Just when you thought there wasn’t enough to do on Thanksgiving, I’m going to add a new media twist to the Thanksgiving cooking and preparation. I won’t Tweet while we eat eat, but leading up to that be sure to follow the days events @VoilawithEmily. And, as you prepare your meal, email me with any questions and I’ll try to answer them!

Mama’s challah. Or as my mom calls it: “the BEST challah.” And she’s right. The recipe from start to finish takes time (approximately 3 hours) so I either make it Thursday night or Friday afternoon when I get home. I prefer making it Friday so it’s fresh and warm out of oven; Here’s the secret: you spread a little butter, sprinkle a little salt and you’ve got heaven on earth in the shape of braided bread. Since this makes two loaves we usually have one plain and one raisin. And as anyone who’s anyone knows, challah makes the best french toast and/or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Ingredients
Source: Mama
7 cups all-purpose or bread flour
½ cup brown sugar + 2 T. granulated sugar
2 packages regular yeast
2 1/4 cup water
2 tsp. salt
½ cup vegetable oil
3 eggs

Directions
1. Mix in tall glass: 3 T. flour, 2 T. sugar, both packages of yeast. Stir mixture slightly then add ¾ cup lukewarm water (100-115. measure using liquid thermometer) Let this bubble & “rise” to brim of glass for about 10 minutes. (NOTE: This should bubble up to the top. If it doesn’t start to foam within in a few minutes, try again with warmer water.) In the meantime….
2. In medium bowl (bowl A), combine 3 cups flour and 2 tsp. salt
3. In larger bowl (bowl B) whisk together brown sugar, oil, 2 eggs
4. Pour contents from bowl “A” into bowl “B”
5. Add contents of glass into bowl “B”
6. Add another 1 ½ cups lukewarm water (110-115 degrees) into bowl “B”
7. Add 4 more cups flour into bowl “B”
8. Mix everything with wooden spoon at quick pace! When it’s too thick to mix with spoon, transfer dough to floured wooden board or other surface for about 5 minutes.
9. Keep hands floured, add small amounts flour by hand when dough gets sticky. It should be smooth…not too loose, not too, firm, not too sticky. Scrap off bits of dough from board, so surface is clean, & smooth. Form into a round.
10. Lightly oil another large bowl, place dough in bowl, turn over to coat with oil.Cover bowl with lightly damp towel.
11. Have warm oven ready (NOTE: preheat oven to 150 then turn off before putting dough in)
12. Place bowl in oven for 45 minutes / 1 hour. At 45 minutes check to see if doubled in size.
13. Remove bowl from oven, dip fist into flour, very gently punch 10-12 times to punch out air.
14. Knead again on floured board 5 minutes, add a bit of oil to bowl again, make round; return dough to bowl, cover, return to oven, let rise again 30/40ish minutes.
15. Punch down again, knead into a round. Gently divide into 2 loaves with sharp knife… do not saw. Pre-heat oven to 350.
16. Place 1 loaf aside in bowl. With remaining loaf, knead with 1 hand into ball (NOTE: if using raisins, add them here), then divide into 3 pieces, braid on lightly floured board. Roll out, fatter in middle, skinny on ends of each rope. Pinch ends together, tuck under. Repeat with other loaf.
17. Place on oiled cookie sheet. Make egg wash – mix 1 egg & a bit of water, brush over loaves. Bake 30 minutes.

Voila!

If you haven’t started thinking about what you’re doing to make for Thanksgiving…now would be a good time to start (wink, nudge: there’s less than a week to go!). You have the weekend to plan your meal, create a grocery list and spring into action. I haven’t gone as far as practicing serving the turkey like the woman does in the commercial, but James says I’m extremely close. Also, my in-laws are significantly nicer than those in the commercial who toss their bags at her!

In addition to some previously-written-about planning tips, here are some recipe ideas to get your menu started:

Rereading the list I just wrote, I should’ve clarified a little earlier: here are some dessert recipes with some other dishes thrown in to get your menu started.

