Can you believe that it is already November 7th?  Most of the leaves have been blown down from the trees and they are littering the sidewalks.  My favorite market has moved a little farther north to its indoor/winter location and Thanksgiving seems to be just around the corner.  One of the best things about this time of year is the plethora of apples.  I can’t seem to go to the grocery store or the farmers market or a friend filled trip to the pumpkin patch without coming home with a armful of apples.

Some of these apples end up in a packed lunch, or eaten straight from the fridge, whole. Eventually, however, I can’t keep up. In the past I might transform the apples into a pie, but this time around, I decided to turn them into butter. Apple Butter.

Apple Butter is basically apple sauce, that has been given extra time to cook down with a few extra spices to get it a full and rich flavor. Last season I purchased Apple Butter from Seedling not knowing how easy it is to make my own. Take whatever apples you have stockpiled. I had a half a peck of Macintosh plus maybe 4 or 5 random extras. Sit with a big bowl and maybe catch up on a missed episode on Hulu while you peel, core and slice them up. Then you mix them with a little lemon juice and zest, Brandy (or Calvados if you have it), some cider and a cinnamon stick and let them cook down slowly for an hour. After a quick moment with the immersion blender, add a handful brown sugar, more cinnamon (ground this time) and a few other spices and let it cook until it turns into a magically thick and fragrant spread.

I had some this morning on toast, topped with over easy eggs paired with a mug of steaming hot intelligentsia. The perfect Saturday morning breakfast if you ask me.  A jar of homemade apple butter would make a great holiday gift or Thanksgiving hostess present.

Apple Butter (printable recipe)
Recipe adapted from The Kitchen Sink (where I tend to  find lots of inspiration)

Approx. 4 pounds apples (half a peck plus a few-this is obviously flexible), peeled, cored and cut in wedges
zest and juice from 1 lemon
1 cup apple cider (I used Seedlings Tart Cherry since its what I had…yum)
1/4 cup Brandy (or Calvados if your liquor cabinet is well stocked)
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 cup brown sugar (just throw in a handful)
1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch cloves or allspice
pinch salt

Combine the apples, lemon juice, lemon zest, cider, brandy and cinnamon stick in a large, heavy dutch oven. Set the pot over low heat, allowing the mixture to come to a gentle simmer. Simmer for an hour, until the apples are very soft. Carefully remove and set aside the cinnamon stick.

Puree the apples with an immersion blender. (if you don’t own one, allow the apples to cool and puree in batches in a food processor or even a blender if you must, just don’t liquify). Return the puree and the cinnamon stick to the stove and re-heat over low heat. Stir in the sugar, spices and salt and cook for another hour or so, until the mixture is very thick.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Can I let you in on a little secret?  My current kitchen obsession doesn’t revolve around my KitchenAid, or my growing collection from The Spice House, or gearing up for the Holiday cooking season.  My obsession lies with my freezer.

A packed full freezer is a beautiful thing. On the nights where I just don’t feel like cooking, I have a quart of some lovely soup ready to be thawed and paired with a salad and some crusty bread. Now that the clocks have fallen back, darkness creeps in at 5PM, which only reminds me that winter is just around the corner.

Good thing I have quarts of sweet corn, sliced peaches and pitted sour cherries ready to be dug out of a corner and transformed into a sweet reminder that the snow will thaw, and summer will come again.

Jalapeño Cheddar Scones I saw over at the Smitten Kitchen…freeze-ability. It never fails that when I make a full loaf or batch of something, the last quarter sits on the counter and goes bad (note to self: add mini loaf pans to wish list). But when I see a recipe where I can freeze pieces individually, to be baked off while the aforementioned soup is defrosting on the stove, I jump at it. These scones fit the bill.

Jalapeño-Cheddar Scones (printable recipe)
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, via NYMag

I love a good scone but I always associated scones with something that is sweet. These scones almost turn out somewhat like a dense layered, cheesy biscuit that is oh so delicious.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold butter, diced {stick the diced butter on a plate in the freezer}
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 eggs {3 if you want to use one for an egg wash; I didn’t}
1/4 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, diced
2-3 small jalapeños pepper, minced {Don’t worry too much about the heat, these are really not spicy scones at all; somewhat to my dismay}

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a small skillet, melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter and sauté the jalapeños until they soften, about two minutes. Let them cool, then place them in a small bowl with the cheddar cheese and coat them with one tablespoon of the flour. Combine the remaining flour with the baking powder and salt. Cut in the remaining butter with a pastry blender, until the butter bits are pea sized.

