I recently came by a recipe for Bloody Mary soup in a magazine and I was really excited about it. I love Bloody Marys, but it isn’t always appropriate to have one. Soup, though, I can have any time of day. But when I made the recipe it came out really thick. The recipe called for pureed beans and celery, which gave it a chunky and stringy texture. I was not a fan. So I decided to try my hand at making a soup recipe all my own. I’ve never made up a soup recipe before! I did a bunch of research, used a bunch of recipes as inspiration, tinkered a bit, and then I came up with something brand new that I really liked.

Let me warn you by saying I like Bloody Marys really spicy. I love this soup because the initial taste is sweet and full of tomato flavor, but then quickly the heat starts to tingle in the back of your throat and then rushes forward into your lips. It’s wonderful. Although, I didn’t give Ryan any warning when he tasted it and his eyes popped out a little bit. But I love spicy flavors in a soup. For me, they are a cure all. I think it will help clear your sinuses when you’re sick or can pep you up when it is cold and dreary outside. I also think Bloody Marys are a great hang over cure. I mean, not that I’ve ever been hungover. But if you were hungover, I think this would be both soothing and invigorating. If you were having a wild holiday party, make a batch the night before, then in the morning heat the soup, line cups with Old Bay, pop in a celery stick and you’ve got warming morning cocktails to serve your house guests.

Now if you’re not into spice, don’t worry! In the instructions below I’ll be sure to tell you how to adjust the seasoning to fit your palate. That’s the great thing about cocktails, right? You can fix them to suit your taste!

Since I’m from Maryland, I love Old Bay and will put it on everything. I put it in the soup in place of some salt, I sprinkled it on top for seasoning, and I lined the rim of the bowl. If you don’t have Old Bay, no worries. You can use some salt to season instead. Finally, if you want an added kick, consider adding horseradish cream. I like it because it adds spice from the horseradish and simultaneously eases the spice because of the cream. If you’re not interested in the cream, the soup is still excellent without it. Ok, now you’ll be ready for all your weekend partying. You’re welcome.

Soup recipe inspired by delicious magazine and Mark Bittman’s winter tomato soup. But I think it’s mostly mine and I’m really proud of that. Horseradish cream from BBC Good Food.

Messy level: I don’t have an immersion blender, so for me, this recipe is a three spoon mess. I used a tray to roast the tomatoes, a blender to puree the tomatoes, and a pot to simmer the soup. That makes a lot of things to clean and a lot of opportunity for spills. If you have an immersion blender, then you’ll have a little less clean up.

Bloody Mary Soup with Old Bay

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

Serves: 4-6 bowls

Ingredients

• Soup:
• 5-10 garlic cloves (use less if you want less intensity)
• 800g/28oz canned, whole peeled tomatoes
• olive oil
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• ½ tsp celery salt
• 1 tsp Old Bay
• 1-2 tsp chili flakes (I used 2 tsp, use less if you want less heat)
• 2-4 cups chicken or vegetable stock (use more stock if you want to dilute the heat)
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• juice from ½ lemon
• Tabasco sauce (optional)
• celery stalks (optional garnish)
• vodka (optional)
• Horseradish Cream (optional):
• 1 tbsp horseradish
• 4 tbsp of crème fraîche
• salt and pepper
• juice of ½ a lemon

