Carrot Soup with Miso and Sesame from Smitten Kitchen

Usually, recipe writers urge you to season food throughout, building layers of flavor. Here, don’t. The miso we add at the end is very salty and it’s safest to decide how much seasoning your soup needs after that.

Note: This soup is “gluten-free” with a large caveat, and that is that most miso is in part from barley and is not gluten-free. You will need to seek out a miso brand — such as this shiro miso from Eden — that is clearly marked as such for it to be good to go.

New to miso? This here is a fantastic primer.

Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 regular or 6 small garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 tablespoon finely chopped or grated ginger, or more to taste (it could easily be doubled)
4 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup white miso paste, or more to taste

To finish
Drizzle of toasted sesame oil
2 scallions, very thinly sliced

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, onion and garlic sauté until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add broth and ginger. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender when pierced, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Puree soup in batches in blender, or all at once with an immersion blender. In a small bowl, whisk together the miso an a half-cup of the soup. Stir the mixture back into the pot of soup. Taste the soup and season with salt, pepper or additional miso to taste.

Ladle into bowls and garnish each with a drizzle of sesame oil and small mound of scallions.

Pickled scallions? I didn’t do this in the end, but was tempted to lightly pickled the scallions by letting them hang out in a mixture of 6 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon of Kosher salt (I use Diamond brand, use less if you’re using Morton or another, which are more dense) and 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar for a while before using them as garnish.

Still got the halloween pumpkin? Try this. Sounds kinda weird, but tasted pretty good!

Preparation

Melted Kale with Farro

By Dan Barber

Preparation

• Bring large saucepan of salted water to boil. Cook semi-pearled farro until tender but still firm to bite, about 13 minutes. Drain farro and cool.
• Cook kale in large pot of boiling salted water 1 minute. Drain. Transfer to bowl of ice water to cool. Drain. Squeeze out excess water. Coarsely chop kale.
• Heat oil in large heavy saucepan over medium heat; add shallots and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Add cooked chopped kale. Increase heat to high and sauté 2 minutes. Add 4 cups broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until kale is tender and almost all broth is absorbed, stirring often, about 25 minutes. Transfer kale mixture to processor; puree 1 minute. Return puree to same saucepan. Mix in farro. Add 1/2 cup broth. Season with salt and pepper. Thin kale and farro with more broth, if desired. Stir in chives.

I used the immersion blender in the pot to puree the kale. Only do this if you want to splatter green bits all over yourself, the stove, and the wall. I also think it scratched up the bottom of my Le Creuset a little bit. So, if there’s a next time, I’m going to stick to the blender or food processor. There might be a next time; this dish was pretty good. A little bland, but a sprinkle of salt fixed that, and the taste grew on us. Plus, we felt so healthy eating it. Points!

Green Beans with Garlic, Lemon, and Parsley

By Sara Foster

Chocolate Pecan Pie

1 pie shell

1 cup chocolate chips

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup flour

1 stick melted butter, cooled

1 cup pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla

Sprinkle bottom of pie shell with chocolate chips. Combine eggs with sugar, corn syrup, and flour. Gradually mix butter, then nuts and vanilla. Pour carefully over chocolate chips.

Bake at 325 for one hour. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream!

And for the day after, Mark Bittman’s recipe to use up some of that leftover cranberry sauce.

Cranberry-Swirl Quick Bread

Combine 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt in a food processor. Pulse in 4 tablespoons chilled butter. Add 3/4 cup buttermilk, 1 tablespoon orange zest and 1 egg and pulse just until combined. Pour into a greased loaf pan and swirl in 1 cup cranberry sauce with a knife. Bake at 350 until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, at least 45 minutes.

Ad Hoc’s Rice with Roasted Cauliflower

I used brown rice, which apparently takes longer to cook than white rice. And since we didn’t have green onions, I threw some cilantro in there. This was good and relatively easy and quick to make. I’m pretty sure the serving size is referring to 8-10 lilliputians. We ate all of it. And the lilliputians.

Total time: 45 minutes

Servings: 8 to 10

1/2 head white cauliflower, cut into florets

2 tablespoons canola oil

Salt

Pepper

Pinch of curry powder

6 cups water

1 cup Carolina, or long grain, rice

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower with the canola oil and season with one-fourth teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper, or to taste.

3. Place the cauliflower in a roasting pan (reserve the bowl) and roast until the cauliflower is a deep brown and tender throughout when pierced with a knife, 20 to 25 minutes, tossing every few minutes for even coloring and cooking. Remove the cauliflower from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees.

4. While the cauliflower is roasting, cook the rice: In a large saucepan, add the water and a generous pinch of salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the rice and chili flakes and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook the rice just until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the rice well, then spread the rice in a thin shallow layer in a large baking dish.

5. Place the rice in the oven to dry out for 5 minutes. Remove, then stir in the olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired with salt and pepper.

6. Place the cauliflower back in the bowl and toss with the curry powder. Taste and season, if desired, with additional salt and pepper.

7. Gently stir in the warmed rice and butter, tossing until the butter is melted and evenly coats the rice and cauliflower. Stir in the green onions and serve immediately.

Each of 10 servings: 136 calories; 2 grams protein; 18 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 6 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 6 mg. cholesterol; 68 mg. sodium.

By the way, the fact that you can make buttermilk by adding vinegar to regular milk is awesome. Just saying.

And yes, you’re right. There are many forms of sugar on top of that waffle. And they were all gooooood.

