After a long blogging hiatus, I’m back.  While I haven’t been blogging regularly, I’ve been tracking my kitchen adventures and have a number of fun recipes to share.

In the dead of winter, nothing is better than a warm, hearty bowl of soup.   Panera’s Baked Potato soup is a favorite of mine,  so I was intrigued when I saw a copycat recipe on A Year of Slow-cooking.   While the flavor differs somewhat from the original, this soup is smooth, creamy and rich… the perfect meal for a cold winter’s night.

Honestly, it doesn’t get much easier than this.  I find potato soups very messy when cooked on the stove – you need to make sure that things don’t boil over or stick to bottom of the pan, and clean-up is a pain.  With this recipe,  you just throw everything in the slow-cooker and walk away.

Beware:  this recipe makes a lot of soup – easily 10 generous servings.   The soup is so tasty, you probably won’t mind an abundance of leftovers.    It filled my 6 quart Crock Pot with only about an inch to spare, so make sure you use a 6-quart or larger slow-cooker if you choose to make a full batch.

Slow-cooker Baked Potato Soup
Yields 10 servings

5 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced in 1 to 2-inch chunks
1 small onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 quarts chicken broth
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
optional garnishes: crumbled bacon, green onion, chives, shredded cheddar cheese

1. After peeling and dicing potatoes, place them in the slow-cooker (use 6-quart or larger). Add onion, garlic, seasonings and broth.
2. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for four hours.
3. Once potatoes are fork-tender, use a masher to mash the potatoes.
4. Break up both packages of cream cheese and add to slow-cooker. Put the cover back on.
5. Cook on high for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Once cream cheese is completely dissolved, serve with desired garnishes.

During the torrential rainstorm today, I drove 3 hrs each way to a job interview.  Consequentially I spent most of the day looking like a drowned rat in a business suit.  When I got home (aside from changing into my PJs and drying my hair) all I wanted was some comfort food and a nap.  We had lots of leftover chicken on hand and some leeks, so I decided to make a chicken pot pie.  This recipe caught my eye because it appeared fairly straightforward.  I made a few modifications, mostly because I didn’t have tarragon or grainy mustard (and as I was in my PJs, could not really go out to procure tarragon or grainy mustard…) and I also used skim milk because we didn’t have whole milk in the house.  It was a great way to end a very long and damp day.

Ingredients:

12 oz cooked chicken (I used a combination of boneless skinless chicken breast and thighs)

2 tablespoons butter

1 leek, sliced lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch strips

1 onion, diced

1 tablespoon mustard (I used dijon)

1/4 cup flour

1 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon reserved skim milk

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried marjoram

Salt & pepper to taste

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg

Directions:

Melt the butter in a deep skillet over medium heat.  Saute the leek and onion until the onion becomes translucent – about 4-5 mins.  Add the mustard and the flour.  Cook for about 1-2 minutes stirring constantly.  Add the chicken broth, 3/4 cup skim milk and cream.  Cook for about 5 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken.  Add the chicken and spices to the skillet and mix well.  Let the mixture cool.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place into a deep pie dish.  Roll the pastry out to a size able to cover the pie dish and press it over top, sealing it to the dish.  I used the extra bits of pastry dough to decorate the top.  Beat the egg and tablespoon of milk together and brush over top of the pastry crust before baking.  Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the crust becomes golden brown and puffy.

So we’re actually no longer snowed in – thankfully the 23.2 inches of snow we had here have now melted…but despite the fact that we can now leave the house I’m still in a baking mood, so here are a few more cookie recipes I tried out that weekend. The other two kinds of cookies I made that fabulous snowy weekend include Chocolate Meringues and Chocolate White Chip cookies.

Batch #3 – Chocolate Meringues

As I’ve mentioned before, my mother has celiac disease so whenever I bake cookies I try to include a gluten-free option. I hadn’t made chocolate meringues before, so I decided to give these a go and they were amazing. The outside was crisp and light and inside the filling stayed ever so slightly chewy, which was tasty and delicious. An added benefit to making meringue cookies is the low-fat healthy nature of these cookies – as they are made with only egg whites, no cholesterol too! One piece of advice – sift the cocoa! Mine have little bubbles in them, where the cocoa powder got stuck together…still tasted fabulous, but maybe not quite as pretty!

Ingredients:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Place the egg whites and vanilla into a bowl – beat with an electric mixer until the mixture is foamy. Beat in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture becomes glossy appearing and stiff peaks form. Add about half of the cocoa and fold in gently until well incorporated. Add the rest of the cocoa in the same manner. Spoon the meringue mixture into a pastry bag (I used a frosting gun instead) with a large star tip and squeeze dallops onto the parchment-coated cookie sheet. You can place these fairly close together as they do not expand very much while baking. Bake for 30 minutes or until they appear dry, then cool completely on a cooling rack. Store in the fridge.

