Spinach and White Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage

I wanted to make something simple, comforting, and healthy for dinner tonight. For me, that means soup. Soup is a great way to use up vegetables that you have in your refrigerator that are about to go bad. It's filling, but not heavy, and it's a great weeknight meal. The vegetable I needed to use up was spinach. I had a large amount of baby spinach, and it had been in my fridge for some time, so I needed to make a dish that would use all of it. This is a very simple soup made with ingredients I already had on hand. It was so easy to make, and only took about 10 minutes to throw together, and about 20 to cook.


Spinach and White Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, or 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2-14 oz cans of low sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup water
  
• 1-12 oz. package fully cooked chicken sausage (I used Spinach, Fontina, and Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage from Trader Joe's)
• 1-15 oz. can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 1/2 cups (packed) baby spinach, roughly chopped
• freshly ground black pepper

-Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they are soft, but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 1-2 minutes longer.

-Add the chicken broth, water, chicken sausage, and beans. Bring the soup to a boil and add the baby spinach. Simmer over low heat until the spinach wilts and the flavors come together (about 10-15 minutes), season with freshly ground black pepper and salt if necessary. (I used low sodium chicken broth because the chicken sausage I used was already quite salty, and I didn't need to add any extra salt to the soup)

Pecan Tassies

I made these "miniature" pecan pies for a football party on New Year's Day, but I haven't gotten around to posting it until now. I got this recipe from Gourmet magazine, and I took the a hint from At the Baker's Bench and added a little sugar to the crust as well. These are wonderful little bite-sized treats that I will definitely make again. I used a canister for a roll of film to form the crust in the mini-muffin tins. I simply placed the ball of dough into the tin and firmly and evenly pressed the canister into the dough. It will push the dough up the sides and form a well for the filling. If you like pecan pie, you will love these.



Pecan Tassies
makes 24

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 1 tablespoon butter, softened slightly
• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened slightly
• 1/4 cup sugar
  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla

• In a bowl combine 1 stick of the butter, and the cream cheese, stir in the flour, and form the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into 24 pieces and press the pieces into the bottom and up the sides of 24 small (2-tablespoon) muffin tins.
  
• In a small bowl beat the egg lightly with the brown sugar and stir in the pecans, the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, the vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Divide the filling among the pastry-lined tins, bake the tassies in a preheated 350° F oven for 25 minutes, or until the filling is puffed slightly and the pastry is golden, and let them cool on a rack. Makes 24 confections.

TWD: Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie is from Heather of Sherry Trifle She chose for us to bake the Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. The recipe can be found here. I made a few substitutions to the recipe. I used whole wheat pastry flour for half of the flour called for in the recipe. Also, instead of using the stem ginger in syrup (I couldn't find any), I used crystallized ginger. I didn't make the chocolate glaze for the top of the gingerbread, because when I tried a piece without it, I thought that the gingerbread was sweet enough and the chocolate in the bread was very pronounced, so I didn't want to overpower the ginger flavor. The gingerbread took about 55 minutes to fully bake, about 15 minutes longer than the recipe states. I really liked this gingerbread, it had a subtle but pronounced ginger flavor, and the spices are just right. The chocolate is a nice addition, and it is a nice change to traditional gingerbreads. I will be making it again.

TWD: French Pear Tart

Tuesdays with Dorie is celebrating its one year anniversary. I have been lucky enough to have been a participant since July. For the anniversary, Dorie herself was gracious enough to choose this week's recipe. She chose for us to bake the French Pear Tart from her book Baking: From My Home to Yours. Dorie has posted the recipe on her website. I made a few substitutions for this recipe. I had a leftover frozen pie crust from the holidays, so I used that instead of the recipe for the tart dough. For the almond cream, I substituted 8 ounces of almond paste for the ground almonds and the sugar called for in the recipe. I used a stand mixer instead of a food processor, and the cream came together just fine.


I liked this tart a lot. I thought that the pears and the almonds went well together. I used canned pears, but next time I would like to try the poached pears. I think that it would be a better texture to contrast with the texture of the almond cream. I will definitely try this recipe again, but next time I will try the original recipe with the tart crust and the poached pears. I might also add a bit of spice to the recipe as well, maybe cinnamon or ginger.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

I hosted Christmas brunch, so I decided to make these Overnight Cinnamon Rolls from Alton Brown. You make the dough the night before, and in the morning, you take them out, let the dough rise a bit, and bake them. The turned out delicious, and they are very simple to make. My house was a bit cold, so they took a bit longer for the initial rise, but other than that, I followed the recipe exactly.


Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

makes 12

Dough:

• 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 1 large whole egg, room temperature
• 2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup
• 3 ounces unsalted butter, melted, approximately 6 tablespoons
• 6 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
• 20 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 cups, plus additional for dusting
• 1 package instant dry yeast, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• Vegetable oil or cooking spray
  

Filling:

• 8 ounces light brown sugar, approximately 1 cup packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch salt
• 3/4-ounce unsalted butter, melted, approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons

Icing:

• 2 1/2 ounces cream cheese softened, approximately 1/4 cup
• 3 tablespoons milk
  
• 5 1/2 ounces powdered sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups

Directions:

For the dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, butter, and buttermilk. Add approximately 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk until moistened and combined. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with a dough hook. Add all but 3/4 cup of the remaining flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough, add more flour if necessary; the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. Knead on low speed 5 minutes more or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly oil the top of the dough, cover and let double in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.

Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape the dough into a rectangle with the long side nearest you. Roll into an 18 by 12-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the 3/4-ounce of melted butter, leaving 1/2-inch border along the top edge. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the top edge; gently press the filling into the dough. Beginning with the long edge nearest you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Firmly pinch the seam to seal and roll the cylinder seam side down. Very gently squeeze the cylinder to create even thickness. Using a serrated knife, slice the cylinder into 1 1/2-inch rolls; yielding 12 rolls. Arrange rolls cut side down in the baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight or up to 16 hours.

Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and place in an oven that is turned off. Fill a shallow pan 2/3-full of boiling water and set on the rack below the rolls. Close the oven door and let the rolls rise until they look slightly puffy; approximately 30 minutes. Remove the rolls and the shallow pan of water from the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When the oven is ready, place the rolls on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, approximately 30 minutes.

While the rolls are cooling slightly, make the icing by whisking the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy. Add the milk and whisk until combined. Sift in the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Spread over the rolls and serve immediately.

Butterscotch and White Chocolate Haystacks

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love everything about it, from the decorating, to watching the traditional holiday films, to the holiday baking. One of the things I remember as a child was making these "Haystacks" around the Holiday Season. They are extremely simple to make, and they taste great. They are always a crowd pleaser. Everywhere that I take them, they quickly disappear.



Butterscotch and White Chocolate Haystacks:

1-11 oz. package butterscotch chips or white chocolate chips
2 cups chow mein noodles (prefereably La Choy)
2/3 cups salted, roasted peanuts

-Over a double boiler, melt the butterscotch or white chocolate chips. Once the chips have fully melted, mix in the chow mein noodles and the peanuts. Make sure that the peanuts are dispersed evenly throughout the mixture.
-Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto wax paper and allow to harden.

TWD: Thanksgiving Twofer Pie

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie is from Vibi of La Casserole Carrée She chose for us to bake the Thanksgiving Twofer Pie from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. The recipe can be found here. The Thanksgiving Twofer has a layer of pumpkin pie topped with a layer of pecan pie. I followed the recipe exactly, and it was fairly easy to make. The only thing I would do differently next time would make the crust hang over the edge a bit more next time. It really shrunk up during the initial baking time.

This was a big hit at Thanksgiving dinner. My dad, who doesn't like pumpkin pie, liked this one, and my mom said it was the best pie crust she had ever had. I would definitely make this again. Be sure to check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll to see what other bloggers did with their pies.

Daring Bakers Challenge: Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting

This month's Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen by Dolores from Culinary Curiosity. Dolores, along with Jenny of Foray into Food and Alex of Blondie and Brownie chose for us to bake Shuna's Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting. The original recipe can be found on her blog, Bay Area Bites. I chose to make cupcakes out of the recipe, it made about 18 total. The cupcakes took about 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake came out clean. There is also a recipe for Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels included in this post. I didn't get to make them, but I definitely would like to try them in the future.

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)
In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back. One Daring Baker suggested putting a piece of foil that has a hole in the middle of it over the pot and pouring the water through it, in order to prevent getting burned.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light

(recipes above courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon)

(Optional) GOLDEN VANILLA BEAN CARAMELS
- makes eighty-one 1-inch caramels -

Ingredients
1 cup golden syrup
2 cups sugar
3/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons pure ground vanilla beans, purchased or ground in a coffee or spice grinders, or 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks, softened

Equipment
A 9-inch square baking pan
Candy thermometer

Procedure

Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with aluminum foil and grease the foil. Combine the golden syrup, sugar, and salt in a heavy 3-quart saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, until the mixture begins to simmer around the edges. Wash the sugar and syrup from the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes. (Meanwhile, rinse the spatula or spoon before using it again later.) Uncover the pan and wash down the sides once more. Attach the candy thermometer to the pan, without letting it touch the bottom of the pan, and cook, uncovered (without stirring) until the mixture reaches 305°F. Meanwhile, combine the cream and ground vanilla beans (not the extract) in a small saucepan and heat until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat and cover the pan to keep the cream hot.

