the liquid.  When the liquid turns from clear to milky and the cheese starts to push through the cheesecloth, it has drained enough.

5. Remove the ricotta from the cheesecloth and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

Yields about 1 pound of fresh cheese.  The cheese can be stored for up to a week and used in sweet or savory applications.  And while this cheese is actually more a fresh cheese than a proper “ricotta”, after all ricotta translates to  recooked or cooked again and is usually made from the whey left over from making fresh mozzerella.  But don’t let that stop you, this cheese is so delish you will not care about this minor detail.

What should you do with it?  Well, I used this cheese in the Daring Baker Cannoli challenge (more here and here).  I flavored it simply, with powdered sugar, cinnamon and pure vanilla extract.  And I am so pleased to say that this fresh cheese  exceeded all expectations, both in the ease of making and the superior taste.

So I encourage you to go forth and open your home creamery today (or tomorrow).

~Blondie

Okay, again I’m late.  I know, I suck like that.  But this months last months challenge does not suck like that! 

The Daring challenge is cannoli and it comes from Lisa Michele at Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives.   First, I have to say, this was soooo much easier than you would think.  I even made the ricotta from scratch and still so easy.  Time consuming, but easy (recipe here). 

Second, I have to tell you that I chat with Lisa from time to time and she could not be nicer.  Her site is funny, well written, beautifully photographed and overall inspiring.  I really encourage you to visit her site and see what this over achiever is achieving today.

Rolling out cannoli dough

On the forms

Ready to dip and fill

Now as for the cannoli, I made the dough one day, along with the ricotta and rolled out, fried and assembled them the next day.  This made it even easier.  I used the pasta machine method and found that I was able to make 25 standard size cannoli out of half the recipe.  Actually less than half, as I had a walnut size ball of scraps left over.  So I would estimate that the pasta machine method would yield about 60-70 cannoli. 

The filling I used was ricotta, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla.  I omitted the chocolate, zest and nuts because the girls are, um, picky.  The cheese was fragrant and delicious.  It was equally good on berries.  

I  My little chef dipped some of the shells in melted chocolate chips and then into crushed pistachios.   

Tutu wearing little chef

This is a very rich dessert.  Despite that, I would do this project again and again and again.  It was very impressive - no one could believe that I made them from scratch.  People kept saying, “you know they had a kit at Costco…”.  And while the cannoli lends itself to the fall and winter, I can see this dessert in all different seasons.  I imagine it would be fantastic with whipped cream and fresh berries or as miniatures and served with sorbet.  

Thank you Lisa for the amazing challenge.

~Blondie