The Buttercream Gang

I decided to say "eff it" to no sweets for today. Not that I'm going to go crazy or anything, I just have that vanilla sugar cookie dough in the freezer, and it's too good not to use some.

I want a simple frosting for the cookies, so the natural answer is a quick vanilla buttercream. Rather than a traditional buttercream (made by beating hot egg whites with sugar, then mixing in soft butter), I'll make a quick version with confectionary sugar, butter, heavy cream, vanilla extract and the seeds from a vanilla bean (these are going to be some violently vanilla cookies).

I don't really have the time to fool around with decorations, so I'm thinking simple round or square cookies with frosting - maybe using fork tines or something to that effect to further design the cookies, but we'll see if the frosting can hold up.

Gratuitously Vanilla Cookies

I used a recipe of the vanilla sugar cookies only this time I had brown sugar and I added the delicious innards of a vanilla bean.

Frosting
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
2 -3 tbsp heavy cream

Mix the sugar and butter together on low speed in a stand mixer (or with a hand model) until well combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes. Add vanilla, vanilla beans, and cream beating for 1 minute more. Add a little more cream if necessary to get to spreading consistency.



Gratuitously vanilla sugar cookie, meet chocolate milk.

Cooking Up is Hard to Do

At least it is right now. The quarter is winding down and the weather has made it difficult to cook. I'm trying to back down on my intake of sweets lately as well, so I've got some delicious vanilla sugar cookie dough just setting and waiting in my freezer to be enjoyed.

I did attempt, this last weekend, to make the BLT soup. Frankly, I need bacon. I began by slow roasting some garlic cloves in a couple tablespoons of bacon fat. I then removed the garlic and added some flour to make a roux. After that began cooking, I added onions and sauteed until they were soft and the roux was a nice toasty brown color.

After that I added a couple quarts of my mother's home-canned tomatoes as well as a bunch of kale. Oh yes, I also added the roasted garlic, chopped back in as well. Basically, the taste of bacon came out very subtly, overwhelmed by the roasted garlic and tomato. It's not a bad soup at all, in fact it's quite tasty, and I especially like the kale. However, it's certainly not a BLT soup. I think, if I ever make this again, the use of croutons will be required, crispy bacon will make an appearance, the garlic will be reduced, and in all likelihood I'll keep the kale.

I do have to say I love my greens. Specifically, I love them sauteed with a little garlic, salt, and pepper. In the mean time I'm at a loss for what to make and I'm not in the best position to get ingredients, so future posting may have to wait. I do see meatballs, or perhaps vegetarian meatballs, in my future - maybe spaghetti? maybe chili?

Updates

I have a few posts I really need to finish:

A delicious brunch this weekend (sadly without pictures :/)

Sugar cookies for my class tomorrow (because it's Valentine's day and, apparently, I teach elementary kids :P)

Cinnamon Rolls? I've really been wanting to make some lately - but time is a factor this weekend and they are definitely time consuming.

Then, of course, I need time to actually update/create these posts... but they will come. Also, this week or, perhaps, next weekend: BLT soup... yeah seriously.

Happy Birthday

As of today, my blog is 1 full year old!

I'm kind of excited that I've been able to keep up regular posts and keep this thing going for a full year. I guess my goal now is to keep it up. This is a project I started, more or less, for myself. I hoped to encourage some creative ideas and take leaps I may not have taken otherwise. There's a lot I've done poorly, a lot I've done well, and a lot I'm just surprised I did at all (beer ice cream much?!)

It's needless to say that I'm really glad I started this blog.



Here's to hoping that the best is yet to come.

Meat and Potatoes

The setting: My apartment when I'm in need of a break from research and writing my Master's Essay.

The potatoes: drizzled with olive oil, two cloves of smashed garlic, salt, and pepper. Roasted at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes. Why stop there? I decided to mash them with butter and a little milk. Crispy, roasted, mashed potatoes? WIN.

The meat: a steak, a delicious steak.



The method: I found this over on the Ideas in Food blog. Basically you take a cast iron skillet, sprinkle on some salt, let it get hot (start smoking) then put in the steak, turn down the heat to medium and turn regularly. You get an even caramelized, salty crust on the steak. Let it rest for 10 minutes to keep it at its juiciest.

My method: no cast iron skillet so I used a regular saute pan with an incredibly light coating of oil, sprinkling of salt, and everything else.

I made a jus after the steak was done - reduced wine and beef broth. Finished with a pat of butter. Simple.



The steak was amazing, but it will be even better when I bring up my cast iron skillet after spring break.



Also, I need to take less crappy pictures. Either way, it was a great Friday night dinner. I may need veggies at some point though, so lentil and canellini soup this weekend.

Drowning in Vanilla

In the past, I've made vanilla extract to give as gifts to my extended family. The process is fairly simple: just let a few vanilla beans soak in some vodka/bourbon/frangelico* for about 6 months, shaking once a week or so. Over time the liquor will darken and smell strongly of vanilla. One large jug of booze = 3 - 4 vanilla beans.



This time though, I've got LOADS of vanilla beans (about 21). I've placed 18 in a glass container half-filled with vodka. This process keeps the beans plump. I should note that you can still use the beans that have been soaking in vodka. Simply pull one out, snip off an end, and the delicious vanilla beans come right out.



The remaining 3 vanilla beans have found their way into another jar filled with sugar that will, naturally, become vanilla sugar. I'm immensely excited about all of these vanilla beans. I think my first order of business is to make some crema di limoncello liquor and share some with my friends.



*I've personally tried vodka and bourbon. Vodka, in my opinion, is the best because it doesn't have such a strong flavor for the vanilla to compete against. My friend Mallory, the one who procured the vanilla beans, mentioned that her fiance (who has been to culinary school) highly recommends using frangelico.

New England Clam Chowder with Mung Beans

*You can totally make this without the Mung Beans*

This is my first attempt at a crockpot soup. It's pretty basic and straightforward. Naturally, the only crazy ingredients are clams and clam juice, heh.

Crockpot Clam Chowder with Mung Beans and Roasted Garlic

1 head of garlic
1 tsp + 1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
2-3 stalks of celery, diced
2 tbsp flour
1 cup white wine

4-5 medium yukon gold potatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

3 8oz cans clams
1 12oz jar clam juice

1 8oz can fat free evaporated milk
1/2 cup heavy cream

Let's begin by roasting the garlic. Cut the top of the garlic off, exposing the tops of the cloves. Drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and place in a shallow baking dish. Add 1/2 cup water to the dish and bake at 450 degrees for 45 minutes or until the garlic cloves are roasted, caramelized, and deliciously sweet.

Next, in a pan set over medium heat, drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil and let the pan and oil get hot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery, sauteing until brown, about 20 minutes. Add the flour to the veggies and cook an additional 2-3 minutes to remove the floury taste. Whisk in the wine and let it come to a boil and thicken slightly. Transfer the contents of the pan to the pot of a crockpot or slow cooker. Add the roasted garlic and all of the rest ingredients except for the evaporated milk and cream. Stir or whisk to dissolve the roux and break apart the roasted garlic (you can also mash the garlic before adding it to the soup).




Cook on high for 3 hours or low for about 5-6 hours. Add the milk and cream during the last hour of cooking. It's hard to beat some delicious, crusty bread with this soup. Also, for the health factor we've got clams that are great for zinc and selenium, potatoes that provide potassium and a good complex carbohydrate to balance the protein in the milk and clams. Additionally, for being so rich, it's relatively low in fat (since 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 tbsp oil is really the only fat in the soup - about 60 grams for the entire pot which constitutes roughly 6-8 16 oz servings).



YUM!