Rainy Day Comfort Foods



It's nice and rainy today. I can't complain, I wanted warmer weather (it was about 41, but much cooler now), but I guess I can't have it warm and dry. After running errands, I came home to make some cream of broccoli soup and then decided to make those chocolate cupcakes that have been haunting me for weeks now. That, and I got a bit tired of organizing papers and cleaning. There's nothing better on nice rainy chilly day than a warm oven and smells of chocolate wafting through your home. And to the delight of my neighbors, when they come home from a hard day's work, they will smell the chocolatey goodness and smile.

The cream of broccoli soup is something I've made for years. I found some nice looking broccoli crowns at the store yesterday and since I hadn't made the soup in a while, figured I deserved a treat. I use the real stuff too; heavy cream. I'm ashamed to say, though, that when I'd started sauteing the onions, I discovered that my beloved garlic was past its prime. Not a lot of sweet garlic oil left, so I had to improvise with powdered garlic. I'm so ashamed. I haven't cooked in so long. It used to be I never ran out of the stuff. The pieces I chopped only added a garlic "look" I guess you could say. It was nice and creamy, filling. The broccoli was perfectly blanched; the crisp green color invigorated me. I had two (small) bowls.

The cupcakes are a basic chocolate sponge cake recipe I got from my school days and to the Italian buttercream recipe I added some white chocolate. I ate one cupcake almost right out of the oven, and then another just after frosting them. I was young again for a few minutes. I'm definitely cutting back next week. I've already told one of the line cooks no more mac & cheese for 2 weeks (I don't think I could go a month without it).

I suppose now I should clean up this place a bit if for no other reason than to burn some calories. I'll probably end up on the couch watching a movie or something. Let's just hope I don't make a pan of brownies. I've been dreaming of making some this past week.

Comments

jasmine said…
I love that top picture with all the clouds of white!

j
9:20 PM
Erin said…
Thanks, I call them little clouds of happiness. They are deceptively light. I had to take the rest to work and give them away.
8:53 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

L2O Pain au Lait Rolls

Image
Last year for my birthday, I had the pleasure of dining at L2O, a fine dining restaurant that tastefully uses "molecular gastronomy" here in Chicago. I'd done a stage there, unfortunately it did not work out, but I am still quite impressed with Laurent Gras' food philosophy, how well run and organized the kitchen was, as well as the vibe between the cooks. Anyway, months later I had the pleasure of receiving the recipe for their pain au lait rolls via email from Time Out Chicago . These rolls were so good that I chose them more often than the others that were offered in selection from their bread basket. I'd filed the recipe away, and recently had the pleasure of making some for a dinner party. Initially the recipe was converted from weight in ounces to volume, so when I made it, not only did I double-check the accuracy (I found discrepancies) I converted it to a more accurate gram measure. So, pulling out my measuring cups, I converted it correctly to grams...
Read more

Key Lime Pie

Image
I will admit that I don't like a lot of citrus desserts.  I like my lemons sour-I eat them with salt-and I'm not too keen on key lime pies, though my mother loves them.  Making lemon curd is torture to me.  To stand over the pot, stirring the mix of yolks, lemon juice and sugar while smelling the proteins in the yolks coagulate is not a thing of pleasure.  I honestly think it stinks myself, but to each his/her own.  This doesn't mean I don't make the things I don't like very well.  In the world of pastry, you have to cook for your guests and customers, even if that means making something you don't eat. When changing jobs, going into a new kitchen and executing the previous chef's menu, you're torn between keeping their style, and asserting your own (these events are often booked months in advance, and some have tastings where the expectations are established).  So when I read Deconstructed Key Lime Pie on the menu, like a flip book, the ideas flicker...
Read more

Taste of Chicago

Image
Bear with me. I took photos when I went yesterday, but since those photos include my friend's daughter, I won't post them here. Instead, I'll feature the biggest reason I returned to the Taste this year: the Original Rainbow Cone. I introduced myself to this addicting delight last year. The only day I had off to go to the Taste was on the last Saturday of the event (I believe) and it was the worst day to go. Everyone and their aunt-uncle-cousin-grandma-greatgrandpa-was there. I had to fight to get to the food, fight my way out to Buckingham Fountain to enjoy the view of the lake and to eat my food without an elbow in my face, then fight my way back into the crowd to start all over again. I don't know how I ended up in the monster of a line for the ORC, but I did know that it had to be worth it, seeing as how I practically had to fight to keep my place in line. When I finally got to the counter, I took my cone back out to free space and began to enjoy the best ...
Read more