Roasted Red Pepper Soup: I desperately wanted to love you

Last week, with all the cold breakfasts going on in my life, I was really craving a caprese sandwich.  I wanted fresh mozzarella in my life with basil and a cold cured meat.  Due to this one meal craving, I decided to make a Roasted Red Pepper Soup to go with.  It sounded like the perfect combination!

But when I got to the store and saw the astronomical incorrectly priced red peppers, I decided to throw some green into the mix.  Only when I was checking out did I realize the peppers were priced by pound and not individually.  This is NOT what the sign said.  And I’m sure of this because I stood in front of it for a good couple of minutes doing the math in my head for the amount of peppers I needed.  Then I stared at the green peppers for a while wondering if there was any real difference.  Then I wondered if the extra dollars on going all red was worth it.  I decided it was not.  I got duped.

In the long run, as flavors go when roasting, there isn’t much of a difference.  The red peppers lose their skin a lot easier however.  They’re snake- like bastards that just ache to shed, while the green guys cling for dear life.  Definitely something to keep in mind.

I cheated with this recipe.  I had leftover vegetable stock from the week before.  And as luck would have it, I assumed I had 6 cups and only had about 3.  So I used a little Better than Bouillon vegetable action and whipped some up.  I’m sure this made things a little more salty than they should have been.  And believe me, it hurt me inside to do this.  I am proud of the fact that all my soups have homemade stocks, but it was effing Monday night and I just didn’t have the time.  I also made the mistake of thinking that I could whip this soup up in under an hour and was incredibly mistaken.  So let’s move on.

If you need to make your stock, I’m about tired of writing out the recipe.  I’ve outlined it in almost every other post, so go check it out.  Super simple.

But here are the ingredients you will need for this soup:

• 6 red bell peppers
• 2 Tbs butter
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 tsp Thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 cup of basil- stems tied together, leaves chopped
• 6 cups of vegetable broth
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 c of heavy cream- I used half and half.  Arguably a bad idea
• salt and pepper to taste

There are two amateur ways to roast your peppers.  One is to hold it directly over a flame and burn each side.  Because there are 6 peppers to roast here, I found it easier to broil them.  I lined a pan with foil and strategically placed them in a formation that would sit directly under the flame.

I checked from time to time in order to turn them.  When each side was charred I placed them in a paper bag to steam for a few minutes.  All in all, this process probably took around 30 minutes.

When they’re cool enough to fondle, peel off the skin, de-seed, and chop.

Next, melt the butter in your stock pot and add the onion and celery.  Let that sweat for a few minutes before adding the herbs to coat.  After another couple minutes add the broth, half the chopped peppers, and the bundle of basil stems.  Bring this to a boil and then let simmer for 30 minutes.

While this is going, add your cream of half and half to a sauce pan and throw in the cloves of garlic.  Let that bubble before bringing down to a simmer.  You want this to reduce by about half, but be careful to keep the flame low enough so no films form.

When it’s ready, add the cream and garlic to a food processor.  Add the remaining half of roasted peppers and blend until pureed.  Add this to the soup after it’s done simmering with the chopped basil.

Upon serving, remember to remove the bay leaves and bundle of basil stems.

I paired this soup with a very simple sandwich on a small french baguette.  I layered some fresh basil on a couple slices of leftover pancetta that I had.  I topped those with slices of fresh mozzarella.  It was a very nice addition to the soup as the flavors all blended together nicely.

I enjoyed this soup a lot the first couple of days.  It wasn’t too heavy, but the puree of cream and peppers added a bit of girth which was nice.  It had an overall sweet smoky taste, but the cayenne added a nice bite at the end.  It did a really good job of balancing the two different sensations.  My only real gripe is just that it wasn’t as versatile as the other soups I made.  This is the type of soup that I want to make for a specific meal, like I did.  While I can easily eat a Mushroom Barley or Chicken Noodle every day and enjoy it, this is such a specific palate that I grew tired of it after a few servings.  It is so rich in pepper taste that it should be enjoyed upon its finish.

Also, by the end of the week, the cream was rejecting the rest of the broth and kind of creating its own marble look.  That didn’t really help it look appealing and I wondered if that was due to the fact that I used half and half instead of heavy cream.  Regardless, I’m of the opinion that this soup should be enjoyed the night of its creation or day after.  And most definitely with a piece of crusty bread.

Pizza Domination Challenge Week 1: Success

Last week I enjoyed my first slice of Domino’s Pizza since I was 15 and as a result wanted to crawl into a hole and die.  Consequentially, this lit a fire in me, and set me on a mission to make my own orgasmic pizza and stomp all over the memory of fast food pizza.  And so it has begun.

I spent the latter of that fateful week thinking of all kinds of delicious things I love to eat.  I wanted my first pizza to be a success on all fronts, so I didn’t want to get too weird with it yet.  (That was will absolutely come, as I have some crazy ideas on the back burner.)

