Roasted Tomato Soup

Happy Halloween everyone!

I hope you are enjoying the holiday and indulging in all of the candy and other sweet treats that you possibly can.  Haven't had any candy yet?  Go find a child.  I give you permission to steal a handful from them if need be.  Let's be honest, they probably don't need extra energy anyways. 

Am I even allowed to say that?  Probably not.  Oops.  So, don't do that.  Or do.  Just do it politely.

Speaking of candy...Kaston and I popped into Target yesterday for a few things and somehow managed to leave with 4 bags of candy.  How is that even possible?  And it's not like we got it for the trick-or-treaters since we don't get trick-or-treaters in an apartment building...Needless to say there is a candy coma going on in this household.

I know this is a little last minute for a Halloween themed dinner...however it's a quick and incredibly simple soup to throw together.  So if you've got some time, grab the cauldron and get to brewin' this "bloody" tomato soup.

Roasted Tomato Soup... 

with skull and crossbones grilled cheese

Ingredients: Serves 2

Printable Recipe 

• 1 lb tomatoes (I used several different types)
• 1/2 yellow onion
• Fresh herbs (I used thyme)
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Shredded cheese and Basil optional for topping
• Optional (but highly recommended): Grilled Cheese

1. Grab those delicious looking tomatoes and slice em' up.

2. Grab a few sprigs of fresh herbs.  Also cut up the onion into pretty thick slices.

3. Place onions, tomatoes (cut side up), and herbs on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and pepper.  Set oven temperature at 375° and roast for 30 minutes.

4. I roasted the garlic in my fancy shmancy little garlic roaster.  It you don't have one of these odd little contraptions, wrap the garlic up in some foil and throw it on the baking sheet.

5.  After thirty minutes your tomatoes and onions should be nice and soft.  Grab them out of the oven and heat 2 cups of chicken broth with 1 tablespoon of tomato paste in a medium sauce pot.  Slide all of the goods off of the baking sheet and into the pot.  Let this simmer for 15-20 minutes.  After simmering, transfer contents into a blender and give it a whirl.  Consider your preference for texture while doing this.  Because it's totally up to you!  Put everything back in the pot and add the heavy cream.  Keep over low heat until ready to serve.

6. I topped mine with shredded gruyere/cheddar and a little bit of basil.

7. Time to EAT!  Or make your grilled cheese...

8. Shiver me timbers.

9. Now it's definitely time to eat!

By the way...I would love to hear about or see any treats you cooked up for the Halloween weekend! 

Coming Up: Halloween will soon be over and you'll need a way to get rid of some of that extra candy you've got hanging around.  Don't worry...I have a scrumptious little recipe to solve that problem.

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"Mummus" Melts

Alright Mr. Winter, 

This isn't okay.  I was quite upset by the small amount of snow you spit out Thursday night but, I got over it.  Moved on.  Forgave you even.  And what do you decide to send next?  A nor'easter you say?  Oh that's hilarious!  Listen pal, it's October.  Therefore no one is ready or excited about the 10-15 inches of snow outside of Boston and the 2-6 inches in the Boston area that this storm is supposed to bring.  So, I (and probably everyone else in the area) have decided that you should go away.  Please and thank you.

Obviously I'm not happy about this weather.  However, looking on the bright side of things...it is Halloween weekend!  And Halloween weekend is always entertaining, especially in a big city.  There are always a ton of great events as well as some of the best people watching of the year.  Even if you have to stand in a foot of snow to do so.

In celebration of this "horrific" weekend I have prepared this fun little snack.  It's super easy and more importantly super delicious!

The original non-mummified recipe comes from (Never Home) Maker.  She has a wonderful site full of healthy recipes that you should head on over and take a peak at. 

The Parts: (for 2 Mummus Melts)

• 1 English muffin 
• Hummus
• Handful of spinach
• 1 clove garlic
• Olive oil
• Drop of lemon juice
• 1 string cheese
• 4 black olives

Assembly:

1. Toast the muffin.

2. Grab the hummus.  You can use store bought of course (like I did) or if you are amazing and have the time (unlike me) you can make your own.  Click here for the Pioneer Woman's Classic Hummus recipe.  I'm sure it's delicious.

