:: A Thank You ::

Hello there, everyone! 

I just wanted to write a quick note to you all this morning to simply say THANK YOU so very much for your support. Today The Flour Sack reached 100 followers (!!!) and I am so excited about this milestone. 

I hope that each of you have been able to find some healthy and yummy inspiration here and I look forward to sharing much more with all of you. 

So... here's to the next 100 followers and lots more yummy stuff, too!

:) Cheers!

Tomato Bisque Soup with Orzo

One of my favorite things about the cooler weather is the reappearance of soups in the menu again. Soups are so versatile and usually quite simple. They're warm and comforting on chilly days. And they're also perfect for dipping fresh crispy bread - which is always a good thing.

This soup is so flavorful. It is extra tomato-y and wonderfully creamy.

A warning: This soup is also very addicting. My family polished this off in a matter of hours one afternoon... for, you know, that meal between lunch and dinner...

A huge thanks to our wonderful neighbor and friend, Michelle, for sharing this fantastic soup recipe! 

Notes: You could leave the orzo out of this soup, if you don't have any on hand, but I would strongly advise against doing such a thing. (Pasta makes just about everything better, IMHO.) Also, be sure to taste the soup as you're finishing it up to know if it needs any additional sugar or salt. Enjoy!

Adapted from Michelle's recipe

Tomato Bisque Soup with Orzo  

1/2 pound whole-wheat orzo pasta
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrot
1 medium onion, diced
sea salt
4 cloves garlic, pressed
8 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
2-3 cups water (or vetetable/chicken broth)
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 teaspoon minced fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3-4 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Generously salt it, then add the orzo. Cook just until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 2 cups of the cooking water. Set pasta and water aside in separate bowls.

In a large soup pot, heat butter over medium heat until melted and hot. Add the celery, carrots, onion, and a generous heap of salt. Cook the vegetables, stirring often, until just tender. Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, orzo cooking water, 2 cups water (or broth), tomato paste, basil, oregano, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Let the soup simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, or until slightly thickened.

Working in batches, transfer the soup to a high-powered blender. Puree until very smooth, then return to pan. (You can also puree the soup right in the pot with an immersion blender, if preferred. I find that this doesn't get the soup quite as smooth as a stand blender does.) Add 3 teaspoons sugar, the cream, and the cooked orzo. Taste and add additional water (or broth), sugar, and salt as needed. Heat through, then serve with a little freshly ground black pepper to garnish.

Yield: Serves 6-8          

This post shared on The Nourishing Gourmet and Beyond the Peel

Spiced Honey Pumpkin Bread

Mission: To create a pumpkin bread that is just-my-kind-of-perfect pumpkin bread. 

Requirements as follows: 

- obviously pumpkin-y

- whole grain

- naturally and lightly sweetened

- plenty of spice (especially cinnamon)

- very moist

- a strong, tender crumb

- crunchy top crust

Mission: Accomplished. Yessssssss.

Notes: This is a really great base recipe for pumpkin bread. You can certainly bake the batter in muffin tins or even double the recipe to bake in a bundt pan. I've included a three options for slightly different variations; one simply sprinkles a little sugar and some pumpkin seeds on top, another adds a cinnamon-oat streusel topping, and the last is a bittersweet chocolate chunk version. As for the sweetener, honey or maple syrup will do just fine. My reason for using honey (other than the excellent flavor and moisture it adds to the bread) is the fact that we have gallons of the stuff thanks to our busy bees out back. And as for the flour, I found a little white flour gave just enough structure to the bread. A substitution of spelt flour or even white flour may be replaced for the whole-wheat pastry flour.

A Flour Sack original

Spiced Honey Pumpkin Bread

1 1/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (or spelt flour)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons freshly-ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (or melted coconut oil)
1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup)
2 eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 8 1/2 x 5-inch loaf pan with olive oil. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, olive oil, honey, and eggs until well-combined. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and whisk for 10 seconds, just until the flour disappears and the batter is mostly smooth.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with desired toppings (see below) and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

Let the bread sit in the pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove bread and finish cooling on the wire rack. Slice the bread once it has cooled for at least 1 hour.

Yield: one loaf

:: Variations ::

Crunchy Pepita Topping
Pour pumpkin bread batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle top with 2 tablespoons pepitas (pumpkin seeds), then 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Bake as directed above.

Cinnamon-Oat Streusel Topping
In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour, 1/4 cup rolled oats, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, and a pinch of sea salt. To the mixture, add 4
tablespoons of chilled unsalted butter that has been cut into cubes. Rub the butter between your
fingers, breaking it into smaller bits. Continue rubbing until the mixture feels coarse like cornmeal, with some larger chunks of streusel as well. Add in 1/4 cup chopped pecans. Pour pumpkin bread batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle top with streusel. Bake as directed above.

Bittersweet Chocolate-Chunk
Fold 6 ounces of coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate into batter after combining flour and pumpkin mixtures. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle top with an additional 2 ounces of coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate, then 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Bake as directed above.

This post shared on The Nourishing Gourmet and Beyond the Peel

Baked Pasta with Zucchini, Corn, Tomatoes, and Basil

As today is officially the first day of autumn, I thought we'd say farewell to summer with this great end-of-summer pasta. It uses lots of fresh garden veges, includes a bit of melty cheese, and reminds us just how great the summer produce is. 

Until next year, dear Summer!

P.S. I'm so excited, though. Autumn is my favorite (!!!) season. Bring on the pumpkins, crispy leaves, and corn mazes!

