From Caitlin’s Kitchen: Spicy Tomato Soup

Number of Ingredients: 10

Number of Mistakes: 0

Recipe adapted from: Giada De Laurentiis

I’m shocked that I haven’t shared this recipe yet, as I have been making it for years, and it’s one of my all time favorites. It’s the perfect week night winter meal. It only takes about 30 minutes to make and you most likely have all of the ingredients in your kitchen.

The first time I made this recipe was for the first roommates I ever had, in the first house I ever rented. Four years later and I still love it. I always think of my roommate Sara when I make this soup. She absolutely loved it and wanted me to make it for her all the time. This is a very simple soup, so it’s fun to change up the ingredients and make it your own. I added potatoes to make it a little heartier. You could definitely add chicken, or ground beef, or any kind of vegetable. Play around with it, and it will surely become your go to soup.

Also, I have another adorable pup who is looking for a forever home! His name is Boomey and he is just shy of a year. He is a lab/basenji mix. His previous owners left him outside all of the time and didn’t give him the attention he deserves. He is incredibly sweet and loving, fully crate and potty trained and looking for someone to love him as much as possible! If you know anyone who is interested, send them my way!

Olive Oil

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 small onion, diced

2 baking potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1, 26 ounce jar marinara sauce

2, 14 ounce cans chicken broth

1 can cannellini (white) beans (kidney, pinto, or black work, too), drained and rinsed*

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup small pasta (I usually have fun with it and use stars or alphabets, but any small pasta will do)

salt and pepper

*Be sure to drain and rinse your beans well. The liquid they sit in is not particularly tasty and it contains a lot of salt.

Once you have peeled and cut your potatoes add to a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Cook until tender, drain and set aside.

In a large pot, add the olive oil, carrots and onions and cook until tender. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add the marinara, chicken broth, beans, red pepper flakes, pasta, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook until the pasta has cooked through. Be sure to stir occasionally, as sometimes the pasta likes to stick to the bottom. Once pasta is cooked, add potatoes and cook for another minute to warm them through and then serve. 

From Caitlin’s Kitchen: Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Number of ingredients: 12

Number of mistakes: 0

Recipe adapted from: smitten kitchen

What a busy couple weeks it has been! I’ve been volunteering for a local Marathon for the past couple of months, helping to prepare for race day, and it was finally this past weekend. I had to wake up at 4 AM last Sunday morning to start setting it up, and despite the early wake up call, it was a blast! I knew I needed something yummy to keep me going throughout the day, and these muffins were perfect.

Smitten Kitchen originally made these with rhubarb, but I had a ton of frozen blueberries on hand, and they worked incredibly well. These were the perfect combination of traditional blueberry muffin with a little bit of coffee cake streusel thrown in. 

For streusel: 

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch nutmeg

Pinch salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For batter:

1 egg

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, don’t worry about defrosting)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 1, 12 inch muffin tin.

Make streusel: In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, spices, and salt. Stir in butter and mix until crumbly. 

Make batter: Whisk together the egg and both sugars in a large bowl. Whisk in the melted butter, and then the sour cream. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Combine the flour mixture with the sour cream mixture, mixing until just combined. Add a 1/3 of the streusel mixture, and then the blueberries. 

Divide the batter evenly. It’s easiest to use an ice cream scoop, that way all of the muffins are about the same size. Top each muffin with a little bit of the streusel, being sure to press down into the batter to ensure it sticks. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Rest muffin in their pan, on a rack for two minutes, then flip out and allow to cool completely. 

From Caitlin’s Kitchen: French Apple Tart

Number of Mistakes: 0

Number of Ingredients: 8

Recipe courtesy of: Ina Garten

Shut.the.front.door. This is by far the best dessert I have ever made, and quite possibly ever will. I want to shout it from the roof tops! I want every person I know to have a taste of this masterpiece so they can experience what I did, pure bliss. Did I mention it’s also one of the simplest desserts I have ever made? Make pastry, cut apples, bake, brush on apricot glaze, watch your mind explode. Ina always knows best.

This is perfect to bake for guests because it looks so incredibly beautiful, everyone will think you slaved over it, when in reality it took longer to bake than it did to put together. It looks so rustic and quite frankly I could picture it in a little patisserie inParis. The pastry is perfectly flakey and the apples provide a bright, tart, burst of flavor. Don’t skip out on the apricot glaze, as it is the key ingredient to meld all the flavors together. I can’t wait to make this again.

For pastry:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced

1/2 cup ice water*

For apples:

4 Granny Smith Apples (or any other tart apple), peeled, cored and sliced thin

1/2 cup sugar

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced

1/2 cup apricot jam or jelly

2 tablespoons bourbon

*For the ice water, I usually place 1 cup of water in a small bowl and add a handful of ice cubes. When it is time to use the water, I scoop out a half cup. This ensures that the water is truly, ice cold.

For the pastry, place flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10 to 12 times, until the butter is in small pieces, about the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water down the feed tube and pulse until the dough just comes together. Dump out onto a floured work surface and form into a ball. Wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge for at least one hour. 

