Cheddar Cheese Soup with Irish Soda Bread

Here is another favorite from my College Vegetarian Cooking book: Cheddar Cheese Soup with Irish Soda Bread. The soup is more like a chowder because it's thick and creamy, and it's especially good when you dip the soda bread into the soup. Both the soup and the bread can be made in about an hour. It's great for a chilly winter's day (although California really doesn't have those!). The photo makes the soup look a little weird... don't worry. It's much more orange in person and less... icky looking.

My brother isn't a big fan of this soup because he doesn't like onions, but the rest of my family loves it. My mom especially likes the soda bread, which is flaky and soft. Here's a tip for the soda bread: use a stand mixer with a dough hook. It will save you time and frustration. I've made it a few times by hand and I always had to have my mom come help me mix it together, because it's a sticky dough and hard to work with. The stand mixer fixed that completely. I was worried that it would overmix the dough and cause it to be tough, but that was not the case. It turned out perfectly.

When I made this (a few days ago), I discovered that our tin of oats would be expiring on New Year's Eve, so that leads into my next recipe... Triple Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies. Oh yeah.
I've also made this recipe with white cheddar and it was fantastic, so you can decide which one you want to use. Or try using both!

Cheddar Cheese Soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 onions

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup flour

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

2 1/2 cups milk

Salt and pepper

2 cups Cheddar cheese (grated)

Instructions

1. Peel the onions and cut into thin slices.
2. Melt the butter in a large sauce pan, add the onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 15-20 minutes, or until the onions are translucent.
3. Add the flour and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute. 
4. Stir in the broth and milk and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper and simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, add the cheese, and stir until completely melted.
6. Eat.

Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients

Oil or cooking spray

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal

1 t salt

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

8 oz. sour cream

3/4 cup milk

3 T sugar

5 T butter (melted)

Instructions

1. Lightly coat a baking sheet with oil or cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Combine the flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. Combine the sour cream, milk, and sugar in another bowl. Add the sour cream mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just blended.
4. Stir in 4 tablespoons of the melted butter. Turn the dough out onto the prepared baking sheet and shape into a mounded circle about 8 inches in diameter. Brush the top with the remaining butter.
5. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until browned.
6. Eat.

Source: College Vegetarian Cooking

Angel Food Cake

So I am WAY behind on posts, but tonight I'm posting a few more! A few days ago I made an angel food cake. I had a ton of egg whites left over from when I made the ice cream for Christmas, so what better to use them for than an angel food cake?
If you don't know what an angel food cake is, it's a white cake baked in a tube pan, and since it only has egg whites, no yolks or butter or oil, it's fat free! It's also super light and fluffy because you beat the egg whites. I had never made an angel food cake from scratch before, but it turned out beautifully. It was gone within 24 hours.

Angel food cake is great on its own, but I've also had it with chocolate sauce or fruit. The recipe I used called for using an almond glaze, but I left it plain. It was still fantastic.

Angel Food Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups egg whites (about 12)

1 1/2 t cream of tartar

1/4 t salt

1 1/2 t vanilla

1/2 t almond extract

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup flour

Instructions

1. Place the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, vanilla, and almond extract in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed for 3-4 minutes, or until soft peaks form (when the beaters are lifted out of the egg whites, they form peaks that fold over when the beaters pull away.)
2. Add the sugar a little at a time and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. Gently fold the flour into the egg whites, 1/4 cup at a time, until just blended. Pour the batter into an ungreased tube pan. Cut through the batter with a knife to remove any air bubbles.
4. Bake for 40-50 minutes at 375 degrees or until golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and invert onto the neck of a bottle to cool completely. (I didn't have a bottle that worked, so I turned it upside down on a cooling rack. It worked just fine)
5. Once the cake is cooled, run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen it, then remove it from the pan.
6. Eat.

Source: Teens Cook Dessert

Fresh Ginger Cake

If you read my pumpkin ice cream post, then you know the story of the ginger cake, and you can skip the next paragraph.
One of my family's favorite restaurants is Chow, and my mom's favorite dessert is a ginger cake with pumpkin ice cream, caramel sauce, and whipped cream. For Christmas this year, I was in charge of side dishes and the dessert, so I decided to recreate the ginger cake.
I found two recipes that seemed similar to the cake at Chow, so I decided to try them both and see which one I liked better. One of them was a bundt cake made with butter and only fresh ginger, no other spices. The one we liked better was this cake, made with oil and spices in addition to the fresh ginger. When we made it for my family on Christmas, we multiplied the amount of each of the spices by 1.5, and my mom thinks we should maybe even do more, but I think it's delicious just the way it is.
The original recipe called for using a 9 1/2 inch springform pan, but my springform pan is 10 1/2 inches, so I just baked it for a little less time. It still turned out beautifully. You can also make this recipe in a mini loaf pan, just bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

If you're willing to put in the extra time, this cake goes wonderfully with the pumpkin ice cream and some caramel sauce, but it's still great on its own. My mom has been eating it for breakfast. It's like a muffin... right?

