Eight Can Crock Pot Soup

The red crock pot has my soup. How does it look? 

I often think of soup as a satisfying dish you can spend all morning making - dicing vegetables, cutting up potatoes, stirring soup stock and, best of all, filling your kitchen with the aroma of homemade goodness. On a cold winter day, there's little more satisfying than busying yourself in the kitchen, knowing a big pot of soup awaits the end of your efforts.

This soup is, however, the exact opposite of what I've described since all you do is open up a bunch of cans and then wait for the crock-pot to do its magic.  It's easy and a good choice to serve up at a luncheon. Which is exactly what I did - and will do again, in the future.

One last specific note about this soup. The chili peppers in the Rotel tomatoes do add some spice.  I use the mild version and it still has a little bit of punch.

Eight Can Crock Pot Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 can Rotel tomatoes (tomatoes with chili peppers)
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can Veg-All mixed vegetables
1 can chili WITH BEANS
1 can chili WITHOUT BEANS
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
1 can vegetable soup

Directions:
Brown and drain ground beef. (OK...so I lied. This part involves more than opening a can.) Then add, but DO NOT DRAIN the Rotel tomatoes, corn, veg-all, chilis, diced tomatoes, and the soups. Turn crock pot to LOW, may simmer all day. Any leftovers can be frozen.

Buche De Noel

                                                           My version

I usually leave making the traditional buche de noel to Emily as she's good at it but, with no daughter in town this year, it fell on me to do the honor of creating a fake log cake.

What I like about the recipe Emily makes (beyond the obvious fact of one less thing I have to cook) is that it is actually a reverse to the usual chocolate cake with white center variety. Her version is a yellow sponge cake with chocolate ganache filling. I know...whoever heard of a blonde log, right? The original has white icing (snow?) but Emily usually uses more of the filling to make a light covering of dark on the outside. Realism aside, who cares? Hers tastes great and looks beautiful.

Before I detail what a disastrous time I had actually getting a final product to serve for our Christmas Eve dinner, let me start with the explanations and excuses. It was very late when I started making the components for the cake. I'm never all that alert at night and way less so when I've spent the entire day making other dishes, getting the house ready for company, and obsessing over the things I still needed to do. Chores I would normally NEVER leave to the last minute (little details like wrapping gifts) but did, this year. UGH, Christmas stress at its finest.

I made the cake batter, put it in the oven and then, because I was clearly out of my head, overturned the cake onto the kitchen counter. I don't even know how to explain what went wrong from here but, in trying to get it to a clean kitchen towel where it belonged, my cake fell apart completely. And so did I. It was late, I was tired, and I just wanted to scrap the whole project. I did scrap my ruined mess but I couldn't let go of the vision of serving this cake up as part of my menu for our Christmas Eve guests.

So, here we go again. 7 more eggs cracked and separated. The whites looked great beat to stiff peaks and I felt like I was finally on a roll to a successful roll. Until something went wrong with the batter. For some reason still not quite clear to me, my cake in batter form was looking way more like a very sticky bread dough. I tried adapting by throwing in more flour (did I leave a cup out?) but nothing could bring the mixture to what I knew it should look and feel like. Yes, believe it or not, I scrapped that batch and started AGAIN. At least I still had the whites mixture ready to go but that still meant I had to use seven more eggs. Are you keeping count? This means my buche du noel had now gobbled up 21 eggs, with no promise that there would ever be an actual finished cake to enjoy. Ahh, the joys of cooking.

Third times the charm, or 21st egg is the secret. Something like that. The cake finally got finished and, while not as good as Emily's, it was lovely to look at and pretty delicious. I followed the King Arthur recipe on the outer icing but, next time I make this, I'll do it Emily's way with just a light covering of the ganache. And I'll make sure I have plenty of eggs on hand.

Buche De Noel
Recipe from King Arthur Flour (and there is an excellent how-to video on their website)