Instructions

1. Heat your oven to 350°/180°.
2. Pour some olive oil on a baking sheet.
3. Take the garlic cloves off of the bulb, and cut a little bit off of the top. Don't peel them. We'll pop them out of their skins easily after roasting. Put the prepared garlic on the baking sheet.
4. Drain the canned tomatoes. Reserve the liquid.
5. Cut the tomatoes in half.
6. Put the tomatoes on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the tomatoes with more olive oil. Season the tomatoes with salt, celery salt, Old Bay, and chili flakes.
7. Roast in oven for 20-30 minutes. The tomatoes are ready when they have started to dry out and get a little bit dark and brown in spots.
8. Remove from the oven. Add the tomatoes to a blender (add to directly to a pot if you have an immersion blender).
9. Let the garlic cool a bit so you can touch it. Pinch the bottom of the garlic and it will shoot up through the top (where you cut before) and it will be easily free from its skin. Add the garlic to the blender.
10. If there are crunchy bits on the baking sheet pour a little stock on them. Use a spatula to scrape them off. Pour the crunchy bits and the stock into the blender. (The crunchy bits are yummy caramelized tomato juices)
11. Add the reserved tomato liquid to the blender. Blend until mostly smooth.
12. Heat the tomato puree in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in 2 cups of stock, the lemon juice, and the Worcestershire sauce.
13. Taste. Too spicy? Add more stock. Not spicy enough? Add Tabasco sauce ¼ tsp at a time.
14. Simmer for 20 minutes so all the flavors can mingle together.
15. While the soup is simmering, prepare the horseradish cream. In a small bowl mix the horseradish, crème fraîche, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
16. Serve the soup in a bowl, top with a dollop of cream. Pour in a splash of vodka if you like. Garnish with a stalk of celery and a sprinkling of Old Bay.

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This post is part of Our Growing Edge, a monthly blogging event to encourage bloggers to try new food related things. Jules from The Kiwi Diaries is the host for this month’s event.

If you have a blog and you are eating or cooking something new this month, you can get more information here about how to join.

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So, I was elated when my friend Lisa bought me the wonderful cookbook Melt
for Christmas. It’s a cookbook entirely about macaroni and cheese recipes. Cheese? Pasta? TOGETHER!?! Let me step up my pasta game. 

This recipe is so good. Of course, it’s decadently cheesy and creamy. But it also had a smoky and spicy flavor. Not spice like when your taste buds explode after eating some hot salsa. It’s a friendly spice that makes your palate tingle with a warm, lingering heat. Ryan and I were really taken off guard by how yummy and special this dish was. We had it for dinner two nights in a row. The second night, we both came home excited for more mac and cheese. When we had our first bites, they were more delicious then our brains and mouths had remembered. It was like a wonderful surprise that surpasses all expectations. This is the kind of meal that makes you say “mmmm” over and over.

This recipe calls for two kinds of cheese: cotija and Lincolnshire Poacher. I’ve found cotija easily at Whole Foods, although it may not be in every grocery store. I could not find Lincolnshire Poacher, a specific type of English aged Cheddar. I even went to the specialty cheese stand in Eastern Market, but no luck. However, what’s great about the book is it names a few alternative cheese suggestions. I showed the recipe to the cheese monger in Eastern Market and she helped me pick out a good aged-cheddar. In short, use aged cheddar if that is what is easiest for you to find. If you do find Lincolnshire Poacher, tell me where!

Finally, I won’t be blasphemous and say something stupid like “this is too cheesy.” Because that’s impossible. But this recipe does make a ton of cheese sauce. If you’re getting squeamish about the cheese level, I’d recommend following the instructions for making the sauce, then pour the sauce slowly over the noodles until you’re at a level where you feel comfortable.  The hard things with macaroni and cheese is that in  restaurant you can ignore the creamy level, but at home you’re directly responsible and so may feel guilty about how much cheese is in there.

But I say, don’t worry about it. Sometimes you gotta treat yo self. This recipe is worth it. And you’re worth it.

This recipe is adapted from Melt.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of chorizo (I actually used a 12 oz package I bought from Whole Foods)

1 tsp olive oil

1 lb box of penne rigate (this kind of penne has ridges, so it can catch hold of the cheese)

4 ounces cotija, shredded

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp chipotle pepper flakes

1/8 tsp ground cumin

1 pound aged cheddar

Ground black pepper

Minced scallions for topping (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut the chorizo out of their casings. Break them into bite sized pieces. Don’t get too crazy about this, you can also smash them up once you cook them.

2. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Cook the chorizo until well browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer the chorizo to a plate lined with paper towels, to absorb the oil.

3. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente (a little bit chewy, it doesn’t have to be fully cooked because it’s going to be baked later). Drain and set aside.

4. Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a large casserole dish. I used a  2 1/2 quart dish, but I think my 9×13″ Pyrex would have given me more wiggle room.

5. In the dish, toss together the pasta, chorizo, and cotija.

6. Now to prepare the sauce! In a small sauce pan, heat the milk over medium heat. Heat just until it starts to steam and tiny bubbles form on the edge of the pan.

7. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and stir. The authors of melt recommend using a flat-edged wooden spoon. This will help you scrape the bottom of the pan and keep the roux (fancy name for the butter and flour mixture) from burning.  Heat and stir until it takes on a light brown color.

8. Slowly pour in the milk, chipotle peppers, and cumin. Stir constantly until the sauce thickens. The sauce is thick enough when you can draw your finger across the spoon and it leaves a clear path.

9. Remove from heat and add most of the aged cheddar. Leave behind some cheddar for topping. Stir until the cheddar is completely melted. Season with pepper to taste. Add some salt if you like also, but the cheeses are pretty salty on their own.

10. Pour the sauce over the pasta. Stir a bit to make sure it’s all well mixed. Top with the extra aged cheddar. Sprinkle scallions on top, if using.

11. Bake for 25 minutes.

12. Let cool a bit before serving. Then eat ravenously.

Messy level: Three spoons, maybe verging on four spoons. This one made a lot of dishes, although some of it might be my fault. I used the food processor to shred the cheeses (although I guess I could have bought already shredded cheese). I had to use the mortar and pestle to smash the cumin seeds (because why go out and buy ground cumin for just 1/8 tsp?). But, also I needed a pan for the chorizo, a pot for the pasta, two pots for the cheese sauce, and a casserole for baking. Also, there’s always the danger of pouring the hot cheese sauce that could lead to a molten cheese mess on my floor and counter. Luckily no such spilling occurred. Although there’s a ton of dishes, I only give it 3 spoons because there’s lot of time in between steps to do some cleaning so your kitchen doesn’t have to look like a disaster if you don’t want it to.

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I think the website is hilarious. I feel like if my college friends and I had a cooking show, it would be like Thug Kitchen. Probably less cursing, but the same idea that you’re awesome, what you’re making is awesome, and not to take it all too seriously. Anyway, today’s recipe comes from him.

When I found this recipe I was excited because I thought it would be something both Ryan and I would like. I want to have more meatless dinners, but it’s got to be satisfying and delicious for both me and Ryan. This seemed perfect because chickpeas are filling, there’s vegetables in the falafel, and the buffalo sauce is really flavorful and delicious. Also, Ryan and I were recently in Charlottesville, VA and ate at One Meatball Place and I loved their special buffalo chicken meatball. It was so juicy and amazing and I was eager to try something similar again soon.

Suffice it to say, I was inspired and Ryan and I were going to have buffalo falafel for dinner! I really liked it and had the leftovers for lunch for the next two days. It was spicy, flavorful, and I’ll call it “healthy” since there’s cauliflower in it. And as a broad generalization, I think it’s a good balance of foods girls like and foods boys like. I recommend eating it on pita bread or over lettuce and drizzled with ranch dressing.

If you don’t like spicy, you could still make the falafel and pair it with your favorite sauce. This sauce is great though, and I’d use it on chicken wings or any other meal where you’d like to add a kick.

Ingredients: 

Falafel:

1 15oz can of chickpeas, drained

1/3 of pound cauliflower

1/4 cup diced onion

2 gloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp all-purpose seasoning

2 tbsp bread crumbs

Buffalo Sauce:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp flour

1 cup cayenne based hot sauce

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Grease a baking sheet

2. Using a food processor, chop up the cauliflower until it’s in tiny pieces.

3. In a bowl, mash the chickpeas until fairly smooth. You can leave some chunks, but you want it to be smooth enough so you can form chickpea balls.

