Moving Shop

Over to moscowfoodies.com, via tumblr.

All posts are over there, complete history, though you'll find the old ones got nuked on blogspot.

Shoop

Realized it is not only the perfect time of year for soup, it's the perfect time of life for it! With Baby Ellie rocking 8 weeks of being an outside baby, dinner prep is at its best when intensely flexible. Making a pot of soup at the beginning of the week can be a real dinner saver!

Happened to catch this soup recipe last week, a "Rustic Vegetable and Polenta Soup" from Giadia De Laurentiis. She's a little intense, mostly because she gives the impression of trying to make those Nigella Lawson bedroom eyes at you through the camera. It's a great recipe, and if you do have/pick up instant polenta it's a super fast one, too. There was a bunch of regular ol' non-instant polenta in my cupboard, so I used that (which only increases the idle cook time, so no big fuss there).

Bonus: Adam swears it tastes even better reheated a couple days later!

Biscuits

Biscuits. I love them. The ingredients are always around, they're easy, and they give the impression that an extra bit of care has gone into, say, an easy soup dinner. You can add cheddar, use milk and butter instead of a buttermilk biscuit, sweeten them up with honey - yay, biscuits!

Basic Buttermilk Biscuits

(8 biscuits)

2 c flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tbs butter

2 tbs shortening

1 c buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450

1) With your hands, combine flour, salt and baking powder and baking soda into a crumb mixture.

2) Add the buttermilk and incorporate.

3) Turn out onto floured surface, sprinkle with flour and fold 5 times.

4) Pat down to 1" thickness, then cut with a biscuit cutter, folding over and reusing the scraps with as little reworking as possible.

5) Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes - golden on top and puffed up!

Grim Party

Crate&Barrel has a dour take on feeding guests.

Chicken Pot Pie

Since Ellie was born (6 weeks ago!!) I've been craving all the foods I hated to eat while I was pregnant (thanks, Hyperemesis Gravidarum!). That means meat, vegetables, meat, meat and vegetables. Plus some meat and vegetables. Beef pot pie sounds amazing to me, but to do a proper job takes more time than I have in a week, let alone a day right now, so here's my recipe for chicken pot pie - which not only takes less than an hour, it definitely hits the spot!

Mmm...food!

Chicken Pot Pie

(yield: 6-8 servings)

4-5 cups vegetables*

2 tbs olive oil

4 tbs butter

1 c onion, chopped

1 c celery, chopped

handful cremini mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/2 c chicken broth

1/2 cup half and half (or milk)

3 tbs flour

1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp dried thyme

2 tbs dried parsley

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

2 c shredded cooked chicken**

1 package puff pastry

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Toss vegetables with olive oil and spread on a sheet pan. Cook in oven til golden brown.

3. In a saute pan heat 2 tbs of butter and sweat the onion and celery. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan heat the broth and milk.

4. Add mushrooms and 2 remaining tbs of butter to the onions and celery and cook until mushrooms begin to soften ( minute or so). Add garlic and cook, stirring, til fragrant. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.

5. Whisk in the heated milk and stock mixture until thickened. Add the parsley, sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Add the veggies and the chicken.

6. Pour it all into a large, shallow baking dish/pan and top with puff pastry***.

7. Pop in the oven and bake until the puff pastry is browned - 25-30 minutes.

*I use about 4 cups frozen mixed veggies (peas, carrots) and add a chopped potato, sometimes I add broccoli.

**Buy a whole rotisserie chicken, this gives you about 1 c dark meat, 1 c white and a chicken breast left over for salad the next day!

***You can get creative here - roll it out, cut out circles, etc. With a 6 week old baby time is of the essence so I just roll it out slightly to fit the length of my pan and lay it on top!

9 Months Thanksgiving

Nine months pregnant and Thanksgiving, while I slather on the cocoa butter I'm grateful not to be mistaken for the bird. Weird that my role this year is essentially "Make a pumpkin pie and hold down the couch" while Adam and Mark handle the rest!

Since the pie is, per Adam's request, the "traditional" mixed cans dressed up in a homemade crust (spiced up with some grated nutmeg!) I'm going to settle for pointing you to the basics covered here and leave you with this: I can't think of a single Thanksgiving dish that isn't better with a bit more butter.*

*Maybe just exempt the gelatin products. Apple sauce? Better with more butter. Potatoes? Better with more butter. Corn? It's basically a utensil for butter. Bread? More butter on that, please!

