I decided to try something different and make soup but roast the cauliflower first.

Ingredients:

2 slices bacon
1 onion diced
1 cauliflower cut into individual florets.
olive oil
1 potato diced
1 head garlic
2 qts chicken stock
salt and pepper

Roasting cauliflower
Rub the cauliflower with olive oil and place on a sheet pan. Roast at 425 F until golden brown. About 30-40 mins.

Roasting garlic;
Remove the paperlike skin off a head of garlic. Do not separate or peel the individual cloves.
Cut the top off the head and rub the entire head with olive oil. Wrap in aluminum foil and put on the sheet pan with the cauliflower.
They should both be done about the same time.

Soup: In a large heavy pot render the bacon over a medium heat. When it is crispy, remove and dice. Don't discard the fat.
Sautee the onions in the bacon fat until tender.
Add the chicken stock, potato, and cauliflower.
In order to use the garlic, take each clove and squeeze. The garlic will pop out. Add it to the soup.
Bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper and reduce to a simmer. Note that you will need to reseason
after cooking because the cauliflower and garlic flavors aren't yet blended into the soup.

Puree the soup to the desired texture using an immersion blender. If one is not available just use a blender.
Simmer for at least 1/2 hour and longer if you are not starving.

The result should be a nice earthy soup with the bacon and garlic flavors coming through nicely.
Don't worry that the recipe calls for an entire head of garlic. After roasting it is nice and sweet not strong.

I had a bit of the hazelnut raisin bread left that was starting to go stale so I decided to make bread pudding.

The quantities of ingredients aren't critical. As long as there is enough liquid to cover the bread it is going to wind up being bread pudding. Also the flavoring ingredients can be altered to suit your palate.

Ingredients

• 3 or four slices of stale bread cut into chunks

• 1 cup milk
• 2 lightly beaten eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• orange zest
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup sweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup chokecherry syrup (any fruit flavored syrup should work)

Procedure

• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• Fill four small buttered ramekins with the bread.
• Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl (reserve 1/2 of the syrup and half of the cocconut).
• Pour the liquid over the ramekins, squishing down the bread to soak. The liquid should cover the bread.
• Sprinkle the reserved cocconut on top so it will toast.
• Place the ramekins in a water bath and bake until the filling sets (about 45 mins).
• Drizzle the remainder of the syrup over the top and serve warm.

Many thanks to my cousin's wife, Claire, for giving me the wonderful homemade chokecherry syrup.

This is an easy and forgiving recipe and it sure tastes better than stale bread.

I made an interesting bread over the weekend and thought I would share the recipe. I weigh the flours and liquids so some conversion will be necessary if you use volume measurements: 1 Cup of bread flour is about 130 gm and 10 oz of water is about 300 gm.

Ingredients

• 500 gm bread flour
• 300 gm water room temp
• toasted and chopped hazelnuts. The amount depends on how nutty you want it.
• raisins. Again quantity is your choice. I soaked them in Ouzo but water would work ok also
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbs honey
• 2 tsp yeast. about 1 pkg
• unsalted butter to brush on top

Procedure

• Mix the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer
• Pour the water gently in the center of the bowl
• Add the honey and yeast to the pool of water and stir the pool gently
• Let the yeast proof for 5 - 10 minutes
• Process the mixture in the mixer with a dough hook for 10 mins. Near the end of the time add in the raisins and hazelnuts.
• Form the dough into a ball and let it rise until doubled in bulk
• Pound the dough with your knuckles into a flat sheet and let it rest for 10 minutes
• Form the dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured pizza stone
• Let the dough rise again until nearly doubled in bulk
• Brush the top with melted butter
• Bake for 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 475 F.
• Reduce temp to 375 and continue baking until bread reaches an internal temp of 195F

As with most breads you may need to adjust the flour and/or water until the dough forms a nice consistency. It should cling to the dough hook and clean the side of the mixing bowl and be slightly sticky to the touch after kneading

I rarely keep track of time when baking because I find the internal temp to be a much better indicator. I think this was in the oven for about 1/2 hour.

