You asked for it! Chef Josh's Beet & Apple Soup Recipe!

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone, but we will always have the memories of another snow-covered romantic weekend on the Ridge. One of our guests' favorite memories (if the requests for recipes are any indication) will be Chef Josh's special Valentine's Day Menu for dinner on Friday night. (See post below for the full menu!)

Though everyone was visibly excited about feasting on the 8oz. Filet Mignon, Spinach-Parmesan Stuffed Sole, and Abbey's Chocolate Mousse Cake - some guests were a bit reluctant about the Beet & Apple Soup. Maybe it was the bright magenta color (not often found in soup) or just the word "beet" (I love them, but I know most people think "borscht") - but we asked that they just "try it" first.

Well, what do you know... they LOVED it! And now everybody wants the recipe!

So here you go - Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound raw beets, peeled and chopped
• 1 large apple, cored and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 8 cups vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• Bundle of fresh thyme
• 1 large bay leaf
• Fresh lemon juice / blood orange
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Buttermilk sour cream
• Dill sprigs for garnish

Directions:

1. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, add vegetable oil and three tablespoons of the stock. Add vegetables and apple. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the cumin seeds to the mixture and allow them to cook for about a minute; then add the rest of the stock, thyme, bay leaf, lemon juice, blood orange juice, salt and pepper.
3. Allow the mixture to boil. Cover it, and then allow it to simmer for about half an hour. Strain the vegetables from the mixture and reserve the liquid. Puree or blend the vegetables until they're smooth and creamy.
4. Put the vegetables back in the pan and add the remaining stock. Reheat the liquid. Season it to taste. Top with Buttermilk Sour Cream. Garnish with the dill sprigs.

 

(Note: Levi and Cara have been known to enjoy this soup cold, sipped from a coffee mug - possibly while answering the phone at the Front Desk...)

 

 

 

Summer Breakfasts

There's been so many yummy pictures of our dinners recently, I thought the famous Murphin breakfasts needed a little love too. With several different varieties of heirloom tomatoes in the garden, this is the time of year where it's use 'em or lose 'em - and there are A LOT to use! Soups, stocks, salsas, consomme - roasted, canned, sauteed and fried. By far, my favorite though is the tomato tart we make for breakfast, shown below. It's easy to make, elegently beautiful, great right out of the oven or at room temperature and perfect any time of day. I recommend them on a big platter in the middle of a weekend brunch. 



Tomato Tart

(serves 6 as part of a main course, 12 as a side dish)

1 sheet frozen puff pastry

2 T. Dijon mustard, mixed with a 1/2 c of honey or high quality maple syrup

2-4 tomatoes, depending on size

1/2 c cheese, shredded (we like gruyere and cheddar, but you can use anything you have on hand)

Salt and pepper

1 egg (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 and prepare the pastry - pull the sheet from the freezer and let stand to soften a bit before dividing. While you're waiting, slice your tomatoes and place them on a paper towel - all that liquid makes for a soggy tart. (Different colored tomoatoes with different flavor profiles make for more interesting tarts!) Cut the pastry into 6 equal squares and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. If desired, prepare an egg wash by beating the egg with 1-2 T of water until well mixed, and brush the pastry for a rich, glazed color. "Dock" the pastry by poking holes all over each square with a fork or toothpick.

Now for the toppings. Swirl 1-2 T of the honey mustard on each square. Add sliced tomatoes and season with a healthy pinch of salt and pepper . Top with a sprinkle of cheese and fresh herbs. Bake for 15-17 minutes, turning halfway through. I've experimented with hotter temperatures and different bake times without too much effect on the final product - they're done when the tomatoes have dried out just slightly and the pastry is puffed and golden.  

We Take Requests!

Speaking of some serious food love, we sent a chocolate chip coffeecake home with one of our guests the other day, and we got this photo back.

Do you think she likes it? And for the record, we always recommend hugging your breakfast on the Ridge.

When we posted this picture on facebook, we got a lot of responses - some Murphin fans said they had never had our chocolate chip coffeecake! Gasp! Here is the recipe, straight from our cookbook, if you'd like to give a try yourself!

Chocolate Chip Coffeecake

For the cake:

1/2 c butter

1 c sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

2 c flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 c sour cream

1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the topping:

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c flour

2 T cocoa

1/4 c butter

1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 c nuts (pecans or walnuts are our favorite!)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, and add the vanilla. Combine your dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and soda. Alternate folding your dry ingredients and the sour cream into the butter and egg mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into a greased 9" tube pan or a metal 9"x13" baking pan. Mix the brown sugar, flour, cocoa and butter until the mixture is crumbly, then stir in the nuts and chips. Sprinkle the topping  over the batter and bake for 50 minutes, turning halfway through.

Got a craving for something else? Let us know before your next stay, we take special requests all the time! From shipments of our addictive granola, to homemade snacks waiting in your cabin, to your favorite soup at dinnertime - you tell us what you want and we'll make it happen.

(It's kind of our thing.)

A Little Birdie Told Us...

The Amish Bird Symposium was last weekend, and like every year, we loved having old and friends and new scour the grounds for some fantastic bird watching. For those of you who couldn't make it, we wanted to share a great recipe for Hummingbird Cake, a not-too-sweet layer cake that we thought appropriate for our birding friends. Try it for yourself and let us know what you think! (The recipe also makes great cupcakes!)

Hummingbird Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cake:
3 c all purpose or cake flour
2 c sugar
1/2 t salt
2 t. baking soda
1 t cinnamon
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 c canola oil
1 1/2 t vanilla
1, 8 oz can of crushed pinepple, well drained
1 c chopped pecans
2 c chopped banana

For the frosting:
16 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 c butter, room temp
2 lbs confectioners sugar
2 t vanilla
chopped pecans for decorating

Preheat oven to 350. Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Add eggs and oil and stir until ingredients are moistened. Add vanilla, pineapple and pecans. Add chopped banana, which should be ripe but still firm enough to stay chunky in the cake batter - do not use overripe bananas as you would for something like a banana bread. Divide the batter evenly between 3 greased and floured 9" cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. When done, let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning them out on a cooling rack.

While the cakes are cooling, you can make the frosting. Combine cream cheese and butter and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time, and try to forget that you're using two pounds of it - it'll be worth it, we promise! Stir in the vanilla. When the cakes are fully cooled, frost the tops of all three, then stack and frost the sides. You can cover the top in pecans, cover the sides or make any kind of design you like.

We'd love to show you a picture of what it should look like, but it was nothing but crumbs by the time any of us thought to document it for posterity. Silly us. So send us your pictures! Who knows, there might just be a free shipment of granola in it for the best looking Hummingbird Cake!