Time to Cook!

Inspiration for wholesome weeknight & weekend cooking.

Posts tagged ‘comfort food’

Lemon Lentil Soup

My friend Leanne introduced me to her favorite lentil soup from this Canadian cookbook.  I’ve tweaked it and it has become one of our family’s favorites.  The bright lemony taste balances well with the earthy, starchy taste of the lentils.  I could eat this once a week!  Sometimes I make twice the recipe and freeze the extra in gallon ziplock freezer bags.

Lemon Lentil Soup

Recipe adapted from Canadian cookbook Company’s Coming (May 16, 2008).

Lemon Lentil Soup

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 cups chopped onion

2 cups chopped carrots

2 ½ teaspoons oregano

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 bay leaves

12 cups chicken stock

3 cups dried red split lentils

4 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped (optional)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in Le Creuset on medium-high. Add onion and carrots. Cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring often, until onion starts to brown.

Add oregano, garlic, rosemary, salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring often.

Add chicken stock and lentils. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lentils are very soft.

Discard bay leaves. Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Top individual bowls of soup with fresh parsley, if desired.

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Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tate’s chocolate chip cookies have always been my favorite store bought cookies (and they’re now pretty widely distributed – you can find them at Whole Foods and major grocery stores).  They have nicely shared their wonderful recipe so we can make them at home!  I think it’s the perfect chocolate chip cookie – thin, chewy yet crispy, salty and buttery…  You can cook them anywhere from 8-12 minutes (8 minutes make chewy cookies, 12 minutes make crispy cookies).  I like to cook them for 10 minutes.  Try them with dark chocolate chips too sometime.  Enjoy!

Tate's Choc Chip Cookie

Recipe adapted from Tate’s Bake Shop and posted on Gwyneth Paltrow’s blog Goop.

Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 40 cookies.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) lightly salted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (Nestlé can’t really be beat)

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350º.

2. Whisk the flour, soda and salt together in a bowl.

3. In another large bowl, mix the butter with a wooden spoon to lighten it a bit and then mix in the sugars.

4. Add the water, vanilla and eggs to the butter mixture.

5. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined and then fold in the chocolate chips.

6. Using two soup spoons, drop the cookies 2″ apart onto two nonstick or greased cookie sheets.

7. Bake for 8 minutes, rotating the sheets after 4 minutes.

8. Remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool, and repeat the process with the rest of the batter.

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Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies

When I came across Katharine Hepburn’s family recipe for brownies in Gourmet Magazine, my curiosity was piqued.  Katharine Hepburn — wouldn’t you think she would hold something to the highest standards and be associated with something very classic, old-fashioned, and American as a delicious homemade brownie?  I did…  Indeed, this is the best brownie recipe I’ve tried. You can really taste the butter, salt, chocolate and nuts in each bite and they are nice and moist in the middle yet crispy on the top.  Delicious!  The recipe only makes 9 brownies, and that’s just not going to be enough (trust me), so you might want to double the recipe.  Note:  I thought 1/2 cup chopped walnuts was plenty.

Brownie

Recipe from Gourmet Magazine.

Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies

Makes 9 brownies.

Ingredients

  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
  • 2 squares unsweetened chocolate (2 ounces)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preparation

1. Melt together 1 stick butter and 2 squares unsweetened chocolate and take the saucepan off the heat.

2. Stir in 1 cup sugar, add 2 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and beat the mixture well.

3. Stir in 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. (In the original recipe, 1 cup chopped walnuts is added here as well.)

4. Bake the brownies in a buttered and floured 8-inch-square pan at 325°F for about 40 minutes.

You can cut these brownies into squares, once they have cooled, and eat them out of the pan, but it is so much nicer to pile them on a fancy plate, from which people are going to eat them with their hands anyway. If you want to smarten up your act you can put a square of brownie on a plate with a little blob of créme fraîche and a scattering of shaved chocolate.

Original source: “A Harried Cook’s Guide to Some Fast Food” by Laurie Colwin

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Zucchini Bread

I have a weakness for zucchini bread and banana bread.  It’s great to snack on and great toasted with butter for breakfast.  This is my favorite zucchini bread recipe – I don’t think it gets any better than this!

Zucchini Bread

Recipe slightly adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook.

Zucchini Bread

Makes 2 loaves.

“For best flavor, wrap the breads when cool and let stand overnight before serving.  With its sugar, spice and nuts, this is a tea bread, almost cake-like.”

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons sweet butter, melted or at room temperature (plus an extra 2 teaspoons for greasing loaf pans)

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups grated unpeeled raw zucchini

2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup shelled walnuts, chopped

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously butter two 9×5 inch loaf pans.  Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper and brush with butter.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter, eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla until light and thick.  Fold the grated zucchini into the oil mixture.

3. Sift the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.  Stir into zucchini mixture until just blended.  Fold in the walnuts.

4. Pour the batter into the buttered loaf pans.  Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. Cool slightly, remove from pans, and cool completely on a rack.

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