Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Pesto Croutons

I eat soup nearly every day for lunch in the winter. Most of the time it is the Trader Joe's low sodium version of which there are 3 different kinds... as you might guess, it gets pretty boring after awhile... so I am trying to make more soups on weekends and this weekend I tried this wonderfully healthy and easy Roasted Red Pepper Soup from Southern Living... Yum!

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup refrigerated pesto, at room temperature
* 6 sourdough bread slices
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1 shallot, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* 1 (15-oz.) jar roasted red bell peppers, rinsed and drained
* 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
* 1/4 cup half-and-half
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
* Salt and pepper to taste
* Garnishes: fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs, shaved Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spread pesto on 1 side of each bread slice. Cut each bread slice into 1/2- to 1-inch cubes. Place bread cubes in a single layer on a lightly greased aluminum foil-lined jelly-roll pan.

2. Bake at 350° for 16 to 20 minutes or until golden, turning once after 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool.

3. Melt butter with oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add garlic and shallot, and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add tomato paste, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Stir in bell peppers and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let cool 10 minutes.

4. Process red pepper mixture, in batches, in a blender or food processor 8 to 10 seconds until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Return red pepper mixture to Dutch oven; stir in half-and-half and parsley, and cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Ladle soup into 6 bowls; top with croutons. Garnish, if desired.

Beef Pasties

My husband three favorite ingredients in the world are beef, carmelized onions and bleu cheese. So when he came across a recipe that included all three... he could not resist! He spent late Sunday afternoon preparing this wonderful dinner... I was so impressed with the end product as it looked like something a professional pastry chef might have made. We made one change to the recipe... he did not use shortening but rather substituted more butter (I just can't get over the idea of putting crisco into my food... it just does not seem like real food to me...).


Ingredients
crust

* 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
* 1 cup white whole wheat flour or whole wheat flour
* 1 1/8 teaspoons salt
* 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening (preferably nonhydrogenated), frozen
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
* 7 tablespoons (or more) ice water

filling

* 4 teaspoons olive oil
* 2 large onions, thinly sliced
* 1/2 cup dry white wine
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 10 oz skirt steak, cut crosswise on diagonal into 1/4-inch-wide strips
* 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, divided
* 6 oz coarsely crumbled Stilton blue cheese (1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups), divided
* 1 large egg white, beaten to blend

Preparation
crust

*
Blend both flours and salt in processor 5 seconds. Drop in shortening by tablespoonfuls. Cut in until coarsely diced. Add butter. Cut in until coarse meal forms. Transfer to bowl. Add 7 tablespoons ice water. Toss with fork until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into ball; divide into 4 equal pieces. Shape each into disk; wrap and chill at least 45 minutes and up to 1 day.

filling

*
Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onions. Sauté until deep brown, reducing heat if necessary to avoid burning, about 30 minutes. Add wine and thyme. Simmer until liquid evaporates, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Cool. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
*
Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Roll out each dough disk between sheets of parchment paper to 9-inch round. Peel top parchment off each. Spread 1/4 of onion mixture on half of each round, leaving 1-inch plain border. Top onions with beef strips. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt over beef on each, then top each with 1/4 of cheese. Sprinkle with pepper. Brush dough border with some egg white. Using bottom parchment as aid, fold plain dough half over filling. Seal edges. Fold sealed edge over again; press with fork to double-seal.
*
Brush each pasty with egg white. Cut 3 slits in each top crust. Divide pasties (still on parchment) between 2 large rimmed baking sheets.
*
Bake pasties until crust is golden brown and filling is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; serve.



Bon Appetit Magazine, March 2009

Root Vegetable and Mushroom Pie with Rosemary Biscuit Topping

I was slaving away with work throughout the weekend so when Mr. E was narrowing down his list of "what to make for dinner on Sunday evening", he asked me for my input on the final decision. It was between something called Beef Pasties or the Vegetable Pie listed below... Of course, I was not partial a dish with the word "pasties" in the title and I voted for the pie.. good decision on my end... Mr. E.... not so much.
I went into the office around 4:30 to finish up some work while he began preparations for his dish which he thought would take about an hour (MAX) total to prepare and then it would bake for 1 hour 45 minutes so we we could enjoy it for dinner. I called him at 7pm to let him know I would be home in 15... he was not a happy camper. He had just finished the dish and was ready to put it in the oven... with 2 hours left to bake on it. We decided to have it for dinner another note, but from my initial tasting pre-baking... it was divine. However, it made enough food to feed the entire Dugger family so we will be eating leftovers for a long time! However.... I would have to say it is on my list of top ten comfort foods... and it is healthy!

Ingredients
filling

* 6 cups water
* 2 tablespoons vegetarian bouillon base
* 2 very large carrots, peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
* 1 large celery root (celeriac), peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 2 large parsnips, peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
* 1 large rutabaga, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
* 1 turnip, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
* 1 oz dried porcini mushrooms,* broken into 1/2-inch pieces, rinsed
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 3 cups chopped onions
* 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
* 1/2 cup all purpose flour
* 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
* 2 tablespoons imported dry Sherry
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

biscuits

* 2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
* 1 teaspoon salt
*
* 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced
* 1 1/3 cups (or more) chilled buttermilk

*
*Available in the produce section of many supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Italian markets.

Preparation
filling

*
Bring 6 cups water and bouillon base to boil in large pot over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve bouillon. Add carrots and next 5 ingredients. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes. Drain; reserve vegetables and broth.
*
Melt butter in same pot over medium heat. Add onions; sauté until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Mix in garlic and rosemary; stir 2 minutes. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in reserved broth, then cream and Sherry. Cook until sauce is thick and reduced to 4 cups, whisking often, about 8 minutes. Mix in reserved vegetables and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer filling to buttered 13x9x2-inch baking dish. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover with foil; chill.
*
Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake filling, covered, until bubbling, about 50 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare biscuits.

biscuits

*
Stir first 4 ingredients in large bowl to blend. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually add 1 1/3 cups buttermilk, tossing with fork until dough is evenly moistened and adding more buttermilk by tablespoonfuls if dry.
*
Drop biscuit dough atop hot filling by heaping tablespoonfuls; sprinkle with pepper. Bake uncovered until tester inserted into center of biscuits comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool 15 minutes.

Recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine, March 2009