January 27, 2008

Sopa de Albóndigas (Meatball Soup)

With my first-ever soup swap coming up this Wednesday, I had to find the perfect soup recipe. I finally settled on a meatball soup recipe since I only had to triple it and I would have had to quadruple the apple chestnut bisque. (There's another one for the wish list, though.)

It took a bit of effort to triple this recipe, simply because I felt like my husband and I were working in a soup kitchen. However, the soup was done in little more than an hour with fantastic results. It's a bit spicy, but it also has unique flavors due to some of the Mexican spices.

Sopa de Albóndigas (Meatball Soup)
2 tsp. coriander seeds
1 ½ tsp. cumin seeds
4 whole cloves
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick, broken
½ cup uncooked long-grain white rice
2 Tbsp. grated fresh onion
½ tsp. salt
1 lb. ground round
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1 garlic clove, minced
Cooking spray
3 cups chopped green cabbage
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup carrot
½ cup chopped celery
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 ½ Tbsp. drained, chopped chipotle chili in adobo sauce
1/4 tsp. salt
2 (14-oz.) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5-oz.) can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 ½ cups cubed peeled baking potato

Cook coriander and cumin seeds in large Dutch oven over medium heat 1 minute or until toasted and fragrant. Place toasted spices, cloves and cinnamon in a spice or coffee grinder, and process until finely ground.

Combine 2 tsp. cinnamon mixture, rice, and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Set remaining cinnamon mixture aside. Shape beef mixture into 24 1-inch meatballs.

Heat pan over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Add cabbage, chopped onion, carrot and celery. Cook 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add remaining cinnamon mixture, chili powder, and chipotle. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in ¼ tsp. salt, broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to simmer. Add meatballs. Cover and cook 15 minutes. Add potato, and cook uncovered over medium heat 20 minutes or until potato is tender. Yield six servings.

Anadama Bread

The story behind this bread is that a Southern man was fed up with the cornmeal mush his wife Anna served him every single night. (Imagine that, complaining about being fed a warm nutritious meal each night by a devoted wife.) Finally, he lost his temper and yelled, "Anna, dammit, I'm sick of this cornmeal mush." He added yeast and flour and baked his mush into bread.

That's the story behind this cornmeal molasses bread. It's a slightly sweet bread that goes well with soups, particularly Southwestern-flavored ones.



Anadama Bread
1 1/3 cup boiling water
½ cup yellow cornmeal

¼ cup dark molasses

3 Tbsp. soft butter

2 tsp. salt

3 ½ cups bread flour

2 tsp. rapid-rising or active dry yeast

Pour the boiling water into a mixing bowl, add the cornmeal and stir. Let stand until the mixture cools to warm, between 105°F and 115°F. Add the molasses and yeast. Let stand 5 minutes. Add butter, salt and half the bread flour. Beat until smooth. Cover, and let stand 15 minutes.

Slowly add remaining bread flour, and beat until a soft dough forms. Knead the dough on medium to high, adding flour as necessary, until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and is smooth and springy but still soft to the touch. Remove the dough hook, cover the bowl and let dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Lightly grease a round cake pan. Turn the dough onto lightly floured or oiled surface. Punch the dough down, and shape into a round loaf. Place the loaf, with the smooth side up, into the pan. Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until loaf is golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the loaf comes out clean and dry. Remove from pan, and cool on wire rack. (This recipe can make two smaller loaves or one large one.)

Chocolate Tartlets

There are staples in every kitchen, and those staples are unique to the cook, baker, chef, etc. Then there are ingredients that need to be purchased specifically for a certain recipe. For me, whipping cream is one of those ingredients. And whenever I have leftover ingredients like this, I use it as an opportunity to review my wish list and pick another recipe to try. That's how I ended up creating these Chocolate Tartlets, which are super tasty.


Chocolate Tartlets
Pastry dough for 1-crust pie (see recipe below)
3 Tbsp. fruit jam (I used strawberry.)
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
3 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Prepare pastry dough as directed. Preheat oven to 425°F. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll dough slightly less than 1/16 inch thick. With 2 1/2 inch round cutter (think drinking glass), cut out 36 rounds. Ease into 3 dozen mini-muffin cups or 1 3/4 inch tartlet pans, pressing dough against sides and bottoms of pans.

