Snowy Days, Steamy Soups

It's c-c-c-cold out in New York. Coat, hat, scarf, gloves, boots and extra pair of socks cold. So while there is snow on the ground, we're going to take a little departure here on Baking and Mistaking. That's right, no cake, cookies or cupcakes. We're going with soup! Hot, thick, delicious, soup. And I'll give you choices: a creamy cauliflower soup, or a hearty beef, leek and barley soup.

Soup can often be a daunting task, and many recipes take forever and have multiple steps. Not here! The first soup is simple, quick and easy. It can be in your bowl in less than 30 minutes.
The second one is more time consuming, but just as easy. After you dump everything in the pot, just let it simmer for three hours.

Up first: Creamy Cauliflower Soup.

A lot of creamy soups have additions of milk or heavy cream that are less than calorie-conscious. (I know, this from the girl with a blog full 'o butter, but as the cookie monster [now] says "cookies are a sometimes food but vegetables are everday foods.") Where was I? Right, creamy soups. The great thing about this one, is that the creaminess comes from the pureed vegetables themselves, so no need for added fats.
This soup was very orange from the pureed carrots, but it still retained an overwhelmingly cauliflower flavor.
I retained about 2 cups of the vegetables before pureeing, so I could have some nice chunks in the soup. You could adjust that however you like - or puree it all.

Next: Beef, Leek and Barley Soup.

Oh man, this is good. I could have eaten the whole pot. Except I couldn't, because it's so filling.
The original recipe calls for beef, leek, barley, mushrooms, onions and garlic. Unfortunately I didn't have any garlic cloves on hand so I had to settle for garlic powder. I also added in some chopped zucchini - this recipe takes well to additions, so you could try potatoes, beans, and whatever else you have lying around.
Leeks are one of those things that really need a good washing. They usually come filled with dirt and sand and grit so make sure you rinse them well before adding to the pot.
The recipe calls for short ribs to be place on the bottom of the pot and cut up later, but instead I just used some pre-cubed stew beef that was really great and less fatty. It also calls for 8 cups of water or beef stock - I used 4 cups water, 4 cups stock.


Tip of the Day: One of things I love most about cooking as opposed to baking is the versatility! I don't usually get to play around much with amounts and ingredients, but here I can with amazing results. So think of these recipes as a base for adding all the veggies and ingredients you want. Just let me know how it turns out!

Recipes:
Creamy Cauliflower Soup: (from RecipeZaar)
3 cups water
3 cups vegetable broth
4 cups chopped cauliflower
2 cups sliced carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
salt
pepper

Place all ingredients except the salt and pepper in a 5 quart saucepan.
Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, until all the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
Strain out vegetables (reserving liquid) and puree (some or all) until smooth.
Add back to liquid and add salt and pepper to taste.


Beef, Leek and Barley Soup: (from Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen)
2 beef short ribs, or equivalent stew meat
1/2 cup pearl barley
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 onions, chopped
4 leeks, cleaned and sliced
2 cups chopped mushrooms (optional)
1 medium zucchini, sliced (optional)
8 cups water or stock (I used half and half)
salt and pepper to taste

Place beef in the bottom of a large pot.
Add barley, garlic, onions, leek, mushrooms, zucchini and any other vegetables you're adding.
Pour the liquid on top.
Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for at least three hours.

Sunday Supper - Mac & Cheese

People ask me all the time..."Are you also a good cook?" And the answer is...sort of. Of course that question is predicated on the assumption that I am actually a good baker. And only a small portion of you out there have ever tasted anything I've baked. But work with me here.

I do like to cook, though I prefer baking, but I just do it less often. With baked goods, they're easy to bring to the office, or to class, or to give individually to friends and family members. But it would be a bit strange if I brought a chicken sandwich or roast potatoes to work with me. Though I'm sure it would be appreciated.

Which means that generally, if I do cook, its for one (or two). Which doesn't inspire me to try new things very often. But I do cook sometimes for friends on weekends, or if I'm home for my family. There are a few dishes that are my "specialties" and that I know will come out well so I turn to them again and again.

I toyed with the idea for a while about doing a weekly Sunday post on non-baking dishes, but I would never have enough for that, so its more likely to be monthly or even less, we shall see!

So here goes, I tried out this Mac & Cheese recipe I found on recipezaar. Recipezaar is great if you know what you want to make, but are looking for a good recipe for it, or want to see a bunch of different recipes for the same thing and pick your favorite. The ratings and reviews are also really helpful. Enough about that (no they're not paying me), here it is, my baked macaroni and cheese.

For starters, most pasta dishes I have will never use the right type of pasta. Here, I didn't use macaroni, but "Ditalini," which I found in the cupboard and looked so cute. See?
Last week my friend Ariel and I made fettucini alfredo together, except it certainly wasn't fettucini. Rigatoni Alfredo, if I remember correctly. And it was delicious.
Well anyway, this recipe called for you to make the sauce and boil the noodles in separate pots on the stove, which I dutifully followed. Though the recipe called for you to pour the sauce over the noodles and bake it, I thought the sauce was a little too thick for that, so I dumped the noodles into the pot and stirred it all up first, before transferring it to the pan and topping with breadcrumbs.
Then just pop it on the oven on 350 F for 30 minutes, and voila, baked ditalini and cheese! This picture (like most of mine) doesn't adequately show the beautiful baked cheesy goodness. It was there, trust me. Now its time to put it on a pretty plate, after all, its not very civilized to eat right out of the foil container. No, I would never do that. Ahem. Now all that's left to do is to dig in! Yes, this fork is going straight to my mouth. Delicious! Hope you enjoyed this momentary sojourn into the world of savory cooking. Don't worry the sugar and spice will be back soon!

Tip of the Day: Experiment with different types of cheeses in your recipes, or use a combination: if it calls for cheddar try adding in some monterey jack and muenster, but be careful - some soft and hard cheeses cannot be substituted for each other.