When the sugar mixture reaches 305°F, turn off the heat and stir in the butter chunks. Gradually stir in the hot cream; it will bubble up and steam dramatically, so be careful. Turn the burner back on and adjust it so that the mixture boils energetically but not violently. Stir until any thickened syrup at the bottom of the pan is dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, to about 245°F. Then cook, stirring constantly, to 260°f for soft, chewy caramels or 265°F; for firmer chewy caramels.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract, if using it. Pour the caramel into the lined pan. Let set for 4 to 5 hours, or overnight until firm.

Lift the pan liner from the pan and invert the sheet of caramel onto a sheet of parchment paper. Peel off the liner. Cut the caramels with an oiled knife. Wrap each caramel individually in wax paper or cellophane.

White Bean and Chorizo Soup

It is starting to get cold outside, so I thought this weekend would be a good time to make a hearty, comforting soup. I found this recipe for a White Bean and Chorizo soup, and I decided to try it. I made a few changes from the original recipe. I like my bean soup thick, and the original recipe calls for a lot of liquid. I also used Spanish chorizo which is similar to andouille or smoked sausage rather than the fresh chorizo that is used in the original recipe. It is less greasy, and the smoky flavor goes well with the beans.


White Bean and Chorizo Soup

serves 6-8

• 1 1/4 pound dried cannellini or Great Northern beans (generous 2 1/2 cups)

• 8 cups water
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 3 garlic cloves; 1 smashed, 2 chopped
• 1 large fresh rosemary sprig
• 1 bay leaf

• 1 cup chopped onions (about 1/2 a large onion)
  
• 1 cup chopped carrots
  
• 1 cup chopped celery (about 2 stalks)
  
• 2 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme, divided
• 2 14.5 ounce cans of chicken broth
  

• 1 pound Spanish chorizo link sausages (fully cooked), casings removed

• 1/4 cup whole milk or whipping cream
• salt and pepper
• fresh parsley, chopped
  

Place beans in heavy large saucepan. Add enough water to pan to cover beans by 4 inches. Let beans soak overnight at room temperature.

Drain and rinse beans; return to same saucepan. Add 8 cups water, 1 tablespoon oil, smashed garlic clove, rosemary, and bay leaf. Bring to boil. Season to taste with salt. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and simmer until beans are just tender, about one hour. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cool slightly, cover, and chill.)

Drain beans, reserving cooking liquid. Discard rosemary sprig and bay leaf. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until vegetables are beginning to soften, about 10 minutes. Add chopped garlic and 1 teaspoon thyme; sauté 2 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups reserved bean cooking liquid, the chicken broth, and beans. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until vegetables are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Cool soup 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté chorizo in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until browned and crisp, about 10-15 minutes. Transfer chorizo to paper towels to drain.

Using slotted spoon, remove 2 cups of the bean mixture from soup; reserve. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup, or working in batches, purée remaining soup in blender until smooth. Return puree to pot. Stir in reserved whole-bean mixture, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons thyme, chorizo, and the milk or cream. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered until cold. Cover and keep chilled.) Rewarm soup over medium heat, thinning with more broth if desired. Season with salt and pepper. Divide soup among bowls, sprinkle with fresh parsley, and serve. This soup goes great with some crusty bread for dipping.

TWD: Chocolate and Vanilla Arborio Rice Pudding

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie is from Isabelle of Les gourmandises d’Isa. She chose for us to cook the Arborio Rice Pudding from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. I love rice pudding, so I was excited when I heard we were going to make this. This recipe is very simple. You simply parboil the rice, then simmer it with whole milk and sugar until the mixture is thick and creamy. Dorie had an option of making half the rice pudding chocolate and half of the rice pudding vanilla, which is what I did. You simply divide the mixture once it is cooked and add vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste) to one half, and chopped bittersweet chocolate to the other half. I topped my vanilla pudding with whipped cream and cinnamon, and my chocolate pudding with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. This pudding tasted good. It was a bit too sweet (especially the chocolate half), so I would probably cut back on the sugar a bit, but it was still tasty. The recipe in the book states that you should let the rice and milk simmer for 35 minutes, but Dorie herself posted over at Tuesdays with Dorie, and said that there was a typo, and the actual cooking time is 55 minutes. Fortunately, I caught that message in time, unfortunately, my pudding was still a bit runny. I let mine cook for a bit over an hour, and it still never thickened up the way it was supposed to. However, that didn't stop me from eating it. I think next time, I would probably cut back on the parboiling time, so that the rice releases more starch into the milk mixture to help it thicken better, similar to risotto.