3. Spread a good amount of hummus on each muffin.

4. For the spinach, heat a tiny bit of olive oil in a small skillet with one clove of garlic.  Add a handful of spinach.  Saute for just a few minutes.

5. Add spinach to the muffins.

6. Place strings of cheese on top of the spinach to create the "wrappings".  Also add the black olives for eyes.

7. Turn your oven broiler on and melt the cheese.

8. And then...take a bite if you dare!

Coming up: Keep an eye out for some Halloween treats!  And don't worry...I haven't forgotten about the Manly meal or the salsa tutorial!  Hope everyone has a spooktacular weekend!

Maple Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

Six days since the last post and you were probably thinking "I knew it!  I knew this frequent blogging wouldn't last."  But here I am!  Just proving you wrong.  For now anyways.

So the reason for the tiny delay was due to a weekend spent in Vermont!  Since we moved to Boston we have done a wonderful job exploring the region and Vermont was the last surrounding state that we had yet to visit.  So what better time than now, while the leaves are bright and beautiful, apple cider is to be had everywhere, and there isn't 10 feet of snow piled on the ground.

We basically spent the weekend driving around (as usual) stopping every once in a while so see the sites, including the Ben and Jerry's Factory (with free yummy samples!), the Magic Hat Brewery, Cold Hollow Cider Mill, and the great city of Burlington just to name a few.  It's a state that everyone should visit if given the chance.  It's quite a relaxing change compared to the hustle and bustle of the big city.

See that beautiful picture of the truck?  Kaston took it.  And it's incredible.  Isn't he just the coolest?

While we were there we stayed at this great Austrian themed bed and breakfast.  The accommodations were lovely and the breakfast was to die for.  So much so that it inspired me to come home and make a breakfast treat that involved maple syrup AND bacon.  Yeah you heard me. 

Maple Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins...

with bacon crumbles. 

 Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup oats
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup butter (melted)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 5 or 6 bacon strips (cooked and crumbled)

Optional Toppings:

• 1/4 cup syrup
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons butter.

1. In a large bowl mix oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

2. Crack an egg into a smaller bowl.

3. Melt 1/4 cup butter.

4. Add butter to egg and whisk together.

5. Next you'll add the milk, vanilla, syrup, and sour cream.  Mix it all up.

6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Mix until all the lumps are out of it.  (The lumps in this picture are oats of course!)

7. BACON!  Mmm Bacon.  Crumble it up and throw it in the batter.

8. Preheat the oven to 350° and bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes.  For the first batch I topped with a maple syrup butter consisting of 1/4 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup maple syrup.

9. For the second batch I topped with a pecan crumble.  1/4-1/2 cup chopped pecans, 3 tablespoons flour, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons melted butter.

10. Grab a nice cup of tea (my favorite is Good Earth original!) or a steamy cup of coffee and...Eat!

Just a few more things...

As some of you may know, I live with 2 crazy musicians.  And these two crazies have finally put together a site of their own.  They are great guys with some amazing tunes and you should definitely check them out.  They would love it.  And you will too.  Here's the link: My Politic Music  Go give them some lovin'!

 Coming up: I've had a request for "Man Food" so I'll see what kind of manly concoction I can come up with.  I've also had an offer for a little authentic salsa making lesson.  So, hopefully I'll be able to share that in the near future as well!

Quesadillas de Camarones

As some of you may know, those deprived little parents of mine are being FORCED to spend the next 2 weeks in Mexico relaxing by the pool...or the beach...or the bar...or all three.  Don't you just feel absolutely horrible for them?

No, no you don't.  Not at all.  (Even if they are adorable in this picture.) And you shouldn't.  You should be just as angry and/or jealous as I am that they didn't include either one of us.  So rude.

So, to spite them (or make myself feel just a tiny bit better) I decided to have a little fiesta of my own!  A fiesta that included shrimp and cheese and salsa and guacamole.  Mmmm delicioso!

Quesadillas de Camarones

...served with salsa and homemade quacamole

Ingredients: 

Makes 4 Quesadillas

• 1/2 red onion
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 lb precooked shrimp
• handful cilantro
• handful green onion
• juice of 1 lemon
• teaspoon old bay seasoning
• pinch of chili powder
• salt and pepper 
• around 2 cups of shredded cheese (I used a combination of Swiss/Gruyere and a Mexican blend)
• 8 tortillas
• butter and olive oil for pan

1. Grab the red onion, and peppers.  Dice them up and throw them in a pan with a bit of olive oil.  Saute until soft.

2. While your veggies are sauteing, throw the little shrimps (ha!) in a bowl.  These are precooked and thawed but fresh shrimp would be delightful!