Five Minute Gazpacho

It's been awhile, huh? Yeah, I got pregnant, which came with this rare condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum - and if you think feeling like you have food poisoning for 7 months sounds rough, imagine what that does to the life of a foodie!

At 30 weeks, I still can't handle most eating let alone most "cooking", but I can only go so long away from the kitchen! So here's an awesome cheat, gazpacho that only requires me to be in the danger zone for minutes! Adam gives this one a thumbs up - and I think that's pretty big coming from a dude that isn't all that into cold soups! Serve it up with some cheese on toast and that's dinner around here these days. :D

The tomatoes should be nice and ripe, overripe even and you can supplement with canned if you want. Most recently I used green bell pepper because that was what was hanging out in the veggie drawer of my fridge, and I thought it worked really well.

Don't want to drive you crazy with the options, but this is a really flexible recipe. For example, you could use sherry vinegar instead of white wine - or red wine vinegar, for that matter! Have a bit of red onion hanging around? Dice some up and add as garnish. Over salt it? Add some more tomatoes.

Five Minute Gazpacho

(four servings)

2 lbs ripe tomatoes, quartered and seeded

1 cucumber, seeded and cut down to size a bit

1 bell pepper (red or green)

salt to taste (approx 1 tbs)

white wine vinegar to taste (approx 2 tsp)

optional: diced red onion

1) Blend veg and a tsp of vinegar.

2) Add seasoning and vinegar to taste.

Carrot Cupcakes (and the latest in cupcake delivery systems)

Cupcakes. The "cup" part is pretty straightforward it's the "cake" that ends up filed away under "Saccharine Disappointments". So here is a cake in a cup that is just the right amount of sweet, abundantly moist and has this great slightly crisped on the top thing going on.

My cupboards don't usually have Pam cooking spray (or similar), but I always have a tiny spray bottle for food spritzing needs (like Bourbon on a ham, mmm). If you have cooking spray go ahead and use it, but if you don't just put a bit of vegetable oil in a spray bottle, shake it up with a touch of water and spritz away!

Carrot Cupcakes

(just over 1 dozen, about 14)

1 c unbleached AP flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

3/4 c canola oil

1 c sugar

1 1/2 c grated carrots

cream cheese frosting

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a muffin tray with paper lines greased with cooking spray

1) Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

2) In the bowl of your mixed, beat the eggs and canola oil til evenly combined.

3) Gradually add the sugar to the mixer, then raise the speed to high and beat an additional 3-4 minutes (until the contents of the bowl are a bit thick).

4) Beat in the vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients, then fold in the carrots.

5) Divide the batter between the muffin cups and back for 30 minutes.

6) While they cool, make your cream cheese frosting. Scrape the frosting into a ziplock bag with a corner snipped then "pipe" the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

You're going to need this one, so permit a boring utilitarian frosting post!

Cream Cheese Frosting

(yield: 3 c; frosts two dozen cupcakes)

8 tbs butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

16 oz confectioners' sugar

1) In a mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth.

2) Beat in the vanilla and confectioners sugar then raise speed to high and beat until the frosting is light fluffy (it sort of gets the pretty sheen).

SFLN: Ratatouille Relocated

SFLN: Sandwiches From Last Night, which should be a Tumblr. Right?

Ratatouille Sandwiches

(6 sandwiches)

Extra virgin olive oil - about 3/4 c

1 eggplant, peeled and chopped into 3/4 inch pieces

2 red bell peppers, chopped into 3/4 inch pieces

1 onion, chopped into 3/4 inch pieces

1 lb zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick

3 Romas, seeded and diced

8 thyme sprigs

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 c basil, chiffonade

Handful Italian parsley, chopped

5 tablespoons butter

12 oz goat cheese

6 sandwich rolls, split

6 small handfuls mixed baby greens (endive, arugula, chervil etc.)

Preheat oven to 450 F

1) In a large saute pan heat 3-4 tbs* olive oil, then add the eggplant, 2 thyme sprigs, 1/4 of the garlic and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper and cook until tender.

2) While the eggplant is cooking, chop the red bell peppers. When the eggplant is tender, remove to a large bowl. Heat 2 tbs olive oil in the pan, then add the bell peppers, 2 more sprigs thyme, 1/4 of the garlic and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper. Cook til tender.