CAKE  (This makes a lovely light sponge cake)
7 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
3/4 cup milk (2%, whole or fat-free, or half & half)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon creamy hazelnut flavor (optional, but very good)
simple syrup or hazelnut syrup or hazelnut liquor for brushing cake
confectioners' sugar for dusting the towel
CHOCOLATE GANACHE FILLING
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1/8 teaspoon creamy hazelnut flavor
FROSTING BARK
1 1/3 cups white chocolate chunks
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and spritz with cooking spray.
To make the cake: In a large bowl, whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add 1/2 cup of sugar, continue beating the whites until medium peaks form. Set whites aside.
In a small bowl whisk together the dry ingredients, including the remaining one cup of the sugar. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the egg yolks, oil, milk, vanilla and hazelnut flavoring until blended. Mix on medium speed until lightened and pale lemon colored. Add the dry ingredients and continue to mix, about 1 minute until well incorporated.
Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a large spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter, 1/3 at a time. Use gentle motions to preserve the air in the whites.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown on top and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan slightly.
To make the ganache: While the cake is baking, heat the cream until just simmering. Add the chopped chocolate and remove from the heat. Stir gently until the chocolate melts completely. Remove from the pan and place in a large bowl to cool. You may refrigerate or freeze the ganache to speed the cooling.
Once the ganache is cooled to pudding consistency, whip with a whisk or hand mixer until fluffy and frosting like.
Remove the cake from the pan by lifting the parchment paper. Place cake side up on the counter and trim off the edges of the cake to make rolling easier. Turn the cake over on a large, clean kitchen towel dusted with confectioners' sugar. Peel off the parchment paper.
Roll the cake up as though the towel were the filling. Cool the cake, rolled up, for 20 to 30 minutes.
Unroll the towel and remove it. Brush the cake with the simple syrup; let it sit for 5 minutes so the syrup can soak in.
Spread with the prepared ganache filling and re-roll. Place in the fridge to chill for 20 to 30 minutes. The roll can be wrapped tightly and frozen at this point for up to 3 months.
To decorate the cake: Melt 8 ounces of white chocolate very slowly over low heat in a double boiler. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and spread a thin layer of chocolate over the entire surface. Return to the fridge to set up, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Add a second layer of white chocolate to the cake, spreading the chocolate to resemble tree bark. A fork may be used to add texture by dragging the tines through the cooling chocolate. Once the chocolate has firmed, decorate as desired with a dusting of confectioners' sugar, cocoa or chocolate curls.
Cake will keep for about 3 days in the fridge, well covered. Let it warm up on the counter before serving.

Emily's version

Green Bean Casserole

Lots of folks love green bean casserole and don't consider it a holiday meal if that particular dish isn't on the table. I'm not one of those people. Up until this year, I hadn't tasted the dreaded green bean/soupy mess mixture for years and would have been perfectly content to let the rest of my life go by in the same green bean casserole-less state.

What changed my mind and made me search for a recipe I could tolerate was knowing that Gianne loves this same concoction I detest. In fact, I'd heard her tell someone that she didn't consider it a true holiday meal unless a green bean casserole showed up on her plate. Normally, I might've asked her to bring her version to the Christmas Eve dinner we were sharing with her family but how do you ask someone living with five people and two dogs in a hotel room to cook up a holiday dish? After selling their house right after Thanksgiving, the C family had been holed up in their tiny room at the Chase Suites, waiting to pack up the car and start the long drive to Washington state on...CHRISTMAS DAY! All of the details of their suddenly nomadic existence made my heart hurt. It also compelled me to try to create a beautiful Christmas Eve meal that would include their favorite foods...right down to the dreaded green bean casserole.

Not having made this dish in...pretty much forever, I asked Gianne what version she liked. Given a sketchy outline of what constituted a perfect green bean casserole in her eyes, I started searching the internet and found this version. Remarkably, I actually kind of liked how it turned out. Gone is the gloppy soup mixture I remember being the binding component of long ago casseroles. Instead, you get a less heavy cream sauce and LOTS OF ONIONS. How can you go wrong with a heavy layer of those crunchy Durkey onions?????

Now that Gianne and family are safely in their new home on the other side of the country, I doubt they will be coming to future holiday dinners here in Parkville, but I may well try this dish again, come Easter, or Thanksgiving, or Christmas 2017. And I'll think of my sweet friend.


THE BEST GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
Recipe courtesy of the Novice Chef blog
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1.5 pounds fresh green beans, rinsed and ends trimmed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 - 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
6 oz french fried onions

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish, set aside.
Blanch the beans: In a large pot, bring about a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil. Add the green beans and boil for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside.
Melt butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onions, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
Sprinkle in the flour and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and stir to combine. Then add the half and half and simmer until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in all of the green beans. Transfer green bean mixture to prepared casserole dish. Top with the bread crumbs and then layer the french fried onions on top.
Place casserole in the oven and bake until bubbly, about 20 minutes. If your onions start to brown too quickly, cover the casserole with foil. Serve immediately.

(You can assemble this dish the day before. If you do it that way, leave off the breadcrumbs and fried onions until you get ready to put the casserole in the oven. Add about ten minutes to the cooking time and cover with foil part of the time, to keep the onions from getting too brown and crispy.)