Creamy Tomato Bisque

Homemade tomato soup is one of those things that is a hundred, no, a thousand, times better than any premade stuff you can buy at the store.  It's a bit involved to make, true, especially for something that seems so deceptively simple.  I mean, a tomato soup -- what could sound easier?



Don't get me wrong, it is easy.  It's just more dishwashing than I would like. :D  Still, the results are so spectacular that I can't really complain.  Start with good tomatoes.  I used tomatoes from my garden -- a few of the larger ones that actually ripened during our cold Seattle summer.  The garlic and basil were also from my garden, I'm proud to say!



Start by roasting the tomatoes, garlic, and onion with salt, pepper, and olive oil.  Once the tomatoes are nice and soft, puree them with the garlic, onion, and some basil.  I used my new immersion blender, but this can also be done in a regular blender or a food processor.



This next step, in my opinion, is not really optional.  After the tomato mixture has been pureed, strain it through a fine mesh sieve.  All the little bits of tomato skin and things that didn't get finely pureed get separated out, making the resulting soup wonderfully smooth in texture.  To this I added soy milk (substituting for heavy cream with no ill effect, though I'm sure it would have been even more delicious with the cream), a splash of white wine, and a pinch of sugar.  I like my soups very hot, so I strained the soup into a small pot and kept it on low heat while I prepared the other part of dinner -- what's tomato soup without grilled cheese?



In this case, it was a grilled cheese sandwich made from a plain bagel and Irish white cheddar.  It was the only kind of bread I had, but it worked great.  Excellent dunkability.  A fantastic complement to the deep, rich flavor of the soup. :-)  The recipe I provide makes one large bowl, or two smaller ones.  If you decide to double or even triple it, to make all the dishes worth it, keep in mind you'll probably have to puree and strain in batches.



Creamy Tomato Bisque

Ingredients

• 4 large tomatoes, cored
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1/4 of an onion, chopped
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• 1 tbsp basil, sliced or chopped
• a splash of white wine (optional)
• a big pinch of sugar
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy cream (can be substituted with milk)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil.  Place the cored tomatoes on the sheet.  Partially wrap garlic and onion in some foil.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over the tomatoes, garlic, and onion.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Close the foil over the garlic and onion to make a pouch.
3. Roast in the oven for 35 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and starting to brown on top, but not falling apart.
4. Place the tomatoes, garlic, and onion (be careful opening the pouch!) in a container (bowl, blender, food processor).  Add the basil, reserving some for garnishing if you wish, and the wine, if using.  Blend to a fine puree.
5. Strain the mixture into a small pot or a large bowl.
6. Add the sugar and stir.  Taste and adjust seasoning.
7. Add the milk or cream, enough to achieve the desired color and texture, and stir until combined completely.
8. When soup has reached the desired temperature, divide into bowls, garnish, and serve.

Simple Kimchi Jigae

This is a post I should have made awhile ago -- back in May, to be exact, when I first made the dish.  Actually, if I remember correctly, I made it practically every day for a week, because it was so easy and yummy, and I had the ingredients on hand.



This is probably not the best time to be posting a recipe for a soup/stew, given that many parts of the country seem to be experiencing an autumn heat wave right now, but hey, this will come in handy for when the weather turns cooler, or for those folks who live in colder areas!

The first thing to know about this particular recipe for kimchi jigae is that it's very customizable.  You can use or not use or substitute just about anything... except for the kimchi.  That part is sort of necessary for it to be kimchi jigae.  What I provide below is a super basic recipe for 1 serving that you can adjust to your own taste and requirements.  The kimchi provides all the seasoning the stew requires, but you can get really fancy and use chicken broth instead of water, or add extra salt and pepper, etc.

If you're like me, you bought a huge tub of kimchi during your last trip to the Korean grocery store, because it's the most economical, and it's preserved so it'll last forever, right?  Well, yes and no.  It's like sticking things in the freezer.  It might still be safe to eat 2 years later, but will it taste any good?  The thing with kimchi is that it just keeps fermenting.  And eventually, it gets to a point where it's too fermented, and it doesn't taste good on its own anymore (unless, of course, you are the sort who likes super-fermented kimchi).  When it gets to that point, it's perfect for making kimchi jigae!

