Merry Christmas To All...

And to all a good night.

Wishing everyone and their families a wonderful holiday.  Looking forward to more culinary exploration and discoveries (and sharing them) in the new year!

Parmesan Crisps

Why not?


Using a cheese plane, "peel" as many slices of parmesan as you like.  Lay them on a baking sheet (using parchment paper would be a good idea) and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.


Serve with apricot preserves.  (Or crumble and use as a salad topping)

I... I... Iloveit.

So I'm getting married this spring. (woah)  As an early and off-guard-catching bridal shower gift four of my very best friends from home sent me a KitchenAid mixer.  The 5-quart artisan stand mixer in the color I've been drooling over for months: Aqua Sky.
I've used it at least twice weekly since it came into my life.


Check out this culinary accoutrement of beauty:

Potato, Leek, and RACLETTE Soup.

It doesn't roll off your tongue as smoothly but it goes down a lot moreso.
Last night's laziness lead to tonight's productivity, and Jamie Oliver is on a roll in my book.  This is the second soup I've ever made, also the second of which is his recipe.  While his calls for Taleggio, I wasn't entirely thrilled about spending $28.99 / lb for cheese I would be cubing into my soup.  So I opted for a nice French Raclette, similar in nuttiness and the end result (though I suppose I can't compare) was equally delectable.


Ingredients:
1 small onion
1 stalk celery
2 medium leeks
1 pat butter
3 cups vegetable broth
2 small potatoes 
1 small bunch fresh thyme
3 oz (I used half a tub) créme fraîche
3 oz taleggio (or raclette) cheese
2 slices ciabatta (or an entire sliced sourdough baguette.  I'm not ashamed)
1 clove garlic
olive oil, sea salt, black pepper


-Roughly chop the onion and celery.
-Trim the leeks and halve them lengthwise, then cut across into chunks - rinse well under cold running water and set aside to drain.
-Place a deep pan (this'll be your main soup pot) on a low to medium heat and add butter
-Once butter has melted add the onion/celery/leeks, a lug of olive oil and a "splash" of water (I used 1/4 cup and this was probably not enough.)  Stir and cover, cook for 8-10 minutes or until veggies have softened.
-Fill another deep pan (soup pot) with vegetable broth and bring to gentle simmer over medium heat.
-In the meantime peel the potatoes and roughly grate them onto cutting board - add to the pan of simmering broth and cook for 5 minutes.
-Pick the thyme leaves from the sprigs - add half of the thyme to the stock.
-When potatoes are cooked through pour the broth mixture into the pan of vegetables and bring everything to a boil
-Stir in the créme fraîche and let it simmer for a few minutes.
-Chop the cheese into chunks.
-Put the grill pan on high, dry (no olive oil!) and slice your bread, cut the garlic clove in half.
-Take the soup off the heat and add the cheese - stir for a couple minutes until it's melting, and blend with a hand mixer (I used my emersion blender as I wanted more of a puree -- I highly recommend this!)
-Flavor soup with sea salt and pepper (it'll need it)
-Rub the garlic on each side of the bread slices and then lay the slices on the grill to toast for a minute or two a side.
-Put your soup in bowls (Jamie says to warm the bowls on low in the oven first.  I'm not that fancy), add a sprinkle of thyme & pepper in the middle, a drizzle of olive oil around it, and one of your garlic bread slices.


I'd double the recipe for a decent amount of leftovers!