apuginthekitchen

Jan 16

Cannellini Bean,Kale And Bacon Soup For Fiesta Friday #51

Bean and Kale Soup

It’s cold out and a big pot of steaming hot soup is in order. I tend to be short on time and sometimes patience so a laborious process during the week is not in the cards for me. I used canned beans for this soup. there I said it, no soaking dried beans overnight, waiting hours for them to cook, good old canned cannellini beans and you know what the soup is delicious. This is really a simple rustic soup, one I had growing up, white bean soup with some sort of green in it and usually ham hock or bacon is a wonderful childhood memory. The soup is substantial and really no recipe is required so I will list the ingredients and amounts that I used but you can tailor the soup to your own taste. It is also delicious without the bacon for our lovely vegetarian friends. I made another loaf of sour dough bread and am serving it toasted with some melty delicious raclette. Bon Appetit!!

I am bringing a big pot of soup to Fiesta Friday #51, it’s so exciting we are almost at the 1 year mark and Angie@The Novice Gardener and her lovely co hosts Jhuls @The Not So Creative Cook and Juju @cookingwithauntjuju promise another fantastic party, how could it not be with so many great cooks.

Soup, bread and Cheese

Cannellini Bean, Kale and Bacon Soup

Serves 6-8 generously

6 cans (15 oz) cannellini beans drained

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 onion diced

2 thick slices of bacon cut into small pieces

1 head kale (I used Tuscan) chopped

32 oz stock (chicken or vegetable)

2 cups (approximate) water

2 sprigs fresh thyme

In large pot add a little olive oil, heat on medium high and add onions, saute until softened and add garlic, continue to saute until the garlic softens, add the bacon cook for another 5 minutes and add the kale, let the kale wilt. Now add the liquid (stock and water), beans and the thyme. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium, continue cooking for about an hour to an hour and a half or longer until the beans break down a bit and the kale is soft. I like to mash some of the beans to thicken the soup, I just use a big spoon and mash on the side of the pot, leaving some beans whole. Serve hot.

Jan 9

157 Comments

My First Ever Sourdough Loaf And I’ll Bring To Fiesta Friday #50

Just out of the oven

I must tell you I was very nervous about this loaf, but with Ginger’s expert advise and soothing reassurance by jove I did it. A beautiful crusty sourdough loaf. Now the original recipe used whole wheat flour, I got mine out of the fridge and the first thing I noticed was a little bit of a rancid smell, that got tossed so I had to improvise. I used bread flour, barley flour and wheat germ. I think the resulting loaf is wonderful and I hope that Ginger is proud of me.

The loaf is so good I decided to bring it to Fiesta Friday #50, a milestone really, 50 consecutive parties and Angie shows no sign of slowing down. Full speed ahead and we are only 2 weeks away from a full year of Fiesta Friday’s. Amazing isn’t it, so this week the party is hosted by the effervescent and ever present Angie@The Novice Gardener and our lovely co hosts are Selma @Selma’s Table and Sue @birgerbird. Enjoy the bread everyone and I am also bringing some hand churned butter from my CSA to slather on!!

In conclusion, this bread is INCREDIBLE, the crust is crisp, the inside is soft, it has complex flavor because it’s sourdough. This recipe is a keeper and well worth the effort. I am now more comfortable with levain and will be making this loaf on a regular rotation.

Dough after an overnight sit in the fridge beautiful dough

The recipe calls for 3 cups whole wheat bread flour, since I didn’t have whole wheat flour here is what I used: Next time I make this loaf I am going to weigh the flours and include that in my notes.

3 cups bread flour

1/2 cup barley flour

1/2 cup wheat germ

It’s a very soft dough, you have to work quickly when transferring to the hot pot. I didn’t really have to shape it since the dough is soft it kind of conformed to the shape of my pot nicely.