3) Repeat step #2 with the onion and zucchini.

4) Return eggplant, bell peppers, onion and zucchini to the pan; add the tomatoes, basil and parsley and cook until softened.

5) Lightly toast the rolls in the oven.

6) Blend the goat cheese and butter, spread on each side of the toasted rolls. Top with the ratatouille warm from the pan and a handful of mixed baby greens.

*Eggplant is very thirsty, so 2 tbs won't cut it. You don't want the eggplant stewing in olive oil, but enough so that it isn't in a bone dry pan.

One Big Table Now Available

One Big Table, "the nation’s community cookbook" from Molly O'Neill, is now available - and on page 330 you'll find this recipe for Chicken Paillards with Tomato, Goat Cheese and Arugula. Eerie, right?

There we are, Moscow Foodies printed and bound among "600 recipes from the nation's best home cooks, farmers, fishermen, pit-masters and chefs"! Thanks to everyone for reading, keep eating!

Sarah's Bread

This is, as the title might imply, Sarah's bread recipe. It's a blessing and a curse - now empowered with the recipe you may have trouble getting her to make the bread for you. Really easy prep, though you do have to be thinking about it the day before to give it that 18 hours of rising time!

Sarah's Bread

(1 loaf, 6-8 servings)

3 1/3 c unbleached flour

1/4 tsp yeast

2 1/4 tsp salt

cornmeal as needed

1) In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 1/2 c water (more in winter, less in summer) and stir until blended. Dough will be shaggy and sticky.

2) Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rest 16-22 hours (18 is ideal) at warm room temperature.

3) Dough is ready when surface is dotted with bubbles. Turn onto floured surface, sprinkle with more flour and fold several times. Rest 15 minutes.

4) Shape dough into ball, generously coat a cotton towel with flour and cornmeal, set dough on it and cover with cornmeal and another towel. Let rise for 3 hours.

5) About 20 minutes before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 F. Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, pyrex, ceramic) in over as it heats. When dough and over are ready, remove post from the oven, slide hand under towel, and flip dough into pot. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake 15-30 minutes until brown. Cool on rack.

Bacon+???=Good

This time it's hot dogs.

Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs

hot dogs, patted dry

bacon, patted dry

salsa, extra liquid drained

avocados, sliced

sour cream

hot dog buns

1) Wrap a slice of bacon around each hot dog in a spiral, securing it at each end with toothpicks (stick the toothpick in as parallel to the hot dog as possible to allow for easy turning).

2) Cook the bacon wrapped hot dogs on a grill pan or in a saute pan until the bacon is crisp.

3) Place the hot dogs in buns, top with avocado, sour cream* and salsa.

*Use a ziplock bag with a trimmed corner for a quick piping solution

Lavender Soda

Cane sugar sodas rock - as anyone that's had Mexican Coca Cola knows - and there have been blog entries before about the super delicious Dry Soda Co. Their lavender soda is a thing of loveliness, their cucumber is great solo or as a cocktail component, and Adam adores the vanilla bean. Trouble is, they go for about $7-$8 for a four pack. Yeah, ouch. This Christmas, Mark delivered a gift-wrapped solution, an iSi Soda Siphon!

Making soda at home: as intimidating as that picture? A little bit. However, takes less time than a trip to the store and the results are fantastic.

Guess this isn't necessarily going to be a super handy recipe for everyone, but you could just use soda water of any kind with your own flavored simple syrup. The thing to remember, of course, is that the simple syrup can be whatever flavor you like - vanilla bean is next, though the 2tbs measurement there would be equivalent to one bean.

Lavender Soda

Soda water

2 tbs lavender flowers

2 c sugar

1 c water

1) Make a simple syrup by combining the water and sugar in a saucepan (one that has a lid), and heating over medium-high until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, add the lavender, cover and allow to steep for an hour.

2) Strain the syrup into a sealable container (like a handy squeeze bottle even!) and refrigerate.

3) When the syrup has cooled, combine 1 tbs flavored syrup with 8 oz soda water.

P.S. Thanks, Mark!

The French 75: Hangover

As I mentioned before, there's more than one recipe for, well, everything, but more specific to this post, The French 75. Last week's recipe from the Savoy is great in part because the ingredient list is so simple. However, since I don't have the same sort of fussily specific loyalty to this cocktail as I do to, say, the martini, I enjoy multiple iterations. I happen to have all the ingredients required below in stock pretty much all the time, but I know that isn't an entirely reasonable expectation for everyone. Still, none of the items listed are cocktail uni-taskers, so they're worth picking up - maybe I'll make a point of that by posting more drink recipes!!

