Cheddar Cheese & Beer Soup

When Matt & I visited Yosemite in 2006 one thing we both really wanted to do was visit the Ahwahnee Hotel. In the middle of all this amazing natural beauty is this beautiful old hotel.
We had lunch while we were there & Matt had their Fiscalini Farms Cheddar Cheese & Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Soup. It was fabulous. The waiter asked if he liked it & offered us the recipe. It has become a staple in our house ever since. It goes together pretty quickly & the worcestershire, horseradish & dijon give it an amazing flavor.

Fiscalini Farms & Sierra Nevada Brewery are both local to California so when we made it here we decided to go with things local to this area. We used a very good aged Wisconsin Cheddar that was recommended to us at Lund's & Schell's Pale Ale from New Alm, MN.



½ C. onion, finely diced
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
6 slices bacon, diced
1 Tbsp. butter
¼ C. all-purpose flour
6 C. vegetable broth
4-6 oz. Pale Ale
2 C. heavy cream
2 Tbsp. Worcesstershire Sauce
2 tsp. prepared horseradish
2 Tbsp. dijon mustard
2 bay leaves
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
½ lb. shredded cheddar cheese
Preparation

Heat a 6 qt. stockpot over a medium heat and add the diced bacon. Cook until bacon is ⅔ done. Add the onion and garlic and continue cooking an additional three minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add butter and flour and mix thoroughly to make roux. Add vegetable stock and cook until desired thickness. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove bay leaves before serving. Serve with a crusty bread or homemade croutons like they do at the Ahwahnee.

This soup does not thicken very much so if you prefer a thicker cheese soup make a little more roux.

Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

Last time I lived in Minneapolis I spent a lot of time at Bob's Java Hut, partly for the great people but mainly for the amazing Mexican Chocolate Mocha. That great flavor of chocolate & cinnamon together with a little extra vanilla is one of my favorites. This cupcake really seems to capture that flavor & it is one of the moistest cupcakes I've every had. Maybe just a little too moist as they didn't rise very much. (*see below for our fix for that)


Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

2 sticks (1 C) unsalted butter
1/2 C Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 C water
2 C granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 C well-shaken buttermilk
2 T vanilla
2 C all purpose flour
1 t baking soda (*see below for suggested change to this)
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt

Preheat oven to 350. Put cupcake papers in your muffin tins. Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, then whisk in cocoa. Add water and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in separately sugar, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. Then sift again into the cocoa mixture and whisk until just combined (it will be a little bit lumpy). Fill cupcake papers to about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes until a skewer or toothpick comes out clean. It's a moist cake, so don't worry if a few crumbs stick to your tester.
Allow cupcakes to cool.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Adapted from Rebecca Rather's recipe from on Four Obsessions.

Most Mexican cupcake recipes I found just suggested dusting the cupcakes with powdered sugar but I really wanted a frosting & used this basic chocolate sour cream version.

Fudgy Sour Cream Frosting
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla

In a double boiler, or in a saucepan set over a pan of hot (not boiling) water, melt the chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Add the sour cream and the vanilla and beat, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until smooth and creamy. Let cool just slightly - until the frosting begins to thicken. But don’t wait too long because it will quickly thicken beyond spreadability.

It did thicken really quickly, almost faster than I could decorate the cupcakes. The tang of the sour cream really went well with these cupcakes.


* I had a little helper over yesterday & we decided to make some chocolate raspberry cupcakes using this same cupcake recipe. This time we left out the cinnamon. We added 1/2 t baking soda & 1 t baking powder instead of the 1 t baking soda. The cupcake rose more this time. They were still quite moist but a little less pudding like.

We used the Perfectly Chocolate Frosting on these.
This will probably be the chocolate cupcake recipe I continue to use because the flavor is so good but with those changes.

Green Curry Chicken

I'm trying to be more experimental with food, especially curries, these days. I know Matt is missing some of these things that he would have for lunch back in California. (We really need to try some of the ethnic restaurants here in Minneapolis.) I saw this Green Curry Shrimp recipe on Posie Gets Cozy & thought I'd give it a try. I know that green curry is pretty mild which is good for wimpy me. I decided to use chicken instead of shrimp so I had to change when the protein is added since chicken takes longer to cook than shrimp. Also her recipe had red pepper in the ingredients but never had them added to the curry so I just took a guess when to add them. Finally, we felt 1 tablespoon of curry was no where near enough flavor. We ended up adding 3 which is actually what the curry jar said was the right amount for two cans of coconut milk. I'm betting every curry paste is different though. So here is my adaptation for Green Curry Chicken.


