Simple Cauliflower Leek Soup (Thanksgiving recipe)

Recipe from Food and Wine

Leviton's Cauliflower Vichyssoise

Ingredients:

2 TBSP unsalted butter

2 large leeks, white and tender pale green parts thinly sliced

1 2lbs cauliflower cut into large florets

6 cups of water

ground white pepper

1/3 cup creme fraiche  

chives to garnish

Directions: 

1. Sautee leeks in 2 TBSP of butter for 8ish minutes until tender

2. Add cauliflower and water, bring to boil, lower to simmer, simmer for 30-40 minutes mostly covered. 

3. Add creme fraiche, bring back to simmer then remove from heat

5. Puree in blender in batches until as thin and smooth as you can get

6. Add salt and ground white pepper to taste

7. Garnish with chives and serve.

Date Malva Pudding Cakes

 This recipe is from Martha Stewart, from Umber Ahmad. 

This version of the traditional South African malva-pudding cake comes from baker Umber Ahmad of Mah-Ze-Dahr. She makes mini puddings and uses dates pureed with cream in place of the usual apricot preserves.

Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist

• 3 large Medjool dates (2 1/2 ounces total), pitted and roughly chopped
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• Scant 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup whole milk

Ingredient Checklist

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions

Instructions Checklist

• Step 1

  Cakes

  : Combine dates and cream; cover and refrigerate overnight.

• Step 2

  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda until thoroughly combined. Strain dates through a fine-mesh sieve, reserving cream (you should have about 1/2 cup). Puree dates in a mini food processor or blender, adding 1 to 2 teaspoons water if needed, until completely smooth.

• Step 3

  In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together sugar, egg, and salt on medium-high speed until pale and thick, 2 minutes. Add date puree, then vinegar; beat well. Add half of milk, then flour mixture, then remaining milk, beating well after each addition.

• Step 4

  Place 6 five-ounce ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet; divide mixture evenly among them (a scant 1/3 cup each). Bake, rotating once, until very dark brown and set, 25 to 30 minutes.

• Step 5

  Filling

  : Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring sugar, butter, and 2 tablespoons water to a simmer. Whisk in reserved date cream and return to a simmer. Whisk until smooth; cover to keep warm.

• Step 6

  Remove cakes from oven; cut a small slit in center of each with a paring knife. Working with onecake at a time, pour filling into slit, waiting until it is absorbed, then pouring more until cakeis completely saturated. Repeat with remaining cakes. Serve immediately, topped with ice cream.

My notes:

1. I would not make this recipe again. While the end result was good, I felt like too many parts of it "messed up" in my kitchen making the whole thing rather stressful. 

2. I soaked the dates in cream overnight, but was unable to really strain it the next day, despite leaving the mixture out until it came to room temp. At most I was able to strain out 2 TBSP of cream, the rest was completely stuck to the chopped dates. The only thing I can think of is perhaps I chopped the dates too finely? I also soaked it for nearly 24 hours, not just 10 hours ("overnight") so maybe that's the problem? 

3. The dates would not puree in my blender. Granted, perhaps they might've in a true mini food processor, which I do not own. But I had to add nearly 7-8 tsp, maybe more, of water to get the contents even moving in the blender, and even then, I certainly did not end up with a smooth puree. 

4. The cakes baked nicely in the ramekins. I used a combo of 4 oz and 6 oz ramekins, scooping about 1/3 cup into each, which was fine, no spillover. 

5. With the filling-- though I made a slit and tried to get the filling to soak into the cake, it really didn't. I ended up with at least half the filling leftover. Now, this might be because I introduced a bunch of water into the cake via the date puree, so it wasn't able to absorb the filling. But still. 

6. Served warm, the cake is yummy. But definitely one note, though it's a delicious simple one. I also felt that it was sweet enough, and that ice cream might be overkill. 

Salty Buckwheat Chocolate Chunk Cookies

This is from Bon Apetit Magazine. Recipe says that one can sub whole wheat flour for the buckwheat flour. "Cookies won't have the same depth of flavor but will still be delicious". 

MAKES 16–18

½

cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 equal pieces

1

cup (125 g) all-purpose flour

½

cup (63 g) buckwheat flour

½

tsp. baking powder

½

tsp. baking soda

1¼

tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more

6

oz. bittersweet chocolate (65–75% cacao) bars or wafers (disks, pistoles, fèves)

⅔

cup (133 g; packed) light brown sugar

½

cup (100 g) granulated sugar

1

large egg

2

large egg yolks

1

tsp. vanilla extract

Steps:

Heat ½ cup (1 stick) butter in a small saucepan over the lowest heat possible until melted (you don’t want it to sputter or brown), about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (63 grams) buckwheat flour, ½ tsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. baking soda, and 1¼ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a medium bowl.

Coarsely chop 6oz of bittersweet chocolte. Set aside some chocolate for topping later.

Scrape butter into a large bowl and add ⅔ cup (133 grams) light brown sugar and ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar. Whisk vigorously until butter has been absorbed into the sugar and no big lumps remain, about 30 seconds.

5.

Add 1 large egg, then 2 large egg yolks, one at a time, whisking until fully combined after each addition. Whisk in 1 tsp. vanilla extract. At this point, your mixture should look much lighter in color and be smooth, almost creamy.

6.

Add dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to stir until just incorporated and almost no dry streaks remain. Add chopped chocolate (but not the chocolate you reserved in the small bowl) to batter. Gently mix just to distribute. Cover bowl with an airtight bowl cover, a kitchen towel, or plastic wrap and chill 2 hours. (If you’re crunched for time, 1 hour will do, but cookies will be best after 2.)

7.

Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 375°. Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop out scant 2-Tbsp. portions of dough (or, if you have a scoop, this is a leveled-off #30 or a heaping #40) until you have 10 portions divided between 2 parchment-lined baking sheets (you want five per sheet—these will spread a bit!). Roll portions into balls and gently press a piece or 2 of reserved chocolate into each one. It’s okay to cram the chocolate on there—some pieces can even be vertical. Cover and chill any remaining dough.

8.

Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until edges are golden brown and centers are puffed, 8–10 minutes. (Pull at 8 if you like your cookies softer and want to guarantee they’re still soft the next day!)

9.

Working one at a time, pull baking sheets out of the oven and tap lightly on the stove to deflate cookies. Sprinkle with Diamond Crystal kosher salt (if you’re using Morton, skip it: the crystals are too large). Let cookies cool on baking sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Let baking sheets cool (to do this fast, run them under cold water), then turn parchment paper over. Repeat process with remaining dough, dividing evenly between baking sheets, to make 6–8 more cookies.

10.

Do Ahead: Cookies can be baked 3 days ahead. Let cool; store airtight at room temperature

MY NOTES:

1. These were yummay, but they do spread quite a bit. I did one batch after two hours of chill time, and put 8 per pan, and they all spread into each other. Then I did a second batch with over 10 hours of chill time and they still spread. I would stick to their recommendation of 5 per sheet. 

2. I used weights for the measurements and it seems accurate. I used regular APP, and Bob's buckwheat flour. I used a mix of chocolate chips and chopped feves because that's what I had open, but I think it would look a lot better with a chopped bar. 

3. Would make again. I think I also made them a little small-- I ended up with 21 cookies. Perhaps if I'd started out with thicker balls, they'd be a little thicker? Hard to know.