The French 75 Fancified

(yields two servings)

2 oz gin

2 oz orange liqueur (like Triple Sec, or Cointreau)

1/2 a lime, juiced

a dash of orange bitters

2 sugar cubes

Champagne

1) Pour gin, orange liqueur, lime juice and bitters into a shaker full of ice. Shake.

2) Put a sugar cube in a glass (martini or champagne flute recommended) and divide the contents of shaker between each glass.

3) Top with Champagne.

French 75: A Cocktail for New Year's

Everybody knows I like martinis, a lot, but I also like gin cocktails - note my versatility! ;) The French 75 is a fantastic cocktail for anytime of the year, it's that good, but I think it's a really great cocktail for New Year's. Why? Well, it uses Champagne, is delicious, is easy to make, is a classic, and it packs a serious punch - which is how it earned the name "The French 75". Concocted during WWI, its wallop reminded bar patrons of the French 75 mm artillery gun. It's just the sort of drink I want my guests holding when the ball drops!

Like all cocktails, there are a lot of recipes. The one I like to make is the first recorded recipe and the one found in the cocktail book from the Savoy. I just have to bet that's the recipe least mucked up by time and telephone!

For the gin, Sapphire or similar.

The French 75

yields one serving

2 parts gin

1 part lemon juice

1 spoonful powdered sugar

Champagne

1) Pour the gin, lemon juice and powdered sugar into a glass over ice and top with champagne.

This Soup is Magical

This one is for Mark, who declared this soup "magical" last week - words every cook wants to hear!! The pedigree of the recipe is a bit odd, however, and I can't actually trace its lineage too clearly, but here goes: Bonnie always makes this amazing soup, which she says is based off the Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana soup. Bonnie, however, is a proper cook in that she alters things to suit her tastes and needs, adding a bit of stock here, a bunch of potatoes there, so that when I got the recipe from cooking with her it was clear this is the sort of soup you make from your soul. Your tummy's soul at least! It really is wonderful, especially this time of year, and Adam has confessed to getting out of bed at night to heat up a second bowl!! Here is my version - which is, after all, magical! :P

(Don't add the kale til the end so the leaves stay bright! They will cook up plenty in that hot soup bowl!!)

My Zuppa Toscana

(yields 6-8 servings)

1 1/2 lbs spicy Italian sausage, squeezed out of their casings

3-4 Yukon gold potatoes, mostly peeled and cut into chunks

Just under 1 c onion, diced

6-8 slices bacon, cut into 1" pieces

1.5 tsp garlic, minced

1 qt chicken stock

up to 1 c heavy cream

kale

1) In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook the bacon pieces til the fat is rendered and they are crisp. Remove to bowl.

2) Add the sausage, removed from casings, to the pot and brown, breaking up with a spoon. Remove to bowl with bacon.

3) Add the onions to the pot with a pinch of salt and cook til translucent, stirring to pick up all the good browned bits from the pan.

4) When the onion is cook add the garlic to the pot and cook, stirring, for a minute or two until the garlic is fragrant.

5) Return the bacon and sausage to the pan, add the potatoes, and pour over the stock. Simmer, covered, until the potatoes are tender.

6) Lower the heat and add the cream - I usually just pour in about half a cup, taste, season and then maybe add some more!

7) Serve in bowls with a handful of freshly torn kale leaves in the center.

Bonnie's Birthday & Salted Fudge Brownies

Yesterday was Bonnie's birthday, so we made pizzas and brownies! This recipe for Salted Fudge Brownies from Food&Wine caught my eye. They're as easy to make as any brownie recipe (ok, maybe you need a couple more ingredients than out of the box brownies, but they're still dead simple) and they taste like, well, fancy! Yes, I am declaring these Fancy Brownies!!

I did pretty much everything per the original recipe, except that I don't have a 9" square metal pan, so I used my 8x13" metal pan instead with no disasters, just a shorter cook time (think 25 minutes instead of 35).

Salted Fudge Brownies

(yield: 12 big square brownies)

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine

1/4 c plus 2 tbs unsweetened cocoa (Dutch processed - look for "Alkali" under Ingredients)

2 c sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 c AP flour

12 tsp fine seat salt

Preheat oven to 350 F

1) Line a metal cake pan (8x13" metal) with foil and grease the foil with butter.

