sourdough bread and white bean soup

yesterday was a gloomy day in albuquerque. no sun, only gray clouds and drizzly rain off and on throughout the day. a good day for splashing in puddles, baking bread, and making a big pot of soup. dinah and i woke up early to make bread before she had to go to preschool. first, we fed our sourdough starter, then she helped me mix up a loaf of bread with the leftover starter. she dumped the flour in the bowl and turned on the mixer and even help me knead the dough. then we put it into a big bowl and i set it on the top of our bookshelf and told her it would be busy rising while she was at school.

when i picked her up at noon, it had risen a whole bunch and was about to pop over the sides of the bowl. it needed to be pushed down earlier, but i didn't want to do it without dinah there to help. as soon as she got home, she helped me beat down the bread and then we shaped it into a loaf and let it rise again. while we waited, we splashed in some mud puddles and played a little while in the rain. then we went inside for tea and cuddles, and then started the soup.

we made a white bean soup with sausage, root vegetables, and kale. a flavorful and hearty winter soup.

rustic sourdough bread

1/2 cup sourdough starter

3/4 cup warm water

1 tsp instant yeast

1/2 TBS sugar

1 and 1/4 tsp salt

2 and 1/2 cups flour

this recipe makes one loaf. put a 1/2 cup of starter in a mixing bowl. dissolve sugar, salt, and yeast in the warm water and add to starter. then add flour and mix to combine. once combined, knead the dough on a hard lightly floured surface, for about five minutes. place in a greased bowl and put somewhere warm. let the dough rise to double its size. push down and shape into a loaf. cut slats in the top, sprinkle with water. then let it rise to double the size again and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. 

rustic tuscan white bean soup

2 TBS olive oil

1 lb sausage (the recipe recommends sweet italian)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and finely diced

1 large potato, peeled and finely diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 bay leaves

2 15 ounce cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 big bunches of kale, finely chopped

6 cups chicken stock

heat olive oil in a large pot, add sausage and brown, about 10 minutes. add onions, carrots, potatoes, and bay leaves. cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. add garlic and beans, cook for 2 minutes. add kale, and cook until wilted. add chicken stock, and bring to a boil. simmer for about 30 minutes, or until potatoes and carrots are soft. serve with parmesan cheese grated on top. 

sour cream chocolate cake

dinah asks to make a cake frequently, like every day, probably. i generally say no, not today, honey. but finally, when she asked for a dinosaur chocolate cake (she loves dinosaurs), i agreed. this year for our new year's day cake, we made a chocolate sour cream "dinahsaur" cake.

the original recipe is from smitten kitchen, which i made for my little brother's birthday a few years ago. it has peanut butter frosting and chocolate peanut butter glaze (ummm, yummm!), but this time, i just made the cake part with a chocolate buttercream center.

this cake is super moist, almost brownie-like, and super delicious, but really, really super fragile. the cakes will completely fall apart if you don't grease the pans properly or freeze the cakes for 30 minutes before trying to frost them. normally, with all round cakes i make, i vigorously grease the bottom and sides of the cake pan, add parchment paper to the bottom, grease the bottom again, then dust with flour, and so far all my cakes have popped out perfectly. this time, although i was excited about baking a cake with dinah, waller was not. i usually cook and bake wearing him, and it's generally no problem -- he's either asleep or happily cuddled up against me. this time, he was not happy and fussed and squirmed the entire time. so, trying to rush, i skipped the o.c.d. cake pan greasing step, and merely greased and floured. ugh, big mistake. the cakes didn't come out very pretty. one was so stuck in the pan, that it came out in a million pieces. of course, the scraps were still tasty, so it's not like i tossed it or something, but still, what a bummer to have a two tier cake instead of three.

it's a rich cake all by itself, so i whipped up a simple chocolate buttercream frosting to slap on the middle of the two cakes and decided to dust the top with powdered sugar instead of icing the top as well. and anyway, dinah asked for a dinosaur cake, so i had to get creative with decorating the cake top.

sour cream chocolate cake

this makes an 8-in triple layer cake that serves 12-16 people

2 cups flour

2 1/2 cups sugar (i used only 2 and it was plenty)