I have modified a recipe from a cooking class The Seasoned Chef Cooking School and found it delicious. The original recipe by Chef Amy Hoyt used cranberries and golden raisins.

I had neither so I tried something different.

It isn't going to win any prizes for presentation but it tastes great.

Recipe

• 6 Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and cubed
• Toasted walnuts chopped.. I seldom measure. There was probably and cup and half
• 1 cup raisin, soaked for 1/2 hour in Grand Marnier (reserve the liquid)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp AP flour
• Zest of one orange

Preheat oven to 350 F

Toss walnuts, drained raisins, pears in a bowl and blend in syrup, vanilla and reserved Grand Marnier

Whisk sugar, flour and zest in a separate bowl and fold into fruit mixture.

Place in an unbaked pie crust and bake until brown and bubbly. (About 45 mins in my oven)

I use Chef Amy's perfect pie crust and feel it is aptly titled

Pie Crust

Process 2 sticks of frozen unsalted butter and 2 2/3 cups of AP flour in a food processor until it looks like coarse corn meal

With the processor running add 1/2 cup of ice water in a steady stream

Pulse until dough almost comes together

Form into two balls and either refrigerate or use immediately

This makes enough for a bottom and top crust. I used a lattice crust so had some left over.

I just topped the left over dough with cinnamon and sugar and baked it. Brought back childhood memories.

I made these cookies that I found here

The hardest part, well not hard but time consuming, was making the dulce-de-leche. I must have cooked it for four hours. I think I was too timid with the heat.

The cookies taste great and the filling is nice and smooth. I am not sure my palate can appreciate the large amount of constarch (1 cup). The taste is quite similar to a simple shortbread cookie to me.

For me the yield was about a dozen cookies. I am sure they will be gone long before I have to worry about them going stale.

The question is now what do I do with the remainder of the dulce-de-leche. I am sure I can think of something.

We made this last week in cooking class and I don't think they will mind if I share the recipe. It was delicious and I am not even fond of tomatoes.

• 1 9in unbaked tart shell
• 1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
• 2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese
• 6 medium ripe tomatoes thinly sliced
• 1T minced garlic
• 2T chopped thyme
• 1T olive oil.

Put dough in tart pan. Brush with Dijon. Cover with cheese. Layer tomato slices over cheese in concentric circles. Sprinkle thyme and garlic over top Drizzle with olive oil Bake ~ 40 mins in 400 degree oven.

I find this book quite interesting. The basic concept is that most "recipes" really involve certain ratios of ingredients and are then supplemented/altered for variations in flavor.

For example. Bread dough is 5 parts flour and 3 parts liquid (plus yeast and salt). Starting from that you can add whatever you like to get a different flavor but you still are going to wind up with bread.

If you use 1 part liquid, 1 part egg, 1/2 part flour you will have a crepe batter.

The book is available on Amazon here.

To see a list of other ratios choose the "Look Inside" feature and choose a search term of "ix" and you can navigate to that page of the introduction. I cannot print it here as it is copyrighted.

Enjoy

I have just been advised that there are a few spaces available in this Wednesday's class at The Seasoned Chef

Here is the agenda. Sweet, tangy, juicy and flavorful, a crunchy apple is Nature's perfect treat. From appetizers through dessert, the versatile apple is a flavorful addition to savory as well as sweet recipes. Chef Shellie's inspired recipes celebrate the variety of ways to use a variety of apples:

• Caramelized Apple, Spinach and Gruyère Tart
• Butternut Squash and Apple Soup with Herbed Goat Cheese Croutons
• Sautéed Pork Chops with Apples, Calvados and Mustard
• Spiced Apple, Pear and Raisin Crumble
• Honey Roasted Apples with Buttermilk Ice Cream