Chanteuse Designs

Carrot Soup

It’s been awhile since I have made carrot soup but I found this recipe which looked incredibly easy and simply had to go for it.

I absolutely love carrot juice (in moderation mind you) and have a juicer that producers the sweetest morning wake up drink you can imagine. You probably can. So, without further delay, enjoy this lovely light and slightly sweet soup with some homemade bread and cheese. I would top with créme fraiche and italian parsley.

Golden Carrot Soup
(Adapted from The Low GI Diet Cookbook by Prof Jennie Brand-Miller, Kaye Foster-Powell and Dr Joanna McMillan Price)
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
5 large carrots (about 1kg / 2 lb 4 oz), diced * use winter carrots, as they have more flavour than the tiny spring and summer carrots
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 bay leaves
1.25 litres (44 fl oz / 5 cups) beef or chicken stock ( I used more stock as 5 cups wasn’t enough)
Freshly ground black pepper
Flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, to serve

Method

Carrot Soup

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the carrots, onion, garlic and bay leaves and cook for 10 minutes.
Put the stock in another saucepan and bring to the boil. Pour the boiling stock over the vegetables and simmer for 15 minutes, or until tender.
Remove the pan from the heat and remove the bay leaves. Allow the soup to cool a little, then transfer to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Season with pepper. If the soup is too thick, add some extra stock.
Serve garnished with parsley.
Note: As a variation, garnish the soup with small pieces of grilled bacon, or top with a dollop of garlic-flavoured low fat yoghurt. (I prefer créme fraiche)

This was such a delightful dish. I used the beef stock because I am emptying out all of the non vegetarian products in my cupboard, but I would have liked to use a vegan broth. Though to make it lighter a chicken broth will still not take away from the sweet carrot base. Again, use only organic carrots and use pure water when making your home made broth.

Carrot Soup

For the bread, I have been baking it with a tiny sampling of a Blood Orange flavoring. It got rave reviews, much to my surprise. Jury isn’t out yet, but I added a few tablespoons of sugar and the bread rose a little too much. However, it got a 1o from my guests so maybe I have been making too much bread these days to be a fair critic.

Unlike California, you only need one card for any library. Here, I am already up to 3 library cards for 2 different counties! Good thing there are those drop boxes. My record library card count is 5, but that was when I lived in a different continent!! So many great cook books you can find in the library. Not to mention surprise cd’s.

I wore my Poupon Apron, over my pajamas. It was that kind of day.

Bon Appetit!

www.chanteusedesigns.com

Caprese Salad

One of the best things about summer is the Caprese Salad. Though of course it can be made year round and will always be delicious; fresh heirloom tomatoes right out of the summer sun make this beyond simply wonderful.

Hmm, that’s a mouth full right there. While I was entertaining my favorite guests this week, I found some beautiful organic basil, which had been difficult to find lately, and then some perfect tomatoes. So with those two items scored the only thing to do was to make a Caprese Salad.

It is idiot proof for those who don’t like being in a kitchen. Can’t even comprehend the species, but that’s life. Always full of a variety of surprises.

Caprese Salad

Three ingredients make this a perfect side dish, appetizer, or for those of you like me  (who used to forget to eat before she started this blog), it’s breakfast lunch and dinner! Hardly any cleanup.

Caprese Salad ingredients consist of Tomatoes, Mozzarella Cheese and fresh organic basil. Preferably you have grown two of the important items. But if time has you on the run, any of your high end organic grocers or Farmers Markets are the place you want to pick them up. Stay away from those large chains. They might say organic but it’s not always so.

I prefer a heavy Balsamic Vinegar and the best grade of Olive oil. There are no hard fast rules on this salad as well. I start with the olive oil, salt and pepper before I top the cheese and the basil with the balsamic vinegar.

As you can see, this salad was gone in minutes. Literally disappeared before my eyes. I made a second plate as I honestly didn’t want to move on to the main meal.

Caprese Salad Disappears

Do yourself and your family a favor.  Prepare this meal more often than you planned this summer. It’s health benefits and low grid production will make you green inside and out!

I believe you can conjure up some fabulous adventures too in a picnic basket with this salad.

I wore my uncharacteristic mini apron. It was just one of those rainy, simple kitchen days. With lots of laughs among friends!