3. Add a handful of chopped cilantro as well as a handful of chopped green onion.

4. Next squeeze in the juice of one whole lemon.

5. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning.

6. And a pinch of Chili Powder.  More or less depending on how spicy you like it.

7. Don't forget to throw in a bit of salt and pepper.  Once everything is in the bowl, stir it all up and let it marinate for 10-30 minutes.

8. While the shrimp is marinating you can shred the cheese.  There isn't a specific measurement for this.  Just enough to make it ooze out when you take a bite.  Nor is there a specific kind of cheese you must use.  Just whatever floats your boat!

9.  Next: Gather the goods necessary for assembly: Veggies, Shrimp, Cheese, Tortillas, Butter.

10.  Assembly time.  1) Melt a small amount of butter in the pan and then toss on the first tortilla.  Top with cheese.  2) Pile on the rest of the goods.  I also added beans and rice.  3) Layer with more cheese.  4) Place second tortilla on top.  Place a bit more butter in the pan and flip until both sides are golden.

11. Cut in triangles and EAT (or COME for all of you Spanish speakers)

12. I served these with salsa and homemade guacamole.  Sour cream would be yummy too!

Coming up: I've been digging through my very old (1915, I think) Boston Cooking School Cookbook looking for some goodies.  There are several handwritten recipes on scraps of paper that caught my eye...how do you feel about date bars?

Lemon Basil Alfredo

Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme finally has a new look!

What do you think?  Likey?  No likey?

I still have a few more things up my sleeve that I want to add but I'm pretty happy with it so far, and I hope you are too!  Don't forget to take a look around and explore the new features.  Especially the "Blogs I'm Sweet On" section...these people are all amazing!

As I mentioned last time I was asked to post an Alfredo recipe...and since I love suggestions I jumped right to it.  *Hint hint...you should leave me as many suggestions in the comments section so I can make something for you!*

This isn't your classic Alfredo recipe but it is....creamy, cheesy, lemony, and just downright dreamy.  The lemon adds this magical element that keeps you from feeling like you just ate an entire stick of butter, which comes with some Alfredo sauces.  Luckily there is still enough cream and cheese to lure in those picky eaters.

Let's get to luring...(what a strange, strange word)

 Lemon Basil Alfredo...adapted from the Pioneer Woman.

 Ingredients:

• penne noodles 
• 1 cup water (drained from cooked pasta)
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 2-3 lemons
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups of cheese (I used Parmesan and a Swiss/Gruyere mix)
• fresh basil
• garlic
• chicken breast (optional)
• cheesy garlic bread (also optional)

1. Make a big pile (or two) of cheese.  There should be 1 1/2 - 2 cups.

2. To be honest...I didn't exactly measure.  Set this aside for now.

3. Chop up a good amount of basil.  20 leaves or so.

4. Cook your pasta.  I used whole wheat.  But you don't have to.

5. When the pasta is cooked, drain and save 1 cup of the water.

6. In the same pot, melt 1/2 a stick of butter.  Did I mention this is a 1 pot meal?

7. Throw three minced cloves of garlic to butter. 

8. Add 3/4 cup heavy cream to butter and garlic.

9. And then 1/4 cup half and half.

10. Grab 2-3 lemons.

11. Squeeze the daylights out of those lemons.

12. Now you need to add those large mountains of cheese.  Stir until the cheese is melted.

13. Add that one cup of pasta water that you reserved earlier.  Allow 10 minutes for the sauce to thicken just a little bit.  *The sauce is somewhat thin so don't be alarmed!  It works out perfectly!*

14. Add the cooked pasta and basil leaves that you chopped up earlier.

15. Mix with a spoon until noodles are covered with sauce.

16. Dish into a bowl and top with MORE cheese!

17. I also added Trader Joe's sun dried tomato basil chicken.  Time to EAT! 

Coming up: Hmm....I think I have a sweet tooth coming in.