Mushroom Cream Sauce For Two!

There is something incredibly delicious about a simple cream sauce.  Tonight, my husband and I took time for our late night dinner together.  No kids and no rushing.  I wasn't getting up every 2 minutes to refill milk or to cool down our middle child's meal. It wasn't a bland meal to appease all palates.  Instead, it was a simple, delicious meal, full of some of our favorite bites.  Salad, crusty french bread, sriracha turkey burger (for my omnivore husband), and rigatoni pasta with a mushroom cream sauce. 

Mushroom Cream Sauce for Two

• 2 Tablespoons finely chopped onions
• 1/2 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1 cup whole cream
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh pepper
• salt to taste 
• fresh Parmesan to taste

Cook 2 cups Rigatoni al dente, keep warm, and don't rinse.  Meanwhile, saute onions and mushrooms in 2 tablespoons olive oil until soft, not browned.  Add garlic, saute for 1-2 minutes.  Sprinkle flour, stir and cook for 1 minute.  Add cream salt and pepper, turning heat to low.  Simmer stirring every couple of minutes for 5-7 minutes until reduced to nearly 1/2.  Add cooked pasta and stir.  Warm together until combined.  Garnish with fresh Parmesan and serve immediately.

Simple Yummy Dessert

Sometimes a heavy dinner calls for a simple, light and yummy dessert.  I came across this recipe, mostly because I had heard of it, and also because we had some extra wine that was a day or two older than I wanted to keep around for drinking. It can also be served as a brunch dish.
Wine Poached Pears

• 4-6 Peeled, Cored and Sliced Pears (recommend Bosc or Anjou)
• 1 1/2 cups of red wine (recommend Zinfandel, Shiraz or Merlot)
• 3/4 cups of granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice (can also add lemon zest if desired)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon 

Preparation
Combine all ingredients, except pears, and bring to a boil. Once the wine mixture is boiling, turn heat down to a simmer and add the pears. Simmer pears for 10-12 minutes and then turn pears and simmer for an additional 8-10 minutes - until they are tender and are easily poked through with a fork. Remove pears and let them cool. Boil wine sauce until the liquid has been reduced by half. Pour sauce over pears and serve with either marscapone, crème fraiche or homemade whip cream. 

Goes really well with coffee ice cream and whip cream together.

 

Best Chocolate Chip Cookie. Ever!

OK.  So I am a little late to hop on the bandwagon.  Someone should have told me what this Pinterest was all about muuuuuch sooner.

In the past seven days, I have found a recipe and a children's activity for every single day.  Nearly all of them were delicious or fun, but one of them was most definitely off the charts!

Over time, I have made endless amounts of cookies, bars, and baked goods- recipes from my great grandmothers passed down... none of them have ever compared to this cookie.  It is seriously the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie.  Ever!

Ingredients

• 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
• 1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
  (I used all purpose for the entire thing)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips )
• Sea salt
  (I used Kosher salt)

Instructions

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Notes

Recipe from Jacque Torres and The New York Times

*NOTE CHILL TIME of 24-72 hours- it WILL yield a better cookie

Seriously Easy French Bread

A great pairing to a delicious soup is an easy homemade french bread.  Oftentimes, bread is intimidating enough to make that we leave it to the bakery, or only search for recipes that can be made in the bread machine or with our mixers dough hook.  FEAR NOT! This is an amazingly simple recipe, and easily adaptable to include nuts, cheeses, herbs or swapping some white flour for wheat.  This recipe also divides easily after the first rise for dinner rolls.  To keep this soft and chewy, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the recipe.

1 cup warm water 110-115 degrees
1 package yeast or 2 1/2 teaspoons (rapid-rise recommended)
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
approximately 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a large non reactive bowl, combine water with yeast, sugar and salt. Let sit for five minutes. Stir in flour with wooden spoon until the dough is stiff enough to knead. (Add flour a little at a time.) Knead dough until smooth and elastic–a few minutes. Place enough olive oil in a bowl to coat the dough ball;  cover. Let rise until doubled. Form dough into a French-style loaf and place on parchment lined baking sheet.  Score lightly with a knife 5-6 times.  Place immediately in oven (unpreheated!)–bread will rise as oven heats up. Set oven at 375-degrees. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

This recipe makes one loaf, but can be doubled and tripled easily.

Blue, Black, Straw or Boysen....Berry Scones

A great cup of coffee is always better with a delicious accompaniment.  Cookies, biscotti, doughnuts, bagels, cake.....doesn't really matter, they are all sinfully delicious.  One of our household favorites are homemade scones. 

This recipe is another quick and easy one, and with a light hand, can melt in your mouth.  I love the option of making it with or without streusel topping, but we never have it without a cup of fresh ground Lavazza.

Blackberry Streusel Scones:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 cup fresh berries

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk or cream

Brushing tops of scones:

Milk or Cream

Streusel Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in middle of oven. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Gently fold in the berries (I often use blackberries or blueberries). In a small measuring cup combine the cream, beaten egg and vanilla. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir lightly just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough or the scones will be tough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round and about 11/2 inches thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into four pie-shaped wedges (triangles).  Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream or milk.

For the Streusel Topping: In a small bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter until crumbly. Top each scone with a teaspoon or two of the streusel mixture. Cover and refrigerate any leftover streusel mixture.

Bake the scones until nicely browned, about 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a scone comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. These are best eaten the day they are made but can be covered and stored for a few days.

Makes 8 scones

From Joyofbaking.com