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (i used hershey's special dark)

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup canola oil

1 cup sour cream (i didn't have enough sour cream, so i used 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup buttermilk)

1 1/2 cups water

2 TBS distilled white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

grease pans, line with parchment paper, then grease and dust with flour.  whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, set aside. in your mixing bowl, whisk oil and sour cream until blended, gradually beat in water, vinegar and vanilla. beat in eggs until well blended. mix in dry ingredients and mix very well. divide among the three prepared cake pans.

bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. let cool in the pans for 20 minutes. invert onto wire racks, and carefully peal off parchment paper liners, then let cool completely. since these cakes are so soft, place in the freezer for 30 minutes before frosting. 

chocolate buttercream frosting

1 cup salted butter, softened

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar 

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (i used hershey's special dark, again)

4 TBS heavy whipping cream 

2 tsp vanilla

cream butter until smooth. mix in powdered sugar and cocoa powder on low, then add whipping cream. beat on high until blended and fluffy.

put a generous layer between cake layers and dust the top with powdered sugar. 

posole

posole

a christmas tradition we've started doing since moving to new mexico is making posole and tamales for christmas dinner. someday, i would like to make tamales from scratch, but so far we've only bought them pre-made and just steam them christmas day. however, this year, with two tiny children, i totally slacked and i did't get to the posole until new year's day and didn't even bother picking up tamales at all. oh well. next year. maybe.

this year, i made posole with pork shoulder. i cut the meat off the bone and chopped them into bite sized pieces, then created bone broth from the bone. i merely simmered the bone in water for 24 hours in a slow-cooker, then strained the fat and bits of stuck-on meat, then skimmed the fat off the top as it cooled. it didn't make quite enough broth, so i supplemented with store-bought chicken bone broth. i also used the left over red chile sauce i had frozen from a few weeks ago when i made carne adovada.

i got this recipe from a mom friend a couple years ago, but adjusted it slightly here and there. it turned out delicious. my brother-in-law and his roommate came over to celebrate new year's day with us. his roommate is a new mexican native and has been eating posole his entire life. he said mine was just as good or better than his grandmother's! wow! it must be a good recipe.

posole

1 pound frozen posole, thawed and rinsed

1 large onion, chopped

2 pounds lean pork, cubed (i used bone-in shoulder)

2-4 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 cups red chile sauce

1 tsp dried oregano

1-3 tsp salt

about 6 cups of bone broth

rinse posole several times to wash off the lime. chop onion and mince garlic. saute both in a splash of olive oil. add cubed pork and cook on medium heat for about 5-8 minutes. add rinsed posole, salt, oregano, broth, and red chile sauce. bring to a boil. simmer for about 1 hour, or until the posole blossoms. it can be eaten now, but i transferred it to a slow cooker and cooked on low for a couple of hours, and then switched to warm for several more hours. i think slow cooking at the end helped blend the flavors and soften the meat. garnish with chopped green onion, cilantro, and quartered limes.

holiday treats (caramel corn, gingersnaps, and fudge)

there has been a flurry of holiday baking the last couple of weeks. making christmas treats is one of my favorite things and i look forward to it all year. most holiday seasons, i make about four batches of fudge, caramel corn, and many cookies. someday i will add divinity, peanut brittle, and salted caramel to the mix.

this is a three part post to highlight the three best christmas treats i made this year: caramel corn, gingersnaps, and fudge.

pecan caramel corn

earlier this week, dinah and i whipped up a batch of caramel corn to take to her preschool teachers at sweethearts as our christmas gift and our way of saying thank you for taking such good care of our girl all year. before this, dinah has never really tried popcorn, and now i think she assumes all popcorn is caramel corn. she may be mighty disappointed at her first trip to the movies.

we also made previous batches for sending to the grandparents and other family.

pecan caramel corn

15-18 cups of popped popcorn

2 cups whole pecans

1.5 cups packed brown sugar (i use dark)

3/4 cups butter (i use salted sweet cream)

almost 1/2 cup light corn syrup

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

pop popcorn and place it and the pecans in a large roasting pan (i use the kind you might use for baking a turkey). heat brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. once it starts bubbling around the edges, continue cooking over medium heat without stirring for 5 minutes. remove from heat and stir in baking soda until foamy. pour caramel mixture over popcorn and toss until evenly coated. bake 1 to 2 hours at 200 degrees. stir every 20 minutes. spread out on wax paper and let it cool completely before storing. 