4. Add the cauliflower, garlic, onion, oil, seasoning, and bread crumbs to the chickpea paste. Mix.

5. Form the mix into balls. It will make a little more than a dozen.

6. Put the balls on a baking sheet. Cook for 12 minutes, flip, then cook for 12 more minutes. They should be lightly brown on the outside.

7. While the balls are baking, start on the sauce. In a saucepan, heat oil

8. Add flour to oil. Stir continuously until it is golden. This takes about 3-4 minutes. Don’t let it boil.

9. Add half the hot sauce and mix. It should thicken up.

10. Add the rest of the hot sauce, water, and vinegar. Mix until smooth. It will smell spicy!!

11. After the falafels are done baking, pour buffalo sauce on top of them and bake for another 5 minutes. It’s less messy if you gather the balls on your baking sheet, then pour the sauce on them.

12. Serve and eat!

Messy level: I give this two spoons. It’s pretty self contained and there’s nothing that really splatters. I think it’s important to really grease the baking sheet well. I had a hard time flipping the balls over and so it made clean up a little more challenging.

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But this recipe is awesome.

Seriously. It’s vegan and it’s awesome. And not only awesome, it’s quick and easy to make. It’s the kind of thing you can make when all you have is condiments and a few vegetables. This recipe comes from The Happy Herbivore Cookbook by Lindsay Nixon. She calls is “Cheater Pad Thai” because it’s so easy to make. As a warning, this recipe although delicious, doesn’t really taste like Pad Thai in a restaurant. It has Pad Thai flavors in it, but there’s something a little different about it. But, if you want a taste of Thai at home, this is a good recipe.

Also this is a recipe you can fool around with depending on what you have at home. You can alter the proportions of the sauce to your taste, and you can use whatever vegetables you think will taste best. I usually use carrots, onions, garlic, and bell pepper. I’ve also done peas, leafy greens, bean sprouts, and squash. If you need your meat, you can cook up pieces of chicken, shrimp, or beef and throw it in with the rest of the ingredients.

When it comes to stir fry, I like to use a wok. Now, prior to having a wok I thought it was something scary to use. That might be because I saw an episode of Top Chef once where the contestants had to cook Asian street food using a wok and some of them freaked out because they had never used one before. So I thought, if those professionals are scared of a wok, how can I use a wok? Ryan and I got it as a wedding present and we were really excited. I unpacked it and then did a whole lot of research. I watched YouTube videos and read a bunch of articles online.

Now I may be using the wok wrong, but I totally love it. What I learned (I think) was you’re supposed to use a wok at very high heat, which then sears the vegetables, and then because of the shape of the pan it keeps the vegetables from getting too soft – so they are cooked but crunchy. Also you’re supposed to use your “aromatics” first to give the pan flavor. That means you saute things like onions, garlic, and ginger first – and then you add the vegetables based on crunchiness (so carrots before bell peppers). Also you’re supposed to stir constantly and move the vegetables around and up the sides of the pan. This helps cook them, make them crunchy, and give them good flavor. If you have a wok, try it out! A regular pan works well too. I like the wok because it’s spacious and I can swirl the veggies around without flinging anything out of the pan.

Ingredients for 2-3 servings:

1/3 to 1/2 box of rice noodles.

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp sweet red chili sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp hot sauce

1 cup (or as much or as little as you want) of chopped vegetables

Directions:

1. Cook rice noodles according to package instructions.

2. Stir fry vegetables until they are softened but still a bit crunchy.

3.  Mix soy sauce, peanut butter, chili sauce, garlic powder, ginger, and hot sauce. Alter ingredients to taste. I like a little more peanut butter because it makes the sauce thicker

4. Once the vegetables are almost done, add the sauce to the wok. Mix the sauce and veggies together.

5. Add the noodles to the sauce and veggies. Mix until you’re satisfied. Serve and eat!

two sp

Messy Level:
Low to Medium. The pan ends up being coated in sauce so it takes a good scrub. But, it doesn’t use that many pans, therefore dishes don’t take that long!

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