Bon Appetit!

Eggplant Lasagna

This meal is one of my favorites. I’m an eggplant lover that goes way back, but trying to perfect this dish for some reason didn’t come easy for me. Good thing I didn’t give up on it/me. Eggplant is such an easy vegetable to grow (at least in Northern California) and can be eaten all by itself (grilled with olive oil and herbs), but in combination with certain specific flavors really blossoms.

Organic Eggplant

This is a throw together dish, so you don’t need an awful lot of time if you are looking for something quick and easy to put together. If you make batches of your own kind of sauce, it’s pretty much like putting a sandwich together.

Why I didn’t switch from Ricotta cheese to Cream cheese sooner, I’ll never know.  I don’t think we are going back. This was so smooth and yummy with the cream cheese that we are converted forever.  (Gavel sound!) Talk about a perfect combination.  Ricotta will remain in my heart (and certain dishes) but not in my lasagna.

Lasagna in the Making

Eggplant Lasagna (No Noodles)
4 Medium Eggplants thinly sliced, salted and slightly cooked for 10 minutes on lightly greased cookie sheet
3-4 cups Tomato Sauce
6 cups Spinach (Steamed and drained)
8 large Mushrooms Sliced
1 Tablespoon each fresh basil, parsley and time, or Italian Seasoning.
8 oz Cream Cheese
1 egg
1 cup Parmesan Cheese
8 oz Mozzarella Cheese
Capers-optional
Beet Leaves-optional

Lasagna in the Making

Preheat oven to 350˚ degrees. In a casserole dish layer the dish starting with the sauce. Next make a layer of prepared eggplant. Layer of spinach, then mushrooms, then cream cheese mixture (cream the cheese, egg and herbs together). Next layer with the sauce again and another layer of eggplant. Top with mozzarella cheese.

Now I got a bunch of organic beets at the market this week and recently found some recipes where they were finally (or where have I been) using the beet leaves.

Beet Leaves

Being a huge swiss chard fan, which what the leaves remind me of,  wanted to use them. As you can see from the photo at left,  I topped the dish using them which held the mozzarella cheese and top layer beautifully.  Then because I had another bee in my bonnet threw in some capers. They were so good. It was, for a change, a nice wild hair actually that worked.

Bake for 40 minutes.

Lasagna in the Making

Dancing around the kitchen in my Napa Apron, listening to Nora Jones……Bon Appetit!

Vegetarian Lasagna

My dear friend James came by for dinner the other night so I made him something out of the ordinary….at least for us. James and I are particularly fond of outdoor grilling, but since the season isn’t quite here yet and I no longer live on the lake, it’s just not the same. And I am no longer willing to cook steaks so I hoped/thought this would fill the bill for him. He’s such a great trooper!

I got this recipe from the Pink Parsley blogger and only have a few slight variations on the quantities. I also made my home made french bread which I actually really improved on my previous posting (yes it has to do with kneading the dough) but boy what an improvement in texture and taste!! Same recipe, just done with a bit more elbow grease. Fantastic.

Pesto Lasagna with Spinach and Mushrooms

Popeye

adapted from Cooking Light
serves 8

* 4 cups torn spinach (I would make this 8 cups next time)
* 2 cups mushrooms, diced into medium pieces (I would leave out and I LOVE mushrooms or saute with the spinach and drain)
* 1/2 cup pesto; commercial or homemade
* 1 1/2 cups fresh mozzarella, shredded
* 1 (15-ounce) carton part-skim ricotta cheese

Spinach Mushroom Sundried Tomatoe

* 1 large egg, lightly beaten (Small egg is even better)
* 3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
* 4 cups tomato-basil sauce; homemade or jarred (I needed more but I made a huge tray)
* 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce (I used paste but I make my sauce Doctored)
* Cooking spray
* 1 (8-ounce) package precooked lasagna noodles (12 noodles) (I used more)

Preheat the oven to 425. (I put on 350˚ and bake for a 45 min – hour so I can visit. Just a timing thing.)

Finishing Touches

Spray a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Steam the spinach and drain the excess moisture.

