Rosemary bean soup

Yesterday we got our first flurries of the season. It was another brisk day today, and this morning before I left I poured some white beans into the crock pot with the intention of making something with them when I got home.



This was what we ended up with... and it was very, very good.

Ingredients:

3/4 of a bag of white beans (can be navy beans, Great Northern Beans - even Cannellini beans)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon cracked fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon spicy red pepper flakes
3/4 tube vegetarian sausage (I used Gimme Lean - though meat eaters could use any spicy sausage of their choosing)
1/2 red onion, sliced and caramelized
2 tablespoons butter
1 oz. goat cheese per serving
fresh rosemary
spicy paprika

Mix all ingredients except for goat cheese, onion, butter and sausage into a large crock pot. Add water to cover, and cook on low for 9 hours or until beans are tender. Mash 1/2 of beans with potato masher until broken apart and residual water in crock pot is thick. Add a few sprigs of rosemary to the pot. Grill vegetarian sausage, while simultaneously caramelizing onions. When sausage is lightly browned, crumble and add to serving bowls. Split caramelized onions amongst serving bowls. Ladle in finished soup, stir in 1/2 oz butter into each bowl, top with 1 oz. of fresh goat cheese. Sprinkle with spicy paprika.

Serve with a fresh green salad and homemade cornbread.

Tip of the day - A cure for overripe tomatoes

This past summer our next door neighbors were exceedingly generous with tomatoes fresh from their garden. The problem was, though, that with a newborn baby and no sleep - I often would forget the tomatoes on the counter for a few days and end up with a disastrous mess of mealy tomatoes that had to be chucked to the compost heap.

Sadly, I forgot that there's an easy way to salvage overripe tomatoes. Place the overripe tomato in cold water and add a little salt. Let sit overnight. In the morning, you'll find the tomato has firmed up and is less mealy.

If that doesn't work, you can always run them through the food processor or blender and reduce down to make a sauce. And I may have mentioned it before, but never store tomatoes inside the refrigerator. It causes them to break down faster. Instead they should be stored at room temperature, away from direct sunlight.

The great search for 40"

When we bought our home last fall, our kitchen had an operational though largely out-of-style 40" white electric range. It is older than we are, though I'm sure it's doled out plenty of family meals over the years.

It is... a behemoth.

A monster whose main oven cooked unevenly, nevermind the left side oven that was non-operational. The oven ran hot, and made baking less of a science and more of a fervent prayer at hitting the lottery. A few months ago, Patrick began whispering that we should replace it, then it really started acting wonky. We wanted something sexy... a dual fuel range that would fit our design aesthetic. We started looking at Vikings, and I almost had a coronary when I realized how expensive they were. In the end, it didn't matter. The Vikings only come in 36" or 48". A 36" meant we'd have an awkward gap where the old range had stood, and the 48" meant we'd have to knock out a wall or remove our prized St. Charles metal cabinets. Neither was an acceptable option.

Apparently Frigidaire and Kenmore (allegedly the same product) are the only companies who even make what we were looking for. We had a plumber come out last week to pipe the gas in, and the new stove will be put in Tuesday.

It's not a Viking, but you'd think it was by how delighted I am.

Hot Buttered Cider

Hot Buttered Cider, originally uploaded by *April*.

Perfect for snuggling up with someone you love or a good book beneath a down comforter on a cold autumn evening.

Ingredients per serving:
6 oz. good quality apple cider
1 cinnamon stick
1/3 teaspoon of butter (approximately, a little more or less won't hurt)
1 oz. Calvados
1 tsp. brown sugar
sprinkle sea salt
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
sprinkle dried lemon peel

For multiple servings, increase ingredients as appropriate.

In a kettle, mix all ingredients except the cinnamon stick and heat until butter has melted and mixture is very warm. Pour into warmed mugs (to warm, simply fill with hot water and pour it out once the mugs have warmed). Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Coto de Imaz 2001 Reserva

Coto de Imaz 2001 Reserva
Originally uploaded by p2wy

Rich and complex with a lot of berry.... I should've written this one up after one glass rather than three. Went very well with Cuban rice, black beans and plantains tonight