Bake tartlets until gol
den, 9 to 12 minutes. Cool on wire rack in pans. Remove from pans, and spoon 1/4 tsp. jam into each shell.

In double boiler pan, melt chocolate and cream, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in butter until melted. Stir in vanilla. Spoon this mixture evenly into tartlets, covering jam. Let stand until set.

You can top tartlets with whipped cream (beat 1/4 cup whippi
ng cream with 1 tsp. powdered sugar until stiff peaks form), berries, chocolate shavings, a tiny smidgen of ice cream or whatever your heart desires.



Pastry Dough for 1-Crust Pie
1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. butter or margarine
3 to 5 Tbsp. ice water

In large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle in ice water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, mixing lightly with fork until dough is just moist enough to hold together.

Shape dough into disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator 30 minutes.

English Muffins

Yesterday I tackled another recipe from my wish list, which is the never-ending litany of recipes I want to create, eat and evaluate. I found a recipe for English Muffins, in my mother's bread book. They surprisingly look like store-bought ones with a bit more character (in a good way). I'm not sure I'll ever buy English Muffins again since these are fun to make.

English Muffins

1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup hot water
3 Tbsp. soft butter
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup non-fat dry milk
5 1/2 cups flour
1 egg, room temperature
1 Tbsp. cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Blend hot water, butter, sugar, salt, milk and 3 cups flour. Add yeast, and beat on medium 2 minutes. Beat in egg. Stir in remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time by hand.

Knead dough with dough hook 6 minutes. Let rise 1 hour. Punch down, knead 30 seconds and let rest 10 minutes.


Sprinkle work surface with cornmeal. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 3-inch rounds. Let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake on hot griddle (400°F) 2 minutes on each side. Reduce heat (250°F) and bake 6 minutes on each side. Cool on metal rack.

Makes approximately 2 dozen.


Toasted Sesame Graham Wheat Bread

I also baked two loaves of Sesame Graham Bread yesterday. This was my first braided bread, and I think it looks so pretty. I'm pondering shaping more breads like this and/or experimenting with different shapes. This bread smells amazing from start to finish with the sesame seeds and oil!

Toasted Sesame Graham Wheat Bread
1 1/3 cups water
2 tsp. rapid-rising or active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. sesame oil

2 tsp. salt
2 cups graham wheat flour
2 cups bread flour

1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Heat the water until warm, between 105°F and 115°F. Pour into warmed mixing bowl, and add the yeast. Let stand 5 minutes. Add honey, oil, salt and graham flour. Beat well. Cover and let stand 15 minutes.

Slowly add the bread flour and 1/4 cup sesame seeds, and beat until a stiff dough forms. Knead until dough pulls away from sides and is smooth and springy but soft to the touch. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Lightly grease baking sheet. Turn dough onto lightly floured or oiled surface, and punch down. Divide into 6 parts. Shape each part into a strand, approximately 12 inches long. Braid three strands together, pinching the ends to seal. Place both loaves, smooth side up, on baking sheet. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 45 to 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375
°F. Brush loaves with water and sprinkle each with 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds. Bake 25 to 35 minutes, until the loaves are golden and a wooden skewer inserted into center comes out clean and dry. Remove from sheet and cool on wire racks.

Cracked Wheat Bread

Yesterday I baked three loaves of Cracked Wheat Bread, which is deliciously crunchy. It's fantastic for toasted sandwiches. My husband had a pepperoni grilled cheese, and I had a grilled Havarti, dill and sprout sandwich. Both were delicious!

Cracked Wheat Bread

1 1/3 cups water
2 tsp. rapid-rising or active dry yeast
1/2 cup cracked wheat
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup wheat flour

1 Tbsp. gluten
2 cups bread flour

Heat water until warm, between 105
°F and 115°F. Pour into mixing bowl, and add yeast and wheat. Let stand 5 minutes. Add brown sugar, salt, wheat flour, gluten and half the bread flour. Beat until a smooth dough forms. Cover and let stand 15 minutes.

Stir in remaining bread flour to make a stiff dough. Knead, adding flour if necessary, until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and is smooth and springy but soft to the touch. Let the dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Lightly grease a baking sheet. Turn dough onto lightly oiled or floured surface, and punch down. Shape into two round or oblong loaves. Places loaves with the smooth side up on the baking sheet. Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375
°F. Bake 35 to 45 minutes until loaves are golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the loaves comes out clean and dry. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on wire racks.