Combine the mushrooms, pesto, spinach in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine ricotta, 3/4 cup mozzarella, egg, and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese. Combine the tomato sauce with the pasta sauce.

Spread 1 cup of the pasta sauce in the bottom of the saucepan. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, followed by 1 cup of the spinach mixture and 1 cup of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layers, following the order of pasta sauce-pasta-spinach-cheese. Sprinkle remaining parmesan and mozzarella over the top.

Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 15 minutes, until top is bubbly and golden.

As you can see by one of my photos, at the last minute since I didn’t make enough spinach I threw in some sun dried tomatoes. Do double the spinach.

Serve with warm French bread, a delicious garden salad with Blue Cheese and almonds and I skipped dessert. Bread always takes it out of me!! When the grill season comes in……grilled peaches served with vanilla ice cream. I love Friday nights!

When it’s Italian, you can be rest assured it’s my Napa Apron which gets put on! Still my favorite.

Bon Appetit!

www.chanteusedesigns.com

PS For French Bread recipe go to my archives and look for Home Made French Bread, then skip all the stirring. Instead knead for 5 minutes, turn in oiled bowl and let rise for 45 minutes (It’s ok if you totally get distracted…….) Punch down, let rise again for 35-minutes. I always brush with milk 25 minutes after I put in the oven. Bake as directed, but you can time it for your dinner if need be by turning it down, you just won’t get the type of crust you were thinking you wanted. It will STILL be de-lish! Bread is much more forgiving than humans, but not dogs!  ;-)

Yeast

Stepping up to the diving Board....

A disappointing 9.7 from the Russian Judge

the bread is thinking it's next move.........

Pineapple Pizza for Ben

Once upon a time when I lived in Sausalito, every Friday night I would invite the gang over for some home made pizza. I had this pizza book that I got from ….somewhere, and you know my love affair with baking bread and yeast go way back. So it sorta made sense. Not to mention it was a lot of fun.

It has been awhile since I have made pizza though I don’t know why because it is so darn easy. Lucky for me that my friend Tracy’s son wanted exactly that recently. A home made pizza made by me, but ready to be baked at his house. No Problem.

So I was really glad I dusted off that book, looked at the very lovely stained pages of use and got back in the saddle.  This recipe is from James McNair’s book ‘Pizza’ – so appropriately named. It would make a great pizza party night as there are so many creative pizza ideas.

This pizza was a pineapple one with “nothing else on it”.  (Gosh it’s good to be 9 yrs old) That was what the order was. I tried, begged and pleaded for something else but a 9 year old knows what he wants. Did I get an easy job or what? Hence it looks a little pale in the photo, but I was told it was oh so yummy!  You can put anything your heart or stomach desires on yours. See how accommodating pizza is. What’s not to love?

Ingredients for Pizza Dough

• 3 1/4 cups of Bread, semolina or all purpose Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• 1 cup of warm Water
• 1 envelope active dry Yeast
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a small bowl dissolve the honey in warm water that registers 110˚ to 115˚F.  Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir gently until it dissolves, about 1 minute. When yeast is mixed with the water at the proper temperature, a smooth, beige colored mixture results. Let stand in a warm spot until a thin layer of foam covers the surface, about 5 minutes, indicating that the yeast is effective. Combine 3 cups of flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in center of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture and the oil. Using a wooden spoon, vigorously stir the flour into the well, beginning in the center and working toward the sides of the bowl, until the flour is incorporated and the soft dough just begins to hold together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Dust your hands with the flour and knead the dough gently in the following manner: press down on the dough with the heels of your hands and push it away from you, then partially fold it back over itself. Shift it a quarter turn and repeat the procedure. While kneading, very gradually add just enough of the remaining 1/4 cup flour until the dough is no longer sticky or tacky; this should take about 5 minutes. As you work, use a metal dough scraper to pry up any bits of dough that stick to the work surface. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth, elastic and shiny, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Knead the dough only until it feels smooth and springy; too much kneading over develops the gluten in the flour and results in a tough crust.

After mixing and kneading the dough shape the dough into a ball and place it in a well oiled bowl, turning to coat completely on all sides with oil. This oiling of the dough prevents a hard surface from forming that would inhibit rising. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap to prevent moisture loss, and set to rise in a draft free warm place (75˚F to 85˚F) until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes for quick rising yeast or 1 to 1 1/2 hours for regular yeast.

