Marshmallows

Alton Brown's show, "Good Eats", on Food Network is one of my favorites. There was an episode on marshmallows, and before watching it, I never thought I could make them at home. I was surprised by how easy it is. So, being the messy, wannabe chef that I am, I took the store and bought the necessary supplies. The only thing I cheaped out on was the stand mixer. I got a pseudo mixer that uses a hand blender and a bowl. Unfortunately $300+ for a device that's going to occupy real estate in a small kitchen while getting minimal use is just not a good investment for me. The recipe for these marshmallows can be found on foodnetwork.com.

I didn't take any pictures of the sugar/corn syrup cooking. I only took video of the gelatin and candy mixture in the mixer. The only pictures I have begin once the mixture was finished.

Here I am pouring out the viscous liquid that will soon become delicious marshmallows. The pan was dusted with confectioners sugar and corn starch to prevent sticking.

A little dusting on the top to cover the marshmallow block.

After a few hours, the block is solid enough to start working on. I dusted a cutting board, and got ready to remove the marshmallow.

Nice and ready for some cutting.

I used a pizza wheel to cut the block into squares, but took video of it. Here you have the squares already cut and ready to be pulled apart.

This is the separating of the individual squares I cut. You can see the pizza cutter I used in the picture.

Final product and a little taste test.

Mmmmm.
If you don't mind eating gelatin (some people don't eat it for religious or personal reasons), give these a try. It's super easy, fun, and delicious.

Soup

I made a soup tonight. It's a combination soup, meaning it's two soups served together. One is a roasted parsnip soup, and the other is a roasted butternut squash soup. I got the recipe from foodnetwork.com. It tastes great and not very difficult to make. I definitely recommend it.
Here are some pictures of the adventure:



I started taking pictures after the butternut squash soup was finished so there won't be any pictures of the process.


Here are the roasted parsnips. They were coated in a little olive oil, salt and pepper before roasting.


These are the various vegetables that go into the parsnip soup along with some ham. The butternut squash soup has Italian sausage in it instead of ham.


Getting a good sweat out of everything. Also, the fat from the meat was rendered in a small amount of olive oil prior to sweating the vegetables.


About two teaspoons of vinegar were used to deglaze the bottom of the pan.


Skipped a few steps to the end of the parsnip soup.


This is the finished product.