A real update

A few recent successes: 

-My mom's Jewish Apple Cake (this recipe is pretty similar)
-Potato Latkes from Smitten Kitchen
-Brown Sugar Cookies from More Best Recipes
-Crock-Pot Pulled Pork with Zesty Peach BBQ Sauce (something I'd canned this summer)

Brown Sugar Cookies

Pizza

And here's a photo I found from the fall:

Kale chips!  Very easy, very addicting, and very healthy.

I'm alive!

Here's an entry I wrote a couple months ago--I couldn't find the cable to transfer photos from my camera and then forgot about the draft I'd written.  Alas, I still haven't found the cable, but I did figure out a way around the problem.

---

With final exams, the busyness of Advent and Christmas, and traveling, there weren't too many cooking experiments around here in the last month or so.  I did try this Squash Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheese somewhat successfully, and I can't stop thinking about the Pork Chops with Sauerkraut that my mom made for New Year's (hint: it has sour cream and paprika).  I've also made cabbage rolls twice--really easy to bake a large casserole of them and then freeze in small portions.


If ye be worried that this post might lack photographic culinary detail, do not despair.  I almost wrote that I had lots of potatoes, left, but that is no longer quite the case.  Having many potatoes on hand, as well as bacon in the freezer, and random cream in the refrigerator, I tried this Loaded Baked Potato Soup recipe from Slow-Cooker Revolution by America's Test Kitchen.  Delicious.  Click on the recipe to view it.

I also made Smitten Kitchen's Sour Cherry Slab Pie yesterday, and it turned out fantastically.  I used the all butter crust that she linked (as opposed to my standard shortening crust), and--provided one keeps everything cold--it was very easy to make and work with.

Unfortunately, the pie slab finished off the last of my sour cherry stash in the freezer.  I think I know of a place that has more, though, if I really get desperate.  Just don't tell my roommate.  She's probably enjoying being able to see a little bit of the back wall of the freezer again.

Update

It's summer now for me, which, though I have plenty of work, means more time to make things and update this blog!  Our community garden is unfortunately going to be late, but should be getting started soon, as well.

Yesterday one of my friends came over and we tackled homemade ravioli.  We started around 5:30 and finished around 8:30 (though that included a run to the grocery store for some forgotten ingredients).  It took a good bit of elbow grease as we didn't have a pasta machine, but it worked nonetheless!

We followed a great pasta-making tutorial from here and here, and filled the ravioli with this delicious butternut squash-goat cheese puree.  The only things I'd do differently from the recipes are a) use less salt when roasting the squash, leaving room to season the filling later and b) use half semolina flour in the pasta.  We used 100% all-purpose (which she says is allowable), but the texture was not terribly firm and made it harder to control the shape of the pasta.  Semolina flour is supposed to be sturdier.

The ravioli was accompanied by roasted purple asparagus I picked up on a trip to the farmers' market on Saturday.  I couldn't resist the tables piled high with local asparagus--both green and purple--and stopped to ask the owner of one stand what the difference between them was.  He told me to find out for myself, and proceeded to slice off part of a stalk and hand it over.  In general it tasted like--you guessed it--asparagus, though perhaps a little milder.  According to Wikipedia, the purple cultivar was developed in the region around Albenga, Italy, and is higher in sugar and lower in fiber than its green counterpart.  Sadly, it turns green after prolonged cooking, though apparently a quick sauté will not affect the color.

Apple-Butternut Squash Soup

I have the good fortune of having a friend whose family can produce a serious amount (read = 900 pounds) of produce in a season in their garden.  On more than one occasion I've visited said friend only to return with a butternut squash from their pantry, and this is what I developed the first time that happened.  It's become one of my favorite recipes--a thick, slightly sweet soup with just enough cayenne to provide a little heat.  It's also a great way to make something fresh in the dead of winter!

Apple-Butternut Squash Soup

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 green apples, peeled and cubed
• 1 large butternut squash (3-4 lb.), peeled, seeded, and cubed
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups apple juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4+ teaspoon nutmeg
• salt to taste
• sour cream to garnish
• optional ingredients: celery (be forewarned that it may leave strings), coriander, cumin, jalapeno peppers

1. Melt butter in large saucepan.  Saute onion and carrot for 5 minutes.  Add potatoes, apples, and squash, and saute for 5 more minutes.

2. Add stock, juice, and spices.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for approx. 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft.

3. Puree in batches in a food processor or blender until smooth and return to saucepan.  If desired, adjust consistency with more stock, juice, or water.

4.  Garnish with sour cream and herbs.

Makes approximately 3 1/2 quarts.