Dough

With your first punch down the dough as soon as it had doubled in bulk to prevent overrising. Shape it into a ball, pressing out all the air bubbles. If you are using bread flour or semolina flour, turn the dough in an oiled bowl to coast once more, cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it until puffy, from 35 minutes to 1 hour. Omit this step if using all purpose flour.

Dough

If you cannot bake pizza within 2 hours after rising, punch the dough down again, turn it in an oiled bowl to coat once more, cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. Let chilled dough come to room temperature before proceeding.

Nutella Cake and Ice Cream

My friend Joyce was passing through town and had time to stop in for a cup of tea.  I wanted to fix her a sweet nosh on her way through. I had been wanting to try some recipes using Nutella and found this great bread recipe and thought it would be perfect.

And, for most of the baking and mixing I knew I picked the perfect nosh. 

As she arrived, the bread was looking and smelling like heaven, however like the directions had suggested you will need to make sure that it is definitely “done”. Well should we just say, she arrived, we had so much to catch up on that I pulled it out of the oven, it was gorgeous and so….. forgot about it. That is until I went to take it out of the pan.  And it pretty much fell apart. (It was quite funny………but we dived right in regardless.  EVERYONE should have a friend like Joyce!!)

Needless to say it was wonderful, though you couldn’t exactly serve it as intended. So, after Joyce left and I was left with this wonderful huge plate of Nutella Bread crumbs, came up with a great idea. 

I absolutely love my lazy man’s ice cream and cookies. Häagen Dazs Coffee Ice Cream is my all time favorite and when I have a sweet tooth and am way too tired to bake, this combined with Pepperidge Farms Geneva cookies is my 100% cure for anything. 

With this in mind, I went and got a nice tub of my Coffee Ice Cream, slightly thawed it and added the chopped up Nutella Bread. It was awesome!!!

Honestly, the only thing it might have needed were those few bits of chopped pecans.  Mission so Very accomplished. 

Other than that, try to stay focused and make sure the Nutella bread is baked completely for slicing. Or use the next best back up, Nutella Cake and Ice Cream.

Nutella Bread

Nutella Bread

Coffee Ice Cream

Nutella Bread
adapted from Lauren Chattman’s Cake Keeper Cakes
makes one loaf

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1-1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
One 13-ounce jar Nutella

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan, tapping out any excess flour.  (I like to brush the loaf pan with melted butter, lay a cut sheet of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan, butter that and then flour the entire inside and then tap out the excess.  It ensures that your bread comes out perfectly.)  In a medium bowl, whisk the 1-1/2 cups of flour with the baking powder and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  With the mixer at medium-low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each one gets incorporated before adding the next one.  Add the vanilla extract.  Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating at low speed between additions until incorporated.  Continue to beat for 30 seconds longer.

Spread one-third of the batter in the prepared pan, then spread half of the Nutella on top.  Repeat with another third of the batter and the remaining Nutella.  Top with the remaining batter.  Lightly swirl the Nutella into the batter with a butter knife.  Do not  over mix.

Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes.  Invert the cake onto a wire rack, turn it right side up and let cool completely, about 2 hours.  Cut the cake into slices and serve.

The pound cake can be  kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.  It can also be wrapped tightly and frozen.

Bon Appetit!  www.chanteusedesigns.com

Quinoa Stuffed Red Bell Peppers

My first attempt with this lovely grain was such a pleasant surprise. I was expecting more of an oatmeal consistency, but found it soft and smooth. This is one new item I am going to get very attached to.

I skipped one of the steps by complete accident but found that it worked probably just as good if not better than the directions.  Will give it a second go with the original recipe directions soon. (As you can see I added the Quinoa directly into the dish versus boiling and putting in after.) Saved a step this way too.

I absolutely love red bell peppers, but you could also make this as a side dish and serve with some pita toasts or Naan bread. Pop in some smoked Paprika for some variation as well. Mmmm!

