The Walsh Cookbook

February172012

Erik’s Cheesy Blasters

February152012

Giant Oreos with Cream Cheese Frosting

February62012

Orange Creamsicle Cookies!

February12012

Edamame and Green Been Stir Fry. Delicious!

December262011

Chai Concentrate - Caity

1PM

Christmas Morning Brunch Bake - Erin and Caity

December102011

The Walsh Family

December62011

Tomato, Sausage and Eggplant Soup - Cathy

This is a wonderful, hearty winter soup from my favorite cookbook of all time, “The Frog/Commissary Cookbook”. That’s quite a statement from me as I own kind of a lot of cookbooks…(hush, you kids—no telling on me!). At any rate, I bought this book many, many years ago and I find that it is still my go-to reliable source for everything good.

I get cravings for the flavors of this soup. It is thick, substantial and so delicious—and also works well as a pasta sauce. If you would like to make it without the sausage, that works great too—just increase the eggplant and maybe the fennel too.

what you will need:

1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp. olive oil

4 1/2 cups cubed unpeeled eggplant (1/2” cubes)

A splash or two of water

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped fennel (or celery if you can’t find)

2 Tbsp. minced garlic (I use less)

2 tsp. ground or crushed fennel seed

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (I use more)

4 bay leaves

1 tsp. dried basil

1 1/4 tsp. dried thyme

1 lb. sweet (or hot if you like) Italian sausage with casing removed

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 28-oz. can tomato puree (I use crushed tomatoes in puree usually)

1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped (save juice!)

soup sausage fennel tomatoes eggplant

November202011

Orange and Herbs Turkey Brine - Caity

I have only made 3 turkeys in my life so I do not claim to be an expert. But if there is one thing I know, I know this brine makes a delicious turkey! When I first read the recipe I thought the idea of orange peels was very weird. But when the turkey was done, I had a bite of the skin that an orange peel had been sitting on for several hours and it was an amazing! The rest of the turkey was nice and moist and flavorful and delicious.

This recipe is slightly altered from the Pioneer Woman’s recipe for turkey brine.

what you’ll need:

this recipe is for a 20 pound turkey

4 cups apple cider or apple juice

2 gallons of water

3 large oranges

5 cloves of garlic roughly chopped (not pictured above… oops)

1-1/2 cup Kosher salt (also not pictured… double oops)

2 cups brown sugar

4-5 good sized sprigs of fresh Rosemary

3 Tbsp peppercorns

1-1/2 tsp. whole allspice

5 whole bay leaves

1 zip-loc brining bag

orange turkey brine turkey thanksgiving

November132011

Crab and Brie Soup - Caity

The weather this week has been…. dreary. It’s cold and rainy. And cold. And rainy. Not unusual weather for Portland though! While I was walking across the Costco parking lot yesterday getting thoroughly soaked and wind blown, I knew there was only one thing that could warm me up. Crab and Brie soup.

This recipe is based on my favorite soup from a restaurant in Salt Lake called Big City Soup. I was relatively heart broken when I came home for Fall Break in college and found out it had closed and there was no Crab and Brie soup waiting to welcome me home. Luckily, my mom is a PRETTY good cook and figured out the basic recipe and it is an excellent replacement.

This recipe serves 4-5 people and you absolutely have to serve it with crusty bread to dip in the soup. Yummmmmm!

what you’ll need:

3 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup or so chopped shallots
1 cup white wine
3 Tbsp. white flour
1 ½ cup milk
½ cup half and half
1 ½ cups sliced brie (rinds on)
1 ½ cups crab - I buy the Chicken of the Sea stuff from Costco
½ - 1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 splashes hot sauce like Tapatio or Aardvark sauce
2 cups chicken stock
Minced parsley for garnish

crab soup brie bread

November52011

Chex Mix - Cathy

I don’t know how it started that I always make this around Halloween time, but it has become a family tradition. I make massive quantities of it and send it off to our kids in London, San Jose, Oregon or wherever they might happen to be. Most of us Old Folks grew up calling this Nuts and Bolts, but it seems to be more commonly known as Chex Mix these days.

This is a version that is rather heavily adapted from a Canadian cookbook that Lynn Kestle gave me; it’s easy and it is definitely our family favorite. Feel free to add in or adjust whatever you like to make it to your taste. We like it with extra Worcestershire sauce and lots of hot sauce.