Once the dough has chilled, roll it out to the size of a baking sheet, about 10 x 14 inches. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and place the dough on top. Arrange the apples in a diagonal pattern on top of the pastry. Cover the apples with the half cup of sugar and evenly distribute the diced butter on top. Bake for about 45 minutes. You want the sugar and the apples to brown, but don’t worry it the edges start to burn, it’s a good thing. 

While the tart is baking, add the apricot jelly to a saucepan with the bourbon. Cook on medium heat until the jelly starts to melt. You can really use and liquor you like, I just love bourbon. You want the apricot jelly to thin out just slightly. When the tart is done, brush the warm apricot glaze over the top and serve. Your life will forever be changed!

From Caitlin’s Kitchen: Butternut Squash and Bacon Macaroni and Cheese

Number of Ingredients: 12

Number of Mistakes: 1

Recipe  adapted from: greens and chocolate 

I don’t even know where to start. I mean, all I really need to say is butternut squash and bacon! Two of my favorite things. Throw in some cheese and then bake it, are you kidding me? Who wouldn’t love this? I had really high expectations for this dish and it did not let me down! It has sky rocketed to the top of my fall favorites. It was incredibly easy to make. If you can fry up some bacon and turn on your oven, you’re set. The hardest part was cutting up the squash and that’s not even hard, it’s more of an adventure. The sweetness of the squash combined with the saltiness of the bacon, pure perfection. 

Alright, so let’s talk about the obvious. I burned the squash. But it didn’t ruin the dish. I thought I was doomed, but it turned out just fine. I’m not quite sure what I did wrong. I may have cooked them too long, or I may have not used enough olive oil. I need to make sure to keep a better eye on it next time, but I also think I need to make sure each piece of squash is coated with olive oil. Or maybe I need to turn the squash half way through cooking? Regardless it turned out phenomenal. 

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded, and chopped into 1 inch cubes

Olive oil for coating squash

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped (or 2 teaspoons dried)

salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1 pound small pasta (I used penne, but I think next time I would use rotini)

6 slices of bacon

1 large shallot, chopped

1/4 flour

2 cups milk

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated (or whatever you have on hand)

1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Toss the butternut squash with the olive oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper, being sure to coat well. Place on two baking sheets and bake in a 425 degree oven for 45 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye so it doesn’t burn! Place in a bowl when done and set aside. Turn the oven up to 450 degrees.

Fry up your bacon. Drain most of the bacon grease off and then add the shallots to the same pan. Shallots cooked in bacon grease? Yes, please!  Cook shallots until translucent. Remove from heat and add to the butternut squash. Once the bacon is cooled crumble and add to the squash and shallots.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with salt. Add pasta and cook until al dente, usually 8 to 10 minutes. Drain set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, add the flour and then whisk in the milk. Continue to whisk, bringing to a boil and cook until sauce thickens. Remove from heat, season with pepper and nutmeg. I made a mental note of watching the amount of salt I added to this dish. There was a fair amount on the squash, and then with the saltiness of the bacon, I decided not to add any to the onions or to the sauce. Add cheese and stir until fully melted. 

Combine the pasta and the cheese sauce and place on the bottom of a casserole dish. Top with the butternut squash, onion and bacon mixture. Add the freshly grated parmesan to the top and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. You are just trying to melt the parmesan and reheat everything, so it doesn’t need too long. Savor and devour!

From Caitlin’s Kitchen: Easiest Apple Cake

Number of Ingredients: 10

Number of Mistakes: 0

Recipe courtesy of: Mom

My apple quest continues! My Mom has made this cake a million times, but this is the first time I have ever made it, and I’m not sure why, it’s so simple! It’s a one bowl recipe, so it couldn’t be easier. I’m not quite sure where she got the recipe, but it seems to be very traditional. It’s more commonly known as a Raw Apple Cake, or a Jewish Apple Cake. I even noticed that good ole’ smitten kitchen had a recipe for it, but mine is a little different. 

This is definitely a cake for someone who loves apples, because they are the star of the show. The batter is very interesting, it’s not really like a batter at all. It’s more like a million apples surrounded by a little bit of flour and cinnamon. I swore  I had made it wrong because the batter looked so strange, but it came out perfectly. It is incredibly thick and it will look all wrong, but trust me, just throw it in the oven and in about an hour your house will smell of apples and cinnamon.

1 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1 eggs, beaten

4 cups apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (again, I used golden delicious)

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup walnuts, chopped

Here are my Mother’s intructions: Mix in numbered order. Put in large bunt or tube pan, greased. Bake at 325 for 60 plus minutes.

That’s it! But I’ll go into a little more detail.

In a large bow add the oil and sugar and mix to combine. Add the eggs. Add the apples and combine. Stir in the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. This is when the batter will start to look a little strange. So thick you can barely stir it! Add in vanilla and finally the chopped walnuts. 

Place batter into a well greased tube pan and bake at 325 for about 50-60 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.