Catching up

I've got some catching up to do here! Today is a good day for that....here in the northeast we are in process of a nor'easter! It's been showing since midnight or so and as I write this it is 10:30 AM and we've already gotten 12" of snow! And this storm isn't getting out of here until very late tonight or tomorrow morning! Yikes!! This winter has been a doozie! Around here I believe the total had been around 48 inches for the season before today. We got off easy the past few years with close to nothing and I think many of us have gotten spoiled.

So it's a snow day! A day off from work! Though I have some paperwork I'm looking at inbetween loads of laundry and snow shoveling!

So..

What have I made lately? 

These

http://mywholefoodlife.com/2014/01/17/super-moist-flourless-brownies/

The brownies are flourless, made with black beans, yes, black beans! And they are amazing! I did nothing different from the recipe except add nuts because who doesn't like nuts in their brownies?!

I also made a variation of wonton soup. These wontons are filled with onions fried and doused with paprika. This is something my BFs grandmother would make, "knotted soup", which i did make before...http://barbarababbling.blogspot.com/2012/11/knotted-soupaka-more-pasta.html

So I just borrowed the idea and made it easier with wontons! I made little ground turkey meatballs and tossed some kale in the soup along with th he obligatory carrots and celery and it hit the spot on a cold winter night! Give it a try...there is something about big, pillowy, yum filled sheets of pasta that just make you feel good!

Knotted soup....aka more pasta!

Ok, watch out world, I'm a dough making machine now!

Matt told me about a soup his grandmother used to make, knotted soup. Pasta knots filled with fried onions and paprika. Sounded easy enough with my new found dough confidence!

To a saute pan, I added a finely chopped onion, a generous seasoning of paprika along with salt and pepper and watch the magic begin.  I love the smell of fried onions! Yum!

Since I never saw this being made before, I was going with my gut, and my gut had me making a big mess!
I rolled out dough and put ALL the onion mixture onto and then tried rolling it up...WHAT. A. MESS.  I was rolling about 2inches of dough, cutting it and trying to pinch it closed all the while onions were spewing out the ends and all over! Notice you will see no photos of said mess. :)  I wound up having to cook up more onions!

Finally, I figured out how to roll the dough with the mixture and not make a mess.  Use the onion mixture sparingly! That is the key! The photo below demonstrates a good amount.  I also rolled the dough out and cut it so that the piece I was working with was only about 6 or 7 inches wide.  Perfect length to roll and tie into a knot!

I made some pretty knots, and some not so pretty knots.  And maybe a few knots found their way into the trash! But all in all, I impressed myself and the soup turned out really well!  I made a basic chicken soup with chicken stock, onions, carrots, celery, potatoes and chicken to which I added the knots too.  I could have either used a larger pot or I should have only used  a quarter of the amount of vegetables that I did! Oh well, live and learn.

I'm pretty much obsessed now with all the possibilities of making my own...raviolis! Tortellini! Dumplings! Empanadas! Periogies! Stay tuned!

The onion mixture cooked up.

The rolled out dough with onion mixture ready to roll!

Pasta filled knots just a chillin'.

My soup almost cooked over! 

The finished dish! It really was delicious.  :)