Batch #4:

I had lots of white chocolate chips on hand during this storm, so in the name of pantry space I decided to make a cookie that involved white chocolate chips. My favorite kind is the ones that have tasty white morsels in a traditional chocolate cookie dough, so I searched for a recipe until I found this one. The cookies came out amazingly tender and moist – we were all huge fans in my household. Especially wonderful with a glass of nice cold milk.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks softened butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 12 oz package of white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together flour, cocoa, bakin soda, and salt. Beat together butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy and smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients and add the chocolate chips in. Drop by the teaspoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake for approximately 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Well, we got 24 inches of snow in our neck of the woods this weekend – since my husband and I had no place to go, we stayed in and “let it snow!” While everyone else in the city stocked up on bread, milk and eggs (presumably to make french toast?) I opted for butter, flour, sugar and other baking implements – I figured we can always live off of cookies for a few days! I made four different varieties yesterday, and one more today!! Here are the first couple – the rest will follow soon!

Batch #1 – Gingerbread Cookies

I just love these little ginger-colored treats with frosting-piped faces. Although in my typical fashion I wanted a “healthier” cookie recipe if possible, these came out very moist and delicious – my husband didn’t even realize they were from Cooking Light. They were surprisingly easy to cut and the dough didn’t crumble on me like the last few batches of gingerbread cookies I made.

Cookies:

Icing:

Combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, & nutmeg with a whisk. In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter, & molasses and beat for 2 minutes. Add the egg and beat well to combine. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients – I used a heavy duty stand mixer as the dough became quite thick and sticky. Divide the dough in half, flattening each half into a disc and wrapping tightly in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least 90 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough to 1/8 – 1/4 inch thickness and cut with the desired cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.

For decorating: Mix powdered sugar and water – if too thick, add drops of water – I ended up using closer to 1.5 tablespoons in the end. Spoon the icing into a plastic bag with a tiny hole cut in the corner and decorate away!

Batch #2 – Chocolate Peanut Butter Pinwheels

My husband loves anything that combines chocolate and peanut butter – so in my baking extravaganza I wanted to make sure I included some cookies he would really enjoy! This recipe I found was great, although I made a couple minor substitutions – I didn’t have baking chocolate on hand, and as there was a blizzard outside I opted to substitute in some cocoa powder. They came out great – although the dough softened very fast when out of the fridge. Cut them speedily!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick of butter (softened)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Beat sugar, butter, egg and vanilla together in a large bowl – scrape the bowl often to make sure everything is well mixed! Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix together well. Divide dough into two even portions. To the first portion, add the cocoa powder and the vegetable oil and mix well. To the second portion, add the peanut butter and mix well. Shape the two doughs into rectangles and wrap tightly in saran wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hr. Roll each dough out between 2 pieces of floured wax paper – Make sure the doughs are approximately the same size! Then peel away one sheet of wax paper from each dough. Press the two doughs together, and roll (jelly-roll style) into a log. Wrap the log in saran wrap and place the dough into the freezer for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove dough and quickly slice into 1/4 inch thick discs. Place 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined cookie pan and bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.

This is a very special post. No, not because it contains the recipe for an amazing dark chocolate brownie. It marks both the 100th post and the first anniversary of Domestic Pursuits. I’ve enjoyed sharing my cooking adventures and look forward to working my way through many more interesting recipes and domestic activities in the coming year. Happy Anniversary to us!

Now onto the delicious part…

After picking up a container of Edy’s Slow Churned Pumpkin ice cream last night, I decided that I needed brownies to go with it. Pumpkin and chocolate is my new favorite flavor combination and you just can’t go wrong with brownies a la mode!

I love this recipe for mint brownie cups and decided to eliminate the mint extract to yield traditional brownies. As I started baking, I realized that I didn’t have the right balance of chocolate, so these brownies contain more bittersweet chocolate than the originals. Since I eliminated the mint extract, I decided to add some amaretto to further emphasize the richness of the chocolate. These changes yielded a decadent brownie with a smooth, dark chocolate flavor.

Dark Chocolate Brownie Cups
Yields 14-16 brownies

6 tbsp butter
6 oz bittersweet chocolate (chopped)
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (chopped)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp amaretto
1/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2 Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Lightly spray liners with cooking spray.
3. In a heat-proof bowl, melt together butter and chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals stirring after each interval until smooth. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
5. Whisk or beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture.
6. Add eggs, amaretto and vanilla extract to the chocolate mixture and mix until well combined and smooth.
7. Add flour mixture and mix until combined.
8. Gently fold in the 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
9. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups. Each cup should be about 2/3 full.
10. Bake for 18-23 minutes or until a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs.
11. Allow brownies to cool before removing from muffin pan.