Simple Kimchi Jigae

Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 strips of pork belly, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup packed kimchi, with some juice
• 1/4 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 1/2 -2 cups cold water
• 1/2 cup tofu, cubed
• sliced scallions

Method

1. Heat the sesame oil in a small pot.
2. Add the pork belly and fry until the pieces start to get brown spots.
3. Add the kimchi and garlic, then stir fry everything together for a few minutes.
4. Pour in the water, enough to cover by about 1/2 inch.
5. Add the tofu and bring the soup to a boil.  Simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Garnish with the scallions and serve hot.

Honey Walnut Cream Cheese

Flavored cream cheese is one of those things that is so simple and obvious it has, of course, never occurred to me to try and make my own.  Well, I am pleased to say that that time has now passed.



It's just as easy as you might think.  Soften up some cream cheese at room temperature, then add your flavorings -- sun-dried tomato, chives and herbs, ground up lox, whatever might take your fancy.  For my first attempt I chose to make a sweet variation, mostly because I had the ingredients on hand.

I toasted some walnuts, waited until they were completely cool, then chopped up a small handful.  I added that to my softened cream cheese along with a large, heaping tablespoon of honey that had started to crystalize.  I decided that the crystalized honey might make for an interesting dimension to the end result, so I chose not to warm it to smooth it out.



I tasted it afterward to see if I needed to adjust the flavoring, but it was actually just right.  Since I didn't have any bagels around, I decided to test the cream cheese on some plain sourdough.  Wonderful!  It could only be better if it were on a perfectly toasted bagel.

I've provided a recipe below, but you should taste and alter the seasoning as suits your own preferences.  That is the beauty of making your own flavored cream cheese at home, isn't it?



Honey Walnut Cream Cheese

Ingredients

• 4oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
• 1 heaping tablespoon honey

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.  Blend well with a fork.  Firm back up in the refrigerator, then use as normal.

Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

These. cookies. are. AWESOME.



This is a bit embarrassing to admit, considering I write a food blog, but I'm out of granulated sugar at the moment.  I haven't needed to go to the store recently, and I try to avoid going for just one item.  Yet I've been craving cookies.  When I saw the recipe for these sables (shortbread in French), which called for confectioner's sugar, I saw it as a sign that I had to make them.

And boy am I glad I did.  I halved the recipe, both because I wasn't sure I'd like the cookies and because I don't need to be eating that many cookies, period.  They were fantastic, though -- flaky, crisp, not too sweet, and full of coffee flavor and chunks of dark chocolate.  If you want to make the full batch, simply double the recipe below.

The recipe calls for instant espresso powder, but I don't usually keep that around and I don't use it enough to warrant buying it.  Instead, I ground up some espresso beans really fine and used that instead.  Once incorporated into the dough, the grounds disappear texture wise, but flavor wise they're unmistakeable.



Dorie Greenspan has some tips for making successful shortbread.  First, use softened butter, but not too soft and definitely not melted.  You want to avoid oily greasiness.  Second, you don't want fluffy batter.  Thus, do not overbeat the butter and sugar.  Third, once you add in the flour, do not overmix the dough.  Mix until just incorporated, and don't handle the dough too much.  Fourth, chill the dough for a good long time, preferably overnight.  And finally, no matter how good they might smell (and they will smell really, really good), do NOT eat the cookies until they have cooled completely.

When I was a little girl, my favorite cookies were Girl Scout shortbread cookies -- but these cookies are decidedly for adults.

Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies (recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
• 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 tbsp finely ground espresso beans (or instant espresso powder)
• 1/2 tbsp boiling water
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 2oz dark or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Method

1. Combine the boiling water and ground espresso beans and let sit.
2. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until very smooth, 2-3 minutes.
3. Beat in the vanilla extract and espresso mixture, scraping down as necessary.
4. Add the flour and mix just until it disappears into the dough.
5. Gently fold in the chocolate pieces.  Don't overwork the dough.
6. Scrape the soft and sticky dough into a gallon-sized plastic bag.  Do not seal, and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangle 1/4-inch thick.  Seal and chill in rthe efrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight; longer is better.
7. When ready to bake,  preheat the oven to 325°F.
8. Cut the plastic bag away from the chilled and hardened dough.  Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares.
9. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with Silpat or parchment paper about an inch apart (they shouldn't spread while baking).  Use a fork and pierce each cookie twice all the way through the dough.
10. Bake for 18-20 minutes, turning the baking sheet about halfway through.  The shortbread will stay fairly pale and will not change color much if at all.
11. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and serve when completely cooled.