Lightly whip two of the eggs and cream and then add to the pea sized flour-butter mixture. Using a wooden spoon, fold mixture until it begins to come together. Add the cheddar-jalapeño mixture to the dough and mix until everything is incorporated.

Turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead gently for less than one minute. Pat dough out to a 3/4- to 1-inch thickness {make sure to get it thin enough, mine were a tad thick and kinda puffed up a lot once they were baked-not a bad thing, just not as pretty} and either cut into 8 triangles or the shape of your choice with a biscuit or round cookie cutter.

Optional: Make an egg wash by beating the remaining egg with a teaspoon of water. Brush the scones with egg wash.

Place scones on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Scones are always best the first day which is why it is great to flash freeze any you don’t plan on eating. Simply stick the scones on a baking sheet and pop in the freezer until they are frozen. Remove from the baking sheet and store in a freezer strength zip tock bag. Add a few minutes to the baking time if necessary.

I have been wanting to have a party. I thought about celebrating Lucy’s birthday (but some might think its weird to throw a party for a cat) or the fact that we all passed the Bar (but what if someone didn’t and I just didn’t know about it) but when I realized that Halloween was rollin’ around with no plans, I jumped on the opportunity to have a party. I have spent the past two days planning out an appetizer menu of sorts, shopping and starting the process of cooking everything but as soon as I saw these TKOs over at The Kitchn, I knew something that had to be on the list.

What are “TKOs” you ask? Only the famed Thomas Keller Oreos. While I haven’t had the opportunity to sample the real thing at Bouchon Bakery (believe me the first time I make it to Yountville, I know what I’m getting) but I have sure heard about them.

I made them this morning, along with some stuffed mushrooms that I will surely tell you about, and I am excited that the turned out as well as they did. I tried one that broke a little when I moved it to the cooling rack (don’t you love when that happens?) and they are delicious. The cookies aren’t sweet but combined with the white chocolate ganache they are divine. It makes me excited to one day try the real thing. As you can see, I made one batch with a bat cookie cutter, but the rest just in a circle because they were easier to handle. I foresee making heart shaped with a little pink in the frosting.

Thomas Keller Oreos (TKOs) (printable recipe)
from The Essence of Chocolate
Idea inspired by The Kitchn

Cookie:
1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
15 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 3/4″ cubes, at room temperature

Filling:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz. white chocolate, chopped

For the Filling: In a small pan, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute, then whisk to melt the chocolate until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, and let stand for 6 hours to thicken up.

For the Cookies: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low speed. With the mixer running, add the butter, a piece at a time. The mixture will be dry and sandy at first, but over 2 minutes, will form pebble-sie pieces that start to cling together.

Preheat oven to 350F. Seperate dough into 2 pieces. Roll each piece of dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper to 1/8″ inch thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut into rounds or bats. Scraps can be pieced together and rolled out again. I found that it was good to stick the dough in the fridge because it became hard to work with when it got warm. Place 1/2″ apart on baking sheets lined with Silpat liners or parchment paper.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove and cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Cool completely.

To Assemble: Lightly whip the white chocolate cream to aerate and fluff up. Using an offset spatula, spread a thing layer of cream onto one cookie. Top with another cookie to sandwich. Gently press down until the cream comes to the edges.

Cookies can be stored in a container for up to 3 days.

Saturday marks the last day that Green City is outdoors (and right outside my apartment).  Luckily the market continues on throughout the winter, but it moves 8 blocks north which requires a chilly walk, bus or bike ride to attend.  Although I have been enjoying the colors of fall and the thoughts of the upcoming holiday season, I will admit that it is going to be sad to no longer have the late summer produce explosion of the market to be inspired by.  I did prepare a little bit by stuffing my freezer full of pitted sour cherries and sweet corn cut from the cob that will surely brighten a mid-winter day.  Last week I was excited to see a new fall arrival to the markets: cranberries.