When I make something new, I don’t want just a recipe, I want the perfect recipe! My desire for a tried and true favorite helps explain why I often prefer to get my recipes from blogs and community-oriented cooking websites as opposed to magazine and cookbooks.

A pumpkin cupcake comparison from The Way the Cookie Crumbles popped up in my Google Reader a few weeks ago. In this post, Bridget details her experiences with three different pumpkin cupcake recipes. This recipe found on Smitten Kitchen was her favorite, and I have now fallen in love with it as well! This clearly is the perfect pumpkin cupcake recipe.

While I couldn’t justify making these for just me and my husband, a dinner at a friend’s house presented the perfect opportunity to whip up this fun fall treat. Pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, maple syrup… you can’t get much more fall-ish than this! The cupcakes have a light, airy texture and a flavor reminiscent of spice cake with a pop of pumpkin. Instead of using the original maple cream cheese frosting, I opted to use a maple butter cream frosting recipe from Annie’s Eats. It’s the perfect companion to the pumpkin cupcakes: smooth and sweet and fall-inspired.

Pumpkin Cupcakes
(From David Leite via Smitten Kitchen)
Yields 18 cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar (I used light brown)
? cup granulated sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
? tsp ground nutmeg
? tsp ground cloves
? tsp salt
? tsp freshly ground black pepper (I omitted)
2 large eggs
? cup buttermilk mixed with 1 tsp vanilla
1? cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1. Preheat the oven to 350? and line cupcake pans with 18 liners.
2. Using a stand mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl.
4. Add the eggs 1 at a time to the mixer, blending well and scraping down the sides after each addition. 5. Alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour.
5. Add the pumpkin and beat pumpkin until smooth.
6. Divide the batter equally between the cups. (They?ll be about ? full.) Rap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles.
7. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on racks completely.

Maple Buttercream Frosting
(Annie’s Eats)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. maple syrup
1-2 tbsp. milk

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed until smooth.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed until well combined, then increase speed and beat until smooth.
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and add the maple syrup. Mix until incorporated.
4. If the frosting is too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk and beat until smooth and desired consistency is achieved.

I love to bake. In recent years, I conquered my fear of yeast and have found the process of transforming basic ingredients like flour, water, yeast and salt into beautiful, flavorful breads to be quite enjoyable. I did less baking during the summer, but I’ve been anxious to try new recipes as the cool fall weather has rolled in. I’ve had my eye on a few varieties of bagels that Brown Eyed Baker has made during the past several months.

When I told one of my friends that my husband I and I had made our own bagels, she asked me “Are they hard to make?” As with most homemade items, they’re not hard to make, but they do take some time and a little planning. Each step is not difficult, but there are several steps that must be followed over the course of at least two days. You need to prepare the sponge, prepare the dough, divide the dough and allow it to rise, shape the bagels and let them rise, throw them in the refrigerator to rise slowly, boil them and finally bake them. See? No single step is overly complicated.

I must admit that while I was boiling my bagels two at a time, I thought “This had better be worth it!” Then, as the bagels baked my house became filled with the warm, yeasty aroma of fresh-baked bread. When I finally bit into a warm bagel, I saw the light! Store-bought plain bagels are good, but these are amazing! I don’t know what it is, but they’re soft (not too doughy) and far more flavorful then their mass-produced plain counterparts.

It’s true that it takes a bit of time to make bagels at home – certainly more time than it takes to grab a bag of bagels at the grocery store. After my first foray into the world of homemade bages, I can attest that the extra time and effort is well worth it!

You’ll find the full recipe below the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

Now that fall is upon us, I’ve been wanting to try some savory pumpkin recipes in addition to my usual standby cookie and quick bread recipes. I made some tasty pumpkin chocolate chip cookies a week ago and with the leftovers decided to try making some pumpkin risotto. I decided to try a variety with chicken in it but I am sure this would be equally tasty as a vegetarian dish as well. It came out really creamy and flavorful, despite the healthy label the original posting site gave it. Risotto always seemed complicated to make – but aside from taking a little bit of time standing at the stove, it’s really not hard! It would make for an interesting addition to Thanksgiving dinner, or a nice tasty dinner for a cold November evening as we enjoyed it!

