Ham & White Bean Soup

WARNING: It is this recipe that resulted in my finger cut that resulted in a trip to the ER that resulted in four stitches. As such, this recipe includes some important safety tips.


Important Safety Tip: When working with canned ingredients, please cautiously remove lid before moving on with the cooking process. This has been a public service announcement.


Injuries aside, this recipe is so easy and so fast, I had to post it anyway, as there is virtually no excuse not to make it. "I don't have enough time to cook" will not get you through this one. "I hate chopping vegetables" also won't get it done. "I can't find pre-cooked ham." Nice try. Surely you have some leftover from Christmas.

Since pre-cooked ham is the central protein in this soup, it can make seasoning a bit tricky. When I made this, I found that a quarter teaspoon of salt was plenty. However, to be on the safe side, my advice is to season at the very end, little by little, in order to avoid a complete sodium overload.

Ham & White Bean Soup
Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 (14 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2 (19-ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/2-pound piece baked ham (1/2 to 3/4 inch thick), cut into 1/2-inch cubes (results in about 2 cups of cubed ham)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
5-ounces of bagged baby spinach or baby arugula (a standard bag is about 10 ounces, so use half of the bag)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Directions
Cook garlic in 1/4 cup oil in a 3 1/2- to 4 1/2-quart heavy pot over medium heat, stirring, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Coarsely cut up tomatoes in can with kitchen shears [AFTER REMOVING THE LID FROM THE TIN CAN], then add (with juice) to garlic in oil. Stir in broth, beans, ham, and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Stir in greens and cook until wilted, 3 minutes for spinach or 1 minute for arugula. Add salt, if needed (salt may not be needed depending on the seasoning level of the pre-cooked ham). Garnish with toasts and shaved parmesan cheese.

Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies

When it comes to baking, I like to keep it simple. Baking elaborate desserts that take more time to decorate than to eat is just not my style. I also am not patient or exacting enough to really be successful at making great desserts. For elaborate-ness, I recommend that you visit Bakerella's site for inspiration.

Therefore, when it comes to Christmas cookies, I have to apologize in advance that you will not see any fun shapes, icing, sprinkles, or glazes. There are no ginger-people or Christmas trees. My cookies are circles, as cookies should be.

Molasses cookies are wonderful for Christmas because they have that spicy flavor that we expect to have during Christmas time. But, they also are pretty light (relatively speaking) and won't leave you feeling like you can't drag your butt off of the couch to finish your laundry so that you can pack to drive to Arkansas. Figuratively speaking.

And, they are easy! My dear friend Jennifer was the one who first introduced me to molasses cookies, and she is not one to fuss around in the kitchen. But she executes these puppies beautifully, every time. Hi Jenn!


This is not the greatest picture ever, but the most recent one I could find! From left to right, Kim, Jenn, me, Amanda.

Important baking tip of the day: This recipe calls for softened butter, which is different than room temperature butter. To soften butter, remove from the fridge 45 minutes to 1 hour before using until the butter is, um, soft. (This is the kind of genius commentary you can expect from this site.) It may take longer in the winter than in the summer, depending on how aggressive you are with your heater. To speed up the process, do NOT put the butter in the microwave (that, my friends, is melted butter). You can soften butter more quickly by cutting it into smaller pieces before letting it sit. This may seem nit picky, but butter temperature can cause really drastic differences in the texture of baked goods, especially cookies.

Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Yields about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a shallow bowl, place 1/2 cup sugar (for rolling the cookies) and set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream the softened butter and remaining 1 cup of sugar until combined and fluffy. Beat in egg and then molasses until combined. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in dry ingredients until the dough forms.

Pinch off and roll dough into balls, each equal to about 1 tablespoon. Roll balls in reserved sugar to coat.

Arrange balls on baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. (Note: The cookies will spread quite a lot when baking so it is important to have adequate space in between.) Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges of cookies are just firm, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool 1 minute on baking sheets before transferring to racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 4 days.

Baked Squash Gratin

Christmas means many things to many people. To the people of the Austin Stone Community Church, in addition to a celebration of the birth of Christ, Christmas also provides an occasion to throw a potluck dinner. Or ten.

Potluck dinners are fantastic. Everyone brings that "one thing" that they make better than everyone else, so you get a collection of everyone's best dishes. And, at least in Texas, everyone brings about three times as much as is needed so everyone gets their fill.

Potluck dinners can also be challenging for several reasons. First, it is hard to figure out what type of dish travels well in the car and can sit for a little while without being ruined. Second, you need to be creative so that there aren't six casserole dishes of mashed potatoes. And third, you are going to a party, so you need to have ample time to get yourself, your husband, and maybe even some rugrats ready to G-O.


This Baked Squash Gratin meets all of these criteria. Travels well? Check. Unique enough to not be duplicated? Check. Time to get dressed? Check! And, did I mention that it only requires THREE (3!) ingredients?

I made very limited changes to this recipe, as it is pretty simple. But, I do have a few pointers.
1. Make sure to steam the squash as opposed to any other method of cooking it. Steaming ensures that no excess moisture gets into the puree.
2. Store-bought pesto is best for this dish, since you really wouldn't be able to appreciate the added effort of making your own. But, make sure that the pesto you choose is not overly oily. Too much oil can make the final product greasy.
3. Parmesan cheese has a salty bite to it, so be careful to not over season the squash puree.

Baked Squash Gratin
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis, Everyday Italian

Ingredients
1 (3-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup purchased basil pesto
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, plus more for greasing

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly butter an 8-inch baking dish and set aside. Fill a large pot with enough water to come 2 inches up the sides of the pot. Set a steamer rack in the pot, cover, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the squash and steam over medium heat until the squash is very tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer the squash to a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Season the squash to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon half of the squash evenly over the prepared baking dish. Dollop half of the pesto all over the squash in the dish. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the squash. Repeat layering with the remaining squash, pesto, and cheese. Dot the top with butter and bake until the gratin is heated through and golden brown around the edges, about 40 minutes.

Adventures in Cooking: A Trip to the ER and Why I Started this Blog

A couple of weeks ago, on a Tuesday night, I cut my finger on a tin can and had to go to the emergency room to get four stitches.

After I cut myself, in a state of more annoyance than anything else, I had to call Travis to come and take me to the ER. When he walked in the door from work, one of the first things out of his mouth was, "what on earth are you making?"

The answer to the question: I was making a lot of things. I had a red sauce for pasta in the sauce pan. There was a soup in the works, involving, as it were, a can of stewed tomatoes with a very sharp lid. I also had shredded a rotisserie chicken for a to-be-determined dish for later in the week. And various elements of all of these dishes were scattered in mid-preparation throughout my kitchen.

This scene, minus the blood and gore, is a common one in my house. I love trying new recipes, often many at the same time, and I get a big kick out of learning how to cook. And, like virtually everyone else that starts a food-related blog, I am starting this site as a way to share my recipes - and my injuries - with any fellow wannabe foodies who might be interested.

Now, I realize that there are a lot of people out there for whom reading a food blog is a more of a chore than a hobby. If this is true of you, I hope that you can use this site as a place to find recipes that work the first time, aren't too fussy, taste good, and are worth making again.