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

Quinoa Stuffing

Adapted from Vegetarian Time

2 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 8-oz. pkg. mushrooms, stems removed and saved for another use and caps sliced very thin
1/2 of a poblano pepper, diced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 – 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved

Quinoa Stuffing

1 – 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups grated carrot
1 1/2 cups grated reduced-fat pepper Jack cheese, divided
4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed

Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and poblano pepper and cook 5 minutes, or until soft. Add cumin and garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Stir in mushrooms and drained tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated.

Stir in quinoa, carrots, and 1 3/4 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes, or until quinoa is tender. Combine quinoa and carrots with black beans, 1 cup of cheese, and the onion mixture from the first step, . Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour liquid from tomatoes in bottom of baking dish.

Fill each bell pepper half with heaping 3/4-cup quinoa mixture, and place in baking dish. Cover with foil, and bake 40 minutes. Uncover, and sprinkle each pepper with 1 tablespoon of remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes more, or until tops of stuffed peppers are browned. Let stand 5 minutes. Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates, and drizzle each with pan juices before serving.

Like I said, this was really a pleasant surprise. So much so that I have found many new items for summer salads and dishes that I will be sharing here soon.

Til then, eat well, sleep well and enjoy this gorgeous spring.

My apron of choice……my Napa Ruffle.

Bon Appetit.

www.chanteusedesigns.com

Reese's Peanut Butter Cheesecake

For this Easter Banquet, I wanted to try something really unique for my guests. Something I learned a long time ago was make something you have tested first before making your loved ones suffer one of your wild imagination menus!! Well, I broke my number one rule feeling ever so confident that this recipe I found on www.tastespotting.com would be an absolute winner.
Life is funny…….it was quite the project as cheesecake is relatively an easy simple dessert recipe, right ? So, I had to up the ante and try this. My best friends husband is the King of cheesecake baking, so I wanted to make him something lavish since he spoils us all the time.

Peanut Butter-Fudge Cheesecake
Serves 12-16 (depending on how generous you are with portions)
For the Crust:

32 Oreo cookies, finely crushed or ground in a food processor

5½ Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Pinch of salt

For the Fudge:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

½ cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

20 miniature peanut butter cup candies, unwrapped and roughly chopped
For the Cheesecake:

24 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 eggs
For the Ganache Topping:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

½ cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (300 degrees F if you are using a dark or non-stick pan). Butter a 9″ springform pan and set aside.
2. To make the crust, stir the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in a small bowl with a fork until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan. (I like to use the bottom a measuring cup to press the crumbs around the pan. I’ve found that they get evenly distributed that way and end up looking neater around the sides.) Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.
3. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let cool.
4. To make the fudge, put the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately pour the simmering cream over the chopped chocolate. Let stand for 1-2 minutes, then add the vanilla extract and stir with a whisk or rubber spatula until smooth and combined. Pour the fudge into the cooled crust and spread evenly over the bottom. Place in freezer for 10 minutes. Remove from freezer and sprinkle surface with the chopped peanut butter cups. Return to freezer for 10 more minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the cheesecake filling. Beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and continue to beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, beating until combined after each addition. Scrape the bowl and mix on low for another 20 seconds.
6. Remove the pan from the freezer and pour the cheesecake filling over the fudge and peanut butter cups. Bake until the sides of the cheesecake are set and the middle just slightly jiggles, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool to room temperature (at least 1 hour). Refrigerate the cheesecake at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled. To unmold the cheesecake, wrap a warm towel around the outside of the springform pan to loosen the crust from the sides. Carefully remove the sides from the springform pan.
Before serving, prepare the ganache topping. Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately pour the simmering cream over the chopped chocolate. Let sit for 1-2 minutes and then stir with a whisk or rubber spatula until smooth. Pour the ganache on the top of the cheese and, using an offset spatula, spread evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Return to the refrigerator to set the ganache, about 20 minutes.

I highly recommend this being made before your event as this Definitely ages ever so gracefully. I would make again, but a day ahead.  And I would also not have bittersweet chocolate as the peanut butter was not a normal sweet cheese cake but rather mild, and combined with the bitter sweet chocolate was a little on the bitter side. The Oreo cookie crust helped, but was not enough. This was sure worth the effort.
Mmmm Mmmm great!! What a lovely Easter we had!
Bon Appetit!
And don’t forget to wear your Poupon Apron, ever so cheery and perfect for an Easter gathering.