Some Cheesy Goodness...and Then Some

Cheese.  I love it.  I love all types of cheese.  Bleu...parmigiano reggiano...cheddar.  You name it..and I'll eat it.  Cheese was an inspiration in several of the dishes featured in today's blog post.  I've dabbled in a little bit of everything over the past week or two.  We have a loaf of cheddar bread, cheeseburger soup and spaghetti carbonara.  While I made the bread and the soup my husband is the king of the carbonara. It's one of my fave comfort foods and my husband has mastered the recipe.

This soup is not for the faint of heart.  It's thick and hearty and incredibly rich.  I've tweaked the recipe over the years and tried to cut out a few of the calories by switching out whole milk for 2% (I've tried it with skim but felt that the soup really lost something when I cut out that much of the fat).  As always with soups and stews we eat with a chunk of crusty bread.  Here is the recipe and photos of the final product:

Cheeseburger Soup

 Ingredients:

½ lb ground beef

¾ c chopped onion
¾ c shredded carrots
¾ c chopped celery
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
4 tbsp butter
3 c chicken broth
4 c cubed potatoes
¼ c all-purpose flour
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 ½ c 2% milk
¼ c sour cream

Directions:

In a large pot, melt 1 tbsp butter over medium heat.  Cook and stir vegetables (not the potatoes) and beef, until beef is brown.

Stir in basil and parsley.  Add broth and potatoes.  Bring to a boil, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes.

Melt the remainder of the butter and stir in flour.  Add the milk, stirring until smooth.  Gradually add milk mixture to the soup, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.  Stir in cheese.  When cheese is melted, add sour cream and heat through.  Do not boil.  Serve.

 

Now, sticking with our "cheesy" theme we have THE cheese bread.  Like so many I peruse the recipes and ideas on Pinterest.  I have tried quite a few recipes from the site and they have all been fabulous.  Recently I found a recipe for cheese bread.  The bread is supposed to be reminiscent of the cheddar bay biscuits served at Red Lobster.  I actually think the bread is even better than the biscuits.  I've also found that he bread is SO good sliced and toasted in a toaster oven.  The bread is so rich there isn't a need for butter.  It's simply great on it's own. 

Cheese Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup sour cream
3 Tablespoons of butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

Heat oven to 350.

Spray 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with baking spray and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients.

Carefully stir in shredded cheese and cheese cubes until covered in flour mixture. This will help prevent your cheese sinking to the bottom of your loaf of bread.

In a different bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.

Fold the wet mixture into the flour and cheese mixture.  Stir until just combined. Do not over stir.
Pour and spread the mixture into the loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes and then remove from pan. Allow to cool for one hour before slicing and serving.

Our final product:

Now, the spaghetti carbonara cannot be credited to me.  Well..it can in the respect that it is MADE for me by my wonderful hubby (and the world's best food photographer).  I know that I go on and on about comfort food and quite frankly I can't help it.  Food is comfort.  I know that goes against everything we hear nowadays.  Food is only supposed to be fuel..and not bring you comfort.  I disagree.  I believe in eating everything and anything..in moderation.  That said..this is comfort to millionth degree.  When plating just remember that a little goes a looooong way with this dish. 

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Ingredients:

Salt

2 Tbsp
¾ c pancetta, cut into a ¼ inch dice
1 lb percatelli
8 large eggs
½ c parmigiano
½ c pecorino
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

 
Bring a large pot of well salted water to boil over medium heat.
 
Add about 2 tablespoons olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the pancetta and cook until it starts to color and turn crisp.  Turn off the heat and reserve.
 
Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook one minute less than stated on the package.

While pasta is cooking crack the eggs into a large bowl.  Add the grated cheese and salt.  Whisk vigorously until combined.  Season generously with black pepper.

When the pasta is just about done return pan with pancetta to medium heat.   Remove the pasta from the cooking water.  Toss the pasta into the pancetta to coat with remaining fat in the skillet.  Immediately and vigorously stir the eggs into the pasta.  Cook for 1 to 2 minutes stirring constantly until the egg begins to look like a cream sauce.  Serve immediately.

 

Finally..totally unrelated to cheese...dessert.  In an earlier blog post I made and featured a strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream.  The cupcakes are being made for a friend's baby shower.  This week I made the chocolate counterpart to those cupcakes.  Not just a chocolate cupcake but a chocolate cupcake that is stuffed with a salted caramel swiss buttercream.  Now..swiss buttercream is like NOTHING you have ever experienced before.  It is so light and creamy and to die for yummy.  It is worth every bit of time it takes to make it.  I have borrowed the recipe from my fave blogger Sweetapolita.  She really knows her stuff. 

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1 c Dutch process cocoa

2 c boiling water
1 c butter, softened
2 c sugar
4 large eggs
2 ¾ c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp coffee

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine cocoa and boiling water in large heatproof bowl stirring until blended and smooth; set aside and cool completely.

Beat butter at medium speed w/paddle attachment under creamy; gradually add sugar, beating until blended.  Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Beat at low speed until just blended after each addition.  Stir in coffee.

Place cupcake liners in 2 -12 cup muffin pans and spray with cooking spray.  Scoop batter into cups filling 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until toothpick inserted center comes out clean.  Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks and cool completely.

Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients:

½ c butter, softened

½ c unsweetened cocoa
1/3 c heavy whipping cream
1/8 tsp salt
1-16 oz powdered sugar

Directions:

Beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed with a paddle attachment until creamy.

Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended.  Beat at high speed 2 minutes or until creamy.

 

Salted Caramel Swiss Buttercream (for filling)

Yield: 4 cups

Ingredients:

1 c sugar

1/4 c water

1/4 c heavy cream

generous pinch of sea salt (and additional sea salt, preferably Fleur de Sel, for sprinkling

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 large egg whites

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

The first step is making the salted caramel (you can also do a non-salted caramel by omitting the sea salt), to set aside to cool while you make the Swiss Buttercream. You then add the cooled caramel sauce it to the buttercream as the very last step.

Place 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the water in a medium saucepan to a boil over medium heat. Brush down the sides of the pot with a dampened pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming. Stop stirring and cook until caramel is dark amber, gently swirling from time to time. Remove from heat, and slowly add cream, whisking by hand until smooth. It will be splatter, so be careful. Whisk in sea salt and vanilla. Let cool.

Place butter in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (flat beater) and beat on medium speed (I use #4 on my mixer), until pale and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer clean with lemon juice, and place egg whites and remaining sugar into bowl over a pot of simmering water (not boiling–you don’t want to cook the eggs). Whisk occasionally and gently until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160° on a candy thermometer.

Remove the bowl from heat, and place back onto the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form (about 5-6 minutes). Once the bottom of the bowl is neutral and no longer warm to the touch, reduce speed to medium-low, and add beaten butter, one cup at a time, whisking well after each addition.

Switch to paddle attachment. With mixer on low speed, add cooled caramel, and beat until smooth (about 3-5 minutes).

*Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Caramel Buttercream

 

 

 

The top pic is of the homemade salted caramel sauce that was blended into the swiss buttercream. 

I hope that you decide to try one of a few or ALL of the recipes this time around.  As always I welcome any comments and feedback.  Happy Cooking!!