8 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 small onion, minced
2 cups short grain Italian rice (such as Arborio)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
8 ounces chopped skinless chicken
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 – 3/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
Salt to taste
1/2 cup grated hard cheese, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions: Bring the chicken broth to a simmer. In a separate deep heavy duty skillet, saute the onion in the olive oil and 1 tbsp butter until it is translucent but not carmelized. Stir in the rice and toast the rice while stirring constantly for about 1 minute. Add the wine and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the pumpkin, chopped chicken breast, nutmeg, and 2 cups of the simmering chicken broth. Stir until most of the liquid is absorbed. Continue to add chicken broth, about 1/2 cup at a time and allowing the rice a minute or two to absorb the liquid each time before adding more. After about 15 minutes of adding liquid, taste the rice – if it is too hard, keep adding liquid until it is soft. When the rice is soft, remove from the heat and stir in the cheese and other tablespoon of butter.

One of my favorite dishes is quiche, yet for some reason we rarely make it! Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time studying for a big upcoming exam – so in order to procrastinate more effectively, I decided to spend a few hours making quiche…crust from scratch and everything. I picked up some zucchini at a local farm stand, and was inspired to find some other ingredients that went with zucchini well. I used a variety of recipes for inspiration – although this one does not have a crust, it did have a great combination of veggies and flavors. My husband usually protests if we have too much vegetarian food, so I threw in a bit of sweet italian sausage for him – but I imagine this would taste great without it. I made a pastry crust from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. I tweaked the amount of eggs included and the cheese a bit, as I didn’t have any monterey jack on hand. The quiche was great…and hopefully I’ll still pass my big exam!

Zucchini and Sausage Quiche

Crust Ingredients:

5 oz flour (1 and 1/8 cups)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 stick butter, cut into pieces

3 tablespoons ice water

Filling Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini, sliced thinly

1 medium onion, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic

2 links of sweet italian sausage

5 eggs

1/2 tsp dried basil and dried marjoram

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup mild cheddar cheese

To make the crust – Preheat oven to 425. place the flour, sugar, and salt into a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the cut-up butter to the dry ingredients and pulse repeatedly until the butter and flour is well combined – it will look a little like cornmeal. Place this in a bowl and sprinkle water over the flour/butter combination and then combine to form a ball. Chill the ball (wrapped in saran wrap) in the freezer for 10 minutes. Dust the chilled dough with flour and place the chilled dough between two layers of saran wrap. If it becomes too soft, chill again! Put the crust into a pie plate and pierce all over – cover with foil and fill with pie weights (or dried beans – cheaper!) and bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes.

To make the filling – Set oven for 325 degrees. Saute the zucchini, onion and garlic in a medium skillet until softened, then put aside. Remove the sausage casing and brown the meat until no longer pink at all. In a bowl, beat 5 eggs together with the marjoram, basil and parmesan cheese until combined. Stir in the zucchini/onion mix, cheddar cheese and sausage. Place the mixture in the prepared pie crust. Bake at 325 degrees for 30-40 minutes – until the center is set. Enjoy!

I am a relatively new member of the chocolate peanut butter fan club, and these cupcakes had something to do with it. My husband and a number of my friends have always been passionate lovers of all things chocolate and peanut butter, while my feelings were ambivalent.

When I first spotted these cupcakes on Proceed with Caution, I knew I had to make something like them for the chocolate peanut butter aficionados in my life. I used my go-to chocolate cake recipe (Hershey?s Perfectly Chocolate Cake), incorporated peanut butter into my grandmother?s frosting and made the peanut butter balls as written.

The resulting cupcake is heavenly! As I bit into my first one I thought ?Now I know what all the fuss is about!? If the creamy peanut butter frosting doesn?t provide a peanut-y enough kick for you, there?s a sweet peanut butter ball nestled inside the cupcake. Topped with half of a miniature Reese?s Peanut Butter Cup, these cupcakes should satisfy the most demanding chocolate peanut butter lover in your life.

Sadly, I don?t have many photos of these delectable cupcakes because the batch was quickly demolished by my peanut butter and chocolate loving friends!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Yields 30

For the Filling:
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp vanilla

For the cupcakes:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Using a mixer on medium speed, beat together confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, 2 butter, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla until blended. Shape mixture into 24 balls using heaping measuring teaspoons. The balls will be sticky and don’t need to be perfectly shaped. Place shaped balls on waxed paper-lined cookie sheet and set aside.
2. Heat oven to 350?F. Line muffin pans with paper liners.
3. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
4. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir until well blended.
5. Add flour mixture to large bowl and beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
6. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
7. Spoon 1 heaping measuring tablespoon batter into each muffin-pan cup. Drop 1 peanut butter ball in center of each cup and top off muffin cup with batter (should be 3/4 full)
8. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely

For the frosting:
2 1-lb packages of confectioner?s sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Beat shortening and peanut butter together until creamy and then beat in water.
2. Gradually beat in confectioner?s sugar and beat until creamy.
3. Add vanilla and beat in well.
4. If needed, add more water, 1 tbsp at a time, to attain desired consistency.
5. If frosting will not be used right away, store in an airtight container.