I did not get a photo of the dough in the pot, it’s hot, you have to work quickly, slashing the top, sprinkle with a little flour, get the lid back on and put back in the oven. Don’t be tempted to lift the lid while baking, leave it be it has to build up steam. I was so tempted to do that but held myself back. Was dying to see what the bread looked like.

crust is so crisp

Side Note: The levain I had left after making the bread dough was put in the fridge and will be fed today to make yet another loaf of delicious sour dough bread. I also want to make note that I am decreasing the amount of salt in the recipe to 2 1/2 tsp. Also, I used an oval 36cm, 4 Qt pot. Smaller would also work.

Big loaf

Jan 8

82 Comments

Making Levain, A Gift For Nando A New Kitchen Toy, Community Pick On Food52

I follow a lot of blogs, love them all and wish I could make every recipe on all of them. Sometimes I see a recipe and think this is something I have to make right away, usually it’s a recipe that challenges me. This is the case when I saw Ginger’s great recipe on her wonderful blog Ginger And Bread she posted a recipe for WholeWheat Sour Dough Bread, which is baked in a cast iron dutch oven and looks so crusty and delicious I had to make it. The challenge for me is making levain, I have never made it before and a good friend sent me some that she made which I promptly killed in what can only be characterized as a slow painful death. So far Ginger’s levain recipe has proven to not only be simple but it actually works and I have not killed it. Now I did not own a cast iron dutch oven but have wanted to get one for a long time so I decided to buy one (ended up with two) I went to my favorite home goods store Williams Sonoma and found a great deal on both, a Le Creuset oval Cocette, (4 qt) in a lovely shade of green and then I saw a very reasonably priced Lodge round cast iron dutch oven, the Lodge is on back order but I got the Le Creuset today. Love it and I will use it to make this wonderful sour dough loaf. I will post the photo’s of the bread after I make it, hopefully tomorrow. The dough is doing a slow rise in the refrigerator overnight.

Le Creuset

So here is my levain, rather shaggy looking right? This is Day 6, my kitchen is quite cold so it didn’t rise very much but Ginger said thats ok, be patient.

shaggy levain day 6

On Day 8 I put the levain in the refrigerator for 2 days, when my dutch oven arrived I took it out, fed it again (1 cup flour and 5 tbs water) and let it sit in the oven with the light on. Here is how it looked when I got it out the next day. Can’t wait to make the bread.

fed and puffy

My really good friend Jocelyn (Daisey Angel’s Mom) got Nando a gift, he is blind and lately is not getting around very well and she found this amazing device called Muffins Halo. A woman with a blind dog invented this to keep them from knocking into walls and bumping their heads. Ingenious right? Here is Nando with his Muffins Halo on, he is still getting used to it but already he is not bumping his head when he wears it. This was the best gift ever.

Nando not happy at first in his Halo

He can drink his water with it on he’s liking it

Finally I was so happy to see that my recipe for White Pasta With Garlic Parmigiano Breadcrumbs was picked and photographed by Food52. That was such a nice surprise today. I love this recipe, it’s so easy and delicious. I posted this recipe a while back on the blog, had not really thought about it until I saw the contest for Best Family Recipes. This was something my Mom used to make only without breadcrumbs that was my idea. It’s so simple pasta, ricotta, milk and parmesan cheese. It’s great like that but thought bread crumbs pan toasted with butter,olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and grated cheese would be wonderful on this simple pasta dish.

Photo by James Ransom for Food52

White Pasta my photo

Jan 4

95 Comments

No Recipe Required Cream Of Broccoli Soup

Cream of Broccoli soup

We had slushy snow yesterday and today is almost 60 degrees in NYC, the weather is just plain weird, in the winter I want soup and even though it’s like Spring today I made this because it’s quick and easy and when the temps plummet tomorrow I will have a steaming hot bowl of broccoli soup ready for me. I am also on a low carb diet and need warming satisfying food that are not laden with carbs. Looking in the fridge I had quite a few vegetables I needed to use along with a couple of small potatoes. Although I am calling this cream of broccoli it really has other vegetables in it also and no recipe required. I am keeping it super simple, will puree add a little butter and a little cream just to make it decadent, a tiny grating of nutmeg, some salt and pepper and there you have it. Garnish however you like, I simply grated some cheese on top. Soups on!