My mind took a creative turn down memory lane to when I was in college and went through a similar obsession but with lasagna– something I’m hoping to recreate based on memory one day.  I took a couple staples from my once classic recipe and added some new loves.  What I decided on was the following:

Asparagus and Pancetta Pizza with Vodka Sauce, topped with Fontina Cheese.

Yes.  I also just involuntarily shivered with excitement.

I’ll be honest.  The Fontina Cheese was a last minute addition thanks to my roommate who got all kinds of excited about the melty cheese/ asparagus combination.  And thank god that happened because it was an excellent addition.

So let’s start from the top.  I returned to the pizza dough recipe that was once featured on foodpress.com.  Thank you Janae Monir for bringing this into my life.  This time around (see previous post where I completely blew it) I was very patient and careful.  And with a pizza stone to boot, this pie was about to be unstoppable.  Here is the link for this amazing pizza dough!

While the flour and yeast was having its 2 hour love affair, I prepared my toppings.

Vodka Sauce is fairly easy to prepare and is something I don’t make as often as I’d like.  I could stuff my face with this every day and die happy.  For this, I whipped up a quick red sauce using the following ingredients:

• 1 24 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 small can of tomato paste
• 1 small brown onion, chopped
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• olive oil
• red wine
• sugar
• basil
• salt and pepper to taste

Throw some olive oil into a saucepan and add your garlic and onion.  Let that saute for a couple minutes on medium heat, but be sure not to burn the garlic!  Next add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste and stir.  Let that bubble up and add your red wine.  There isn’t a real measurement here.  I always just pour a little in to add some bitterness.  I’d say around 1-2 Tb worth.  I had a heavy hand as a youngster which didn’t yield good results.  Then add some basil, fresh if you’ve got it, or the dried stuff if you don’t.  After all, for this purpose your red sauce doesn’t have to be stellar because it’s going to be transformed into greatness.  Toss some salt and pepper in there and add a generous pinch of sugar to start with.   Stir.  Let this bubble for a bit.  It can get really messy, so put a lid on top.  Normally I’d advise against this, as usually you want some liquid to evaporate, but this is going to be a quick sauce so it’s ok. Once the ingredients have had some time to marry, give it a taste.  At this point you’ll be able to decipher if you need to add more sugar or salt.  Make your adjustments and keep your sauce on a low heat until you get just the right combination.  The art of the red sauce is a bit of a beast.  You really need to keep tasting this to get it right.

For the Vodka Sauce you will need the following:

• a lot of crushed garlic- I used 4 cloves
• 1 c of cheap vodka- Thanks Randy
• 1/2 of heavy cream- I used half and half
• red sauce for color

Take a pan and warm some olive oil in there.  Add your garlic and cook until it turns gold over a medium heat, but DO NOT burn.  Next add your vodka and let it simmer until the fumes die down, no more than 10 minutes.  Add your cream and let that boil before turning down to a simmer.  Then spoon in your red sauce until you achieve the desired shade of pink.  See!  So easy!

For the asparagus, I just used leftover grilled asparagus I had made a couple nights earlier.  If I could get a redo on, I’d definitely blanche these babies and season with a touch of salt and pepper.

I bought the circular cuts of Pancetta and no further prep was needed for those.  Although, I do remember seeing a chopped version that may have served this purpose better.

Then I cubed my Fontina Cheese and tried desperately to not eat it while I waited.

I preheated my oven for as high as it would go.  475 degrees.

After my dough was done rising and getting kneaded and rising again, I stretched this mary out.  I had a bit of a hard time this go around and almost ripped her here and there, but finally got a decent layout going.  At this point my camera had just revived so I don’t have as many pictures as I’d like.

Gotta have the gratuitous cheese shot.

I dressed this lady up with all my goodies and popped her in the oven.  I was very careful this time to not overcook my pizza, and checked after 10 minutes.  Things were looking good, but I left her in for another 5 before taking her out.

Side note.  I do not have one of those large wooden spatulas that one usually receives with a pizza stone, in order to remove large pizzas from said stone.  Instead, I received a pizza cutter which I think is a poor substitute.  So I had this double small spatula arrangement going that was failing me as the crust had stuck to the stone.  So after a lot of grunting and close attempts at burning my hands, I just took the whole stone out and proceeded to pry the pizza off of it.  There were barely any casualties so I’m still marking it with success.

I really wanted to take one of those awesome pictures where you have the spatula under the slice as you raise it up over the whole pie, but it's really hard to do on your own. And I'm far too embarrassed to ask someone to take a picture of me holding food.

As far as taste goes, I think this is a winner.  The combination of flavors was excellent and the vodka sauce was a really great touch.  The dough came out perfect.  It was soft and chewy in the middle, yet just the right amount of crisp on the edges.  I was very happy with this and can feel myself jumping into the pizza spiral of carb doom.