Rich Buttermilk Waffles

Rich Buttermilk Waffles
Adapted from How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman

Serves 4 to 6

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 3/4 cups buttermilk* or 1 1/2 cups sour cream or plain yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, separated
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Canola or other neutral oil for brushing on waffle pan (Deb note: Pam works great!)

Combine the dry ingredients. Mix together the buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt and the egg yolks. Stir in the butter and vanilla.

Brush the waffle iron lightly with oil and preheat it. Stir the wet into the dry ingredients. Beat the egg whites with the whisk or electric mixer (spotlessly clean ones work best) until they hold soft peaks. Stir them gently into the batter.

Spread a ladleful or so of batter onto the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is done, usually 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your iron. Serve immediately or keep warm for a few minutes in a low oven.

* The buttermilk can be substituted with 1 1/4 cups of milk at room temperature, mixed with two tablespoons white vinegar, left to clabber for 10 minutes.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake (from Barefoot Contessa Parties!)

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the streusel:

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons real maple syrup

Directions

A few things. First, this smelled outrageously good. Second, it tasted amazing. Third, so that’s what a galette is. Nice.

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette (from Smitten Kitchen)

For the pastry:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into
pieces
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup ice water

For the filling:
1 small butternut squash (about one pound)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons butter (if you have only non-stick, the smaller amount will do)
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced in half-moons
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
3/4 cup fontina cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces), grated or cut into small bits
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves

1. Make pastry: In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Place the butter in another bowl. Place both bowls in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove the bowls from the freezer and make a well in the center of the flour. Add the butter to the well and, using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Make another well in the center. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add half of this mixture to the well. With your fingertips, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Remove the large lumps and repeat with the remaining liquid and flour-butter mixture. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Prepare squash: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Peel squash, then halve and scoop out seeds. Cut into a 1/2-inch dice. Toss pieces with olive oil and a half-teaspoon of the salt and roast on foil lined (for neatness sake) sheet for 30 minutes or until pieces are tender, turning it midway if your oven bakes unevenly. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. Caramelize onions: While squash is roasting, melt butter in a heavy skillet and cook onion over low heat with the remaining half-teaspoon of salt and pinch of sugar, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes. Stir in cayenne.

4. Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Mix squash, caramelized onions, cheese and herbs together in a bowl.

5. Assemble galette: On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 12-inch round. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Spread squash, onions, cheese and herb mixture over the dough, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Fold the border over the squash, onion and cheese mixture, pleating the edge to make it fit. The center will be open.

6. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature. Serves 6.

Plus, here’s our new favorite salad dressing, courtesy of Nancy Silverton from her “master class” on salads in the LA Times:

Sherry vinaigrette

2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 tablespoons Spanish sherry vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Combine the shallots, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add the oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly to combine. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper or lemon juice if desired. This makes about one-third cup vinaigrette, more than is needed for the remainder of the recipe. Use the vinaigrette or transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 3 days. Bring it to room temperature before serving.

Quick tip on the soup: rather than adding the spinach to the entire pot of soup, add some to the batch you’re about to eat right before you dig in. Old wilty spinach doesn’t taste nearly as good as fresh wilty spinach.

And I made half the batch of mac and cheese. Still a lot.

Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup (from Smitten Kitchen)
Bon Appetit, October 2007

We ended up using spicy chorizo (yee-ouch!) but it played off the sweet potatoes perfectly, saving me from death by cayenne.

Gourmet note: This hearty soup gets rich flavor from linguica, a delicious pork sausage from Portugal seasoned with garlic, paprika, and other spices.

Makes 8 servings

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 10- to 11-ounce fully cooked smoked Portuguese linguica sausage or chorizo sausage, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (Spanish chorizo can be substituted)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams; about 2 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 pound white-skinned potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook until brown, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Transfer sausage to paper towels to drain. (I poured off some of the oil in the pot at this point, but the original recipe doesn’t think this is needed.) Add onions and garlic to pot and cook until translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add all potatoes and cook until beginning to soften, stirring often, about 12 minutes. Add broth; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Using potato masher, mash some of potatoes in pot. Add browned sausage to soup. Stir in spinach and simmer just until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and serve.

Other options to consider: Kielbasa (suggested by commenter Wendy) instead of chorizo/linguica, adding a can or two of drained white beans or using more spinach. I love spinach wilted in soups and could have used even more.

Martha Stewart’s Creamy Mac-and-Cheese (from Smitten Kitchen)
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The Original Classics

Now, please be warned, this makes a ton-a mac-and-cheese. Not interested in going on an all-mac, all-the-time diet this week, but wishing to try the recipe at last, I halved it and guess what? We still had three dinner’s worth of mac-and-cheese, or a full six servings. Which is, of course, what the recipe said it would make if halved, but I was in denial.

This is particularly delicious with a big, crunchy salad and a steamed vegetable, like green beans or broccoli.

Serves 12

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for casserole
6 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4- to l/2-inch pieces
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons coarse salt, plus more for water
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 1/2 cups (about 18 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar cheese
2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated Gruyère or 1 1/4 cups (about 5 ounces) grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 pound elbow macaroni

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place the bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour the melted butter into the bowl with the bread, and toss. Set the breadcrumbs aside.

2. Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, add the flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

3. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk a little at a time to keep mixture smooth. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick, 8 to 12 minutes.

4. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyère (or 1 cup Pecorino Romano); set the cheese sauce aside.

5. Cover a large pot of salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook the macaroni until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir the macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.

6. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Gruyère (or 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano), and the breadcrumbs over the top. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes (though we needed a bit more time to get it brown, but your oven may vary). Transfer the dish to a wire rack for 5 minutes; serve.