Perfect Sunday Afternoon

Nothing like a chilly, lazy Sunday afternoon with soup simmering on the stove and football noise in the background. We liked this soup more than the Tomato-Basil Soup I made in the spring and Mr. Lawyer declared it a keeper. It was quite tasty and while turning your grilled cheese into croutons is completely unnecessary, it was fun. We used a delicious Pepperidge Farms sourdough and Cooper cheese ("because that's what mom always gets"-Mr. Lawyer), a winning combination.

Recipe Notes: 1/2 cup of orzo doesn't look like a lot but it will puff up and soak up some liquid. The original recipe called for 1 tablespoon of salt which is a ton! I changed it to taste. I also used diced tomatoes and it was fine. If you wanted to be more healthy you could probably omit the cream. I was tasting as I went and the soup tasted fine before adding it, I don't think it made it very creamy texture wise. Obviously I omitted the saffron because I'd rather pay our utility bill this month.

Check out my new Fiesta bowl totally rocking this soup!

Tomato-Orzo Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

(Adapted from Ina Garten, Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons good olive oil
3 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, preferably San Marzano (I used diced)
Large pinch of saffron threads (I omitted this)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup orzo
1/2 cup heavy cream
Grilled Cheese Croutons
Directions:
1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the chicken stock, tomatoes, saffron, salt (to taste) and 1 teaspoon pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, fill a medium pot with water, add 2 teaspoons salt and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and cook for 7 minutes. (It will finish cooking in the soup.) Drain the orzo and add it to the soup. Stir in the cream, return the soup to a simmer and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Serve hot with Grilled Cheese Croutons scattered on top.

Grilled Cheese Croutons

Ingredients:
4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices country white bread
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
Directions:
1. Heat a panini grill. Place the four slices of bread on a cutting board and brush lightly with the melted butter, being sure to butter the corners. Turn the slices over and pile Gruyere on two of the slices. Place the remaining two slices of bread on top of the Gruyere, buttered sides up.
2. Grill the sandwiches on the panini grill for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Place on a cutting board, allow to rest for 1 minute and cut into 1-inch cubes.

Roasted Shrimp Awesomeness!

I'm a sucker for shrimp cocktail. Especially when there are other things to slather in cocktail sauce like cheese, crackers and bread. Since this has been one of the longest and most hellacious weeks ever I decided we needed a little treat. Plus I had leftover horseradish and another shrimp recipe I wanted to try. Normally I just buy the precooked shrimp and adjust my recipes for that but this roasted shrimp recipe seemed like fun and uncooked shrimp is a whole two dollars cheaper at WF.

Behold the heavenly platter of awesomeness!

I liked this recipe, it was fun to roast the shrimp. I felt that there was a little bit of a texture difference if you knew to pay attention....they weren't as soft as precooked frozen shrimp. I loved the fact that they were seasoned and you could see that. The sauce was pretty good, had some depth to it but I'm just more of a straight up horseradish and ketchup girl. If it doesn't make you tear up then it's not hot enough!

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

(adapted from Ina Garten)

Ingredients
For the shrimp:
2 pounds (12 to 15-count) shrimp
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce:
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place them on a sheet pan with the olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread them in 1 layer. Roast for 8 to10 minutes, just until pink and firm and cooked through. Set aside to cool.
3. For the sauce, combine the chili sauce, ketchup, horseradish, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce. Serve as a dip with the shrimp.

Lame Lemonade

Well. You've got to have the bad with the good right? Kind of like my burned pancakes. I made some lemonade Sunday evening and it was lame, I didn't even try to make it look pretty. But you always have to try new recipes because you never know. At the moment if you desire lemonade I recommend Food Network's Perfect Lemonade or if you want to mix it up a bit their Cinnamon Grapefruitade. This one let me down, it was more like lemon water. While the simple syrup is an obnoxious part in the Food Network recipe it adds a nice sweetness that this recipe was missing. I was excited about the prospect of just throwing everything in the blender and having lemonade without slaving away over the stove but alas, it was not meant to be. I did like the addition of ice in the blender which not only chilled the lemonade but gave it a slightly slushy texture.

Fresh Lemonade

(Ina Garten....don't worry, I still love you.)

Ingredients:
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (5 to 6 lemons)
1/2 to 3/4 cup superfine sugar, to taste
1 cup crushed ice
4 cups water
Directions:
1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until completely smooth. Serve over ice.

Biscuits and such

It's not a cooking week. We're working on leftovers and freezer stuff. Today Woody's leftover meaty manly chili, tomorrow hot dogs! But the poor chili just needed a little something so I whipped up some biscuits. The biscuits came out wonderfully, like something Grandpa Norm would make! In continuing with my compound butter addiction I made some Marmalade Butter. It was good but I'm not sure I would make it again unlike my garlic butter or cinnamon honey butter. It's definitely more of a brunch thing and the Lawyer isn't really a fan of orange marmalade ("It's like eating pulp!") so I will be eating it all up myself.

Biscuits

(from seriouseats.com)

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick or 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cold cream cheese
1/2 to 3/4 cup cold buttermilk
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine all of the dry ingredients and mix well.
3. Add butter and pulse until butter is finely dispersed throughout dry ingredients.
4. Add cream cheese and pulse to distribute, leaving a few small, pea-sized pieces of cheese in tact. Turn mixture into a mixing bowl.
5. Drizzle in about a 1/3 cup of the buttermilk and toss gently with your hands to evenly distribute. Add more milk a tablespoon or so at a time until dough is just moist enough to come together without any dry crumbly bits.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Dust the surface of the dough lightly with more flour and pat the dough out to about ¾-inch thick.
7. Fold the dough back over on itself in thirds and pat out to about 3/4-inch thick again, flouring the surface lightly as needed to prevent the dough from sticking.
8. Fold the dough back over on itself in thirds again, then pat it out to a final thickness of about 1/2 inch.
9. Using a lightly floured 2 1/4-inch round cutter, cut the dough into rounds and place on prepared baking sheet, at least an inch apart. Scraps may be gently packed together, patted out to 1/2-inch thickness once more and cut.
10. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until biscuits are well-risen, pale golden on top and a deeper brown on their bottoms.

Marmalade Butter

(Ina Garten)

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, room temperature
1/2 cup good orange marmalade
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

1. Mix it all together and serve at room temperature