Grown-Up Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup

You'll have to forgive the camera-battery-dying-hungry-family-waiting-not-so-great picture of the Grown-Up Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup. When the first cool fronts of the season bring rainy gray skies, it's time for comfort food. Many moons ago Josh and I worked at The Funky Art Cafe in Brenham, Texas. The owner, Connie, was famous for her Grown-Up Grilled Cheese. Every three months she'd completely change the cafe's menu, and always featured a seasonal grilled cheese sandwich. Crisp, buttery panini bread, and a sophisticated blend of cheeses - no American cheese here. The tomato soup is my own special combination of recipes I've loved over the years. I've trimmed a lot of the fat (omitted the heavy cream most recipes call for) and added a few surprises.

Grown-Up Grilled Cheese

1 loaf of your favorite panini bread (our favorite is Panera's Tomato Basil)
butter
Boursin cheese (usually found near the goat cheese)
Smoked Gouda, sliced
Medium Cheddar, sliced

Assemble sandwiches on a large cookie sheet. Spread a generous amount of Boursin cheese on one side of all slices of bread you'll use. Layer Smoked Gouda and Medium Cheddar slices on one piece of bread per sandwich pair. Place piece of bread without cheese slices on top of the other slice. Melt a small pat of butter in a small non-stick skillet, if you have a grill or panini press use it instead. Grill sandwiches until golden brown and inside cheese are melted. If you're cooking in a skillet you will need to flip the sandwich halfway through cooking. If the cheeses do not melt completely, microwave for 20 seconds before serving. If you are preparing a lot of sandwiches, put the finished ones in a 200 degree oven until you're ready to serve. Experiment with your own cheese blends!

Tomato Soup

1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, quartered
3 slices of bacon, chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
6 large tomatoes OR 2 28-oz cans diced tomatoes
1 14-oz can tomato paste
1 14-oz can chicken stock
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
5 thyme sprigs, left whole OR 5 basil leaves, chopped
white pepper
sea salt

In a large stock pot heat olive oil. Add onion, garlic, and bacon. Saute until bacon is crispy and onion and garlic are tender. Add remaining ingredients, stirring frequently. Simmer 15 minutes. If using fresh thyme sprigs, remove. Use an immersion blender until soup reaches desired consistency. If you don't have an immersion blender, carefully ladle soup into a regular blender and pulse gently. Return soup to pot and simmer 5 more minutes, stirring frequently. Serve with Grown-Up Grilled Cheese sandwiches, great for dipping!

Menu Planning

I know, I know - I haven't blogged here in forever. Now that I'm finally posting, it's not even a new recipe.

In my journey to cook healthy, but tasty and affordable meals for our little family I've tried many methods of menu planning. Not planning out the meals I'll cook each week is not an option. If I don't write out a list of meals, we end up eating out or having cereal for dinner. Plus, we have random groceries left unused. For a while I would just write out meals on paper, then I found this Feed Me template at The Container Store. I've used it for the past year, and it was a great place to start. After using it for a while I knew there were certain things I liked, and some that I did not.

I created my own template. It hangs on the message center in the entrance to my kitchen.

Of course I had to 'cute' it up a little.

This picture is a little blurry, but here is what it looks like all filled out. I don't like feeling tied down to cook certain things on specific days, so I just made spaces for four Meal spots with room for a main dish and sides. The lines are long enough to write the name of the meal and the name of the cookbook and corresponding page number. I have a section for breakfasts/desserts, and another section for things we run out of during the week. I do not have a spot for grocery list, the Feed Me template had one. I use an iPhone app (Grocery Zen) to keep my grocery list. Plus, it's a bit risky to take your whole menu planner to the grocery store. If you lose it you're stuck with a bunch of groceries and no direction.

There's nothing magical about my menu planning form, but it works for me. If you'd like a blank copy, just send me an email at autumn.lockett@me.com. I'd love to hear your menu planning tips and advice. Comment below!

World's Best Cherry Pie Filling

About a month ago I began dreaming about cherry pies. There were no fresh cherries available anywhere. Last summer I adapted a Williams-Sonoma recipe for cherry pie filling. I filled pies, ramekins, heart-shaped pockets, and even served it over vanilla ice cream. Last week we finally found some cherries in the produce department! This recipe is really easy, especially if you have a Pit Crew.

Ava removed the stems, and J pitted the cherries.

Teamwork

Chery Pie Filling

2 cups granulated sugar
6 Tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon salt
8 cups pitted cherries, whole
4 teaspoons Mexican vanilla

In a large pot stir sugar, corn starch and salt. Add cherries and vanilla. Simmer for 25 minutes, cool completely.

Makes enough filling for 2 deep-dish pies, or 24 heart-shaped pockets. I usually freeze half, just thaw in the refrigerator overnight before second use.

Looking for the perfect crust recipe to accompany your cherry pie filling?
Click HERE for my favorite crust recipe ever.