To even out the options, here are links to recipes I’ve tried, loved, but haven’t posted on:

Now some of you may be asking, “Emily, you’re cooking for 10 people! What’s on your menu?” Who me? Oh well, yes I am very excited about my menu, take a look:

And Voila! If you have questions about any of these recipes or Thanksgiving planning, prepping, cooking, or anything else — email me!

It’s the latest trend in our house. I make different vinaigrette’s, they taste great and last for about a week. We eat a salad with almost every dinner so this comes in handy! The best part is that the recipe is super flexible so you could add different vinegars or ingredients to turn out a whole new salad dressing. The variations are suggested below the recipe. What one is your favorite?

Ingredients
Source: Martha Stewart Everyday Food
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 T. dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of sugar
3/4 cup olive oil

Directions
1. In a 2-cup glass measuring cup, whisk together vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and sugar. Add olive oil and whisk until completely combined. Pour over salad, toss, eat! Cover the rest with saran wrap and keep in the fridge.

Variations:

NOTE: The dressing may congeal a little bit after day two or three in the fridge. Have no fear. Let the dressing come close to room temperature, whisk it all together again and Voila! it’s back to normal.

Voila!

We just spent the weekend in Austin and had to cover a lot of culinary ground in 36 hours. Our friends we met made us a chart of the best restaurants to go to. As you can see, there 14 possibilities! A quick recap: James had a late night meal at a surprisingly great taco stand on Lavaca and 4th St., we went to brunch at Magnolia Cafe (on Saturday), dinner at El Chile and brunch (on Sunday) at South Congress Cafe.

The hardest decision we had to make while in Austin, and in our history of picking a place to eat, was which TexMex restaurant to go to. El Chile? Chuy’s? Guero’s? Vivo? Little did we know that the folks in Austin are connoisseurs of TexMex cuisine (we didn’t even have time or the appetite to tackle barbeque). They offer suggestions based on the nuances of which region the food is influenced by — Mexico, San Antontio, Austin, etc. Here’s a pretty good imitation of how our conversations would go with the locals:

E&J: We were going to go to Chuy’s, what do you think?
Person 1: Well, that place is good and has some authentic Austin flare. But! You should really try Vivo.
Person 2: Well, Vivo is good and has those trademark San Antonio puffy tacos. But! You should really try El Chile they have the best (insert food here).
Person 3: Well, El Chile is good. But! You should really try….

…you get the point.

How do you make a decision when there’s no clear winner?! It was both mind-blowing and maddening. Even research on yelp.com didn’t help. We finally narrowed it down and ate at El Chile. We enjoyed some of the best nacho’s, fajita’s and prickly pear margarita’s we’ve ever had. The folks in Austin are clearly proud of their food. Just don’t ask for a TexMex suggestion unless you’re ready for a heated debate.

Moist corn bread eludes me. I’ve tried various different recipes and ideas and each time it comes out a little dry. It’s nothing a small bread of butter can’t cure – but what’s the missing ingredient that will create a corn bread that is good on its own, fresh out of the oven? The scallions in this recipe were a great touch and next time I would even add a cup or so of corn kernels. In pursuit of answers, I joined an online cooking chat the other day and I got suggestions of sour cream, butter milk – anyone else want to throw out a suggestion?

Ingredients
Source: Food & Wine
1 1/3 cups flour
1 cup coarse, stone-ground yellow cornmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp.salt
Pinch of freshly ground pepper
1 1/4 cups low-fat milk
2 T. honey
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup plus 1 T. canola oil
8 scallions, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400. Place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven to heat.
1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and pepper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the milk, honey, eggs and 1/3 cup of the oil.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the cornmeal mixture and whisk just until combined. Fold in the scallions.
4. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the hot skillet and swirl to coat. Pour the batter into the skillet and bake for about 30 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve hot from the skillet!

Voila!

The scones come out of oven, I immediately try one, burn my mouth slightly and wonder if they’re not sweet enough. But after I let my mouth recover and the scones cool a little more, I realize that these not being so sweet ain’t a bad thing. I reminded myself that these are pumpkin scones, not pumpkin pie. After I had this conversation with myself, I now proclaim that these are really good! I would maybe bump up the amount of cinnamon or add a dash of nutmeg, but besides that these are great.

