Roasted Tomato Bisque

So I had a craving for grilled cheese and tomato soup, but...I wanted to try and make my own soup. Mostly because I had about a pound of tomatos I needed to use up. So I poked around on the internet to see if there was a recipe I wanted to use (as normal, there wasn't 1 but I did mash 2 into 1 to come up with something I liked). I think I'll keep fiddling with this in the future, but it was quite tasty.

Ingredients
1 pounds plum tomatos - sliced in half
2 can of diced plum tomatos (with sauce)
1/2 cup sour cream
4 cloves of garlic
1 yellow onion diced
1 celery stalk chopped
1 cup basil - fresh
1/2 tsp dried thyme (since i had none fresh)
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup olive oil + 2 tblsp
salt + pepper to taste


1. Coat the fresh tomatos w/olive oil lightly salt and pepper.Bake at 400 degrees for 45minutes (I also drained the tomatos and roasted the canned tomatos for 25 minutes, saving the juice for later.


2. Saute the onion, celery, garlic, red pepper flakes w/butter and olive oil in a medium/large pot. Saute the onions until they're brown, about 10 minutes or so

3. Add the canned and roasted tomatos, along with any tomato juice on the pan. Add the chicken stock, basil, and thyme. Bring it to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 40 minutes.

4. Run it through your blender until you have the consistently you want (I go for fully blended)!

VOILA! You have triumphed over the tomatos and turned them into a delicious tomato bisque. Garnish it with a drop of sour cream and a fresh basil leaf or two.

Raspberry Brownies

I've been fiddling with this recipe for the last month. The first time I screwed up and used too much butter, so I had raspberry brownie cake (delicious!) and the second time I used a substandard Jam. Much to the detriment of the recipe...but this time. This time I'm on to something!

Raspberry Brownies

1 cup(s) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa + 1 more spoonful if you're a choco-holic like me.
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup, aka 2 sticks, butter or margarine
1 1/2 cup(s) sugar
4 large eggs
3/4 cup raspberry jam
2 teaspoons vanilla

Now this is important, you must be using GOOD Jam (or preserves). I used a nice thick home-canned style of raspberry preservers. Do NOT use smuckers. Bad things will happen. Mostly the jam doesn't spread the way it's supposed to and you get weird lumps of jam in the middle of your brownie. Which will somehow be much sweeter than it should be also...

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13x9 baking pan.

2. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large sauce pan (no really, like 3+ quart large...cause you're gonna have all kind of goodies in it by the end of this) melt the butter over medium-low heat. You want it melted, not burned or scorched.

4. Remove the pan from heat, and with a wisk stir in the sugar. Add the eggs 1 at a time (or if you're like me...2 at a time), you want these beaten in well.

5. Stir in the jam and vanilla, once again whisking until it's all well blended.

6. Now add in all those dry ingredients you set aside earlier (you know, the flour and salt and cocoa and all that). You can use a spoon or wisk, you want to stir until it's all just blended (not sure what that means really...I just stirred til I ran out of white stuff showing up in my pan).

7. Drop it all in your greased pan and pop it in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick/fork/knife comes out almost clean. Cool it in the pan and wait at least 20 minutes before sampling.

Trust me, it matters! Mine were rather cake like at first, but once I let them set...omg, sooo delicious. I ate half the pan all on my own. I may need to make another batch in fact...

I got this recipe from Delish.com
http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/raspberry-brownies-1188?click=recipe_sr

Ginger-Vodka infusion

Someone recently left a very large bottle of smirnoff vodka at my house, which...isn't my preferred brand of vodkas. Though it's a definate step up from the rotgut they serve as house vodka in many dive bars.

So...I decided to give a try at infusing with it. Because 1, it was free and 2, why not?



Recipe 1
1 cup of freshly chopped ginger (I left it in fairly large chunks)
Large mason jar
Lotta vodka

1. Peel and chop your ginger
2. Throw it in a jar
3. Fill that jar with vodka and put a lid on it

now for the fun part
4. Wait a few days, shake your jar once or twice a day just to get that ginger all infused like.
5. After you feel it's properly gingery. Strain the ginger out and return your now amazing vodka to a storage container of your choice.

I'll let you know what kind of nifty martini we come up with...just as soon as we get to drinking it in a drink. Currently I just keep sneaking sips from the jar...well, I mean not LITERALLY from the jar. But you know what I mean.

Curried Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

This is possibly, one of the most time-indusive recipes I've done. But I'll be honest, I'm not what you call a quick chopper. Nor a quick peeler...and onions make me cry. But I persevered anyway because I just knew this tasted delicious and that it'd all be worth it at the end. And it was.

I found this online when I was poking around MSN, which isn't my normal method of finding a recipe but it just sounded good. I mean, curry? Ginger? Sweet potatos??? How could this go wrong?!?


A few modifications and a few hours later and all was delicious in my world.


Ingredients
3 medium sweet potatoes
2 tablespoon(s) vegetable oil
1 pound(s) ground turkey or chicken
1 teaspoon(s) salt
1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon(s) curry powder
1 cup chicken broth (and maybe a little extra if it seems dry)
1 pound(s) carrots, peeled and chopped
1 pound(s) parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger (well, more if you really like ginger)
1 medium zucchini squash, chopped
1/2 package (10-ounce) frozen peas
1/4 package frozen corn
1/2 cup milk, warmed
1 tablespoon margarine or butter




If you want to try it from the original recipe, here's a link.
http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/curried-sweet-potato-shepherds-pie-ghk0308

Choco-Chip Banana Bread

Taking these photos has reminded me I really need to get a loaf pan already...

Ingredients

1.5 cups flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg (or...2 dashes...whatever makes you feel comfy)
1/8 tsp salt
3 medium ripe bananas (I'm talking almost black people, that's how ripe they should be)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
3/4 cup chocolate chips (or more...or less, depends on how much chocolate you're craving)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and butter your baking dish.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the flower, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Make a whole in the middle

In a seperate mixing bowl, combine the bananas, sugar, oil, and egg.

Mix the banana mixture into the dry ingredients, stir until everything's all mixed up.

Add the chocolate chips.

Pour into your baking dish and put it in the oven for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick/fork/knife/whatever comes out clean.