Tortellini Minestrone

Okay, this is possibly my favorite soup of all time.

My beloved mom gave me the America's Test Kitchen cookbook Soups, Stews and Chilis for my birthday. There are still so many recipes I need to try out, but this one is so good that I just keep making it. It's perfect for lunches and lasts me about a week. It's so flavorful and, of course, you can always mix up the ingredients depending on what you have on hand. Andrew normally doesn't find soup to be filling enough for a meal, but he loves this one.

On ingredients: The cookbook says you should use fresh (not frozen or dried) tortellini and fresh (not canned) pesto. I broke both rules because I couldn't find either. I used dried tortellini and just cooked it separately and added it after the zucchini since it didn't really need to cook.

Tortellini Minestrone, serves 4 to 6

Chop 2 slices of bacon into small pieces. Cook it in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until rendered and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. (I've also skipped this step and cooked the carrots and onion in bacon grease, which is faster.)

Peel and cut 2 carrots and 1 medium onion. Stir them into the bacon and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, mince 3 garlic cloves. Stir in the garlic and 1 teaspoon dried oregano and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. (If you have fresh oregano, use 1 tablespoon minced oregano.)

Stir in 3 1/2 cups chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in 2 1/2 cups V8 vegetable juice and a 15-ounce can of small white beans (drained and rinsed) and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the beans have heated through, about 10 minutes.

Cut 1 zucchini into manageable pieces. Stir in 9 oz cooked tortellini and zucchini and continue to simmer until they are tender, 5 to 7 minutes.

Dollop individual portions with pesto and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese before serving.

Jack Daniel's Salmon

I started summer classes last night, and Andrew was nice enough to make dinner. He made Jack Daniel's Salmon, one of my favorites. Plus it's super-easy: he made the marinade after work, let the salmon sit and cooked it in the oven when I got home. Last night we had it with couscous and green beans. These pictures are from our one-month anniversary, when we made a salad with mandarin oranges and uncooked Ramen noodles. Yum!

I know my recent posts make it look like I am obsessed with bourbon, but I promise this is just a super-good salmon recipe. I've loved it since I was little. You really do want it with couscous so it can absorb all the marinade.

Jack Daniel's Salmon

1 cup Jack Daniel’s (or other bourbon)

½ cup soy sauce

2 rounded Tablespoons fresh ginger, grated finely

8 cloves garlic, sliced

4 Tablespoons brown sugar

½ cup olive oil

2 Tablespoons Grey Poupon mustard

Mix ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Cool.

When the marinade is cool, pour over up to 3 pounds of salmon. Marinate for at least an hour and up to 2 hours. Salmon can be simmered with marinade, skin side up, on top of the stove for 10-15 minutes, or baked at 375 for 20-25 minutes, until flesh is firm. Do not crowd salmon in pan as it will extend cooking time and dry out salmon near the edges of the pan.

Spoon some of the marinade and the caramelized garlic over the salmon to serve.

Derby Pie: Chocolate, Pecans and Bourbon, Oh My!

The Great Gatsby came out this weekend. Like everyone else in the world, I read it in high school and loved it. I especially remember wondering what a mint julep was--they seemed to always be drinking mint juleps! When I went off to W&L, mint juleps were a spring term tradition. Alumni weekend usually fell on Derby weekend, two forces conspiring for fraternity boys to descend upon the Lexington Kroger and clear it out of mint.

Last weekend, Andrew and I made plans to make mint juleps and watch the Kentucky Derby. So I made derby pie. It is the perfect, almost sinful combination of chocolate, pecans and bourbon. I used the America's Test Kitchen recipe almost exactly--aside from swapping pecans for walnuts, because pecans are better. Otherwise, it was perfect. You get a pretty strong taste of bourbon, which I love. The consistency of the pie would still be good if you left out the bourbon, but why would you do that?

Derby Pie from America's Test Kitchen
The star chefs at America's test kitchen recommend refrigerating and then freezing your crust before you bake it. I didn't do this, and I think it turned out fine. I would use pie weights if you have them. (I didn't, but my crust puffed up so much I finally went to Bed Bath & Beyond and dropped $5 on some ceramic weights the next day!)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cover your chilled pie crust with parchment paper and pie weights. I used my homemade pie crust (recipe here). Bake 20-25 minutes or until the dough doesn't look wet. Remove pie from oven, take off parchment paper and weights, and reduce temperature to 325 degrees.

Chop 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate into small pieces. Sprinkle the chocolate on the bottom of the hot crust and let it sit and melt. After 5 minutes, spread the chocolate into an even layer.

Cut 1 stick unsalted butter into small pieces. Melt it in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until butter is a nutty brown. Remove from heat and slowly stir in 3 tablespoons bourbon. Let cool 5 minutes.

Whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add 2 large eggs plus 1 yolk and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Slowly add the warm butter mixture.

Chop 1 1/2 cups walnuts or pecans. (America's Test Kitchen says to toast the nuts first; I didn't and thought they were still delicious.) Add nuts to the mixture and pour the whole filling into the chocolate-lined crust. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until center only jiggles a little. Cool on a wire rack for 4 hours, or in the fridge.