I also ran into another issue that often comes up when baking with pumpkin puree. This recipe, like many others, uses only 1/2 cup of puree. The can holds about 1 1/2-2 cups. So what do you do when life hands you pumpkin puree? Make pumpkin chocolate swirl brownies!

Ingredients
Source: Annie’s Eats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 T. milk or cream

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour flour mixture into food processor. Add butter and pulse 5-6 times until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Pour back into bowl and stir in the chopped raisins.
2. In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla, and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together.
3. Transfer batter to parchment paper and knead dough gently four or five times (if it’s too sticky, don’t worry about it). Pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round. Cut the circle into equal triangles, squares or whatever shape you feel like (although the more similar the size, the more evenly they’ll cook). Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown, remove from oven and let cool.

Voila!

Recognize that placemat and napkin? Yes, this photo and the roasted tomato soup were taken on the same day — I admit! And here’s another secret: there’s nothing in that mug! It’s all for photography’s sake. Now that you have the inside info, here’s the open-secret: you can never have too many chocolate chip cookie recipes. You just can’t. I used to believe, ‘I have one recipe, I’m set.’ Don’t get me wrong, that can be true and I have one recipe I like to use pumpkin bread or any other food, but why by opposed to trying new and different ones?

Ingredients
Source: Smitten Kitchen
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
8 T. unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup macadamia nuts toasted and chopped

Directions
Preheat to 300 and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
1. Beat the sugars and butters together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda.
2. Stir together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter. Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Scoop the cookie dough onto baking sheets.
4. Bake for 18 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool.

Voila!

“Baby, it’s cold outside…” but it’s the perfect temperature for a tomato soup and grilled cheese. I realize that the song is actually about a girl needing to go home so her parents don’t worry and the neighbors don’t raise an eyebrow, and the guy is trying to get her to stay, but I promise it’s still appropriate here because if you make this soup for your sweetheart, they’ll stay as long as you want. I also realize that was a super run-on sentence, apologies. And just to clear up any confusion: yes, those little white spots in the photo are intentional — it’s a cream drizzle!

Ingredients
Source: Adapted from Epicurious
3 1/4 lb. plum tomatoes, sliced in thirds
3 T. olive oil, plus more for sauteeing
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
6-8 cloves garlic, left unpeeled
1 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
1 tsp. pepper, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. brown sugar
2 T. unsalted butter
4 cups chicken or vegetable low-sodium broth
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes
pinch of all-spice

Directions
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 350
1. Arrange tomatoes, cut sides up, in 1 layer on a large sheet and add garlic to pan. Drizzle tomatoes with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes and garlic 1 hour, then cool in pan on a rack. Peel garlic.
2. In a large soup pot, cook onion, oregano, and sugar in butter over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, and broth and simmer, covered, 20 minutes.
3. Puree soup in 1/2 cup-1 cup batches in a food processor (use caution when blending hot liquids).Pour pureed soup into separate large bowl until you’re done. Return soup back to pot. Stir in cream and 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, all-spice, cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes to taste, simmer 2 minutes and serve.

Voila!

A one-bowl cupcake recipe that delivers on the promise of being very chocolatey and really good. James called them “a sugar seizure,” but I think it’s because the frosting had one-cup-too-much of sugar (the recipe below reflects the change). I made these for Halloween hence the green frosting in the background. I also attempted to tap into my inner Martha Stewart by trying to add marshmallows and chocolate chips to create goblin faces on the cupcakes. Let’s just say it looked like a two year old’s art project. Anyway, don’t let the easy nature of the recipe fool you — it’s no Halloween trick — these are seriously good.

Ingredients
Source: Adapted from Martha Stewart, Food Network
cupcakes
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 T. canola or safflower oil
1 tsp. vanilla

frosting
2 sticks butter, softened
4-5 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Directions
cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease; set aside.
1. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
2. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely before adding icing.

frosting
1. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Gradually add the remaining one cup of sugar, until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency.

Voila!