We tend to not eat the cute smiling goldfish due to an unfortunate incident involving a long, hot car trip to California when Erin was a toddler that forever scarred Kevin and I from eating any kind of cheese cracker. I shall not elaborate here, but I still put the goldfish in because they are cute and colorful and lots of people like them. Besides us.

what you will need:

Cereal Mix:

Mixed salted, roasted nuts

1 box each of Corn Chex, Rice Chex (or Crispix cereal which is half corn, half rice)

1 box of Wheat Chex

1 box of Cheerios

1 box of Kix

1 or 2 packages of Bugles corn snacks

Pretzel sticks (NOT other shapes! That would just be wrong)

1 package Pepperidge Farm Goldfish

Seasoning Mix:
1 to 1-1/2 cups oil (canola, corn, whatever you have)
6 Tbsp. or a very generous 1/3 cup (or more to taste-it mellows a lot as it bakes) Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 Tbsp. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt (or to taste)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1-3 Tbsp. hot sauce (I use 3 Tbsp. Tapatio brand)

October192011

Tomato Focaccia - Erin

This is my adaptation of the basic Focaccia recipe that’s in the family cookbook. I’ve made it this way for a long time, and it’s always a hit, especially with boys. Our dad didn’t believe that I’d made it the first time he had it, and my ex boyfriend requested that I make sure this bread was available to him at all times. It also makes really good sandwiches, but more on that later…

what you will need

2 cups lukewarm water

1 pkg. dry yeast (2 ½ teaspoons, if bulk)

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. salt

4 cups bread flour (but all-purpose will do)

2 Handfuls of cherry (or other small) tomatoes, halved

1 clove garlic, sliced very thinly

Herbs – whatever you like, Italian Mix, Rosemary, etc.

Kosher or Sea Salt for sprinkling

bread tomatoes focaccia

October162011

Orzo with Parmesan and Basil - Brendan

I had never tried orzo until about 2 years ago. Actually, I had never even heard of it. But then one day I was begging Caity to feed me something and she mentioned orzo. I’ve never been one to turn down food and although I had never eaten orzo, I’ll always try something at least once.

So she made it for me, and the great thing about it is it only takes about twenty minutes from start to finish. Also, after watching her cook it only once I was able to make it on my own. It’s quick, easy to make, and serves as a great side dish with any kind of meat. Our favorite way to eat it is with pork chops. This recipe comes from the “Best of the Best” Canadian cookbook.

After that first taste I was literally obsessed with this orzo. Actually, obsessed doesn’t really explain it. The word “addicted” paints a more realistic picture. I ate it almost every day for 2 or 3 months. I took a break after that but I still enjoy it once or twice monthly.

In case you don’t know what orzo is, it’s a rice-shaped pasta. You can find it in the pasta section of just about any grocery store. Caity and I like the Barilla brand. So go to the store, buy some, and see how great it is!

Serves 6 as a side dish

what you’ll need:

3 Tbsp. butter

1 1/2 cups orzo (we like the Barilla brand)

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

6 Tbsp. fresh basil sliced Chiffonade style (see our Caprese recipe for picture instructions)

Salt and pepper to taste

orzo parmesan basil

October132011

Caprese Salad - Cathy

If there is one thing that Utah does really, really well, it is TOMATOES! This summer, for the first time in quite a few years Farmer Kevin has managed to defend our large organic garden from our beautiful but not always welcome visitors, the deer.

It has been such a pleasure to once again have bowls and counter-tops brimming over with riotously colored and shaped, perfectly ripe tomatoes (not to mention zucchini, cucumbers, cantaloupe, peppers, lettuce and spinach!).

One of the very best parts of summer is to go out to the garden in the not-too-hot part of the day, pick a few of those red, gold, and green-striped tomatoes, sprinkle them with perhaps a bit of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, then eat them while leaning over the kitchen sink to catch all of those juicy drips.

But you can only eat so many that way (I guess). Here is one of the most beautiful, luscious and decadent ways I know of to enjoy gorgeous summer heirloom tomatoes, yet still simple enough to highlight this wonderful but fleeting harvest. When you make this salad, you feel like you are creating a work of art, and then you have the fun of devouring it!

what you will need:

Some gorgeous, perfectly ripe tomatoes, the more varied the better (and never, ever refrigerated!)

Fresh mozzarella—this is the time to break out the good stuff: buffalo mozzarella packed in water

Salt (Kosher, sea salt, whatever strikes you. I like to use large crystals of black sea salt just because I like the way it looks on the white cheese)

Freshly ground pepper

Some fresh basil

Your favorite best quality extra virgin olive oil to drizzle

basil mozzarella caprese tomatoes

October102011

Coffee Cake Muffins - Erin

I have had this recipe written on a piece of paper since I babysat Leska Mackie over a weekend when her parents were out of town, which was probably about 8 years ago. I can’t even remember where we found the recipe, but I did remember that they were really good. The paper has been floating around my disastrous room, and I finally remembered to save it last time I found it. There’s vanilla pudding mix in the muffins, so they’re really moist and delicious!

what you will need

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flower

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 (3 oz) pack instant vanilla pudding mix

1/3 cup melted margarine or butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups milk

muffins cinnamon