1 T unsalted butter
1 T olive oil
1 large shallot, minced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, crushed
2 chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt & pepper
1 red pepper, diced (no ribbing please! — red parts only)
1 head broccoli florets
1 Japanese eggplant, sliced then cut into quarters
2 14-oz cans light coconut milk
3 T. green curry paste
1 c. frozen peas
1 small can bamboo shoots (julienned)

Heat butter & olive oil over med-low heat in a large soup pot. Sauté shallot and onion until translucent. Add garlic and chicken and cook until chicken is almost done, about 5 minutes. Season with salt & pepper. Add broccoli florets & red pepper, sauté until almost tender. Add eggplant and sauté a few minutes more, chicken should be fully cooked at this point. Add curry paste and stir until everything is coated, then add coconut milk and stir until combined. Don't boil, just simmer until hot. Add peas and bamboo shoots and heat through. Serve over hot jasmine rice.


Even with the addition of more curry paste I still found this a little bland. Matt said it tastes exactly like green curry should so maybe I had a different expectation. If we made this again we would leave out the eggplant as neither of us really cared for the texture in this. Perhaps next time I'll try yellow curry & see if that has a little more of the zing I'm looking for.

Lavender Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

The smell & flavor of lavender will always remind me of Maui. When Matt & I went there two years ago we spent a day in the Upcountry visiting the Surfing Goat Dairy, the Tedeschi Vineyards and Winery & the Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm. It was a rather cold, foggy day on this part of the island & the lavender farm offered the perfect treat.

They sold lavender scones which were then heated up & served with different lavender butters & honey. They were so good & ever since I've been planning on doing some of my own baking with lavender.

I bought some lavender sugar one day at a deli in Bolinas & recently I bought some culinary lavender at the local market.

Since I'm currently on a cupcake kick it seemed lavender cupcakes were in order.

Ah, a little bit of Maui in Minneapolis in February.

Cupcakes

1/2 c room temp unsalted butter
7 T lavender sugar
1 C all purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1 - 3 T milk

Preheat oven to 400. Cream butter & sugar together. Add eggs, one at a time, beat in well. Mix in flour, baking powder & salt. Slowly add milk until desired consistency (I needed almost the whole 3).
Evenly fill 12 muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Makes 12
adapted from Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer.

Chocolate Frosting

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
2/3 cup dutch processes cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.

About 2 cups frosting.

This is the Hersey's Perfectly Chocolate frosting recipe but I used dutch processed cocoa instead. This is a really good chocolate frosting!

Risotto with Chicken, Prosciutto & Tomato

Many years ago I often spent weekends in Wisconsin helping some friends renovate an old farm house into a weekend retreat. The weather was hot, the work was dirty & many times a shower was a bucket of water over the head outside. But once evening rolled around there was plenty of red wine & lots of great food. It was in this environment I had risotto for the first time. It was my job to stir the broth slowly into the rice, letting each addition be absorbed until you could part the rice like the red sea, as my friend told me. Risotto still seems to me the perfect dish for a laid back evening with friends. A simple, warm creamy dish that welcomes any additions you want to throw in form the fridge or pantry.
I know many people think it is too much work & that you have to constantly stir it, I've discovered it is a bit more forgiving than that & you can walk away to do other things & just stir from time to time as you add the broth. Usually I make very simple vegetable risottos with either peas on asparagus & a little cream added at the end. Last night I made a heartier version with chicken, prosciutto & tomato. You cook the tomato down quite a bit before adding it to the rice with adds a nice tomato taste to the creaminess.


2 T olive oil
2 T finely minced onion
1 boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
3 oz prosciutto, diced
2 small tomatoes, peeled, seeded & diced or 1/2 can Italian tomatoes, well drained & diced
5 c broth (chicken or vegetable)
1/2 c white wine (I often skip this & just use a little more broth)
2 T unsalted butter
1T olive oil
1/3 c finely minced onion
1 1/2 c Arborio rice
1/4 c grated Parmesan


Heat the 2 T olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; add the onion & sauté for about 1 or 2 minutes. Add the chicken, prosciutto & tomato & cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through & tender, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
In a saucepan, bring the broth to a steady simmer.
Heat the butter & remaining olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion & sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the rice & stir until well coated. Add the wine & stir until completely absorbed. Beginning adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time. Stir from time to time & add more broth as each addition is absorbed. Reserve about 1/4 cup at the end. After about 18 minutes the rice should be tender but still firm to the bite. Add the remaining broth & the chicken mixture. Turn off the heat and add in the Parmesan, stir to combine. Serve right away.

4 large servings.
From Risotto by Judith Barrett & Norma Wasserman

I find sometimes it takes a little more broth & a little more time to get the rice to the right texture but usually this recipe is pretty close, it never takes less.
You can really take the basic technique here & add anything you like the flavor of, mushrooms, herbs, etc, instead to the chicken, prosciutto & tomato.