Note: I made this a throw everything in the pot sort of soup, you of course can saute your onions, oven roast the vegetables and this will add a more complex flavor. It would be delicious like that but I just made a simple soup without the steps. Just have to add very excited tonight is the season premiere of Downton Abbey, love that show!!

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Serves 6-8

Water, vegetable or chicken stock your choice

broccoli (1 head)

potato (2 small)

carrot (I had some white/yellow carrots to use) orange will change the color (I had 5 very small carrots)

onion 1 large

Optional 1-2 tbs butter

Optional 1/4 cup heavy cream

Salt, pepper pinch of nutmeg is optional also.

Vegetables ready to boil

Throw everything in a soup pot, boil until the vegetables are soft and very tender, fish out the vegetables separating from the broth, set the broth aside. Let cool a bit, puree in food processor or blender adding a little broth as needed . Add the puree to soup pot and enough of the broth so it’s the thickness you like. Add a little butter (I added a generous tbs, and about 1/4 cup heavy cream. Season with salt, pepper and a grating of nutmeg if you like.NOTE If you want to freeze this soup freeze the puree without the butter and cream, add that later when you heat if so desired.

satisfying bowl of soup

Jan 2

45 Comments

Coconut Curry Mussels

If you have never visited Susan Pridmore’s wonderful blog The Wimpy Vegetarian, you really should check it out. Susan is knowledgable, creative and her blog contains a wealth of information regarding nutrition and food in general. I met Susan years ago on Food 52. I have made some of my best virtual food friends on that site. She is an award winning cook and one of the nicest people you will ever know. I love her posts for Sunday Supper and when this recipe appeared I was smitten. I love mussels but quite frankly mine never taste as good as those I get in restaurants, that is until I tried Susan’s recipe for Coconut Curry Mussels. Oh my, they are so good, the broth is slightly spicey, very tasty and the combination is heavenly, make some crisp fries, (Moules-Frite anyone?) and a good hunk of bread and believe me you will be very happy. I was looking for recipes that are a bit lighter after indulging a bit too much during the holidays and this was exactly what I wanted.

I’ll admit it wasn’t as light as it could have been since the bread I got was out of this world fresh and delicious, a baguette from Balthazar and some hand churned butter from the CSA. Well. it’s ok its New Years Day, I have the rest of the year right. All in all this was a completely satisfying and delicious meal, the broth was just perfectly spiced, not overwhelmingly hot, just enough to make it interesting. Highly recommend you give this quick and easy recipe a try and do visit Susan, her blog is amazing.

Dec 31

130 Comments

Happy New Year And My Blog Anniversary!!

Taken from Pinterest

I want to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a very Happy New Year. It’s 2015 and I can hardly believe it, where did 2014 go? They say time goes faster as you get older and I think that saying is absolutely right on. I know I have said it before but it’s the honest truth, I really appreciate you all. I look to you for inspiration, you challenge me and that makes me a better cook and blogger. This month is the 3rd anniversary of the start of my blog. I had no idea what I was doing, still don’t really.There is no plan or formula. I simply write and cook what I like and hope that you like and appreciate it.

Honestly, this has been a tough year for me. Trying to balance work, I changed companies this year after a very long time with my previous company. Then there are the pugs, well the pug now, this year I lost my sweet Izzy, and that hit me very hard I don’t know if I will ever really get over it, she was very special.

I don’t make resolutions because if I don’t keep them then I fail and I don’t want to fail. I do however give myself suggestions. For example this year I want to try to hone my photography skills. Although I own a camera I still use my iPhone to take all my photo’s for the blog. I want to learn more about photography, food photography to be specific, feature more great recipes from other bloggers, lose weight, volunteer more in my community, exercise more frequently.

I am also very active in the wine community and want to learn more about wine, all aspects and wine tasting. I have some great teachers, Michelle from Rockin Red Blog, Anatoli from Talk-aVino, Stefano from Clicks and Corks (Flora’s Table) Julian from Vino In Love, Jeff from The Drunken Cyclist to name a few and I plan to learn from them by carefully following their blogs and asking lots of questions. This year I want to actually visit a winery, maybe in the Finger Lakes or the vineyards in Long Island, keeping it local. I am hoping for more collaboration with my wine expert friends.