Chicken Curry in a Hurry

This is one of those dishes that gets in your blood.



The first night I made it, I had it for dinner.  It was nothing spectacular, and it wasn't as easy as its name suggests (I didn't name it!  It's a Cook's Illustrated recipe).  But the next day I found myself thinking about it at work as the day was ending, eager to have it again.  I couldn't understand why, because I'd been less than impressed with my first meal.  The same thing happened the next night.  Each time I ate it, it tasted better and better!

A strange phenomenon, particularly with such marked results, but there's no doubt about it.  I think the flavors need time to meld, to join, to have food sex and create lots of great new flavors.  So this is one dish that I recommend making in advance.  Make it two, even three, days before you plan to eat it.  It only gets better with age.



Despite its name, however, I wouldn't say that this is quick to make.  Maybe if you're a Food Network cook, and have kitchen peons doing your chopping, slicing, and mincing for you, preparing your mise en place, then you can actually prepare this "in a hurry" (a phrase that makes me think 10-15 minutes; maybe you think I'm even being generous).  Certainly it's faster than proper curries I've made, which involved overnight marinating and what not, but don't plan to start making this dish last minute.  The "quickness" comes from precooked chicken (this is a great dish to make when you have leftover chicken meat, say from a rotisserie chicken from the store), canned chickpeas, frozen peas, and pre-made curry powder (I bought mine from an Indian grocery store -- if you can do the same, I'd recommend it).  To make it even faster, you could use pre-minced garlic and ginger.

The recipe calls for whole milk yogurt; I used nonfat and it was just fine.  Instead of raisins I used cranberries, because I prefer them and happened to have them on hand.  I used a full tablespoon of curry powder.

Also, be forewarned that this dish makes a lot more than you might think.  With rice, it would serve 4.  With accompaniments, it could serve 6 or even 8.  It'd make a great pot luck dish -- it's best made in advance and serves a lot of people!

Chicken Curry in a Hurry (Cook's Illustrated)

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 1/2 to 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups shredded or thinly sliced cooked chicken
• 1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Method

1. Build curry base: Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion, curry powder, and salt and cook until onion is browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
2. Add water, meat, vegetables, and cook: Stir in water, meat, chickpeas, peas, and raisins. Cook, stirring frequently, until heated through, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Garnish and serve: Off heat, stir in yogurt and cilantro and serve.

Cheesecake Brownies

These cheesecake brownies are a sure crowd pleaser. After all, they're brownies! They're cheesecake! They're two great tastes in one! Plus, they have that fanciful swirlyness going on that people can't help but be drawn to. And when you're trying to avoid eating every bit of the sinful things you make yourself, it's a good thing when people want to eat them for you.



These brownies talk a good talk, but in reality they are quite easy to make. There's a brownie layer, followed by a cheesecake layer, followed by another brownie 'layer.' Two batters, and they're both very simple.

I ran into a little trouble with the brownie batter being very thick while the cheesecake batter was very thin. But that could also be because I softened the cream cheese by nuking it in the microwave for 30 seconds rather than waiting for it to soften to room temperature. In any case, the final step of dolloping on some reserved brownie batter onto the cheesecake layer, then making the swirl patterns was a bit challenging, as the brownie batter didn't want to move much, and I didn't want to over mix it with the cheesecake.



I also used the microwave for the brownie batter step of melting the butter and chocolate together. You can, of course, use a double boiler if you like, but after discovering how I can bend technology to my culinary will, I can't resist the convenience. In this case, I broke the chocolate into pieces, put them into a bowl along with a stick of butter, and nuked it for 1 minute. It was long enough to melt the butter entirely, while softening up the chocolate. You don't want to microwave too long and risk burning the chocolate. At this point, I stirred until all the chocolate was melted and the resulting mixture was glossy and smooth.

