Maldon | the creative life in between

Roasted Carrot Soup.

One day last week I woke up with a sore throat.

And even though the temps lately have been in the 80-90 degrees F range, there is a feeling of Autumn in the air.

In the mood for soup, I decided to create a roasted carrot soup with some vegies I had in the fridge.

It turned out SOOOO good!

I mean – how can you go wrong with roasted vegetables that include onion and garlic and fresh rosemary pureed into a creamy, warm, soothing soup?

You could add some greek yogurt or cream to make it even creamier, but I loved the freshness and healthiness of this soup that tastes like it is loaded with calories, but instead is low-calorie and loaded with flavor!

Hope you will give it a try. I loved how it turned out!

Roasted Carrot Soup

Servings: 4
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Ingredients:

1 lb. bag organic short cut carrots
1 stalk celery, cut into chunks
1/2 large sweet onion, cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large ripe tomatoes, chunked
1 large sprig fresh rosemary, minced
Maldon Sea Salt Flakes * (which I purchase through Amazon)
Freshly Ground Pepper
Olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
Croutons for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Layer first 8 ingredients in a large stoneware bar pan or shallow roasting pan. Drizzle liberally with olive oil, and toss to coat. Roast 30-40 minutes.

Transfer roasted vegetables to a pot. Add chicken broth. Blend with Immersion Blender or in food processor or blender until creamy. (I love using an immersion blender as it is quick, efficient, and easy to clean up.)

Ladle into bowls, and top with croutons if desired.

Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

*I have become such a huge fan of Maldon Sea Salt! I’ve always been a salt lover, but these soft, flaky sea salt crystals have a clean salt flavor without the bitter after taste that table salts I’ve always used in the past leave. It truly provides a freshness that enhances the flavor of food. I so highly recommend it! It not only tastes wonderful, but it is also beautiful to season with. AND, as a watercolor artist, I love it to use to create textures in my artwork! I keep mine in a cute little bamboo salt box on the kitchen counter next to the stovetop for ease of grabbing pinches of for cooking. Bravo Maldon!! (and this is not a paid promotion in any way, shape, or form – I just seriously love this stuff!)

Salted Dark Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.

Oh My Stars!

These fudgy, brownie-like, dark chocolate, chewy, but crispy heavenly bites may just have you seeing stars!

I saw a photo of these stop-me-in-my-tracks, make-me-wanna-bake, longing-to-get-in-my-belly cookies on ButterandBrioche, but alas the recipe was in metric measurements.

Thank goodness for Convert-me.com!

I’m not quite sure what the addition of ground coffee scientifically does to these, but I do know coffee somehow enhances the true flavor of coffee.

And the sprinkling of flaked sea salt that is just enough to balance the fudgy, chocolately amazingness…. well – all I can say is – you really want to try these!

Here is how I made them after converting:

Salted Dark Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Servings: 5 dozen
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Ingredients:

22-24 oz high quality dark chocolate (I like Moser Roth 70% Dark Chocolate, which I find at Aldi)
8 Tbsp butter
2/3 cup flour
2 Tbsp instant or fresh ground coffee
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 Tbsp water
Flaked sea salt (Maldon is my fave!)

Directions:

Melt chocolate and butter in microwavable bowl for 1 minute on high. Stir. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring, until melted and blended. Cool.

Mix brown sugar and eggs with electric mixer until thick and doubled in volume, about 4 minutes. Add the melted and slightly cooled chocolate. Mix until well incorporated.

Add flour, coffee, baking powder, and salt, and mix just until combined. Add water, and mix until combined.

Refrigerate the fluid batter for 15-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Scoop batter with a cookie scoop onto baking stone or parchment lined baking sheet. Once sheet is full, tap lightly 2-3 times on counter to slightly flatten cookie dough. Sprinkle with a little flaked salt.

Bake for approximately 11 minutes. Open oven and tap sheet lightly to flatten a bit. Return to oven for 2 more minutes. Repeat until cookies are firm around the edges and set in the middle with plenty of crinkles.

Cool for at least 10 minutes on baking stone or cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.