In 2014 I also found some fantastic blogs that are not food related or loosely related to food, I discovered some amazing talent in writing and crafts. Teagan Geneviene@Teagan’s Books is a very talented writer and I follow her blog religiously, she weaves incredible fantasy stories based on three ingredients, each week is a different installment and the readers can suggest ingredients or items which are incorporated into the story for that episode, it’s fascinating and exciting. Lord David Prosser@Barsetshire Diaries is incredible, you follow his exploits on his blog, it’s kind of like a Seinfeld episode, you are with Lord Prosser throughout the day from when he wakes following him all day and into the night and peppered in are lovely photo’s and some great music. It’s so much fun. Then there are the craftsmen, Michael@Michaels Woodcraft makes the most amazing cutting boards, ice cream scoops and anything that can be carved out of wood. You probably remember the giveaway here for one of his cutting boards and scoops. There are those that are harbingers of all that is beautiful and drool worthy, House of KTS (previously pure and complex) and Lynne Knowlton from Design the Life You Want to Live, Daniella who could crochet a house for you, Sharon who has a heart as big as Texas with her love for Special Needs Pets. Photographers, Patty Nguyen, The armchair Sommelier (wine and photography), Justine@eclecticoddsnsods, writing, photography, food, humor.

My wish for each of you reading this blog is that all of your dreams and aspirations come true and that you enjoy health, happiness and success in 2015. I want to thank you for putting up with me, following my blog, offering support and kindness and I so appreciate it all. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

Before starting A Pug In The Kitchen I was very active in the food scene, I was a regular on the sites of both Food52 and Whole Foods Market, I regularly entered contests and was lucky enough to win some. It was competitive cooking that inspired and excited me and gave me the courage to start a food blog. Thank you all that voted for my recipes and gave me encouragement.

Here is a little trip down memory lane. This is my first post ever which I wrote and sat on for a week, petrified to press the publish button, the fear of the unknown I guess. Would anyone read my blog, would they like it, do I really have anything of substance to offer. All those thoughts flooded into my mind but eventually I took the plunge and found a warm and welcoming community.

Mixed Citrus Curd

This was my first post on January 14th 2012 for Mixed Citrus Curd. Actually my first recipe, the first post was a very scared me explaining that I would post something as soon as I could.

Here are some of my favorite photo’s that were taken in the last 3 years:

Her cupcake leash- Izzy

Nando- when he was younger he loved to sit in the window

May 2012 Sweet Daisey Izzy and Nando’s BFF

Photo by James Ransom for Food52- Flank Steak on Texas Toast With Chimichurri contest winner on food52 and published in their cookbook

Photo by James Ransom for Food52-Whipped Chocolate Caramel Ganache- contest winner food52

Jerk Chicken Photo by James Ransom contest winner Whole Foods

Jerk Chicken Kebab Photo by James Ransom contest winner Whole Foods

Tomato And Goat Cheese Tart

Galette With Blackberries and peaches

Mosto Cotto Fig And Goat Cheese Tart

Triple Chocolate cake

Beef Kabobs on Flat Bread

Open Face Steak Sandwich

Campari sorbet and soda

The best doughnuts from Dough at the Brooklyn Flea

Belgian Endive, orange, pecan, micro greens

My apologies this post was supposed to be maybe a paragraph but I just couldn’t help myself. If I didn’t mention you it’s only because this post would have to be the length of War And Peace if I included all of you. but you know I am so happy to have met you all and look forward to 2015 and more from each of you. Special shout outs to:

Carla, Jocelyn, 2 Cheryls, Rhonda, Sonal, Prudy, Mochi, Chitra, Margot, Laura, Vivianna, Emily, Jess, Louie, Amit, Johnny, Lindy, Pat, Bevi, Cynthia, 2 Linda’s, Justine, Julian, Jeff, Anatoli, Francesca, Stefano, Holly, Sharon, Lina, Sean Munger, Elaine, Virginia, Brandi, Kim, Olga, Loretta, Nancy, Amy, Cindy, Angie, Jhuls, Aleksandra,Tracey, 2 Liz’s, Amy, 3 Sarah’s, Amanda, Stacey, House of KTS, 2 Ginger’s, 2 Michelle’s, Georgie, Jenn, Sue, Mimi, Patty, Fae, Azita, Katerina, Laila, Hoda, Sadia, Susan, 2 Melissa’s, Christin, Pamela, the Patron of the Pit, my lovely friends from Ireland, India, the UK, Australia, Dubai, Canada and all of you whose blogs I follow and try my best to comment on or at least let you know I like. Best wishes for a wonderful 2015!!

Dec 31

62 Comments

Nonna’s Piadina And A Breakfast Pizza

Piadina

This recipe is from the wonderful and talented Liz Larkin (aka mrslarkin, aka the scone lady of Pound Ridge NY) on Food52. It is her Nonna’s recipe for Piadina and was entered in the latest contest on Food52 for your best Family Recipes part 2. It was nominated for a Community Pick and is a contender to be a finalist. I signed up to test the recipe. It’s a wonderful recipe, the dough is easy to make and handles beautifully. It tastes similar to a biscuit but has the appearance of flat bread. You get the flavor of a biscuit without another biscuit making failure which works for me since I am biscuit challenged. Win win!!! You can use this delicious bread in many different ways, I made a breakfast pizza, use whatever you like as a topping it’s delicious.

Soft and delicious

Serves 6 (recipe can be multiplied)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3 heaping tablespoons shortening or leaf lard
3/4 cups warm water
1/4 cup warm milk
Fillings of your choice like Prosciutto, ham, mozzarella, fritatta, salad, Nutella, pretty much anything you want
Place flour in a mound on pastry board or counter. Sprinkle on salt and baking powder, and mix together with your fingers.
Make a well in the center. Drop in the shortening and rub it together with the flour using your fingertips. Lumps are okay! And it will still be pretty floury.
Make a well again and pour in water and milk. Mix with fingers until dough comes together. Add a little more warm water or flour, if needed. You want a soft dough – not at all sticky. Knead for a couple minutes, and roll into a log shape.
Alternatively, all the mixing can be done in a large bowl. I like to use a fork to mix everything together.
Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces, using a scale if you have one. With one hand, gently roll each piece on the board/counter into a ball. Mom says to use your thumb and nudge the dough ball under with each turn. Set each ball to the side on a sprinkling of flour and let rest for 5 minutes.
Heat griddle to medium. Slightly flatten a ball and roll out dough to about 9 inches in diameter. Gently lift and place on hot griddle, scoring the piadina all over with the tines of a fork. If bubbles appear, quickly pierce those suckers with the fork. Cook each side for a few minutes or until each side develops some lightly browned spots. Remove to a clean dish cloth. Repeat with each ball, and stack each cooked piadina over one another. Loosely cover with a dish towel. When done, cut piadine into quarters and enjoy with your favorite sandwich fixings.
Piadina freezes well. Reheat on a griddle over low heat, or wrapped in damp paper towels in the microwave.

Breakfast Pizza

For The Pizza:

serves 2

1 pint cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 shallot chopped

salt and pepper to taste

4 eggs

cheese of your choice grated – I used Toma Piemontese a mild Italian cheese that melts beautifully(but is semi soft and a bit hard to grate) and is from the Piedmont region of Italy.

Parmigiana grated

Olive oil

Heat oven to 375 degree’s, place tomatoes and shallot on sheet pan and coat with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper and roast in the oven until the tomatoes are soft and caramelized and shallot is softened approximately 30 minutes. Remove from oven and reduce oven temp to warm or 170-200 degree’s. Place tomatoes in heat proof bowl, cover with foil and place in the warm oven, wrap the piadina in a towel and place in oven also to stay warm. Heat some olive oil in a skillet and fry the eggs sunny side up over easy your choice I recommend a soft yolk. Remove piadina and tomatoes from the oven,brush the bread with some olive oil and spread tomato on the bread, add the grated cheese and a sprinkling of parmigiana. Turn the oven to broil and place in the oven just so the cheese melts, top with the eggs. Enjoy! You can top with arugula tossed with olive oil or some flat leaf parsley for a bit of green if you like.