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gingersnaps

i discovered this recipe in an issue of sunset magazine and have been making them every year since. though, i have adjusted the spices a bit. i tend to add about a 1/4 tsp more than recipes call for. anyway, these are the best gingersnap cookie i've ever had in my entire life. ever! they are like heaven (if you like ginger, that is.) they are so spicy. you get a really robust ginger flavor with every bight. and the texture is fantastic: soft and chewy in the middle and crisp and crunchy on the outside edges. our kitchen smelled just like christmas while we baked. when i think of christmas, the scent of ginger baking is always a strong memory.

mega-ginger gingersnaps

1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger

about 3/4 cups sugar, divided

6 TBS butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup molasses

1 large egg

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1.5 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

in a food processor, whirl chopped ginger and 1/3 cup of sugar until ginger is finely ground. remove from container. back in the food processor, whirl butter and 1/3 cup of sugar until fluffy. add ginger mixture, molasses, and egg and whirl to mix. in a mixing bowl, mix flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. then whirl into the butter mixture. cover dough and chill until firm, about 1 hour. shape dough into 1-inch balls and coat with remaining sugar. place balls 2 to 3 inches apart on a non stick or greased cookie sheet. bake at 350 degrees until slightly darker brown, about 11 to 12 minutes, switching positions of baking sheets halfway through.

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walnut fudge

my fondest memories of fudge are of my brother swift and i making it at christmas together. we were quite young. probably younger than i'd allow my kids to be making fudge independently, but whatevs, it was a simpler time back then. :) anyway, i was young enough to push a chair up to the counter to help. and i helped by, like, you know, licking the spoon and sneaking handfuls of chocolate chips and finger dips of marshmallow cream. my brother did all the hard work: the relentless stirring. i swear after a holiday season of making fudge, i could win any arm wrestling match with my massive biceps. anyway, i was my older brother and dinah was me in this year's fudge-making extravaganza. 

i think there are about a million different ways to make fudge, but i've quite honestly never tasted any quite as rich and delicious as me and my brother's version using jet-puffed marshmallow creme. i've also done a million different varieties using various flavored chips. mint-chocolate (with swirls of green mint chocolate on top), peanut butter, white chocolate, butterscotch...the list goes on. but this year, i kept it classic: chocolate walnut fudge.

walnut fudge

3 cups sugar

a pinch of cream of tartar*

3/4 cup butter

2/3 cups evaporated milk

12 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips

7 ounces of jet-puffed marshmallow cream

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 tsp vanilla

grease a cake pan with butter (use a 13x9 for thinner pieces of fudge or a 8x8 for thicker pieces). then in a heavy medium sized saucepan, over medium heat, bring butter, evaporated milk, and sugar to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. boil 4 to 6 minutes, until it reaches a soft ball stage in cold water or reaches 234 degrees on a candy thermometer. remove from heat and stir in marshmallow creme and chocolate chips. once melted, add vanilla and nuts. pour into your prepared baking dish and let cool completely. 

*the pinch of cream of tartar is a relatively recent discovery for me. after years and years of making fudge, last year i made a terrible batch where the sugar crystalized and the texture was gritty. fudge is such a simple recipe, but the chemistry of it is complex. for the next batch, i added a pinch of cream of tartar and its texture was perfect. by adding acid, such as cream of tartar, some of the sucrose will break down into glucose and fructose, resulting in great smooth texture. 

shepherd's pie

last night, on the winter solstice, we made one of my favorite wintertime dinners: shepherd's pie. a meat pie with potatoes, beef, and carrots baking in the oven can't be anything but comforting on a cold winter evening. it's also a dinner that is very convenient for a mother of two little ones to make. it can be prepared in sections as time is available (cook and mash potatoes first, brown meat next, bake it last...). this works well with the realities of tending to the needs of a two month old baby.