Fresh Ginger Cake

Ingredients

4 oz fresh ginger

1 cup mild molasses

1 cup sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 t ground cinnamon

3/4 t ground cloves

3/4 t ground black pepper

1 cup water

2 t baking soda

2 eggs

Instructions

1. Line a 9 by 3 inch round cake pan or a 9 1/2 inch springform pan with a circle of parchment paper.
2. Peel, slice, and chop the ginger very fine (I used my food processor for this). Mix together the molasses, sugar, and oil in a bowl. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper.
3. Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan and stir in the baking soda. Add the hot water to the molasses mixture and stir to combine. Stir in the ginger.
4. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the batter. Add the eggs, and continue mixing until everything is thoroughly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top of the cake springs back when lightly pressed.
5. Cool the cake for at least 30 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan, and then remove the cake from the pan and remove the parchment paper.
6. Eat.

Source: David Lebovitz

Vanilla Ice Cream

Here is part two of the Christmas dessert extravaganza! Just because some of my family members are picky (I'm looking at you, Mikey), I decided to make some vanilla ice cream in addition to the pumpkin ice cream. It's delicious, it's not that hard, and homemade ice cream will make you never want to eat storebought again (although Ben and Jerry's is getting me through college).
Because this is VANILLA ice cream, you should really use high quality vanilla. This time I was not able to, but usually I use this really good Madagascar vanilla, which is so amazing.
Story time: a few years ago, my mom bought my uncle some of this vanilla as a Christmas present. My uncle is a foodie and really enjoys gourmet and quality ingredients, and he would not stop raving about this vanilla the next time we saw him. The next year, my mom bought him some Mexican vanilla, but apparently that wasn't as good as the Madagascar stuff. My mom and I were skeptical, but then she got me a bottle. And let me tell you, that vanilla is incredible. I made some creme brulee with it, and my mom, who doesn't normally like creme brulee, loved it. I now only use it in recipes where the vanilla really stands out, like in this ice cream. So, long story short, now my uncle and I get this vanilla every year for Christmas, and you should too.
That being said, I ran out of my fancy vanilla right before I made my vanilla ice cream, so I had to use generic stuff. It's still very good. And I got more vanilla in my stocking the next day.

Vanilla Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart.

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

Pinch salt

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

5 egg yolks

4 t vanilla

Instructions:

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Put the cream into a bowl and set a fine mesh sieve over it.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Gradually pour some of the warm milk into the yolks, whisking constantly, and then pour the egg mixture back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and keeping it at a low simmer, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 4-6 minutes. Strain though the sieve into the cream and add the vanilla, stirring to combine.
3. Cover the custard with plastic wrap (the plastic should be touching the top of the custard so a skin does not form) and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight. 
4. Transfer the custard to an ice cream maker and freeze according to instructions. Transfer to a freezer safe container, cover, and freeze until firm.
5. Eat.

Source: David Lebovitz

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Wow! My blog hit 2000 views in the last day or two! I'm so happy :). And now that I'm home for winter break, I've been baking and cooking up a storm, particularly for Christmas. The problem with that, however, is that I forgot to take pictures of most of the recipes :(. Luckily, these are all recipes I will be making again, so photos will be posted when I do. But you're in for a treat: caramel sauce, vanilla ice cream, ginger cake, roasted butternut squash, vanilla extract, royal icing (the gingerbread cookies failed because my oven has been malfunctioning), and many more. I've got an angel food cake in the oven right now!
I made the angel food cake because I had a lot of leftover egg whites from when I made ice cream to go with my Christmas dessert. One of my family's favorite restaurants is Chow, and my mom's favorite dessert is a ginger cake with pumpkin ice cream, caramel sauce, and whipped cream. For Christmas this year, I was in charge of side dishes and the dessert, so I decided to recreate the ginger cake. This is the pumpkin ice cream that went with it.
The bourbon listed in the ingredients (I used whiskey) is OPTIONAL. We used the recipe without trying it out and the alcohol was very potent, so if you don't want that, then leave it out. It's delicious even without the bourbon. If you're tasting it throughout the process, it will taste like pumpkin pie filling, even when it is at soft serve stage, but it will taste like ice cream after you freeze it. I promise.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart.

