Butternut Squash & Granny Smith Apple Soup

Hello winter? What happened to fall?

On Saturday I woke up to a snowstorm and the only thing I could think of was soup. 

Aside from being delicious, it's a great excuse to turn on the oven for some extra warmth. 

This soup was so satisfying- it warmed me up, tasted great and seemed kind of healthy too. 

The apples make it kind of tart, and a little sweet, while the squash gave it an earthy, creamy note. It's also super easy to make, and you can swap other types of root veggies, or squash and use the same basic recipe.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH GRANNY SMITH APPLE SOUP

Toss together 1 butternut squash (chopped) + 2 Granny Smith apples (chopped) + 2 tbsp olive oil + 2 tablespoons honey, add a pinch of sea salt and some thyme or other fresh herbs.  Throw it all on a baking pan and roast at 425 for about 30 minutes. Once the roasted squash and apples have cooled, puree them in a food processor until smooth. Put the puree in a big soup pan over medium heat and whisk in 3 cups chicken stock, then whisk in about 1 tbsp heavy cream.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let simmer over low heat until ready to serve. Easy peasy and even tastier with a few pecans thrown on top.

Mexican Food in Paris: Cooking with the Cowgirl Chef

Surely no one comes to France for Mexican food- in fact it's very difficult to find the ingredients you need to make it. That's what Ellise, aka the Cowgirl Chef found when she moved to Paris from Texas five years ago- her attempts to combat homesickness led to some hilarious stories and incredible recipes which are to be published soon in the forthcoming Cowgirl Chef Cookbook: Cooking in Paris with a Texas Accent.

I felt quite lucky to spend the last week of my time in France at work, on location, in Paris to direct the photo shoot for the cookbook. It was great to spend lots of time with Ellise, cooking and shooting at her home with brilliant photographer Steve Legato, and to see a little bit of Paris too. 

Ellise's book, like her blog, cowgirlchef.com is filled with funny stories and truly delicious recipes. It was a delight to spend the week with her and sample her food. 

 

You can read Ellise's post on the shoot here: 

http://cowgirlchef.com/2011/10/13/behind-the-scenes-cookbook-photo-shoot/

All of the photos on this post were taken by and copyright of Steve Legato. Enjoy.

J'aime Hipstamatic

French Holiday

Some photos from a week in the Dordogne region of France, an unbelievably magical corner of the world. Ridiculously beautiful, and made even better by the company of some of my best and oldest friends. 

We stayed in a lovely little house outside of the exquisitely charming town of Sarlat, in Perigord Noir. The area is famous for its foie gras and truffles. The town has a great market twice a week bursting with all sorts of local produce, honey, oils, breads, cheeses, olives and sausages. Not to mention the wine... 

 

Caramel Apples

I love the idea of caramel apples, but hate the corn syrupy, sticky, impossible-to-eat apples on a stick that you see everywhere this time of year. Dipping slices of apple into caramel seems superior to trying to eat the whole thing off of a stick. It's still messy, but your face is spared. Rosemary caramel goes perfectly with crisp apple slices- the tarter, the better- worlds better than that fake corn syrup goo.

ROSEMARY CARAMEL

Combine 1+1/2 cups sugar + 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved and let boil until it becomes caramel colored- remove from heat immediately and pour in 1+1/4 cups heavy cream. Return to heat and stir to break up any sugar. Once it's smooth, remove from heat, add 2 sprigs of rosemary for 20 seconds, remove the rosemary, stir in 1 tbsp lemon juice and let cool.

Goodbye Summer

Summer always seems to go faster than any other season, and no matter how unbearable the heat and humidity can be, I'm sad to see it end... And whenever I'm a little sad, a bit of baking will generally cheer me up. So here's an easy galette with what may be the last nice white peaches and blueberries of the season. I added rosemary and ginger to give it a little kick towards those wintry flavors. If you mix a little pinch of the fresh ginger, rosemary, and lemon zest into the dough before it chills, it'll be even more delicious. Enjoy.

TINY WHITE PEACH & BLUEBERRY GALETTES WITH ROSEMARY AND GINGER

FOR THE CRUST: mix together 1+1/2 cups white flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and a pinch of sea salt in a mixer. Add 6 tbsps butter, and mix until the butter is somewhat incorporated. Then add 1 egg (beaten) and 1 tbsp of heavy cream and continue to mix until dough comes together. Refrigerate and chill for at least 90 minutes.

FOR THE FILLING: Chop 2 white peaches and sit them in a bowl with 1/2 pint of blueberries, drizzle with honey, lemon zest, a pinch of fresh grated ginger and chopped rosemary. Let sit for at least an hour so the flavors can combine.

Preheat oven to 375. When the dough is chilled, divide into 6 balls and roll them each out into little disks- about 4-5" diameter. Then place a small amount of the peach-blueberry mix into the center of each one. Leave about an inch and a half of space around the edges and then fold the crust up over the fruit to create little open-faced pies. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and fruit is bubbly.

Homemade Soda

 

It's fair to say I drink a lot of sparkling water. So much in fact, that my boyfriend, recently pointed out that our amount of weekly recycling has quadrupled—ever since I discovered you can buy it by the case at Trader Joe's. So, in an attempt to sweeten the deal for him (as he's the one on recycling detail) I occasionally make homemade soda, which is basically just any sort of flavored simple syrup added to sparkling water. 

You can do a great spicy soda with cinnamon sticks, cardamom, ginger, star anise & a couple of peppercorns; or any sort of citrus-y soda- just simmer the peel in the syrup. Homemade ginger ale is infinitely better than the bottled kind. Just a simple cinnamon soda is pretty damn good too, as is a vanilla one, or a rose one. Follow your tastebuds and use your imagination, the choices are infinite.

So here's a vanilla soda with fresh mint to add a herbal, fresh note. Could not require less effort- in honor of not laboring on labor day.

VANILLA SIMPLE SYRUP/ SODA BASE

Combine 1 cup of sugar (I used brown this time) and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar, add 1 vanilla bean, split open. Let the syrup come to a boil and then simmer for ten minutes. Pour in glass jar and cool in refrigerator. When cold add to sparkling water and ice for homemade soda.