Okay, so Carrot Soup has been done before. The Goddess does not live under a rock, so she’s aware of this. But, she thinks it’s just a good idea to master “basic” recipes. Then that recipe can then be a “jumping off” point for new flavor adventures. This is such a recipe. Continue reading
Simple Carrot Soup
25 Thursday Oct 2018
Posted in Carrots, Gluten Free, Soup
Every now and then we need to return to the very “root” (or tuber, in this case) of cooking. This is one of those “basic” recipes. And soup is a great place to begin. Most of us love soup, or at the very least, like it. Particularly, when the thermometer begins to dip, as it is these days. But, we shouldn’t leave soup off of our summer menu, as many soups have the wonderful flexibility of being served either hot or cold. Potato soup is no exception…vichyssoise, anyone?
The Spicy Honey has an office BBQ and thought it would be a good idea for The Goddess to “whip up” dessert. He’s thoughtful that way. But, The Goddess doesn’t mind, because dessert is good, and this is particularly good. It’s rich, creamy and just delicious, so isn’t that just the perfect thing to have at a BBQ?
There is a plethora of origin stories for Caesar salad. The most common is probably the one that suggests it originated in Mexico, in the early 1920’s, made by the Cardini brothers. Mexico…Caesar salad…’Why not try using a more Mexican flavor profile?’, The Goddess wondered…it turns out it was a pretty tasty thought to have!
This sauce is incredibly complex and absolutely delicious, with flavors leaning well into Spain and wandering just a bit into Portugal. Sherry vinegar, smoked paprika, cinnamon, olives, orange and almonds are significant players in both countries, tracing their roots back to the Moorish habitation of the peninsula for some 700 years. Make certain you have good bread to mop. You don’t want to miss a drop!
The Goddess loves this time of year, when the frost is on the pumpkin, the leaves are a riot of color and there’s just a slight chill in the air. It’s soup weather. It’s stew and chili weather. And it’s time to make pumpkin bread!
I’m a chewy, fudgy brownie-type of woman. Cake brownies are well, just cake, really. Brownies should be dense and moist and rich. These brownies are all that, but they have the added bonus of coffee and bourbon. We’ll say these are “adult” brownies…I think they’re better the next day, but they’re damn fine, just out of the oven and cooled for maybe 15 minutes, too…damn fine!
I’ve been toying with cooking steak from the freezer for awhile now. I somewhat regularly cook hamburgers directly from the freezer, but let’s just say that steak hasn’t been wildly successful. Until last night. The steak was a perfect medium-rare, so you can have steak for dinner, even if you forget to take it out of the freezer!
When I made this there was a hurricane brewing out there in the Atlantic. And it hit North Carolina. It hit hard near the coast. Sadly, there are far too many people who suffered terrible loss at the hands of Mother Nature and will continue to deal with the devastation left in the wake of Flo. We were very fortunate that Flo changed her mind and lost some steam by the time she arrived inland. But, life goes on and you have to keep up your strength to brave the elements and repair the damage done.
The Goddess has always been a huge believer in sampling local products and cuisine. She was there long before it became a “thing”. But, she’s darned glad it did become a thing. To that end, she found some Muscadine grapes at the Farmer’s Market. They are pretty much a wild grape, that’s indigenous to the Southern part of the US, in particular North Carolina. So she bought herself some and made preserves.