Ingredients:

1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree

1 t vanilla

2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)

5 egg yolks

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground ginger

1/4 t salt

Pinch ground nutmeg

1 T bourbon (optional)

Instructions

1. In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree and the vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 8 hours.
2. In a heavy sauce pan over medium heat combine 1 1/2 cups of the cream and 1/2 cup of the brown sugar and cook until bubbles form around the edge, roughly 5 minutes.
3. In the meantime, whisk together the rest of the cream and brown sugar with the egg yolks, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and nutmeg until smooth and the sugar starts to dissolve.
4. Remove the cream mixture from heat and gradually whisk about 1/2 cup of it into the egg mixture until smooth. Pour the egg mixture back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and keeping it at a low simmer, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 4-6 minutes. Strain though a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.
5. Whisk the pumpkin mixture into the custard and then cover with plastic wrap (the plastic should be touching the top of the custard so a skin does not form) and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight. 
6. Transfer the custard to an ice cream maker and freeze according to instructions. Add the bourbon during the last minute of churning and then transfer to a freezer safe container, cover, and freeze until firm.
7. Eat.

Source: Williams Sonoma

Nutella Chocolate Cookies

I AM HOME.
I came home for Thankgiving, and I have never been so happy to be in my kitchen. I decided to make my two favorite cookie recipes: the chocolate crinkle cookies and the Nutella cookies. Now, I have said this before, and I'll say it again: I do not like nutella. I don't like peanut butter, and Nutella has the same texture, which is off-putting. But these cookies are magical. They don't even taste that much like Nutella. They are fluffy and chocolatey and perfect, and a breeze to make.

First, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. You may have to sift it, like I did, to get all the lumps out of the cocoa.

Next, beat the butter and Nutella together.

Add brown sugar and regular sugar.

And eggs, water, and vanilla. Make sure everything is smooth.

Gradually beat in the flour mixture until it is almost combined, and then fold in the rest by hand. Make tablespoon-sized balls and drop them on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Currently the only oven that works at my house is the little one, so I have to use cake pans.

Bake for 8 minutes if you want soft cookies, and 10 minutes if you want crispy cookies. I did 10, and they're still pretty soft.

Next, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla to make the icing, and add food coloring. I chose my two favorite colors, yellow and purple, but in the past I did red and white for Christmas. Put the icing into plastic bags. I find it's easiest to do this if you put the bags into a glass and fold the tops over the edge.

Now drizzle the icing over the cookies! They're so pretty! Although in the future I probably won't do yellow again because when it hardens it doesn't look that good.

So there you have it! I'm so happy to be home and have my kitchen back. These cookies are the perfect way to celebrate.

Here's the recipe:

Nutella Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 stick unsalted butter (softened)

3/4 cup Nutella

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 T water

1 t vanilla

Icing (recipe below)

Instructions:

1. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure there are no lumps. You may need to sift it.
2. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and Nutella until creamy. Beat in the sugar and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, water, and vanilla extract.
3. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture. Mix until the dough just begins to come together and the flour is almost incorporated, and then fold in the rest by hand.
4. Make balls the size of a tablespoon and place them a few inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes (8 for soft cookies, 10 for crispier cookies) at 375 degrees.
5. Let cool for 5 minutes on the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack and let them cool all the way.
6. Put the icing into a plastic bag and snip off a very tiny part of the corner. Drizzle icing over cookies. Let the icing dry.
7. Eat.

Icing

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 T milk or water

1/2 t vanilla

Food coloring, if desired

Instructions:

1. Whisk ingredients together until smooth.
2. Use to decorate as desired.

Source: The Kitchn

Microwave Black Beans and Rice

So after a long period of being too lazy to go down to the supermarket (it's a mile away and it has been dipping into the 30's recently), I finally went. My friend Emily and I decided to go after our vegetarian nutrition class, which is conveniently on that side of campus. I had already prepared my go-to cheapskate shopping list:

• Pasta
• Pasta Sauce (whatever is on sale, this time Prego)
• Canned Black Beans
• White Rice
• Brown Rice
• Cous Cous (a new addition)

I also picked up some pomegranates and limes because they were on sale, and I freakin love pomegranates. Anyway, when I got home, I decided to combine my new foods to see what I could make. I already had some leftover brown rice in the fridge, so I made black beans and rice with cheese. And man oh man, it was good.

I looked up a bunch of recipes for black beans and rice online and took bits and pieces from each one to make it microwave friendly. Obviously you need the microwave rice cooker, or another method of cooking rice.

I'm anemic, so I'm always looking for easy ways to get iron. Black beans are a great source for that, as well as for protein. You can use white rice instead of brown, but brown has more fiber and is generally better for you. I keep my shredded cheese in the freezer so it lasts longer, and it works perfectly fine. I think this recipe would benefit from some chili powder or cilantro, as well as some hot sauce. You can customize it however you'd like.

Here's the recipe:

Microwave Black Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 T butter

15 oz can black beans (drained and rinsed)

Juice from half a lime

1/4 cup shredded cheese

Instructions:

1. Combine the rice and the butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 2 minutes, or until the butter is melted. Take out of the microwave and stir together.
2. Combine the beans and the lime juice in a bowl and mix well. You will only need half of the beans, so save the rest for later. Put the beans on top of the rice and top with the shredded cheese.
3. Microwave for 2 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Take out of the microwave and stir together.
4. Eat.