Sick Soup

The name of this soup should really be Chicken and Wild Rice, but Josh christened it Sick Soup many moons ago. When we were first married we lived in Independence, Texas, which is, according to Rand McNally, a ghost town. One evening he came down with a high fever and I didn't want to leave him alone for thirty minutes to drive to the grocery store, but also knew he needed to eat something healthier than the frozen pizza in our freezer...yes, we were young and dumb once. No pizzas in our freezer now, I promise. Anyway, I rummaged around in our cabinets and vegetable drawer and found ingredients to make the first ever Sick Soup. It's so simple and delicious, perfect for comfort or illness. I love to take it to friends who are sick, recovering, or just plain sad. Make this big portion and share half with someone who needs a little extra love.

The ingredients:

1/2 pound organic white meat chicken, boneless and skinless, chopped
1/2 pound organic dark meat chicken, boneless and skinless, chopped
3 cups Royal Blend rice (or your favorite wild rice mix)
8-10 organic carrots, cut on a bias about 1/4 inch thick
2 large stalks organic celery, coarsely chopped
32 ounces organic, low sodium, reduced fat chicken broth
32 ounces water
2 Tablespoons dried sage (you can also use thyme or tarragon, just pick one - don't mix them)
fresh cracked peppercorns
sea salt

Cut carrots on a bias (see below), chop celery and chicken - in that order, and toss into your favorite soup pot

Put remaining ingredients into the pot and stir gently.
Turn burner to medium heat, cover tightly with lid.

When the rice is fluffy, chicken is cooked, and vegetables are tender your Sick Soup is ready, about 45 minutes to an hour. I purposely don't put a lot of liquid in this soup because Josh is not a fan of broth, but you could definitely add more water or chicken stock to make this more 'soupy'.

This dish refrigerates well and serves as delicious lunch and leftovers the next day or two... or six. But it really shouldn't last that long because you're sharing it, remember?

Triple Chocolate Biscotti

I'd like to thank my sous chef, Ava, for doing most of the work this evening. Please excuse our Sunday nap clothes. We cook comfy chic.

*The recipe, without picture interruption, will be available at the bottom of this post.

First soften 1/2 a cup of your favorite butter, we prefer salted organic.

Choose your weapon wisely.

Cream the softened butter for about 30 seconds.

Add 2/3 cup granulated sugar,

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder,

and 2 teaspoons baking powder.

Beat until combined, scraping sides when necessary

Crack two eggs into a separate bowl, we bought these beauties from the Norman Farmer's Market.

Mix eggs into dough.

Add one cup of your favorite whole wheat flour, we love King Arthur (way more affordable in Texas, so OK folk should stock up when they can).

Blend in 3/4 cup of unbleached, all-purpose flour. If I was making these for just me I would use all whole wheat flour, but not everyone likes to chew their biscotti quite as much as I do.

Blend in 1/2 teaspoon Extract of Almond

Add one teaspoon of cinnamon.

Add 1/2 cup each of Ghirardelli white chocolate, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate chips.
(Target runs great sales on Ghirardelli chips, just watch the baking aisle...and leave some for me or I will hunt you down.)

Line a baking pan with parchment paper and grease slightly.
Shape dough into two long rolls and flatten.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes. Remove parchment paper from pan, gently, and allow to cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Slice into 3/4 inch wide pieces and place, cut side up, on baking sheet. Return to oven for 8 minutes. Flip biscotti and cook for another 8 minutes.

Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy with your favorite coffee or milk!

Triple Chocolate Biscotti
preheat oven to 375 degrees

1/2 cup softened butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Cream butter for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa powder and baking powder. Blend together, scraping sides when necessary. Add the two eggs and mix. Add flours and chocolate chips.

Line baking pan with parchment paper and grease slightly. Form dough into two rolls and flatten. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Remove paper from pan and cool completely, reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Slice into 3/4 inch wide pieces and place, cut side up, on baking sheet. Return to oven for 8 minutes. Flip biscotti and cook for another 8 minutes.

Here we come a wassailing

In a recent phone conversation with my sister we talked about spiced cider/wassail. Don't worry, we also talked about fun, juicy stuff too. But we spent a significant amount of time pitying the throngs of people who spend this crisp season drinking sub par fall drinks. Apple juice with melted Red Hot candy? Seriously? Prepackaged spice mix dumped into microwaved juice? Don't even get me started. Sarah and I grew up with heavenly nectar-ish Wassail. Our grandmother passed the recipe to Mom and she passed it to both of us. It's great for cold nights, dreary mornings, and is an excellent source of vitamin C for the sniffles that often accompany this season. So put down that mug of sad-slightly-spiced-blandness and warm up your percolator!

Mamaw's Wassail

4 cups apple juice (I use Simply Apple)
2 cups cranberry juice (cocktail is okay)
1 cup orange juice (Simply Orange plus calcium for us)
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (allow some of the pulp into the mixture)
1/2 cup sugar (raw is yummiest)
1 teaspoon WHOLE cloves
1 teaspoon WHOLE allspice
5 sticks cinnamon

Pour all juices and sugar together into percolator. Place the spices in the basket. Allow mixture to percolate for at least an hour for best taste.

If you don't have a percolator you can use a stock pot and simmer the wassail over the stove. Put the spices in a tea infuser and allow mixture to simmer and slightly boil for an hour. Enjoy in your favorite mug, preferably with a special someone.