I like squashes and pumpkins like everyone else, but fresh cranberries are a new experience altogether.  Prior to my food blog, cranberries always had the association of that stuff from a can that no one touched at Thanksgiving or chugging the juice to ward off a high school UTI.  However, that all changed last year with this Cranberry Nut Bread.  I picked up a bag full of cranberries on a whim at the market and that purchase became my first picture to get accepted at Tastespotting.  This year I looked for a new recipe for my impulse cranberry buy.

After I learned about Gourmet’s demise, I decided to check out The Gourmet Cookbook from the library to see if it was a book I should add to my wish list (PS-it is).  One of my favorite things about the Chicago Public Library is the fact that they have a pretty good cookbook selection and a great online system where you just request books and they deliver them to any location in the city for you to pick up.  (Any Chicago readers out there without a CPL Card, get on it, it is awesome.)  I simply went to the index and found the cranberry coffee cake recipe and immediately knew that I wanted to make it.  I also have a cranberry chutney recipe tucked away to end up on the Thanksgiving table.

This was a perfectly fluffy cake that was just a tad sweet and would be perfect at a brunch table or just have a slice with a cup coffee.
Cranberry Coffee Cake (printable recipe)
Recipe adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh or thawed frozen cranberries
• 1 3/4 granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk (I used 1% because thats what I had, Gourmet calls for Whole)
• Optional: confectioners’ sugar for garnish

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter or spray a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan.

Pulse cranberries with 1/2 cup sugar in a food processor until finely chopped but don’t go too far that then end up pureed. Transfer to a fine mesh sieve and let drain over the sink.

Stir or sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Combine butter and remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium until fluffy, around 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and make sure it is all mixed in until adding the second. Beat in vanilla extract. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and milk alternatively in 3 batches (flour, milk, flour, milk, flour) and mixing until just incorporated.

Spread one third of the batter evenly in the loaf pan. Spoon half of drained cranberries evenly over batter, leaving a 1/2-inch border on all sides. I used an offset spatula with great success. Top with another 1/3 of batter and remaining cranberries, then cover with remaining batter.

Bake until golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes. Invert cake onto rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

Serves 6 to 8. Can be made one day ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature. Reheat if desired. I sent it with Dave to work after 2 days and he says the leftovers disappeared quickly.

Even though it is not even Halloween it seems like the Holiday season is fast approaching. Holiday decorations are filling the stores and Crate & Barrel has sent out its yearly holiday catalog. Even though I will admit that it is a tad early, it also makes me excited. For the first time in my life the holidays will be simply a time to celebrate and not intermixed with finals and papers. Even though I know that the holidays will stress me out because I will not have the funds to really shop for my friends and family, I will have to make up for it in the kitchen.

This year I am going to PA (Dave’s family) for Thanksgiving and I have been given the responsibility of helping his Dad cook the meal.  After tackling my own first turkey and what-not last year, I am up to the task, and it will be nice working in their kitchen.  But the holidays would not be the holidays without cookies.  Last year when Gourmet (tear) had a bunch of different holiday cookie covers, I immediately bookmarked a bunch but sadly did not have a lot of time to make any.  Not this year.

These Almond Moon cookies are a great place to start because they would look festive mixed in with any normal Christmas cookies, but are also perfect to have around for a simple weeknight.  They have a 10 day shelf life so you can keep them in an airtight container and enjoy them at home or even stashed away in your desk drawer.  I like mine on a pretty plate with a nice mug of herbal tea on a chilly fall night.

Almond Moon Cookies (printable recipe)
Adapted from Sweetness by Sarah Levy

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, warmed to room temperature
• 1/4 cup plus 1 cup to coat cookies with Confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup almonds, slivered, finely chopped (use a food processor if you have one)

Preheat oven to 325F. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter until it is light and fluffy on medium high speed. Turn the mixer down to medium and slowly add in 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar and the flour, mixing until well combined. Add in the vanilla extract. Turn of the mixer and add the almonds. Turn on the mixer on low speed and mix until the almonds are just combined, about 1 minute.

Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inch cookie scoop to scoop out the balls of dough and place on a cookie sheet, lined with a Silpat or parchment at least 1 inch apart. Stick the cookie sheet in the freezer or fridge for at least 10 minutes.

