Book Recipes...
Behind the Scenes
Would you like to taste Jane's Award-Winning Clam Chowder from Out of the Depths? How about her apology cake? Or maybe sample one of Posey's Earl Grey shortbread cookies from A Garden Grows! Just scroll on down to find exactly what your taste buds are crying for! Enjoy!
Jane's Award-Winning Clam Chowder
If you know Jane from Out of the Depths, you will know that she isn’t much of one for writing down recipes. This is her best attempt. Be as generous or sparing with the ingredients as you wish—make it to your taste!
Ingredients with Instructions for Clam Chowder
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Bacon, plenty! Cook, crumble and set aside. Pour 1-2 Tbsp bacon grease in large soup pot.
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Diced onion, diced celery, thinly grated carrot. Cook in bacon grease until translucent.
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Yukon gold potatoes and/or baby red potatoes. Both are lovely for color! Cut into chunks and throw in pot with vegetables.
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Minced garlic, sage, thyme and bay leaves. Salt & pepper. Add to soup pot.
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Chicken stock. Pour over potatoes and veg and simmer until soft.
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1-2 Cups half & half. Add to pot.
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Add clams with juice to pot and simmer for five-ish minutes.
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2 Cups sour cream mixed with ¼ C flour. Add to simmering soup and fold this in to thicken.
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Adjust seasonings to suit.
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Top with bacon, minced chives or parsley, and a dash of smoked paprika.
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Savor!!
Potato Chowder
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Follow above instructions, replacing the clams with corn. Easy as that!
Apology Cake
aka Chocolate Ganache Cake
In Out of the Depths, Jane messed up big-time with her neighbor Beverly, and thought she would make her a chocolate ganache cake to help mend the friendship. Did it work, you ask? You'll have to read the book to find out, but I can tell you that if there was any recipe that could melt a heart, it's this one. As a bonus, it's super easy and quick to make! Enjoy!
Ingredients:
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One box mix of devil's food cake (alternatively, you can make your own cake.)
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8 oz semi-sweet baking bars, finely chopped, or 1 1/3 cups chocolate chips.
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1 cup heavy whipping cream
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Knee pads, optional
Instructions
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Bake cake according to box instructions.
While cake is cooking, make your ganache...
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In a small saucepan, bring the heavy whipping cream just to a simmer on the stovetop, stirring occasionally. You should see small bubbles forming along the edges. Just as soon as you see a simmer, immediately remove from heat and pour over chocolate chips.
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Place a lid or plastic wrap on the bowl to trap the heat. Let it sit without mixing for 5 minutes, then remove the lid and stir in the chocolate chips. Start in the center and work outward until the mixture is smooth.
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Let the ganache sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.
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Once cake is cool enough to handle, tear it up into chunks and place in your mixing bowl.
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Add in about 2/3 of the ganache, and using a kitchen aid or hand-held mixer, mix ganache with cake chunks until smooth.
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Pour into a spring-form pan.
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Let chill until ready to serve (at least one hour.) Place cake on a plate and pour extra ganache over the top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
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Serve yourself some humble pie! Get on your knees and apologize. This step might best be done after the cake is consumed.
Minestrone Soup
This is not your classic minestrone, as I love to play with recipes. But it is so good. I encourage you to play with it also, adding your own touches! Measurements, as always, are in guesstimates. Enjoy!
1 - 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 - 1 lbs. ground sausage (I use spicey.)
While browning meat with salt and pepper in a soup pot, cut vegetables.
1-2 carrots
1 onion
4-ish cloves of garlic
When meat is brown, add in carrots, onion, garlic along with...
1-2 cans green beans, with juices
1-2 cans chili beans with gravy
Plenty of beef stock
1 - 2 cans crushed tomatoes
Pasta of choice (I used to use shell pasta until I came across these tiny tortellini and never looked back.)
Simmer all together with plenty of spices...
salt, pepper, onion powder, chili powder, Italian herbs.
Serve with fresh grated Parmesan cheese on top.
from A Garden Grows,
Posey's Earl Grey Shortbread
Straight from Posey's kitchen to yours
(via Karen's!)
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1-2 tsp loose Earl Grey Tea leaves or lavender. I used a special blend of Creamy Lavender Earl Grey.
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1/2 cup butter
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1/4 cup sugar
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1/2 tsp vanilla
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1 cup all-purpose flour
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pinch salt
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Put the tea into a small bowl or ramekin and add a small splash (no more than a tablespoon) of boiling water — just enough to soften the leaves. Let stand for a few minutes, until it cools down.
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Mix together flour, sugar and pinch of salt.
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Most recipes tell you to beat in the butter with a mixer, but for the best melt-in-your mouth results, go old-school and cut in the butter. This takes time and patience, but it's worth it! Cut the butter until the mixture clings together. Usually the butter is the size of very small peas at this point.
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Mix in the tea leaves with its tea water and vanilla.
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With your hands, mold mixture into a ball. If it doesn't want to do this, keep cutting that butter.
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On a floured surface, press or roll mixture into a circle, leaving the shortbread about 1/2-1 inch thick. Cut into trianbles (like a pie) and place on an ungreased baking sheet.
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Bake until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes.
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Try your hardest to wait until cooled down! Enjoy!
