Carrot Soup

Motivation
I made this soup to play around with caramelizing carrots in my pressure cooker.  THIS IS AN AMAZING SOUP.  Seriously if you have the means (pressure cooker and juicer) you should give it a try.  Original recipe found here.  It took us about 5 lbs of carrots to make the carrot juice and diced carrots.

Ingredients
500 g Carrots (quartered and cut into 2 inch strips)
113 g Butter
30 g Water
5 g Salt
2.5 Baking Soda

635 g Carrot Juice
40g Butter

Mise en Place
Peel and juice carrots until you have 635 g of juice.
Peel. quarter and cut remaining carrots into 2 inch strips until you have 500 g of carrots.

Method
Melt 113 g butter in open pressure cooker.  Add water, salt, and  baking soda and mix.  Add diced carrots. Seal pressure cooker.  When pressure cooker reaches pressure cook for 20 minutes.

Depressurize cooker by running water of the lid.  Puree cooked carrots.

Bring carrot juice to a simmer and add to carrot puree.  Puree again.  Taste and season.

Lentils with Red Wine and Herbs

Motivation
This makes a great bed to serve a main dish on (I've served scallops on it), or with enough veggies can be a vegetarian main dish.  I suggest adding herbs or an assertive salad mix (Italian or French greens).  I've steamed cauliflower and added it as a supporting veggies.

This only requires a 1/4 cup of wine... so it's a good excuse to open a bottle :)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Lentils
Salt
3 slices Bacon, diced
1-2 medium Onions, chopped
1-3 cloves Garlic, minced
1/4 cup Red Wine
1/2 cup Chicken Stock
Herbs/Veggies

Mise en Place
In a large saucepan cover lentils with 2 inches of water and bring to boil.  Season with salt and simmer over medium heat for ~40 minutes.  Drain.

Method
In a large skillet over  medium heat cook bacon until it starts to crisp.  Add onions and cook until softened (~5 minutes).  Add garlic and continue cooking another minute or so.

Add cooked lentils and red wine.  Cook until wine has been absorbed/reduced (3-5 minutes).  Add herbs/veggies and chicken stock.  Cook another 5 minutes.  Season and serve.

Maple Pecan Pie

Motivation
I wanted to make a pecan pie without corn syrup.  Maple syrup seemed like a fantastic substitute.  This recipe is a slightly modified Melissa Clark recipe.  I was very happy with the flavor.  The texture was a bit grainier than a typical pecan pie.  I would made it again. 

Ingredients
1 Pie Shell (make your own or buy one)
1 cup Maple Syrup (Grade B if you got it)
1/2 cup Demerara or raw sugar
8 whole Star Anise (or all spice as a subsitute)
2 cups Pecan Halves
3 large Eggs
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) Unsalted Butter, melted
2 tbsp Dark Aged Rum (I used spiced)
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt

Mise en Place
Toast pecans in oven at 325F for 15-20 minutes or until they start to smell nutty.

Method
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the maple syrup, Demerara sugar, and star anise to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the mixture is very thick, all the sugar has dissolved, and the syrup measures 1 cup, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for 1 hour for the anise to infuse. I'm not sure how you can reduce down to a cup if you start with a cup of maple syrup... I just let to simmer for that amount of time and didn't notice much appreciable volume lost.

Remove the star anise from the syrup. If you use all spice it will take a bit of effort to fish them all out.  I do hope you counted how many you put in. Warm the syrup if necessary to make it pourable but not hot (you can pop it in the microwave for a few seconds if you’ve moved it to a measuring cup). In a medium bowl, whisk together the syrup, eggs, melted butter, rum, and salt. Fold in the pecan halves. Pour the filling into the crust and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the pie is firm to the touch but jiggles slightly when moved, 35 to 40 minutes.