2) In a nonstick pan melt the butter and chocolate over the lowest heat, stirring occasionally.

3) Remove from heat and whisk in - one at a time- cocoa, sugar, eggs, vanilla and flour making sure each is incorporated before moving to the next.

4) Spread into pan, then sprinkle with the sea salt. Swirl the sea salt into the batter with a butter knife. Smooth top and pop in the oven.

5) Bake for 25 minutes - edge will be set, center a bit soft and if you insert a toothpick it will come out with a bit of batter.

6) Cool at room temperature for an hour, then refrigerate an hour more. Lift from pan the foil, remove foil and cut!

Pumpkin Lasagne Rocks My World

It sounds a little veggie (and I guess it is), but this Pumpkin Lasagne from Food & Wine rocks my world. It's seasonal, savory and so very rife with other alliteratives! The recipe says it serve four, but I think they mean four sumo wrestlers. With sides and stuff, this could easily serve 8.

Chard is sort of unwieldy. It's huge, leafy, never fits in a drawer and gets wilty pretty quickly in my experience. Buy it as close to cooking day as possible, and before you get to chopping it make sure it's rinsed of grit.

Pumpkin Lasagne

(serves 6-8)

2 tbs olive oil

2 onions, chopped

2 lbs chard, stems removed and chopped

1 28 oz can pureed pumpkin

1 1/2 c Parmesan, grated

1/2 c milk

1 package no-boil lasagne noodles (about 9 noodles, or 6 oz)

1 tbs butter

2 1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp dried sage

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400

1) In your largest nonstick frying pan heat the olive oil over medium-low. Add the onions and cook until translucent (5 minutes).

2) Raise heat to medium-high, add the chard with 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp sage and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Cook until the chard is wilted and liquid evaporates from the pan (it may be necessary to add the chard in batches so the pan isn't overcrowded).

3) In a bowl combine 2 cups of the pumpkin, 3/4 c cream, 1/2 c Parmesan and the remaining spices and seasoning.

4) Pour the milk into n 8x11" baking dish. Top with 3 of the noodles, then spread half the pumpkin mixture over that. Put half the onion and chard mixture on top of that, then top with another layer of noodles. Repeat with a second layer of pumpkin, onion and chard, and noodles.

5) Combine the last cup of pumpkin with 3/4 c cream and spread over the top of the lasagne. Sprinkle with 1 c Parmesan and dot with butter.

6) Cover with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15, until golden.

The World's Greatest of the Best of the Greatest Chocolate Chip Cookie

Because it wouldn't be a cookie recipe without a title like that? Why else would you try yet another recipe for one of the most basic of cookies otherwise!

I've tried lots - lots and lots - of chocolate chip cookie recipes. Lots. This is the best, my recipe, the one I eat out of the bowl and only some of the dough makes it into cookie form and when it does end up as cookies they're the ooey gooey chewy kind. If you like your cookies puffy and fluffy then this is the World's Least of the Worst of the Least recipes.

On chips: How many chips you add is a deeply personal decision. I won't judge. Me, I like a relatively moderate chip-to-cookie ratio. Also, try a milk chocolate chip instead of semi-sweets, or dark chocolate if that's your thing.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

(about 24 cookies)

2 1/4 c AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

2 sticks butter, cold cold cold from the fridge

3/4 c dark brown sugar - packed

3/4 c granulated sugar

1 tsp almond extract

2 eggs

chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 F

1) Cream the butter and sugars. I don't want to hear any complaints about how this is hard work since the butter is cold, I don't even have a mixer and I can do this in minutes! (if any step were more important than the rest, it would be this one)

2) Add the extract and the eggs, give 'em a good mix.

3) Combine the flour, salt and baking soda then add to the wet ingredients and stir til evenly mixed.

4) Add the chips. At this stage you can chill the dough for a bit - it only helps - but cooking right away doesn't hurt any.

5) Scoop out (I like to use an ice cream scoop) balls of dough leaving plenty of room - otherwise you get what my niece calls a "double cookie", which, while it is cooler than a double rainbow is a pain to transfer from sheet to cooling rack.

6) Bake for 10-12 minutes until they're brown on the edges. The cookies will look a bit underdone in the center when you remove them from the tray to the cooling rack.