Bake at 325F for about 30 minutes, or until the bottoms are lightly brown. Cool the cookies fully on a wire rack. Pour the remaining 1 cup of confectioners sugar into a bowl and rolled the cookies around in the sugar until they are covered. Enjoy with a nice cup of tea or a tall glass of milk.

Originally published at Gapers Block: Drive Thru.

This week I would like to introduce you to one of the first food blogs that I really fell in love with (and we are lucky enough that Kristin lives in Chicago): Kristin of The Kitchen Sink!

What brought you to Chicago?
I went to college at Northwestern, where I fell in love with both Evanston and Chicago—not to mention my husband, whose family lives here, too. We spent a couple years in Washington, DC after college, but we’ve been back for about five years.

What do you do when you aren’t blogging?
Well, I’m a lawyer by day. Beyond that, I love wandering, in this city and other cities and in the wilderness, too. My family is in Minnesota and I try to get up there as much as I can. Beyond that, I’m usually cooking or eating or scouring the markets (farmers’ and otherwise) for food. So, I suppose I’m never that far from the stuff that ends up on the blog.

Favorite restaurant in Chicago?
I love pizza and Spacca Napoli, Piece and Coal Fire are my favorites. In my neighborhood, I love Hot Chocolate and The Bristol and Mado. I really like Terragusto, too. I’m generally a big fan of Chicago’s many great BYOs, of which Terragusto and Mado are two.

Favorite restaurant in Chicago, if you aren’t paying?
To be honest, I’d pay to eat at all of those places I just rattled off—and I do all the time. I haven’t been to many of the big ticket places in town—but I’ll get to them soon enough. If I’m eating closer to the Loop, which isn’t often, I’d choose The Publican, Sepia or Graham Elliot.

Favorite recipe and/or post?
My favorite posts are those that focus on my family: my grandparents, who have a huge backyard garden and cook in a very real, resourceful way; my parents, who taught me to try new things and to have awfully high standards; my sister, who is always down for a good, long meal—in or out. The post that gets the most traffic has a granola recipe that’s pretty great, if I do say so myself.

How do take your coffee?
Black. And, preferably, Intelligentsia.

Cubs or Sox?
I’m a Cubs fan by marriage, as I like to say. But I was born a Twins fan.

What is the one thing/place/restaurant that you recommend to your out of town guests?
I think the lakefront really dazzles people who haven’t spent much time in Chicago, but I’d encourage people to get out into the neighborhoods too.

One (or two) things that you can’t live without in your kitchen?
I adore my Le Creuset Dutch Oven. And, after years of living without one, I’ve discovered that a garbage disposal is pretty underrated. I also love having a tall stack of dinner plates—plenty for a big group.

I’ve enjoyed seeing Flickr Friday posts on other blogs.  And what can I say?  I love fall.

1. Untitled, 2. acorns, 3. oh, fall., 4. fallen, 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled, 7. Untitled, 8. Untitled, 9. Untitled, 10. Yellow Bike, 11. Three Leaves, 12. Yellow

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys

This past weekend, I celebrated a good friend’s 25th Birthday.  Now that we have graduated and passed the Bar, I don’t see my law school friends nearly enough and I know it will only get worse once we all finally find jobs and begin our careers.  I knew that I wanted to bake something for Susan and that I didn’t want to make a cake because I learned that it can be a tad difficult to serve up over beers at a bar.

When I turned 25, I remember thinking that I really should now think of myself as an “adult” and I desperately wanted to hang onto my youth.  Since Susan was also approaching this quarter-century milestone, I wanted to bake her something youthful and a little bit whimsical.  And then I remembered just the cookies: peanut butter and jelly thumbprints invented by my good friend Andrea at Bella Eats.  

It was the perfect peanut butter cookie: not too sweet, a little soft and crumbly, with some homemade strawberry jam in the center.  I packed them up in layers, with some parchment in between and brought them with me to the bar.  My friends munched on them in between games of pool and darts and catching up after the many weeks since our daily bar review hell.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints (printable recipe)
Recipe barely tweaked from Bella Eats who got her recipe for the cookies from foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
1/2-cup creamy, natural peanut butter (I used Jiffy because its what I had, natural might have given better texture)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup high-quality fruit jam (I used homemade strawberry)

Preheat oven to 350* and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Cream the butter and peanut butter together in an electric mixer on high speed. Add the sugar, brown sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until the mixture is fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined.

Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and oats together in a separate bowl and add to the wet mixture. Mix until well combined.

Roll dough into 1-inch diameter balls and place on baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. The dough was rather sticky when I first started doing this and it benefitted from sitting out for 30 minutes. Using your pinkie finger, make a deep indentation in the top of each dough ball, being careful not to press all the way down to the baking sheet. You want the ball to be fat rather than wide. My first batch spread out too much to have a good thumbprint. (still delicious to eat the pieces dipped in jam; not that I did it or anything)

Bake in the top half of the oven until cookies are golden, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and re-shape indentations while cookies are still pliable, if needed. I used the bottom of a tablespoon measuring spoon which worked well. Let cool completely.

Once the cookies are cool, place on countertop or a new baking sheet and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Spoon a teaspoonful of jam into each cookie.

I took a walk in my neighborhood.

See all the pictures here.

When I first moved to Chicago, I created my gmail account under “Whitney in Chicago” because it was just felt like such a change for a Texan like me moving up to the cold Midwest.  It was only logical that I would name my blog the same thing.  Although I will forever remain a Texan at heart (Texas Pride is indoctrinated early on in elementary education-Yellow Rose anyone?), I have enjoyed making Chicago my new home.  However, this means that I must make my own Tex-Mex favorites at home (and fill suitcases to the weight maximum with good salsa).  Tortilla Soup might not be strictly “Tex-Mex” per se, but it was always one of my favorite things to order at Pappasitos when I wanted a light lunch and I can’t remember the last time that I had a satisfying bowl.

Thankfully, Hannah reminded me last week about what I was missing and I immediately knew which soup recipe was next on my list.  Like most soups, this recipe comes together pretty easily, especially if you have some leftover roast chicken to use up.  Unfortunately, I didn’t, but I went to the store and bought a whole chicken (because it’s the cheapest) and cut it up into pieces, saving the back and the bones for my stock pot.

While the chicken pieces were roasting in the oven with a little S&P, I sauteed a chopped onion, some jalapeno and garlic until they were brown and tender then threw in a can of Muir Glen fire-roasted tomatoes, a cup of corn, some spices and some homemade chicken broth.  While the pot was simmering on the stove, I made some freshly fried tortilla strips and grated a block of Monterey jack. 30 minutes later, I had a bowl that tasted like Texas.

Chicken Tortilla Soup (printable recipe)
Recipe adapted from Honey & Jam (via Simply Recipes)

6 corn tortillas
1/4 cup oil (I used Canola, don’t use olive)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-2 jalapeños, seeded, veins removed, chopped
4-6 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade (I would suggest using 1 box and 2 cups of water if using store bought)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained (Muir Glen fire-roasted are the best but use what you have around)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup of corn; frozen or fresh cut from the cob
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle peppers
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used most of a full chicken, roasted up everything except 1 breast which I froze for another day)
1 ripe medium avocado
1/2 to 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime (optional-I didn’t have one but it would be tasty)
Olive oil-for sautéing

For the tortilla strips:
It is best to use somewhat dried out corn tortillas so if you have some that have been around a little while, awesome, but if not, stick them on a baking sheet in the oven at 200°F for 10 minutes to dry them out a bit. Cut tortillas in half and then cut halves into 1/4-inch strips. In medium saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Fry strips in oil, 1/3 at a time, until light brown and crisp. Make sure not to leave the pot while you are doing this. They turn from uncooked to light brown pretty quickly (I made an overdone batch-don’t make my mistake). Remove from pan; drain on paper towels. Save for later.

For the soup:
Heat a glug of olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Cook onion in oil 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and jalapenos and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add cumin and chipotle peppers and cook 1 more minute. Stir in broth, tomatoes and salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add shredded chicken and a handful of diced cilantro; heat until hot.

Serving:
Slice the avocado in half. Slice into 1-inch slices. If you aren’t using the whole thing, leave the pit in the half and wrap in plastic wrap and store in the fridge to prevent browning. Ladle soup into bowls and top with tortilla strips, avocado, grated cheese and a sprinkle of cilantro. If you have the lime, serve with a wedge to squeeze on top. Enjoy!