Notes: I've adjusted the proportions in this recipe from the original because 1) it didn't make enough for us, 2) we like tomatoes and garlic, and 3) we also like cheese. Mmmm....

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma 

This post shared on Beyond the Peel and The Nourishing Gourmet

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

"This should be illegal. I mean, I should be arrested for eating this."

That's a direct quote from my mother, spoken yesterday at 8:42 a.m.

We consider this our new favorite dessert. 

Or breakfast, cause that's the way we roll sometimes. 

We haven't been arrested by the Incredibly-Dreamy-Cheesecake Police yet. And by Incredibly-Dreamy-Cheesecake Police I mean that the cheesecake is incredibly dreamy, not the police. I haven't seen them yet to make that judgement. 

The only judgement I have been able to make is that this cheesecake really is dreamy. It is decadent. It is smooth and silky with a slight crunch from the crust. Rich. Every layer compliments each of the others brilliantly. It is simple perfection. 

Yes, there are a lot of steps to making this cheesecake, but I guarantee it will be so worth it. 

... Even if the cheesecake police that come to arrest you aren't all that dreamy. At least the cheesecake you made was. ;)

Notes: Read through the entire recipe before beginning. I repeat: Read through the entire recipe before beginning! You'll need to plan a few things in advance, such as having softened butter and cream cheese around, time for the cheesecake to completely cool, etc.

Idea adapted from Mangio da Sola

Chocolate Cookie Crust adapted from Alice Medrich

French Mousse adapted from Tyler Florence

Creamy Cheesecake adapted from Dori Greenspan

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

bottom layer - chocolate cookie crust
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place a piece of parchment on a baking sheet. Set aside. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a parchment round, then lightly butter the pan and parchment. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat the softened butter and sugars until light and creamy. Add the vanilla and milk and mix until well combined. (Mixture may look curdled.) On low speed, add the flour mixture just until incorporated.

Use a small cookie scoop to drop little mounds of dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Using lightly floured hands, press the mounds of dough into 1/4-inch flat disks. (Don’t worry about making these too neat - you’ll be grinding them up shortly.) Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, until the cookies puff and then settle slightly when done. Remove cookies from the baking sheet and let cool to room temperature.

Place cooled cookies in a food processor. Process until cookies are evenly and finely crushed. Pour the melted butter on top of the crushed cookies and pulse until well mixed. Dump the cookie mixture into the parchment-lined springform pan. Press the mixture evenly up the sides of the pan, then evenly over the bottom.

Wrap the bottom of the springform pan in a double layer of aluminum foil. Place the crust in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove the crust from the freezer and bake for 10 minutes, until set and dry to the touch. Let the crust cool on a wire rack while you make the cheesecake.

layer 2 - creamy cheesecake
1 pound (2 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup heavy cream

Decrease oven temperature to 325°F. Put a pot of water on the stove top boil.

Working in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is very soft and smooth, about 4 minutes. Add the sugar and salt, and continue to beat at medium speed for another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition to yield a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer to low speed and mix in the heavy cream.

Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula to make sure that nothing has been left
unmixed at the bottom of the bowl. Scrape the batter into the cooled cookie crust. The batter should fill about half way up the pan. Place the springform pan in a roasting pan large enough to give at least a 1-inch space between the cheesecake and the roasting pan. Place in the center of the oven and then carefully pour the boiling water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

Bake the cheesecake for about 45 minutes, at which point the top will be ever so slightly browned and the cheesecake will have puffed a little. The best way to tell if your cheesecake is done is to insert a thermometer into the center; it should read 150°F.  Remove cheesecake from from the roaster pan - be careful of the hot water - and remove the foil. Place cheesecake on a wire rack. Prop a large bowl over the cheesecake, leaving a 1-inch crack to let the cheesecake cool slowly.

When the cake is cool, cove with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

*** Make the mousse once the cheesecake has cooled.***

layer 3 - french chocolate mousse
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream, cold
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Set a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Put the chocolate and butter into the bowl. Melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring with a whisk, until smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate one by one, beating with a whisk until incorporated. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat. Gradually add in 1/4 cup granulated sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the heavy cream until it begins to foam. Add the vanilla and remaining
2 tablespoons  sugar. Continue to whip the cream until it holds soft peaks. Set aside.

Gently fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining egg whites. Then, delicately fold in the whipped cream. Take care to not over work the mousse, but make sure the cream is blended in well.

Using a rubber spatula, spread the mousse on top of the cooled cheesecake while still in the springform pan. Cover with plastic wrap.

*** If making the ganache immediately, place the mousse-covered cheesecake in the freezer as you make the ganache. (The cheesecake should NOT be in the freezer for more than 30 minutes.) If making the ganache later, place the cheesecake in the refrigerator for a few hours. ***

top layer - ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla

Place the chopped chocolate and vanilla in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat until the point just before it boils. Pour hot cream over chocolate and vanilla. Whisk the mixture until smooth. Allow ganache to cool for about 15 minutes.

Remove mousse cheesecake from the freezer or refrigerator. With an offset spatula, smooth the ganache while starting at the center of the cake and working outward. Be aware that the cold temperature of the cake will cause the ganache to firm up, so work fairly quickly.

Release the springform pan and cut cheesecake with a sharp knife to serve. Store cheesecake in the refrigerator, covered tightly with plastic wrap.

Yield: 1 9-inch cheesecake, serving 10-12