I think I've mentioned this before, but I don't like my desserts super sweet. I adapted the recipe to use less sugar, and substituted some brown sugar for the white in the brownie batter. I thought this made the chocolate flavor stand out more. The resulting brownies are very moist, somewhere between cakey and fudgy. The cheesecake adds a bit of tang, but the brownie flavor definitely overwhelms it. In my view the cheesecake layer adds more aesthetic appeal than flavor appeal, but others may disagree.



Part of the ease of making these is because there isn't any special equipment required (unless you count the double boiler -- but I really recommend using the microwave) -- just a couple of handy bowls and a trusty wooden spoon. It's nice to know that great desserts can be made the old-fashioned way.

Cheesecake Brownies (adapted from Cookies and Brownies by Alice Medrich)

Ingredients:

For the brownie batter

• 1/2 cup (8 tbsp or 1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 4oz dark or unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the cheesecake batter

• 8oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place a rack in the center of the oven.
2. Prepare a 9-inch square baking pan. Create a foil sling (the idea is to help you lift the brownie out of the pan after baking) and fit it into the pan. Spray with cooking oil.
3. Melt the butter and chocolate together, either by using a double boiler or in the microwave. Stir until glossy and smooth.
4. Stir in the sugar and vanilla extract.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Add the flour and salt, stirring for about a minute, until the ingredients are well incorporated and the batter is smooth.
7. Reserve 1/2 cup of the brownie batter and set aside. Pour the rest of the brownie batter into the reserved pan and spread it out as evenly as you can; it's not super critical.
8. Process the cream cheese until smooth (you can use a hand mixer or food processor if you like, but I just used a fork after softening the cream cheese in the microwave). Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla and stir until just incorporated.
9. Carefully pour the cheesecake mixture over the brownie mixture in the pan.
10. Next, place small dollops of the reserved brownie batter over the cheesecake layer. Use a table knife to swirl the two without overmixing.
11. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or until the brownies have started to pull away from the pan and the edges are starting to brown.
12. Cool the brownies until firm enough to cut (cool completely to room temperature, or after cooling a bit after taking them out of the oven, place the pan in the fridge to cool), then lift them out using the foil sling. Cut them into the desired number of squares with a sharp knife.

Fresh and Refreshing

I love this very simple salad.  It takes no time at all to pull it together, and it's delicious, with the crisp crunch of English cucumber and the biting tang of fresh tomatoes.  There are two ways to dress this salad.  My favorite method involves fragrant sesame oil and seasoned rice vinegar.  Another good method is to add a bit of feta cheese and dress the ingredients with a light vinaigrette.  Both are quick and easy to prepare, but have very distinctive flavors -- one with Asian notes, while the other has a Mediterranean flair (especially if you also add kalamata olives).



I like to use English cucumbers.  They're the long ones wrapped in plastic.  Their skins are thinner and less waxy, so they don't need to be peeled.  They also have fewer seeds.  Tomatoes fresh from the garden are best to use, but as an alternative firm, ripe tomatoes on the vine from the store are just fine.  Sweet cherry tomatoes would work as well.  This isn't a fussy recipe.



The brand of seasoned rice vinegar my mother likes to use in this recipe (I know it from her) is Marukan, so that's what I use, but I'm sure other seasoned rice vinegars would work as well.  If you choose to use unseasoned rice vinegar, just know that you'll have to add your own sugar, salt, mirin, etc., in order to achieve the same flavor, otherwise it'll be rather bland.



Because of the tomatoes, this salad is best consumed the same day it's made.  Refrigeration makes the tomatoes mealy and the whole salad becomes unpleasantly watery.  Besides, the vegetables taste their best at room temperature.

I don't have a specific recipe, because there are so few ingredients and the amount of vegetables used as well as preference dictates the seasoning.  Use more tomatoes, use fewer tomatoes.  Add a little rice vinegar or add a lot.  Use a whole cucumber or only use half.  Drizzle the seasonings over the vegetables modestly, then taste it.  If it needs more of anything, add it.  Serve and enjoy -- I guarantee you will eat a lot more than you think you will!