Piadina Pizza

Dec 30

53 Comments

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

I am thankful to wordpress for putting this very excellent report together and to you who faithfully read my little blog. Thank you.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 37,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 14 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Dec 26

103 Comments

Rugelach- Fig/Cognac Jam, Pistachio,Orange For Fiesta Friday #48

Rugelach

I am making another batch of my rugelach, the very one I put in my gift boxes, I always make a double batch of the dough because invariably I need to make more to give away after Christmas. This new batch is the same but I decided to add some chopped pistachio and a hint of candied orange peel (chopped really fine). Since I am baking for friends and you all are my friends right, I made enough to bring with me to the party hosted by the lonesome and totally awesome Angie@The Novice Gardener, I only say lonesome because this week she gave everyone the week off, no co hosts. Don’t worry Angie you won’t be lonesome for long, soon your house will be filled with eager party goers.

orange and pistachios added

Makes 4 dozen

The Dough and filling:

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

1/4 cup granulated sugar + more for sprinkling on cookies

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup pistachio’s- chopped

2 tbs finely chopped candied orange peel

1/4 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp powdered ginger

1/2 cup fig jam

egg wash

sugar for sprinkling

1/4 cup light brown sugar packed

looks like dukkah

In stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment cream the cream cheese and butter until light. Add the sugar, salt and vanilla. With mixer on low add the flour and mix just to combine. Dump dough onto work surface form into a ball cut into four quarters and wrap each in plastic wrap, refrigerate for one hour
Place pistachio (if they are not toasted already) on parchment lined sheet pan and toast in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes (just until you can smell the nuts). Once the nuts have cooled enough to handle, and add the brown sugar cardamom and ginger, orange and chopped pistachio. Set aside.

Remove one of the dough quarters from the refrigerator, roll into a circle on floured work surface. Note: The dough should be cold when rolling, do not let the dough sit out and come to room temperature, it will get too sticky and you want to avoid using a lot of flour if at all possible. I use the lid of my dutch oven to cut an even circle. Spread jam on the dough round, sprinkle nut/sugar mixture on top of the jam and press down gently with your hand. Cut into quarters and cut each quarter into 3 pieces. Roll from widest end to smallest.

ready to roll

Place each rugelach on parchment lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash and sprinkle some sugar on each. Put in freezer for 15 minutes before baking. While they are in freezer pre heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove to cooling rack.

fresh from the oven

flaky and delicious

Dec 24

96 Comments

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Happy Holidays!

I want to take this opportunity to wish each and everyone of you the happiest of holidays. This is the season of giving, enjoying the company of family and friends and whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanza I hope you have a fabulous day filled love and laughter, lots of delicious food and that you get to spend the day or days with those you hold dear.

I am thankful for each and every one of you, for your kind comments, enthusiasm and inspiration. Without each other why would we be tending to our blogs almost daily. This Christmas is hard for me, I have had to literally force myself to try to get in the spirit of the holidays. Losing Izzy just a couple of months ago still weighs on my mind. I am reminded of her daily and getting out my holiday things brought memories flooding back. I still hung her stocking. I hope you don’t think I’m silly for wearing my heart on my sleeve. Nando is doing a little better but losing his life long companion has been very hard on my frail little guy.

On a brighter note, I participated again this year in the Food52 Holiday Swap and got this incredible gift box from Jason. Look at all these goodies. You should consider participating, it’s a lot of fun!!!

Food52 Holiday Swap – Yes thats a bottle of KY bourbon

I made several gift boxes this year. dozen after dozen of cookies and mini loaves came from my oven, you saw my posts. It was fun and I like keeping busy.

One gift basket

Happy Holidays to all, I just wanted you to know how much I love and appreciate you and I look forward to more delicious recipes, amazing photo’s and mesmerizing writing from you all!