Soup du Jour: Roasted Garlic Soup

It is no secret I have been caught in the gaze of soup this season.  Even though LA is not his with snow storms and it’s often warm enough to go outside without a jacket, I still caught the soup bug.  Lately I’ve been all about creamy vegetable soups, and using my Immersion Blender whenever possible.

I recently ordered a soup cookbook, that’s taking it’s sweet time getting to me.  In the meantime, I’ve just been looking on the internet.  It’s difficult for me to trust recipes I find online because I always want it to be perfect the first time around.  I find myself looking to chefs from the Food Network, even though I know most of those recipes don’t come from them.  From my experiences working in Reality TV, I know other people are cooking up these recipes (yeah, I just made that pun).  But even so, I’m probably always going to trust Emeril.  The guy says ‘Bam!’ all the time.  How can you go wrong?

So after the mind blowing Asparagus Soup recipes of his, I decided to go back for my next endeavor.  I give you: Roasted Garlic Soup.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this soup.  I LOVE garlic.  So this was kind of a no brainer for me to try, but I didn’t realize how amazing such a simple soup could be.

Tanning.

I put a link to the recipe if you want exact measurements.  To begin, I roasted 5 heads of garlic.  Not only do I have a huge soft spot for roasted garlic, but I think the smell that fills my kitchen is fantastic.  It’s not that stinky, I’m stuck inside someone’s mouth of bad breath smell.  It’s just clean, roasting garlic.  Mmm.

Salty goodness.

I let those puppies go for about an hour while I started chopping my vegetables.  When those were ready to go, I moved on to the pancetta.  I need to stop here for a dramatic pause.  Pancetta.  In soup.  !!!!

Thyme

Parsley

I love adding a hint of meaty saltiness to straight up vegetable soups like this.  It really adds a whole other level of flavor.  So I happily cut these beauties into small squares and threw them in a pot where I had melted the butter.  I let those simmer for a bit before adding my vegetables and herbs.  A lot of these steps started happening rather quickly, so pictures didn’t happen as often as I liked.

 

 

 

Garlic Paste.

While all of that was going on, I was letting my garlic cool.  Like the risky wannabe chef that I am, I went for it before they were cooled completely and could be seen hopping around my kitchen in pain from time to time.

But garlic was calling and I couldn’t say no.  The tips had been cut off for the roasting, so I was able to squeeze out all the roasted goodness.  It was a very simple and wonderfully stinky process.  I stirred them all together and added to my vegetable mixture on the stove.

 

I added some white wine, let that boil off for a minute, then threw in the chicken stock.  That simmered for half an hour.  This recipe has you adding cubes of bread to thicken.

Cubes of bread in soup!

 

I’d never even considered that before and was

super excited by the idea.  I heart bread.  I threw in my cubes.  Then I got to blend!  Ah, my favorite part.  By the time I was done, my kitchen was smelling fantastic and my soup was like velvet.

Power Tool!

I added the cream (which I replaced with half and half), and the remaining ingredients and let that simmer for a couple minutes.

I’m going to admit that part of me chose to make this soup because I wanted to eat healthy for the week.  Emeril tells you to make Goat Cheese toast with this, and OF COURSE I did.  A good friend had bought my some Italian Bread from Bay Cities for my birthday.  Everyone from LA will immediately salivate when they read that.  For those of you who do not know, Bay Cities is the best Italian Market and Sandwich place in LA.  Awesome.  I used this bread for the cubes in the soup, but saved a few slices to toast in the oven with some Olive Oil.  Then I spread the Goat Cheese on and let them broil to toast the tops.  Excellent addition to this soup!

I had decided that I was going to stretch the soup and eat it as a side all week.  For my main course I would have Broiled Portabella Mushrooms.  This is a recipe my family kind of threw together when we were all dieting back in the day.  We would ‘detox’ from time to time, which meant only eating raw fruits and vegetables for a week.  When that hell was over, we moved on to grilled fruits and vegetables, and so on.  By the second week, the idea of grilled vegetables was as excitable as steak is to me now.  So I tweaked this recipe a bit.

I bought a large Portabella Mushroom, cleaned it and put it on a baking tray, drizzling with Olive Oil, salt and pepper.  I cut a few slices of tomato and added them to the tray as well.  I broiled those for about 10- 15 minutes

on 350.  When they were done I assembled my dish.  Fresh Basil was cleaned and put on top of the mushroom (cap down of course).  Then the tomatoes, followed by crumbles of goat cheese.  I put all of that back in the oven to broil for another 5- 10 minutes.

Upon completion, I drizzled aged Balsamic Vinegar over the whole thing.

This was an excellent addition to the soup, as they were all very basic and fresh notes mixing together.