Oklahoma-made Texas Quiche

I'm newly rededicated to this blog. Some sweet folks on Facebook commented about it and so I guess I should probably show it some love. For those of you who do not blog you should know that commenting on a post is the fuel that feeds a bloggers soul. I'm not fishing for comments here, but it's rather disappointing to put yourself out in a blog post and have 0 comments. Enough about that though and onto some quiche.

My favorite lunch spot in the WHOLE WORLD is The Peach Tree in Fredericksburg, Texas. They are famous for their quiche and peach mimosas...oh my. If you've never eaten there and live within reasonable driving distance you need to run, not walk, and order lunch. Seriously, stop reading this and GO. (While you're in Fredericksburg you should definitely stop at The Rather Sweet Bakery, owned by Dan Rather's sister, and order a piece of Key Lime pie or a Hello Dolly bar. Life-changing desserts.) Anyway, this Texas Quiche is one I've slightly adapted from The Peach Tree Tea Room Cookbook. It's impossible to go wrong with this recipe, especially if you use a heavy Pampered Chef pie plate. Feel free to play with the ingredients too. You can sub out the same amount of almost any veggie and protein and have the same delicious end results. Also, I apologize for not having any pictures of this meal. Once you have a taste you'll understand why it never lasts long enough for photo ops.

Texas Quiche
Crust
1 1/2 cups unsifted unbleached flour
*I often use 3/4 cup unbleached flour, 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, just a healthier option
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons shortening
6 tablespoons CHILLED butter
*not margarine, real unsalted fatty fat butter, trust me on this one
5 tablespoons ICED water
*Just fill a glass bowl with iced water and dip your tablespoon into it.

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400 degrees.

1. Mix flour and salt in bowl. Use a pastry blender to cut in shortening and butter until crumbly.
2. Add ICED water, a little at a time, mixing with pastry blender until well blended. I've found that it's best to add a little extra water if the weather has been particularly dry. Roll dough into a ball. Place dough into a plastic bag and gently press into a flat disk. Seal bag. Refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes. This allows the gluten to develop in the dough.
3. On floured board, carefully roll dough to fit quiche pan. Roll dough onto your rolling pin and unroll into quiche pan, carefully trimming dough, and rolling edge under to for a rim. Flute the edge.
4. Put a layer of foil over dough and fill to the top with either pie weights or dry beans. This prevents crust from puffing up or shrinking.
5. Bake crust for 15 minutes.
6. Remove beans and foil, prick crust bottom with fork several times, and bake 10 more minutes. The crust is now ready for filling.
*This is my favorite crust recipe, and I use it for everything from quiche to chocolate pie. It's easy, predictable, and flawless every time.

REDUCE OVEN TEMPERATURE TO 350 DEGREES.

Texas Quiche
Filling
*This filling actually makes enough for two quiche (quiches? quichi? not sure what the plural is). You can either make two crusts and take one to a friend OR freeze the unused filling for the next time you have a hankering for quiche. I usually opt for the first option. It's a great way to turn casual acquaintances into BFFs.

1/3 cup sliced mushrooms
2 small carrots, sliced thin
2/3 cup chopped chicken breast
1 tablespoon butter
10 eggs
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
*You can use regular pepper, but the white keeps the quiche pretty and light in color.
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon comino or cumin
2 teaspoons sliced pickled jalapenos with juice
2 1/2 cups canned evaporated milk
*I like to use reduced fat, it works just as well.
2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
*Please don't ever use the pre-grated cheese, it's just nasty.
1/2 cup canned green chiles, drained and sliced into strips
Garnish: Sour cream, (or low-fat Greek-strained yogurt like Fage, subbing this for sour cream in all instances helps with calorie intake. I can't tell the difference.), black olives, and cilantro

1. Saute mushrooms, carrots, and chicken in butter until chicken is done and carrots are soft.
2. Beat eggs in blender with white pepper, salt, comino and jalapenos and juice.
3. Add evaporated milk to egg mixture.
4. In prepared crust, place 1/2 cup of the Monterey Jack cheese on bottom. Layer with mushroom, carrot, chicken mixture. Add green chiles over the mixture. Sprinkle another 1/2 cup of Monterey Jack cheese over the top.
5. Pour half of egg and cheese mixture over the layered ingredients, filling only to just below the top of the crust's rim.
6. Bake in oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes or when knife inserted in center comes out clean and top is golden brown.
7. Allow quiche to cool and set for 15 minutes for easiest slicing. Garnish each slice with a dollop of sour cream (or yogurt), a few black olives and cilantro.

The quiche will make your house smell like heaven on earth. When we first moved into our new place I made this and it made us all feel like we were home. This dish is great by itself, or served with a dark leafy green spring mix salad. I highly recommend a peach mimosa along with it. For my very Baptist readers go ahead and just pour yourself a tall glass of OJ, you'll be okay too. The best thing about making quiche for dinner is that it's great with coffee the next morning for breakfast. It reheats well for lunch leftovers too. You'll be the envy of the lunch room! Comment, email, or call if you have questions. (979)204-9607