dinah and i were able to prepare the pie while waller had a long snooze in his wrap (it's amazing what i can get done while baby-wearing) and then we popped it in the fridge and waited for daddy to get home so that we could bake it.

i have been using the same recipe since college, but as we were eating dinner, dickie told me shepherd's pie is one of keith richards' favorite meals and i should try to find his recipe. dinah, our notoriously picky eater's ears perked up at the mention of keith richards. she's the world's youngest rolling stone's fan. i could tell she was thinking, "well, if 'keef' loves it, i probably will too..." so we even got our picky eater to enjoy a few bites of this pie as well.

shepherd's pie

1.5 lbs ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 cup carrots, choped

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup frozen corn

3 large potatoes (about 1/5-2 lbs)

4 TBS butter

1/2 cup beef broth

2 tsp worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper

cook and mash potatoes with butter, cream, and salt. saute onions in 2 TBS of butter over medium heat for about three minutes. add carrots and cook for ten minutes. add ground beef and cook. once cooked, add frozen peas and corn. add salt, pepper, and worcestershire sauce. add beef broth and cook uncovered on low for about ten minutes. place meat and vegetables in a baking dish (i use a 13x9 pan). place a layer of mashed potatoes over the meat mixture. bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cranberry Orange Bread

fresh cranberries

at least once a week, i try to have a lazy morning with my kids. the kind of morning where we eat breakfast in the den, watch a movie, read books, cuddle, and stay in our jammies. no play dates, no visitors. just a morning to rest and do nothing at all.

this morning was our lazy morning this week. it was also a very chilly morning; only 19 degrees! the cold weather makes for a perfect lazy-baking-day! with the sugar overload that comes this time of year, we decided to do a sugar-free nom instead. this bread uses applesauce, orange juice, and honey as sweeteners instead of refined white sugar. it still tastes sweet, but is hopefully a healthier treat. plus, it's a great holiday loaf, with pretty red cranberries.

the citrus and sweet cranberry aroma filled the entire house, which was a perfect compliment to lazy-day couch cuddles in our jams.

cranberry orange bread

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 TBS baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup honey

grated rind from one orange

2/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (about two large oranges)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/4 cup fresh cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (we used walnuts)

grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees. grate one orange and set the rind aside. squeeze two large oranges, set juice aside. in a medium sized bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) and set aside. in a large mixing bowl, mix together applesauce, orange juice, rind, oil, and honey. slowly add in dry ingredients. fold in cranberries and nuts. bake for 45-55 minutes. 

carne adovada

there is a lot about living in new mexico that i love. this place is really special. not only is it one of the strangest and most beautiful places i've been, the food, is well, really, really good. it's fantastic living in a state with its own genre of food. new mexican food is a unique fusion of mexican and pueblo native american cuisine. its ingredients are foods only grown in this state, specifically, new mexican chile. therefore, new mexican food has a very distinct flavor, it's culturally significant, full of history, and really, really freakin' good, addictive, actually. living here, you hear "red, green, or christmas?" a lot. tonight, it's red. this weekend, we made one of our favorite new mexican meals: carne adovada.

carne adovada

1 TBS vegetable oil

3 lbs pork butt, cut in 1 in. pieces

2 onions, chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 TBS flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tsp ground coriander seed

2 tsp mexican oregeno

1 cup ground chimayo red chile

4-6 cups chicken broth

brown meat in oil, about five minutes. remove meat from the pot, and add onion, garlic, salt, pepper, coriander seed, and oregeno and cook for three minutes. sprinkle onions with flour and cook for three minutes. add red chile and stir to combine. add four cups of broth, then blend this mixture in a food processor or a blender. return the meat and the red chile mixture to the pot and bring everything to a boil. transfer everything to a dutch oven and bake for one to two hours at 350 degrees. or like i did, transfer the mixture to a container and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. then cook it in a slow cooker on high for one hour and on low for six to eight hours, until meat is cooked.

serve with beans, rice, and tortillas.