Giada's Kitchen and Booze

I've decided that the guest will pick the two cookbooks from which the meal is prepared. Since it's just Roman and me tonight, I asked him to pick two random numbers between one and 140, and these are the ones he chose:

52. Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites
77. The Bartender's Black Book (why not!)

It's a coolish pre-fall day, so soup sounds good.


Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 sage leaf
• 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 4 cloves garlic, cut in 1/2
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 slices ciabatta bread
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Instructions

Place a medium, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil, and shallot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sage and beans and stir to combine. Add the stock and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the garlic and simmer until the garlic is softened, about 10 minutes. Pour the soup into a large bowl. Carefully ladle 1/3 to 1/2 of the soup into a blender and puree until smooth. Be careful to hold the top of the blender tightly, as hot liquids expand when they are blended. Pour the blended soup back into the soup pan. Puree the remaining soup. Once all the soup is blended and back in the soup pan, add the cream and the pepper Keep warm, covered, over very low heat.

Place a grill pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle the slices of ciabatta bread with extra-virgin olive oil. Grill the bread until warm and golden grill marks appear, about 3 minutes a side. Serve the soup in bowls with the grilled bread alongside.

Notes:

1. The flavor was wonderful. 
2. Next time, I'll add one more can of beans. We both wanted the soup to be a bit thicker.
3. Watch the bread carefully as it cooks. The first half of my loaf burned to a crisp!

And now for dessert! A fancy-schmancy drink that's perfect for a cool evening, and fncy enough for the Emmys... since I'm not dressing up for them...

Chocolate Kiss

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz. Peppermint Schnapps
• 1/2 oz.Coffee Liqueur

Instructions

1. Fill with Hot Chocolate
2. Top with Whipped Cream
3. Sprinkle with Shaved Chocolate or Sprinkles. 
4. Drink. Repeat. (Not part of the official instructions...)

Notes:

1. Yum.
2. I grated a frozen York Peppermint Patty on top of the drink.
3. Yum.